Chapter 159: The Godfather
"Very well then. I shall ensure that any and all issues regarding Miss Arit are well taken care of as well. Her student life will not be compromised in any way."
"Thank you, headmaster."
Mark thanked the headmaster gratefully, but the headmaster just smiled and waved it away.
"Oh no, it is I that should be thanking you. I fear that this much will not be enough to thank you for all that you\'ve done for this city. But in my own little way, I hope I have made your life easier in some way. Now… would you please sign this?"
The headmaster brought out a black book that looked like a diary from inside his drawer and Mark raised a brow in surprise as he glanced at the empty page and the pen that was being handed to him by the headmaster. What the hell?
The headmaster cleared his throat, and Mark could see a little bit of embarrassment break through the headmaster\'s stoic mask as the headmaster avoided Mark\'s eyes while speaking.
"It is for my daughter. Once she learned that you attended this school, she made me swear to get your signature the moment you returned to school. I hope you don\'t mind."
The headmaster\'s granddaughter gave some things to her grandfather the day after Mark fought the calamity class and she called him every single day to ask him if Mark had signed yet or not. The headmaster felt a little embarrassed to be asking for Mark\'s signature like this, but he couldn\'t ignore his grandaughter\'s demands like this! He had to try!
Mark just sighed as he grabbed the pen. This was his life now, so he better get used to it.
"Where… here? Alright."
...
Mark left the headmaster\'s office after he was done signing his autograph on the diary. He also signed on a shirt as well as a black bra, but Mark just put all that out of his mind as he closed the door behind him while getting his phone out to make a call. All of Mark\'s school books were in Arit\'s bag, so he only had his AirPods and phone with him.
Ring! Ring!
[Hello, Master Mark. It\'s been too long.]
Mark smiled as he heard the voice of the aged man through his AirPods. Mark turned to the side to look at the long corridor that would lead him to a secluded area away from the classroom where he could hide for the rest of the school day, and he sighed as he turned around to start going to class. Arit would kill him if he didn\'t at least show up to class.
"Hello, Hugo. How are you?"
[Mark… Did I not tell you to call me godfather?]
Mark chuckled.
"Right, right. That\'s true. Apologies, Godfather."
[Good. Now, how have you been? And to what do I owe the pleasure of this call? Has there been a situation?]
Mark shrugged as he passed beside a class that was in the middle of a test. One of the students in the class caught a glimpse of him and screamed in joy as she bolted out of her seat, but the teacher quickly shut her up and told her that he would deduct marks if she didn\'t sit down immediately!
Mark continued talking calmly as he heard the girl groan tiredly and sit back down.
"Not really, I just wanted to know how you were doing. I heard that you came to my school. From the way the headmaster has been talking to me, I can tell you must\'ve thrown quite a lot of money at him to get him on my side. How much did you set us back?"
Hugo laughed on the other end of the call when he heard Mark talking about the money they spent. Was Mark really worried about such a small amount?
-exclusive
[You are very much like your father, do you know that? Just like you, he would also scrutinize every expense made by the company to make sure there are no negative effects. But you do not need to worry. The money that was spent was from my personal funds. I did not take it out of the company\'s accounting.
This was a personal situation after all, so it is only fair that your godfather handles it personally.]
Mark smiled at Hugo\'s fatherly tone.
"Alright, thank you, Hugo."
[Godfather…]
"Yes, godfather. Thank you."
Hugo went silent on the other end of the phone for a moment before speaking up again.
[You will be turning eighteen soon, won\'t you? Do you not think it is time to introduce yourself to the rest of the company board? Most of them still believe you are never coming back, and there has been talk of appointing a new CEO if you do not take the reins.]
"Anyone that tries to take my company will disappear. Tell them that. I\'ll come in when I have time. You know how busy things are now."
[Right, of course. I apologize for my oversight. I watched your… battle on the news the other day. You were quite magnificent. Your father would be proud of what you have become. But please, try to be careful out there.
You are the last of the Vanitas name, so you must take care of yourself.]
"Yes, Hugo. Please continue taking care of things over there for now. I\'ll be with you soon, I promise. Thank you. Goodbye."
[…Goodbye, son.]
Click!
Mark turned off the phone once he was done talking to Hector, and he finally reached his classroom. Mark also wanted to call Pat to talk about the search for the superhuman killer, but he decided that he would take care of that later.
Ka-Cha!
"…And during the reconnaissance era, there was a great movement that involved many of the world\'s artists. Can you all focus -!"
The homeroom teacher, Linda, was in the middle of a class when she heard someone walk into the room. She wanted to just ignore the person who came in at first so that she would not lose her flow, but when she noticed that the students in the class had all turned away from her and were staring at the person who walked in with wide eyes, she couldn\'t help but turn around as well.
"Holy shit!"
Linda cursed loudly as she saw Mark at the door, and she almost dropped her book from her hands. She scrambled to grab it and her feet slammed against the edge of the table! Linda was about to fall over, but she felt someone grab her hand before she could fall and stabilize her easily! Linda looked up and saw that Mark was staring at her with a raised brow as he held her hand calmly!
Her entire head started to heat up as she felt a tingling sensation in her entire body from her hand right down to her toes! GHOST was touching her!!