"Down with Robin Burton!"

"Down with the tyrant!"

"We don't want you in the Academy!"

"Leave, Robin! Leave, Robin!!"

From the very gates of the Academy building and across several adjoining streets, the protests were at their peak.

Thousands of young men and women had gathered, their angry chants echoing through the campus.

All of them were demanding the same thing — the expulsion of the hated professor, Robin Burton.

"Umm… elder brother, perhaps we should wait for a bit," Shaddad said, patting Robin's shoulder carefully.

Jabba nodded several times before stepping forward to close the door again. "That sounds like a reasonable idea."

"Tsk~ Do you think I'll change my plans because of a few noisy brats?" Robin flicked his hand dismissively toward Shaddad, then placed both hands behind his back as he descended the stairs. His eyes gleamed with challenge, sharp and fearless.

"Out of my fuckin' way!"

"...D–Down with Robin Burton!!"

The students instinctively opened a path for him.

Even though they despised him from the bottom of their hearts, they still couldn't suppress the fear that came with the title Professor.

"Step back a bit, please!"

"Move aside, please!"

Jabba and Shaddad moved quickly, walking at Robin's sides, pushing back the crowd to clear his path. Both of them knew all too well — Robin didn't care about the students, their families, or anyone else. If someone so much as brushed against him, bones would start breaking in seconds.

"...."

Robin continued walking calmly through the mass of furious students, his face composed and unreadable.

Yet anyone who truly knew him — anyone who noticed the veins pulsing across his forehead — would understand just how enraged he was inside.

What was wrong with them exactly? Was all this uproar because he had called them soul creatures and thrown a few punches during training?

Youth these days — completely unreliable!

"Hm?" Robin suddenly stopped.

He even took a step back, narrowing his eyes at a certain direction.

"Hey, I remember you from the Student War. You're a professor, aren't you? Your name was… Professor Simban, I think? Are you kidding me now?!"

"Down with Ro—"

The man Robin pointed at was an elderly professor with a long mustache that reached down to his belly.

But the moment Robin stood before him, the man went silent, backing up quickly to hide among the students.

"Elder brother, maybe we should keep moving," Shaddad whispered, placing a hand on Robin's shoulder when he felt the man's murderous intent rising — it looked like he was about to leap after the poor professor and beat him senseless.

"Tsk~ What a bizarre academy… weird students, weird Professor…" Robin grumbled as he resumed walking, muttering under his breath with every step.

At last, he reached the front of the grand building belonging to the Academy's Monarch, and he raised his head, speaking out loud and clear:

"Your Majesty, free me from this headache and pull me to your office. Bring Shaddad and Jabba with me — don't leave them among these beasts... we need to talk."

Whoosh!

In an instant, Robin vanished from the middle of the protests, disappearing like a gust of wind.

But the protests didn't stop — the crowds continued to shout in front of the Sovereign's building.

Then — whoosh whoosh — Jabba and Shaddad were pulled away as well.

"...?" Shaddad blinked, noticing the sudden shift in the scenery around him.

It took him only a second to recognize the place — and the person sitting behind the grand ornate desk.

He immediately straightened and gave a respectful bow. "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Then he grabbed Jabba by the head, forcing him to bow too.

"Ah—" Jabba snapped out of his shock and quickly followed along. "G-Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Shaddad, I saw you clearing the way for Professor Burton like one of the guards. Have you changed professions now?"

From behind her desk, Althera gave a small amused smile.

"Hah, hah, I'm just helping however I can," Shaddad replied, nodding several times in embarrassment.

"...May we sit down?"

"Do as you please." Althera waved her hand lightly, then her eyes shifted toward Jabba.

"...And who exactly is this?"

Snap!

Robin lifted his hand and snapped his fingers sharply right in front of Althera's eyes, the sound echoing through the ornate chamber like a spark igniting tension. "Your Majesty, I'm right here," he said in an exasperated tone. "Please, focus on me — not on the ones behind me. I came here for a reason."

"...I can see that," Althera replied coolly, her voice calm but carrying a weight that filled the air like frost. Slowly, she turned her gaze back toward him, her silver eyes narrowing. "But tell me, Robin Burton, don't I at least have the right to know who this person is — the one you demanded be brought into my office without prior notice?"

"He's with me. That's all you need to know." Robin frowned slightly, crossing his arms behind his back. "Is there a problem, Your Majesty? Because your expression isn't exactly... friendly."

The coldness in Althera's eyes deepened until it almost felt like the temperature in the room dropped. "The problem, Professor Burton," she said icily, "is that you place yourself on a throne far too high above others."

"Because I belong on that throne!" Robin snapped back with biting confidence. His patience was wearing thin after what he had seen outside — the shouting, the disrespect, the chaos. "What's the matter, Your Majesty? Did I offend your pride somehow? I've already received enough affection from your Academy today," he said with sarcasm dripping from every word. "If you don't want me here, then fine — I'll leave right now."

Then, without waiting for a response, he stood up abruptly. "I never wanted to set foot in this place to begin with. The Cosmic Elder sent me because he wronged me. You were the one who insisted I become a professor here, against my will. I don't owe this place anything — not its people, not its students, and not even you. And now, because I disciplined a few useless brats, I'm being treated like a villain?" His tone rose with anger as the aura around him trembled faintly. "You frown at me, professors curse my name, and students chant for my downfall... Have you all forgotten who I am, Lady Althera?!"

With that, he reached into his space ring and pulled out a metallic slate, slamming it onto the table. The sharp clang resonated through the chamber. "My duty here is finished. Send me out. I'll take my followers and leave immediately."

"..." Jabba swallowed hard, his pulse quickening. He didn't know exactly what it meant to be a *Monarch*" but since the proud and dangerous Robin addressed her as Your Majesty, that meant she was someone far beyond ordinary mortals. Was it really wise to raise his voice before such a being?

".....?" Althera raised one elegant eyebrow, her lips curving faintly — not into a smile, but something colder. "Do you honestly think all that anger outside was because you hit a few students?"

"What else could it possibly be?" Robin scowled, glaring back. "Do you people have some personal vendetta against me now?"

"It's because of Substitute Instructor Morgana," Althera replied calmly, gesturing toward a chair, silently urging him to sit back down. "Everyone fears that now that you've returned, she'll stop teaching. That's why they want you gone."

"Morgana...?" Robin's expression shifted. His brows tightened as he muttered thoughtfully, "Come to think of it... the lecture hall was unusually full, even though she's been gone for five years. Don't tell me Morgana has that kind of influence here?"

"Far more than you could ever imagine," Althera replied, her tone steady, but her gaze sharp as a blade. "She's the most beloved instructor in the entire Academy — admired by the students, respected by the professors. Her lessons are said to inspire even the faintest sparks of talent into blazing light. The Academy's enrollment numbers have risen by fifteen percent since she started teaching."

"That's... quite something," Robin admitted, nodding slowly as an amused glint flickered in his eyes. A faint smirk began to form, though he quickly masked it, locking his gaze back onto Althera's. "Still, what does her popularity have to do with me? Why are you angry?"

"Because she refuses the title of Full Professor," Althera said, her tone deepening. "She insists on remaining only a substitute teacher — and she claims the reason is you."

"Of course she says that. She's mine," Robin answered calmly but with pride in his voice, his chin lifting slightly. "But what's not normal is that you're using that information against me — leaking it to stir unrest, hoping to push me into a corner. Tell me, Your Majesty... what exactly do you hope to gain from that?"

Althera leaned back completely in her chair, her long hair flowing behind her like strands of light, and crossed her arms gracefully. Her tone softened but grew even more dangerous. "You once promised me a way to ascend my strength," she reminded him, "in exchange for the first and second volumes of the Soul Atlas. I am holding you to that promise."

Then, her gaze turned sharper than a blade of divine steel.

"I'll release you from your promise... but in return, I want Morgana."

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