28 [Ch. 28] Punishments All Around (Past)

Everyone returned back to their respective dorms after meeting with the Headmaster. Since the dorms were all in one direction, we all walked together.

I started regretting not leaving sooner as soon as everyone opened their mouths.

Tama moaned, "Ugh. Couldn't we just be flogged?"

Michiya shook his head disdainfully, "They don't have that kind of punishment here. They only have nonviolent punishment."

Tama groaned, "But, it would be so much faster."

Amanda burst into tears. Everyone froze in their steps. Mona rushed up to her and rubbed her shoulders to placate her. Her voice was tender as she attempted to soothe her, "What's wrong?"

Amanda sobbed, "It's so unfair! If I'm not near lady Moao, I have nothing!"

Mona hesitated before resuming, "There, there. You will only be apart for half a day and the punishment is no longer than a month. You'll still see her in the morning and at night."

"But that's not enough!" She shouted, "I can't live a second without seeing my lady's beauty!"

Everyone was rendered speechless.

She continued to sob, "My lady is a goddess and her beauty fills me with life. Her eyes are like the stars in the dark night. Her hair is like the moon that lights my path. Her body provides me with everlasting warmth whenever I am near her."

Amanda hugged her sides no longer crying as her fantasies started getting stranger, "Her voice covers me in ecstatic bumps as if I can hear her heart for the first time. Whenever she whispers into my ear, my body spasms in pleasure. Even her warm breath causes my body to explode in goosebumps."

Mona backed off quickly seeing Amanda was in her own world. The group blushed as Amanda began to grow more descriptive and abnormal. They looked at me expecting to see an unnerved expression, however, to their surprise I maintained my usual disinterest.

Well... I suppose that is because this is actually quite mild to what I've heard before.

I tried to stare ahead while ignoring her rambling, "It will only get worse."

Mona scrunched her face and clapped loudly into Amanda's ear, "Amanda!"

Amanda jumped and snapped out of her delusion. She looked at Mona confused, "What? What is it?"

Mona smiled trying to hide her bitterness, "I was saying that you don't need to worry. I will be with Lady Moao at the library and I will make sure everything is alright."

Amanda pouted, "But-"

"No buts!" Mona shouted quickly. She cleared her throat to regain her composure, "Take the time to do something for yourself."

Amanda looked down, "But, all I want is Moao."

Mona felt her eye twitch. She quickly turned around in a huff and left with an irritated expression.

"Wow." Herais muttered while staring at Amanda, "I guess she really does serve Moao because she wants to."

Tama looked at Raylon, "Looks like you have a love rival."

"Shut up." He said dismissively.

Michiya turned to me with a humble expression, "How do you feel about miss Amanda's affections?"

"Don't care."

Michiya observed me carefully, "Do you care about anything?"

I thought for a moment. Do I even have the ability to care for anything anymore?

I shrugged, "Who knows."

Raylon looked over and noticed the proximity of Michiya and me. He felt a slight twinge of jealousy. I could feel his envious stare, but didn't think too much about it. Tama followed Raylon's sight and chuckled. Tama walked over to Michiya and put him in a headlock, "You don't gotta worry about Michi here."

Michiya made an irritated expression and struggled to get out of the headlock. However, he was like a toothpick compared to the muscular Tama.

Taishiro laughed, "Our poor little Michi. He has more interest in books than in girls."

Tama messed up Michiya's hair, "Yeah, when are you going to get rid of that virginity little Michi?"

Michiya growled, "Let go."

Tama released him bellowing with laughter. Michiya smoothed out his clothes and stomped away. Tama snickered, "Ah... Looks like he's angry."

Raylon shook his head at the two, "You shouldn't mess with him so much."

"What?" Tama said feigning innocence, "He likes it."

My sharp eyes turned to Yoichi who followed with his head lowered. He had been watching the exchange between Tama and Michiya while chewing on his own cheek. He looked like a child who had to watch as others played with his toy.

This group seems to be more complicated than I first thought.

It would be best for me not to get involved.

Taishiro chuckled with a large smile, "Little Michi loves hanging out with us. It's not like he would get to if we were back home."

Raylon shook his head, "Whatever. I guess I will see some of you tomorrow." They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Amanda watched me with pitiful eyes as we walked back to our room. She was comforted by the usual calmness on my face but felt a sense of loss as well. Amanda looked away in sorrow, "I can't believe the Headmaster won't let me follow you to the library. How are you going to survive without me? How am I going to last that long without seeing you?"

I interrupted in a dull voice, "You aren't allowed to watch me sleep."

Amanda's mouth dropped and stuttered, "W-What? How-I wouldn't-" I threw her a glance as if I didn't believe her. She quickly gave up denying it, "Please Lady Moao?"

I ignored her pleading and didn't even bother to acknowledge it.

The two of us had one of the largest rooms at the school. The main room was used to sit for conversations and a separate room was attached for an office. Branching off of the main room were two rooms adjoined by a single door. Amanda had one room while I had the other. Even though Amanda fell asleep earlier than me, she would wake up as soon as I fell asleep.

I was fully aware that she would occasionally poke her head through the adjoining door to watch. Amanda really had no shame when it came to me.

I could never understand her fascination with me. It wasn't as if I did anything amazing.

As I laid down in bed, I heard the door open silently. I spoke coldly, "Amanda. Go to sleep."

Amanda sighed before returning to her room.

…...

The next day, everyone had to adjust to their new schedule. We would attend classes, have a quick lunch, and then go to our assigned task. Raylon had to travel to the Eiadern Forest that was adjacent to the school in order to find magic valves. Magic valves were like naturally occurring magical springs in the earth. They could replenish one's stamina and strength, but they also attracted beasts of all varieties.

This could be dangerous as some beasts are powerful enough to kill the most talented soldier and can only be tamed with high amounts of magic. Since taming wasn't usually possible, the school decided to find the valves and close them to ensure the beasts wouldn't harm anyone.

Korph, Mona, and I were put on library duty which consisted of putting books in their respective positions and helping out students find what they needed.

Korph was facing a different ordeal than Raylon. Not only could he no longer speak and was teased over it, but he also had to deal with seeing the person who did it to him every day. His tantrums began to be a regular occurrence. I ignored them, which caused him to only get angrier.

Mona got daily headaches from being caught in the middle.

I would get distracted by the books I was supposed to put back, so I didn't manage to put many away. As a result, I was switched to the consultation table in the back corner of the library. Korph was unable to speak and was sent to put away books. However, he never read books willingly and after getting irritated by not finding their correct place immediately, started damaging the books.

He was scolded by Mona, who was now responsible for damage control.

Once the week was over, Korph was the first to rejoice.

He tried to speak and found his voice was still gone. He burst into my morning class and shook me awake. I opened my eyes to see him pointing to his mouth.

I'm not dealing with this.

I quickly closed my eyes again.

Korph pulled out two metal bowls and began to cling them together in my ear. My eyes shot open from the obnoxious noise.

I should just kill him.

The teacher looked at the commotion, "Just what is going on here?!" Korph stared angrily and pointed to his mouth. The teacher sighed as he too had heard about the bet, "Lady Moao, please return his voice. The week is up."

Korph beamed triumphantly as I stared at him with a slight frown.

Teacher's pet.

I silently stood up and put my hand over his mouth. His ears started to turn red from my touch, but I wasn't sure if it was due to embarrassment or anger. I took my hand off and sat back down.

I quickly fell back asleep completely unaware that it was the first time I had shown outsiders that I knew how to use magic. Silencing someone's voice was considered a very advanced form of magic from ancient times. Since only a handful of people could achieve that, the rest of the students quickly understood that I wasn't as weak as they had thought.

"How dare you touch me, bird!" He gasped and put his hand over his mouth once the words left him. He shouted in excitement, "My voice!"

He then proceeded to run out of the room shouting some sort of war cry.

I'm going to regret giving his voice back.