"How is this possible? I should have checked his condition!"
"You couldn't have known. It was just a match between two students of first and second years. If he were 41, maybe..."
"Still, he's a student. He's under my responsibility. How am I supposed to answer to Viscount Virelan now?"
Two teachers stood in the corridor, speaking in low, tense voices. One was the lizard beastman—the referee from the duel.
The other was a human, the academy's head priest.
They were talking about the condition of student 21—Kael Virelan.
He had been completely healed. No lasting injuries. Nothing visible at all.
And that was the problem.
How had he been hurt so badly?
The instructor had watched the entire match from start to finish and had seen no sign of serious injury.
Of course he hadn't. A level-66 mage's punches shouldn't have been able to harm a berserker.
So when Kael didn't surrender, the referee assumed he was just stunned, overwhelmed by the flurry of blows.
But once the priest examined him, the truth came out—Kael had been on the verge of death.
If Colt had landed even a few more punches, Kael wouldn't have survived.
And yet, his body showed no wounds. Not a single scratch.
Now they understood what Colt had done. He hadn't injured the outside. He had targeted the inside.
Internal trauma—precise and invisible.
Normally, that kind of tactic would've been noticed. The referee, or even one of the watching instructors, should've caught it.
But they hadn't. Because they weren't watching that closely.
It was just a duel between the top students from first and second year.
It didn't seem like something that needed deeper scrutiny.
At least, that's what they'd thought.
And now, no one could blame Colt. He hadn't killed Kael. He hadn't left any permanent damage.
He had stopped—exactly when he needed to.
The only one at fault was the referee. He should've called the match long before it reached that point.
They were lucky Kael had survived.
Actually, they were lucky Colt had known exactly what he was doing.
He hadn't wanted to kill Kael. He just wanted to teach him something.
"Sigh... we have a bigger problem. I thought he had no serious injuries, so I let the third-year priests handle the healing at first.
And they saw what kind of shape he was really in. I would've kept it quiet, but by now, the whole school probably knows."
"What rotten luck I have... At least he was healed back to full condition."
From that day on, the instructor swore he would take his job seriously—every time, no matter what.
---
"Did you hear? They say Duke Peice is backing him!"
"No way, I heard he's a prince from another country."
"Well, that would make sense. He beat up the top rank of the upper class. And that guy was a noble."
"I just hope this doesn't start a war. Especially after what happened in the infirmary."
"No chance. Viscount Virelan's too prideful. He wouldn't interfere even if it was his own son."
"True. Just a fair fight between students, right?"
Colt overheard plenty while lying in the same spot he'd used that morning.
Since he'd participated in a duel, the academy gave him an extra hour of rest to recover.
And since he had no injuries, he simply lay there, in the crater left by Kael's axe.
So, he had heard a lot of rumors about him.
Some even said he was actually a monster, disguised as a human.
Everyone also knew by now what he did to Kael, though it was fine.
He knew Alric Virelan, Kael's father, from his past life. He wasn't one to interfere.
When he was talking about these... "Young man, can you let me fix the hole?" a voice called out.
Colt had already sensed him coming, but he acted like he hadn't. So, he jerked up, startled.
Sigh, this place is not as hidden as I thought it would be...
It was a staff member—probably a caretaker—here to patch the damage.
"Of course. Do you want me to give you a hand?" Colt asked.
"Haha, no need. I might be old, but this is still my job," the caretaker replied.
He raised his hands, and glowing runes shimmered across the dirt. In seconds, the crater vanished, the ground restored like nothing had ever happened.
"Well, that didn't take long. You're welcome to lie here again if you'd like," the caretaker added.
Caretaker, my ass...
Of course, it was nonsense. Colt could see the man's level clear as day.
Level 257. Arthur Griffin. The headmaster.
Colt didn't sit back down. Not now. He needed Arthur.
No, what he needed was training. Colt couldn't level up anymore since he didn't have good training material.
Of course, he could probably become 349 before the end of school, but he needed more training for 350.
He could easily get experience points from the monsters later. There would be some events that would help.
Also, he could leave for the outside of the borders where there were monsters.
Still, he needed to enter the library to find more training materials for levels 350 and 400.
He could always just sneak in, but there was no need. He didn't want to go alone.
He would bring his friends with him through Arthur.
So he stayed on his feet and said, "I can't sit while you're working, sir. Please, let me help."
"Haha, as I said, there's no need. This is my job. And there's nothing left to do now anyway.
But I appreciate it. I suppose we'll see each other again."
Colt nodded with a polite smile, though inside he was smirking.
Arthur's old man act was decent, but not perfect.
Since he still acted like a mage, he should act strong. But he acted like a weak old man.
Was he hoping Colt would take pity? Or was this a test?
Colt figured he just wanted to meet him in person.
But it was fine either way.
Since it was time to get back to class, he headed back inside. There was still one more theory class left before the one he'd actually been waiting for.