Chapter 16 - Threat

I stared at Derek, crying on the floor. I had to admit that I hadn't seen that coming. Demons didn't usually cry. However, Derek clearly wasn't a normal demon by any means, well if he really was one.

"You guys can come back, we're done," I announced loudly.

"Are you both done?" Alexandra uttered, peeking ever so slightly on the other side of the door.

"Yes." I turned toward him. "Oh, actually I still have one thing to do."

I bent right next to Derek and placed my hand on his hand infusing mana into it. I had decided to change his memories about what had happened at the end. I still made myself win. However, I had made sure to show him that it had been a lot closer than what it actually had been. I didn't want him to spread rumors about my strength. Also, I removed the part where his eyes started changing colors, that way he wouldn't suspect me.

Still, I didn't think he would do such a thing, the demons I faced on the battlefield would have never done such a thing. There was a good chance that the demons who had infiltrated the human society were a lot smarter than those I had faced beforehand, and that was quite a scary thought to have.

"Alright, done." I slowly stood back up. "We're done now."

Derek opened his eyes again and frowned as new memories entered his mind. His anger subdued ever so slightly.

"This was pure luck. If you didn't have that bag around your hips I would have won for sure."

The director frowned, wondering just how much of a delusional person Derek was. However, I just shook my head, indicating to her that his words were normal.

Derek was now acting all nice as if nothing had just happened. I didn't want to alert him; who knows, maybe there were other professors like him in the Royal Academy like him. I needed to be careful with what I had just found out.

'Should I go see the Emperor with the information I just got?' I thought this seemed like the best idea for the moment. Alexandra wasn't someone I could trust with such information, she hadn't proved herself as someone trustworthy.

"Darla. You can open your eyes now."

I giggled when I looked over in her direction as she was still completely turned around with her eyes closed. It seemed she listened to me pretty well; we had definitely gotten a lot closer compared to when I met her last week. It was actually nice to have gotten this close with a student of mine.

Her eyes darted toward Derek, who was on the ground, blood trickling out of his mouth. She gasped and stared at me for a good second, expecting me to explain.

"Yeah, that's why I didn't want you to see what would be happening." It was half the truth, but she didn't need to know that.

She just nodded, her eyes glued to me. She knew I had been part of the war, and if this much shocked her, then she hadn't seen much. Still, she knew that I was a lot more powerful than I let it show. 

The director's sharp voice drifted me from my thoughts. "Caedrel. In my office, now."

Well, I didn't expect any less. She should be furious that I completely ridiculed his close-combat professor in...close combat. It was a bit embarrassing, to be honest. So, what kind of punishment would I be receiving? A slap on the wrist? Maybe she would praise me? I couldn't wait to find out.

***

"Sit there." Her voice was hoarse and direct. She wasn't planning on letting me speak from the looks of it. All her magic beasts had their eyes glued on me, staring me down as if I was their greatest enemy. They were probably feeling their owner's emotions.

Either way, I took my seat and put on the same pose as I would with the commander, with both my hands on my knees.

"Let me ask you a question."

"Sure, go for it."

She frowned. "What was that at the end?"

Alexandra knew of my strength. At least, that's what I thought. Before I would answer her questions, I needed to go over what she knew about me.

"Enough about that. Did the Emperor contact you or not?"

"The Emperor?" She frowned heavily. "He just told me that you would enter the Royal Academy as a professor. That's it, why?"

I nodded slowly, thinking about what my next answer would be. After all, if the Emperor hadn't told Alexandra anything just yet then I needed to be careful around her. There might have been a change in the Emperor's plan and I needed to figure it out as fast as possible.

"Right, that's what I thought. Thanks for telling me."

She sighed angrily. "Now that I answered your question. You better answer mine right now."

I shook my head. "I saw something that pissed me off."

"So, let me get this straight." She leaned over her desk. "You humiliated a fellow teacher in front of a student of yours because you saw something that pissed you off? What kind of thing was that?"

'Demonic eyes.'

"You don't need to know."

I received a dangerous glare from Alexandra when I answered. However, as soon as I looked back into her eyes, she calmed herself. She knew that she was no match against me.

This entire situation was starting to annoy me greatly. I had respected her warnings and I hadn't killed or permanently injured that stupid demon, so why was she so mad against me? It made no sense at all.

After a few moments, she just sighed. "You just don't get it, do you? Derek isn't a new professor. He's been here for five years now, and over the years, he's made a ton of connections within the Royal Academy. It won't be hard for him to make your life a living hell. You could have just let yourself get beaten up a little, and he would have left you alone. He's not the type to drop those kinds of things."

"Letting myself get beaten up? After what he said and what I saw?" I shook my head. "Never. That will never happen."

"I understand, but please listen to me just once. You should make yourself discreet; you don't want to get on his bad side."

I scoffed. "I think it's too late for that. He already hates me to the core."

"Whatever. Try to be nice to him; he's one of the professors with the most influence in the Royal Academy."

I didn't answer and just shrugged. I wasn't going to act like a puppy just because he had some "influence." I never gave a single shit about influence in my life, and I wasn't going to start now.

There was no point in continuing this conversation, so I just stood up and headed for the door. No one in this Academy could control me, and this was also probably one of the reasons why the Emperor had chosen me as his spy. He must have noticed something weird was going on in here.

Those eyes. They don't inspire any good.

Still, at least I would have something to do in the next two weeks. I would be watching over Derek's every movement. I would learn everything about him, no matter what it was. And if I learn that he's really a demon, then...uh, who knows what I'll do. The situation will be a lot more complicated. So let's hope that he isn't one.

I opened the door to the director's office and looked back at her. "One last thing, I'm a very easygoing person. But don't push it too far, or else I might not be as nice. You better keep that in mind in the future."

She frowned. "Are you threatening me?"

I smiled. "Just a friendly warning, nothing more, nothing less."

I closed the door and headed to my room. Things were starting to get a lot more complicated than I had thought. Well, compared to the war, this is also pretty fun. I fell on my bed and closed my eyes, my face turned toward the ceiling.

"Ah...fucking demons. I thought I had gotten rid of them." A sigh escaped my mouth. "Well, I won't complain. Life without you little fuckers would have been a lot more dull."