Chapter 191: Chapter 191: Cautious Guidance

"This is the exchange sector," Aileen said, leading the two to a different building instead of walking through many blocks.

The exchange sector didn't refer to a single building but to all of them cumulatively, as it was accessible to students from every year.

It was the place where small distance teleportation gates were placed to go to various facilities spread on the vast expanse inside the Solarnelle Academy.

"From here, you can access many facilities, and as you are the Year Representatives, you can access almost all the portals present here," Aileen explained.

Just as she finished, a staff member greeted her, "Good morning, Professor Aileen."

She nodded at the greeting and said to the two, "Well, follow me inside."

'Thankfully, something like this exists,' Jash thought, happy about portals for the first time as the two followed Aileen closely.

She only stopped at a portal above which the words 'Faculty Block' were written before nodding at the two of them.

She entered the portal wordlessly and disappeared a second later.

Ziva followed first before Jash made his way through, stumbling as he missed a step, engrossed in his thoughts.

"Ugh," he groaned, but had already entered the portal by then.

After the familiar sensation of a slight dizziness, Ziva found herself in front of a massive building, which was the Faculty Block.

Just as Aileen was about to open her mouth, a loud sound interrupted her, prompting both of them to look at the source.

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It was none other than Jash falling on the ground due to the imbalanced state he entered the portal with.

"Argh," he let out a voice of pain, but Aileen was completely dumbfounded, thinking something along the lines of her future protégé turning stupid.

While Ziva stifled a laugh, barely controlling her urge to snicker at Jash for his sheer idiocy.

"Ahem," Aileen coughed to get their attention back and ignore Jash's blunder, feeling strange inside.

'Shit! Just my luck to miss something so obvious,' Jash cursed inwardly, frustration bubbling beneath the surface, but he could only swallow it alongside the embarrassment.

"This building," Aileen said, pointing at the huge building in front of them, "is the Faculty Block." always-on-NovelFire

"It consists of the offices of all the professors inside the Academy, and depending on their status, some professors, like me, have their own floors as well."

Her tone remained flat, but a slight smile tugged at her lips when she mentioned her floor, making it impossible to miss her unmistakable pride.

'She is just as narcissistic as any other professor, just doesn't show it,' Jash thought, trying to keep his footing stable to prevent another accident.

Meanwhile, Ziva asked in confusion, "Status? What do you mean, professor?"

Aileen smiled for the first time. "Just like the students, even the professors are not equal inside the Academy."

Saying so, she began walking towards the Faculty Building which easily had over a total of 30 floors.

While walking, she motioned towards her shoulder and sleeve. "Notice the stars near the Solarnelle Academy insignia?"

Unlike Jash who just gave a curt glance, Ziva leaned closer, noticing that there were indeed three stars along the insignia.

As if pleased by Ziva, or to impress Jash, Aileen explained, "Depending on one's importance, the Academy gives stars to the professors, ranging 1 to 3."

"Well, the Head of Departments or Deans and Vice-Principal have 4 stars, and the Principal has 5," she added as they reached the building.

"Most professors have 1 or 2 stars, but I earned 3 due to me achieving SS-Rank at a young age and my specialization in swords and Ice Element."

Naturally, even the hierarchy between two professors with the same stars differed, but she didn't mention that.

After all, there was next to no chance for the two of them to join the Academy as professors, so she saw no need to explain it.

And anymore self-praising would seem like an overconfident idiot bragging about themselves.

'She really knows the perfect moment to stop,' Jash noticed, looking at her from the corner of his eye as they approached the lift area.

Aileen was in the lead and some strange lights appeared and disappeared, scanning her retina, heartbeat, brain waves and the bracelet on her wrist.

Strangely enough, the entire process was completed within three seconds as if it was made to cut down on the time for identity verification.

"Welcome, Professor Aileen Frostvale," a sudden robotic voice echoed from inside the lift as the lift opened.

She prompted the two of them to enter and only entered after the two had already entered.

she said as all three of them entered the lift.

'Hm? Weren't there only 30 or so floors outside?' Jash narrowed his eyes in doubt at the number of buttons and floors mentioned.

"The floors... there are too many?" Jash blurted out, turning to Aileen, demanding an answer.

This was one thing he didn't know anything about and wanted answers about.

"Oh, that? It was made on purpose to have an appearance that there are lesser floors. Don't ask me why though," Aileen shrugged, not knowing it herself.

At that moment, the lift stopped at Floor 30.

"This is the floor that was given to me," Aileen mentioned, getting out of the lift to check on the various staff members carrying stuff all around the floor.

"Good morning, Professor," anyone who looked her way greeted her before returning to whatever they were doing.

Obviously, they were curious about the ones with Aileen but they quickly recognized them and didn't bother anymore.

They had work to do and it was far more important.

Glancing around, Aileen said, "Let's head to my office."

The two simply nodded and continued to follow her up to a room which had her nameplate above the door frame.

The door opened automatically, and three of them entered the room which had a table in the center with some documents on it.

It was similar to any noble's study, so it seemed normal to the two who directly sat on the sofas at the side after Aileen gestured for them to do so.

She did the same as them, sitting on a sofa opposite them and didn't waste any more time, directly getting to the point.

"Continuing where I left off, every professor has a different status, but so do the student council and its members,"

"And because you both are the Year Representatives, and are now part of the student council, your authority is somewhere between that of a 1-star professor and a 2-star professor."

Looking at the confusion on their faces, she added, "Of course, similar to the YP, your authority can increase or decrease depending on your position in the Student Council,"

"But before you get any wild thoughts, only the Student Council President and Vice-President have authority similar to that of a 2-star professor,"

"And even when considering the Student Council as a whole, it only has authority similar to a 3-star professor,"

"Naturally, with that authority, they can challenge a 3-star professor over some issue, if needed," Aileen finished.

She had been trying to highlight that becoming a 3-star professor was no joke and she was a teacher with quite some authority.

Alas, Jash seemed to have no interest in it and Ziva didn't have that kind of mindset, wondering about the implications.

"What happens if that situation occurs?" she asked, not purely out of curiosity, but to be aware of it just in case.

"Well, voting," Aileen shrugged, "Four votes: one each from the Principal, Vice-Principal, the Head of the Department, and finally, the Student Council itself."

She replied matter-of-factly, disinterested in it as it was a rare situation, to begin with.

Yet ZIva seemed to not care and inquired further, "What if there's a draw?"

Despite getting displeased at the incessant questions, Aileen answered truthfully, "The tiebreaker vote comes from the students itself in that case."

"Or the numerous factions inside the Academy can sway the vote and bring about the result, but it depends on the issue that was raised and various other factors."

"Anyways, that's not what matters for now. What I wanted to discuss was regarding your position in the Student Council,"

"You both have the right to be in the Student Council, but it's not going to be easy, especially after your older brothers made a mess there."

Her voice trailed off at the end, recalling what kind of problems the two caused and then the Princess...

"Well, I, in particular, do not care about it, but it's not the same for your seniors, who had to take care of everything," Aileen said flatly.

"In simple terms, both of them were the Vice-Presidents with the Princess being the president, but two Vice-Presidents was unheard of,"

"So, do you get what I am talking about?" Aileen mentioned in a roundabout manner, wanting to help them.

"Professor, you just mean for us to be wary of our Seniors, right? And just more so beware of the Student Council seniors," Jash shrugged as he said so.

It was as if it had nothing to do with him which was untrue but when was he the kind to care about such things?

In fact, he didn't even care about the consequences of his stupid opening speech, but Aileen had yet to mention it, or would she even.

After all, she wanted to create a good image on Jash and that wasn't something she would get by chiding and scolding him.

But she was smart enough to know that flattery wouldn't work either, it might work on other kids, but on him?

It might as well be counterproductive.

"That's all I wanted to say. You can go back and be ready, maybe you'll meet the Student Council after this," Aileen concluded, gesturing to the opening door.

Nodding at her, the two exited the room silently, having their own set of thoughts.