When the principal and the elderly headmistress of Ravenshade No. 3 High School arrived and saw that Ethan was safely at home, both visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
The truth was far more intense than Ethan knew.
Earlier that day, when Ethan released his massive 100-kilometer-wide vine field, word of the event quickly reached the headmistress elder. As the sharpest mind in intelligence across the Dragon Kingdom, nothing escaped her radar.
Even though the Lord of Ravenshade had tried to suppress the details, she still found out about the appearance of the foreign beings—and that it happened right inside the City Lord's Mansion, where Ethan, Fairwind, and others were present.
Fortunately, Ethan had survived.
But just when she was about to relax, another report came in—Ethan's private car had been ambushed shortly after he left the City Lord's Mansion.
Even worse, Ethan's whereabouts became unknown after that.
---
The headmistress elder decided not to keep it from the principal. Although there had been past tension between them, they had recently reconciled, and secrecy would only damage their relationship again.
When she received confirmation that Ethan had reappeared safely—and learned he had used a Dimension Transfer to return to the City Lord's Mansion—she finally relaxed.
She silently praised the boy's intelligence.
Ethan had placed a teleportation marker inside the mansion beforehand. When the attack came, he used his vines to obstruct enemy vision, making it difficult for them to tell how he escaped.
Unable to trace his method, the enemies were forced to back off—at least temporarily.
---
But that wasn't the end of the worry.
"Why would they attack Ethan?" she wondered aloud. "What did he do to anger them?"
She knew foreigners, or "Outsiders," better than anyone. Once they marked someone as a threat, they never let go.
---
After hearing her report, the principal's face turned pale. Then his body trembled, and he broke into a violent coughing fit.
The headmistress gently patted his back, helping him breathe.
"Relax. Ethan is safe. He got away not once, but twice. That tells you something."
Still catching his breath, the principal sighed, "I didn't expect Ethan to encounter Outsiders this soon. I thought he'd be clear of them for at least another decade..."
The headmistress tried to lighten the mood. "Come on. He escaped twice without even preparing for it. That kid's sharper than you give him credit for. Smarter than you and Tian were back in the day, that's for sure."
---
But the principal shook his head.
"If he were truly smart," he said grimly, "he wouldn't be hanging around Fairwind. None of this would've happened if not for him."
He then turned serious, voice cold.
"Can we find out who these Outsiders are? Can we identify their organization and destroy them?"
---
The headmistress frowned. "That's the tricky part. They've been hiding too well. They planned this quietly, waited patiently, and only struck when they saw a real opportunity."
Still, the principal was fired up. His eyes darkened with killing intent—an aura rarely seen from him.
"They threatened Ethan. That's all I need to know. I won't make the same mistake twice. They will die."
---
The headmistress rolled her eyes.
"You keep saying that, but I told you already—we can't find them yet. If I can't track them down, no one in the entire Dragon Kingdom can."
The principal sighed.
"Then... what should we do now?"
"Simple," she replied. "We go see the Lord of Ravenshade. Find out what these strangers were after. Why now? What were they looking for?"
---
Together, they went to the City Lord's Mansion.
It was Fairwind who opened the door.
"Oh? Principal? What brings you here?" Fairwind said nervously.
Seeing the principal was like a kid being called to the office after a fight. He immediately broke into a cold sweat.
The principal glared at him without saying a word.
To him, Fairwind was the reason Ethan got dragged into all this trouble. It was the same kind of "bad influence" that every parent worries about.
---
However, the headmistress elder was far more strategic.
She saw a perfect opportunity—Fairwind was an easier target for information than the guarded Lord of Ravenshade.
"You must be Ethan's close friend, Fairwind, right?" she asked with a smile.
"Yes! I'm probably the closest person to him at Ravenshade High!"
But Fairwind sensed danger. The way the principal looked at him made it feel like his life expectancy just dropped.
The headmistress smiled kindly but pressed on.
"Can you tell us what happened earlier today? In detail."
---
Fairwind froze.
The Lord of Ravenshade had specifically told him to keep everything secret, for Ethan's own good.
Trusting the Lord's judgment, Fairwind had decided to keep the entire incident to himself.
But the headmistress was ready for that.
"We're Ethan's family. Don't we deserve to know what happened to him?"
Still, Fairwind didn't budge.
After all, he had just learned the hard way that trusting the wrong person—like his housekeeper "uncle"—could end in betrayal.
But the headmistress played her trump card.
"If you don't tell us, you'll have to stop seeing Ethan altogether."
---
It sounded childish—but it worked instantly.
Fairwind's face changed, and he immediately caved, recounting everything that had happened.
From the moment the strangers appeared, to the fight, to the ambush—he explained it all, making sure not to miss a single detail.
"I've told you everything," he finished. "I'm really Ethan's friend!"
---
The principal and headmistress were stunned.
They had assumed Ethan and Fairwind were bystanders, that they had been spared because they posed no threat.
But the truth?
Ethan had actually ruined the Outsiders' plans. No wonder they wanted him gone.
The principal clenched his fists. He was furious.
But the headmistress gently reminded him, "You do realize Ethan chose to fight back instead of running, right? This isn't Fairwind's fault. It was Ethan's decision."
And after hearing how Fairwind had been betrayed by his own housekeeper, the principal almost couldn't help himself.
"How can someone be so foolish?" he thought. But then again...
With an IQ like Fairwind's, could he really be a bad influence on Ethan?
---
The principal's face finally softened.
"If I find out you've led Ethan astray, I'll personally deal with you. Got it?"
Fairwind gulped, but he was visibly relieved.
At least it didn't sound like a death sentence anymore.
---
Then, the headmistress elder struck again while the moment was hot.
"Do you think that maybe, something you said made your housekeeper uncle suspicious?"
That thought hit Fairwind like a lightning bolt.
The Outsiders had been hiding for years, but now they had made a move—something must have tipped them off.
---
"Ah! Yes! A few days ago, Ethan gave me a skill book," Fairwind said. "I wanted to return the favor, but I didn't know what gift would be suitable, so I asked the housekeeper."
"He asked me if I had ever been inside the inner vault. I said no. But then... I suddenly remembered something."
---
"What did you remember?" the headmistress asked.
Fairwind scratched his head.
"When I was a kid... I saw this scary red light coming from inside the vault. It seeped through the door, and I never forgot it."
"What kind of red light?" the headmistress asked again. "Why was it scary?"
Before Fairwind could answer—
A calm voice interrupted them.
> "If you want to know more, madam, you can ask me directly."
Everyone turned.
It was the Lord of Ravenshade himself, stepping into the courtyard, his golden-rimmed glasses shining ominously under the setting sun.
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