Shadow Author

Silence filled the already quiet building. Although I had no idea what Charlotte was thinking or how the effects of my actions will change the novel I already decided on the path I would follow.

Much more time passed as Charlotte had yet to respond.

Fortunately or unfortunately the teacher returned with another staff member before Charlotte was able to gather her thoughts.

"These are the two, I'll leave them to you to deal with."

The teacher that found us was eager to leave as he left us in the hands of another teacher.

"So do either of you have an explanation or will we need to go to the discipline committee?"

Hearing the threat of the new teacher I didn't care too much. I had my tracks covered and insurance if things were to go terribly wrong. It just depended on how Charlotte wanted to handle the situation.

However, it seemed she was still lost in her thoughts.

Seeing that neither of us responded to the teacher she let out a sigh.

"I see, follow me, the two of you are being charged with public indecency therefore a trial will be held to determine your innocence."

I rose to my feet and followed behind the teacher while Charlotte followed behind me seemingly empty-minded.

The three of us moved through the academy allowing me to see many rooms I had yet to enter before — at least as my current self.

While we walked we passed many other students who were roaming around in the hallways.

They would stare, quickly walk past us, and then whisper.

"So it's true they were trying to have sex in the training room."

"I heard that the girl already has a boyfriend and he is ranked number one in the year one class."

"Really? Just who is the boy that is daring enough to go after her."

"I heard that he tried to take advantage of her."

"I heard that when she saw the size of his… thing she could never go back."

"I heard that he blackmailed her and kidnapped her family."

"I heard that he is secretly incredibly strong and managed to kill a dragon."

As all kinds of rumors were being spread around the teacher continued to lead us in a certain direction and after ten minutes we arrived in front of a specific door.

[Disciplinary Committee] was titled on the door.

Pushing open the door the teacher led us into a spacious room that was already full.

In the center of the room was a large conference table where tens of chairs were available. However, most of them were already full as they all turned their attention toward us.

The one person who sat at the end of the table stood up to speak.

"Thank you Mrs. Waltz for escorting the students you are free to leave."

Mrs. Waltz nodded and bowed before leaving.

"My pleasure."

As soon as the door shut and she left the man who was still standing turned his attention towards Charlotte and me.

"Now, what to do with you two."

I gulped. Although I knew I was in the clear it was still terrifying being surrounded by so many high-ranking officials of the academy. It also didn't help that when the man in charge looked me in the eyes a shiver ran down the back of my neck.

Neither Charlotte nor I responded to the man.

"I suppose before we begin we should introduce ourselves. The two of you can refer to me as Mr. Griffin and my colleagues here beside me will be voting on guilt or innocence."

Seeing that Charlotte and I were paying attention Mr. Griffin continued:

"In order to ensure that we get to the bottom of the case I would like to ask that you both cooperate."

Charlotte and I nodded.

"Great, first in case you weren't made aware the two of you are being charged with public indecency. If you plead guilty a fee of 500,000 credits will be deducted from your accounts and a two-week suspension will be issued. However… If you plead innocent and are found guilty you will immediately be expelled. So, how do you plead?"

"Innocent."

"Innocent."

"I see, then in such a case as this one where the credibility isn't to be trusted, we would like to ask the two of you to be placed under a lie detection spell. Are you willing to do such things?"

Immediately Charlotte responded.

"I will."

Mr. Griffin nodded.

"And you young man?"

"May I ask a question first?"

Mr. Griffin narrowed his eyes.

"Indeed."

"Might I be reassured that the questions you ask are only relative to the case?"

Mr. Griffin smiled.

"A smart one you are. Yes, you can rest assured that no one will ask any questions outside of the bounds of the accusation."

"Then I accept."

"Very good."

After we accepted, Mr. Griffin muttered a spell under his breath and light enveloped the both of us.

"The spell is complete, for identification purposes could the two of you state your names and ranks and then tell a lie to test the spell."

Charlotte went first.

"My name is Charlotte and I am ranked 3rd. Also, I love the ocean."

For the first part, nothing happened but as soon as Charlotte said she loved the ocean her body turned red.

"Thank you, Charlotte, now your turn young man."

"My name is Lucas, I am ranked 993rd, and my favorite color is pink."

Just like with what happened to Charlotte after I said my favorite color my body turned red.

I didn't feel any differently which meant the effects of the spell were only external.

However, I noticed although it was only for a brief moment the faces of all the administrators along with Charlotte changed when I said my rank.

"Thank you Lucas now that we got that out of the way, how about we start from the beginning? Who wants to go first?"

Charlotte continued to go first and recounted the events up until I crashed into her. During the whole explanation, her body didn't change color. After reaching the point where I fell Mr. Griffin asked me to recount my point of view.

I shared everything from wanting to challenge myself by increasing the speed up until the point that I tripped.

"So it's fair to say that you became too exhausted and tripped resulting in the collision?"

"Well… becoming too tired is a bit of a stretch—"

"Mr. Lucas, I ask that you respond yes or no."

"… yes, that's fair to say."

Seeing that my body didn't light up Mr. Griffin nodded and had Charlotte continue.

Charlotte explained it as me crashing into her, sexually assaulting her, and ruining her reputation.

Once she finished and her body didn't light up red it was looking quite bad for me. I was also pissed that Charlotte was throwing me under the bus. She knew how important I was to her but she was still pushing me toward expulsion.

As all eyes turned to me and some were dark.

It seemed as if the trial changed from public indecency to an attempted assault.

Once I was asked to recount my version I made sure to specify that it was an accident and misunderstanding and that I tried to do what was best in the worst situation.

After we finished with our stories the council began to question us to break a hole in our stories to see if anyone was at fault.

"Miss Charlotte, did you ever consent to Mr. Lucas's advancements?"

"No."

"Mr. Lucas, did you at any point wish to do anything indecent to Miss Charlotte?"

"No."

My body turned red and I quickly explained myself.

"Okay only after she was exposed but it was an automatic response and I would never forcefully push myself on her."

Thankfully the red light didn't return.

Charlotte was staring daggers at me but the council seemed to accept my answer as being a horny teenage boy.

"Mr. Lucas, was it your intention to lift Miss Charlotte's shirt to reveal her bra."

"No, I don't even know how that happened."

I was still safe.

"Mr. Lucas, did you have any other intentions other than turning Mr. Charlotte when you grabbed her butt."

"No."

Safe.

"Mr. Lucas, was it your intention to have Miss Charlotte embarrassed and possibly ruin her reputation by having her exposed to the other students in the training room?"

"No, it was not."

Clear.

"Did you ever at any point have any malicious intentions towards Miss Charlotte?"

"No."

Red.

"Not during the situation."

Safe.

"Does that mean you now have malicious intentions towards Miss Charlotte?"

Everyone was looking closely at me.

"Mr. Griffin I believe we agreed that the questions would only pertain to the event and what you are asking is outside of those bounds."

"… You are correct, my apologies."

"Any more questions?"

"No I think that's all for you Mr. Lucas but I do have a few more for Miss Charlotte."

"Miss Charlotte, did you at any point feel threatened by Mr. Lucas?"

"Yes."

Red.

Mr. Griffin frowned.

"Could you not protect yourself from Mr. Lucas at any point."

"I could."

"Did Mr. Lucas physically harm you?"

"No."

"Then why did you lie and say you felt threatened by him?"

"Because it's embarrassing."

Nothing.

"I see. This appears to be an unfortunate unavoidable event with no perpetrators. Both of you are cleared and no action will be taken. You are free to return to class."

Mr. Griffin didn't even consult with the other councilors before letting us go free. I was happy but Charlotte clearly wasn't.

"But—"

"No, but's Miss Charlotte the truth of the matter has been revealed the situation is now out of our hands. It's unfortunate what happened today but such is life, you will get past this. A therapist will be made available if you need, and bullying can be reported to the main office. Have a good rest of your day."

With that, Mr. Griffin and the other officers got up and left.

That was how I was found innocent of one of many cases brought against me.