[That woman discovered me.] The demon said.

My first reaction was shock.

Then, it became disbelief.

Finally, it turned into fear.

‘… Are you sure?’ I could not help but ask the demon.

[I am. That woman must be an Irregular, and a very powerful one. She found me with just that glance.]

‘Fuck!’ My face twisted in nervousness and fear. ‘What should I do? Should I run? No, I can’t outrun her. Then, what?’

“Brother, are you alright? You look pale.”

I looked at Ley, who was staring at me worriedly, and forced out a smile.

“… Yeah, I’m alright. I just got a headache.”

“Really?” Ley seemed doubtful, but she accepted my explanation.

At that moment, Sylvia leaned toward me and giggled in my ear.

“Don’t be nervous. She doesn’t mean ill.”

I stiffened.

Wait…

“Do you know her?” I asked in surprise.

Sylvia nodded. “Something like that. But don’t misunderstand, I didn’t ask her to do this. She must have been curious about you and decided to take a look.”

I frowned. It was so coincidental that I was inclined to believe that Sylvia was behind this, but I quickly denied my guess.

She has never hidden her interest in my secrets, so if this was her doing, she should not have any reason to hide it.

In other words, the headmistress looked into me of her own initiative.

However, that doesn’t make things better.

Now that she discovered the demon, I don’t know what she is going to do.

“Calm down.” Sylvia sighed. “I told you. She should have done that purely due to curiosity. No matter what secret you are hiding, she won’t do anything against you.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because that is how she is.” Sylvia’s voice was calm. “Believe me, whatever you are hiding is not enough to make her violate her principles and attack one of her students.”

[The girl should be right. That woman should not be an enemy.]

Demon?

[If she was, you would be dead already.]

What if she doesn’t want to damage her image? Perhaps she is waiting and will attack when there is nobody nearby.

[She won’t.] The demon said with certainty. [I told you, boy. She is an Irregular, and a relatively powerful one. Existences at that level won’t care for such trifles. If she wants to kill you, she won’t care if she is seen or not.

[Even so, we should be wary of her. It’s weird, though. Why is an Irregular like her in this place? Unless… I see, so that is what it is, huh.]

Demon?

[Boy, it looks like the background of this little girl is more frightening than I thought.]

I could not help but glance at Sylvia after listening to the words of the dragon.

Her background?

Now that I think about it, I know nothing about Sylvia’s origins or family.

However, it was not as though I could just ask her about it. I don’t think we are that familiar with each other yet.

While I was lost in my thoughts, the Headmistress finished her speech.

“Finally, I hope that you enjoy the following three years. Good luck.”

With these words, the Headmistress returned the microphone to the woman of the start and left the podium.

Before leaving, she glanced at me again, making my hair stand up in fear.

The students and teachers in the auditorium clapped fervently after the Headmistress finished her speech.

The woman from the start waited for the applause to end and cleared her throat.

“Now, I will explain to you what you need to know before entering Sanctuary’s First Awakened College. If you have any questions, please raise your hand.

“Firstly, you must follow the rules and obligations as students of this institution. Breaking any of the rules will result in punishment, going as far as expulsion or even prison.

“Secondly, we don’t accept failures. Our goal is to cultivate powerful Awakened. Thus, if we determined that one of our students doesn’t have enough potential or doesn't show enough improvement, the student could be expulsed.”

A stir happened after these words.

One of the students, a young man with a serious look, raised his hand.

“Can you explain that, please?”

The woman nodded.

“At the end of each semester, we will evaluate how much your abilities have increased. If the student’s abilities do not improve as much as they should, then the student will be put on probation where he will be observed and guided by one of the teachers. If the student's abilities still don't improve, then we will determine that he is not suitable for this institution and he will be expelled.”

The students looked at each other with surprised and nervous expressions.

Any student here worked very hard to get accepted in this place. It was because graduating from Sanctuary’s First assured a good future.

Most of them thought that their future was secured after getting admitted to this institute, but now, they were told that if they did not fulfill the college’s expectations, they would be expelled.

That made many of the students uncomfortable.

The woman seemed to feel the dissatisfaction of the students and spoke in a cold tone.

“I know how you are feeling, however, this institution invests a lot of resources to nurture every one of our students. If even after that, our students fail to fulfill our expectations, then it’s better if they leave and allow more talented students to take their place.”

The students fell silent with heavy expressions.

“Remember, in this place, we put ability above everything. Outstanding students will receive better treatment, and mediocre students will be ignored and left behind. If you want to have a good college life in this place, then you must work hard. Otherwise, it's better that you think about going to another place.”

When the woman saw that nobody had anything to say, she continued.

“Thirdly, you are allowed to choose some of your classes freely, however, we advise you to ask for the opinion of the teachers before deciding. This way, they can help you to find the path more suited to you. There are cases of students that pick their classes thoughtlessly only to regret it later.

“Lastly, from the moment you were accepted as students of this institution, you became reserve soldiers of the World Government. If it’s needed, you will be sent to missions by the government or the association. You are no longer kids but Awakened. As Awakened, you receive many privileges, however, you also have a duty.

“Our duty is to protect the people from dungeons, monsters, and foreign races. If you are unable to fulfill that duty, then you are more useful on a table as part of an experiment.

“We don't need useless people here.”