Butterfly Effect (2)
Who would've thought there'd be such a backwater spot inside the academy.
The path to the Engineering Department was exceptionally treacherous. I was definitely following the map, but thick bushes blocked every direction, making it hard to even gauge if I was on track. But for someone like me, who'd rolled around as an inquisitor for the Holy Office, tracking traces like this was child's play. I leisurely followed the crushed grass blades and the scattered footprints etched into the dirt.
After scaling a steep hill, I finally arrived at the Engineering Department building, which resembled a fortress. Cold steel outer walls, massive yet impeccably clean structure.
Well then. That guy's supposed to be inside here...
As I approached the entrance, a sharp, agonized scream—distinctly feminine—echoed from within. Intrigued, I stepped inside, and the first thing that filled my vision was an unexpected flower wreath.
Welcome, New Students. Cadet Flint, Cadet Sion. -Engineering Department All-
A hollow laugh escaped me. What a joke.
That guy got assigned to the Divinity Department and actually switched his affiliation to Engineering? But his name was definitely on my class roster. A namesake? Or some shallow trick? Either way, I'd find out soon enough.
Using the noise—more like wailing than a scream—as my guide, I moved forward.
"Deadbeat! You scammer! Waaaaaah!!"
"Ahahaha! If I'd known it'd be like this, I should've skipped today too."
The entrance was a sight to behold. A female student collapsed on the floor, her hair a tangled mess, sobbing her heart out. Beside her, a male student was gleefully wiping her tears with tissue paper.
Even as I approached right up to them, neither noticed my presence. It was disarmingly vulnerable—something my senses, honed from crossing realms as an inquisitor, could scarcely comprehend.
I suppressed my holy power to a low output and deliberately stomped my shoe heel on the floor, making a harsh noise. Only then did the male student turn his head and spot me.
"Huh? Who're you?"
Squinting with unreadable intent. An ordinary-looking guy tossed a bold question my way. He didn't seem to recognize me as a cardinal from my robes, so probably some commoner far removed from noble pedigree.
His ignorant nerve in holding his head high before the empire's pinnacle cleric was, oddly enough, refreshing.
"Hello. Is there a cadet named Flint in this department?"
At my question, the female student roughly tidied her disheveled hair and answered. Tear stains still glistened around her eyes.
"F-Flint Cadet? Y-Yes... he's in our department for now, but if I may ask, who might you be...?"
"My apologies. I'm Professor Lucius from the Divinity Department. I came to check if one of our department's cadets wasn't wandering in the wrong place."
Her eyes widened round at my introduction. She exchanged a glance with the squinting guy beside her, then nodded as if it made sense.
"Ahh... S-So you're the professor from the department our Flint Cadet is taking as a mi.nor."
Her words nearly shattered my maintained smile.
"......What did you just say? Minor?"
Even as my voice dropped a tone, she obliviously continued.
"Yes! Flint Cadet applied for Engineering as his ma.jor. The other department's probably just a hobby, right?"
A deep furrow creased my brow. The empire's state religion, pinnacle of all scholarship—Divinity—demoted to a mere 'minor' in this junk-filled Engineering dump.
Ignoring my chilling expression, she continued brightly.
"Hehe. Our Flint Cadet submitted a double-major application last time. Ma.jor is obviously En.gi.nee. ring, of course... I didn't check the minor, but it was Divinity, huh?"
Subtly emphasizing Engineering as major. But with my benevolent nature, I graciously endured.
Her next question scraped the bottom of my patience, though.
"But Lucius? Sounds familiar... Are you famous or something?"
Too absurd for even a scoff, that's when the squinting guy intercepted for me.
"The only famous Lucius is the Blood Cardinal, right?"
"Pfft, Sion. Why would a cardinal bother being a professor? That's the 'Mad Dog' of the Holy Office from the rumors. No way someone that terrifying teaches at the academy. Ridiculous."
'Mad Dog? How could I teach? ...Oh, Lord.
Heat surged to my head. Impulse welled to smash my holy tome into that oblivious woman's skull. Thankfully, divine mercy stayed my hand—but not before my grip whitened every knuckle.
I'm not petty enough to react to every cadet's nonsense. ...Really.
But clearing misunderstandings benefits everyone.
"That's me. The Mad Dog."
My silky voice flowed through the lab's cold air.
A split-second silence. Their eyes fluttered wildly before locking on my face. Pale gold hair. Late twenties male. Always carrying a holy tome. Realizing the rumored Blood Cardinal stood before them didn't take long.
Their knees knocked pathetically. Fascinating how fear alone could produce such noise from human bodies.
"S-S-So-Sor-Sorryyyy......"
The woman couldn't string words together, brain language center fried.
"Forgive us for failing to recognize Your Eminence the Cardinal! Kill us!!!"
The guy flattened prone, banging his forehead on the floor. Dull thuds echoed, kicking up dust each time.
I watched the chaos with a benevolent smile, lightly adjusting my robes.
"It's fine. Mercy is a cleric's duty, no? Let's leave this trifling misunderstanding. More importantly, where can I find Professor Pistia, your department head?"
At my question, the groveling guy's motion halted. The tear-snot-hair-mess of a woman looked up at me like livestock to the slaughterhouse.
"I-I-I... Th-that's me?"
"......"
Silence lingered. The woman who'd just ranted 'Mad Dog' and 'how could he teach' in my face—the empire's top Engineering genius and department head? Oh, Lord. Testing my patience today?
I slowly addressed the 'being claiming department head' gazing up with trembling eyes. My voice was excessively calm and elegant, even to me.
"......I see. So you're the renowned Professor Pistia. Even bolder than the rumors."
"H-Hiiik! S-Sorryyyy......!"
"No need for apologies. I came here personally for one reason. To retrieve Cadet Flint, who belongs to my department. He's on my roster—my student."
At my stern proclamation, Pistia flinched and looked up. Her reaction was odd: terror mixed with baffled incomprehension.
"Wh-What do you mean...?"
"Didn't you hear? Hand over Cadet Flint. Now."
"B-But... Flint Cadet skipped today? I thought for sure he'd gone to his minor class?"
"......What?"
The air froze subzero. I'd come certain he'd ditched Divinity for Engineering tinkering. She, thinking he'd gone to Divinity, had waited in vain and despaired.
"I-I guess Divinity isn't in session now? He has to attend his other department classes..."
Pistia's shrinking voice pierced my ears sharply. My mind raced. Absent from my roster. Missing from Engineering. So where the hell was he?
Flint's face surfaced—smirking excuses to both sides, vanishing. Killing his presence beyond even my detection, evading an inquisitor's pursuit, evaporating somewhere in the academy. A commoner cadet, no less.
"......Ahaha."
A involuntary chuckle escaped. The guy on the floor and Pistia jolted at the sound, shrinking back. But my eyes were no longer on them.
Hide-and-seek against an inquisitor.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
Strength surged into my tome-gripping palm. The leather cover twisted with a sickening creak. Imagining that insolent punk mocking me somewhere outside, fiddling with scrap—my head boiled.
The price for shredding my pride wouldn't be light.
I slowly turned, eyeing the flattened guy and dazed Pistia alternately.
"Besides this fortress, where else could he hide? There must be rat holes to evade an inquisitor's eyes."
"I-I don't know..."
She slyly averted her gaze downward. Faint golden holy light emanated from my tome.
"Professor Pistia. My patience isn't that deep."
Holy pressure crushed the lab; tools on shelves rattled in screams.
"H-Hiiik!!"
Sensing mortal threat, she spilled.
"Th-There! Maybe the dorms...! Or Gos Merchant Group! He said something about making new stuff at their capital outskirts workshop! That's all I know. Please, spare my life..!!"
Pistia's scream-laced confession burst forth. I smiled satisfied, closing the tome. Pressure vanished; she collapsed like a puppet without strings.
"Guide me. As his mentor, shouldn't we curb his waywardness? Let's go save that insolent pup—er, lost lamb—together."
Pistia shuddered violently.
"M-Me too? Now...?"
"Want me to go alone? Or shall we finish that 'Mad Dog' chat from earlier?"
At my offer, she rose with a death-row expression. Watching her trembling legs lead ahead, I slowly licked my lips.
Flint. Wherever you are, with whomever, doing whatever—it doesn't matter. I've tracked rat-like heretics my whole life, found them, judged them. The cost of challenging me to hide-and-seek won't be light.