Chapter 2. The Vanes
The wind whipped against the sleek black car as it sped along the empty road. Silas glanced at his twin daughters in the rearview mirror, their uniform perfectly crisp as they sat in the back seat, barely talking. Victoria was calm, her hands resting neatly in her lap. Her sister sat beside her, staring out the window with a sour expression on her face.
“Are you girls excited?” Elizabeth asked from the passenger seat.
Katherine crossed her arms and muttered, “Yeah, sure. I guess,” while Victoria gave a polite nod and smiled.
They did not look happy to be sitting beside each other. Which was rare, given that they had been glued at the hip their whole life until a few years ago.
The towering gates of Aethelgard Academy came into view. Silas slowed down.
Cars were already lining up at the entrance, each one filled with nervous freshmen. The grandeur of the place was unmistakable—massive stone walls stretched for what seemed like miles, and a large golden gate opened to a sprawling campus filled with ancient-looking buildings.
Silas rolled his eyes. It was like a movie set to him; these building were younger than him after all.
He pulled up to the checkpoint, where a guard dressed in black armor stood. The man glanced at his ID, then squinted at Silas like he was trying to figure out where he’d seen him before.
“Vane family... right, here’s your pass. Proceed to the parking lot near the main building, then head over to the auditorium for the opening ceremony.” The guard handed back the card and motioned for them to drive through.
A spot was next to the convertible. He parked there smoothly. Before the girls could reach for their handle, the doors swung open on their own. Silas got out of the car and stretched, enjoying the sight of the nervous energy that buzzed in the air, thinking back to the first dungeon he ever entered.
As his family gathered their things, a group of second year girls nearby pointed and whispered.
“Who’s that? He looks like a model!”
“Wait... isn’t he kind of familiar?”
One girl raised her voice. “Excuse me, Are you a new teacher here? Because if you are, I’d love to sign up for your class.”
Katherine immediately shot a glare their way, while Victoria’s smile turned a little colder and her fingers twitched.
“Of course not!” Katherine snapped.
Silas chuckled and leaned backwards against his car and gestured to his daugters. “Just here to drop off my treasures.”
The girl blinked, her confidence faltering. “Wait...you have daughters but you don’t look old enough.”
With a polite shove, Victoria ushered the girl away, her tone sweet but firm. “That’s our business, thank you.”
The girls backed off, still murmuring to themselves, and the Vanes continued toward the main building. A large crowd of students and parents had already gathered. The auditorium loomed ahead.
As they made their way inside, to their seat, Silas felt someone watching him from above, in the VIP box that overlooked the hall. A woman sat there with sharp eyes and an amused smirk. It was the principal of Aethelgard. Her gaze locked onto his, and she raised an eyebrow in a silent greeting. Silas gave her a slight nod in return.
Once they were seated in the front row, Elizabeth reached over and squeezed Silas’s hand. “Why is the principal staring at you like she knows you?”
Silas coughed and scratched his cheek. “She’s just admiring how handsome I am.”
Elizabeth looked unimpressed. “Uhuh...”
The ceremony began, and the principal stood at the podium, her voice echoing through the auditorium. The crowd listened in silence as she gave her speech about the Academy and the importance of teamwork and courage. It was a very generic speech. The kind Silas used to fall asleep to back when he was in the Association. Morale wasn’t important for S-rankers; they just needed to deal with the things that made
A-ranker shit their pants.
The speech ended. The principal began announcing the faculty. One by one, the teachers came out, each taking a bow as the students clapped politely. They were second generation hunters, each with their own class specialty. Silas scanned the faces. Weak. Weak and mediocre. Weak and ugly.
“Next, our newest addition to the Aethelgard Academy family, your first-year Combat Theory instructor: Silas Vane!” The principal’s voice rang out, and all eyes turned to him.
“What?” Victoria and Katherine said together.
“What?!” They repeated again in unison when they noticed their father standing up.
“No, no,” Katherine covered her face. “No no no...”
Silas strolled casually up onto the stage, giving the principal a friendly smile.
As he walked, he let his mana slip just a little. The atmosphere in the room grew heavy. Every person in the room stiffened, feeling the oppressive weight of his aura.
The whispers started.
“Is that...”
“No way. He can’t be...”
He coughed, “For those of you who might not know me, I was an S-Rank Hunter, retired for a few decades to raise my two girls sitting right here.” He gestured toward his daughters. They sank lower in their seats and pretended they did not know him. “Adorable aren’t they. Anyway, I’ll be your combat instructor. Feel free to come to me with any questions. Or, you know, don’t. Either way works.”
The students were stunned. One of them murmered something.
“That’s the Silas Vane?!” A girl whispered from the back.
Even some of the teachers shifted in their seats. The principal’s smile twitched but she remained composed and quickly took over the podium again.
Silas moved to stand with the other teachers, taking his place at the end of the row. His daughters refused to look up. Their cheeks burned red as they heard their classmates murmuring about their dad’s legendary status.
As soon as the ceremony ended, Silas walked back to them, his smirk in full force. His wife gave him a quick kiss.
“Honey,” she said, pulling his ear with a smile that had seen every version of him, “Care to explain?”
He laughed, “It was a last-minute decision, and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.”
Elizabeth smiled — the particular smile she wore when the universe confirmed what she already knew.
“Is that so.” Not a question. She tilted her head. “I suppose we're even then.”
He laughed. There was no retreating from Elizabeth—there never had been.
“Well... I have to go prepare the classroom,” he said, taking a few steps back.
But he made sure to hug Victoria and Katherine before leaving, making sure to take every opportunity to show that he’s their father. They tensed under his embrace but didn’t push him away.
“Be good, girls. I’m always watching.”
“Always...” Katherine grumbled after he had already vanished, her voice barely audible above the noise of the crowd.
Elizabeth patted them on the back. “He really cares, you know.”
“Yeah... Too much,” Katherine replied, sighing. But Victoria just smiled, her eyes still following the spot where their father disappeared.
Together, they joined the other students filing out of the auditorium, ready to face their first day as hunters-in-training. All the while knowing that their father was already one step ahead of them.
He always had been. His wife knew that better than anyone.