Ch 29: It's going to be a long day [pt1]

'I wish Emily had allowed me to stay home today. I have a bad feeling about going to school.'

For some reason, the sky looked a little gloomy to Rachael that day. She had asked Emily to let her stay behind once more during the morning hours. But Emily had refused to consider it as an option. 

Ultimately, Rachael had to get up early and walk to her school. But it was a good distraction, and she was happy to head to school.

Just as Rachael had expected, she was the first to reach school that day. It was a daily occurrence for her, so she was not surprised. 

On the contrary, the ones who were surprised to see her reach school that early were her teachers and classmates. The janitor had even stared at Rachael when she had entered the classroom to clean it.

The news of what had happened to her had spread around quickly. Rachael had noticed how the janitor looked at her with concerned eyes while he cleaned.

And he was not the only one who gave her weird looks. Her teachers also looked worried. One even approached Rachael during the second period.

"Rachael, is everything alright with you back home? There was no need for you to come to school today. You are a diligent student, but you should take care of yourself. Look, even your teacher took a day off today because of what happened yesterday."

The teacher looked back at her with a concerned look. Rachael had never had a conversation before. And she was not about to tell a stranger what was happening in her home.

"I am alright. Emily asked me to stay home, but I wanted to attend school. I love to learn new things, and I like school as well."

Rachael spoke half of the lies, and the other half of her sentence was truthful. She did like to come to school, but today was the first time she wanted to bunk. She had even advised Emily to let her stay home.

Ultimately, Emily denied Rachael's request, and the young one had to attend school.

"O-Oh, then you must be really... diligent to come to school in your current condition. If only half of my students were as good as you. I would have an easier time teaching."

The teacher praised Rachael before she awkwardly walked away. The teacher no longer spent time on Rachael because the young girl made her feel bad.

Rachael let the teacher leave once the conversation was over. There was no point in prolonging the talk after that.

The young girl headed back to her classroom and sat down. I

Once it was lunch time, Rachael felt the curious eyes of other students looking at her. All the other students who accompanied Rachael into the dungeon were absent today. She was the only one who could quench these hungry kid's curiosity.

And they all got to ask her questions once the teachers were absent.

"Hey Rachael, how was the dungeon visit? Is it as scary and gloomy as my mother says?"

"You idiot! It was a low-level dungeon. My brother says it is safe for babies to go into a low-level dungeon."

Another classmate interfered before Rachael could even answer the first question. 

Her classmates were making it evident that they did not want Rachael to answer them. They only wanted to ask her questions and gather the other students. All these kids wanted was some attention.

"Hey, Rachael, hurry up and answer me! Was the dungeon scary? Did you get hurt? What about monsters? Did you see any?"

Finally, about five minutes after the first question was asked, the conversation returned to Rachael. In the meantime, Rachael had finished eating her sandwich and her juice.

She looked at the children in front of her and sighed. What should she say to make the interest of these kids reach zero? The more she wanted to avoid this topic, the more it seemed to be rearing its ugly head.

"The dungeon was…normal. There was an open field we could run in and a lot of trees. I don't remember anything else that was of importance in there."

Rachael tried to downplay how scary the dungeon had been. She did not want to give these kids more fodder for their thoughts. 

She had to say that she was lucky. None of these kids had an idea of what happened to Rachael.

That thought lasted until the quiet kid in the back let out a startled laugh. All the kids turned their heads to look at him. 

"Hey, nerd, do you have something to say?"

The kid who was acting like the leader of the class could not keep his mouth quiet. To him, the nerd's actions felt like a provocation of war. And that was something he could not allow.

"I am just astonished that you all don't know what happened. Did your parents not tell you the 'real' truth about the dungeon incident from yesterday? Well, unlike you, my parents keep in the know."

The nerd pretended to be superior by telling the class his secret knowledge.

Rachael did not fall for the provocation, but the same could not be said for the rest of the class. 

They all looked at the nerd with suspicious looks on their faces, and they waited for the nerd to finish speaking.

"..."

The nerd went entirely silent. This was the first time he had been paid this much attention by anyone who was not family or his teacher. 

"Stop beating around the bush and quickly tell us what you know. If not, then I will have you taste my fist instead."

Rachael looked at the buff child sitting at the back of the class. He was the class bully and often beat other kids up.

One had to wonder why the teacher did not interfere before things got violent. And there was only one answer to this question - teachers were too lazy to bother.

Unless the conflict ended up deadly or involved the child of someone important, the teachers could not be bothered to help the students. And Rachael did understand why the system was like this.

With over 300 students enrolled in this public school, the teachers could only be expected to look after a few students of importance, especially when the salary and the benefits of the post were lacking compared to the responsibilities.

"Hey, hurry up and spill the beans already. I am not in a mood to listen to you yelping."

The bully asked once more, and the nerd finally gave in.

"I-I will tell you what I know. Please do not hurt me. My mother said that Rachael walked out of the dungeon barrier, and the authorities had to go in to retrieve her. S-She said she only knew it because of her internal connections and that Rachael was a 'troublesome' kid."

Rachael was surprised to hear such words from the nerd's mouth. 

Even if Elias had proposed to keep things quiet for her sake, Rachael was not naive enough to believe he could achieve this. 

No matter how much he tried, he could not quieten everyone's mouth. And Rachael had not expected him to do so in the first place.

"Is this true? Rachael, did you go deeper into the dungeon? How cool!"

The class leader voiced his admiration for Rachael. But apart from him, no one else seems to believe the nerd. 

"How can that be? Our class teacher would never allow rules to be broken. If Rachael went into the deeper part of the dungeon, she would have been expelled."

One student whispered to her friend.

"Didn't our teacher say that breaking dungeon safety rules can land you in prison? But Rachael came to school today. So, is someone lying to us right now?"

Another student asked this question while pointing toward Rachael. 

The nerd was initially proud of himself. But the more his words were questioned and denied, the more he panicked. He looked at the students around him and voiced his annoyance.

"I am not lying. I am just telling you what my mother said. She said she had insider information. I.N.S.I.D.E.R.I.N.F.O.R.M.A.T.I.O.N."

The nerd repeated, but by this point, it was evident that the students did not think more of his information.

"Hah! You can talk all you want. But where is the evidence? My father says you should not believe what you hear without evidence. He is also a high judge, so he is right. Your mother is a liar." 

A calm girl spoke up this time. The nerd had tears in his eyes, and his cheeks looked red.

The other student's words and actions were getting to him. Rachael was afraid that the nerd would end up crying any second now.

"My mother is not a liar, and I am not a liar! You! Take your words back. Take back what you said about me and my mother. Rachael, tell these kids the truth. I know that you went into the dungeon."

The nerd demanded the truth from Rachael. And she knew that one word from her would resolve the situation.

But it would open a can of worms for her, which she was unprepared for.

'I am sorry, but I can't tell the truth this time.'

Rachael felt sorry for the nerd. But her judgment demanded that she make the right choice.

"I did not break out of the barrier or go into the dungeon. I don't know who told you these lies, but nothing happened to me."

Rachael lied smoothly, and the listeners did not even know they were being lied to. 

Everyone else turned to the nerd and watched as the tears fell down the nerd's face.

"W-Why would you lie? My mother is not a liar; you all are! I-I…"

The nerd was so distraught that he could not speak correctly. He made Rachael feel bad for him, and she wanted to console him.

But before she or anyone else could move, the classroom door opened, and their teacher walked in. The teacher took one look at her class and sighed.

Today was going to be a long day for her.