Scylla (2)

Professor Scylla was surprised when she saw us arrive, but she still invited us to her office with a courteous smile.

But as soon as we entered her office and she closed the door, her expression changed completely.

"No matter how I look at this, you didn't come with good intentions. Speak, why are you here?" She asked Doris and Harry rudely.

The two of them did not reply and just leaned against a wall while closing their eyes.

Instead, Jazmine opened her mouth.

"Professor, it's me who asked them to come."

Scylla raised an eyebrow.

"If I don't remember wrong, you are from the student assembly. What does the student assembly want from me?"

"Not the student assembly but me. I came hoping you could answer some of my questions."

Scylla stared at Jazmine fixedly before nodding. She then sat behind her desk and invited Jazmine to sit across her.

"Do speak. I will help as much as I can."

Jazmine then handed her a document.

It was a list containing the students she had counseled.

"What is it?" Scylla asked with a confused expression.

"All these students share two commonalities. One, they received your counseling, and two, they showed an abrupt and remarkable improvement in the last few months."

"Yeah, I know that. They are my students. What I want to know is why you are showing me this."

"You see, we suspect the improvement of these students is not normal. Instead, it's due to the consumption of a dangerous and unknown drug. This drug can help to unearth the potential of the students, but the cost is their mental well-being and other side effects. 

"As of today, two students have fallen into a coma due to what we suspect is a side-effect of this drug, and a lot more students have shown signs of mental instability."

Scylla narrowed her eyes with a dangerous expression.

"Spit it out. What does it have to do with me?"

Jazmine took a deep breath and looked at Professor Scylla with a serious gaze.

"Professor, I learned that just a few days ago, your mana broke through to the peak of tier seven."

At that moment, an intense killing intent filled the office.

Professor Scylla's eyes shone sharply. She glared at Jazmine with a hostile gaze as her mana and killing intent pressured her.

"So you are suggesting that I consumed this drug, furthermore, I also supplied it to the students of Sanctuary's First," Scylla spoke slowly, every word infused with an enormous amount of mana. "Weight your words carefully, girl. This is a grave accusation."

Jazmine became pale. She tried to talk, but Professor Scylla's killing intent was too much for her.

Just breathing became hard. Her body trembled involuntarily, like a frog facing a snake.

The two professors who came with us opened their eyes and planned to intervene, but before that, I put my hand on Jazmine's shoulder.

Then, I activated confidence and infused it with my fighting intent, using it to protect Jazmine from Scylla's killing intent.

Jazmine's expression immediately improved. She gasped heavily while looking at Professor Scylla in fear.

Professor Scylla glanced at me in surprise before returning her focus to Jazmine.

"Leave. I won't take this disrespect to heart. But if I hear another word about this, I will take the necessary actions."

Jazmine bit her lips.

It seemed Professor Scylla was not planning to collaborate.

However, I was not going to return empty-handed.

I took a deep breath and activated Confidence again, infusing it with my determination to find the culprit behind Ley's suffering.

"Professor, one of the students who fell unconscious was my little sister."

My words, infused with Confidence, caused a crack in Professor Scylla's ice-cold expression.

She made a complicated gaze and hesitated briefly before sighing.

"Sorry, I can't help you."

I frowned.

This woman…

Just at that moment, Professor Doris spoke up.

"Scylla, do you remember what our mission is?"

"Doris, are you going to participate in this madness too?"

"It's to teach and protect the next generation of awakened. Our responsibility is to watch over the well-being of our students. We are teachers and guardians before anything else."

Scylla opened her mouth but closed it again immediately.

In the end, she let out a long breath.

"Leave, you won't find what you are searching here."

Doris looked at her deeply and shook her head.

"Let's go, kids. She is beyond saving."

But at that moment, a voice sounded in our minds.

[You didn't hear anything from me, okay?]

We looked at Professor Scylla in surprise.

[Don't speak. I can't risk this conversation being recorded or overheard by anyone else. Actually, I'm taking a huge risk by telling you this.]

She then heaved a tired sigh and continued.

[Someone approached me some months ago. He told me about a project to develop a drug that could help the awakened to become stronger. The development of the drug was in the final phase, and they needed some test subjects.]

[I refused at the start. The idea of using the students to test a drug sounded crazy; I could not do something like that. However, they insisted. They told me there were no major side-effects, and if I wanted, I could try it first.] She continued.

[I still planned to refuse, but the temptation of becoming stronger was not something I could endure. I had been stuck in a bottleneck for a long time, so the thought of finally overcoming it was too tempting to let it pass.] She explained.

[The effect was immediate. As soon as I took the drug, I felt my stagnant mana starting to grow again, moreover, the side effects were minimal just like they said, and besides some small changes in my mood, everything else was alright. So, I ended up agreeing to their proposal. I started giving it to some students, but I swear I was planning to stop as long as something went wrong.] She added.

[Everything was fine at the start, but soon, I started to notice something amiss. Some students seemed... unwell.] Her voice became bitter. [I did not give it any importance at first and thought it was normal. Now that I think about it, perhaps I was just trying to fool myself to continue the deal without any guilt.]

[I can't continue fooling myself, though, not when several students have been harmed. Furthermore, I have noticed that many of my students are showing symptoms of addiction. Hell, I'm showing them myself. If things continue like this, a tragedy will eventually happen.] She let out a deep breath.

[White Coats. That is the name of the group that supplies me with drugs. That is the only clue I can give you. However, be careful. A lot of really powerful people are behind this. The kind of people that won't hesitate to resort to dirty means to achieve their goals.] She warned us with a grave expression. [This is the only help I can provide you. Good luck.]

Professor Scylla closed her eyes and leaned her body against her chair.

Somehow, she seemed like she had lifted a weight off her shoulders.