Handling

Seeing his own student become a lackey for an authoritarian government, Orka felt deeply distressed. He ignored James's greeting and sneered, "I am doing just fine! How could I be anything but fine when you've brought men here to arrest me?"

James was in a difficult spot; the current situation left him incredibly awkward. The furious old gentleman before him had placed him in a dilemma where he could neither advance nor retreat.

On one side was his superior's order, and on the other, his benefactor. Completing the mission meant breaking ties with his benefactor, which weighed heavily on his conscience; yet, if he prioritized his gratitude, his career would be ruined, and over a decade of hard work would vanish like water.

James's hesitation immediately boosted the morale of the teachers, who realized that these policemen were not as ferocious as the legends suggested.

They began casting their eyes toward the officers, searching for familiar faces, and soon, some achieved results.

Aleko found a target, walked up to a young officer, and scolded angrily, "Raul, you brat, get your backside home right now!"

Raul defended himself, saying, "But Uncle Aleko, I'm on duty! If I leave now, I'll lose my job!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Aleko pointed a trembling finger at Raul's nose and roared excitedly, "You brat, is a job all you care about? Are you even human? Do you know what a conscience is? Do you have any sense of shame?"

The scolding forced Raul to retreat repeatedly; clearly, he had not expected his explanation to provoke such fury from his uncle.

Within moments, several other unlucky souls were caught by the angry teachers and subjected to a barrage of verbal abuse.

James began to panic; he knew things were going south. On the surface, he was the highest-ranking officer on the scene, and those with connections had already made a clean getaway.

However, James had no authority to order a retreat, yet he could not simply watch his men lose all their morale under such verbal assault.

He gritted his teeth and said with a trembling voice, "Professor Orka, I am very sorry to disturb you! I am here under orders today; the police have obtained concrete evidence proving that the school is harboring suspects!"

"As long as you hand over the suspects, or allow us to enter and make the arrests ourselves, I guarantee that no one else will be implicated!"

"Please, don't be agitated. Let me be blunt with you! This matter is beyond my control. I don't want to do this either, but it is all the will of my superiors. I am truly powerless!"

Adolf Kohl, seeing that the timing was right, stepped forward and said in a measured tone, "So, you mean Mr. James is being forced into this?"

James couldn't help but nod, signaling that he was indeed being coerced.

Seeing James admit it, Kohl began to weave a lie in front of everyone: "Very well, since that is the case, we won't make things difficult for you. This is a protest letter drafted by our school's entire faculty and staff, consisting of three copies. Please take this one and deliver it to your superiors!"

James took the protest letter in a daze, only to see the cover written in flamboyant script: <Proposal from all members of the University of Bulgaria protesting the police's illegal encirclement of the school>.

James immediately realized the gravity of the situation. "Oh no! This is huge. The Chancellor of the University of Bulgaria is Archduke Ferdinand! This is a massive disaster! I don't know what will happen to the higher-ups, but we small pawns are definitely going to suffer!"

"Now, I have no choice but to force my way in. If I can catch the suspects and make the charges stick, the responsibility will be much lighter even if things blow up."

James decided to try one more time to minimize the damage, saying in a trembling voice, "Gentlemen, surely it hasn't come to that yet!"

"It has already come to that!" Chekhov, who had rushed over, said loudly.

Seeing Chekhov arrive, accompanied by the Palace Guard, everyone felt a wave of relief. Regardless of anything else, the police wouldn't dare storm the campus in front of the Minister of Education! Besides, there was a squad of soldiers here; even if the police wanted to turn hostile, they wouldn't dare act recklessly now!

The old scholars now found Chekhov very agreeable, thinking him "shrewd, capable, and willing to take action, arriving just in time to help!"

Many secretly thought that having a high-profile Chancellor made all the difference; the police could act with impunity outside, but they had to behave themselves once they reached the school.

Even if they found evidence, they had to follow the rules, and if they broke them, they could just report them to the boss!

Seeing Chekhov, James's headache worsened. Damn it, for a bunch of nobodies like us, you, a Minister, actually came out in person? Is it worth it? And you brought a squad of soldiers? What am I supposed to do now?

It was no longer a matter of the mission; the key was how to handle the aftermath. If things went wrong and he was detained by this high-ranking Minister, he would have to call the police station to come and collect him—that would be a disaster!

Chekhov didn't care about James's thoughts. A policeman, even the head of the Sofia police, was far below his rank. Although he held the least actual power among all the government ministers, his rank was not low at all!

Glancing around, Chekhov didn't waste words and said directly to James, "Listen well: take your men and get out immediately. From this moment on, the school is under our control. If you have any issues, you can appeal to the Archduke!"

Terrified, James nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, we are leaving at once!" With that, he blew his whistle, and they quickly led their men away.

Chekhov ignored the police's reaction and entered the campus directly with the others.

The hearts that had just settled began to sink again. Everyone knew that this matter had blown up, and there would be a reckoning later.

Once they reached the conference room, Chekhov's expression darkened, and he said calmly, "Call out everyone you have hidden! Don't give me excuses; regardless of the reason, you have seriously violated school regulations, and punishment is inevitable!"

"Whoever hid a person is responsible for watching them and must sign a guarantee agreement! We will investigate slowly; if they are indeed criminals, you will bear joint liability. Any questions?"

"No questions, we will sign immediately!" everyone replied in unison.

Hearing their response, Chekhov gave a bitter smile and said, "Very well. It is in your hands, Mr. Kohl. Please register them, and this company of soldiers will be under your temporary command to maintain stability at the school!"

"Furthermore, you are all educators. Take a moment to think calmly about whether today's actions align with the code of conduct for a teacher."

"The Archduke once said, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be too! I do not wish for you to pass this selfishness on to the next generation!"

"For those among you who directly violated school regulations, the penalties are as follows: 1. No promotions for life; 2. A permanent 50% salary deduction; 3. Submit a profound letter of self-criticism and read it publicly before all teachers and students!"

The crowd's expressions changed drastically; this punishment was a painful blow! In truth, Chekhov also felt it was too harsh, but he had been in a rush to save people and hadn't raised objections to Ferdinand at the time.

Intellectuals are proud, or at least they must appear so in front of others; faced with such painful penalties, they truly could not find a reason to object.

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