At Cyno's command, Afshin and Sahar were dismissed on the spot for plagiarizing and stealing others' academic work, and handed over to the Matra for questioning in accordance with the law.
As the guards arrested Sahar and led him away, there was no remorse in the look he gave Setaria. Instead, he stared fixedly at her with hatred, while his gaze toward Afshin held mostly exasperation at his failure to live up to expectations.
Sahar's dream of becoming a Sage shattered then and there. Now, he could forget even retiring as a Havak. He would probably have to spend his old age in a Matra prison. Even if he managed to get out, he could only become an ordinary citizen, no longer a respected scholar.
But the matter did not end there. Cyno also publicly informed Lesser Lord Kusanali that, in response to this incident, he intended to conduct a systematic screening of the Akademiya's thesis repository to see whether similar incidents existed. He also welcomed academics or scholars with similar experiences to report them to the Matra, and would take up every case.
Cyno's request received the approval of both Lesser Lord Kusanali and Alhaitham. With the god and the Acting Great Sage both giving their assent, it was certain to go ahead.
Cyno's first major initiative upon taking office targeted the plagiarism of academic papers. This immediately made certain scholars present restless, but with justice on his side, they could find no grounds to object.
Arguing now would only give Cyno the impression that they were protesting too much. If they attracted the attention of someone as unbending as Cyno because of it, they would certainly suffer for it later.
*It looks like I'll have to find a chance to properly compensate those victimized students. I could even