"I am sorry for worrying you. Thank you for your help. I was lost in thought and didn't pay attention." Zavier could only apologize since the old man seemed to be out of breath. It looked like he had run towards him from a distance to stop him from falling off.
"Young people nowadays are worse than even us old fools. What is so difficult about looking ahead while walking? Can't you even do THAT right?"
The old man shook his head as if in disappointment and walked away with a hunched back as if bearing the weight of the whole world.
Zavier gave a slight smile watching the old man walk away and went on his way back to the student dormitories where the contestants had been staying all this while.
All the participants of the Merion high school had been admitted into Caesar University without a doubt since they were the strongest of all the teams who had participated in the entrance examination and had the most surviving members in the second group.
Even though the fiasco in the final between Zavier and Sabrina had sown doubts in the hearts of the other participants, the top leaders of the Caesar University were in the know that Zavier was the true talent that they had managed to get their hands on in the entrance examination. It was only that Zavier had been hiding too deep and the teammates that he had come with were all exceptional which gave the illusion that Zavier was weaker than them but that was not the case at all.
Currently, all the participants were waiting for the official announcement of their early acceptance into the University because only then would their shriveled hearts beat with life again. Getting accepted into this university was the assurance of their futures and that of their families. Therefore, the official announcement of acceptance was the most awaited event at the moment.
Unlike the participants, the leadership of the university was in a dilemma. Galen was presiding over the meeting that was being conducted in the Dean's office and various instructors of the institution were in attendance with a serious look clouding their faces.
"What do you think we should do about that kid Zavier?" One of the instructors who didn't believe that Zavier had the ability to beat Sabrina finally put forward the question that all of them had been waiting to ask.
Even though he was an A level mage, the instructor clearly lacked the perception ability to gauge the level of that mental battle that had surmised between Zavier and Sabrina in the finals.
"What do YOU think we should do?" The question that was directed towards Galen was answered by Harry who was sitting right next to him.
The hint of displeasure in Harry's tone stumped the instructor named Alder but was not enough to make Alder question his own judgment.
"In my humble opinion, the student should be disqualified from the entrance test. Using one's family connections was one of the major reasons behind the implementation of the new system of entrance tests. Wouldn't it be a failure if even after all the effort, someone got in using their family connections?" Alder had a haughty tone as if his argument couldn't be bested by anyone.
The instructors looked towards each other and wondered whether to support Alder or not as they still had not been able to gauge the thoughts of the dean. They were waiting for the dean to reveal his stance before conveying their own points of view regarding the matter.
Of course, only the foolish ones like Alder would be on the opposing end once the Dean revealed his thoughts.
Among the A rank mages in attendance, there was only one instructor who was sure of Zavier's abilities but couldn't reveal her thoughts. Mabel was already one of Marquess Val's people and knew that it was time to earn her keep.
"I don't agree with instructor Alder's words based on two things. Firstly, I think that it is still unclear whether the student named Sabrina had been paid to concede defeat or not since there is no evidence of that fact. And secondly, even if it is true we should not reveal this fact to the public since it would be a severe blow to our reputation. It is better to deal with it internally. If student Zavier is really incapable, then we only need to find a reason to expel him later on instead of revealing the facts surrounding this matter."
Mabel could not just reveal the strength of Zavier to the whole congregation of instructors even though she had witnessed Zavier's achievements in the first round. This was because of the promise that Val had made to her in return for her protection of Zavier in the University.
This was the reason that Mabel used this approach to protect Zavier in the meeting against Alder's allegations.
"I have been waiting for you to speak up. Of course, YOU would try to defend him; after all it was you who developed the new entrance test, was it not?" Alder revealed a smirk as if he had been waiting for this point to be brought up. He was feeling that everything was within his control and things were progressing just the way he had wanted them to.
Mabel had no way to refute this statement as it was true. She tried to say something but no words came out of her mouth. Alders had rendered her words meaningless with the previous statement. The harder she tried to protect Zavier, the more it would appear that she was trying to protect her own image. Therefore, it was better to take a silent stance and wait for the leadership to speak.
The participants of the meeting were sitting with their bodies tilted towards the presiding chair from their waist upwards. The position looked both awkward and painful but they were too stressed to even notice how peculiarly they were acting.
Galen on the other hand looked calm and peaceful while Harry was trying to hold himself back from punching off the smug look on Alder's face. He already knew that Zavier was trying to be low key so he didn't say anything. Even Galen had come to the same conclusion as well.
Galen let out a long sigh and finally looked towards the participants as if to pass on the final verdict. There was a silent drum roll in their heads as the instructors waited for the final decision.
"I agree with Teacher Mabel's point of view. We can not let one bad fish tarnish the reputation of our prestigious institute. Since we have no evidence that the match was fixed, it would be wrong of us to come to a conclusion at this point. We might lose two potentially exceptional students by going down the path laid down by Teacher Alder."
Before Galen could proceed any further, Alder spoke out mid sentence.
"With all due respect sir, there is no need to expel student Sabrina as well. Her talent has been witnessed by all of us in the other matches but the other student has relied on his teammates and his family to make it this far. He is the only black sheep in this competition." Alder said while practically grinding his teeth at the mere mention of Zavier's name.
Finally an instructor seemed to have been convinced by the arguments laid down by Alder and spoke out in a low voice so as to not sound too energetic while going against Galen.
"Teacher Alder seems to be right on this account. The student managed to succeed because he was in the same team with Student Rebecca who showed exceptional results in the team competition. Isn't that right, Teacher Mabel?"
Mabel was once again dumbfounded at the newfound evidence. Since she couldn't reveal that the so-called worthless student in their eyes had been the devil who had fought against all the other participants by himself in the first round of the entrance exams, she once again adopted silence as her weapon of choice in this argument.
Her silence was taken as the acceptance of the fact by the rest of the instructors.
"I won't say anything if you want your faces to be slapped so badly…hmph." Mabel thought to herself sneeringly.
The voices that had been reluctant previously gradually increased in volume. The arguments presented by Alder began to gain weight as Galen continued to maintain his silence and the instructors began to join the movement to expel Zavier.
Harry, who knew that it was impossible for Galen to agree, was laughing at all of them.
"You imbeciles just wait until his true competence is revealed. None of you are worthy of judging him with your low level perception. The so-called geniuses in the university can't even come close to him. You sh*tty swines can't recognize the pearl right in front of you. Even I feel ashamed that you call yourselves the best instructors of the country. You should all just beat yourselves to death."
Galen saw Harry's eager appearance and knew what Harry was thinking in his heart. Harry was after all his own student.
Although there was some substance to the facts that Alder had laid out for all to see, Galen felt that the vision of these instructors was truly too narrow. They were unwilling to even look into the possibility that the student might really be very capable.
At the same time he felt that the current situation was quite optimal when it came to fulfilling Zavier's wishes.
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