The Hero is An Academy Librarian

"Percy told me he won’t let anything happen to you, regardless of what the results are. So just relax. Everything will be fine."

Hildegard looked into Rita’s calm gaze for a moment, and she let out a low, shuddering breath! Hildegard knew that Percy promised to protect her, but Hildegard didn’t really know what Percy could do if she was found guilty! This was a case bigger than the simple incident in the student council room. If Hildegard was found guilty here, then her entire life would go down the drain! Hildegard herself was so unsure of her innocence because she knew that on that day, her mana was also part of what caused the accident to happen. But Hildegard never intended to hurt anyone, so right now the only thing that could decide if she was innocent or guilty was if the investigators found enough reason to put her in prison!

Rita stood up and told Hildegard to come with her.

"Come on, you can’t relax while you’re like this. We’ll get some ice cream and – hmm?"

Rita suddenly stopped her and turned to the side, and Hildegard wondered what happened. Hildegard had already been feeling excited when she heard ice cream, but now it looked like something serious was going on. Rita started to walk out of the reading room calmly, and Hildegard left her work behind and immediately slithered after Rita while asking her what was going on! Surprisingly, Rita said she wasn’t sure.

"There’s someone at the door. Come along. I think they might be here for you."

Hildegard was shocked to hear this, but she didn’t bother saying much, and she just followed along as Rita walked out of the room and went down to the main floor of the library. Down here, the lights were already dimmed since the library was closing, and the sound of someone knocking on the library door echoed through the room.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The knocks were loud and impatient, and Hildegard leaned to the side from behind Rita to try to see who was there. And the moment Hildegard’s eyes landed on the figure, she felt an ice-cold chill run straight down her spine!

’M-Mother...?’

At the door of the library was a female lamia with a beautiful, stern face and multiple jewels arranged in her hair and tail. She had a striking resemblance to Hildegard, but the aura she let off was completely different, and it made her seem even more unapproachable than Hildegard was! There was no doubt that this woman was Hildegard’s mother! The moment the woman saw Rita and Hildegard coming towards her, she frowned and pointed to the door in annoyance!

Rita came forward and opened the door before speaking.

"Hello, you must be Hildegard’s mother. Welcome to –"

"Forget that. Hildegard, come here, we’re leaving."

Both Rita and Hildegard were stunned when the woman simply cut Rita off and spoke to Hildegard in a stern voice! Rita turned around to see Hildegard with her head down and a submissive air around her, and Hildegard tried to speak.

"M-Mother, I already said I don’t want to go back home. I-I want to stay in school –"

"Hildegard!"

The woman suddenly barked in anger, and Hildegard’s entire body shook in fear as she looked up at her mother quickly! Her mother was giving her a disappointed frown, and Hildegard looked like she wanted to fall into the floor! Rita quickly stepped forward and said.

"Wait, I think there’s been a mistake here, ma’am. Can you explain what’s going on?"

Rita was so confused about the entire interaction, and she looked from mother to daughter to try to find someone who could explain what was happening. Hildegard’s mother looked over at Rita with a critical gaze, but the moment the mother finally got a good look at Rita, she was slightly stunned to see the sheer beauty of the person in front of her! But the shock only lasted for a moment, and she spoke up in a much harsher tone!

"Did Hildegard not explain what has been happening to you? This girl has been ignoring my direct order to return home for multiple days now, and you have been harbouring her in this academy illegally! I will sue the entire school body for this!"

Rita blinked in surprise! That didn’t make any sense at all! Rita turned to Hildegard and asked her to properly explain what was happening, and Hildegard rubbed her upper arm softly as she finally explained it. According to Hildegard, her mother had been telling her to come home long before the incident happened in the library. Hildegard and her mother were the only members of their family left, and Hildegard had begged her mother for a very long time to allow her to come to school before she could finally go! But last year, Hildegard and her mother got into an argument since her mother wanted her to leave school.

Hildegard refused to leave, and when her mother threatened to withdraw her tuition, Hildegard ran away from home and worked hard to get into a scholarship program that would allow her to finish her last year of school! After that argument, Hildegard’s mother had sent her many letters telling her to come back home immediately, but Hildegard had been ignoring all of them since she wanted to finish her last year no matter what! It wasn’t until the incident happened recently that things turned really bad!

Hildegard’s mother learned about the incident through a letter from the police, and she sent Hildegard letters telling her that this was the result of her disobedience and rebellion! If Hildegard hadn’t gone to school for this final year, then none of this would’ve happened! Hildegard had done her best to ignore the letters all this time, and she just focused on trying to clear her name in the investigation, but Hildegard knew she couldn’t dodge her mother forever! Eventually, Hildegard would have to face her mother, but Hildegard didn’t think it would be happening this soon!

Once Hildegard was done with her explanation, Rita was honestly stunned! Rita looked over at the beautiful lamia at the door, and she realized that this was a bigger issue than what she could handle. No matter how badly Rita might want to interfere, was there really anything she could do about a mother coming to take back her rebellious daughter? Rita let out a breath, and she decided that she would do her best to stop this! Rita stepped in front of Hildegard and spoke:

"Ma’am, I understand you’re angry, but please try to relax. Hildegard is perfectly safe here in the library, and there haven’t been any issues since she arrived. If you want, we can sit down and have some tea to talk about this."

"I don’t want to sit down! I want my daughter to come home with me right now!"

Rita frowned as Hildegard’s mother completely disregarded her politeness and shouted in her face! Rita hated when people were rude to her, and she slowly lost all niceness as she spoke in a colder tone.

"Please lower your voice, ma’am. You’re in a library."

"!"

Hildegard’s mother was stunned to hear the cold tone Rita used, and a sudden chill came over her as she saw Rita’s hard stare! But Hildegard’s mother refused to back down!