CHAPTER 184: CHECKING OUT MRS LIRA

Her words settled in the air like a warning, calm but sharp enough to pierce. Jae’s expression barely changed, but his eyes narrowed just slightly.

He knew she was right. He had seen it already in the way students whispered, in the way Sun’s gaze had burned with disdain

"So I should keep my guard up in class as much as I do on the field," he said evenly.

Mrs. Lira’s lips curved into a small, knowing smile. "Exactly. Promise me you won’t push yourself so recklessly again without thinking of the cost."

For a moment, the room was silent, the kind of silence that didn’t feel empty but full, charged, steady, unspoken. Their eyes held, teacher and student, neither breaking the gaze.

Jae was the first to shift, though not by much. His eyes slipped just slightly, following the motion of her robe as she moved to set her notes aside.

She wasn’t flashy like Tirel, nor youthful like Elise, but there was something about her that drew his attention despite himself. A warmth, a quiet strength, a maturity that made her presence steadying even when her words carried weight.

His gaze lingered too long, as he stared at her curves, her huge boobs that weren’t perky but beautiful, her waist...

When he looked back up, Mrs. Lira’s cheeks carried the faintest trace of color, subtle but unmistakable. She blinked quickly, gathering her notes with slightly more force than necessary, as if to hide the shift.

Her voice, when she spoke again, carried a subtle tremor despite her attempt to smooth it.

"Eyes on the board, Jae."

He grinned, rubbing the back of his neck with a feigned innocence that didn’t reach his eyes. "Just appreciating the effort you put into teaching."

Her blush deepened, though she quickly averted her gaze, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You never change."

"Wouldn’t be me if I did," he replied lightly, smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

Mrs. Lira shook her head, but the small smile that returned to her face betrayed her. Whatever thoughts she wrestled with, she didn’t voice them. Instead, she gathered her notes and gestured faintly toward the board.

"Class will fill soon. For now, just... sit and rest."

Jae leaned back in his seat, satisfied, watching the faint color still lingering on her cheeks. He didn’t answer, only smirked quietly to himself.

The silence of the hall wrapped around them for a few more moments, almost comfortable, until the classroom door creaked open and broke it apart.

The first wave of students filed in, their chatter soft at first but growing with every arrival. Footsteps echoed against the polished floor, voices bouncing off the high walls.

The empty hall quickly shifted from near silence to a low, restless hum.

And Jae felt the stares almost immediately.

They were the same stares that had followed him through the courtyard, through the dining hall, even when walking the academy paths at dusk. Admiration, envy, awe, fear, it all bled together, eyes marking him as though he were some rare beast on display.

Not long ago, after his tournament victory, most of that suspicion had faded. Students had cheered him, respected him, even sought him out. But now, since the Shadow General, the old edge had returned.

The admiration had curdled into something sharper, something heavier.

Byun slipped into the row behind him, offering a wordless nod. Jae returned it with a small one of his own. Elise arrived next, smiling warmly as she claimed the seat beside him, her books neatly stacked in front of her.

Tirel sauntered in last, smirk sharp as a blade, and dropped lazily into the row ahead, half turning so she could watch Jae with the ease of someone waiting to be entertained.

The room filled quickly, desks scraping faintly as more students settled in. Murmurs grew, whispered voices riding over the general buzz until fragments reached Jae’s ears.

"Hero of the academy."

"Burned through a Shadow General, they say."

"Not even noble blood..."

Mrs. Lira cleared her throat then, the sound sharp but not harsh. "Settle down."

The class obeyed, at least outwardly. The whispers dimmed, quills scratched against parchment, and Mrs. Lira began her lesson.

Her voice carried a calm authority, smooth and even, as she traced diagrams of mana flow under pressure across the board. She spoke of pathways and stabilizers, of energy drawn too quickly and the ways to balance it, content Jae might have absorbed with interest on another day.

But beneath her words, the whispers returned. Softer, yes, but pitched just enough that he caught them, deliberate in their reach.

"Luck carried him, nothing more."

"Brute force without refinement."

"Let’s see how long he lasts before it kills him."

The words didn’t sting. Not really. He’d heard worse before, at the start of his time here, when he was nothing but an outsider with unnatural eyes.

Still, there was something in their tone that pressed against him differently now. Not just doubt. Not just envy. Fear.

Elise’s quill scratched faster against her parchment. Her shoulders tightened each time another whisper slithered through the rows, her lips pressed thin.

Jae noticed the way her grip on the quill trembled, the faint pink rising across her cheeks as she fought to keep her focus.

Finally, she snapped. She turned halfway in her seat, her voice clear and sharp enough to slice the whispers apart.

"If you have time to mock others," she said crisply, "perhaps you should use it to strengthen your own spells. Or is even that too difficult for you?"

The row behind her fell silent at once. A few flushed crimson, one or two looked away, and the rest ducked their heads, unwilling to challenge her directly.

Elise exhaled, a little sharper than she intended, before turning back around. She bent quickly over her notes, but her cheeks remained faintly pink, betraying the surge of emotion that had driven her outburst.

Jae leaned sideways, voice pitched low so only she could hear. "Careful. Keep that up, and they’ll start calling you my bodyguard."