In the class full of fourteen-year-old kids who were in the last year of their educations, there was an air of terror and stillness of fear.
The chilling eyes of the stern lady watched over them like a hawk.
Mrs. Walker, like always, was wearing her signature black dress. Her hands were covered in silk white gloves, and her red eyes shimmered behind her half-moon glasses.
"Mrs. Walker, will you miss us once we leave?"
Amidst the group of scared students, one particularly "daring" kid shouted with his head lowered behind a boy sitting before him.
Kids nearby looked at him with eyes wide in horror and disbelief, wondering where he had grown ten sets of balls from.
The boy thought that if he spoke while hiding behind someone, the teacher would not notice him.
But his hopes were shattered almost instantly…
Mrs. Walker looked straight at him as if her eyes could pierce through anyone who stood in their way and quipped, "Bold of you to assume I don't want you gone already, Mr. Dyer."
Her cold mocking voice echoed through the silent room, drawing some stifled sneers. A few who let their snorts slip were greeted by the same sharp glare the young boy surnamed Dyer dreaded to meet.
"Enough of your childishness. You are humans; don't act like baboons." With a loud bang on the stand, Mrs. Walker snapped open a thick book. "Even though you all have already been cleared of the exams, don't think for a second that you can stop learning."
Students fidgeted in their seats, clinging to their random books opened before their faces, hoping to disappear within them.
"You all know how to live and survive in an orphanage, but you have no idea how the outside world works." Her stern voice was filled with caution and warning. She ignored the open book and walked up to the board.
Picking up a piece of white chalk, she scribbled a few words.
The Unforgivable Sins!!!
"As you try to fit into the world and begin to learn about its offerings, you will discover how alluring certain things and objects can be."
In the far corner of the room, Jinn, who had been calmly sitting in the chair, pretending to pay attention while playing around with the silver mist around his fingers, raised his eyes towards the woman.
Not just him, but the others in the class also started to get curious as to what she was about to say next.
"Hidden among other good things would be some bad things that the church believes to be sins. These 'sins' not only harm you but also harm others around you." She pointed at the board and said, "and the most wretched of the sins are known as… 'The Unforgivable Sins.'"
"You may be tempted to earn money through shortcuts or engage in harmful activities that negatively affect others." But that is a crime, and if you commit a crime, be prepared to be punished by the law enforcement unit of the Mars Kingdom."
Students held their breath upon hearing the name of the famed law enforcement unit. They were like police from Jinn's old world, in charge of maintaining the peace and order of the city.
The name of the unit alone was enough to instill fear in the hearts of many. But not all feared them.
In doing its work, this unit became the center of admiration for the people of the kingdom. Their bravery and legends inspired others to become just like them.
The idea of being punished by their own heroes was too dreadful for the kids to even imagine.
As the class continued, Jinn sometimes listened and sometimes pretended to. He could feel several pairs of eyes turning to him from time to time in the middle of the class.
One of them belonged to Mrs. Walker herself, while the rest belonged to the students. Since the morning, the rumors of his powerful awakening had already reached every ear in the orphanage.
The same attention Geralt had been receiving was now all on him.
"Now for the final sin…" As the class drew closer to the end, Mrs. Walker's voice suddenly grew solemn. This time everyone could even feel the tension in the air shift. "This sin is so detestable that once you commit it, even gods forsake you."
"The sin of killing."
Her words drummed in the class like a clap of thunder. "Taking the life of an innocent… there cannot be a greater misdeed you can do in your life than taking someone's life."
"How laughable." Jinn heard a sneer right beside his ear, followed by a devilish whisper. "Gods almost annihilated the demons and the devils in the third epoch. Did their lives mean nothing? Were they not innocent?"
Jinn had to agree with the voice on this; this statement sounded kind of hypocritical. He knew that the soldiers of the kingdom killed their enemies, and even some of the churches used the same approach.
If killing was a sin, why were there beheading ceremonies for those who did heinous crimes? Why were they not just simply locked up in a dark cell?
But even though he disagreed with the teacher's words, Jinn was not about to stand up and voice his thoughts out loud. Especially when the other person was someone like—
Hmm?
While all the kids were scared or lost upon hearing the scary words of the cold teacher, Jinn felt a sharp gaze upon himself. Curious, he followed the gaze and realized it was Geralt who was looking at him with a vacant look in his eyes.
But the moment he realized that Jinn's head was turned in his direction, Geralt snapped out of the daze and smiled at him before shifting her attention towards the teacher.
The odd reaction stuck in Jinn's head, but before he could think much of it, the bell, marking the end of the class, rang.
"There might be many sins that will tempt you, but there are also several good things that you will come to enjoy about life." With a final line, Mrs. Walker left the class with graceful strides.