Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Lobern's Forbidden Books
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“Yawn.”
Pindenai let out a massive yawn as she drove the carriage, glancing around her surroundings. They had already arrived at Lobern Academy.
It wasn’t a place that left a bad taste in her mouth—quite the opposite, it held some fun memories—but for some reason, irritation was poking at her head right now.
As she pulled the carriage into the academy grounds, the faculty stood waiting to greet them. The dean, in particular, was already making a fuss about throwing a welcome party for the hero returning from war.
Unfortunately, the necromancer who should have been today’s star, Deus Verdi, was nowhere to be seen in the carriage.
And that was exactly why Pindenai was in such a foul mood.
“Where’s Deus?”
Erika, who had been waiting alongside the dean, asked with a puzzled look. Pindenai replied curtly.
“No idea.”
She grabbed her own luggage and Iluania’s, then headed toward the academy entrance. Bandages wrapped around her body suggested serious injuries, but she showed no hesitation in her steps.
“Ugh.”
The faculty’s attention naturally shifted to Owen, who belatedly gathered his things and Melodyka before climbing down from the carriage. The boy’s hands were also bandaged, and he gave an awkward smile as he answered their questions.
“He said he needed to apologize to the spirits in Marias Great Forest and take responsibility, so he’d come later.”
“Responsibility?”
They wondered what that meant, but Owen offered no further explanation.
Finally, Iluania descended from the carriage. She carried no luggage, but cradled a precious new family member in her arms. The faculty knew she was the pregnant maid who traveled with Deus, so they congratulated her on the birth. She gave a brief thanks before heading straight to the hotel where she had stayed before.
Postpartum care was important, and the hotel had prepared services for it well in advance. Whether the building itself was intact was another question, but Pindenai tagged along to escort her.
In the end, only Owen and the carriage remained.
The faculty exchanged disappointed looks and had no choice but to head back.
Owen went straight to Deus’s room. He neatly arranged the items Deus had asked him to deliver, then pulled out Melodyka from his back.
As he blew into it and tapped the keys, a melody leaked out.
He had played so much during this trip that even the relatively light keys of Melodyka made his fingers ache, but the boy skillfully continued.
Gradually, a woman in a black robe appeared in his vision, her eyes covered by a translucent black veil.
The Black Necromancer, whom he had met several times through performances already.
Even after he stopped playing and removed his mouth from Melodyka, Owen had grown his spirit sight enough to converse with her to some degree.
“Hah, Black Necromancer. You came along after all.”
[Of course. Deus told me to.]
Like Pindenai, the Black Necromancer was clearly annoyed.
Deus had insisted on handling things alone but still sent her along—just in case. He had even instructed Owen to check on her upon arrival at the academy to ensure she didn’t secretly stay behind.
[As his master, why’s he ordering me around?]
Owen thought she grumbled but obeyed well enough, though he decided to keep quiet for now.
No need to rile up the hysterical woman with comments like that.
“Th-the master said to check once a day. Is that okay?”
[…Hah. Fine.]
The Black Necromancer sighed.
Deus’s wish to spend time alone with the spirits in Marias Great Forest.
Upon hearing it, she couldn’t help but wear a complicated expression.
It meant Deus, who had nearly crossed a line, had regained his convictions.
But did he really need to shoulder it all alone?
Shouldn’t they do it together? Wasn’t she, a spirit companion—a true spirit as a Black Necromancer—right there?
[Annoying.]
The Black Necromancer spun around and vanished.
“Phew.”
Owen wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed in relief.
‘The master must have it really tough.’
Owen had overheard that this war was a ploy by the black mage faction to test the necromancer’s true feelings.
He didn’t know the details, so he stretched and stepped out of Deus’s room.
Owen was crashing in an empty room in the first-year boys’ dorm. He figured he’d head to his own room for some rest.
Without Deus around, he had nothing pressing to do.
An unexpected sweet break.
He deserved it after all the hardship.
With classes still in session, the dorms were quiet. Owen showered and sank into the soft bed, falling into a deep, comfortable sleep for the first time in ages.
“No, I’m telling you, it wasn’t me!”
His eyes snapped open at the muffled, indignant voice from outside.
His sleep had been interrupted, but he wasn’t tired.
Moonlight shone through the window—it was already night.
Having slept soundly, Owen stretched and stepped out.
Two students stood in the hallway.
A first-year boy was desperately explaining himself to what looked like a second-year, his face full of grievance.
“You were next in line! So of course it was you!”
“No, but really, it wasn’t me! I’m so wronged! If I used it, I’d use it—why would I scribble on it!”
What were they talking about?
Owen subtly craned his neck to peek. Something seemed off about the booklet the second-year held.
“Hm?”
Curious about the book, Owen stretched his head further.
“Eek!”
The younger boy toppled backward, his face flushing bright red.
A photo album of a nude woman.
At Owen’s startled reaction, the second-year whipped his head around. He glanced between the book in his hand and Owen, then turned in embarrassment and fled.
“Anyway, you! Don’t ever do this again! It’s for everyone’s use!”
He left behind a righteous shout.
The first-year sighed in relief but glanced at Owen before approaching and extending a hand.
“Th-thanks. I got off without a beating because of you. Truth is, it was me. I just get more turned on by body scribbles.”
“Wh-what?!”
“Huh? Oh, you’re not an academy student, so you wouldn’t know? We call them forbidden books in slang.”
Perhaps relieved from escaping his senior’s threat, the boy started spilling even unasked details.
“If you need one, just ask.”
“N-no, no! I don’t! More importantly, how does a student even buy that stuff?!”
It was a world utterly incomprehensible to a boy who had lived his life with the piano.
He yelped in shock, and the boy just shook his head with a laugh.
“Of course you can’t buy them. Forbidden books are all handmade. We’ve got artisans in the academy.”
Dizzying.
“Anyway, come to me if you need one. Gotta share the good stuff—we’re both guys, right?”
The boy winked playfully and dashed off down the hall like a child.
Reeling from the shock and vertigo, Owen clenched his fist.
“St-students… should act like students!”
A phrase Deus Verdi often muttered. Owen balled his fist tight and returned to his room.
Then he played Melodyka, summoning the spirits still lingering in the academy.
Information gathering only he could do.
[Oh, naughty drawings? They circulate big time—not just among boys, but girls too.]
[I know there’s one person drawing them. They leave a mark.]
[Students should study, not that.]
[You know there’s a request system? Slip a note in a specific library book, and they’ll draw what you want!]
[Drawings? Yeah, I saw a kid doing weird ones recently.]
“That’s the one!”
Owen latched onto the last ghost’s testimony and hurried off.
He arrived at the first-year girls’ dorm. It was late, but on a bench out front, he spotted a blonde girl in a white beret sketching something.
“P-pr-princess?”
[Yeah, that’s her. She draws weird stuff every day.]
The ghost pointing at Elenoa Luden Griffin vanished with a whoosh, as if passing the buck.
Should he just run?
Owen hesitated but took a deep breath, thinking of Deus Verdi.
What would he do?
If he learned a cherished disciple was spreading these “forbidden books”—lewd material!
It was hard to imagine.
He’d probably be furious and scold her harshly.
“I have to stop this.”
Especially since Deus could see spirits anytime, not just through performance like Owen. He could uncover this whenever.
With pure loyalty, Owen approached Elenoa.
“Hm? What’s up?”
Elenoa glanced at the approaching Owen before returning to her sketch.
Her focus—moving the pen without even sparing him a look—was impressive, even to a fellow artist.
“Th-the drawing… could you show it to me?!”
He had to confirm first.
Owen mustered his courage.
“Hm?”
Elenoa looked annoyed, peering over her sketch at him, but she knew he was like a disciple raised by Professor Deus.
“Sure.”
She casually turned the sketch to show him.
A beautiful night sky with a pretty moon. Having grown up in the artist’s land of Claren, Owen could tell at a glance how much effort was poured into it.
“Wow.”
Even Owen was amazed by her skill.
Watching him gape, Elenoa asked casually.
“Why? Something wrong?”
“N-no! Sorry! I misunderstood so rudely!”
“Misunderstood? What misunderstanding?”
She set the sketch aside on the bench, crossed her arms, and legs.
She looked a bit older than him, like a big sister.
But as her eyes sharpened and the mood grew solemn, an indescribable princess’s pressure bore down on him.
This was a princess of a nation.
The sudden shift felt like an assassin drawing a hidden blade.
Maybe telling the princess would resolve this easily.
Thinking that, Owen raised his voice.
“R-re-recently, someone’s been drawing impure pictures in the academy and spreading them! I was trying to find them before the necromancer returns!”
“Huh?”
Elenoa froze mid-motion. Her princessly dignity vanished like wind, reverting to student Elenoa.
“Oh, r-right? There really are weird people! But it’s not me!”
“P-princess?”
Even innocent Owen found her tone suspicious. Then Aria emerged from the girls’ dorm entrance.
“Elenoa! Look! If you darken the eyes and blur the focus, it looks all obsessive!”
Elenoa scowled at the drawing of Deus Verdi in Aria’s hand, where she’d added her own tastes.
“I told you not to scribble on my drawings…!”
Snap!
She snapped at Aria, who often doodled her preferences onto Elenoa’s work without permission.
But Owen was already fleeing.
To think she’d draw weird pictures of the necromancer!
He had to tell him—no matter what!
“Crap.”
With Elenoa’s sigh-tinged voice, Owen’s legs lifted into the air.
“Waaah!”
His sprinting body floated up lightly. Panicking, he drifted naturally back to Elenoa.
“Uh, you see. Seems like there’s a misunderstanding.”
Elenoa smiled awkwardly as she spoke. Owen wailed.
“Sorry! I swear I won’t tell the necromancer! Spare me!”
“…”
“What? It’s that kid who follows the professor around.”
Aria approached with a blank look, then hurriedly hid the drawing.
“You hide it fast! What, advertising you drew Deus?”
“No, it’s just such a fresh discovery.”
Aria had no retort to Elenoa’s sharp words this time.
Elenoa suggested a solution.
“How about we knock him out and make him forget?”
“Why are you so crude to the kid?”
“…Says the princess drawing stuff like that of the professor.”
“Wh-why bring that up?! The kid can hear! And you liked it too!”
“Thanks to your early sex ed, this lowly subject saw a new world.”
Even as the two bickered, distracted, Owen knew he couldn’t escape.
He went limp.
Then his body floated up again.
As if someone had grabbed his collar and lifted him.
“Huh?”
“What?”
This time, it wasn’t Elenoa, so both girls were startled.
Owen panicked too but recognized the familiar sensation and cried out.
“B-Black Necromancer?!”
Though not close to her, Owen felt like he’d met a savior.