章 19: Aftermath

Next day (In class):

"The fact that Professor Arden is just teaching casually implies that Golett did not inform him about the stealing," whispered Ethan in a barely audible voice.

Professor Arden was teaching the strategies to counter a psychic Pokemon. Moves like disable, mean look, abilities such as shadow tag and dark type moves are being explained in detail.

After hearing what Ethan said, I too whispered back,

"I think so too, it's even better if Golett never informs him."

"Also as you advised, I have sent the eggs away with my personal butler," said Ethan making me feel less anxious.

Now, even if someone knows about the theft of the eggs, there is no physical evidence. Ethan's butler stays outside the Academy and I told Ethan to send the eggs away this morning.

"It's good that you immediately called your butler, Who knows what trouble we might get in?" I said and shortly after that, someone came into the classroom. God seems to be playing a joke on me.

"Knock Knock..." I heard the door of the classroom being thumped.

Prof. Arden stopped his lecture and glared at the guy who came in,

"Excuse me, Professor Arden, sorry for the disturbance but I have been ordered by the Dean," said a gentleman with glasses. He was short and thin, well dressed and polite.

"What is it?" asked Arden with a serious face at the mention of the dean.

"Arthur Jones, Ethan Frost and.... and Professor Arden Vickster are to immediately meet the Dean in his office," said the man calling out names.

'Shit!!! I think I messed up, How did they know? Not a single clue left.....' I thought knowing what this was for.

"Me and these kids?" asked Arden in confusion pointing at us. He had no clue why but I and Ethan looked at each other in panic.

"Yes Sir, he asked three of you to come together," he said and waited silently till we follow him.

"Ok, let's stop the class for today," said Arden looking at the class while the class gave weird gazes at us.

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10 minutes later (Dean's Office):

The moment we entered, I was shocked by the sheer amount of books present here. To both, my left and right were cupboards full of books.

The Room was unusually huge with glass-covered windows, the sunshine was bright which illuminated the whole room. At the end of the room was a Desk with the Dean's name on it, it also had a quill and documents. I lifted my eyes from the table and looked at the man who was sitting in the comfortable seat while sipping some tea.

The man immediately noticed my gaze and looked back at me, I instantly averted my gaze towards the lady standing beside him. She had a well-developed body with black hair tied as a bun. She was fair-skinned and had a distinctive nose, she was holding a book and signing something on it.

'Maybe she is the Secretary,' I thought and stood still in place waiting for the Dean to speak.

The Dean had white hair indicating he was quite old. The notable feature was that he had an eye patch over his face and two claw marks running over half his face.

"Old man, get this over with.... why did you summon us?" said Arden feeling irritated.

"Why so serious? Ask your babysitter about what he did yesterday night," said the Dean staring at me with a smile. Although the voice looked soft, it had an authoritative aura.

"Yesterday night? ... Kid, what did you do?" he asked in confusion.

"I have no clue, professor Arden," I said feigning ignorance.

Until the Dean shows me evidence, it's better to not accept anything.

Hearing my answer, Arden seemed more impatient,

"Old man, unlike you I have a lot to do so get this over with....." said Arden turning towards the dean.

Dean was actually baffled by my answer too, so he said back sarcastically,

"Ohhh!!! Mister Arthur Jones seemed to be innocent. I am sorry for bringing you here then, I just called the three of you so that we can talk about the current politics in the kingdom."

Ethan was silent as if blanked out. I think he is trying to find a solution to get us out of this situation. Though the dean's sarcastic remark made me flinch a bit, I couldn't understand if it was a threat or a joke.

"Ok since Arthur doesn't know anything then let me just announce this," said the Dean picking up a paper.

"As one of the parties involved in the theft of the eggs, Professor Arden Vickster should be suspended for a year from the academy. But.... as you have no idea regarding the matter, I will be lenient and reduce the suspension to just one month. If you have any questions you can communicate with your Golett," he said looking at the confused Arden.

Then he signalled the Secretary to dismiss Professor Arden so that he doesn't cause a ruckus in anger.

"One of the parties? Theft? Eggs? Suspension? and Golett? What's happening here," asked the utterly perplexed Arden while the Secretary pushed him out of the room using her physical strength.

'Oh!!! she seemed to have a fighting type Pokemon,' I thought diverting my mind to make myself calm.

"Next, the other trivial party involved in this master plan of student Arthur Jones. Mister Ethan Frost, son of Duke Daemon Frost will only receive half the credit points earned for the next 3 months. Do you have any objections?" asked the Dean after giving the punishment.

'No!! don't agree.... he doesn't have evidence' I said internally hoping Ethan will hear through some psychic power.

Ethan seemed stuck to his ground because the punishment seemed too liberal. He gained his sense after a slight cough from me and said,

"No... No Sir, I agree with the punishment. Thank you for your concession, Master Nicholas. Can you plea...."

"Let me stop you there, you don't need to worry about your only friend in the Academy. I will have a nice little chat and send him back, you can leave now," said the Dean pointing at the exit door.

'Damn it!!! now I can't pretend to act as nothing happened' I thought in frustration.

Ethan sighed and gave a worrisome look at me while walking out.

I turned back towards the Dean who was sipping some tea. After Ethan closed the door, the dean put the teacup down and looked at me,

"Oh, how rude of me!!!! I forgot to introduce myself, I am Nicholas Wright the current head of the royal academy," he said smiling.

Then his gaze became sharp immediately,

"So, do you think what you did was right?" he asked coming straight to the point.

"Sir, May I know how you found out?" I asked in curiosity.

"My Xatu can see everything that happens around the Cemetry, from Ethan distracting Baldwin to Golett sneaking in," he said making me clench.

'So, from the start, there was no chance,' I thought.

Now, the only way out is to give him a good explanation for my behaviour and convince him,

"Sir, what I did was wrong, I know that more than anyone. But, it was either getting a basic Pokemon and preparing for the tournament or risking everything to get a better one. After all, I am a civilian with nothing much to lose," I said calmy.

I further explained to him,

"Academy treats everyone equal but it doesn't prohibit nobles to buy the Pokemon through their resources outside the academy. So from the get-go, it was never a fair tournament. It has been more than 100 years since this academy was established and how many civilian born students won a tournament here?.... let me tell you,

It was just one person.... and that was 20 years ago. Professor Arden who was a civilian at that time won it, this also made him one of the best students to ever study here" I said making him perk up.

This indicates he is listening so I continued,

"This Academy was built to develop talents regardless of Civilians or nobles but in the last 50 years, there was only one civilian born trainer that really shined. The current state of civilians is the same as what they were 100 years ago, and I presume this will continue for another 500 years or maybe even more. So I chose to take everything into my hands risking it, but it seems like it did not turn out well as I got caught," I said shaking my head.

Dean took a deeper look at me and asked,

" So what you are indirectly saying is that the goal of this Academy is just false propaganda to get a good public opinion?"

"If I have to be honest, then Yes. All the previous civilian trainers just got killed or hired by nobles. The hired trainers clean up the dirty work of Nobles. There's zero development in society, the state of the kingdom is the same as it was 100 years ago, dare I say worse," I said without holding anything back.

"Some bold words there, Mr Arthur Jones. You need to watch yourself, what I hate is the confidence that has no basis. What's the point if all you are worth is just some talk?" he said releasing intense pressure that suffocated my breath.

'This Academy is just propaganda sentence might have touched his nerve' , because the oppression I am feeling now is immeasurable.

It almost seemed like Gravity was pulling me down. My legs feel weak and the upper body seems heavier, I couldn't even stay still. I bit my lips to stay conscious, and gradually I felt the taste of blood inside my mouth regaining some clarity,

"Give.....Give me a chance and I.... will prove it," I said ignoring all that pressure while looking right into his eye. Internally I was struggling to even stand straight, this is the same pressure I felt from Arden before. But that day I just felt for a mere nanosecond while this seemed completely focused on me.

As soon as I asked for a chance, the pressure gradually subsided,

"One chance, I will give you just one. Prove it to me that you are worth this academy's investment. The tournament that's coming up, stay in the top three of your year. If you do so then I will forget about this matter but if you don't then I will make sure your brother Leon Jones is fired from being the Royal Knight," he said with a very serious tone.

"My brother has nothing to do with this, why punish him?" I said snapping back. I know how hard Leon worked to raise me, how can I be the one holding him back after all the hardships we have gone through.

"Arthur, you should be expelled and thrown into Royal prison but I am leaving you with just firing your brother so be thankful. Also, I thought you were confident before. Remember one thing Arthur Jones, if you risk something then you should also be willing to pay the price for it" he said provoking.

"I accept the deal. I am never afraid of a challenge. And Sir Nicholas Wright, with all due respect, there is no physical evidence that I stole the eggs, all you have is a statement from Xatu who in turn is your Pokemon, which means I can appeal saying that you are just plotting against me" I said to which the secretary reacted. She seemed to be angry as I dared to say anything about the evidence at this point.

Nicholas raised his hand and stopped her from speaking,

"Arthur the reason we are sitting and talking is because I don't have any physical evidence. I presume you moved the Pokemon eggs out of the campus. But remember, next time you pull something like this, I will throw you in the Royal Prison myself," he said and pointed his hand at the exit.

I nodded and walked out of the room with internal relief.

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Dean Nicholas POV:

"Master!! Why did you leave him without giving any punishment? what he did was a huge crime, what if others know of this and think of us as pushovers?" said my secretary in annoyance.

"Taylor, let me tell you a small tale. 20 years ago, a student stood in my office for the same crime as Arthur. He stole a rare Turtwig from the grass Pokemon breeding house, worst of all, the evidence was pointing straight at him. I was just shocked by the sheer stupidity. Coincidentally, it was also the day my wife gave birth, so I forgave the boy in generosity. I hoped he would change for good but who knew he would go as far as to infiltrate two kingdoms and escape unscathed for the Pokemon he wants," I said leaning back and remembering the past.

"You..... You mean?" said Taylor with a shock, in realization.

"Yes, it was Arden Vickster, the only civilian to have ever won the tournament in the Academy. So I thought to myself, why not take that chance again. Maybe this kingdom will have a King level Pokemon trainer in 10 years," I said in expectation.

"So you left him because he reminded you of the past?" asked Taylor in curiosity.

"No, not exactly. I was impressed by his reasoning too, he also plotted this right from the day he entered here. If I have to guess, he started with making friends with Golett knowing that it is Arden's pokemon. After bonding with Arden's Golett, he met with Baldwin for information and then he used the ground type ability of Golett to steal the eggs with no loopholes. There was not a speck of evidence left behind, and do you know why he involved Ethan in this?" I asked turning back at Taylor.

"for distracting Baldwin?" she said in doubt.

"No, the distraction wasn't needed at all. Arthur knew Baldwin would not be present near the building where eggs are stored. He already disturbed Baldwin's sleep to make sure of that, Ethan was a backup for him," I said and took a sip of tea. I then continued,

"If Ethan wasn't involved. I can just leave Arden out of this and throw Arthur into prison. No one would know or question us but with Ethan involved as a witness, I had to penalize all of them if I ever plan to punish Arthur. He knew right from the start that Academy can never shut the mouth of Duke Daemon Frost's only loving son," I concluded impressed by Arthur's plan.

"So, what you are saying is that he made sure we can't punish the involved parties with anything severe by implicating the big shots together with him. Right!! even if we are the most reputed academy, we can't throw both Arden Vickster and Ethan Frost in prison. I wouldn't dare to offend Arden Vickster in the first place but I would be more afraid to offend the Madman called Daemon Frost. Everyone in the kingdom knows his love for Ethan and even the Royal capital has high expectations for the only 'born psychic' of the kingdom." Taylor said in understanding.

"Exactly, there was never a scenario where we come out on top. It's either Arthur gets the eggs or we barely punish him if he is caught. I am just impressed by his meticulous plan and also maybe a bit of nostalgia for the past. Let's see how far he can make in the tournament," I said looking at the blazing sun outside.

Arthur Jones, the second son of late Baron Timothy Jones huh?

Never thought he would turn out to be calculative and cunning. How ironic is it that the most honest man of the kingdom would give birth to such a daring child?

'Let's see if you can live up to your words of staying in the top 3' I thought in expectations.

-------Chapter End--------

Note: 2700+ words, my longest chapter ever. I am not sure how the chapter turned out but I hope it was good enough.