A graveyard silence reigned over the Grand Lecture Hall in the wake of Hammel's humiliating collapse.
I slowly turned away from the broken 4th-Circle mage, my cold, unblinking gaze drifting up to Principal Oswald's elevated podium. The man was frantically dabbing at his glistening forehead with a silk handkerchief, his eyes still glued in sheer disbelief to the smoldering, fist-sized hole blown straight through the academy's reinforced stone wall.
"Now then, Principal," my voice echoed, smooth, rhythmic, and infuriatingly calm amidst the suffocating silence. "Have we concluded this pathetic theatrical performance? Or does the disciplinary committee still harbor doubts regarding my academic competence?"
Oswald swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously. He stiffly rose from his grand chair, desperately attempting to salvage whatever shredded fragments of administrative dignity remained in the room.
"Professor Adrian..." Oswald began, his voice lacking its usual thunderous authority. "The empirical results you have demonstrated today... and your utterly flawless stabilization of a 1st-Circle matrix... technically render the formal complaint against you entirely void. Your scientific competence is, unequivocally, beyond question."
Oswald then rigidly shifted his gaze down to Hammel, who was currently trembling on his hands and knees, desperately trying to pull himself up. The man's face was completely hollowed out, utterly destroyed by his public defeat.
"As for you, Hammel," Oswald's tone instantly hardened into ice. "Assaulting a fellow faculty member within the Academy walls. Detonating a 4th-Circle explosive spell in a densely populated lecture hall. The wanton destruction of historical Academy property... These are severe violations that cannot be overlooked."
Oswald paused, ensuring his sentence fell like an executioner's blade. "Fifty percent of your salary will be docked for the next twelve months to finance the reconstruction of that wall. Furthermore, your teaching credentials are suspended until further notice."
I cut my eyes toward Hammel. It was a sideways glance dripping with pure, unadulterated contempt. The man was as pale as a corpse. He didn't utter a single syllable of protest. In the span of a five-minute equation, he had lost his wealth, his prestige, and his authority, all at the hands of the man they called the 'Trash Professor'.
"As for you, Adrian," the Principal turned back to me, his tone noticeably softer, almost cautious. "We expect you to formally assume your schedule for Class 9 starting next week. We highly anticipate that this... 'new theory' of yours will form the foundation of your curriculum."
I didn't dignify him with a verbal response.
I offered a single, shallow nod of absolute arrogance. Snatching my leather briefcase from the podium, I turned on my heel and began my descent toward the grand exit.
As I strode down the long central aisle, cutting a path straight through the sea of seated students, I could feel the sheer weight of their stares burning into my back like physical needles. I passed directly beside Elena. She was still frozen in her seat, her eyes tracking my every movement with a chaotic blend of profound shock and genuine, primal fear. I didn't even turn my head. Inefficient variables did not warrant my attention.
The moment I pushed through the heavy mahogany doors, the crisp, freezing morning air hit my face. I walked straight toward the obsidian-black carriage bearing the Faulkner crest, completely ignoring the stunned whispers of the guards stationed outside.
The second the carriage lurched into motion, slamming its doors shut, a brutal, crushing weight suddenly compacted against my temples.
Simultaneously sustaining [Analytical Vision] at maximum output while forcefully executing [Sequential Cancellation] in a live combat scenario had terrifyingly drained my mental stamina. My brain felt like an over-clocked processor pushed far beyond its thermal limits. A vicious, throbbing migraine flared violently behind my eyes.
I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the velvet cushions, and summoned the system interface to verify my core stability.
[Ding! Overwhelming Victory Recorded.]
[Current Status: Severe Cognitive Fatigue Detected. Immediate system shutdown (sleep) is highly recommended to restore processing equilibrium.]
"One week until the first lecture," I murmured softly to myself, the rhythmic clatter of the carriage wheels echoing through the bustling capital streets. "The students are terrified now... but fear is a volatile variable. They will obsessively hunt for my next mistake. I must forge 'Logic' into a weapon so absolute, no one will ever dare to question it."
Upon arriving at the Annex Manor, I bypassed the shocked expressions of the staff entirely. I walked straight into my room and locked the door. Without even bothering to remove my heavy trench coat or boots, I collapsed face-first onto the mattress.
As I surrendered to the heavy pull of sleep, the throbbing pain began to slowly recede into the dark. The grand equation was finally beginning to balance. Today was merely step one in mathematically deconstructing this rotten, decaying world... and rebuilding it entirely according to my own rules.