Chapter 5: The Price of Cruelty

Leaving the principal’s office, Levi made his way back to the hayloft that served as his dormitory.

It was over. He had struggled so hard, entering this academy from a life of poverty, only to waste three years for nothing.

Levi expected to feel dejected, but to his own surprise, a sense of relief washed over him.

This academy was no different from the outside world; injustice and oppression were ever-present. Accepting the principal’s terms or not made little difference. Someone of his station was never going to rise above it.

It was better to just leave this city and settle somewhere else. He was literate and could even decipher ancient texts. He could make a living as a scribe.

He had nothing of value to take from the academy. But he would take Daina.

There was no one he needed to say goodbye to. Except for Jeanne.

At the thought of Jeanne, a pang of regret finally struck him. Their promise to meet again at the capital’s Holy Cathedral Academy now seemed impossible to fulfill.

Jeanne apparently had business off-campus today; Levi hadn’t seen her around.

He decided to leave immediately and send her a letter later to explain. It would save them the awkwardness of a face-to-face farewell.

In any case, their lives were unlikely to intersect again.

Standing before the door to the hayloft, Levi froze.

The lock on the door had been broken.

A burglary, clearly. But what was there to steal from a poor student’s hayloft?

Almost immediately, suspects sprang to mind, and a dreadful premonition seized him.

He shoved the door open.

The room was empty. Not a single living thing in sight—Daina would usually be there to greet him at the door.

“Daina?” he called out, straining his ears for a sound.

It took him several seconds to catch the faint meow. It was weak and muffled. His first thought was that Daina had been shut inside something.

He tried to pinpoint the source of the sound, his gaze finally settling on the tallest pile of hay. Daina was buried inside.

Levi rushed forward and began clawing at the hay, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He couldn’t bear to imagine what the intruders had done to Daina.

Daina’s cries for help continued. Levi dug frantically, focusing on her exact location until a wave of heat washed over the side of his face.

He turned his head. To his astonishment, the room was on fire. It seemed someone had tossed an incendiary through the window on the other side.

The blaze spread with unnatural speed, engulfing the desk by the window and the nearby haystacks in seconds, growing to an uncontrollable size.

Levi smelled the acrid stench of burning sulfur. Seeing the unnatural sparks erupting from the ignited hay, he finally realized the arsonist had sprinkled gunpowder or some other flammable powder throughout the haystacks.

After a moment’s hesitation, he quickened his pace. He was powerless against a fire of this magnitude; fetching water now would be a waste of time.

He had only a few dozen seconds to get Daina out before the flames reached this pile.

Smoke rapidly filled the room, stinging his eyes. He fought to stay calm, pulling away layer after layer of hay.

Finally, he saw her.

In that instant, Levi stopped, as if turned to stone.

Daina’s head and upper body emerged from the hay. She seemed unable to see him, her paws swiping weakly at the air.

Her eyes had been gouged out.

The flames drew closer, the heat rolling toward them like an ocean wave.

Levi gently lifted Daina, intending to carry her away. A blind cat could still survive with someone to care for it.

But he immediately set her back down.

The Daina he had lifted from the hay was only half a body.

‘At least I can end her suffering,’ he thought.

Expressionless, Levi moved his hands to Daina’s neck and, with all his strength, squeezed.

The cat’s neck was so slender, so fragile. It snapped in an instant.

Tears streamed from his smoke-filled eyes. Certain that Daina was gone, he released his grip and rose to his feet. The hayloft was already half-consumed by the inferno.

As he burst out of the room, he saw three figures.

The arsonists. Camilla and her two lackeys stood before him, brazen and unconcerned.

“Well now, student, what happened to your room? What a terrible fire!” Camilla sneered. “Need a hand putting it out?”

Levi stared at them without a word. After a moment of silence, he turned to the stable’s water trough, cupped his hands, and splashed water on his face, washing away the tears and soot.

“Hey, are you deaf?” Camilla sensed something was wrong.

Normally, she would have relished this moment, mocking Levi for being no better than an animal. But the cold, empty way he had just looked at them sent a chill down her spine.

This wasn’t the Levi she knew.

Levi turned back, his fists clenched, and strode toward them without a word.

The three of them read the ferocity in his expression and posture. It was clear he was looking for a fight.

Camilla paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.

She hadn’t actually expected Levi to get burned alive trying to save his cat. The whole point was to provoke the slum rat and then give him the beating he deserved.

It seemed the results were even better than she had hoped.

“Don’t expect that woman to come save you today,” she said with a cold laugh, then ordered her two cronies, “Get him!”

The two boys immediately moved forward. They were confident in a two-on-one fight.

The distance closed rapidly. As both prepared to strike, Levi suddenly raised his fists and sidestepped, circling to the left of one boy while creating distance from the other.

The boy closer to Levi saw him approach and swung a punch. It connected, but was blocked by the hands Levi had raised to guard his face.

Levi’s counterattack was immediate—a swift, sharp jab that landed squarely on the boy’s chin.

He heard a crack inside his head. The world began to spin violently, and before he could process what was happening, he had crashed to the ground.

The other boy, who had just rushed forward, froze for a second upon seeing his companion taken down in a single blow.

By then, Levi was already on him, feigning a punch to his face.

The boy instinctively recoiled, raising his arms to block a strike that never came. Levi’s punch was a feint; the real attack was his right leg, which shot up in a swift kick.

Levi’s foot connected squarely with his groin.

Agony instantly overwhelmed him. As a scream tore from his throat, Levi seized the opportunity to land a solid punch on his face, sending him sprawling to the ground.

With both boys down, Levi methodically delivered another kick to each of them, aiming for their faces. He used his heel to shatter their front teeth.

“The last time you pushed me down the stairs, I thought maybe you didn’t know that getting hurt is painful,” Levi said, his face a mask.

Camilla’s eyes widened in disbelief as she watched her lackeys get taken down in a matter of seconds.

“When it comes to brawling, a street rat from the slums has the advantage, wouldn’t you say, Miss Dumpty?” Levi left the two boys writhing in pain on the ground and fixed his emotionless gaze on Camilla, the true culprit.

He had grown up in the chaotic slums, where fighting was a daily occurrence. Though he wasn’t particularly strong, when it came to fighting techniques and sheer ferocity, he was leagues above these two cronies.

He had always held himself back before, not wanting to escalate things. This time, however, he no longer cared.

“Y-You, hold on!” With no one left to shield her, Camilla faced Levi’s fury alone and immediately panicked. “You’ll be expelled for this!”

At this range, she stood no chance of outrunning him. She knew exactly how fast this boy could run.

“That would be wonderful. I was just about to leave this disgusting place anyway,” Levi said, a pleasant smile suddenly gracing his lips. “And I have you to thank for helping me make up my mind, Miss Dumpty.”

As he closed the distance, Camilla instinctively backed away, her voice trembling. “Stay right there! I’m warning you, if you dare touch me—”

She never finished the sentence. The sharp crack of Levi’s palm against her cheek cut her off.

It wasn’t a casual slap from a petty squabble, but a vicious strike with the heel of his palm that sent her stumbling.

Camilla tasted blood in her mouth, and her ears were ringing.

It was the first time in her life she had ever truly been hit.

“You bastard! You hit a woman!?” The pampered daughter of a viscount had never endured such treatment. She burst into tears.

“I’m an advocate for gender equality,” Levi stated calmly. “You didn’t seem too concerned about that when you slapped the butcher’s daughter and forced her to slap herself, did you?”

He grabbed her by the collar and drove his knee into her stomach.

A violent spasm seized Camilla’s stomach. She clutched her abdomen, fell to her knees, and began to vomit.

“What’s wrong? You were so delighted watching the boy from the next class vomit after you forced him to eat an earthworm,” Levi said, looking down at her coldly.

“You… *cough*… just you wait. You have no idea who my father is…” Camilla ground out the words through clenched teeth.

Before she could finish, Levi punched her across the face, knocking her unconscious.

“I know. He’s the scoundrel who raised a degenerate daughter,” Levi said coldly.

He turned and walked away without looking back.