The Disciplinary Committee
"Cough, cough…!"
Another violent cough wrenched free, and blood surged up with it, spilling from my lips.
The dorm supervisor paid no attention whatsoever to my condition. She only yanked harder on the arm she was already dragging me by.
Droplets of blood marked the corridor floor in the trail of my stumbling footprints.
The curse I had just absorbed from Elise.
The last time I took her curse into myself, it had clung desperately to its host, thrashing and fighting every inch of the way. It had been a real struggle to tear it free.
This time was different.
The moment my hand touched her, the rampaging curse poured into me as if it had been waiting for the invitation, flooding through my palm and cascading into my body.
Then, like a starved beast, it began to tear through my insides.
Which was why I was coughing up blood right now…
Still, it was a relief.
Because of that, the curse that had been clinging to Elise seemed, this time, to have been completely extinguished. I could no longer sense even a trace of that ominous contamination from her body.
Of course, given how Elise kept somehow acquiring strange curses, I still couldn’t fully relax…
But at least the timing had worked in my favor again. Elise had attacked me, and no one had realized I was the one lifting her curse. That much was pure luck.
The dorm supervisor, and everyone else who would hear about this later, would simply assume I had gone after Elise again only to get thoroughly wrecked in return.
"Cough, cough…!"
The curse had thoroughly rearranged my insides, and now a crushing wave of pleasure was roaring through every part of me.
With every breath. With every beat of my heart. Even while being dragged along the floor by the supervisor.
I clung to my sanity with everything I had.
I was terrified that, like last time, the curse might twist me into something strange again.
Even as I was hauled along, I carefully examined my own condition.
Fortunately, I hadn’t blacked out and drowned in the pleasure the way I had before.
But…
Thud—
In the end I couldn’t stop my legs from giving out under the onslaught of pleasure, and I collapsed to the floor.
"Oh, for heaven’s sake! Stop dragging your feet and walk properly!"
The dorm supervisor seemed to have zero interest in what state I was actually in. Instead she snapped at me—me, who was still coughing blood—to get up already, her voice pure irritation.
I was still a student of the Academy. Collapsing and spitting blood right in front of her, and she could still be that cold…
It felt a little excessive, honestly…
But my body was far more honest than my thoughts.
That absolute indifference—the way she made it clear she didn’t care whether someone like me lived or died—felt so good that…
I staggered back to my feet and limped after her.
My mind was hazy, but I still had enough reason left to grasp the situation.
The Disciplinary Committee had been assembled with astonishing speed.
A committee like this should have required the Headmaster’s final approval… yet it had started this quickly, which meant…
Back in the Headmaster’s office they had acted as if they were on my side, as if they meant to help me.
Of course they had.
Suddenly I missed my master so sharply that a hollow ache settled in my chest.
At the same time I was glad she couldn’t see me like this. She would have been heartbroken.
"Um… Yeon Bennet’s condition looks quite serious. Shouldn’t we contact Professor Emilla and have her take a look?"
A familiar voice cut in.
It was Professor Merlin, homeroom teacher of Class A.
She was looking at my pale face and bloodstained uniform with clear worry.
"Professor Emilla has taken personal leave recently. Contacting her will be difficult at the moment."
Another professor answered flatly.
"More importantly, why are you even fretting over a girl like that?"
Yet another professor sneered.
"Still… she’s one of my students, so… I’m a little… concerned."
Professor Merlin couldn’t quite hide her unease.
"Hmm… Professor Merlin has a point. Since we’ve already decided to hand her over to the Lapellasia family, it would be better to send her in one piece, wouldn’t it? If something goes wrong, we’re the ones who’ll have to deal with the fallout."
At those words the other professors fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
They weren’t worried about me. They were simply protecting their own interests.
After a brief discussion they decided to summon an assistant professor from the infirmary who could use healing magic, have them examine me, and administer basic treatment.
"By the way… Professor Bella, you’ve looked rather unwell for a while now. Are you all right?"
One of the professors asked.
"Ah… yes… I’m fine."
A familiar voice, yet somehow drained of strength.
…Ah.
So Senior was here too.
…This is bad.
I carefully turned my head toward the corner of the room.
And there stood Bella, wearing an expression more terrifying than anything I had ever seen on her face.
Arms folded, she was staring straight through me.
"Well, frontline veterans like you would have extra reason to despise a girl like her. I understand."
Another professor nodded toward Bella.
Bella gave no real answer. She simply nodded once, absently, then squeezed her eyes shut.
I’m… going to get chewed out pretty badly later, aren’t I?
Cold sweat prickled down my back.
This didn’t feel like it would end with a simple scolding.
Meanwhile the professors had already begun rapidly discussing the severity of my punishment.
"Her conduct has always been terrible. What’s left to discuss? Just send her to the punishment chamber according to regulations."
"Agreed. That would be the cleanest solution."
The consensus formed with startling speed.
Well. Exactly what I’d expected.
A moment later the door opened and a young assistant professor stepped inside.
He began examining me at once.
"Hmm… the external injuries are severe, but nothing life-threatening. There has been bleeding, however, and some internal trauma as well. She should be taken to the infirmary for proper treatment."
"Understood. Have her treated first, then."
Professor Merlin, speaking for the faculty, gave permission.
The assistant professor approached to support me.
As I rose from my seat I turned slightly toward Bella and offered her the faintest smile—just enough to let her know I was all right.
A smile that meant, Don’t worry. This much is nothing.
I saw Bella’s shoulders twitch.
Her expression was still far from good, but the murderous pressure from earlier seemed to ease—just a fraction. The tiniest bit.
Once Yeon left the committee room with the assistant professor for treatment, conversation about her resumed among the remaining faculty.
"So in the end she went after the Lapellasia young lady again, got counterattacked, and ended up like that?"
One professor asked the dorm supervisor for confirmation.
The supervisor was already embroidering what she had witnessed with exaggeration and speculation, painting a picture for the others: Yeon had threatened Elise, Elise had struck back in self-defense, and Yeon had collapsed coughing blood as a result.
"Tsk tsk. Didn’t know her place, picked a fight she couldn’t win, and got exactly what she deserved."
Voices filled with mockery and contempt for Yeon filled the room.
Bella watched it all with a rigid face.
She had known, vaguely, how deep and open the world’s malice toward Yeon ran. Seeing it with her own eyes was still worse than she had imagined.
She wanted nothing more than to leap up, seize them by the collars, and shake them. She couldn’t.
She had a reason to remain in this place—this space thick with hypocrisy and spite—and endure it.
"Ahem. Then Yeon Bennet’s punishment will be confinement to the punishment chamber… Who should serve as the enforcer?"
An older professor cleared his throat and asked.
"Well… there are quite a few people who’ve been waiting for the chance…"
"She clearly needs a proper education, doesn’t she?"
The professors were eyeing one another, searching for a suitable candidate, when Bella spoke.
"…I’ll do it."
Every gaze in the room snapped to her.
Her face wore an expression cold and murderous enough to kill someone on the spot.
The other professors began murmuring among themselves at the sight.
"Did you see that look just now? Good heavens…"
"Must be the frontline experience… maybe thinking of fallen comrades…"
"No wonder she volunteered herself."
Of course, their guesses were completely wrong. Bella’s rage had an entirely different source.
Professor Merlin regarded Bella for a moment with a complicated expression.
"Very well. Then Professor Bella will serve as the enforcer for Yeon Bennet’s punishment."
As the homeroom teacher of Class A—where the top students gathered—and a member of the Elix family, her authority carried weight. Even those who might have preferred otherwise did not dare object; they simply agreed.
Once she had been appointed Yeon’s enforcer, Bella let out a quiet breath of relief inside.
At least she had prevented the worst outcome: Yeon falling into the hands of someone who knew nothing.
Now she could protect Yeon herself.
"Professor Bella, excellent decision."
One professor spoke with open satisfaction.
"Educate that insolent, arrogant girl thoroughly. Make certain she never again disrupts the Academy’s order!"
"Exactly! Make an example of her!"
The others chimed in eagerly, their voices thick with malice toward Yeon and expectation toward Bella.
Bella listened, then answered in a voice cold as ice.
"…Understood. Don’t worry. I will educate her… thoroughly."