The Grandmaster intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on his knuckles. He completely bypassed Solomon’s demand to drop out.

"We will discuss your enrollment status at a later time," the Grandmaster stated. "Right now, I require a detailed report regarding your expedition. How exactly did you manage to survive an encounter with an S-Rank Undead Paladin during the initial labyrinth anomaly?"

Solomon rubbed his chest and kept his facial expression entirely blank. "Princess Lune and I utilized the enclosed arena to restrict its movements. I stalled the creature with basic physical strikes until she charged her ultimate piercing ability."

He intentionally left massive gaps in the narrative. He completely scrubbed any mention of the fifteen years he spent trapped inside the Paladin’s mental void. He also omitted the ancient warrior passing down the Imperial Sword Arts and the details surrounding his Convergence talent.

The Grandmaster picked up a silver quill and rolled it between his fingers. "And after Her Highness evacuated through the transit gate? You chose to descend through ten entire dungeon floors without any armor."

"I utilized the Paladin’s executioner sword to crush the floor bosses," Solomon replied smoothly. "The physical exertion entirely drained my stamina. I collapsed in the outer ruins shortly after."

"You eventually breached the hidden royal vault," the Grandmaster continued, leaning forward over his crystal desk. "Our dimensional monitoring equipment recorded a catastrophic spike in celestial energy from that specific sector. Who exactly did you encounter down there?"

"Prince Vlad and his guildmates arrived right before a hostile angel broke into the chamber," Solomon explained. "The entity immediately attacked us."

The old man narrowed his eyes and set the silver quill down. "What happened to the angel?"

Solomon met the Grandmaster’s gaze. "I do not know."

"That sounds entirely far-fetched," the Grandmaster noted, tilting his head slightly. "An anomaly of that magnitude does not simply vanish. Did you kill the angel with Vlad’s help?"

"I took a severe hit during the crossfire and completely blacked out," Solomon lied effortlessly, keeping Balzac’s strict warning fresh in his mind. "I genuinely do not know what happened after I lost consciousness."

The Grandmaster searched the boy’s face for a long moment. He sighed and leaned back into his leather chair. Fortunately, the old man decided to drop the subject without prying any further into the missing details.

"Your physical safety remains our top priority," the Grandmaster said. He pulled a sleek, enchanted telephone receiver from a desk drawer. "I dispatched a team of second-year students to your family’s house earlier today. They established a protective perimeter the moment we detected the labyrinth malfunction. Your parents are extremely eager to speak with you."

He placed the telephone onto the crystal desk and slid it toward Solomon.

Suddenly, a glowing red rune flared to life on the office wall. A sharp chime echoed across the room.

The Grandmaster glanced at the glowing sigil and pushed himself up from his chair. He smoothed the wrinkles from his robes and walked toward the balcony doors.

"You can take your time making the call," the Grandmaster instructed while stepping onto the floating magic carpet. "Someone incredibly unpleasant has just arrived at the academy gates. I have to go receive them immediately."

The old man flew out into the open sky, leaving Solomon entirely alone in the office.

Solomon pushed himself out of the velvet chair. He walked across the circular office and grabbed the brass handles of the large balcony doors. He pulled the thick wooden frames shut to completely cut off the view of the sprawling academy grounds. Returning to the crystal desk, he picked up the enchanted telephone receiver and dialed his home number.

The line clicked after the fourth ring.

"Who is this?" a young girl’s voice asked through the earpiece.

"It is me, Jasmine." Solomon leaned his hip against the edge of the desk.

"Solomon!" Jasmine squealed, the audio cracking slightly from her sudden excitement. "You finally called us. Did you actually get that job you mentioned before?"

"I got the job." Solomon looked down at the floor tiles. "How are things at the shop? Is Barbaros causing any trouble for the customers?"

"Barbaros is sleeping under the front counter right now." The audio rustled as she seemingly adjusted her grip on the phone. "He chased a stray cat down the alley earlier and completely tired himself out. The shop has actually been pretty busy today."

"That is good to hear." Solomon traced a visible crack in the crystal desk with his thumb. "Are Mom and Dad around?"

"They are over at the diner down the street," Jasmine explained. "Dad wanted to grab an early dinner, and I am heading over there to meet them right now."

"Tell them I am perfectly fine." Solomon kept his eyes locked on the closed balcony doors. "The job is going great, and I am honestly having a lot of fun. Make sure they know there is absolutely no need to worry about me."

"I will tell them." A loud scraping noise echoed through the speaker as she grabbed her coat. "When are you coming back home?"

"I will come visit you guys soon," Solomon replied.

"Okay. Your friends from the academy came by earlier to check on us."

Solomon stopped tracing the desk. He gripped the enchanted receiver tight enough to make his knuckles turn entirely white. "What friends are you talking about, Jasmine?"

"A group of three students showed up at the house," she explained, completely unaware of the sudden shift in his demeanor. "They said they needed to fill out a standard administrative form for your student profile."

Solomon clenched his jaw. The Grandmaster had explicitly mentioned sending a team of second-year students to establish a protective perimeter around his family. Instead of offering protection, that team had actively interrogated his parents under the guise of an administrative visit.

"Did they do anything else?" Solomon asked.

"Well, I told them you do not actually have any friends," Jasmine continued. "This one boy with bright peachy pink hair got really mad and started yelling at me."

The glass surface of the desk cracked directly beneath Solomon’s fingers. His jaw muscles bulged as he ground his teeth together. The overwhelming urge to march out of the office and tear someone apart coursed through his veins.

"Barbaros jumped right in front of me and started aggressively growling at him," Jasmine added proudly. "Mom had to step in and calm everyone down before inviting them inside the living room."

"What did they ask Mom and Dad?" Solomon asked, forcing his vocal cords to remain entirely even.

"They asked a bunch of questions about where you grew up and what Mom and Dad do for work. They even looked through the old photo albums with the pictures of Jacob."

Solomon narrowed his eyes. The academy administration was digging deep into his past to uncover the source of his monstrous stamina and his SSS-rank talent.

"Are those students still there?" Solomon asked.

"No, they left a little while ago," Jasmine replied. "They got into a big armored rover and drove away toward the main highway."

"Go meet Mom and Dad at the diner." Solomon picked up a silver quill from the desk and snapped it in half. "Buy yourself something extra from the dessert menu."

"I will!" Jasmine cheered. "Talk to you later, Solomon."

The line went completely dead. Solomon placed the receiver back onto its cradle and stared at the broken crystal desk.