Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 76: 76-I Can Protect Everyone

Read chapter 76 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

Sunday didn’t start out any better than the previous day had ended. Merlin was seated opposite the headmaster, in his office, though not alone, but with Nora beside him. This was not because of his petulant attitude, concerning the points that had been deducted from him. It was because what he had feared all through the night had ended up coming to pass. His parents had seen the video. “The only reason I’m not flying down to Korea right this moment to pull my children from that Academy is because my husband stopped me,” Phoebe Tyrrell stated from the other side of the screen of the headmaster’s tablet, which had become the source of a video call between the Tyrrell parents, their kids, and the headmaster of the most prestigious Academy in South Korea. “Why would you let a child wander into such a situation? Is that how poor the safety of the children enrolled in your Academy is?” “I assure you, ma’am, that Prestige Academy is unrivaled in its security and treatment of its students,” Headmaster Im Ilseong replied amicably, despite the harsh tone he was being spoken to with. “Yesterday’s situation was more of a slip-up than a recurring event. It won’t happen again.” “And we’re just meant to take your words for it? He’s only been at your Academy a week, and…and… Goodness, he’d almost died,” Phoebe Tyrrell pressed on. Merlin had been avoiding looking at the screen—at the faces of his parents—but he stole a glance now. They were seated in a rather familiar space. Not the one that had shelves of medical apparatuses lined on them, but one that reminded him of a space that had always felt so lonely for as long as he could remember: their home. So it only took a brush with death to bring them back, didn’t it? Merlin almost scoffed. Maybe he should do that more often. Headmaster Im Ilseong leaned further away from his seat than he already had, his hands clutched together to give his whole mien a solemn feel that showed he was truly sorry about what had happened. “I truly apologize. But, like I said, what happened yesterday is not the norm,” Headmaster Im Ilseong explained. “I assume no one would want an Academy to deny its students the liberty of movement. Your son went on a date, and the unthinkable happened while he was on it. A Dungeon was not meant to have appeared in that location, but it had, and no Mage was present. Which was why your son had to take it upon himself to act, if not, countless lives would have been lost.” Merlin’s brows narrowed at those words. For a moment there it had felt like Headmaster Im Ilseong was trying to defend his actions. But a quick recollection of how he had been deducted points made him think otherwise. Merlin was still yet to witness how the rest of the members of his Cohort would act towards him, but he wasn’t really eager. They were only behind Cohort Dragon Eye by five points before, but now it had become twenty-five points. And it was an unspoken rule that every point mattered. Phoebe Tyrrell tried to say something, obviously not yet satisfied with the headmaster’s analysis of the situation—and most likely never would—but Arthur spoke over her then. “We’re surgeons, headmaster. We do understand the urge to protect others and save life,” he said. “But you should also understand that because of our job, we have seen how even the most minor of injuries can take a life. We understand that being a Mage comes with its dangers, but our children haven’t even been in the Academy for a week and such a situation occurred. We’d just like something to assure us that we do not have to wake up every morning worried about receiving a call or mail about…well, the unthinkable.” Headmaster Im Ilseong nodded. “I do understand. And… I promise you, it won’t happen again. Due to yesterday’s events, we have been alerted to how spontaneous Dungeons can now spawn. And, as such, we have taken extra measures to closely monitor the movements of our students the best we can. We cannot deprive them of their freedom to move a