Dean held his forehead in distress.
His head is hurting and his veins are threatening to burst open. For a moment, he just wanted to go ahead and kill Icarus directly. However, he knew he couldn't do that. Once he crosses that line, he wouldn't be fit to be an educator.
At least, he held some personal standards and ethics that he wanted to adhere to.
He sighed and got up to know more case details.
When he reached the courtroom he felt a bit stumped. As expected, Icarus was the one that filed the case and he is the one who brough the date forward.
But what surprised him is the reason Icarus used to bring him to the court.
The Judge looked at him and said.
"Dean, Icarus has filed a complaint against you. There wasn't much to begin with when he did. After all, everyone knows what your character is, but Icarus submitted new evidences that says otherwise.
The case with Pearl has become a key point here. She used the external forces to invade a pocket dimension and almost killed the most promising students of this era. And he has evidence to suspect that you coerced some judges to make her get a slap on a wrist instead of a proper punishment.
So, the Judiciary system of this region is taking the case forward and going to investigate the involvement of the judges.
Apart from that, cases have been filed against the two Elders of your academy. The elders that were proven to be involved in the acts of slaughter of innocent in the name of sacrifices. Icarus became a representative of all the people that filed cases on those two.
In total there are three hundred and fifty eight cases against them.
The judiciary system has sent notices to the Zeus Academy for a long time to send them to the court for further proceedings.
Do you know about that?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Yes, however, I already reported why they weren't able to attend the court. They are missing and are absent from the academy realm. I already dispatched a search party and we have documents to support that."
"Indeed, you have the documents to support that. That is why instead of just a case of being an accomplice in crime they committed, you are being charged with a fraud.
From what Icarus submitted, you are the one who captured those two elders from the city when their news was leaked."
"Yes, I am the one who did it. But they are some of the most experienced elders in our academy and they have heretic powers from the bloody sacrifices. They escaped."
"It would have been believable, if we didn't have the evidence showing that you handed over them to your brother Theron."
Dean frowned.
He couldn't help but look at Icarus, who is looking straight ahead.
Icarus didn't even acknowledge his presence since the start. Most people might think that as some arrogant behavior. But only people who can see the hands in his pockets would know that he is just scared shitless.
He is nervous because Dean's case shouldn't have been this early. But because of the circumstances, he has to rattle the dean a bit and this is the only way they could do it effectively.
"That is not all. Complaints against you rose more than that. Your recent actions of disturbing the students and forcefully using soul arts on them, trying to interrogate and torture them without consent from the academies or suspicions against the students… the list goes on.
You just destroyed your flawless record in just two days.
And your position as the Dean of a prestigious academy only amplifies the crime that you have committed and increases your punishment.
However, you now have a chance to defend yourself. Keep in mind, most of the accusations against were attached with substantial evidence. So, if you want to provide any defense, it is better to have solid evidence that could refute this evidence completely."
The judge finished his long-winded address.
And thus the argument began. The Dean was not the one arguing though. Instead, he just gave up. He knew that his punishment wouldn't be too severe. It wouldn't be too lenient, but it wouldn't be too unbearable either.
All he needs to do is to make sure that he controls himself during these punishment days. Which would more likely be twelve weeks with all the twelve labors. One per each week.
Of course, that was conservative estimate. If he finishes the tasks early, he can just ask for the next one immediately and there are no rules against finishing the twelve labors early anyway.
After the argument was over, just like the Dean expected, he was punished with the twelve labors. The most popular punishment in the recent days. He accepted it silently, but what came next surprised him.
"As I said before. Your position as an educator only amplifies your punishment. So, you are also tasked with brining the two missing elders. The Special enforcement team of the Academy region will also be deployed to catch them.
Only after they were caught would your position as the Dean be reinstated. Until then, you shall be suspended from your duties as the Dean of the Academy."
Everyone's breath turned cold.
This is not an expected result. Twelve labors for a Dean was already degrading and insulting enough. That too for the Dean of the Zeus Academy.
But to think that the Dean of the academy will be suspended… something like this never happened ever since the Academy region was created.
This is an unparalleled insult.
Dean clenched his fists as he looked at Icarus. He felt angry. Not just at Icarus but himself as well.
Icarus looked at him in the eye for the first time. The Dean walked close to him and asked.
"Is this the plan of the hub? To weaken the Academies?"
"No sir, in fact Hub has little to do with this. It is my goal to weaken the academies, particularly the Zeus Academy. I used the authority of the Hub to do my bidding that is all."
"Then, do you think Joker will let you do this? Becoming openly hostile to this place? What will happen if the other Deans react to this? What if they started plotting against the Hub because of your actions."
"I am expecting them to do so. But don't worry. Before they could do anything, they will soon follow you. Until then, they won't have enough time on their hands to deal with the Hub."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIcarus walked out.
Dean had a deep frown on his face. He didn't understand what Icarus actually meant, but he felt like the meaning behind those words is bound to be a bad news for him and the Olympian region.
And he doesn't know how right he is yet.
After leaving the court, Icarus immediately went back to the Hub and holed himself up in the secret room. He started looking through the details of all the people that used the hub's services, the special training program members, and the total population of the hub.
Judging from the numbers, the hub is not far from the ideal state it needs to reach. Only a couple of more days and he can implement the next plan that Sam had in his mind.
Maybe after everything is said and done, Hub might not even exist.
Of course, to survive until that point, he needs to create some more diversions. He looked through the candidates and picked a few. Most of them are the members close to the Noble league. They are famous, but not as famous as the noble league members.
So, when they do something, there wouldn't be too much commotion, but everyone will know. However, when something happens to them, the commotion would be just right.
At the same time, he started checking various screens from the secret room. They are the live surveillance provided by the puppets of the Deans and the Elders of the Academies.
He already saw that they are discussing the counter measures against the Hub. The Hub needs to be ready for any kind of defense. Of course, and the best preparation is to make sure that they can't launch any attacks at all.
He used a special method to send the signal to the rest of the hub managers.
He then went into the secret meeting room with a round table.
This is a secondary meeting room within the Hub. Most of the time it is used by smaller teams to discuss specific plans when Sam is not here. Unless Sam or his friends are not there, they wouldn't go to the main meeting room.
Soon rest of the managers are here.
Icarus took a deep breath and said.
"The Hub is about to reach its ideal stage. We need to start the plan. It is time to tighten the leash."
All of them had solemn expressions immediately. Suspending the Dean of an academy might feel like a big deal. However, what they are about to do next will make that look like a paper cut compared to a stab with a Divine sword.