Chapter 349 Red Patch
Hilda Starkadottir.
The proud owner of Heven Academy and its one and only Headmistress even after its 2,000 years of history. As her name suggests, she wasn't born directly from one of the prominent Aesir that stood pretentiously in the Palace; no, everything she has right now, she worked hard for.
She was just the daughter of an explorer, who died early in her life. She also did not get the chance to enroll or study in the two other schools in the entirety of Asgard-- which were led by some of the major Aesir.
But still, she persevered. Until one day, she was able to put up a prestigious college of her own; she was growing old, as the lifespan of a normal Aesir is usually only at 3,000 years old. But she was sure that even after her death, Heven Academy would still continue to live on… as long as she finds a great successor.
She knew her college wasn't perfect, and just like any other form of school, there were troublemakers, bullies, and corrupt individuals that would tarnish the name of her life's work. She was able to watch everything during her younger years, but now that she has grown old and her college had grown massively in size-- she alone truly wasn't enough.
Along the span of her life, she had met one truly interesting individual; an individual much older than her, an individual who holds unimaginable knowledge of not only the history of the 9 Realms, but also beyond that-- Athena.
And perhaps due to her influence, the college is what it is now; thriving, competing against the two other schools led by the giants of their race.
To her surprise, at almost the end of her lifespan, she was once again able to meet Athena; and even more than that, she gave Hilda the honor of having her as one of the instructors of her college.
To have someone like that working for Heven Academy; what is that, if not a chance for the academy to surpass all others?
And she wasn't going to let that chance pass, immediately 'hiring' Athena at the same time she applied, and even letting her do a lecture on the day. Perhaps only Odin knows how much she wanted to walk in on her class and watch her work, but alas, due to her responsibilities as the Headmistress, she was not able to.
There was a catch in hiring her, however; Athena brought with him a child. At first, she thought he was Athena's son; but considering the tone of respect that Athena uses to converse with the boy, Hilda quickly realized that was not the case.
And so, without even thinking or even deliberating about it for a single second; Hilda also recruited the boy to work as a combat instructor, as advised by none other than Athena herself.
She was curious as to what kind of individual would earn that much respect from Athena, but once again, she had her duties as the Headmistress and could not just randomly intrude in classes since she had an appearance to keep.
But lo and behold, that very same young man was now back inside her office-- along with a student of another class that he had apparently rescued from being bullied. Truly, she had made the right decision of allowing Van to work for her school; it was only the first day, and she was already doing the college's good work.
However, there was a problem with the way he approached the problem.
Tying up another instructor by the neck and letting the students that the instructor is supervising drag him around the track? That… was barbaric, reminding her of the ways of the ancient Aesir. Of course, from time to time, perhaps that kind of method would work, that was the reason she did not make the students stop running until now-- to show that she doesn't tolerate any misdeeds in her college.
Perhaps she should thank Van, but at the same time, she should also show that what he did should not happen again. If the instructors were allowed to fight against each other, then wouldn't that set a bad example for the children?
And so, she explained the situation to Van, who only shrugged his shoulders and answered,
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Headmistress. I found them like that."
"I…" Seeing Van still feigning ignorance even though she had already told him there weren't any punishments, the only thing that she could do was let out a light groan, "I suppose it doesn't matter."
She then turned her attention towards Sigrid, who immediately looked to the ground and let out a quiet squeal as Hilda's eyes met hers.
"As for you, Ms. Sigrid..." Hilda could not help but let out a sigh before continuing what she was going to say, "...May I ask how long this oppression has been going on?"
"That… for a few weeks now," Sigrid meekly whispered.
"And why did you not approach any of the instructors?"
"B… because Sir Baug… said it was alright," a trail of tears then started to fall from Sigrid's eyes as her words soon stuttered, "that… that it would be… weak of me if I go tell the others…"
"...I see," Hilda could not help but frown as soon as she heard Sigrid's words. Her school truly had grown more than she could handle, for her not to be able to hear anything about this misdeed, "You don't have to worry anymore, I will be kicking out Baug, as well as the students that bullied you."
"T… thank you," Sigrid then completely slouched on her chair, her cries falling nonstop as she wiped her snot and tears with the robes given to her by Headmistress Hilda.
"Also, I will be transferring you to another class. What was the class you're assigned to again, Mr. Evans?"
"...155."
"I will be transferring you directly to Mr. Evans's class."
"It's not my class," Van quickly furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm only a combat instructor there."
"Then you're now supervising it," Hilda quickly said.
"That's not--"
"Really!?"
Before Van could rebuke, Sigrid suddenly raised her voice, sniffling as a smile slowly raised on her face, "Thank you… thank you very much."
This time, Sigrid stood up from her seat and embraced the Headmistress, her cries still muffling in the air; but this time, it was accompanied by the smile on her face. Seeing this, the only thing that Van could do was shake his head. If it wasn't for whatever Athena was trying to achieve, because he was sure Athena was planning something else, then Van would have definitely just run away from here; but since everything here was just temporary, then he might as well play the part well.
"Does this mean I will be spending more time in 155?" Van then asked, "Let me tell you now, the only thing I know how to do is-- What's that?"
Van stopped his sentence midway as soon as he saw something on the back of Sigrid's robe-- a red patch below the waist.
"Hm?" Hilda noticed the quick shift in Van's voice, immediately pushing Sigrid away, gently turning her around before quickly noticing what Van was talking about. She then looked towards the chair Sigrid was sitting on, only to see a similar dye of red on it.
"Eek!" As soon as Sigrid saw what the two were looking at, she quickly once again crouched to the ground, "S… sorry, I'm sorry!"
"What… What else did they do to you, Sigrid?" Hilda could not help but take in a long and deep breath, trying to calm her words which were starting to tremble, "Did…
...did they touch you?"
"N… no… I…"
"Sigrid!" This time, Hilda's soft voice completely turned cold, "Please tell me it is only your time of the month."
"That's… I… I… it's… huk…"
The words that were coming out of Sigrid's mouth were no longer audible, as her breaths and stutters were the only things that filled the entire office.
"No… oh no dear," Hilda then fell to her knees, once again taking Sigrid into her arms. She was trying to come up with words to say to her, but even with her thousands of years of experience, there was nothing in there that could comfort her. And so, the only thing she could do was embrace her tight, letting her feel safe.
"They… they… they stepped on my hands," Sigrid then started talking, her words shivering as her tears once again fell without pause, "They… they cut my hair with… with a blade. I thought it was o...over, but then… but then they took… took off my pants and cut off my… my undergarments."
"That's enough… that's enough," Hilda tried to clean Sigrid's face, wiping it with her sleeves.
"And then… they grabbed my legs… and… and…"
"...Sleep, child." Hilda then suddenly waved her hand, and it was as if a hundred white fireflies emerged from her hand, all flying straight towards Sigrid-- and as they faded upon touching her face, Sigrid then suddenly dropped onto Hilda's arms.
She then gently lifted her up, carrying her office's sofa and laying her there.
"..." Hilda's breaths then filled the entire room, only settling down after a few seconds.
"Mr. Evans, please come with me," Hilda then gestured to Van to follow her as she made her way to the door. However, as she opened the door, she realized that Van still has not moved from his spot.
"Mr…
...Evans?"
[Rage of Hercules, Activated.]