460 Chapter 460: School Days (2/2)

Then she struck her palm with her fist and turned to stare at Melina, wide-eyed, as if realization had just dawned on her.

”Of course! Given that the lady in question is our beloved Melina Franklin, it is only fitting that a low-class tutor from a no-name school would be the sole person willing to teach her! No other private tutors worth their salt would want to be seen with a failure such as the talentless incompetent girl!”

Her entourage broke out into cruel laughter. Behind me, Melina's shoulders sagged, and she struggled to hold her tears back.

”Ha ha ha!”

I also laughed along with them. It took them a few moments to realize that I was laughing as well, and they stopped to gaze at me in shock. Gradually calming down, I shook my head in amusement and snorted.

”I didn't think there would be dogs here at Saint Teresa Academy. I heard many good things about it, but the first thing I encounter when I actually visit it is the unpleasant experience of listening to a pack of dogs howling and barking at the entrance. The school could really use some better security.”

”Did…did you just call us dogs?” Nirvana flared up in outrage. I cupped my ear and looked around in mock confusion.

”What's that? Oh, sorry. I don't speak dog language. All I hear is more barking.”

”You…! How dare you, you insolent…! Retract your sentence immediately!”

”Oh, I might be mistaken, after all. You're not dogs.” I paused dramatically, before grinning. ”You're nothing more than bitches.”

”!!!”

There was a few moments of disbelieving silence as everyone at the school gate stared at me in astonishment. Perhaps i had gone too far, but at this point, I didn't care. The so-called noble ladies started this farce, and I was more than happy to finish it. What, was it fair that they could insult other people, but they couldn't take one back?

What hypocritical bullshit.

”Sensei…that's enough.” Melina tugged at my hand. ”I'm happy that you're standing up for me, but let's stop here before it gets any worse.”

”Sure.” If Melina wanted to leave it at that, then I was more than happy to oblige. However, the matter was far from settled.

”How dare you…”

Nirvana was shaking violently, glaring at me with so much hatred and fury that I almost thought she would literally blow up.

”I won't stand for this insult. This isn't over!”

”In other words, you can dish it but can't take it.” I sighed. ”You know what they say. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”

”You will not get away with this!” Nirvana was pulling out her smartphone and dialing a number. ”You better not go anywhere!”

Oh, what was this? The cliché call for help scene? Let me guess, she was going to call her brother or her father or uncle and get him to gather a gang, come to school and then beat me up? Nah, that sort of stupid thing never happened in reality. No, seriously…in what universe (other than unrealistic urban cultivation stories) do you have a whole gang showing up in a public school to beat up a single person? You think the police or authorities are going to sit by idly and allow such illegal gatherings to happen?

Even if the father was some rich bigshot with political clout, that was all the more reason for him to avoid getting involved in such scandals, because they would destroy their public image with such blatant abuse of power. But of course, these urban cultivation web novelists didn't have the slightest notion of how reality worked and they needed a way for their protagonists to ”get into trouble”, only for him to beat the gang up and slap the faces of everyone. Also, if such things happened – if a secret society or violent gang showed up in school, wouldn't the natural response to call the police and hide somewhere for safety, not…you know, stand around and trash-talking the main character as if the whole thing had nothing to do with them?

Sometimes the sheer lack of logic of these urban cultivation stories never ceased to amaze me.

Unfortunately, that seemed to be Nirvana's plan of action.

”Brother,” she said sweetly into the phone. ”Some lowborn commoner just had the audacity to insult me. Could you please come over to the middle school sction and help me teach him a lesson? Show him his place.”

There was some response, and then a click. Nirvana lowered her smartphone and smiled triumphantly at me.

”There is nowhere for you to run, commoner. My brother is a high-ranking Paladin in the high school section. He will teach you your place.”

Ignoring her, I stared up at the sky and straight past the fourth wall. Please, creator…don't resort to these sort of clichés. Don't you dare resort to this stupid cliché of evil rich villains and their gangs or hired hitmen, and then face-slapping…

”What happened, Nirvana?”

At the gruff voice, I turned around and caught sight of a handsome guy with slick, gelled hair leading a small group of high school students, all of whom were emanating masculinity and aggression, their powerful mana pouring off their bodies.

”I rushed over as soon as you called me. I heard some rumors along the way, but…”

”That commoner over there insulted me. Called me and my friends dogs…no, bitches.”

”Hey, you started it,” I retorted. ”Where do you get off, insulting my lady, and then acting like the victim here? So it's fair if you insult Melina, but others can't call you out on it? Like I said, you can dish it but can't take it. What sort of logic is that?”

”Silence, you trash!” Nirvana snarled, and then turned to her brother. ”See? This idiot refuses to repent…brother?”

Nirvana's brother was staring at me for a few seconds now, and then his jaw dropped. Whirling around, he slapped his sister.

Everyone watched in shock as a loud crack echoed throughout the school courtyard. Even the proud Nirvana froze, her hand coming up to her stinging cheek in reflex. She stared at her brother in disbelief, her mouth trying to form words but her voice refusing to come out.

For a few moments, nobody said anything. Nirvana was still clutching at her reddened cheek, tears almost leaking from her red eyes as she continued to gape at her brother, not comprehending what had just transpired.

”W…why?” she finally managed.

”Are you an idiot?!” Her brother growled angrily. ”Do you know who you've just offended!? You're lucky I was here, or you will embarrass our Mallory family even more!”

”Huh? But this person…isn't he just a nobody from the obscure and third-rate Jing Tian Academy? Why should we care about offending him?”

”You still don't recognize who this person is?!” Her brother roared in exasperation, throwing his hands up. He gestured wildly to me. ”This is Richard Huang – the person who single-handedly eliminated our entire team from the national high school tournament a few weeks ago…by wiping out five of our core members during the individual matches. All by himself!”

I must admit, the incredulous expression of Nirvana that materialized as a response to that revelation actually made me burst out laughing.