I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System

"The king?" The other elders frowned.

"Was it a royal order?" Shawn asked, curious.

The principal pulled out the document and tossed it onto the table so everyone could see it.

It bore the royal seal. Naturally, the king expected a logical explanation and for the murderer to be caught soon, as he needed to prove that his system was secure.

They couldn’t afford a rebellion right now, when many regions of the kingdom were wavering about whether the king was someone worthy of trust.

They needed this answer. Finally, the elders took the matter seriously.

"I heard that before he was killed, Instructor Mervan had gone to investigate Rebirth City in Ashford territory. The news we received this morning indicates that the Ashfords’ butler, Jerry, fought a True Vampire there. Much of the city was destroyed, and a whole vampire conspiracy was uncovered," Shawn said, recalling the first news report he’d read that morning.

Enzo nodded. "In fact, Butler Jerry’s condition is unknown, though Count Ashford himself seems to have taken action to counter that True Vampire. I think the Ashfords are in trouble."

"That’s not the point, Enzo," Jacob interjected. "If Mervan went there and was killed after returning, we could say the vampires did it. Those guys are really good at infiltrating places. That’s because, honestly, I have no idea who did it, and the one in charge of the Generals..." Jacob looked at Owen, waiting for his verdict.

He had been silent ever since the principal mentioned the king.

Owen sighed. "Everything you’re saying makes sense. But the principal doesn’t seem satisfied with it," he said with a chuckle.

"It’s impossible for a vampire to infiltrate the academy. We all know that," said the principal. "Even if there are exceptions, not even True Vampires could do it in a matter of hours."

"See? He just wants to accept one answer," Owen scoffed. "Bring out the other document and don’t keep us waiting. Tell me, what logic do you want to come up with, and who do you intend to blame? I’m all ears."

Owen’s sarcastic tone annoyed the principal. But it caught the elders’ attention.

’They have a strange animosity. I’d noticed it during the judgment against that student, but what’s the reason for it?’ the elders thought.

Besides, was there another document?

The fact that he had been read so easily really annoyed the principal, but he didn’t hide anything.

"A credible report reached me this morning, and it didn’t come from Lor, but from the capital," he said, placing a sealed file on the table. "You can open it if you want."

Only Enzo moved to open it, though Owen spoke first.

"I don’t need to see it to know it’s from the Mervan family. They want to pin this on my student, don’t they?" he said.

Enzo frowned and opened it. He nodded slowly.

"The Mervans have gone crazy... They didn’t just name Edward Lux; they also mention Aurora Ashford." he said.

The principal remained impassive.

Owen smiled slightly. "The Mervans have always sought the title of Count; naturally, they’ll seize every opportunity to obtain it."

"But..." Jacob tried to say something, but fell silent and looked at the principal. "There are holes in it, Principal."

"The vampire story has even more holes. Besides, he’s a Lux. Doesn’t that surname weigh on them? It’s the surname hated by the royal family! It’s time..."

"Principal, I understand the logic behind believing it was him, even though it’s bullshit logic. And for a man who claims he wants to protect all his students to believe that is even worse. But I’ll accept it anyway," Owen said. "Even though you know yourself that there’s no way that could have happened. But there is something that isn’t impossible—do you want to know what it is?"

"If Elder Owen can give me a logical answer that doesn’t involve vampires and traitors..." The principal scoffed in response.

"The Morrises and the Mervans are sworn enemies, and even though the latter aren’t a match for the former, they still hate each other. And, recently, it seems we have a great Morris in our ranks. Why don’t we just say it was a settling of scores? It would be logical and would close the case."

"Do you dare?" The principal stood up. "Do you want to tarnish the reputation of our great genius?!" he roared.

"Oh? Excuse me, Principal, I don’t understand." Owen acted mockingly. "You’re the one who wants to tarnish the reputation of three good students... Good is an understatement for them; they’re excellent. Why are you blaming me? Is it my fault that you don’t know how to manage the power of your own academy?"

"You..." The principal slammed his fist on the table. Though he sat back down shortly after.

"It’s no secret that you’ve got your eye on that student, Lux. I don’t understand what you see in him, and honestly, I don’t care, but he’s a suspicious character and our only hope right now. What do you want—for the king to get angry? Or do you want to incur the prince’s wrath?"

"We can get Miss Ashford out of the way, because that is what the prince wants and because her talent is truly needed. But I cannot allow those other two to walk away unscathed. Unless you can give me a reasonable explanation for why Instructor Mervan was murdered, without bringing up topics of treason, vampires, and the Morrises."

The principal had already made up his mind, and his decision was not going to change. He wasn’t going to budge an inch.

Getting rid of a Lux is always something everyone longs for; if they use it to put an end to something that could cause them trouble, so much the better.

Owen sighed heavily. "I remember when you were appointed principal; I gave my approval. You were a good instructor. You cared about the students and stood up for them. The principal I see now is nothing but a selfish person."

"Don’t be a hypocrite, Elder Owen, for you are no better than I am," replied the principal. "I am looking out for our students, both current ones and those who will come in the future."

"We could resolve this without sacrificing anyone, simply by saying it was a settling of scores among the Morrises."

"You’ll tarnish a great Morris with that nonsense."

"And do you want to ruin the life of someone who recently matched your beloved Morris in strength?" Owen asked bluntly. "You’ve heard the rumors. We’ve all heard them. Do you think your Morris is better than him right now?"

The principal finally fell silent. He frowned, unsure how to respond.

"I’d rather have a Morris who isn’t quite as talented than a Lux with the potential to attain divinity," declared Jacob, the eldest elder, suddenly.

The principal felt cool water running down his face and smiled. "I think my answer has already been given."

Owen looked at Jacob and nodded slightly.

He suddenly bowed to all of them. "I’m sorry. I was wrong," he said.

The other elders looked at him, in shock. Did Owen just apologize with a bow? What the hell?

The principal was in complete shock, but he quickly composed himself with a smile.

"If you understand, that’s enough." He suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment... He had made Owen himself apologize with his head bowed...

It was the most incredible sense of accomplishment he had ever felt in his life. Not even when he reached his current level had he felt this good.

’This is what it feels like to be above everyone else!’

But Owen looked up. "Understand it? No, you’re wrong. I originally thought that those of us here knew something about history. For a brief moment that felt like years, I considered your intelligence to be something impressive," he said as he stood up and looked down on them.

"How wrong I was. I apologize to you for having considered you intelligent," he said before turning to leave.

The elders and the principal were in shock. From reaching the clouds to crashing down to the ground in a single motion...

"Bastard, how dare you?!" shouted the principal.

"Stop right there!" he roared.

Owen stopped just before opening the door and then turned to look at them.

"By the way, let me make one thing clear."

"I killed Instructor Mervan. I personally went to his room and tortured him to death. I found him to be a traitor and part of a nest of filthy rats infesting my territory."

"This was just a message, Elders. I am going to exterminate all those traitorous bastards who dared to defile my land... including if that means any of you." He declared.

His voice boomed like thunder and echoed in the ears of his adversaries in this conversation.

"If you want to report this to the kingdom, remember to tell them that I, Owen Medici of Lor, did it and will do it as many times as necessary."

"Finally, if any news comes out of here blaming one of my talented students, I assure you that you join that bastard in the afterlife—even if it costs me losing ground to those damn rats." His eyes flashed, and he turned away.

When he opened the door, Gideon was waiting.

"Kid, I told you to wait for me in the office," Owen said with a smile.

"I couldn’t help but come snoop around, Professor," Gideon apologized.

"It’s fine. Anyway, you might have to take one of these spots very soon," Owen joked and walked away from the area.

Behind them, the principal and the Elders were in shock.

It didn’t look like they’d be recovering anytime soon.