Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: 13. Deus's Note
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"I'm so busy I don't even have time to rest."
Professor Karen from the infirmary, who had been investigating the lab, was urgently summoned back to the infirmary.
The reason was that more students had shown up claiming to have been caught up in yet another bizarre incident within the academy.
About five students huddled together. And Erika and Gideon comforting them.
'I thought the two of them were on a date.'
Karen headed straight to the students whose faces had turned pale blue upon entering the infirmary.
Most of them couldn't even speak properly and were just trembling, but one of them was at least managing to talk to Erika.
"Th-then, suddenly it offered us candy."
"Candy?"
"Some kind of candy."
As Karen and Gideon both looked puzzled at the same time, Erika furrowed her brow. She placed her index finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet and not interrupt the student.
"Th-the mouth. It opened its mouth wide and placed an eye—an eyeball—on our tongues and handed it to us."
"......"
A bizarre and utterly implausible testimony. But the students were all visibly terrified as they recalled the moment.
"Th-that was that old lady's eye! That person had no eyes! Sniff!"
Erika tightly embraced the student who finally couldn't hold back their tears.
Karen comforted the students as well, but she didn't have it in her to empathize and hug them like that, so she merely shrugged her shoulders and checked them for injuries as the infirmary professor.
'No injuries again.'
Karen shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her white coat and let out an odd sigh.
It would be nice if she could figure out the intent behind it, but aside from genuine scares that left them terrified or knocked out, there was no real harm.
If anything, just minor bruises from tripping in fright or bumping into something.
Once all the students had calmed down, the three professors exchanged glances and naturally stepped out of the infirmary.
Gideon, leaning against the corridor wall with his hands in his pockets, stated there was nothing more to see and gave his opinion.
"Mass hallucination. A mage is hiding somewhere."
"......"
"Rash."
Erika fell silent and closed her eyes, while Karen outright rejected it. It was too early to settle on a judgment.
But Gideon asked them in return, unable to understand.
"You think something like that is really possible? An old lady with sunken eye sockets comes along and offers her own eyeballs from her mouth as candy?"
He scoffed, finding it even more ridiculous when put into words.
"It's absurd. Someone cast illusion magic on the students while they were fatigued. There's no other explanation."
"No traces of magic were found on any of the five students."
The only mage present, Erika, crossed her arms and denied it.
"Illusion magic has levels. The more senses it deceives, the more traces it leaves."
For example, an illusion that only fooled the sense of sight left surprisingly faint traces.
It would be hard to fool an opponent with it.
"But the five students described the situation in detail. The appearance of the old woman with no eyes in both sockets, the musty and stale smell, the voice telling them to eat the candy, the wrinkled hand that touched them......"
"And even the sticky taste of the eyeball offered as candy entering their mouths."
Karen followed up with the unsettling last part. Erika nodded slightly after exchanging a glance with her.
"Exactly. An illusion that deceives all five senses would leave traces inevitably."
But there were no traces at all. Gideon, feeling frustrated, raised his voice a bit as he asked back.
"Then you're saying the kids really saw such a being? It'd be more reasonable to assume a mage of tremendous skill has infiltrated the academy."
"......"
That was true.
So neither of them could respond.
In the stifling atmosphere where no proper opinions emerged, a woman with pinkish-purple hair approached from the end of the corridor.
She wore a sweater to hide her curves, but her small stature paired with her disproportionately ample chest drew the gaze of any man inevitably.
Gideon was no exception.
'Hm?'
But seeing Erika completely unfazed, Karen felt puzzled once more. Were those two really dating?
"Professor Per. Are you feeling better now?"
"Y-yes! I'm, I'm fine!"
The visitor was Professor Per, who had just arrived a few days ago.
She was also the first victim of this incident.
Erika approached her gently first, and Per bowed politely. Not just to Erika, but also to Karen and Gideon for the trouble.
"Ah, hello. I'm Per Petra. I've just taken up a professorship. Nice to meet you."
It wasn't that she couldn't read the mood; she read it too well and ended up saying something unnecessary.
Gideon and Karen just raised their hands casually in greeting.
Realizing she might have messed up, Per pulled a letter from her bosom.
An antique blue letter paper.
Stamped on it was a seal Erika knew all too well.
"Verdi?"
The Verdi Family seal.
Meaning it was a letter left by the predecessor, Deus Verdi.
"I woke up from sleep and found this on my bed. I was so scared I rushed over with it."
"So a letter appeared that wasn't there yesterday?"
"Yes, yes!"
Erika's expression soured. She glanced back at Gideon and Karen behind her.
"Let me see it."
Karen approached nonchalantly and snatched the letter. With her ex-mercenary and swordsman reflexes, even the mage Erika couldn't react.
"Hoo, mountains and a bear representing Northsweden. It's really the Verdi Family crest, huh?"
"Verdi?"
Gideon, now intrigued, came over immediately. A letter that appeared out of nowhere.
Left by the previous occupant, Deus Verdi.
"May I read it?"
"Ah, yes!"
After getting permission from Professor Per who held the letter, Karen tore it open right away.
Gideon and Erika crowded to her sides to check the contents together.
The letter was written in elegant script with a quill pen.
[Precautions for using the lab.]
1. Remove the full-length mirror.
2. Do not make loud noises.
3. Do not run around.
4. When alone, do not talk to yourself.
5. If someone speaks to you after talking to yourself, ignore it.
6. Leave the lab before evening if possible.
7. If someone knocks on the window, ignore it.
9. If a woman entirely in black suddenly opens the door and enters, hide under the desk, close your eyes, cover your ears, and hold your breath.
10. If there is a missing number in this letter, burn it immediately.
"......Huh?"
Even Professor Karen, who had experienced everything as a mercenary, couldn't help but be flustered.
She thought it was some malicious prank letter.
"Missing number? No. 8, it's gone?"
Gideon, who had finished reading beside her, muttered belatedly. Then, a beat late, he forced a bright smile.
"Hahaha! Professor Deus has more wit than I thought? Pulling a prank like this?"
A strained, twisted smile.
Erika Bright bit her lip hard, snatched the letter, and burned it on the spot.
"Have you ever seen that man joke?"
Even she, his fiancée, had only seen him smile once on the last day he left the academy.
The letter burned away in midair and vanished.
Karen smacked her lips, thinking it was too hasty to burn.
But the ashes didn't scatter or settle on the floor; they floated in the air as if waiting for something.
"......This."
Karen noticed immediately and looked at Erika, who was already infusing mana into the ashes.
The ashes began to move, forming letters.
[If there was anything unusual about this letter, it means the lab has already fallen into their hands, and by extension, the entire academy.]
"Them?"
Gideon voiced his confusion, but the others focused on the letter's contents.
[I can't predict what situation has unfolded, but the method to quell the disturbance is left in the third drawer of the desk I used.]
"......!"
[Just mercy.]
The ashes dropped with a thud, no further message.
Thus, Karen bolted out first. They had already checked the entire lab.
What remained was the room Deus had used.
"Mercy......?"
Professor Per behind them mulled over the last words with a blank expression, but Gideon and Erika were already chasing after Karen.
"Do you know the room number Professor Deus used?!"
Gideon's absurd shout came as a reply to Karen's yell.
"Were you running without even knowing that? Faculty dorm 404! The last room!"
The three rushed in. Karen smashed the locked door open.
A desolate room with only basic furniture.
Opening the desk drawer revealed a small notebook placed neatly inside.
"See? Professor Deus knew something!"
"This professor was up to something."
Karen and Gideon rejoiced that the troublesome matter was resolved.
Only Erika kept her lips tightly pressed, saying nothing.
Flutter.
Opening the notebook revealed pages densely filled with Deus's handwriting.
[1. Regarding the girl who appeared in the lab.]
"The girl Professor Per saw!"
Professor Per, who arrived last and out of breath. Her ample chest heaved noticeably with each breath.
The moment they tried to read on.
[Found you.]
A girl's voice echoed through the entire room, and at the same time.
Whoosh!
The notebook left by Professor Deus burst into flames.
"What the—!"
They threw it to the floor and stomped desperately to put out the fire, but the flames only grew fiercer instead of weakening.
"Move!"
A water orb from Erika's palm quelled the fire.
But the notebook had already vanished without a trace.