The young man was taken aback but quickly stepped forward. With a nervous expression, he began to recall every detail of his actions.
Although he hadn't done anything wrong, the fear of arousing suspicion and facing the Eighth Elder's infamous cruelty weighed heavily on his mind however that was only inside his subordinates for the average people in the village he was their hero.
Initially, the Eighth Elder had been known as a kind and gentle figure. However, as he grew older and lost his descendants to old enemies, he became increasingly senile and cruel over time.
His grandson had been the only remaining family member, and the Elder had doted on him dearly. But now, with his grandson's death, it seemed that the last straw that had kept the old man sane had been broken.
The man was surprised that the Eighth Elder remained silent instead of going berserk, and he couldn't help but wonder why. Still, he didn't falter as he finished giving all his details and bowed while patiently waiting.
Noah seemed to have a thoughtful expression as he said, "You can go back now."
"Yes, village leader," the man said with a sigh of relief and went back.
"Next," Noah announced.
One by one, all of them started to describe what they did and why everyone had gone to the market. Finally, after a troublesome hour, Aur's turn finally came.
"I greet the leader and the elder," Aur said, expressing himself with a stoic demeanour, which went unacknowledged. He himself didn't care and proceeded to give them his summary.
"I went to the market; however, I didn't want my maid following me, so I went alone and found a guy there to guide me. He welcomed me to the biggest shop in the place, and there I got my first magic book...." Aur narrated with an expressionless tone, similar to most others in the room.
The Ninth Elder nodded his head expressionlessly.
Noah frowned, a smile appearing on his face. "Were you the one who beat my disciple?"
Aur had a confused expression on his face, but he suddenly recalled his previous vision.
"Oh, I forgot, I haven't announced it yet, but Williams is my disciple now officially..." Noah declared expressionlessly.
Instantly, the entire room buzzed as teachers and students looked at Noah in disbelief. Noah had only taken Williams when he was with the elders and the news wasn't spread yet which caused everyone to be clueless that Williams was Noah, the patriarch's disciple.
"Yes, leader, I beat him up," Aur said expressionlessly.
Noah's eyes narrowed as he looked at Aur, while Aur just stood tall like a mountain. A strange silence descended on the scene as everything seemed to have become frozen.
The teachers were strangely silent, which caused the others to fall into silence as well, while the Eighth Elder had uncaring eyes.
"Hahaha." The strange silence lasted only for a minute before it broke with the laughter of Noah, which resounded in the entire room.
"Good, good, I like you. You are courageous," Noah said with a thumbs up. "You can go now."
"It's alright, Eighth Elder. Everyone makes mistakes," Noah said as his smile brightened.
"Very well, then, students, you can all return to your own classrooms. Remember to work hard if you want to stay inside the academy," Noah said as he beckoned, and everyone went away, including the teachers.
However, almost everyone had a confused expression on their faces.
"Why did you even call us then?"
...
"I will leave as well, Village Leader. I have an important thing to do, which might need some preparation. Hope you can forgive me."
Noah patted the old man with a brother's hug and greeted him out of his office.
As he returned, the friendly smile turned into a cold expression as he seated back into his own.
Knock! Knock!
Suddenly, he heard a knock, which made a frown appear on his face as he looked at the door as if he could see right through it.
"Come in."
The cold voice of his rang in the air, and the door opened, revealing a pink-haired beauty in a kimono. From the kimono, you could see a huge knocker in her chest area.
As she came in, swinging her curvaceous figures that had all the fat in the right place.
"Father, why are you frowning?" she asked with a curious expression.
"Just the Eighth Elder's son was killed, and it became troublesome..." Noah said with a frown.
"Huh, why is it troublesome for you, Father?"
When Noah heard this, he didn't reply. Instead, he looked at his daughter. "Why are you interested in other matters? You should train instead, Amelia," he said with a stern expression.
"Yes, Father," Amelia replied in a deflated state.
"Good," Noah replied as he started to talk. "Do you know who killed the man?"
"Isn't that supposed to still be under investigation, Father?" she asked with a curious expression.
"No," Noah replied with a sneer on his face. "Do you think, after having such surveillance, we would let the murderer slip by besides the murderer has a living evidence following him around."