Ghosts in the Academy (3)
The clock hands ticked forward. Very slowly, yet relentlessly. And at the precise moment they aligned with midnight, I slowly rose from my chair.
'Time's up.'
It was deep into the night—which also meant it was time for me, the one on night duty, to start my rounds. Grabbing the list and pen Imelda had prepared for me, I quietly slipped out of the room.
'Anywhere in the academy...'
Rakan had said it clearly: the ghost appeared anywhere in the academy. Sticking to one spot and waiting wasn't going to cut it. The key was to cover as much ground as possible, as widely as I could. Speeding up my pace, I began wandering the academy's halls and corridors.
'No need to search every nook and cranny.'
I didn't have to strain my eyes looking for some ghostly figure. He'd said it plainly: a beast's howl. In this dead-quiet night, pinpointing an odd sound like that wouldn't be hard at all.
"....."
But reality has a way of defying expectations. The list Imelda gave me came with a map of the academy, so I could zip around efficiently by glancing at it. Even so, that was it. Despite scouring every corner, there wasn't a hint of a beast's howl—or anything remotely like it.
As fatigue started to set in with zero results...
'A presence...?'
A faint presence prickled at my back. Barely audible, but there—a soft footstep.
"....Who's there?"
I whipped around at the sound. No answer came, so I called out again toward the empty air ahead.
"I said, who's there?"
Still no reply. Maybe just my imagination. I turned to keep going when—
Someone emerged slowly from behind the wall.
"Fancy meeting you here, Professor. Even more delightful."
A woman with strikingly white hair that gleamed even in the dark night. Those familiar blood-red eyes fixed on me as she stepped forward.
"Carmen?"
"Couldn't sleep, so I stepped out for a bit."
I scanned her up and down as she stated her midnight stroll matter-of-factly. She wasn't in her cadet uniform but light sleepwear, her hair tousled and unkempt—like someone who'd just rolled out of bed. Her excuse seemed genuine, but her deadpan delivery left me at a loss for words.
"And what brings you out here, Professor?"
"Night duty. On patrol."
My answer hung in the air, plunging us into silence. We stood facing each other, neither speaking—an awkward standoff.
Finally, I broke the ice.
"It's lonely out here. Walk with me?"
She nodded without a word. Taking her silent cue, I resumed my route, and she fell in quietly behind me.
Oddly enough, the moment we started walking, the awkwardness melted away.
"Heard you joined the swordsmanship department. Any reason for that?"
"It's what I'm good at."
"Wasn't swordplay wearing thin on you? I pulled strings so you could pick another department."
"That's true, but it would've inconvenienced others."
"Thoughtful of you."
We started with simple catch-up talk. Once the conversation flowed, it came naturally after that. It was mostly me asking, her answering—a one-way street—but it worked just fine.
"Settling in okay?"
"I owe it all to you."
"Not too strange?"
"A bit unfamiliar, but I'm adjusting."
"Made any friends?"
"One. Seems like a good one."
"Good to hear. Everyone needs at least one reliable friend."
From what she shared, she was doing pretty well. Not fully integrated yet, but I hadn't expected that anyway. Making a friend on top of it? Solid outcome.
"Why'd you come to the academy?"
"Felt like mentoring some young talent. Seeing sprouts like you lit a fire under me."
Then came her first question to me. Couldn't exactly say the princess ordered it, so I trotted out my prepared line—with a dash of flair.
She looked flustered at my response, then hesitantly pressed.
"Sprouts... like me?"
"Yeah. Prodigies like you."
"Prodigy...."
"The professors will lose their minds when they see you. Gotta go watch."
Cadets were talented, sure, but still cadets. With her already at a level where she toyed with knights, I could only imagine the faculty's reactions. Exciting just thinking about it.
"You only opened one lecture. Any special reason?"
"Not really. Problem?"
"The cadets are grumbling."
"Grumbling?"
After a stretch of quiet walking, Carmen asked out of the blue. I tilted my head—what grumbling?—and she replied like I should know.
"Why only basics? Why that one time slot? That sort of thing."
"Too bad for them."
Why only one lecture? Simple: I barely knew the basics of swordsmanship myself. It was all a front anyway, so I picked the bare minimum I could fake.
Cadets unaware of that? Yeah, they'd complain.
"You signed up for mine?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
No reason for her to take swordsmanship. And it wasn't required for her department. Puzzled, I asked—and got a hilariously straightforward answer.
"Everyone else was doing it, so I followed the trend."
Like those Gangnam kids chasing friends. Absurd, but kinda makes sense. Crowds mean good vibes, maybe even benefits.
"See you there soon, then."
"Yes."
"Tomorrow, right?"
"I believe so."
"Looking forward to it."
She dipped her head slightly in affirmation. We kept up the light chatter, touring the academy together.
After a long walk, as night waned and exhaustion crept in, a thought hit me.
'No luck after all, huh?'
Only found Carmen. No sign of runaway cadets or the rumored monsters.
Disappointing, but you can't fill up on the first try. A few more nights, and I'd nail it.
"Head back now. Dawn's breaking."
"Understood."
The sky was reddening with the approaching dawn. Time to end the night and greet the new day. At the women's dorm entrance, I nudged her inside.
As she bowed slightly and turned to go—
"Oh, almost forgot. Carmen."
Something occurred to me; I called her back.
"Yes?"
She turned, her innocent red eyes gleaming. Staring straight into them, I said flatly,
"Curfew violation. That's a demerit point."
No hard feelings—just doing my job.
....
As dawn's sun rose and Ian finished his patrol, heading back...
From atop a spire, someone watched his retreating figure in silence through a crystal orb. They extinguished it and murmured low.
"Finally gone."
That Swordmaster bastard. From nightfall to sunrise, he'd combed every inch of the academy. Forced to hunker down in this tower all night, unable to do a thing.
At this rate, it'd be tomorrow, the next day—maybe until some unknowable end.
"Damn that master punk. Why'd he crawl into the academy all of a sudden...!!"
Totally unexpected. No one could've imagined a Swordmaster enrolling here.
All plans derailed perfectly.
"No good. He'll uncover everything...."
He's on another level from the other professors. A Swordmaster's senses are transcendent. He's unfamiliar with the academy now, but it wouldn't take long to spot what others missed.
He'd figure out the scheme soon enough.
Had to stop. Only way to survive.
But couldn't stop. Stopping meant death soon anyway.
So finish it fast—one day sooner.
"Gotta find it quick...!!"
Before that monster turned his gaze my way.