Chapter 1361: 119. A Little Shock

"The first head of the Enhancement School..."

A trace of solemnity appeared on Douglas's face.

As one of the most senior figures in the Origin Tower today, he naturally knew very well just how glorious the Enhancement School had once been.

Although he had never witnessed it with his own eyes, from certain ancient records and information that had been passed down, he could still piece together just how important the Enhancement School had been to the entire Origin Tower during that chaotic era when everything had been in ruins and all things were only beginning to take shape.

It could be said that the Origin Tower's present prosperity absolutely could not have existed without the contributions of the first head of the Enhancement School, nor without the school she had personally established.

But there was only one problem...

"She may be someone from nearly a thousand years ago, someone even I would have to call an old fossil..."

"But there are also rumors that she was completely suppressed by that person..."

"Even if she somehow escaped death and survived until now through some unknown method... why would she openly push her successor into the center of such a storm?"

"Could it be... that person no longer cares?"

Countless thoughts turned through his mind, yet it was difficult to find an answer.

When it came to an old fossil who had lived for nearly a thousand years, even someone as senior as Douglas somehow felt as though he himself had become the infant instead. It was difficult to sort through all the tangled threads involved.

He couldn't even guess the other party's goal.

He only instinctively felt that this so-called Enmu appearing at a time like this absolutely couldn't be some mere coincidence.

When an existence of that level made a move and laid out a plan, how could there possibly be such a thing as coincidence?

Surely she hadn't really come back just to revive the Enhancement School...

Heh.

Only a ghost would believe that.

Living this long and still playing tricks no one could figure out...

Old fossil, you're smurfing too, aren't you?

So could all you smurfing bastards just go die already?

He was only an innocent and pure hundred-and-something-year-old. Playing this dirty made things really hard for him!

Douglas felt deeply frustrated.

Being the rotating Tower Master had already been difficult enough lately. The matter of Arman colluding with an Evil God had left him utterly overwhelmed, and now, at a time like this, another unbelievably troublesome existence had suddenly appeared.

Did they all have to come one after another like they were lining up?

Couldn't they at least stagger their troublemaking?

Even Evil God cultists weren't as hardworking as you people!

"What troubled times..."

Douglas sighed. "When will these old bones of mine finally be able to truly retire and get some rest?"

"Retire?"

Muen's expression immediately became solemn. "Tower Master, what are you talking about? You're only a little over a hundred. That's exactly the age when you should be striving your hardest. What retirement? For the future of the Origin Tower, you ought to work a few more overtime shifts. Striving! Sacrifice! Aren't those the very foundations of prosperity for this big family of ours? Tower Master, get yourself together!"

"..."

This brat really did seize every possible opportunity to strike back with that mouth of his.

So glib-tongued too. Who knew how many young girls this shameless old man had sweet-talked?

That decent-looking girl following beside him might very well have been tricked into coming along exactly like that.

"All right. I understand your situation for now. There's no problem with your identity, and what happened this time really isn't that serious either. If I make things too difficult for you, it would make me seem overly harsh as Tower Master."

After throwing Muen a look normally reserved for an aging scumbag, Douglas stood up and swept his sleeve. All the documents vanished with it, leaving Muen no chance to peek at them.

The lights brightened, and the cold, stern atmosphere of the room disappeared completely. When Muen looked up, all he saw was the gentle smile of the rotating Tower Master.

"So what you mean is... I'm innocent now? Wonderful! Thank you, Tower Master! I knew you were different from a guy like Jerome. You're a good man. A very, very good man!"

Muen immediately beamed with joy and stepped forward, reaching for Douglas's hands.

Before he could even touch the old man's sleeve, Douglas flung him away with a look of disgust.

"Don't celebrate too soon. It certainly doesn't rise to the level of a crime, but the fact remains that you beat Jerome and left him severely injured. So I still have to punish you to some degree."

"Punish me?"

Muen's expression changed at lightning speed. "That doesn't sound very reasonable, Tower Master. No matter how you look at it, Jerome's side was the one at fault here. You can't wrong an innocent man."

"They did indeed start it, but you also undeniably went too far. Most importantly, you committed that kind of violence in broad daylight in front of so many people. Even if I don't want to punish you, I have no choice."

Douglas thought for a moment, then said, "How about this. You'll remain confined here for three days and reflect on your actions. As for Jerome's classroom... don't worry. They'll compensate your Enhancement School for all the losses you've suffered during this period and apologize to that poor fellow named Ide. I'll personally make sure they do."

"Just confinement? That's not too bad. I thought you were going to revoke—huh? Wait. How long did you say?"

Muen suddenly widened his eyes. "Three days? I have to stay locked up here for three whole days and can't go anywhere?"

"Nonsense. If you're being confined, do you still expect to go outside and fool around? This is already the lightest punishment I could give you. Even if you have complaints, you don't have the right to argue."

Douglas snorted coldly. "Don't tell me you plan to defy the orders of the Tower Master?"

"That... of course not. How would I dare make an enemy of the entire Origin Tower? It's just that..."

Muen nervously rubbed his hands together.

"Look, Tower Master, the Enhancement School's situation is a little unusual right now. Locking me up isn't really a problem, but could you maybe do it some other time? If I'm locked up for three days now, the school is going to..."

"You're afraid the school will be abolished?"

"Exactly, exactly. Didn't I receive that notice before? There were only three days left. Yesterday is already gone, and most of today has passed too... I've only got tomorrow left. If you confine me now, then I'll..."

"Stop, stop!"

Douglas repeatedly waved his hands.

Then his expression gradually became strange.

He looked Muen up and down. Even though the two of them had already been talking for so long, at this moment, he looked at Muen as though he were seeing him for the first time.

That strange gaze made Muen's skin crawl.

This old bastard couldn't possibly have... improper intentions toward him, could he?

Having already suffered bitter experiences of that sort before, Muen hurriedly covered his chest.

"I genuinely can't tell whether you're smart or stupid."

"Hm?"

"Or does practicing Enhancement Magic really turn people into those muscle-brained brutes until eventually their brains become filled entirely with muscle?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Tower Master. How could my brain possibly be filled with muscle..."

"If your brain isn't filled with muscle, then why are you still worrying about something so trivial?"

Douglas let out a long, helpless sigh.

"Rules are dead. People are alive. You can already beat the master of one of the top three classrooms in the entire Tower into the ground. Why didn't you just submit an application directly? Do you really think the Origin Tower is so rigid that it would ignore the request of a top-tier powerhouse?"

"Huh?"

Muen's eyes widened in shock. "You mean..."

"I don't mean anything in particular. It's just that..."

Douglas said with a sigh, "For someone whose strength has already reached this level to personally go out and perform tricks just to recruit students... in all my years of life, this is the first time I've ever seen it."

"The level of shock is probably about the same as that time I saw a certain Grand Mage, after suffering a devastating blow to his confidence as an educator, actually teach his own cat the Illumination Spell just to prove himself."

"..."