Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

1052  Bureau of Hero Welfare and Safety Department

Rize almost fell from the stage but she managed to balance herself and safely got down the stage. But all the eyes were now on the five people at the stage.

Out of all the students, Rudy was the most furious. How could they treat his beloved teacher like that? Whoever they were and whatever status they held, Rudy was going to send them back to where they belonged.

They acted as if they were officials, but they weren't wearing a badge. However, upon scanning them with his supervision, Rudy learned about their identities.

The one who pushed Rize was Manuel Bailey. And out of the four people behind him, two were females and two were males.

'Sylvie Arias, Kyle Baxter, Aiden Miles, and Lara Chen.'

"We are from the Bureau of the Hero Welfare and Safety department. We have been ordered to shut all the schools that don't have hero activities as a subject. This school, along with all the other schools of the nearby towns, has now been terminated and scheduled to be demolished!" Manuel announced.

"Wait a minute, there is no such requirement for a school and when the bill was passed, it was made clear that no school would be forced to implement it. Moreover, the apocalypse has ended, so there is no need for such Hero programs and activities in school," Rize responded in a calm, yet authoritative tone.

"Well, things have changed now."

"I haven't heard about this. Stop with these baseless orders and get out of my class. I only have 10 minutes left."

Manuel moved his hand towards Rize and crushed his fist. All the students present in the class were confused as to what was happening, but the only one to react was Rize, who fell to her knees.

It seemed as though she was struggling to breathe, and the leader's pose hadn't changed. That was enough for Rudy to understand that the leader was using his powers on Rize and choking her.

'You are dead!' Rudy had made up his mind to kill the leader, no matter the consequences that came after it.

Before Rudy could move into action, a sudden burst of energy erupted from within the class. It was coming from Eric and he was simply releasing his aura—which he had always been suppressing in public— to make his presence known.

This was Rudy's first time seeing Eric in action for real, so he was a bit surprised to see how it felt.

Eric walked to the HWSD and said, "Using powers of an unarmed civilian is against the code of conduct. If you truly believed the laws and played by the rules, you wouldn't have done that."

"Eric Foster!" Manuel's eyes widened upon seeing Eric and he subconsciously walked a step along with his four companions.

'What is he doing here?! Wasn't he supposed to be on leave today?!' He glanced around at his companions, who had the same reaction as him.

It was true. Eric was on leave today and he was supposed to be in another country, but he finished things early and flew back to school instead of spending the night there. Although he was a bit late to school, he came to spend time with Rudy.

In short, he wouldn't have been there if Rudy hadn't talked with him yesterday. Eric felt guilty for not spending time with his childhood friend and always focusing on his job as a hero.

"According to the law, using powers against a civilian warrants immediate cease of the hero license. And breaking the rule of conduct for an official like you will surely result in your suspension!" Eric asserted.

"That can't be…! You have no right to pass judgements on me! And I am your superior. You can't order me around!" "Your status means nothing. Law is equal to everyone, and you will be punished accordingly." Eric glanced at the companions on the back and continued, "You four will also be punished!"

"Wha..t?! But we didn't do anything!" They played.

"That's precisely why!" Eric released his aura even more. "You did nothing and just watched him break the rule. You are partners in crime!"

"Enough with all this!" Manuel released his aura, and I matched that of Eric's. "Your powers have gotten over your head."

'You are the last person who should say that!' All the students present in the class thought the same.

"I haven't broken a rule, nor have I violated the code of conduct. This woman was attacking me and I simply defended myself."

"Do you seriously believe that?" Eric asked with a disappointed look on his face.

"Yes. How could I have known that this woman was an ordinary civilian?"

Everyone knew that Manuel was lying, but there was nothing anyone could do because his excuse was reasonable and could be used in a case.

"You pushed her off the stage in the beginning. Why did you do that?" Rudy asked with a furious look on his face.

Manuel raised his brow at Rudy and sighed, "I don't remember doing that."

"You did that. Everyone in the class saw it," Rudy retorted.

"Perhaps my shoulder accidentally hit her. That wasn't an attack or against the code of conduct, was it?" Manuel shrugged his shoulders and continued, "It happens. People accidentally bump into each other in a crowded space."

Rudy looked into Manuel's eyes with absolute anger. He wanted to punch Manuel so hard and rip his head off his body. Of course, he could easily do that, but he was restrained by none other than himself.

He couldn't act like a maniac in front of the entire class, especially in front of Eric, Rize, Janet, and Alice.

Rudy forcefully calmed himself down and said, "You are right. People accidentally bump into each other in crowded spaces."

"Heh!" Manuel scoffed arrogantly. 'Poor guy realized how powerful I am.'

"But!" Rudy added. "They apologize when that happens. I haven't seen you apologize to her yet."

"Wha…t?" Manuel was baffled to hear that.

'What the hell is this kid blabbering about? Why would 'I' apologize to a random weak civilian? That's not happening! Not in a million years!'