Athena didn't follow them out of the room.
She stood there, arms folded, eyes fixed on the closed door as the echoes of their footsteps faded down the corridor.
Garos stayed seated behind his desk, already typing something on the transparent console in front of him. Calm. Focused. Like he hadn't just thrown a bunch of kids toward one of the most lethal gates in the country.
Athena didn't move for a while.
Then quietly, flatly—
"That was reckless."
Garos didn't look up. "No. That was necessary."
She stepped forward. Her boots didn't make a sound on the polished floor.
"He's a student, Garos. They all are."
"They're not normal students."
"That doesn't mean you throw them into an S-Rank Gate and watch what happens."
Garos finally looked up. "You saw the match. You saw what he did. That wasn't a fluke. That wasn't luck. He's beyond what we were supposed to contain. He doesn't need books or lectures. He needs weight."
