Chronos Hall.
In the inner sections, below the principal’s office, lay a vast, cavernous room with an air of cold authority.
Dim lights flickered from enchanted stones embedded within the walls, casting an eerie glow that made the shadows shift and dance.
At the center of the room, a raised podium stood illuminated by a singular beam of light descending from the ceiling, focused and piercing, as if pointing out a prisoner in judgment.
Stepping onto the platform, I felt a strange sense of irony.
The last time I’d been in this council room, it was to receive an award.
Now, though, I was here to be tried. What a twist of fate.
The lights around the room adjusted, one by one, their beams narrowing and converging until they focused directly on me.
A translucent barrier formed around the podium, sealing me within a dome of shimmering magic.
The dimness of the room gradually lifted, and, for the first time, I could see the faces of the academy staff lined up before me—some cold and detached, others tense and wary.
In that moment, standing there with all eyes trained on me, I felt the weight of each gaze.
I had once believed these people stood as mentors and guides, but now they looked upon me as though I were something dangerous, a threat.
Their appearances were telling.
Nearly every professor bore bandages—especially around their arms and faces, like remnants of some battle.
I scanned their expressions, taking in the familiar faces of professors, including Professor Ferdinand, who was standing just behind Dean Gale.
As Professor Ferdenand wasn’t technically a dean now i wondered what he was doing here, but didn’t ponder on it for too long.
Both of them looked away the moment I caught their eyes, shifting uncomfortably, as though they didn’t want to acknowledge my gaze.
Their nervousness was unmistakable; it matched the apprehension I’d sensed in Professor Amelia earlier.
But why?
What could I have possibly done to make them all so wary?
And what exactly happened while my mind was…gone?
Just then, a commanding voice rang out, echoing with an air of authority and finality.
“We shall now commence the investigation regarding student Riley Hell’s actions. Whether or not he is to be subjected to punishment will depend on the findings of this trial. As an institution of education and scholarly accomplishments, the academy is committed to considering every piece of evidence with utmost impartiality.”
The principal’s voice carried across the room with a crispness that allowed no interruptions.
“Punitive actions, in regards to both student Riley’s status within the academy and his personal standing, shall proceed only after careful examination of today’s proceedings. Any decisions affecting the Hell family’s noble reputation will, naturally, be communicated to them without delay to uphold the academy’s code of conduct.”
Principal Leilah, seated in the high-backed chair that marked her place of authority, was conducting this trial herself, with a ferocity in her gaze I hadn’t seen before.
Yet, beneath that fiery stare was something I hadn’t expected—a hint of nervousness.
[Note: The principal is older than your mother…. chances of making a child 12%]
Huh….?
Wtf is this thing suddenly talking about?
‘….You…. Did you really get updated?’
[Note: Yes!]
…
As the principal finished, Professor Amelia, seated anxiously beside her, stood up, shuffling a stack of files with trembling hands.
Her voice quivered slightly as she addressed the room, yet she pushed through, reading from the documents in her grip.
“Given the nature of this trial and its direct impact on a high-ranking noble of the Germonia Empire, the academy has arranged for today’s results to be conveyed to the Emperor before any formal actions are implemented. Student Riley Hell, who stands here accused, is charged with attempted murder and the unnecessary and excessive use of force,” she announced, her gaze dropping to me with a mixture of fear and uncertainty. “Due to the gravity of these accusations, it is imperative that you provide nothing but the full truth, as today’s findings will be relayed to the crown, to whom your family has sworn loyalty.”
Professor Amelia’s words, though formal, carried an undertone of tension.
The mere mention of the Emperor’s involvement brought a ripple of unease through the gathered staff, each looking more uncomfortable than the last.
It was no small thing to have their actions and decisions scrutinized by the empire’s highest authority.
For the academy, a place dedicated to neutrality and the pursuit of knowledge, being subject to the
Emperor’s will was more than just an inconvenience—it was a blow to the very principles they held dear.
To have their autonomy compromised, even in a situation as severe as this, wasn’t just a matter of pride but a violation of the institution’s core ideals.
Dean Gale watched everything unfold with a heavy sigh, a mixture of frustration and resignation evident on his face.
They had gathered to interrogate and reprimand one student, yet the entire affair had spiraled into an extraordinary complication.
In any ordinary case, they would have simply issued a punishment to address the considerable damage Riley had caused that day.
But Riley wasn’t an ordinary student.
A noble of significant rank or rather connections, bound to the Emperor, he represented a complexity that meant they couldn’t touch him so lightly.
The situation had become a headache.
Weighing the pros and cons was simple, but the stakes were anything but.
They weren’t technically to blame, but addressing the incidents surrounding Riley—a student who had managed to wreak havoc across the academy staff, many of whom were regarded as legendary figures or almost mythical in their own right—would seem ridiculous to anyone who heard the full story.
Reporting to the Emperor would demand that they admit an entire staff of the academy’s most esteemed members had been bested by a single student.
Dean Gale almost chuckled at the absurdity of it all.
Who would believe that the guardians and pillars of knowledge and magical prowess had been beaten down by a lone academy student?
Still, he had no choice.
Standing up, Dean Gale took a deep breath, looking over at Riley, whose expression remained unreadable.
He reached forward and pressed the purple button embedded in his podium, its light flashing as it emitted a deep purple glow.
Riley’s own podium rotated, aligning him directly with the dean’s gaze.
“Student Riley Hell… can you explain why and for what purpose you did what you did during the mysterious dungeon breach at the academy’s grand library?” Dean Gale’s voice carried a weight of both authority and apprehension.
With a swift motion, he pressed the purple button once more, and holographic images and video feeds materialized around him.
They displayed a chaotic sequence of events—flickering images and grainy scenes of the fateful day, each documenting the unexpected violence and chaos.
The recordings, though affected by the mana density within the area, left the nature of the evidence unmistakable.
With a wave of his hand, Dean Gale manipulated the images, isolating one in particular.
It loomed large in front of Riley—a vivid, chilling display of Riley’s hands wrapped around a fellow student’s neck, squeezing with a frightening intensity.
The student in the scene, Lucas, struggled and writhed, the light in his eyes dimming as Riley seemed almost mechanical in his ruthlessness, focused on nothing but the act of choking the life out of his target.
“R-Riley!? Let him go… No, Lucas!” came the muffled, panicked voice of Janica, captured in the static of the recording stone’s memory.
Though the quality was poor, her desperation cut through the noise as she screamed for Riley to stop.
Riley’s own eyes widened, the confusion and shock raw on his face as he took in the holographic display before him.
Each scene played like a nightmare he had somehow forgotten.
The flickering images showed him confronting the academy staff, each attempt to subdue him futile as he dispatched anyone who dared intervene.
One by one, the staff fell, either struck down or incapacitated by his hand, his movements so calculated, almost mechanical in their brutality.
Dean Gale’s gaze held firm as he watched Riley’s reaction, a mixture of skepticism and guarded empathy crossing his face.
“The evidence is clear, Riley,” he said slowly. “What you see here happened under the watchful eye of the academy’s recording spells, and the accounts we have from witnesses leave no room for doubt.”
“Second Year Student of the Knight Department, Riley Hell, please provide an answer for your actions….”
“….”
Riley ignoring his words continued to watch all the unknown scenes that laid before him…
…
‘That’s… me?’
The shock rooted me in place, my mind struggling to reconcile the broken images flickering before me.
There was no mistaking it—the figure shown, distorted and rough as the recording was, had my face, my form.
But as I continued watching, a deep disconnect pulsed through me, stretching farther with every passing second.
The person on the screen… was me, but also not me.
I couldn’t deny the physical resemblance, but something felt inherently wrong.
The hazy, unseeing eyes reflected in those scenes were unfamiliar, a vacant gaze I didn’t recognize.
It was like staring at a hollow version of myself, a shadow caught in an act I had no recollection of choosing.
A strange sensation welled up in my chest, a cascade of emotions surging to the surface in fragments—frustration, disgust, fear, disappointment, even anger.
Each feeling sharpened as fractured memories began clawing their way back, bits and pieces of that day bleeding into my mind like ink into water.
