Chapter 57: The Mission
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 57: The Mission
Upon arriving at the Academy, the first thing I did was head straight to Professor Elicia’s office.
Step, step.
Her office was located in the same basement as the Special Class. Currently, only two rooms in the entire basement were in use: the Special Class classroom and the office used exclusively by Professor Elicia.
Knock, knock.
"Enter."
When I knocked, Professor Elicia’s curt voice drifted through the door.
"Professor, good afternoon!"
I opened the door and greeted her brightly as I walked in, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Professor Elicia looked up from the papers she was reviewing and stared at me.
"It is not a good afternoon, thanks to you. You were only late once before, so I trusted you wouldn't make it a habit. And yet, you only show your face now that it's lunchtime..."
Professor Elicia stopped mid-sentence. Her brow furrowed, and her eyes narrowed as she scanned me.
"Something happened."
"Yes. Quite a lot, actually."
I knew she would notice. There was no blood on me, nor did I smell of it, but such simple things couldn't deceive the eyes of a Dragon.
"What happened?"
"I encountered a Necromancer."
"What?"
The moment the word left my lips, mana erupted from Professor Elicia’s body. Ash-gray mana, the same color as her hair, flooded the room in an instant.
So this is the mana of a Dragon.
Beings who had commanded mana since the moment of their birth. To a Dragon, mana was no different from their own limbs. The sheer pressure affected the physical world; objects nearby began to drift into the air. However, the pressure didn't affect me at all.
"Whew."
With a single deep breath, Professor Elicia reigned in her power. I realized once again just how terrifyingly powerful she was. She could have snuffed out someone like Mordor without breaking a sweat. That was the reality of a Dragon—the reality of Professor Elicia.
"Tell me everything. In detail."
I recounted the day's events: how I had started searching for the child after she went missing this morning; how I discovered her parents had sold her to a suspicious group; how I tracked them to the sewers, infiltrated the hideout, and found a Necromancer within.
Finally, I told her how I killed the Necromancer with my own hands. I had known from the start that the group was a band of Necromancers, but I omitted that detail. I wasn't confident I could explain how I had that prior knowledge.
"You handled a Necromancer alone?"
Professor Elicia seemed more shocked by that fact than the existence of the Necromancer itself.
"I was with Senior Johanna..."
"But was it not you alone who dealt the killing blow?"
"Well, that’s true."
Professor Elicia stared at me intently, her gaze piercing.
"Hmm. No matter how talented you are at psychological warfare, you shouldn't be at a level where you can take down a Necromancer yet..." After a long silence, she let out a weary sigh. "Haa... Fine. What matters is that you came back alive. Don't bother with class today. Go back to the dormitory and rest."
"Professor Elicia, there's one more thing before I go."
"Make it brief unless it's urgent. My head is throbbing."
I told her that I wanted to take the child as my servant. I already held the necessary qualifications, having proven my worth by defeating Vermin. However, whether a student could actually take a child as a servant was a matter of administrative red tape.
"I will handle the paperwork. You just go and rest."
Professor Elicia was certainly reliable.
"Thank you! Have a great afternoon!"
I gave her a quick bow and turned to leave.
"Loki."
Professor Elicia’s blunt voice called out from behind me.
"You are my student. If you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation like today, contact me immediately and ask for help. I will come to your aid at any time."
The words were kind, even touching. Despite her gruff tone, they were undeniably warm.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Professor. But..."
"Is there something else?"
"I don't actually have a way to contact you."
"Ah."
* * *
After getting permission to skip class, I threw myself onto my bed in the dormitory. Lying on the soft mattress and staring blankly at the ceiling, the day's events flashed through my mind like a fever dream.
I’d had a nightmare last night because I couldn't talk to Yerika. Perhaps because it had been a while, the nightmare felt even more draining than usual. Then the child was sold, and upon learning she was in the hands of a Necromancer, my original personality had slipped out.
And then. And then...
“Haa... There’s no way you’d go back. Well, I suppose that’s the part of you I fell for.”
"......!"
“Even if I were to die while saving you, I wouldn't regret it for a second.”
"Ugh!"
“There are many people in this world who need your help. But I need you more than all those people combined.”
"Aaaargh!"
“So, if you ever try to risk your life for others, I will stop you with everything I have. I don't care if hundreds of people die as a result.”
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!"
What on earth was I thinking, saying that to Johanna? At this point, wasn't that basically a blatant confession?
Thump! Thump!
I thrashed around, kicking my blankets frantically in a fit of pure agony. I wanted to kick my past self into oblivion.
One might wonder why I was so embarrassed by my own words. Earlier, I hadn't been acting under the influence of my Clown trait; I had been my original self. Even then, I wouldn't normally say such cringeworthy things, but my suppressed emotions had exploded all at once. In other words, I had half-lost my mind.
Nothing I said to Johanna was a lie. But still...
"Who in the world says everything they're thinking out loud like that?!!!!!"
There wasn't a person on earth who just blurted out every raw thought that crossed their mind. As I continued to kick the blankets in a fit of embarrassment...
Twitch.
A sharp sense of déjà vu washed over me.
Shring.
I immediately pulled my sword from the Pocket Dimension, taking a stance and ready to swing at a moment's notice. Someone had just broken into my room.
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue. Neither my body nor my mana had fully recovered yet. Should I break the window and jump out to call for help?
As I was weighing my options, the intruder revealed himself. He was so dark it felt as if his body was shrouded in living shadows.
"His Majesty the Emperor summons you."
It was the man who kidnapped me every time I had to go to the Imperial Palace. I had always been knocked unconscious before, so this was the first time I had heard his voice or seen his form clearly, but I knew exactly who he was.
"Hello. I believe this is the first time we've seen each other's faces. I'm Loki!"
"..................."
I greeted him first, but he remained silent. After agonizing for a moment over what to say next, I sighed and opened my mouth.
"Please... just knock me out gently this time."
* * *
To get straight to the point, Loki was not knocked out. That didn't mean he got to travel comfortably in a carriage, though; he arrived at the Imperial Palace piggybacked on the man who had come to fetch him.
"Your Majesty, it has been a while. How have you been?" Loki asked, bowing his head to the Emperor. There probably wasn't another soul in the empire who met the sovereign this frequently.
"I liked it better when I was teaching you. Back then, I could leave the work to the Prime Minister and rest."
"The Prime Minister would be very sad to hear that. Not that it has anything to do with me, of course."
The Emperor tapped his desk, his expression shifting.
"Loki, what happened today?"
The weight of his words was entirely different from when he was joking about the Prime Minister. Loki felt as if the Emperor’s words were being branded into his brain. It was the Domination trait unique to the Imperial bloodline, something he had experienced a few times before.
"Your Majesty, I'll tell you everything, so could you please stop doing that? I'm quite tired after today's festivities."
The Emperor’s lips curled into a faint smile as he watched Loki speak so nonchalantly.
He’s grown much stronger.
The boy had become strong enough to make one wonder if he had been hiding his power when they first met. The level of Domination the Emperor was using now was the same as their first meeting. Back then, Loki had trembled, but now he seemed completely unfazed.
Come to think of it, Shadow said Loki detected him.
If he could sense Shadow, whose specialties were infiltration and stealth, his growth was significant. Normally, the Emperor would have wanted to test Loki further by increasing the pressure, but based on the reports he had received, there was no time for games.
"It hasn't been that long, but it seems Your Majesty has already caught wind of it," Loki said.
He recounted the events of the morning—how he had pursued a suspicious group while looking for the child and found a Necromancer.
"What did you do with the Necromancer's corpse?"
While Elicia had been amazed that Loki killed a Necromancer alone, the Emperor was more concerned with the tactical situation.
"I burned it all, just in case."
"I see. Well done. I shall reward you later."
"Your Majesty, that Necromancer spoke as if there were others besides himself."
The Emperor’s brow furrowed. "Continue."
Loki relayed information about Death Heaven to the Emperor, being careful not to overshare. Giving too much information would seem suspicious.
"I see." The Emperor nodded as he listened.
The more he saw of the boy, the more he liked him. Killing a Necromancer alone at that age, and remaining calm enough to extract information in that situation—he couldn't be viewed as a mere student. At this level, it wouldn't be strange for him to become a guard right this instant.
However, he was to be his daughter's guard knight. He couldn't decide hastily.
I'll have to confirm his worth during the upcoming hunting competition.