"Yohan Strout, hurry up and take a seat. Please don't be too nervous because you are not a suspect. We called you here so that we can protect you against any threat."
Yohan wanted to scoff at the flowery words he heard coming out of the principal's mouth. The man was sweating too much and he got worse as Yohan did not speak up. The principal likely thought that Yohan was in shock.
"Look, I know that you are too shocked to respond to me right now but there is no need for you to worry. The adults will protect you from here on."
Yohan looked the scared principal in the eye, daring him to say anything else. It seemed like there was more than one secret this school was hiding away.
No decent person was this afraid if they did not have anything to hide. But this was something Yohan was not interested in knowing as long as he did not have to.
"Don't worry. I have full confidence in the academy and its defense system. I am sure you will be able to protect me if I am in danger. But may I know why I might be in danger?"
Yohan tried to appear as calm and confident as he could. And as a result, the principal got even more nervous. There was also a hint of devotion and obedience in his gaze which confused Yohan.
"A-Ah, nothing. You are fully protected so there is nothing to worry about. N-Now, you should get back to your classes and you are not under any suspicion. E-Enjoy your day."
The principal quickly sent Yohan away without asking him much. Yohan had been afraid that he would be questioned a lot more than this. But the principal seemed stubborn and determined to get Yohan out.
"Oh, so you were called here as well. So, did you do it? Did you kill Flora?"
The asked was none other than Liza. Her grey eyes sparkled as she asked Yohan this question and she tried to pin Yohan down to make him confess.
But too bad for her, Yohan managed to dodge her attack and then cause her to fall. Liza was a few years too raw to be fighting with Yohan. Especially since she was a problem for him.
"I have a small headache so don't you dare try and test me. I did not kill Flora and I had no reason to get her killed either. I have been proven innocent already so you should watch your words now."
Liza's mouth fell open at Yohan's rebuttal. She was not sued to being talked back to and her behavior reflected it. Seeing her made Yohan wish that she had been the one Diantha had killed instead.
And of course, when disaster struck, it did so in bundles. Since Liza was here, Marvis was not far behind. He watched as Yohan walked past Liza with his shoulder pushing into hers. And that was enough to make him fly off in a rage.
"Y-You! How dare you push Liza like this? Do you have a death wish or something? Do you want me to kill you off?"
Marvis knew how sensitive the situation was but he still did not lower his voice when he made that threat. Many teachers looked at their group, waiting to see if they should interfere or not.
After all, they could not afford to lose another student so soon after Flora. It would make their reputation go down the drain.
Yohan knew this and that was why he was standing on the fence, looking toward the pair in front of him. He almost wanted to dare them into attacking him so that he would have an excuse to get them expelled.
But that would most likely backfire. Liza had made it sound like she was from an influential family and Yohan knew from experience how difficult things could get if he made such an enemy.
"Hey, apologize to Liza right now. She does not deserve-"
"It's alright Marvis, you don't need to interfere. Yohan looks like he has gone through a big shock so I am willing to cut him some slack this time. Of course, he better get himself together soon or my patience will run out as well."
Liza's words sounded like a threat but the lack of bite caused them to fall flat. Even a kid would not feel threatened after hearing Liza's words, much less a fully grown teen like Yohan.
"Yeah sure. Do what you want to do but don't forget - you are the one who needs me and not the other way around. It would do you some good to be humble and consider people other than you."
Johan waved his hands as he left after speaking this. He was sure that neither Liza nor Marvis would consider his words to be of any use though. He could feel it in thier aura and thier magic.
These kinds of people did not know what to do when thier authority was challenged and it was because they were privileged.
The person Yohan ran into after those two was the very person who had caused this situation - Diantha. Her innocent expression and wide blue eyes made her look innocent. Even her act made it seem like she had not done anything.
Therefore, it was a pity that Yohan had to confront Dinatha about why she did that.
"Did things go alright in the principal's office? I can go and talk to the principal if you are bothered by something. I'm sure he would listen to me"
And Yohan also had a feeling that the principal would be dead if Diantha had her way. And so would Liza and Marvis.
"No. Let him be for now since the principal is a fool and not bothering us. As long as he does not look too deeply into what we are doing, he should be worth keeping around."
Besides, from listening to the principal talk, Elysia had gotten the feeling that he would be kept safe by this principal. The fear Yohan had seen in his eyes seemed genuine along with the awe.
Maybe Liza was not the only one who managed to find out the truth about Yohan and his connections to the temple. Maybe the principal knew as well and that was why he was willing to keep quite.
"Yohan, are you sure you don't want me to cut off more rotten ends. It will not be healthy to let them fester."
"Of course not. But now is not the time to get rid of people left and right. We need to lay low for some time and wait for this situation to blow over first."
Unfortunately for Yohan, things would not be as easy as he was making them out to be. Especially since the security department would soon get involved to check things out.
And who else could be sent here but Bernetta and Shizue? The redhead had finally gotten permission to head to the academy after multiple submissions and Shizue had been dragged behind her.
It was a surprise to see that thier arrival had been marked just as a murder mystery popped up in the academy but Bernetta was not complaining.
"Man, what lousy luck we managed to get. We have to get to work as soon as we arrived here."
"Bernetta, stop complaining and follow me. We need to get to the principal's room before we can move around freely."