Lunchtime Joy and Midnight Intruders
Lur was rediscovering a feeling she had long forgotten. How joyful it was to share a meal with a friend. To eat together, chat, and exchange everyday banter. How happy those moments truly were. She realized it all over again.
“Today’s cafeteria slop is seriously gross. Where the hell does all the government money go? The higher-ups must be pocketing it.”
“Hahaha, probably.”
Liz scrunched up her face like she’d bitten into a raw lemon, the sour salad dressing twisting her features.
“Ugh, bleh.”
“I think it’s fine. Veggies are good for you, anyway.”
“I’d rather eat tasty stuff even if it means I don’t live long.”
When Liz pushed her salad aside, Lur grabbed the fork and devoured it with gusto.
“You sure can pack it away.”
“Mm... it’s yummy...”
As Lur stuffed the salad in, her cheeks ballooned out like a hamster’s.
The class president watched the sight fondly, then started poking those puffed cheeks with her fingers.
“Ugh...! Wh-what are you doing...?”
“You’re cute.”
“D-don’t say that.”
“Don’t wanna?”
“It’s not that I hate it... it’s just embarrassing...”
“Hehe, our Lur’s so cute. Like a baby bunny.”
Liz pulled Lur into a hug and stroked her hair.
“Hungry? Wanna hit the vending area?”
“Ah, I figured it out. The reason our cafeteria food sucks? It’s gotta be to boost vending sales!”
“I-is that so...?”
“Cafeteria’s free anyway. Vending’s where we shell out our own cash.”
“Y-yeah...?”
Lur’s face lit up like she’d had an epiphany too.
“Ah!”
“Fill the cafeteria with cheap crap for profit. Kids who hate it flock to vending—double dip!”
“That... actually makes sense...!”
These were mundane parts of life she’d never once questioned, backed by perfectly logical points she could even use as evidence. Lur felt it deep down: As expected, class president isn’t just anyone.
It was probably just today’s food being extra bad, but it felt like she’d peeked into the Academy’s dark underbelly—like she was a detective or something.
“Still... vending for snacks?”
“What choice do we have? I’m starving.”
“Let’s grab salad from vending.”
“Are you actually a rabbit?”
The two headed to the vending area, chatting happily. But there were eyes watching them with clear displeasure.
“Why’s the president hanging out with trash-rank?”
“President just studies quietly every day anyway. Like attracts like.”
“Ranks still don’t match, though.”
Even so, the pair paid zero attention to the atmosphere around them. Melle just watched from afar.
Her friends couldn’t figure it out—why was Melle, who always went out of her way to torment Lur, suddenly holding back? Even stopping them from picking on her?
“Your Wood Golem died, right?”
“It’s alive now, so it’s fine.”
“Good. Then later, Lur...”
“No.”
“...”
It had been like this for days.
She’d gone to a curse healer to lift it, but all they said was, Where the hell did you pick up a curse like this? No dice.
Like a chronic condition she’d have to live with forever? She’d even thought, Might as well die. Then suddenly, the nightmares vanished.
She still didn’t know if bullying would bring the pain back now that she’d been controlling herself and her friends lately. But...
What if the moment she touched Lur again, that deer-skull curse flared up? She dreaded it.
That nightmare of being torn apart alive by a starving deer herd. The pain in the dream had felt so real. She never wanted to feel it again.
“Don’t touch Lur.”
With that, Melle retreated to her room.
“Haa... so damn frustrating.”
She hadn’t even meant to kill Lur that day. Just in a bad mood, wanted to vent a little. Then that trash-rank’s summon popped up out of nowhere, slaughtered her summon, and...
...that humiliating... disgrace... Urgh...!
Reliving the memory made shame explode in her chest, her head pounding like it might burst. She buried her face in the pillow and passed out.
...
How much time passed?
She hadn’t even had a nightmare, but she jolted awake at 2 a.m. The problem was something far worse than any nightmare—reality unfolding right before her eyes.
One man, one woman, and one masked figure whose gender was impossible to tell. Three intruders in her room.
They wore black hoodies emblazoned with a hexagram.
She knew instantly. The Abyss Church—that cult worshiping some weird demon realm nonsense. These were definitely their followers.
“P-please... spare me...!”
“Shh. Get noisy, and it’ll hurt.”
The man drew a knife and pressed it to her throat.
“My name’s Mantus. Beautiful baptismal name given by the Cerberus we serve.”
“...”
“Oh, no interest? Sorry about that. Kikikikik! But you still gotta look, right?”
Melle knew right away. This Mantus guy was out of his mind.
“Answer my questions. Actually, no— just nod.”
“U-um...”
“No, I said no talking. Open that mouth one more time, and I’ll cut out your tongue and sew it to your leg.”
“...!”
“Okay, recently—you went to a curse shaman begging to lift a curse, right?”
Melle froze. Mantus started to slice her throat, then realized something.
“Ah, sorry. Can’t nod like this or the blade cuts. Kikikikik! My bad, my bad. I’m on meds lately, but I was so busy today I forgot...”
“Hurry it up, Mantus.”
“Got it, got it, Kerine.”
Apparently fed up with his antics, the woman beside him rubbed her temple and sighed deeply. The masked figure shook their head too.
Mantus pulled the knife back slightly from her throat.
“Okay, asking again. You begged the curse shaman to lift it? Or maybe disguised as a doctor.”
Terrified of the death lurking unknown when it might strike, Melle nodded frantically, drenched in cold sweat.
“Good. Who gave you that curse?”
“No, Mantus—ask yes-or-no questions. This is painful. I’ll do it.”
“No way. No way. I’m the leader, I handle it.”
“Haa...”
Mantus grinned suddenly, sliced a strip from his clothes with the knife, and crammed the long cloth into Melle’s mouth.
“See? I’m a genius. Now she can’t scream even if she wants.”
Mantus suddenly stabbed her arm with the knife. Blood began soaking the bed red.
“Mmmph! Mmmph...!”
Overwhelmed by the searing pain from her arm, Melle thrashed wildly—but no sound escaped the room.
“Alright, let’s speed this up. That curse—did you get it from a summon?”
Melle stared at her bleeding arm. Crushing terror hit her; her breathing grew ragged. With her mouth stuffed, she felt like she’d suffocate any second.
“Answer.”
Tears streaming, Melle nodded. Please, let this be a dream.
“When that summon appeared, did black smoke or mist billow out?”
She nodded.
“Found it! We found it!”
“Keep it down.”
“Sorry... I’m just excited. We might finally make contact with the Cerberus we’ve sought so long.”
“One last thing. The summoner with that summon—write the location in blood. Here’s a notebook.”
Melle touched her arm with a finger. A sharp sting, and warm red liquid coated it.
With the blood, she slowly scrawled letters: 102 Building, Room 304. Lur and Thanatos’s place.
“Perfect. Ahh, finally—we’re coming for you, Cerberus.”
“So we capture that demon realm summon alive?”
“Yeah.”
“What about the owner?”
“Need her? Just kill.”
“...Fine.”
Mantus was so thrilled he shadowboxed the air.
“What about this one?”
“Kill her.”
Mantus licked the knife, eyes gleaming with malice as he closed in on Melle.
“Hiiiik...!”
Her mind shattered by terror, Melle fainted.
“What, dead already?”
“No, just passed out. Let’s head to the spot in the notebook, quick.”
“Nah~ Gotta draw a hexagram on her back first.”
Thud, thud.
Footsteps echoed from outside. Ellie the professor, drawn by a sinister aura.
“Student Melle?”
Ellie spotted Melle’s bleeding arm. Cloth stuffed in her mouth. Luckily, the wound wasn’t deep.
Ellie swiftly stanched the bleeding and checked her condition.
“Self-harm...?”
Then she noticed the open window.
“Judgment!”
“You called?”
Ellie donned Judgment and leaped from the window. Judgment normally floated like a ghost, so with it equipped, Ellie hovered just above the ground before landing.
She removed Judgment and touched down without a sound.
“The culprit’s nearby for sure...”
That’s when the one called Kerine appeared before her.
“Telling me to handle her... Mantus, honestly...”
“You’re an Abyss Church follower.”
“And?”
“I’ll arrest you here.”
Judgment floated around Ellie.