The committee board room was thick with tension.
The Athenaeum's professors who were responsible for supervising the conference sat, their expressions ranging from defensive to guilty to carefully neutral. Murmurs filled the space, hushed, urgent discussions that overlapped and tangled like threads in a knot.
"—never seen anything like that, the sheer scale of telekinesis—"
"—but the protocol failure—"
"—should have known better, she's supposed to be—"
"—if that girl hadn't been there, we'd all be—"
The door swung open.
Lazuardi stood in the threshold, his face carrying an expression that silenced the room instantly. He surveyed them, these adults, these scholars, these supposed guardians of the next generation… and let the quiet stretch.
"Heh." The sound was short, humorless. "You guys also got offended by the Student Council President's words just now?"
No one answered. A few professors shifted in their seats.
