After his class is over, Azzy went to the staffroom and rest for the next hour when everyone goes to cafeteria for the lunch.
Azzy tagged along with a couple of teachers and by the time he reached there, lines of students have already filled the place. Nevertheless, there is a separate counter for the staff. The crowd didn't bother him.
As he separated from the rest of the three teachers and sat at an empty table to eat alone, a loud yet familiar voice was heard from one of the student lines.
"Uncle Gary…"
Azzy turned his head in the direction of the source and saw a few students from Class 10 A standing together. And the one who called him was obviously Serestia. She gestured for him to save the table for them.
Naturally, the teachers wondered whether he knew Serestia considering how she just addressed him.
Mia's daughter was smiling big as she was waving her hand but the rest of the members of the group's faces turned sour. Her best friend complained in a whisper, "Do you need to call him right now?"
She whispered back, "If you want to get into his good books, now is the best time, Navi."
"Hey, look at others, will ya," Navi reminded her about the mood of the gang.
Serestia looked at them and shrugged her shoulders, "if they don't want to join us, then, it is their bad luck."
After a while, Serestia, and three of her friends joined Azzy at the table.
As they took their seats, Azzy took a look at each one, realizing that these four weren't problematic ones. Hence, he kept a smile on his face while conversing with them.
"So, how are your parents? It's been a while since I last saw them." As the elder, he started the conversation with some topic.
Serestia calmly replied, "I wish I could say I have a happy family but Mom is busy campaigning for the third term as President and dad is just… He is too busy training a new student."
Azzy nodded while letting out a sigh, "Yeah, I can understand what you are going through. I went through a similar thing and there were times I wished my parents make me their priority."
The rest of the three were intrigued upon hearing his words and paid attention to their new teacher who was acting differently from their first meeting. Meanwhile, Serestia asked with a bit of hope, "How did you deal with it?"
Azzy shrugged his shoulders, "I realized that everyone in the world has their own priorities. I should also have mine. I became busy with training and distanced myself from my parents.
As a result, every dinner or lunch or even a meeting with my parents became a precious memory for me that's worth remembering. And I would have enough topics in my hand to talk with them too.
As the ancients said, if you don't like something, change it. And if you can't change it, change your attitude."
"Oh!" Navi, Bill, and Laura looked like they gained insight from his quote while Serestia fell into deep thinking.
Seeing that no one is continuing the conversation, Azzy tried to keep it alive by speaking to the others, specifically, Bill. "So, I heard that you are engaged to Serest… *Ahem* Sera."
Bill flinched for a moment before nodding, "Ah, Yes."
"In the morning, she is the one you went to meet?" asked Azzy.
Bill grew nervous. Sweat beads formed on his forehead as he glanced to his left and right. Azzy captured his nervousness and misunderstood that he is afraid.
To ease him up a little bit, he said, "don't worry, Bill. We aren't in a classroom. Here, I'm just a senior Arcana Master acquainted with Sera."
As Serestia came out of her thoughts and commented that she didn't see him at the girls' dormitory, Bill took a deep breath and lied, "No, I just wanted to inform her that my dad wanted to invite her and her parents for a lunch, this weekend, but I got embarrassed to go in and returned in hurry."
"Eh?" Serestia was surprised. "Your parents invited us for the lunch? But, why didn't you say so? You could say in the classroom. If not, you could just send me the message through a message card."
"Yeah, I just forgot, sorry." Bill looked away, not daring to meet his eyes with her eyes. Azzy captured that too and his smile wiped off for a moment.
"His heartbeat has increased all of a sudden, he was sweating at a 16 C temperature, and his breathing was also slightly unstable. He is lying, isn't he, Chronos?" Azzy spoke in his head.
The Reaper answered quickly, "Yes, he is. And he isn't the only one who was nervous. Observe the girl on his left."
Azzy shifted his eyes to Laura who was quietly filling her mouth with food but her heartbeat rate also jumped from a stable 74 to 81.
"Uncle… uncle…" Azzy was brought to his senses by Serestia as the couple looked like they were terrified by his stare.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking about something else." Azzy gave a quick excuse before changing the topic. "Anyways, for better or worse, I ended up being your class' homeroom teacher. So, if you have issues in the academy, don't need to be afraid of me.
I'm just strict toward the problematic kids who behave in an undisciplined way because they think their acts will be forgiven by everyone due to the fear of retribution from their backing."
As the four students nodded in understanding, Azzy went on to ask them about their experiences in the wild zone.
For a while, there was this healthy atmosphere at the table. For the passersby, it looked as if five friends were having lunch together.
However, everything came down to a crash as a busty lady of 5 ft height stormed into the cafeteria with a hammer in her hand.
The students in her way moved aside, and the chattering stopped at every table she passed.
Soon, the entire cafeteria became silent as she was slowly walking forward. And she doesn't look pleased with the moment.
After scanning the place around, she eventually found Azzy and made her way toward him.
Serestia whispered to her friend, "I bet Dan reported to her."
"Yeah, I too think so. He did mention that he will teach Mr. Gary a lesson." Navi whispered back.
Azzy obviously heard those words clearly but it was within his expectations. Hence, he didn't pay too much attention to this and continued to eat.
Upon reaching the table, Snivy spoke sternly, "Is it true that you assaulted your students?"
Because the entire cafeteria is quiet, everyone heard it and several students along with a few teachers gasped before murmuring among themselves.
Swallowing down the food, Azzy answered calmly, "It's not assault. It's called setting rules. And if I was the principal of this academy, I would put a rule that no student should use their soul energy except in practical combat class.
I cannot do that as I lack authority over the school. But, in my classes, I have the authority to set up the rules and the principal has given me the freedom to exercise my right."
If it is someone else, Azzy would have given a befitting reply but since it is his high school friend and former teammate, he tried to make her understand the reasoning behind his actions.
But, Snivy took it differently. For her, it appeared like he is warning her not to poke into the matters she has no authority on.
Snivy replied while raising her tone, "And I say that you are misusing your authority. This is an academy for learning, not a military training ground."
"And what if I insist on doing things my way?" Azzy asked with a fake smile, irritating her further.
Pointing her hammer at his face, Snivy said, "then, I exercise my right to challenge you for a battle. You win, I keep my mouth shut. But, if I win, you will apologize to the students of Class-10-A in front of everyone and promise to not misuse your authority as the homeroom teacher."
Azzy inwardly smiled as he knew that she is not a match for him. Since she was digging her own grave, he decided to help her in digging deeper.
"The stakes weren't interesting enough and we don't have any grudge that we should settle things with such a battle. So, how about this? I will give you an hour of a time limit.
I will be standing inside the arena and will not leave your vision either. If you land even a single hit on me, I will admit defeat and resign from my job but if you cannot do it, then, you will give me Class 10-B. I will be their new practical combat class instructor.
What do you think?"
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