On a Gotham City morning that was neither bright nor warm, a chilly wind and damp mist crept onto the balcony through the cracks in the window, condensing into strings of tiny droplets that glittered beneath the lights.
Schiller sat at his desk in the office, reading his students' papers. After a while, someone at the neighboring desk tossed a document over. Schiller lifted his gaze from the assignment in his hands and turned to read it.
"A campus alcohol ban? Which little genius got himself into trouble this time?" Schiller asked.
His colleague Anna stood by the water cooler, waiting for it to fill as she stood with her hands on her hips. "Obviously, it's our brilliant new principal. Though rather than brilliant, I'd call him someone who doesn't know his own limits."
Before Schiller could ask another question, Mrs. Maffei, the principal's assistant, shuffled in after knocking on the door, her somewhat plump body swaying as she moved. "Professor Schiller, the principal wants to see you."
Schiller had just risen when Mrs. Maffei walked over to him. She lightly patted his arm and whispered, "He's really something else. You'd better be careful."
Schiller arrived at the principal's office. The new principal had only arrived a few days earlier. His name was Sheldon—Sheldon Smith. A white Democrat, he was said to have been a leader in Princeton University's Dean's office. No one knew why he had decided to come all the way to Gotham University to be principal.
The moment Schiller entered, Sheldon tapped the desktop and motioned for him to sit. He was a very typical white executive, energetic and lionlike. "I assume you've already read the document I issued. Yes, the campus alcohol ban must be enforced."
"I truly don't understand how this school ever allowed brewery trucks to drive right up to the front gate. It's absurd. If this was the mess left behind by the former principal, then I will clean it up. Starting now!"
"You know, under these circumstances, we must take a hard-line stance. According to your résumé, Professor Schiller, dealing with a group of children can't be harder than dealing with those serial killers, can it?"
Schiller caught the meaning behind his words: I want to make a splash as the new man in charge, but you need to be my weapon.
Schiller smiled. "Of course, of course..."
Then his tone cooled slightly. "In fact, dealing with anyone in this world is easier than dealing with those madmen from the serial murder cases."
The principal heard the warning in his voice. He was no fool, at least smarter than the previous principal. "I've heard about the disturbances at the school before, but they have nothing to do with me. This place needs a new order, and it needs new management."
Schiller smiled. "Your ambitions are lofty. You intend to establish a new order in Gotham. I practically want to applaud that goal."
"Not Gotham—Gotham University. This will be my territory. I don't care to spout empty pleasantries about being responsible for the students. All I want to say is that the former principal was a weak idiot, so he got kicked out. But I'm not like him!"
As he spoke, he made all kinds of aggressive gestures, occasionally pinching his fingertips together and tapping the desk to emphasize his words. The typical mannerisms of an American politician.
Schiller glanced at his watch. "My class is about to begin, but since this is an assignment from the new principal, I will certainly complete it satisfactorily."
With that, he left. The new principal watched his departing back, his expression far from pleasant. His instincts told him this man would not be easy to deal with.
The next day, an expulsion notice was delivered to Bruce Wayne's desk.
It read:
"...Due to your repeated drunken behavior on campus and your organization of gatherings involving alcoholic beverages, it has been verified that at least fifty students consumed alcohol purchased at your expense. I regret to inform you, Mr. Wayne, that we will revoke your student status. You must move out of the student dormitory within three days. —Professor Schiller Rodriguez."
The next day, Sheldon sat in his office with a hand pressed to his forehead. He was clearly panicking. He said to Schiller, "What I wanted wasn't... hard-line. Oh, yes, it certainly is hard-line, but I mean, not this kind of hard-line. This is far too hard-line..."
The new principal cursed inwardly. What kind of lunatic was this? How dared he write an expulsion notice for the Wayne Family heir? This was Gotham University's biggest benefactor! Wayne Enterprises donated billions of dollars to Gotham University every year!
Without Wayne, what the hell was the point of him being principal?
And he had heard that Bruce had always been a wild playboy, terribly unruly and obviously difficult to get along with. Was Schiller truly not afraid of offending the richest man in the world at all?!
Schiller still wore that emotionless smile. "I believe harsh measures are necessary to correct deep-rooted problems. If we dare expel even Bruce Wayne, then absolutely no one will dare violate your alcohol ban, will they?"
Sheldon opened his mouth, yet he could not force out a single word. He found it difficult to describe his complicated feelings. He could find no words to refute Schiller. In fact, Schiller's argument made far too much sense.
Who at Gotham University drank the most, dared to drink in broad daylight, and dared to make drunken scenes around school afterward, if not Bruce Wayne? And Schiller was right—if even Bruce had been expelled, the other students would surely behave as meekly as quails.
But what private university principal would dare expel the chairman of his own board of directors???
The principal did not dare, but Schiller did. He wished Bruce would hurry up and get the hell out of there. Otherwise, if Gotham University ever attracted the Joker, it would be another Big Trouble.
Sheldon wiped the sweat from his forehead. "First, let's take back this expulsion notice..."
"I never take back letters I have written. However, as principal, you may call him and have him deliver the letter to my office in person."
Schiller imitated Sheldon and tapped on the desk.
"Mr. Principal, I am a teacher. Do you expect me to bow and scrape before students who have made mistakes? Pleasing the board of directors is the principal's job, not mine. My duty is to teach and educate. I don't care whether he is Wayne or anyone else. No one gets to run wild in my classroom."
"Also, please tell him that if I smell even the slightest trace of alcohol in my classroom again, I will throw him out directly. Don't say I didn't warn him."
He's insane! He's insane! Sheldon thought.
What kind of lunatic was Schiller? Why did he always have to go after Bruce? That was the richest man in the world!
"Your stubbornness shocks me." After a while, Sheldon said with a dark expression, "I hope you can keep up this hard-boned style of yours."
Schiller smiled. "I will. In fact, throughout countless major cases, I have faced vicious psychiatric patients and madmen. Compared to them, Bruce is like a newborn foal. Before he learns to run, I hope he first learns how to stand in front of me."
The principal looked at Schiller. Schiller's complexion was a sickly pale, and his gray eyes, hidden behind his lenses, seemed shrouded in an unyielding Gray Mist.
After Schiller left, the principal switched on the recorder hidden beneath his desk. He thought that no spoiled young master could endure such humiliation from a teacher. Those words Schiller had spoken today would be best engraved on his tombstone.
If one expulsion notice was not enough to make Bruce burn with rage, then he would raise the stakes. What would Bruce think after hearing these recordings?
Sheldon thought that a rash, young tycoon like Bruce could never withstand the power of capital, no matter how capable Schiller was. The Wayne Family had ten thousand ways to make a professor disappear from the world. Even if Bruce was not so cruel, he would not let someone who had insulted him again and again get away with it.
When Bruce received the recording, his expression was strange. He was not angry. Yes, he was not angry at all.
In truth, even if this had not been Schiller, Bruce would not have been too angry, because he was not as impulsive and reckless as he appeared.
Yet after listening to the recording, he actually felt relieved. Fortunately, Schiller had not thrown more maddening, impossible questions at him, nor had he used that even worse tone he normally used when chasing Bruce for homework.
Bruce knew this reaction was wrong. How could his standards be so low? Shouldn't Schiller praising him have been enough to make him a little happy?
No, no. What did that matter?
Bruce tossed the recorder onto the desk and ran a hand through his hair. He had to admit that after hearing it, he could not help making the connection. Perhaps Batman had been doing well in Gotham lately, which was why the professor's attitude had changed.
Of course, he was Batman. Very quickly, he began thinking about more serious matters.
The principal's targeting of Schiller did not seem baseless. He appeared to have additional sources of information and knew that Schiller had participated in the trial of the previous principal.
Bruce narrowed his eyes. Rather than creating order at Gotham University, the man wanted to turn Gotham University into his personal dictatorship. A dangerous figure like Schiller would naturally be his first target.
The next day, Schiller taught as usual. Without even looking at Bruce, he picked up his textbook and began the lecture.
Sheldon, who could access the classroom cameras, could not help frowning. Bruce had not gone to cause Schiller trouble. What was going on?
Bruce, while posing as a playboy, had caused no shortage of trouble. He had beaten up several classmates alone. Though hitting a professor was wrong, for the richest man in the world, there was no one he could not hit and no one whose compensation he could not afford.
Then Sheldon saw something even more unbelievable. When homework was collected, Bruce actually handed in a stack of papers. Judging by its thickness, he might truly have written the full three thousand words.
When had Bruce ever turned in homework? And which professor at Gotham University had ever dared to collect his homework? What course at Gotham University dared not give him a perfect score?
With that thought, the principal opened Gotham University's credit system. He discovered that in the psychology course taught by Schiller, Bruce's homework score was not even two points, and his overall grade was dead last. In the instructor comments section, it read:
"As a wealthy man, he certainly does his duty in enjoying life. But as a student, he is absolutely terrible."
The principal's hands trembled slightly. This was not some internal website, but one every student had to visit at the end of the term. They could clearly see each professor's comments on them, and they could leave reviews for every professor as well.
Thinking this, the principal scrolled down with the mouse wheel. Then, to his shock, he saw the review Bruce had left for Schiller:
"I promise I will complete all my homework next semester. If I do, can my homework score be raised to two points? Or 1.8 would be fine. If I score over 90 on my final exam, I sincerely hope my credits will not all be deducted. Even if only one point is deducted, that would be fine."
Wasn't this basically a remake of "Teacher, I'm bad at this, please save me"?
The principal shut the computer with a slap, his face dark. His heart was full of frustration. Countless people wanted to establish ties with Wayne Enterprises, as it would bring them enormous benefits. Naturally, the principal was one of them.
But it seemed he had no chance. Bruce did not care whether he was the principal of Gotham University. To Bruce, the principalship was merely a position he could replace whenever he wished.
But it seemed this Professor Schiller had truly gotten the richest man in the world under control. Sheldon thought that, no matter what, he had to get rid of Schiller. If he wanted to climb higher, he had to become indispensable to Bruce. Schiller was his greatest stumbling block.
Meanwhile, Bruce began to feel dissatisfied with the new principal.
Because when he went to return the expulsion notice to Schiller, Schiller had practically had the words "get the hell out of here already" written across his face.
Before this new principal had arrived, everything had been going fairly smoothly. Whether it was his communication with Schiller or his cooperation with Gordon, both had been social connections beneficial to Batman's work.
Then the new principal suddenly came up with some alcohol ban, giving Schiller another excuse to expel him. Naturally, Bruce was dissatisfied.
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