Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Arrest
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Owen blew air into the melodica once more and began to play.
Before he could fully immerse himself in the performance, the Black Necromancer had already appeared, arms crossed as she looked down at the three of them.
"You're out?"
"It's like some academy ghost-summoning ritual from the creepy rumors."
At Aria and Elenoa's questions, the Black Necromancer openly showed her displeasure.
The two couldn't see her, but Owen knew just how annoyed she was and hoped they'd be careful.
[So, what did you get caught for?]
At the Black Necromancer's question, Owen hurriedly pulled his mouth away from the melodica and answered.
"Ah, well, actually..."
Owen began explaining how he'd ended up here. Naturally, Aria and Elenoa, who were beside him, overheard it too, and their expressions turned subtly strange.
Once the story was done.
Aria immediately looked at Elenoa with a disgusted expression.
"Hey, don't tell me you..."
"It's not!"
Elenoa shot back right away. But with Owen, the Black Necromancer, and Aria all eyeing her suspiciously.
The wise Elenoa knew the fastest way to clear her name right now.
"I only draw Deus! If I were gonna draw that kind of adult stuff, I'd have drawn a bunch of different guys!"
"Ah, yeah, that tracks."
Aria nodded in agreement.
Though she already knew full well.
Elenoa felt a surge of impulse to punch Aria's smug face.
"For now, Elenoa's innocent. But we gotta catch that guy."
Aria crossed her arms, taking it seriously. Elenoa switched to a grave demeanor just as quickly, nodding solemnly.
"Yeah, if he's not just distributing but making them himself, there might be victim students involved."
"You get it right away. Must be the princess thing—super perceptive."
Since he was producing them himself, it was obvious he might be using people around him as models for the lewd drawings.
Which meant there could very well be victim students.
Whether boys or girls, finding out their face had been used in porn like that would be a huge shock.
[By the way, shouldn't these two get locked up too?]
The Black Necromancer's sharp words pierced right through the shameless pair. Owen figured they'd thought of this misuse first because they'd done the exact same thing.
'I gotta tell the Necromancer about this later.'
He vowed to report it to her, whether he survived this or ended up as a soul.
"If it's a student who draws, maybe check the art club or something?"
It felt like they'd suddenly become an investigative security team. Not just the two girls—Owen felt the thrill too.
"Ah, I found something out. I heard there's a book in a certain library shelf where you slip in request notes."
"They take lewd commissions via notes?"
"Why's it gotta be so unnecessarily romantic?"
Grumbling, Aria and Elenoa still moved at once. The library would be closed this late, but that wasn't stopping them.
[...Owen, follow them.]
"Ah, yes! Got it!"
Owen chased after them at the Black Necromancer's words. She followed too, her expression subtly odd.
They arrived at the library.
The door was locked, but Aria pulled out a lockpick from her pocket and popped it open in 0.7 seconds.
"...Why do you even have that?"
"Basic for adventurers."
It was so clean, a game would say she'd mastered the lockpicking skill.
Aria had decided to live as a normal girl, but she hadn't forgotten the skills from her old days.
The library interior was predictably dark and silent.
Even Owen, who'd seen all sorts of yokai, found the late-night library a bit scary.
"Looks like there might be a treasure chest."
"Perfect for solo study sessions? Maybe snag a key from the caretaker later."
Aria and Elenoa reacted casually. Especially Aria, eyes gleaming like she was dungeon crawling—Owen, who'd been scared of the library, now found the girls scarier.
[What are you scared of?]
The Black Necromancer passed Owen and headed inside. Fair point.
The only thing that'd pop up in a place like this was ghosts, and she was right beside him.
Bolstered unexpectedly, Owen steadied his breath and entered.
"You tuck a letter in book 666, and they'll draw the requested book and leave it next to it."
"What a sense for picking numbers."
Elenoa clicked her tongue at the blatant number. Aria darted between shelves, grabbed the book, and returned.
"Here."
She opened it, and letters poured out.
A hefty pile—clearly popular among students.
"Wow, what's all this?"
"So they pick one and draw it, right?"
Aria and Elenoa each grabbed a letter and unfolded it.
Peeking into others' sexual fantasies was more intriguing than expected.
[Hmm, you feel it too, Owen?]
"Eek! Yes?"
Owen, curious about the letters, startled at the Black Necromancer's call and replied.
[You're still clueless.]
Owen tilted his head, puzzled. Then the girls swapped the letters they'd been reading.
"Hey, this one's yours."
"Here, a gift."
They'd meant to prank each other, but ended up counter-punching instead.
"What?"
"Me?"
They startled and read—the notes really had each other's names.
- Please draw Aria with dog ears and tail in a submissive pose.
- Request: Elenoa as a pet getting collared and spanked!
"What kind of psycho...!"
"The audacity!"
The two were properly furious.
[Self-inflicted, right?]
"...Yeah."
He didn't know what drawings they'd done with Deus, but they'd done similar stuff.
Anyway, seeing the requests, Owen thought this crossed a line.
Even if anonymous and untraceable, requesting art of the kingdom's princess? No student would get off easy.
At that moment.
The Black Necromancer spoke to Owen again.
[Still nothing?]
"Sh-should I play something?"
[Hmm, no need. He's here.]
She nodded toward the distant darkness. There, a hollow-eyed man with glasses, clutching paper and pen, trudged forward.
"A ghost?"
Translucent form.
Obviously a ghost.
[That's probably the forbidden book's artist.]
Arms crossed, the Black Necromancer shrugged boredly. A brief diversion while Deus was away.
[Sigh, seems like he had some grudge. Too tough for you, so I'll nab him for now. Put him to sleep when he gets back.]
"Ah, yes! Got it!"
The Black Necromancer approached the man. He gaped at her, drooling, and started sketching furiously.
[Wh-what a stunning beauty! Be my model...!]
Crack!
Her mana coiled around him like ropes, binding him. She wouldn't have been so rough normally.
[Don't beg for mercy without him here. It just annoys me.]
After subduing the forbidden book's creator curtly, the Black Necromancer glanced at Owen and vanished.
The man wriggled on the floor, looking pathetically forlorn.
"There's even a request for a professor! I'm finding this bitch."
"Wow, is this really the mindset of students at a royally funded academy? Should I tell my brother to cut funding?"
The two marveled at the students' sexual creativity, tongues clicking. Owen thought they weren't much different but kept it to himself.
"Um, case closed."
The two startled at Owen's words. When they asked what he meant, he scratched his head sheepishly.
"The ghost was the artist. Black Necromancer caught and subdued him, so no worries now."
They lamented how anticlimactically it ended.
Disappointing they couldn't deliver personal justice since the culprit was a ghost.
With the ghost caught, wouldn't all his forbidden books vanish too?
'But how deep was his grudge to make forbidden books visible even to normals...'
Feeling the man's obsession in how sincerely he'd crafted them for ordinary students to see, Owen clicked his tongue.
A few days later.
Everyone thought the incident had wrapped up neatly without issue.
But after Deus Verdi returned, Aria Rias and Elenoa Luden Griffin received a certain summons.
- Bring every drawing you've done so far to my lab.
"Eeeeeek!"
"Aaaaaah!"
Owen had neatly arrested even the last criminals.