Heaven's Greatest Professor

Kiara and Jenni were still there by the time they returned. Actually, they had ventured further into the barren field, on the path towards the trial grounds. A couple of soldiers were with them in a stoic getup, along with Kiara's bodyguard. He recognised a familiar face between the soldiers.

They had probably decided to head towards the trial grounds after Gale left them; it had been barely a quarter of an hour, so they hadn't moved too far on foot.

Gale landed before them with June, Sylvie's form casting a shadow over their heads as she descended. Cupcake once more flew from Kiara's arm to him. She purred as he ran a clumsy finger to brush her snow-white fur.

"Where are you guys going?" June asked. "They are still testing the trial grounds to accept any entry."

"Professor," Kiara said, "we're looking for you."

"And you guys?" Gale turned to the soldiers.

Gale watched as their stoic demeanour returned, while the bodyguard adopted a more serious stance, as though calculating a threat and devising a plan to counter it.

The man looked a bit older than Gale, his aura radiating the concealed power of a peak silver ranker. Kiara's father had probably employed one of his most trusted men for his daughter's safety.

"Sergeant Barn, I see you're in good health."

"I'm well. Lady Cassandra made sure to get me the best healer," Barn smiled callously. "Which reminds me she was asking about you..."

"She's still in the camp?"

Barn shook his head, not completely sure.

"Well, I hope they didn't rob you from duty to accompany them," he said, patting his shoulders.

Students from the academy weren't allowed to wander off on their own outside the main camp. They probably needed some officer to accompany them.

"Rob? I just asked them nicely," Jenni said, smiling. "These good soldiers came with us to ensure our safety."

The smirk on her lips was brilliant, as Jenni had probably used her charm to get Kiara out of the main camp. Kiara was too much of a goody-two-shoes to attempt it on her own, not to mention her level of shyness could be comparable to Dawn's. He wondered who would win in a contest of that.

Gale chuckled, remembering how Kiara had fallen on her face, trying to run away after apologising to him. While Dawn would literally turn invisible whenever she felt embarrassed. Those incidents happened quite often, he thought, recalling the times she would leave notes for him in various places.

"Ahh!" Gale touched the back of his head, feeling a familiar, stabbing pain.

"Gale?" June turned to him, concerned.

"It's nothing," he said, waving her off. "I just remembered something."

She narrowed her eyes. "Do you need a moment, or. . ."

"It's fine," he told her. "Let's go to my quarters, and then we'll talk more."

"I'm coming too," Jenni added, clasping Kiara's hand.

Gale shrugged. "Will you guys join us too?" he asked the soldiers.

"We are on duty, sir, ma'am," the two soldiers saluted and left to resume their tasks.

"Now I feel bad for them," Jenni sighed, waving at the departing soldiers. "Maybe I should have smiled at them once or twice more."

Gale pinched her ear. "Remember, whenever you stub your pinky, it's karma for little evil deeds like this."

"What are you talking about?" Jenni pouted. "I just asked them nicely, and they were decent enough to care about a couple of defenceless women's safety."

"Who's the woman here?" Gale snorted, looking at the two of them. "All I see are two girls, and one of them is very close to being a brat."

The bratty one was obviously Jenni, who was about the same age as Dawn. The time dilation, the almost ageless faces of rankers, along with her carefree personality, all made it feel like she was perhaps a year or two older than Kiara.

"I'm an adult," Kiara said.

"I'm not a brat," complained the soon-to-be disciple.

They continued to give him stink eye until they reached his quarters. He opened the formation to let them all in, one by one.

"Sorry, didn't catch your name," Gale said to the bodyguard.

"Harold," the bodyguard replied in a cool voice.

Gale nodded. "Do you need me to introduce myself, or do you already know my name?"

Harold followed his young miss, indicating that he already recognised Gale's identity. Gale shrugged and entered with June.

"Oh, I forgot to mention something to you," Gale told her. "I guess it'll have to wait until they leave."

Upon entering the house, Gale found that the whole interior had been renovated, giving it a wholly different atmosphere. Before, it had the vibe of a guest house where people didn't tend to stay long; now, it had some resemblance to a home. And he had left Dawn here for only a couple of hours.

He guessed she had put all those hours to good use.

"You have a pretty big quarter," June commented.

"Benefit of being useful to the right people," he chuckled. "As I was saying, there's plenty of room for you to stay."

"If I do stay, though," she said, meeting his gaze, "I won't be needing plenty of rooms."

She kissed him slightly on the lips before going over to join Dawn and her mentee. Harold, the bodyguard, took a stance in one corner, observing everything in the room, still playing his role.

"So," Jenni whispered from beside him. "Do you think she'll agree to teach me?"

Gale studied her. "If you have a good reason for it, maybe. . ."

"Should I ask her how much to pay when I ask?"

"She's loaded," Gale shrugged. "So she probably wouldn't care about that."

"Loaded from a teaching job?" Jenni shot an incredulous gaze before turning to the elf talking with Dawn and Kiara.

"Some teachers do tend to earn a lot for their expertise," Gale said. "Also, she's an elf, a high elf. I don't think she ever cares about wealth and all that stuff. . ."

"What are you two whispering about?" June turned to them, frowning.

"Nothing," Gale chuckled and drifted towards them. "I was just telling Jenni about your princess status."