Villainous Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 92: Lecture hour

Chapter 92: Lecture hour

As silence stretched, I waited for the bird to announce something else.

And, of course—

<ATTENTION.>

Here we go.

<THERE WILL BE NO EVENT TOMORROW.>

A pause.

<INSTEAD... A FEAST WILL BE HELD FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS.>

...What?

"A feast?" Julien blinked. "After all that? What’s next? A spa day?"

"Maybe they’ll give us back massages," Mira muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Or poison," I added flatly.

"A feast sounds... nice," Felix mumbled, his eyes practically sparkling.

I stared at him. "Felix."

"Yeah, Professor?"

"Do I look like an idiot?"

He blinked. "Um..."

"Don’t answer that."

"Right."

<RETURN TO YOUR CAMPS AND REST.>

The bird’s voice echoed one last time before vanishing in a puff of mist.

"Well," Garrick stretched, his muscles cracking. "I’m not complaining. I could eat a whole damn bear."

"Try not to choke on your own stupidity," I muttered, already turning. "Let’s go."

We made our way back to the camp, the air thick with exhaustion.

Julien, Mira, Wallace, and Leo were already waiting when we arrived.

"You’re back!" Julien grinned, arms crossed like he hadn’t just been lounging around.

"Alive," Mira smirked, her eyes scanning us. "Surprisingly."

"Any trouble?" Wallace asked, his voice tight.

"Depends." I shrugged. "Does almost dying count?"

Wallace blinked. "I’ll... take that as a yes."

"Smart choice."

They settled in, finally relaxing.

But not everyone was getting off that easy.

"Garrick. Felix. Cassandra."

My voice cut through the air like a whip.

They froze.

"Front and center."

Garrick groaned. "Professor, come on—"

"Now."

Felix practically dragged his feet as he shuffled over. Garrick followed, grumbling something under his breath that I was too tired to care about.

And Cassandra...

Moved like a puppet.

Still quiet. Still distant.

But she obeyed.

"Sit."

They plopped down in front of me like guilty children waiting for punishment.

I paced, tapping my cane against the ground.

"Let’s talk about what went wrong."

Garrick looked away. Felix tried to shrink into himself.

Cassandra... blinked.

"Where do I even begin?" I muttered, rubbing my temples.

"Garrick."

His jaw clenched. "Yes, Professor."

"You were supposed to cover the flank." I paused. "And yet somehow, we almost got flanked. Care to explain?"

"I—"

"Don’t." I held up a hand. "I’d like to keep the brain cells I have left."

Garrick’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue.

"Felix."

His head snapped up. "P-Professor?"

"Do I even need to explain what you did wrong?"

"Uh..."

"Running. Screaming. Almost tripping into the damn crates—"

"I was being cautious!"

"You were being a liability." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "If I wasn’t there—"

Felix looked down, his face red with shame.

"And Cassandra..."

Her eyes blinked slowly, expression blank.

"Do I even need to say it?"

Nothing.

"Of course not," I muttered, sighing.

Still a puppet.

But...

At least she was answering questions when asked.

Small victories.

"Garrick."

"Sir?"

"You’re stronger than half the idiots in this camp." I narrowed my eyes. "Act like it."

"...Yes, Professor."

"Felix."

"Y-Yes, Professor?"

"Stop thinking. Start reacting."

"But—"

"Or I’ll tie your shoelaces together and let nature sort you out."

His mouth snapped shut.

"Cassandra."

Blank stare.

"Good talk."

I sighed, rubbing my face.

"You’re all a mess," I muttered.

"But..."

Their heads snapped up.

"You survived."

Silence.

"And that’s more than most can say."

Garrick’s jaw unclenched. Felix breathed a little easier.

Even Cassandra...

Her fingers twitched.

"Tomorrow..." I murmured, eyes narrowing.

"We eat."

They blinked.

"And after that..."

A smirk tugged at my lips.

"We go back to hell."

Felix paled instantly.

Garrick groaned.

Cassandra... blinked.

"Wonderful," Julien muttered from the back. "Can’t wait."

"Shut up, Julien."

"Yes, Professor."

The campfire crackled as the students gathered, and I made my way toward them, smirking at the sight of my students who thought they were about to get some peace after the crate hunting event.

But no, I wasn’t done yet. Not even close.

I stood before them, taking in the sight of Garrick, Felix, and Cassandra. At least Cassandra had done something, even if she was effectively just a puppet under some mind control. The others? Well, they were another story.

"Alright, listen up, you three," I said, glancing at each of them with an exaggerated eye roll. "I need to address something serious. Well, serious for you, at least."

Felix immediately shrank back. "W-What now?" he asked, trying to look anywhere but at me.

"Oh, Felix, don’t act like you’re innocent," I began, my voice dripping with mock sweetness. "Let’s talk about your outstanding performance during the crate hunt. I know you’re capable of tripling the number of accidents you cause in a single day, but that was truly impressive. You made it all the way to a crate, almost tripped into a pit, and then somehow—somehow—missed a simple jump, and almost impaled yourself on a branch."

Felix’s face turned bright red as the others snickered.

"Honestly, Felix, are you sure you’re not just trying to die in the most complicated way possible?" I said, mockingly shaking my head. "If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to get me to send you home in a body bag. What were you thinking?"

Felix opened his mouth but just closed it again, looking for an escape from the conversation. I wasn’t going to let him get away that easily.

"Hey, at least you didn’t fall in the pit like last time," I added, just to drive the point home.

Garrick cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable being dragged into this next round.

"Garrick," I said, turning to the mountain of muscle who was already bracing himself. "I know you think charging into battle headfirst with no plan is an alpha move but let’s talk about the times you decided to ’charge’ into the crates without checking your surroundings first."

Garrick’s face flushed slightly, and I could practically hear his brain scrambling for an excuse.

"You thought you could just barrel through everything, right?" I continued. "Like a buff wrecking ball, smashing everything in sight... until you nearly crashed into a tree and almost knocked yourself unconscious. You know, Garrick, I thought for a second you were trying to start a new sport—tree slamming."

The group erupted into laughter, and even Garrick couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

"You couldn’t even find a crate without walking right into a tree. What’s next? You going to walk straight into a boulder and call it ’strategy’?" I mocked, shaking my head. "You’re lucky your head is so hard, otherwise, I’d be planning your funeral by now. Your luck isn’t going to last forever."

Garrick sighed dramatically. "I get it, alright," he muttered, clearly just trying to get it over with.

Now, I turned to the final culprit. Cassandra.

"Cassandra," I said, ignoring her for a second, choosing to deal with the other two first. But then, I looked at her—still so eerily calm and composed despite the constant puppet magic. She had been quiet, efficient even, during the crate hunt. She hadn’t made any noticeable mistakes, which somehow made her the most infuriating person to mock right now.

But I wasn’t about to let her off the hook. After all, no one escapes my lectures—not even the puppet acting as though she’s a model student.

"You, Cassandra," I said with a pointed look, "You were too quiet. You realize you were practically doing your work like a ghost, right? It’s like you didn’t even try to get caught. You just quietly followed along like a very obedient puppet. Good job, I guess. But seriously, can we get some personality here?"

Cassandra blinked at me, her usual lifeless expression still intact.

"Did I say something funny?" I asked sarcastically. "You want a gold star for being the most passive one in the entire group? If that’s your idea of participating, I might as well tie you to the nearest tree for the rest of the event. At least then you’d look less like a wooden doll."

She didn’t respond, and I didn’t expect her to. But it was still funny to poke at her for her lack of reaction. Her silence was its own form of punishment. And I couldn’t help but add one last jab.

"Although, on the bright side, you didn’t almost die like these two," I said, waving my hand at Felix and Garrick.

The silence that followed my words was absolute. It was as if I’d dropped an anvil on them. The only thing breaking it was the sound of crackling fire and occasional muttered curses from the students who were trying to avoid eye contact with me.

"Well, you guys should be thanking the gods that you’re still alive. If I weren’t around, you’d probably be one step away from oblivion at all times," I said, slapping my hands together. "But hey, at least I’ll take credit for saving your sorry asses today."

The group remained silent, likely too embarrassed to reply. Well, except for Felix, who was quietly muttering something under his breath. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I could guess.

"Just get some rest," I said, finishing my lecture, "Tomorrow’s another day, and maybe this time, you’ll actually try to survive without nearly killing yourselves."

I walked away, leaving them to ponder my constructive criticism.

As I left, I could hear Garrick mumbling to Felix, "I thought it was just a bit too much. You think we’re cursed?"

"Definitely cursed," Felix replied, looking completely deflated. "Why does he always make us feel like we were the ones who planned to get ourselves killed?"

I didn’t stop to answer; the fire was still crackling behind me, a reminder of their stupidity and the absurdity of it all.

Tomorrow would be a new day, and I was already looking forward to seeing what fresh disaster they’d drag themselves into.