My Pet Slime Gives Me 10x Rewards

I already knew things would get complicated the moment I stepped back into the academy, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice.

Couldn’t just abandon everything and run. Best option was to somehow convince them I’d survived using my ability, keep my real secrets hidden, and only share what was necessary.

The second I was on the other side, I noticed everyone staring at me, dead silent, faces full of disbelief. They probably figured they’d never see me again, since not even an S-rank hunter could last more than 48 hours inside a rift without using a portal to leave.

One of the scientists pointed at me. "A-Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Isn’t that the student who got sucked into the rift?"

"It’s him, for sure. Call the principal, NOW!"

Everything turned into a fucking mess pretty fast. All I wanted was to chill and finally eat some real food again. Never thought I’d end up missing a burger that much.

They all swarmed me at once, throwing questions left and right, trying to figure out how I’d managed to survive that long. Up until that moment, it was supposed to be impossible.

Obviously, I didn’t answer any of it. No point wasting time talking to a bunch of scientists who were all under the principal’s command anyway. Easier to just deal with the principal directly, and let him handle the rest of them later.

I tried to walk away from that place, but the scientists only let me get some distance from the rift itself. Leaving the underground facility? No.

The scientists obviously weren’t just scientists. All of them were skilled hunters too. And even if I could take them on and make a run for it, I was already spotting more guards showing up. Nobody was letting me leave until the principal got there.

Speaking of him, Frederic, that was his name, showed up pretty fast. Less than 3 minutes and he was already there talking to me.

Funny, honestly. I’m sure if a student actually needed help for real, he wouldn’t show up that quick.

And the only reason he took even that long was because he figured the scientists were messing with him. Nobody ever lasted that long inside a rift, so of course his first thought was that it had to be some kind of prank.

But once he saw me standing there, alive and in one piece, Frederic couldn’t believe his eyes.

He ran toward me, grabbed both my arms, and shook me, yelling right in my face.

"How are you alive? How? Tell me, now!"

Man was pissed for answers.

"I really need to eat and talk somewhere else, not here," I said, glancing around at all the scientists crowding us. "These guys are killing me, honestly. So many questions."

The principal finally settled down, realizing I wasn’t going anywhere, so there was no reason to rush the answers out of me right there.

"Everyone, back to work," Frederic said. "And this doesn’t leave this lab, understood?"

The principal and I left the underground facility, not through the main door, but through a different route where no student could spot us.

"I don’t want them knowing about this yet," Frederic explained as we walked. "Just want to make sure you’re okay before we announce you’re back."

Of course that wasn’t the real reason. The bastard was definitely going to run tests on me, and people couldn’t know about that. If even one student found out, it could hurt the whole academy.

Imagine if the internet found out about experiments on students. That would be a massive blow, not just for this academy, but for every other one out there too.

I was pretty confident they wouldn’t find anything with their tests, thanks to Kaelis’s seal, but even if they came up empty, that didn’t mean they’d just let me go.

What if they locked me up somewhere for good? The possibility was there, for sure. I wasn’t stupid enough to think otherwise.

We walked through a part of the academy students usually weren’t allowed near.

This path led to the principal’s private residence. To get there, you had to pass a set of guards at his front gate, so no student ever went through here.

But of course, my luck was just great. A student was actually there when I walked by.

Frederic had no clue, but Ethan was spying on his residence, using his invisibility to stay hidden and avoid attention. That guy was fucking insane.

What the hell was he even thinking, spying on the principal? Insane, honestly.

I only knew he was there because of my new passive. I could feel his heat and the mana around his body, even while he was invisible.

I knew Ethan had seen me. Judging by the heat patterns, he was watching us.

His face of shock, though, I didn’t get to see. Wish I did. I could only imagine it.

"Is this your private residence?" I said.

"Yes, indeed."

The residence wasn’t some multi-floor building, just a house. Made sense. With the thick vegetation around it, plus the principal’s garden, the place was basically impossible to spot.

I’d bet most students didn’t even know he had this place. Probably assumed he lived somewhere in the main building. Even I had no idea about it.

The inside was really cozy. I sat down by the fireplace.

"Can we talk now, Vincent?" Frederic said.

"I need to eat," I said. "Can’t think straight."

Wasn’t actually hungry, but there was no way he could know that. He grabbed his phone and ordered me a burger.

Then he took my phone too. It didn’t even have any battery left, but he took it anyway.

"Just to make sure you’re focused on our conversation, that’s all," he said.

No way he actually thought I bought that.

The real reason I asked him to order the burger was to buy time. I was counting on Ethan doing something, like spreading the word that I was alive and well. That was the hope, anyway.

I sat by the fireplace for about 40 minutes before someone finally showed up with the burger. One of the academy’s guards.

"Sir," the guard said, right after handing Frederic the burger, "I don’t know how, but all the students are talking about how Vincent’s alive. They’re outside the main building right now, yelling, looking for you."

Frederic stared at me for a second, then whispered to the guard, "Let them yell."

The guard cleared his throat.

"Thing is, they already found where you live. All of them want answers. We blocked their internet access to keep this from leaking out."

I stayed there, still facing the fireplace with a smirk. No way around it now. Frederic would have to go out there and explain things to everyone.

He came and sat next to me.

"How are we supposed to explain how you survived?" Frederic asked.

Now, maybe, I didn’t even need to tell him the real story. I had another idea in mind, one that might keep the secrets of my ability still a secret.

I was controlling the narrative, and the feeling was just too good.

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