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nThe interior of the office was minimal but there were certain things that stood out. The walls were covered with many artifacts, some of which radiated immense blood-qi fluctuation and others not so much. Some of them were not giving off any energy signatures and only there for decoration.

nSwords, spears, bows and different types of axes were all on full display. There were many weapons Keith saw for the first time and their shapes intrigued him.

nAs he walked to the end of the room where a large table was present, Miss. Shaw, who was sitting on her chair, turned her head.

n“You like my collection?” She asked.

n“Honestly, this is an amazing collection. But I can see most of them are for decoration.” Keith replied while scanning the wall.

n“Oh they are just for show. All of them were collected from the vampires I defeated or killed. My personal weapons are in a safe place where only I can go.” She giggled after saying this.

nFinally Keith was in front of the table and sat on a chair that was nearby.

n“May I ask, why did you call me here? If you wanted to say something, you could’ve said that outside.” Keith’s expression turned serious.

nSeeing his expression stifen, Miss Shaw jumped to the matter at hand.

n“If you beat them up outside the hunter office, that would’ve been better. I am in charge of everything here and any mishaps put me in a bad spot. I can’t take sides and even though what you did wasn’t that severe, she is a fourth year student. The other fourth years will be quite unhappy about your behavior to her.

n“Also, she has strong connections in the blood summoning department. I know you also joined the department but she has been here for four years while you are barely for a month. Don’t think you are the top of the food chain after getting more power. There is always a bigger fish.” Miss. Shaw explained her concern.

n“I agree with what you said, but I didn’t want to create conflict with them. I was very respectable and even apologized when we met. They were the ones talking down to me and even attacked me outside the campus. I try to be polite at first, but the other side don;t let me. They think I’m polite because I’m weak.” Keith replied with a snort.

n“Then let me give you a practical piece of advice. Don’t make trouble where there are eyes. It’s fine if there is no one present. You already thrashed one of those vampires didn’t you? Nothing happened and I didn’t care. I wanted to bring the conflict to the end because they kept on asking for my appointment. I don’t have time to deal with mere skirmishes. So I gave Gard the responsibility.

n“Looks like he failed to communicate with you properly.” She looked rather pissed.

n“Don’t blame him for my rage. It was my decision to attack them. He just asked me to resolve the issue, and I almost..” Before Keith could finish, Miss. Shaw cut him off.

n“Glad that I was there before you took that treasury card. Or else you had to deal with the disciplinary committee.” Miss. Shaw shook his head.

n“The disciplinary committee of the student council?” Keith asked.

n“They keep track of all the fights in the campus and if you take a students belongings after fight without taking the matter to a higher authority, they will detain you. You can beat her up all you want and that only puts you at a risk of making enemies out of fourth year students, but taking her stuff is not taken lightly. Remember that from now.” She said with a deep voice.

n“But I took another student’s treasury card before the orientation and nobody came to deal with me.” Keith remembered his encounter with that youth who tried to attack him in front of Annice.

n“Maybe they did notice but the ceremony was about to start and they wanted to deal with you later. Or..

n“I heard from a source that Valencia is trying to recruit you and she has a very favourable attitude towards you.” Miss. Shaw raised one of her eyebrows looking at keith.

n“Ah! Is that so?” Keith tried to feign ignorance.

nEver since he said he would go to the student council and join them, he has been postponing the task to this day. Among all the matters he was dealing with right now, he forgot about the student council until Miss. Shaw reminded him.

n“Don;t try to fool me with that look, everyone saw you talking to her inside the central hall and the fight you had on the outside. I keep track of all the activity happening inside the academy. It’s my job to assess threats, both internal and external.

n“As for your compensation, take it from Gard. I won’t deduct anything from you this time, but try to keep your activities as discreet as possible. Understood?” She said with a commanding voice.

n“Yes ma’am! I will try to control my impulses.” Keith replied with a grumpy voice.

n“Now get out of here. I have to deal with more important matters.” She gestured to Keith.

nKeith got up and turned around to leave, but before he got out of the room, Miss. Shaw asked him a question.

n“When are you going to your hometown?

nKeith was surprised by the question for a moment, but soon he realized why she asked that question.

n“I thought we couldn’t leave before ten years.” Keith said.

n“It’s not a hard and fast rule. The academy doesn;t want students to leave the academy every week, so they created this rule, but if you keep with the curriculum and get approval from your professors, you can leave anytime you want. Just don’t stay there for more than a month.” She went back to sorting her files and used her runes to levitate several papers.

n“I am planning to go back once I become a duke.” Keith replied.

n“So, after ten years, noted.” She continued her work.

n“What makes you think that I can’t reach the Duke stage before that?”

nThe levitating papers created a gap through which Miss. Shaw stared at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

n“Well, looking at your progress, you might make it, but the world isn’t a simple place and not all things go according to plan especially if there are others trying to pull you down.” She warned him.

n“Good, they will become the stepping stones for my greatness.” Keith replied as he left the room.

n“This kid. But I kinda like that attitude. Sigh! I need to find out who is making such a huge army of ghouls throughout the region.” She immerses herself in reading the reports given by the other hunters.

nBack in the counter, Gard was looking anxiously towards the passageway that led to Miss. Shaw’s office. As soon as he saw Keith, he sprinted across the corridor and arrived in front of him.

n“How’d it go?” He asked in an anxious voice.

n“It was fine. Nothing serious happened really. She just informed me about some of the campus rules, that’s all.” Keith replied calmly.

n“That’s a relief. I think I’m also safe. Did she say anything about me?” he asked.

n“She was pissed that you didn’t control me, but I told her it was my idea, so you are good. Also, take me to that lady. I need to say a few words.”

nKeith followed the receptionist to meet the lady vampire. She was still in the waiting room, sitting silently and thinking about something. In her trance, she didn’t notice Keith approaching her. The two other vampires sitting with her stood up as he approached them, but this time they were fearful as opposed to being angry.

nThe lady noticed that something was wrong and she turned her head only to see Keith’s intimidating face staring down at her.

n“Hey miss. I did beat you up pretty bad, didn’t I?” Keith sat in front of her in the empty seat.

n“What do you want now?” She asked in a deep voice.

n“Can I only talk to you when I have something in mind? Keith said, smiling at her.

n***

nKeith didn’t look at the lady and turned around to leave the waiting room. The receptionist followed him from behind.

n“Keith? I asked you to resolve the issue not to make it worse. Do you know the complications of this event and the actions you took? Miss. Shaw will kill me next time she sees my face.” He mumbled with a mad voice.

n“Her office is this way right?” Keith pointed to a certain corridor.

nHe saw her coming from this side when he first arrived at the office. Looking in the direction, the receptionist gulped.

n“Yes, that’s her den. You are in a lot of trouble my friend. Good luck! ” He backed off and walked to the counter.

nHeh! She looked quite distressed when she asked me to come. I wonder what’s it all about?

nKeith slowly approached her chamber and the door opened as soon as he stood in front of it.

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