Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Sound of Money Rolling In
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ding-a-ling-a-ling.
The alarm's blaring chime—one she could never get used to—rang out, and Erika Bright instinctively swiped her hand through the air.
Thud.
Clatter.
The alarm clock tumbled to the floor.
She had already smashed several before this and replaced it with a sturdy one.
"Urgh."
She turned off the alarm on the fallen clock and, moments later...
Forcing herself awake, Erika rubbed her eyes as she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
She stripped off her clothes and started her morning shower. Warm water poured from the sunflower showerhead as she tried to forcibly forget the nightmare she'd had.
But the more she tried to forget, the more vividly the dream resurfaced.
In truth, it wasn't so much a dream as a memory from the past.
"Hoo."
A past too brief to truly call one.
Just a memory from a late night two months ago.
"......"
In the memory, she wandered the darkened halls of Rovern Academy.
The excuse of stargazing was just something she'd tacked on.
Truth be told, she'd heard rumors that her fiancé patrolled the academy alone late at night and felt a mischievous curiosity.
Unlike the rumors, he was kinder than she'd imagined.
For Erika Bright, he was the first man she truly wanted to get to know better.
The political engagement arranged in their childhood had always felt like shackles to her, but meeting him changed that—it wasn't so bad after all.
He had come to Rovern just a month ago. Erika had realized she was falling hard for her fiancé and pretended otherwise with a fake cough.
'......'
She hurried through the academy halls with impatient steps to find him.
She had heard rumors of ghosts haunting the academy at night, but the unflappable Erika paid them no mind.
The serene quiet made for a perfect atmosphere to enjoy a moonlit date under the guise of stargazing.
Maybe she could even naturally hold his hand?
She, who was always praised as confident, capable, and cool-headed professor, never imagined she'd harbor such girlish thoughts.
Clicking her tongue at herself, Erika carefully slipped off the white gloves she wore and stuffed them deep into her pocket.
Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack.
Creak!
Amid the sound of her own heels came a strange noise. As she walked the corridor, Erika realized it came from a nearby classroom and quickened her pace slightly.
Professor Deius was there.
She sensed his presence from inside the classroom. Standing before the door, Erika fiddled nervously with her cheek.
She hoped she didn't look too relaxed.
If her usual icy demeanor suddenly softened, he'd be flustered.
Forcing a blank expression, Erika opened the classroom door.
There hung Professor Deius, neck noosed, legs kicking wildly.
Die!
Die!
Die!
His screams ordering himself to die looked just like—
Creak!
She twisted the faucet, stopping the hot water cascading over her head. With it, the memory swirled away like water down the drain.
"Hoo."
After toweling off the moisture, Erika began preparing for work.
Slipping on a white dress shirt and navy coat transformed her from Erika into the professor.
"......"
She steeled herself again while gazing at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes naturally drifted to the papers plastered on the wall beside it.
The top line read: "Rovern Grounds Cemetery Roster."
She hadn't understood back then, but amid the academy's string of incidents, she finally pieced it together belatedly.
Why he returned to his normal self each morning.
Why he had no memory of those times.
How he could make sounds with his throat constricted.
She knew it all now.
"That was probably..."
* * *
"Possession."
As I flipped through the book and muttered the answer to myself, Pindenai—who had been doing push-ups beside me—sprang up and clapped her hands.
"What?"
I furrowed my brow slightly at her reaction and gave her a warning.
"I've been thinking this since last time: if you're going to use casual speech, stick to it. If polite, then polite."
"Sorry. Polite speech just sticks to my mouth too well. So what'd you say?"
She'd chosen casual in the end.
Fine. Forcing a leash on a wolf would only breed resentment.
"The skull centipede in the family underground is called a 'Bone Centipede.'"
"Bone Centipede? Never heard of that magic beast."
It couldn't be helped.
"It's not a magic beast. It's a creature from legends passed mouth to mouth among people."
"......A legendary creature?"
"More precisely, a yokai from legends."
Pindenai crossed her arms with a strange look on her face. She didn't seem to fully grasp it yet, but she recalled my earlier words and pressed.
"So what's that about the Bone Centipede's possession?"
"The girl I saw underground was possessed by the Bone Centipede."
Pindenai nodded with an "aha." I closed the journal detailing the family's secrets that Darius had given me and slotted it back onto the shelf.
"There's a record of that?"
"Yeah, a long time ago. Apparently, several mages under orders from one of the Verdi Family heads conducted experiments underground."
The roster was listed meticulously.
Maalks, Rapork, Armen, Winnie, Sien, Kotobero, and so on.
The endless list of researchers left me dumbfounded.
"Fearing invasion from the Clock Republic, the Verdi head demanded experiments in summoning yokai using human bones, and they complied."
"......Hmm?"
Pindenai tilted her head, arms still crossed, looking displeased. She sensed something off too.
I ignored it and continued. This next part would probably irk her the most.
"The research material for creating the Bone Centipede was, naturally, human bones. And in Northsweden, getting live humans isn't as hard as you might think."
"......Immigrants. Us, huh?"
Pindenai ground her teeth.
For her, it must have given her motivation to rescue the girl underground.
They had captured immigrants trying to cross the North Wedden Mountains and used them in endless experiments.
Not just immigrants, but mostly.
In the end, the Clock Republic never invaded, the research fizzled out without results, and the underground was sealed away.
But the lingering grudges of those left in the Verdi manor basement gathered, and after everyone else had left, the experiment succeeded.
'The last one alive was probably that girl.'
She became the vessel for the Bone Centipede, offered her heart, and was possessed by the yokai.
After that, buried in the nose-stinging preservative fumes, it lived down there for ages.
"But possession? That really exists?"
At Pindenai's skeptical reaction—clearly hearing it for the first time—I nodded slightly.
"It's possible. Especially for vengeful spirits with strong egos or grudges; they can override the host's resistance and take the body."
"Hoo?"
"In those cases, they even control the original host's memories and emotions. It becomes a completely different person."
Pindenai, stretching with interest, paused and looked at me. Then, with a hint of suspicion, she asked,
"Have you experienced it?"
I didn't answer, but my silence was affirmation enough—Pindenai wasn't clueless.
She grumbled awkwardly, pretending it was nothing.
"Necromancers are creepy; how do they even live like that?"
Well, ordinary necromancers wouldn't know about this.
Knock knock.
A knock came from outside the room. I bade them enter, and a timid maid approached hesitantly, handing me a letter.
"Y-Young Master. A letter from Rovern Academy."
"......A letter?"
"It has the dean's seal, and the messenger hawk is waiting for an early reply."
"Hah."
Rude, but it signaled desperation.
I tore open the envelope and skimmed the contents.
"Tch."
I couldn't help clicking my tongue.
I'd left countermeasures for the anomalies, but they'd lost them all, for starters.
Then the shameless request to rewrite them, dangled with an unappetizing bait: they'd consider reinstatement.
Normally, I should have told them.
First-year enrollment was right around the corner. The protagonist enters the academy then—the starting point of growth.
But if evil spirits ruined that?
The future of this world was plain as day.
Whoosh.
Without hesitation, I burned the letter and replied.
"Tell them to learn some manners first."
For the dean to write me personally, even after firing me, things must be dire.
The maid flinched at my resolute tone, bowed deeply, and backed out of the room.
"If I get reinstated, I'd go to the continent's heart anyway—better for me."
For the scrap merchants, the central academy beat the border for fundraising and intel gathering.
"But there are still problems to solve."
"The Bone Centipede? Alright. I'll grab my axe."
Pindenai flung open the window and leaped out. Despite Deia's warnings, that habit never changed.
Truly, circumstances were piling up.
The Bone Centipede yokai didn't exist on Earth. In short, purely a yokai born from continental folklore.
'I have a lot to learn.'
I'd prided myself on yokai knowledge, but it was useless here.
No matter.
I'd learn plenty, and with family support cut off, my stalled necromancy research could restart.
Because Rovern Academy would foot the bill.
"I clearly gave them the solutions before leaving."
If they lost them, oh well. From now on, it's pay-to-play.
Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!
Somewhere, I could hear the sound of gold coins rolling in.
Yes.
The sound of my value as an academy professor skyrocketing.