Chapter 153 – Halted Thoughts
I watched Hela leave while I talked to the demon in my mind.
‘Will you explain now? Why did you ask me to make her my teammate.’
[It’s quite obvious.] The demon chuckled in my mind. [That girl is a treasure. She is beautiful, monstrously talented, and insecure. As long as you play your cards right, you will gain a powerful and loyal subordinate who will never betray you. It’s a no-losing deal.]
My eyes narrowed.
‘Does that mean that you have a way to help her?’
[I do.] The demon nodded. [In fact, she does not need help. Her problem is just that her powers are too strong for her to control. As long as her strength continued advancing, she will eventually learn to control them. Of course, judging from her talent, it will take her decades to reach that level.]
[However, I can help her to shorten the process greatly. With my training, she should be able to control her powers completely in less than one year.] The demon concluded.
I see.
But if the demon can help Hela to control her powers, then–
[I know what you are thinking. You are wondering if that method can be used to help your friend in the hospital, right?]
I nodded.
According to the demon, the nature of Hela’s problem is similar to Karen’s illness. Then, if this method can help Hela, it should be able to help her too.
[Unfortunately, it can’t.] The demon shook his head indifferently. [Although the nature of their problem is the same, the way they manifest is different. Hela’s life drain doesn’t affect her adversely. Quite the opposite, it benefits her. Your friend’s situation isn’t like that. The fragment of the laws inside her is constantly burning her body and mana, making the chances of her controlling it slim. The current me can’t fix that.]
I fell silent before letting out a sigh of disappointment.
It looks like curing Karen won’t be that easy.
Just at that moment, I heard someone behind me.
When I turned around, I saw Jazmine walking over with a complicated expression.
“Did you see that?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I was worried when I saw you rushing like that, so I followed you. I did not expect to witness that.”
I smiled wryly.
“So you saw everything.”
Jazmine let out a forlorn sigh.
“We were just talking about bullying. To think we would meet a case right away.”
“Is there anything you can do?” I asked.
“Unfortunately not.” Jazmine shook her head. “I could have filmed the entire thing and showed it to a teacher, but if I do that, these three girls will be expulsed. I'm not sure that is the best solution.”
“You are right.”
I could understand what Jazmine meant.
Judging from what I saw, Hela did not resist when she was being hit. Quite the opposite, she seemed to be enduring the blows purposefully.
I also noticed a trace of guilt in her eyes when she looked at the girl bullying her.
With just a bit of thought, I could deduce the reason why the girl was hitting Hela. Perhaps, Hela’s out-of-control abilities had harmed someone dear to her.
I don't think that reporting her to a teacher and making her be expulsed is right.
At the very least, it will leave a bad taste in my mouth.
“Don’t think too much about it. I will tell the teacher in charge of your class that Hela could be suffering from bullying and to keep an eye out for her. I think that is the best we can do. Let’s hurry up instead, the celers and eblors are waiting for us.”
I sighed and nodded.
Perhaps that is the only thing we can do for now.
…
Jazmine led me to a classroom in one of the academy’s unused buildings. She told me that the building had been assigned to the eblors and celers during their stay in Sanctuary’s First.
It was to avoid them meeting other students too frequently, leading to conflicts.
But when we arrived at the building, we noticed that something was amiss.
A group of students were standing outside the entrance of the building with angry and hostile expressions. Just from a glance, there were almost fifty of them.
They looked like they were about to rush inside the building at any moment. The only thing stopping them was Teacher Sol, who was blocking the entrance.
“I will repeat it one last time. Go back. There is nothing for you here.”
A student in the front of the group shook his head.
“Teacher, why are you stopping us? Do you know what they are? They are monsters!”
“Maybe.” Teacher Sol’s gaze was cold. “But right now, they are students of Sanctuary’s First. I can’t allow you to attack them.”
“So are you siding with them!?”
Teacher Sol sighed and did not reply.
“Just go back. Otherwise, we will be forced to take disciplinary actions.”
Just at that moment, two groups came out of the building after hearing the commotion.
The eblors and the celers.
As soon as they appeared, the already volatile situation became even tenser.
The eyes of the students became red with anger, and the curses toward the eblors and celers intensified.
Teacher Sol frowned when she saw that.
“Why did you come out?” She asked the celers and eblors.
“Of course, we will come out after hearing this commotion. Can I ask what is happening?”
“Just a small problem, don’t worry. Just go back inside.”
“It doesn’t look like a small problem,” Lily stated.
We arrived in front of the teacher at that moment.
Teacher Sol sighed in relief when she saw us.
“Jazmine, Jane. You came just in time. Take the eblors and celers away, otherwise, I’m afraid a riot will happen here.”
“What happened?” Jazmine asked.
“What else?” Techer Sol snorted. “Some idiot learned that the eblors and celers were staying here and gathered a group of students to come to cause trouble. This is giving me a headache.”
Jazmine and I looked at each other with solemn expressions.
“Understood.” We nodded. Jazmine then looked at the eblors and celers. “Please, follow me. The teacher will take charge of the situation here.”
Fortunately, the eblors and celers did not seem interested in entangling with the humans and agreed to follow us.
Lily even approached me and greeted me cheerfully.
“Hi, Jane!”
But just then, my body quivered.
I felt a sudden surge of hostility coming from the group of students. It appeared so suddenly that I did not manage to react to it.
In the next instant, an object was thrown toward Lily!
The sudden attack caught everyone by surprise. Furthermore, because Lily had come close to me, she was very close to the origin of the attack, making it impossible for anyone to react.
When I noticed the object flying toward Lily, it was already too late to block it.
‘Shit, I need to stop it!’
I instinctively released my mana in an attempt to do something, but it was useless. I did not know any skill that could stop the attack.
But when I thought it was hopeless, something snapped in my mind.
At that moment, my thoughts halted.
And everything around me froze.