I had just seen Ariella awaken her powers before anyone, and it seemed she had just as much as strength as the other elves. In fact, the amount of energy she managed to endure for her first time was definitely something that I hadn’t expected whatsoever.
I was a bit doubtful that Mother Nature hadn’t helped her because this was her first time, but it was an accomplishment nonetheless; killing such a strong beast with a single gust of wind was definitely impressive, and having the energy to do so was also impressive.
Nevertheless, what truly mattered was the fact that I had to look into the goblin’s body. I was already quite sure that he had been tampered with by either demons or people affiliated with them.
However, it was important that I figure out how to counter all of this. Otherwise, it would definitely cause problems for us in the long run.
As I said before, if they were able to mass-produce strong monsters like those. Then, we were doomed. Not a lot of humans, elves, etc… could deal with such a powerful monster one-on-one.
Seeing the goblin’s body, I grabbed onto my sword tightly and repeated what I had done to the Cyclops back then.
Green, thick blood exploded everywhere onto my face in an instant. However, it left me indifferent as I didn’t even close my eyes in the process. The playtime was over; I couldn’t stay so nonchalant about a lot of things anymore. It was time for me to become a lot more serious, especially with this discovery.
I opened up the goblin’s ribcage, and within seconds, I managed to get a look at his insides. Everything was black, and more importantly, his heart was black, which meant that he had been demonized just like I had thought previously.
‘Ah…I don’t know anything about this stuff. I need someone I trust to get a good look at it…’ I thought in the back of my mind.
I wanted to find a person who could be good at analyzing stuff like that and also find answers. However, the hardest part was finding someone I could trust. There weren’t many people that I actually trusted in my life.
‘Ava!’ I exclaimed in my mind.
The more I thought about it. The more I realized that she was absolutely perfect for the job. On the one hand, it would be a test that I give her to know if I can truly know her, and she would also be included in the return of the demons.
‘I would need to give her this heart before I leave for the Snowy Mountains, though.’
I guess I could leave my students for a short moment to go and do such a thing. I grabbed the heart, placed it in my bag, and slapped my fingers again.
“Art, please protect everyone here if a monster arrives. If you don’t, I will contact your father.”
Art frowned right away, coming out of his reverie.
“My father? Pfft, you don’t know my father. You can’t threaten me.”
“Oh yeah, but I’m pretty sure I do know him. After all, I’m the one who helped him perfect that swordsmanship of yours.”
Art opened his mouth, but words got stuck in his throat.
“A-Are you…”
“Yes. Now, listen to me and protect everyone here, or your father will learn about everything.”
He nodded fervently as he pulled out his sword, looking around.
“I won’t be gone for long. However, please be careful while I’m gone. I do not feel any monsters nearby since that goblin had killed most of them, but there is a chance that a lot of them were hiding and might come out now that the goblin is dead. Anyways, even if Art is there, make sure to also protect yourselves.”
After saying those words, I turned around and started running as fast as I could toward the Academy Grounds.
Within a few minutes of running at my top speed, I arrived at the Royal Academy, and there seemed to be some drama happening as dozens of people were in front of the gates, shouting.
“Why didn’t the Academy inform us of this decision?!”
“They will all die out there!”
“Fire that guy!”
“By bringing them there, all of them will die!”
It was all the same type of thing. However, I didn’t really care as I just pushed to the side of those individuals, making my way to the gate.
“Sorry.”
I pushed one guy.
“Sorry, got to get through.”
I pushed a woman this time around.
“Sorry.”
However, as I started to push people to create a path for myself. I started to get noticed by a few people, and it seemed I wasn’t the most welcomed there…
“I-Is that their professor?!” A woman shouted out of nowhere, bringing all the attention to me.
“It is! He’s the bastard who brought all his students to the Snowy Mountains.”
“He’s alone…don’t tell me that…” Someone muttered as tears appeared in their eyes.
I clicked my tongue, annoyed by their behavior.
“Nothing happened. I’m here to deliver something to one of my fellow teachers before I actually leave.”
Most of them took a deep breath, happy that was the case. After all, they all imagined the worst. It was only natural.
“Also, none of your children will die. I will make sure of that. Now, please let me go through. The more time I spend here, the more time I will spend away from your children.”
“And where are they?! Where did you bring them?”
“Oh, that. I left them in the Royal Forest for a few minutes. Don’t worry, they’re pretty strong. They won’t get killed while I’m not there.”
This time, the reaction was even worse than before, as they could no longer trust that I would protect all of them in the Snowy Mountains.
“Y-YOU WHAT?! There’s a reason the Royal Forest is nicknamed the Death Forest! Almost everyone who enters it dies!”
“And what about it?” I asked, confused about their complaint.
