Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Long-Term Business Trip
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“Wah!”
As I opened the door and entered the lab, a startled woman’s voice rang out from inside.
It was a voice I’d never heard before, so I wondered what was up, but then I spotted a tuft of pale pink hair sticking out from behind the desk.
“What is it?”
Pinden A, who had been trailing sleepily behind me, poked her head over my shoulder to check.
I had already heard the explanation from the dean, so I stepped inside without hesitation. The disheveled woman under the desk stood up as well.
“Wow, damn.”
“Pinden A, shut…….”
“Look at those massive tits.”
“…….”
I had seen it coming, but I couldn’t stop her. I shot Pinden A a reprimanding glare, and she fiddled with her own chest while staring at the pink-haired professor, Per Petra.
“The kingdom life must be treating her well.”
I narrowed my eyes at Pinden A, who was sticking out her tongue, signaling her to zip it. She mimed pulling a zipper across her mouth.
“Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine.”
I was the one who’d been ousted, and Per Petra, the professor who was scheduled to use my lab, was packing her things right now.
She was trying to vacate since the original owner had returned.
Per Petra.
A woman who had left unparalleled talent and achievements in anatomy. I’d heard she was recently researching magic to regenerate human bodies.
A woman on the verge of touching the realm of the gods looked utterly unkempt and sloppy on the outside.
“P-Professor Dayus, right? Sorry! I’ll clear out right away!”
Per Petra fussed and hurriedly started packing again.
I stopped her.
“No need for that. You can keep using this lab.”
“Huh? Really? But Professor, you…….”
“I’ll be away for a while. So please use it without worry.”
“Oh…….”
“Could you leave one desk for me, though?”
She nodded vigorously like a plump hamster at my polite request.
“Of course! I’ll prepare the best spot for you! And, um…….”
“……?”
Per Petra hesitated, scratching the back of her head awkwardly with a sheepish grin.
“Thank you for saving me.”
“It was nothing.”
As I turned to leave, Per Petra tilted her head and asked,
“But you’re stepping away? Didn’t you just get back?”
“I have a business trip coming up.”
“A business trip?”
She seemed to think it was out of the blue but didn’t pry further, knowing it would be nosy.
As I exited the lab, Iluania approached down the hallway. Unlike Pinden A’s blatantly revealing outfit, she wore a maid’s dress that covered her body modestly, like a nun’s habit.
She came right up to me, clasped her hands, smiled, and reported,
“I sent the letter via express delivery.”
“Good. It should have arrived by now, then.”
“Huh? Letter? What letter? Why am I the only one out of the loop?”
Pinden A made a fuss from behind. I subtly shifted away one step from the two of them.
This naturally put both in my view.
“From now on, I’ll be heading to the kingdom’s capital, Graypond. I’ll explain what the two of you need to do.”
“Huh, out of nowhere?”
“Understood.”
Pinden A made no secret of her annoyance, while Iluania gracefully bowed her head in acceptance. Her movements were so refined that no one would guess she’d once been a whore.
Deia had trained her well in that short time.
I glanced at Pinden A. Under my what-are-you-doing look, she sighed deeply, clasped her hands, and bowed her head.
“Lay it on me, you badass master.”
Ever consistent.
“Pinden A, grab your axe and head to the first floor right now. There’ll be a black-haired girl named Aria Rias at the central entrance.”
“Aria Rias?”
“Yes. I’ve already briefed her on the details, so depart with her. It’ll be tough, so prepare thoroughly. I’ve given her money to procure supplies in the city.”
“What the hell? What are you actually ordering me to do?”
Pinden A looked flustered by the suddenness, but I ignored her and turned to Iluania.
“Take this.”
What I handed her from my pocket was a well-crafted key. It had a tag on the ring marked Room 1101.
“This is…….”
“The key to a suite at Cent Ant, a luxury hotel in the city. Stay there until I return.”
“Huh?”
She looked stunned by the abrupt order, but I continued.
“It’s the top-floor presidential suite, so you won’t be uncomfortable. The Verdi Family will cover the costs, so no worries.”
“Uh…….”
“I warned them in advance about the pregnancy, so the staff will accommodate you. I instructed them to prepare records of music good for prenatal care, so listen whenever you have time.”
“…….”
“If you suffer from morning sickness or crave something, tell the staff right away. They’ll get whatever they can. Order freely without holding back.”
“…….”
“I’ve also hired a masseuse. She’ll come three times a week, so just relax and accept it.”
I had more to say, but as expected, Pinden A butted in.
“Wow, fuck. What?! Me too! I wanna go chill at that hotel too!”
Pinden A jumped up and down in outrage, pounding her chest as she yelled.
“I’m pregnant too, actually! With your kid, master!”
“…….”
“Why discriminate?! Huh? One gets told to bust her ass working, the other gets a hotel booked? Such bullshit discrimination!”
“Pinden A.”
“What! What is it!”
I cut off her ranting and grumbling cold.
“Why haven’t you left yet?”
“Wow…….”
Pinden A shook her head in disbelief, then stomped off with thudding footsteps.
“Fiiine! I’m going! I’ll roll around like a dog and come back! Should’ve licked your ass a few more times! Want me to do it now? Drop your pants!”
“Shut up and go.”
“Ah, yessir! Don’t want it? Non-smoker like you hates my smoky mouth! My mouth reeks of cigs and shit, but you won’t let it clean your master asshole! Guess this mouth that can’t lick master’s shithole should just shut the fuck up!”
After that tirade, Pinden A stormed off. It had been chaotic, but at least she was gone.
I turned back to Iluania, who stood awkwardly.
“I hear the hotel has plenty of amenities inside. Don’t just sit still—read books, take walks, do yoga, whatever. There’s a pool too, so walking in the warm water wouldn’t be bad.”
“Ah, got it.”
“Good. Then go.”
Iluania bowed deeply and hurried off at my words.
Even after she left, my gaze lingered in that direction.
I lifted my eyes to the woman who had guarded Iluania’s back—whose body had been half-burned away.
I slowly reached out, converting the mana in her soul into magic.
“If anything happens, protect her.”
[Of course. The child and the mother—I’ll stake everything to guard them both.]
The woman with burning hatred whom I’d met on the way to Lovern Academy.
I had convinced her when she once projected herself onto Iluania, and now she served as Iluania’s guardian spirit in reverse.
As long as she was there, Iluania wouldn’t face great danger even if threatened.
[You tamed that evil spirit so well.]
The black necromancer beside me, who had kept her mouth shut and watched, trembled as she watched the departing woman.
It meant her grudge was so deep even a black necromancer wouldn’t dare handle her lightly.
“I didn’t tame her. I just persuaded her.”
[Persuaded, huh. I thought you were different from other necromancers, but ‘unique’ fits better.]
I shrugged at the necromancer evaluating me and shot her a side-eye.
“Keep your wits about you and stick close to me.”
[Huh?]
As the black necromancer questioned, I sensed mana waves from outside. The violently disruptive sensation meant spatial transfer had occurred nearby.
“They’re here quick.”
A pressure like a tidal wave crashed over me in an instant.
The existence all kingdom mages feared most.
Among Griffin Kingdom’s hidden elite agents, the most brilliant ones.
The Magic Inquisitors were marching toward me with heavy steps.
* * *
“So you’re breaking off the engagement now!?”
Gideon, who had stormed into Erika’s lab, slammed his fist on the desk and bellowed.
The assistant professors already in the lab had wisely left long ago. But Erika didn’t even glance at him as she flipped through the document she was reading.
“You and I were never engaged to begin with. My fiancé is Dayus Verdi.”
Gideon felt rage boiling to the top of his head as he watched her declare it so boldly, and he spat out his words.
“You ended up falling for that bastard after all? That lunatic took back the bitch who betrayed him as his fiancée?!”
Erika’s eye twitched at his attitude, as if he wasn’t worth engaging. She calmly lifted her head and met Gideon’s eyes.
Flinch.
Her gaze was chillingly cold, sharp as a honed blade—enough to make Gideon instinctively want to recoil.
“Don’t insult him.”
“You……!”
But realizing her reaction stemmed from him insulting Dayus only deepened Gideon’s sense of defeat.
He was Gideon Zeronia of the prestigious Zeronia Family. Being pushed around like this was unbearably humiliating.
“You think your family will just sit still? This was a golden chance to ally with the Zeronia!”
“I don’t care.”
Gideon gaped dumbly at Erika’s curt declaration.
Erika slowly stood and reached out. Gideon was shoved back by her surging golden mana, slamming into the wall behind him.
“Urk!”
He told himself he hadn’t prepared for the sudden attack.
But inwardly, he was quite shocked.
Erika Bright could wield mana this swiftly and precisely?
Gideon could feel skin-deep that she had grown tremendously through recent events.
“I am one of the authorities on light magic in the Griffin Kingdom, with two papers published in the Millennium Library. I am also a tenured professor at Lovern Academy.”
“Guh!”
“None of that was gained because I’m a ‘Bright.’ The family doesn’t want me?”
Erika sneered, curling her lip slightly.
“I don’t need a family like that either.”
Why hadn’t she made this easy decision until now?
Even as she thought it, Erika knew the reason.
The difference between then and now.
Dayus Verdi.
Because he supported her.
The engagement dissolution letter, precious in the locked desk drawer, felt like proof of Dayus’s trust in her.
But Gideon didn’t take it lying down. He summoned his red mana and spat back in fury.
“Fine! That’s how it is! You think I’ll just sit back?”
He, too, had an ace up his sleeve, of course.
“Dayus Verdi! That guy’s a necromancer, right? In the kingdom, necromancers get the death penalty no questions asked! I report him, and he’s done!”
“You…….”
That was Erika’s biggest worry, truthfully.
Dayus had reassured her it was fine, but she couldn’t help fretting.
And if the prestigious Zeronia directly moved to pressure the necromancer Dayus?
Not even Northwedden’s Border Count, Darius Verdi, could shield him.
It would be pressure like an avalanche from all sides.
“Let’s see if you can say that after watching Dayus get hanged……!”
Boom!
The academy shook.
The mana waves and fierce impact were familiar to both.
“Warp magic?”
High-level warp magic had been used nearby. Erika whipped her head to the window with a bad feeling.
Golden-robed figures with helmets, wielding staffs spiked like spears—mages of tremendous caliber marching into the academy.
“Magic Inquisitors!”
They advanced toward the academy with solemn expressions, without hesitation.
“You!”
Erika glared at Gideon, radiating killing intent.
“You already reported Dayus……!”
She hadn’t expected him to report to the palace and then come to her.
“Huh?”
But Gideon looked equally stunned.
“Why are they here already?”
Erika’s mind reeled at his question—he hadn’t reported yet, so why were the Magic Inquisitors here?
She flung open the lab door and stepped out.
Just then, the assistant professors outside rushed to her, shouting.
“P-Professor! The Magic Inquisitors are here to arrest Professor Dayus!”
“Yeah, I know.”
Erika brushed past them, spreading her golden mana through the academy to locate and protect Dayus.
But the assistants’ next words halted her in her tracks.
“B-But Professor Dayus turned himself in!”