The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

Aurora blinked as she saw the headmaster storm towards her with a dark face, a female teacher in tow. If she recalled correctly, it was the same woman who had been with Dane while he was trying to sneak off. 'Isn't she a teacher of… what subject was it again?'

The platinum blonde shook her head. If she forgot, it probably wasn't important.

"Aurora! Just why the hell did you expel professor Dane like that?! Do you have any idea how difficult it is—"

"Isn't it obvious? He was incompetent. I couldn't bear to see him sully the reputation of my academy anymore."

The female teacher balked at her words, as if unable to believe she could say something like that. "How can you say that?! My husband has been serving the academy faithfully for hundreds of years! There's been no lack of geniuses he has nurtured for—"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Who are you again?"

"I-I teach the interia course?"

"Oh… continue, then."

"T-There have been many outstanding students that he—"

Aurora cut her off with a shake of her head. "Even if there were outstanding students who graduated while 'learning' under him, there's no way to differentiate if it was his own merit or not. It was entirely possible that he was nothing but a hindrance to the growth of those students, and who knows how many he has ruined over the years, being so incompetent?"

The woman gritted her teeth at her complete disregard for both herself and her husband. She didn't believe that Aurora was suddenly so enlightened about their 'incompetence'. This was clearly her holding a grudge for not obeying her will! "Y-You already punished us so severely yesterday, is it really necessary to go so far to humiliate us?"

The platinum blonde blinked. "Ah… I see now, you seem to be mistaken about something. And the headmaster, as well."

The headmaster couldn't help but stiffen slightly as Aurora's gaze landed on him. He knew that if he really managed to aggravate her, she wasn't exactly beyond humiliating him in front of everyone.

Aurora smiled. "It is not that I care about either of you, I simply do not wish to see you waste the academy's resources. After all, I have also contributed to it greatly, have I not? Letting you do that is the same as letting you squander my own efforts."

The female professor balked. "You—"

The headmaster sighed as he patted her on the shoulder. "Professor Donna, you head back. I'll talk to lady Aurora alone. Also… as his wife, you may collect all the valuables and possessions that professor Dane has left behind, so I'll have it all arranged by tomorrow."

Although the lady felt outraged at the injustice her husband had suffered, she could only put all her hopes on the headmaster. After all, she herself didn't have any means to go against Aurora.

Seeing her storm away in a rage, the headmaster groaned.

Even though he had known Aurora for so long, they hadn't really talked much. He had always thought she was an aloof but somewhat reliable expert whom he could seek out in times of need, but he never expected that she would start creating trouble one after another after so many years.

To him, it felt like ever since that day when the Thousand Eyed God went on a rampage, Aurora had completely switched to a different person.

The headmaster couldn't help but wonder if there was some conspiracy behind it all. Could she be the one who caused the beast to go on a rampage in the first place? If so, what was her target?

Could she want the Helion Chain? Or perhaps… it was to reduce the power of the sentinels?

What unsettled him more, however, was why would she now borrow so many high grade cultivation techniques at once. Could she be attempting to create a new one?

Since the headmaster had stopped bothering her, Aurora had already gone back to staring at the lake in silence, either unaware or uncaring of the headmaster's increasingly dark gaze.

==========

Meanwhile, in the dark forest outside the academy, three men stared at each other warily while hiding in a deeply hidden cave.

In the end, Craig couldn't help but sigh. Regardless of his unreasonably timely appearance, the man did help them escape from the beast earlier. "Thank you for your help earlier. What's your name?"

If not for him, Craig's injury would definitely be aggravated even further with a prolonged fight. Although he was sure that the man wasn't any stronger than himself, he seemed far better prepared than the prince and the professor, as if he had set foot into the forest knowingly.

The man grinned. "You can call me Blaise, your highness."

The Terran Prince couldn't help but be slightly suspicious. "You know of me?"

"Of course, of course."

Although he could have brushed it off as 'who doesn't know of the illustrious Terran prince?', that would defeat the whole point of saving him in the first place.

After all, Blaise wasn't a kind soul who would help out these 'damsels in distress' for no reason, right? The only reason he did so was because he saw the hope of turning his own dire situation around, as long as Craig agreed to take him in.

Therefore, he didn't hesitate to inform Craig about his identity, and how he would of course keep track of almost all of the prominent personalities in the continent, such as the princes and princesses.

Anyway, if he was going to join them, they would investigate him sooner or later anyway, and there was no point in keeping it hidden. It wasn't like he had ever done anything against the Terran's interests.

Craig nodded after hearing his explanation. "Interesting… you seem quite resourceful and talented. With your favor today on top, I can promise you a decent position in one of our units once we get out of here."

Blaise couldn't help but grin in joy. "Thank you, your highness!"

With the matter of his suspicious identity dealt with, Craig turned his attention back to professor Dane. Seeing how the red haired man was still completely naked, and with some of his charred skin having peeled off, it made Craig almost shudder in disgust.

"Uh, Blaise, you wouldn't happen to have some extra clothing, right?"

These kinds of 'unnecessary' supplies, such as clothing and food, had always been carried around by his subordinates, while Craig only stored the combat equipment and treasures in his own spatial artifact. He never expected to have a day such as this.

Blaise shrugged awkwardly. "If I had any, I would have already offered you some. Unless you want the one I'm wearing?"

Although Craig's own clothing was slightly tattered, it wasn't bad enough to the point of needing to wear other people's worn clothes. "Uh, no thanks."

The professor also shook his head, not minding his own naked state as much. Compared to the loss of the artifacts he had been painstakingly collecting for hundreds of years, this was truly nothing. "We're all men, anyway. It's fine."

The other two didn't agree, but since there was no solution anyway they decided to just nod and keep their sight away from his body.

"By the way, professor, if you don't mind me asking… what happened? How did you end up like this?"

The professor seemed to have been poked in a sore spot, and immediately exploded. "It was that BITCH! Aurora!"

Craig almost jumped in fright. "K-Keep your voice down, professor! We just barely managed to escape…"

"Hmph."

"Ahem, anyway, sorry for interrupting, please continue."

Dane snorted. "You won't believe it, but that fucking whore… Earlier, I was about to head into the forest along with my wife to see if we could find any clues of your whereabouts…"

Craig nodded. More than his own kingdom's forces, he had been more hopeful about someone from the academy finding him. After all, Terrazyme wasn't just farther away from the Wonderland of Doom, they also had to be far more careful while invading the forest.

In comparison, the experts from the academy were more or less familiar with it, especially the older professors who had been here for hundreds of years. Although they couldn't claim to be able to stroll in and out as they pleased, they could still escape with their lives in most situations.

However, no such help seemed to have arrived. And it looked like that wasn't just Craig's bad luck.

Dane continued. "At that time we thought Aurora discovered us through sheer coincidence, and we received  a punishment for disobeying our orders."

Craig couldn't help but be startled. "Huh? What do you mean?"

The red haired professor chuckled. Now that he was expelled from the academy, he of course had no loyalty for the place. "I was shocked too, but it really is exactly what it sounds like. We were ordered not to look into your disappearance, and to not even bother with the Helion Chain!"