Grim moved at his fastest speed.

He couldn't bear to have any more deaths of his students.

Because he was at his max speed, it only took him a few breaths to arrive.

Before arriving, he had heard the shriek of a beast, then the cry of a bird.

But when he arrived, all he saw was a black steel spider.

Nevertheless, he took advantage of the speed at which he was moving and threw a normal punch at the black steel spider.

The black steel spider of the master realm that boasted great defense exploded into pieces.

Under the shower of the bloody rain, he spread out his divine sense and confirmed the situation.

Thankfully, none of the students was killed.

And all the remaining elites were also present.

He observed the pitch-black snake for a brief moment, but upon feeling no vitality from it, he ignored it.

'What about the bird cry I heard?'

He fixed his gaze on the only monster remaining.

'...A slime?'

Why was a slime in the outer region of the mountain forest?

No!

There is something wrong with this slime.

He couldn't feel the presence of life from the slime.

Confused, Grim opened his mouth and spoke his first words upon arriving.

"You...what are you?"

He didn't know why, but he felt the atmosphere suddenly become tense.

Arlo didn't know what to do, while Arianne who was holding him slowly reverted to her normal form.

The tight uniform hugged her small but developing body, while the burnt parts revealed her pale but healthy skin.

Even for Arianne who possessed immense stamina, struggling to survive for the entire day exhausted her both physically and mentally.

Seeing Arianne's tired figure, Grim decided to wrap up the situation, but before he could act, Arlo unsummoned Anita causing Grim to frown underneath his hood.

"...That slime is your summon?"

Arlo thought for a moment and responded carefully.

"Yes..."

"You have an affinity to the abstruse summoning law?"

Without even giving Arlo time to think, he refuted himself.

"No! That is not possible. I can't feel any mana from you. Just what is going on?"

He was honestly confused about the current situation and momentarily forgot about his priority.

Unlike Julian, he didn't have much knowledge about Ki cultivators.

It was at this moment that Bon spoke.

"The slime is indeed the human's...Arlo's summon. Without it, we wouldn't have survived."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

He wanted to help Arlo but what he didn't know was that he made matters even worse.

Now, Grim's curiosity was ignited.

"Idiot!" Judi whispered causing Bon to blush in embarrassment.

Grim approached Arlo and spoke:

"Why don't you summon that slime again?"

Arlo didn't know what to do.

He was at a loss when a different voice echoed in the area.

"What have you done?"

The principal appeared above the sky and he appeared to be angry.

"Grim, you were supposed to take care of the students. How did many of them die?"

The principal shouted at the end of his words.

Grim could only lower his head in shame.

"My...my."

An old man with a bent back, using a walking walked out from the shadows.

Immediately, The principal and Grim fell to one knee like knights to their kings.

"Lord protector!"

This man was the strongest vampire after Scarlett.

The head of the nine protectors and the founder of Clan Holden

He also had another important title that did not fall short of the others.

He was the headmaster of the Darkblood academy.

Rosaline, Judi, and Bon quickly followed the principal and Grim in kneeling.

They didn't know who this mysterious figure was, but judging by how the principal and Grim were so respectful, he must be someone very high in status.

Only Arianne and Arlo didn't kneel before the white-haired old man.

Of course, Joe also was among them since he was unconscious.

The principal didn't seem to mind this and instead surveyed the area.

None of the students realized it, but the principal and Grim could feel the old man's divine sense covering the entire outer region of the mountain forest.

Gauging the number of students that died, the wizened old man couldn't help but have a dark expression on his face.

After a while, he sighed.

He couldn't blame everything on Grim, after all, there wasn't supposed to be any master realm beast in the outer region of the forest.

In fact, the number of peak advanced beasts didn't exceed three.

'But I was sure I checked the barrier.'

A confused expression soon replaced the dark look on his face.

'It can't be helped!'

"Stanley, take the kids away!"

"Yes!"

The principal quickly stood up.

He masterfully used his mana to bring Rosaline, Bon, and Judi beside him.

After that, he wrapped his mana around Joe and was about to move him.

But suddenly he froze.

The pitch black snake which he assumed dead suddenly flashed before Joe and hissed threatening at him.

The old man and Grim were also shocked.

Just like the principal, they thought the snake was dead since they didn't feel any vitality from it.

But what is this?

At this time, Arlo's voice drifted into everyone's ears.

"It's okay. They mean no harm."

Arlo spoke with a sincere look on his face.

The snake looked at him for a moment before coiling itself around Joe's neck.

The principal didn't hesitate any longer and moved Joe.

He did the same for Arlo and Arianne before they all smoothly flew into the sky.

Like this, the long night came to an end.

It was well past midnight.

Arlo sighed in relief after escaping from Grim's interrogation.

Like this, the group disappeared in the night sky towards the Academy.

Back to Grim.

Even he couldn't help but feel anxious before the old man.

What he didn't know was that the old man wasn't even thinking about him, and was instead contemplating the pitch-black snake.

He felt like there was something weird about the snake, but he couldn't wrap his head around it even after observing the snake many times with his divine sense.

A minute later, he withdrew his thoughts.

Shifting his gaze back on the kneeling Grim, he spoke:

"Even though tonight's matter wasn't entirely your fault, the truth still stands that you made a mistake."

"As a teacher, you single-handedly decided to send the students into the mountain forest to hunt. That in itself isn't the issue, but the problem is that you didn't actively supervise them. You didn't consider the safety of your students. That is the greatest mistake a teacher should never make."

Grim's already bowed head lowered further in shame.

"I shall not suspend you!"

Grim inwardly sighed in relief but that didn't last for long as he heard the old man's next words.

"But your salary for the entire semester shall be withheld!"

"Heok!"

Grim went into a coughing fit, but there was no one to care as the old man had already disappeared.

It must be known that vampires were the rulers of this world.

As the major academy of the entire vampire race, the teachers in the academy were paid a lot of money.

Money that could be equated to tens of millions of gold.

Yet Grim lost such a massive amount just because of one mistake.

But after thinking about it, he collected himself.

'That is right! I cost the academy tens of new students. I deserve this punishment.'

Like this, the first hunting mission of the first year which should have continued till morning prematurely came to an end.

In the morning.

The bell didn't ring at its usual time and only rang at noon.

The academy decided to give the students some time to rest.

In the main building.

The first year's gathered in the class, but unlike before the atmosphere was gloomy.

The number of students present was noticeably reduced.

In this dark and gloomy situation, the door opened.

All the students shifted their attention to the front of the class to see Teacher Julian.

*****

AN: For early chapters, visit my Patreon account.

patreon.com/FAMILYABOVEALLNOVEL