The Hero is An Academy Librarian

It was obvious that Hildegard did not want to be here, and if Hildegard had a choice, then she would’ve never agreed to set foot in this building until the investigation was completed. But Hildegard had been summoned by the student council today for a meeting regarding what would happen to her academically. Due to the recent suspension, Hildegard was not allowed to go to any classes or get involved in any academic activities. This would seriously affect Hildegard’s academic performance and take her down the rankings, but Hildegard believed that the school would allow her to make up for the time that she had missed once the investigation was over.

Hildegard had been at the very top of the academic rankings before the incident, so Hildegard would do everything in her power to make sure she didn’t lose her top ranking! Hildegard didn’t care if she had to take extra credit lessons or do extracurricular activities after school! As long as they allowed her to continue her education, then Hildegard didn’t care what anyone did or said about her!

Hildegard moved past a few offices belonging to some academic staff, and Hildegard could almost feel the surprise on the faces of the teachers whenever they saw her pass by. But Hildegard simply ignored them, and she made her way to one of the doors along the large corridor that had ’Student Council’ engraved on it. Hildegard took in a deep breath and released it calmly before she finally knocked.

"Come in."

A gentle masculine voice echoed from the other side, and Hildegard opened the door and entered the student council office. The office was organized like a meeting room with a large oval desk in the middle and multiple chairs organized around it. There were four people in the room waiting for Hildegard. Two girls were sitting on the left side of the table sorting through some files, and a young boy was on the right side of the table creating small water dragons from his magic and making them dance in the air. At the head of the table was the head of the student council, President Mirio.

"Hildegard. I’m glad to see you’re doing well. Please, have a seat."

Mirio smiled handsomely while offering a seat to Hildegard, but Hildegard didn’t even regard his offer, and she simply brought up the main topic!

"Why was I summoned here? You said it was concerning my academic calendar."

The tension in the room immediately rose when Mirio heard Hildegard’s disrespectful tone, and the three other students in the room finally looked up and glanced from Hildegard to Mirio. The students could all feel the intense tension as well, and they wondered if the president would grow angry at the obvious disrespect.

Mirio’s eyes narrowed for a moment as he felt a surge of anger inside him, but he was able to push that anger down, and he simply forced another smile on his face! Mirio and Hildegard had never seen eye to eye right from the first moment they got into this school! Although Mirio was able to fool everyone else with his looks and charm, Hildegard had never fallen for Mirio’s obvious fake personality! Hildegard knew that Mirio had always looked down on her as someone lesser than him, and Hildegard hated Mirio for that.

In the first three years in school, Mirio had been at the top of the academic ranking, and that gave him even more reason to look down on Hildegard, but Hildegard had worked her ass off to get past Mirio in the ranking, and for the past two years, Hildegard’s grades had been far better than Mirio’s, and that made Hildegard gain a sense of superiority over him!

Now, it was Mirio who could sense that Hildegard was looking down on him, and there was a dark pool of hatred floating somewhere in Mirio’s stomach, and the hatred threatened to consume him with its intensity every time Mirio saw the condescending look on Hildegard’s face! It took a lot of effort for Mirio to calm it down, but Mirio managed to do it, and he took in one last calming breath before he spoke.

"I did not wish to have this conversation in such a serious setting, but if that is what you want, then so be it."

Mirio stood from his chair and walked over to the window at the side. The wings on his back ruffled slightly with his movement, and he tucked them in properly before looking down at the large central courtyard where dozens of students were moving past the large fountain.

"As the student council president, it is my duty to ensure that all students of the school are well taken care of. They have placed their trust in me by electing me for this seat, and as a result of that, I have a responsibility to their future. But recently there has been a significant disruption in the academic rhythm of the students. You might not care enough to notice, but the attention span and mood of the students have dropped dramatically in the past few days. I don’t think the reason behind this drop is a mystery to anyone."

Hildegard narrowed her eyes in annoyance before looking away from Mirios’s knowing stare. Hildegard couldn’t deny that the mood in the school had significantly dropped in the past few days! It felt like there was some dark cloud moving around and all the students were covered in negative auras! But Hildegard didn’t know why this was any of her business. The murder incident was the reason behind this, and Hildegard didn’t have anything to do with that!

"Did you call me here just to tell me about this? What do you want me to do about it? Should I wear a clown costume and perform for the students to lift their moods?"

"Pfft~!"

The young boy who had been playing with water dragons suddenly scoffed in amusement when he heard Hildegard’s words, but he quickly put a hand over his mouth and turned away when Mirio turned to him with a glare! Mirio turned away from the window and finally faced Hildegard fully before he spoke:

"No, we do not need you to do anything. You are the reason behind this drop in morale, and your acting out will only make things worse. I called you here today to pass on a message from the Student Union. A meeting between all relevant stakeholders was held yesterday to decide what to do about this drop in morale, and a unanimous decision was reached. We will be submitting an official request to the headmaster to have you retained for one year to allow the students to settle in once more."

Hildegard’s eyes widened in shock, and her voice came out in a low, disbelieving tone:

"What?"

Mirio repeated himself.

"We will request to have you retained by the school for one year. Once our request is approved, you will no longer be graduating with the rest of us."

Hildegard felt like the world was crumbling away around her, and in that moment she couldn’t hold back her emotions at all!

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?"

The pressure in the room suddenly exploded in intensity, and the students who had been sitting at the table all recoiled in shock! The Hall Monitors standing behind Hildegard narrowed their eyes, and they prepared themselves to intervene if things got too serious. But for now, they simply allowed the confrontation to go on! Hildegard glared at Mirio angrily!

"Who gave you the right to decide anything for me!?"

"I was given this right by the student body. I am simply doing what is best for them –"

"To hell with the student body! You are doing this for yourself!"