Chapter 254


    "I''m sorry, udia."


    The poison consuming in the sses themselves was hard and painful.


    But Simon had seen Belya''s skills at Langerstine and sympathized with the values she spoke of in ss. He didn''t think it was necessary to reject the ss just because it was painful.


    "I want to keep believing in Professor Belya."


    "…"


    udia''s expression showed deep disappointment after she had waited for Simon''s answer.


    "Why?! What part of that horrible professor can you trust so much?!!"


    "That''s—"


    Before Simon could respond, udia boiled over with frustration."I thought you were one of the good ones… Will you really turn your back on the students'' rights like this? Are you such a fool that you would die if a professor told you to die? The current Kizen system is solidly! Wrong!! If we fail, the professors'' demands will only get worse in the future…!"


    "You''re jumping to conclusions, udia."


    This time, it was Simon who interrupted her.


    "I respect what you think, but…"


    Rising to his feet, he added,


    "What you''re saying is an emotional spiel, not a reasoned argument."


    Leaving those words, Simon turned and left. Rick followed, tossing a nk, unsigned document in her direction.


    "I''m sorry! I''m sorry!"


    The weak-hearted Camibarez bowed her head in apology and followed them.


    "Hey! Don''t leave me!"


    Meilyn, thest to pack, started to follow the three, but udia grabbed her arm.


    "Meilyn! You''re not like them, are you? You''ll sign, right?"


    "Are you crazy? Get off me!"


    Meilyn shook her hand free.


    When udia pulled back, pain and shock clear on her face, Meilyn sighed.


    "Why are you going this far?"


    "…"


    "Refusing a ss is unprecedented in the history of Kizen, and I think you guys are going a little overboard. Maybe cool your heads a bit."


    udia''s lips curled inward in frustration.


    "What difference does it make if I cool my head now?"


    In truth, udia had no choice but to keep her rebellion going.


    The movement had already begun, and even if she stopped now, rumors would spread that she protested against a Kizen professor.


    She had already burnt bridges with the professor in her majoring subject. If she failed, her necromancer life was bound to go downhill fast.


    "Sorry, I''m not signing yet."


    Meilyn turned to leave the ssroom.


    "Meilyn…"


    Whispered udia, spite worming its way into her tongue.


    "Are your grades that important?"


    Meilyn stopped immediately.


    "I get it~ Gotta look good for the professors, right? You kiss their asses and act cute so you get good attitude points and grades. That''s the secret to being forever second ce in the—"


    "Hey."


    That was when Meilyn turned around.


    The moment udia met the ice queen''s gaze, her voice—so full of courage—faltered. udia could feel the entire ssroom chilling as frost formed on the ceiling.


    She felt frozen, unable to do anything.


    "Don''t. Cross the line."


    Momentarily overwhelmed, udia felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.


    But perhaps her pride had been wounded by such intense fear. She redoubled her fury andshed out,


    "Did I say something wrong!!"


    "Shall I spill the reason why…"


    Spat out Meilyn, curling her fingers inward until her nails dug into her palms.


    "…you poison pathetics are against the current Poisonous Alchemy sses?"


    "…"


    "If Professor Belya makes the students poison-resistant, you guys will have a hard time in the future, whether it''s in a Duel Evaluation or the BDMAT. Isn''t that right?"


    Hearing such an usation, udia felt her exasperation welling up deep in her chest.


    "Meilynnnn!!!"


    Jet-ck flowed out from her whole body. Her braided hair came undone and whipped around like tendrils, and then coalesced into a myriad of venomous snakes.


    "C-Calm down, udia!"


    "Fighting with dark magic in a ssroom is heavily prohibited!"


    udia''s friends rushed over and grabbed her arms, stopping her.


    "Let me go! She brought this on herself!!"


    Meilyn watched in amusement at the idiotic disy in front of her, and she was about to whir up some ice when someone suddenly covered her mouth from behind.


    "Ahaha! Sorry, sorry!"


    It was Jamie Victoria, the temporary ss president. Meilyn iled her arms.


    "Ooop! Mmmm! Mmmmmm!!"


    "Meilyn must have gotten a little upset! But you know she has a soft heart, right? Anyway, we''ll get out of here first! Bye!"


    A deep silence fell over the room as Jamie dragged Meilyn out of the room.


    Everyone was checking to see how udia was about to react.


    As she calmed down, udia''s vipers returned to hair. She covered her face in both embarrassment and tearful frustration, and her friends patted her on the back tofort her.


    Meanwhile…


    "You''re crazy. Crazy!"


    Meanwhile, Jamie, who had grabbed Meilyn and dragged her forcibly out of the lecture room, was giving her spankings like professors would in the past.


    "Hey! Why are you hitting me?!"


    Meilyn blushed and pushed Jamie away. She rubbed her temples and sighed.


    "Come on, uds must''ve been on edge, having thrown away a lot of her security at Kizen. You guys both said too much. ss A all promised to join forces when we met each other at the first BDMAT. Are you really going to sever all ties with uds for the rest of your time at Kizen?"


    "I won''t!"


    Shouted Meilyn.


    "And udia… That douchebag provoked me first, saying that I got my grades by kissing professors'' asses!!"


    "That''s enough~ Meilyn, you''re pretty, so let it go."


    Meilyn squirmed in annoyance as Jamie hugged her tightly.


    "Don''t stick to me! I can feel your sweat!"


    "Make up with udster on, okay?"


    "I don''t want to!!"


    * * *


    * * *


    udia''s boycott had caused quite a stir in Kizen.


    Later in the cafeteria, every student was talking about her.


    "It is a little much, force-feeding students poisons."


    "I can''t believe they''re skipping sses. It''s like they''re challenging Kizen itself."


    "I''m against it. It feels like they''re being too nitpicky with the new professor. They wouldn''t befortable doing something like this about Professor Jane or Bahil."


    "I''m supporting the movement. I''m sick of throwing up."


    Simon, trying to enjoy his bread in the middle of the cacophony of conversations and arguments about the recent events, felt guilt well up from inside for abandoning his ssmate.


    ''Should I do it? Join the boycott?''


    Lunch went by quickly, as the four were lost in their thoughts. After leaving the cafeteria, the four of them headed to the Poisonous Alchemy building to attend Belya''s ss.


    "Guys! Look!"


    Rick pointed to the entrance of the poisonb.


    "Wow! I know they said they were going to do it, but they''re actually doing it! This is getting crazy!"


    A group of students were protesting in front of the Poisonous Alchemy building, all of them holding various signs.


    "Stop poisoning students!"


    "We want to live!"


    The boycotting students were denouncing Belya''s ss.


    Their signs also said, ''Students are people!'' and ''I don''t want to be poisoned!''


    ''Th-That''s awkward.''


    Every time a student entered the building for ss, the protesters red at them as if looks could kill and shouted even louder,


    "Professor Belya''s ss is tyrannical!"


    "Kizen professors shouldn''t abuse their authority!"


    When the four of Group 7 arrived at the building, the students at the entrance spoke especially loud as if they had been waiting.


    Rick remained expressionless, while Camibarez grabbed Simon by the edge of his sleeve out of fright. Simon stood beside Camibarez so they couldn''t see her from the other side.


    "Students are people, too! We''re notb rats!"


    Among them was udia, waving arge red sign and shouting as enthusiastically as anyone.


    When Meilyn spotted her, she snorted and walked away. udia''s searing gaze fixed on Meilyn''s back.


    Then, as soon as they entered the building and could no longer see the crowd, Camibarez and Rick breathed a sigh of relief together.


    "Th-That was horrifying."


    Camibarez hunched over like a frightened rabbit.


    Rick stammered,


    "Did, did you see the way they were ring at us? It was like they were willing to send me to the hospital if it meant I didn''t step inside."


    ''Mmm.''


    Simon had a feeling this protest wouldn''t die down anytime soon.


    "Meilyn, are you okay?"


    Fretted Camibarez, approaching Meilyn.


    "What?"


    "You had a fight with udia back in the ssroom."


    "…I''ve decided I don''t care about her anymore. Let''s go upstairs."


    The four of them entered the lecture room on the third floor.


    It was only five minutes before ss, but the room was still quite sparse. The few students already in the room were chatting animatedly about the issue.


    Rick looked around at the empty seats and said,


    "I''ve been a Kizen for a long time, but I ain''t never seen nothing like this… Hah~"


    "Hahaha, you sound like a third-year!"


    Rick and Camibarez checked on Meilyn''s expression as they tried to lighten the mood, but she still remained as stone-faced as when she walked in the building. She silently pulled out her textbook and opened her notes.


    Momentster, a minute before ss began, Belya''s teaching assistants entered the room and stood against the wall behind where the professor would teach.


    The grim faces on the assistant teachers spoke volumes about how much they had been struggling. Simon even felt a little sorry for them.


    ''It''s always the people caught in the middle who suffer the hardest.''


    Belya wasn''t the kind of teacher who cared about what others thought of her, and she carried her own firm views on education.


    Students were not allowed to speak up in front of the professor for fear of being penalized forining, so they took out their frustrations and resentment on the rtively harmless assistant teachers.


    Having to manage both Belya and the students, it was clear how much the assistant teachers must''ve suffered.


    It wasn''t long before…


    <em>Yaaaaaaawwnnnnnn.</em>


    Belya entered the lecture room, her hands shoved into her coat pockets as she walked with her usual confident gait.


    She didn''t seem to care that a protest was happening just down the hall.


    <em>"Kizen professors shouldn''t abuse their authority!"</em>


    The protestors could still be vaguely heard outside.


    mming the ssroom door behind her, Belya sat sprawled out in her usual chair and snapped her fingers.


    The chief assistant teacher stepped forward and began calling for attendance.


    ''Oh, wow. I''ve never seen the chief assistant teacher''s face so pale.''


    The chief assistant teacher was probably more distressed than anyone else in the room.


    She had repeatedly asked Belya to reduce the amount of poison in each dose or to cut down to two sets of poison in a ss, but she refused every time.


    Eventually, the situation reached this point. She felt responsible for not being able to do more.


    "Coleburn Isle."


    "Here!"


    "Rick Hayward."


    "Here!"


    The chief assistant teacher who was taking attendance frowned. She hesitated, her eyes darting to the outside window before calling out,


    "udia Menzies…"


    "…"


    A heavy silence fell over the room, and of course, there was no answer.


    Feeling sorry for the chief assistant teacher as she awkwardly waited for a response, Jamie, the ss president, raised her hand.


    "udia''s not here, assistant teacher!"


    "Okay, then next."


    And so it went, with the assistant teacher calling out names and Jamie shouting, "Not here!" over and over.


    The mood in the ss quickly sank. After hearing "Not here!" for the final name on the list, the chief assistant teacher screwed her eyes shut momentarily and closed the attendance book.


    "P-Professor, I''ve finished checking the attendance."


    "Yeah, got it."


    Belya, who was scratching her ears without a care in the world, flicked her fingers. An unidentifiable substance exploded in the air like a firecracker.


    "Absent? Protesting sses? What a bunch of bullshit. You''ve gotta be kidding me."


    She casually flipped up to her feet and strode to the front.


    The chief assistant teacher stepped back and stood beside the other assistants, the ones next to her giving a supportive nce.


    "After today''s ss, tell your friends out there…"


    Belya dered, shing her jagged shark-like teeth,


    "I don''t care how much of a shitshow you want to put on. I''m not going to let you change my ways."


    ——