The Warm Principal
The academy principal felt warm. Like a cozy blanket that could heal every wound, the gentle comfort wrapped around me as I turned my head slightly.
“Grrraaawr...”
“Mmmnya...”
“Kuuu...”
The members of teams three and four were lying comfortably in their beds, fast asleep. Their faces showed no signs of discomfort, as if they had felt exactly what I felt. The atmosphere had relaxed so completely that it was hard to believe they had been fighting each other just a few hours earlier.
“You should get a little more sleep too.”
“Ah, Nurse.”
“It’s not Nurse. It’s Healer.”
The man who entered through the infirmary door wore a doctor’s coat and had a lollipop in his mouth. Dark circles hung heavily beneath his eyes, his face was utterly expressionless, and his speech was as mechanical as a machine. This man was the owner of the infirmary and the professor in charge of treating all the students—Mick Chris. Though his appearance invited plenty of misunderstandings, he was the man who worried about the students more than anyone else. I had heard that the reason for those heavy dark circles was because he stayed awake, never leaving his post in case something happened to us.
“Shouldn’t you get some sleep too, sir? You look exhausted.”
“I’ll handle myself, so don’t worry. If it’s uncomfortable having me here while you sleep, I can step out.”
After confirming that the other students were fine, he considered my comfort and left the infirmary without another word.
“That professor is still as stiff as ever.”
“You were awake?”
“I woke up before you did.”
Mir was already lying on her side, chin propped on her hand, watching me. For some reason she had bandages wrapped around her head. I was sure she hadn’t been injured there. Maybe she got hurt on the way to find me and hid it?
“How’s your body?”
“You know how good the healer is~ I could jump out of bed right now and be fine.”
Even as she said that, Mir buried her face in her pillow and asked, “Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“You got questioned by that weird woman too, right?”
“I did.”
“...What did she ask you?”
At those words I turned my head slightly. After all, there were two other people in this room who had been asked questions.
The problem was that those two still hadn’t gotten over what happened back then. Well, it made sense. I was the only one who had made a proper choice; the other three hadn’t been able to decide.
“She told me to pick while telling me secrets I wanted to know.”
“Same for you, huh.”
I let out a small sigh.
“Did you get to hear the answer to your question?”
“Luckily, yes.”
“So? Were you satisfied?”
“Extremely.”
Because she had told me about the existence and secrets of the Heavenly Demon Cult. If I went to the imperial palace with Alkest, it might be a little dangerous, but I planned to confirm the cult’s connection.
“Aaaah! I’m so jealous.”
“Looks like you couldn’t decide.”
“I seriously couldn’t choose, okay? They only gave me thirty seconds!”
She was right. Thirty seconds really was too short. The choices were so important and intriguing that it made them impossible to pick easily. I could understand Mir’s dilemma.
Yeah. Cheonma and Hoya were probably in the same boat as Mir. And since they couldn’t choose and ended up with no answers at all, they were even more depressed. It was like they could have taken one but lost both instead.
“You should have just picked anything.”
“If you can’t make a clear decision, the result would’ve been the same anyway.”
“You think? Aaaah! No matter how I think about it, I really couldn’t have chosen.”
What kind of questions could make her react like this? One of them was probably about her dream. At the very least, one of the biggest things she wanted to know was the story of the players that contained fragments of the future seen through dreams.
“By the way, why did the gate suddenly change?”
“Who knows.”
It was the work of those Chaos bastards, but I played dumb for now. At least for the moment, it wouldn’t do Mir any good to know about their existence. Right now it was better for her to focus on getting stronger. I’d handle the minor details related to Chaos myself.
“So just keep doing what you’re doing.”
“What?”
“I mean~ don’t worry about that weird question and just keep going like you have been.”
“You’re only saying that because you got what you wanted.”
“Looks like both of you are doing fine.”
“Professor!”
The second professor to enter the infirmary after Mick Chris left was our homeroom teacher, Garein. He wore his usual stern expression, but his eyes were filled with worry for us.
“How are the others doing?”
“He said they’ll be fine if they rest well.”
“He also said there’d be no problem moving starting tomorrow.”
Garein nodded at the answer, sat down in a nearby chair, and glanced around. It was as if he were checking whether anyone was eavesdropping.
“Would it be all right if I asked you two about this gate?”
“Yes.”
“We’re fine with it.”
If any students had gained trauma from the place, they would have been extremely anxious at the question, but none of our team had suffered that severe a mental shock. Besides, the ones answering Garein’s questions were Mir and me. As the leaders of teams three and four and the ones who carried the most weight in clearing the gate, it made sense that he would want information from us.
“First, tell me about the gate’s characteristics.”
Garein gathered detailed information about the gate from us. The choices split into two paths—one with demonic beasts and one without, a unique concept. The five branching roads where we fought giant demonic beasts that possessed the traits of the ones we had already defeated. And finally, the gate’s owner who forced us to make a choice through questions.
After listening to the various stories and recording them, Garein suddenly placed his rough hand on both of our heads.
“You both did an excellent job.”
He stroked our hair with surprising care. The gentleness of the action let me guess just how much he cherished us.
“Professor, what will happen with the gate training now?”
“The professors will take the lead in examining the gate for any further abnormalities. Until the principal gives permission, the gate will remain sealed for the time being.”
“But then the kids behind us won’t get to experience the gate, right?”
“I have something in mind for that part, so don’t worry.”
Right. After the gate rank increase event, they would proceed with—
“Soon we’ll be conducting a joint gate exploration between classes.”
“A joint gate exploration?”
“That’s right. This time, professors will accompany the students to ensure greater safety even if an accident occurs. For your information, our class will be moving together with Class C, so keep that in mind.”
At Cheonma and Karne’s words, I quietly nodded. Since it was a joint gate exploration, our class would indeed move together with Class C. This would be a good opportunity to talk with Karne and Renia Arbaana inside her. ‘Thinking about the Arbaana family’s story, there are quite a few things that bother me.’ At the very least, the first head of the family would know a lot.
“Then I’ll be going now. You two rest well.”
“Yes! Goodbye!”
“See you tomorrow.”
After Garein left the infirmary, a short silence fell over the room. Then Mir glanced at me, lowered her voice so the others couldn’t hear, and asked.
“Hey, remember back then?”
“Back when?”
“That eight-armed guy we fought at the end.”
Was she talking about Nat? But why suddenly…
“All the abilities his arms used—except for one—had the characteristics of the demonic beasts we had defeated, right?”
I swallowed hard. I could guess what question she was about to ask. She was probably trying to press me for information about Halpas. After all, I was the only one who had faced him directly.
“But that last arm we didn’t see. When I destroyed it, a really strange power stayed in my body.”
“Ah, right. Your face was completely twisted at the time.”
“Just thinking about it makes me want to swear. Wow, I’ve never had such a horrible experience in my life.”
It was power related to the Goddess—power belonging to a demon, and one of the 72 demons that ruled the demon world at that. No wonder she was reacting so strongly.
“The kind of reaction I have is related to demons, you know?”
I knew. It was exactly that reaction I had used to catch the Chaos bastards.
“Tell me honestly. You…”
“…a demon…”
Knock. Knock.
Mir’s lips snapped shut automatically at the sound of knocking. When she had given information to Garein earlier, she hadn’t mentioned anything about demons. It seemed she had been considerate of me. If it was related to demons, even if you had subjugated one, you still had to go through complicated procedures to confirm you hadn’t been corrupted or influenced by their power.
‘But just now… I didn’t sense any presence at all?’
“Mm! You can continue what you were saying!”
There wasn’t even the sound of the door opening. While approaching this closely, I hadn’t felt the slightest presence or sense of discomfort. As if it had been here the whole time, it casually poked its face between us and lifted the corners of its mouth.
“P-Principal.”
“Don’t mind me and keep talking!”
Her eyes flashed.
“The demon… what about it?”