Beast Taming: Hitman's Retired Life With Forbidden Beasts

The girl from his memories was as beautiful and indifferent as she looked in person.

'Ning Yuxue…'

Victor only took a glance at her before moving on. He found an empty seat on the side and decided to wait until the professor arrived.

When the other students saw him, they seemed to be surprised by his presence.

"Why is he here? Isn't he scared…?"

"Is he crazy? Did he forget about Maxwell's declaration against him?"

"Tsk, we're going to have a good show later… since Ning Yuxue is here, Maxwell is certain to be here later as well…"

Their voices were barely concealed, as if they wanted him to hear them. Some of them were even goading about his misfortune.

Somehow in both lives, Victor found himself extremely hated by his colleagues. He didn't really care, as long as they don't cross the line with him.

When the students didn't get any reaction out of him, they got bored and left him alone. But their words did reach a certain girl.

Ning Yuxue glanced at Victor from the other side of the field. She looked at him deeply before turning her gaze away.

After a while, a group of students entered.

One of the students was a handsome man with short brown hair. He had a certain noble air around him, and he attracted everyone with his kind smile.

He seemed to amass a following — as the other students who entered alongside him followed him in a subdued manner.

That was none other than Maxwell Welt.

A student whistled, excited for the show. The others were waiting for Maxwell to notice Victor as well.

They didn't need to wait for long.

One of his followers saw Victor from the corner and couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

"Lord Maxwell, that person…"

He immediately went to tell the brown-haired man. Maxwell's expression changed for a split moment before reverting back to his usual gentle expression.

"Interesting."

He gazed at Victor, the smile on his face becoming wider.

'What is this fool looking at?'

Victor opened his eyes lazily, glancing at the brown-haired man. He only gave a dismissive glance before turning his gaze to the door, narrowing his eyes.

Maxwell Welt couldn't help but be stunned. He gazed at Victor deeply, feeling as if the man had changed overnight.

Just before, the country boy wouldn't dare to meet his eyes…

Woosh!

At this moment, the air in the field suddenly turned chilly. Frost seemed to form right under the door.

An elegant bird with crystal-like feathers suddenly flew to the field, catching everyone off guard.

It was half as tall as a human being, with sparkling blue wings that gave a frosty glow.

As though a messenger of frost, the bird circled around the field in a flash and made the place a land of cold.

"Come back!"

A beautiful, magnetic voice suddenly pulled everyone's attention, including the bird's.

The crystal white bird immediately stopped in its tracks, a mischievous smile appearing on its face.

Then, a beautiful mature woman wearing a long brown coat entered through the door.

"I told you not to…"

The woman shook her head, exasperated. The bird flew back to her and landed on her shoulder.

She patted the bird's head calmly.

"Return."

The elegant bird vanished.

Woosh!

The woman calmly walked to the middle of the field. She had long white hair and a face that even goddesses would envy.

The woman was their professor—Anastasia Romanov.

"Gather in the middle. I have an important announcement to make."

Anastasia didn't want to waste any more time and went straight to the point.

One by one, the students obediently gathered in the middle of the field…

Victor stood up as well and started walking. Others were surprised by his calmness, they thought he'd be too scared to move due to Maxwell's presence.

While he was on his way, one of Maxwell's "dogs" suddenly made his way in his direction and started barking in his path.

"Pipsqueak, have you forgotten what Lord Maxwell told you? Hahaha, it seems you're itching for a beating…"

As though he didn't hear anything, Victor simply walked ahead. That seemed to have angered the other party, with them turning around to block his path.

"You!"

For once, Victor saw the appearance of the dog. For a barking dog, the person looked surprisingly human.

"Is there a problem?"

"Ha.."

The student was about to laugh, but when he saw Victor's cold eyes, he felt a chill surge up his spine.

He was all too familiar with such a gaze.

Those soulless, callous eyes that treat him as if he wasn't human, but rather a bug that could be easily stepped on.

'… L-lord Maxwell?!'

The gaze of someone who stood in a different world entirely. He hurriedly rubbed his eyes to confirm he wasn't imagining things.

But to his disbelief…

This oppressive feeling… it came from Victor himself!

The student gulped down his throat, in disbelief. Victor continued to stare down at him emotionlessly.

His nerves tightened, feeling as if one mistake could cost him his life.

It felt as if an invisible hand was wrapping around his throat, tightening its hold every passing second.

Suddenly, the man in front of him was no longer the country boy they used to bully.

Rather…

Victor raised his hand, causing the student's heart to skip. He put his hand over the student's shoulder.

Run…!

He reflexively took a step back.

"I'll go on ahead."

The student froze, his face as pale as a white sheet of paper.

The others were surprised to see one of Maxwell's followers just giving up like that. However, even the person himself was dumbfounded by what happened.

"…"

[... You have thick killing intent. It can even manifest and affect others in reality… you're not as weak as you look.]

Victor raised his brows and responded to his mind.

"You're just imagining things."

Mirage couldn't even be bothered to reply. If his master didn't want to talk about it, then that was fine.

Once he reached the gathering point, Anastasia glanced at him, seemingly surprised to see him attend her class.

Victor nodded at her in greeting.

Anastasia narrowed her eyes and ignored him.

She had a certain level of familiarity with this student of hers, a mediocre boy who lucked himself to a scholarship by saving an important board member of the academy.

However, after entering the academy, he showed disappointing and mediocre results unbefitting his scholarship.

She seemed to have even heard that he picked a fight with someone else as well, and suffered terribly from the conflict.

'That should be why he wasn't present last time.'

To be frank, she disliked students like him. Those who rely on external things like luck and can't do anything without it.

She shook her head and waited for everyone to gather around before starting.

Victor raised his brows, sensing the professor's dislike towards him. He was a little surprised but didn't think much of it.

He was quite the unpopular guy after all.

After a while, everyone finally gathered. Anastasia snapped her fingers, gathering everyone's attention to herself.

"On Friday, two days from now, the Annual Beast Colosseum will open for everyone to choose their magical beasts. A student must have at least One Core cultivation to enter, and a lot of you are still in the Great Origin realm."

"For today, I won't be discussing any lessons. I'll be personally assisting those who still haven't awakened their cores. For those who have already awakened their cores, you may practice in the field, but no one can leave until class is over."

"Any questions?"

Anastasia looked at everyone in the room. Her eyes caught Victor raising his hand from the corner.