Chapter 163: When Profits And Greed Outweigh Human Life

Even though Mika was clearly annoyed, the one who was probably the most irritated in the room was Anya herself.

She had just begun to savor the warmth of Mika’s unexpected openness, her heart still racing from the way he’d held her. Finally, she thought, she was getting the affection she had craved for so long—only for yet another nuisance to intrude and tear the moment apart.

Her smile twitched, her eyes narrowing, but then she forced herself to smooth her expression. She leaned toward Mika and whispered firmly,

"Let me handle this."

And without waiting for his answer, she stepped forward to meet the approaching professors. She looked calm, but the sharpness in her eyes betrayed how unwelcome their presence was.

She plastered a polite smile on her lips, one that didn’t reach her eyes, and addressed them in a tone sweet enough to sound cordial but heavy with warning.

"Professors." She said softly. "Why have you come here? If this is about the matter that occurred earlier with the students, then I must tell you, it has already been resolved."

"I am, after all, the one in charge of student affairs. I’ve personally dealt with it. There’s no need for further involvement from your side."

It was the kind of sentence that, on the surface, was merely polite. But everyone present could hear the subtext: Go back. You’re not welcome here.

A chill ran down the spines of the professors. They were grown men, scholars entrusted with the research block, yet even they could not escape the unease that Anya’s presence provoked.

Her reputation preceded her, she wasn’t only the head of the Disciplinary Council, but the daughter of a Battle Angel. Everyone knew she could turn from courteous to merciless in a blink, and if she did, no punishment would ever reach her.

Still, the duty given to them weighed on them. They could not leave without delivering the message they had been sent with.

One professor, a stern man with a beard and round glasses, stepped forward hesitantly. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, then he steadied himself and spoke.

"No, Anya." He said carefully. "It’s not that. We haven’t come here to involve ourselves in what you’re already handling. That is entirely your affair. We...We’re here for another reason altogether."

Anya’s eyes narrowed further, and she cast a glance back at Mika, her smile curling with suspicion.

"So you haven’t come here to punish that boy?"

She asked, her tone inquisitive but laced with steel.

"You don’t intend to demand his discipline?"

Hearing this, the professor immediately shook his head so quickly it almost seemed comical.

"Not at all...Definitely not him." He said frantically. "There is no need to touch him in any way. W-We’ve been expressly instructed not to involve him, so I can promise you that we won’t involve him."

That detail that slipped out because he was so scared of involving Mika, knowing the consequences made Anya’s smile twitch.

She already understood what that meant: whoever had sent these professors knew very well what Mika meant to her. They knew he was her reverse scale, the one person no one was allowed to provoke.

That alone confirmed to her that the professors weren’t here of their own accord, they had been pushed by the higher ups with enough influence to orchestrate this.

And instead of dragging Mika into the matter, the professor pointed in Charlotte’s direction, making her stiffen where she stood.

"It is Charlotte." He said gravely. "Charlotte and her group. They are the ones we have come to apprehend. They have broken several rules of the research block, and the matter is far too severe to ignore."

The room grew tense. Whispers spread through the students like ripples on water. Anya’s eyes flicked from the professor to Charlotte, then back again.

She recognized the pattern all too well, as then her lips curved into a dismissive smile.

"Oh, you mean those small mistakes during the experiment?" She said airily. "It’s nothing of consequence. No need to exaggerate. The students got overexcited, made claims of sabotage and danger."

"...But I already investigated, and the matter has been settled. Truly, there’s nothing for you to concern yourselves with."

The bearded professor grimaced. He had expected this. He had even been warned that she might brush the matter off. That was why, before he came, he had been given something else to say—something she could not so easily dismiss.

He cleared his throat, straightened his shoulders, and spoke with newfound firmness.

"With all respect, Anya, this isn’t a matter of exaggeration. It isn’t a matter of small severity. It’s a matter of massive consequence. Charlotte’s group didn’t just make a mistake. They violated a primary rule of the research block."

The room grew still.

"As you know..." He continued, voice echoing with conviction. "...for safety, no student is permitted to use a battery beyond one million decavolts. It is the upper threshold. Anything stronger poses catastrophic risks."

"Yet Charlotte’s group was in possession of a three-million decavolt battery, with a supercharger. That means they were operating at six times the lethal limit...And worse, the battery overloaded. It was on the verge of breaking down."

"So, if it had exploded, it wouldn’t have just destroyed their project—it would have brought down the entire research block, along with every student inside of it."

He stepped closer, eyes locked on hers, as though daring her to dismiss this too.

"So tell me, Anya, can you truly say that you’ve cleared this matter?"

The professor’s voice echoed through the tense silence, his question hanging heavy in the air.

For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then, from the crowd, came a wave of scoffs and laughter.

"Is he serious?" One boy muttered, shaking his head.

"He wants justice for something that didn’t even happen?" Another chuckled.

"Ridiculous. Anya cleared Mika’s case, even though he shattered knees, and they had evidence. You think she’ll punish her sister for a ’what if’?"

The students expected her to laugh it off, maybe toss the accusation aside with her usual smile.

After all, they had seen her dismiss worse when Mika’s name was involved. She had defended him when he literally shattered knees in broad daylight, evidence or no evidence.

And now, over something that hadn’t even happened, a battery that might have exploded but didn’t, the professors dared to step in and demand punishment?

The students scoffed, some even laughing under their breath, thinking the old man had lost his mind.

But then, the unthinkable happened.

The corners of Anya’s lips sank.

That radiant smile, always present, always unbreakable, faded.

The Iron Maiden’s smile was gone.

In its place was a cold, sharp frown.

The sight alone was enough to make half the room go pale.

Her gaze then slid to Charlotte and the younger girl immediately shrank back, her bravado crumbling, timid under the sudden weight of her sister’s fury.

Anya took one slow step toward her, voice soft but laced with steel.

"Charlotte...is what they’re saying true?" Her words cut through the silence like a scalpel. "I only thought that it was a small price and ignored it, but now I have to ask, did you really add in a battery that could have endangered the lives of every single student here?"

Another step, closer now, her shadow falling over Charlotte.

"While everyone else here follows the safety regulations, did you really think you were so special that you could break the rules and risk killing them all?" Her tone sharpened, every syllable carrying the venom of restrained rage.

Charlotte trembled, lips parting, but no sound came out.

"Why so silent, little sister?" Anya leaned closer, her smile gone, her eyes unblinking. "Just tell me you didn’t. Tell me it’s a lie...and I’ll tear out the professor’s tongue myself for daring to accuse you."

The professor who had spoken flinched, his courage faltering. He had prepared for her denial, not this psychotic promise. He stumbled a step back, sweat beading on his forehead as he realized just how dangerous this girl truly was.

But Anya wasn’t finished. Her voice dropped to a chilling whisper, every word shaking Charlotte to her core.

"But instead, if you did...if you truly endangered lives just for your experiment’s success..." She let the threat hang, the promise of punishment coiled in her tone like a serpent ready to strike.

And just as she was about to finish—

"Anya...Stop right there."

Mika’s voice rang out, calm but commanding.

Her head snapped toward him, fury simmering in her eyes, but Mika’s gaze was steady, unwavering.

"Mika, you know how much I despise people who endanger the safety of others for their own gain. You know how I feel about this." Her voice cracked, trembling with genuine rage. "If she did this, if she ignored the rules, you know I can’t let it go!"

And seeing her reaction as he walked towards her, Mika knew. Whoever had orchestrated this had struck right at her weaknes—the one wound from her past that never healed.

He could see it in her trembling hands, the way her breath hitched. Her trauma had been weaponized against her, and her rationality was slipping away.

But Anya’s hatred wasn’t blind, it was forged years ago, in fire and death. When profits outweighed safety. When lives were lost because of greed.

She had sworn then: anyone who gambled with others lives for personal gain deserved to rot and was the reason she valued rules so much. And right now, her little sister stood accused of being one of those people.

Her rage boiled over. She opened her mouth, ready to condemn Charlotte—

"I said...That’s enough, Anya."

Mika placed a hand on her shoulder and she stopped. Her body stiffened, eyes wide, staring at him as though she couldn’t believe he was telling her to hold back.

"Calm down." He said evenly. "If you give me a second, I’ll explain everything."

Her lips trembled, rage still burning, but the weight of his words pressed down like chains.

And then, to the shock of everyone, Mika continued,

"Because the truth is...I’m the one who told her to add that battery."

The moment he admitted the truth, gasps exploded through the crowd. The professors froze, mouths open.

And hearing this shocking news, the students braced themselves.

Surely, surely this time, Anya’s rage would turn on Mika.

She had been seconds away from condemning her own sister, surely Mika wouldn’t be spared.

Surely not this time.

But to their disbelief, the fury drained from Anya’s face like water slipping through a sieve. Her shoulders relaxed. Her lips curled back up into a smile, gentle, relieved.

"Oh. So it was you, Mika?" She let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. "For a moment, I thought Charlotte had actually done something reckless. I should’ve known better."

The head professor’s jaw dropped. "W-What—?!"

Anya then turned to her, smiling apologetically. "I’m sorry, Charlotte. Truly. You know how worked up I get about things like this. I thought you were at fault, but...you should’ve told me from the start Mika was behind it. Then none of this would’ve happened."

She laughed lightly, as if she hadn’t just been seconds away from condemning her sister, while the professors stared in utter disbelief.

"Wait, what? How is this suddenly no big deal?" The bearded one’s voice cracked as he shouted. "Just a moment ago, you were ready to punish your sister, and now, because he admitted involvement, you dismiss it entirely?! How does that make any sense?"

He already heard that the boy by her side was exempt from all punishment from what he was told. But he still couldn’t believe how far it went has wanted an explanation.

Anya’s lips curved in that sweet, too-perfect smile of hers as she folded her hands behind her back and tilted her head as she said,

"It’s because I wholeheartedly trust Mika and his abilities, Professor."

Her tone was soft, respectful even, but her words carried the finality of a decree.

"I know him. I know that anything he involves himself in, he completes without issue, without unnecessary risk. He always gives his full potential toward finishing what he starts. And more importantly..."

She leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowing just enough to unsettle the professors.

"...he would never, ever, create a situation where multiple lives were at stake. He knows how much that matters to me."

The crowd buzzed, stunned. To hear the Iron Maiden herself speak so openly of her trust in someone was unheard of, while the professors were stunned beyond relief at her audacity.

But as infuriating as it was, they couldn’t let this matter go just like.

They had already promised the ones who had sent them that they would knock down the daughters of the Battle Angels down a peg and if they escaped without doing so, the consequences would be unimaginable...