"What the hell are you talking about!" Nellyx snapped.
Her sharp glare threatened to tear right through Anita.
Anita felt a shiver run down her spine. She clutched onto the tablet tightly, looking down to avoid Nellyx’s gaze.
"Please, Jacob. I have given you due respect. Do not interfere with the matters of my school. Well, of course, except you want to make the academy an enemy," Nellyx stated firmly.
Oma stepped forward to show that it was definitely not an empty threat.
Jacob didn’t react; he simply turned his gaze to Anita, and then shifted them back to Nellyx.
"I won’t interfere... But I would want you to listen to my vice. She’s a smart girl. She won’t talk randomly."
Nellyx’s fierce gaze fell on Jacob.
Her anger brewed underneath.
Even Jacob could tell, but he didn’t look like he cared.
’...Besides, she herself wouldn’t want to have any problems with my faction,’ Jacob thought to himself calmly.
Even though she had warned, he was certain that she wouldn’t act until he acted first.
And so far, neither he nor Anita had done anything.
Nellyx was smart, and although impulsive sometimes, she knew better than to be the cause of a fight between the two parties.
The fight would only start once one side decided to act.
Gritting her teeth, she looked towards Anita.
"Go on, state your reason for protecting him. If it’s not valid enough, we retain the right to add you as his affiliate," she said firmly.
Anita jolted slightly.
She was confident, but then, the fear of putting her faction on the stakes—it was still there.
Whatever she said could cause trouble between the two factions.
She didn’t want to cause more trouble for her captain.
’With my abilities, I can see it, but what if...’
A soft tap on her shoulder threw her out of her thoughts.
Following it was Jacob’s confident voice.
"If that is what you want, then sure... We will take the blame as his affiliates if what she says isn’t valid."
Anita looked at Jacob’s deep blue eyes.
Those eyes—they showed how much belief he had in her.
’...The captain, he believes in my talent more than I do?’ she thought, her eyes welling up slightly.
She quickly hid her face, wiping off the tears that were forming.
With newfound confidence, she stood tall.
Her gaze shifted from Jacob to Kieran.
"He is innocent," she repeated, taking a deep breath, then continued.
With a calm motion, she pulled off her glasses.
She said it confidently.
A deep blue aura slowly came off her, forming spiraling tendrils around her.
A cool breeze swept through the entire room.
Her short white hair rose into the air.
Her grey eyes snapped wide open.
Nellyx was caught in shock as she felt the amount of mana coming off the little girl.
Looking into Anita’s eyes, she could feel the mana being focused there... But that was not all. It wasn’t just mana being focused... The eyes—they seemed to hold a vast amount of knowledge, one that had no end to its depth.
It was only then it dawned on her.
’This aura, her talent... It’s definitely an uncharted talent.’
Kieran watched quietly throughout the exchange.
But he was surprised by Anita’s sudden support.
However, he still had his guard up.
The two teachers behind looked ever ready to attack.
And Oma had yet to remove her eyes from him.
’How the hell did they come up with the conclusion that I could take on the Dean?’
The thought was still annoying him as he thought about it, but seeing Anita’s ability in action, he was more interested in finding out what made her stand up for him.
Not that he didn’t want her to.
But more because he just wanted to know why.
Everyone in the room held their breaths in anticipation, waiting to see what her abilities could do.
From the looks of things, it seemed to be quite similar to that of Nellyx, which made them all the more curious.
After a few seconds, the aura died off and it looked as though nothing had happened.
Anita closed her eyes, then slowly put back her glasses.
"Was that it?" Kieran asked first, as it was definitely not what he expected.
Anita turned to look at him. She blushed, turning her head away, as she looked towards Nellyx to explain what she had done.
Nellyx, although disappointed that the girl’s abilities didn’t do anything in particular, didn’t say anything.
She calmly sat, her hands clasped together on the desk as she waited to know what made the girl come to her conclusion.
’To think Jacob would put the fate of his faction in this little girl,’ she sighed.
"He was framed. I wasn’t sure at first... But after using my abilities, I am even more certain that he was," Anita said firmly.
With the captain placing his trust in her, Anita threw all her worries to the back of her mind.
Her usual timid nature didn’t surface.
She spoke almost differently—they could all sense the difference in her voice.
The confidence didn’t seem to be one that had no grounds.
"As you have seen, my vice has a unique uncharted talent. One that allows her to analyze several possibilities and plan different things instantaneously... She can’t fight, but her skill comes in handy at times like these," Jacob chimed in, placing a hand on Anita’s shoulder.
"Trust me, if she says he was framed, then he definitely was," he added.
Nellyx sat with a complex look on her face. She definitely wasn’t going to take that alone as a reason to set the boy free.
She needed something more concrete.
"Tell me exactly what your abilities showed you... I can’t merely give out a criminal on mere assumptions."
’She’s still not convinced,’ Kieran thought to himself.
Thanks to Anita’s distraction, he had already planned a perfect escape.
If Nellyx wasn’t satisfied with Anita’s explanation... ’Flames will be the only solution.’
Everything now hung on the next words from Anita.
And everyone in the room, once again, waited to hear what she had to say.