Beast Hunt (3)
I wonder why. For some reason, her words suddenly came back to me.
I couldn't explain the reason, but an inexplicable unease began to take hold of my body.
"...Pleased to meet you. I'm Nameless."
"This is our first meeting. Your fame echoes throughout the entire empire, so I've always wanted to meet you someday, but I never imagined it would be like this."
Something chilling crawled up my spine, but I still knew nothing concrete. There was nothing more foolish than blindly judging based on gut feeling alone, so I cautiously clasped his hand.
"What brings the necromancy professor here...?"
"Ah, I came to pick up some spare corpses."
So said Chedor Amanshtin, who paused to ponder for a moment. Breaking his silence, he gave an awkward smile and spoke plainly to me.
"Haha. Saying it like that feels a bit off. Let me rephrase—I'm here for research materials."
"Materials...?"
"Yes. As you know, necromancy is a taboo under imperial law. It's not easy to study at all."
"Unless you're scavenging leftovers from the monster studies department, it's practically impossible."
Magic—the power that produces unreal phenomena. Among them, necromancy was one of the top taboos, right alongside mind control. And reality made it just as hard to research as its forbidden status implied. The Academy, a bastion of scholarship, was a rare exception where it was permitted. That was why they had to resort to this method.
That was the extent of Chedor's explanation.
As I listened quietly, a sudden question arose. I waited for him to finish, then asked right away.
"So, what do you do with the leftovers after you're done using them?"
"Pardon? Why would we dispose of them?"
Chedor looked at me as if I'd said something absurd. He stared blankly for a long moment before realization dawned, and he let out an admiring exclamation.
"Ah. These aren't just simple cadavers. They're my creations. If I properly apply preservation necromancy, I can store them away and summon them anytime. No need for separate disposal."
"So that means...?"
I was about to ask for confirmation when a dragging sound interrupted me. Turning toward the noise, I saw Ridwick returning from the lab, pushing a cart piled high with dozens of monster corpses.
"Here you go. Check them and take them all."
"Ah, thank you. Blessings upon you."
Chedor gazed happily at the mountain of monster corpses. With a delighted expression, he took the cart and began signing the ledger Ridwick handed him.
"Then I'll take my leave."
I gave a brief greeting to the pair confirming the handover and slowly withdrew.
Once I was completely out of their sight, I parted my lips—which I'd kept tightly shut—and muttered.
"...I see."
There was no other reason the beast from the rumors stayed quiet during the day and only appeared at night.
It could only move at night.
Only when people were asleep and the Academy was deserted.
"Now the puzzle pieces are falling into place."
A mere monster without intelligence or special abilities dodging the Academy's eyes for dozens of days.
Surviving dozens of days without food.
If someone was giving it orders, that solved it.
If it didn't need food in the first place, that solved it.
"This was a ghost story after all..."
This was a true ghost story. Tales of ordinary things could never be called ghost stories like this.
Stories of things that shouldn't exist in this world—yet did anyway.
That was what made a ghost story.
The beast wasn't alive.
"Undead."
That was its true nature.
...
"Carmen!"
As she entered the lecture hall and prepared for class, someone called her name loudly from afar. Though all eyes turned to her, she didn't flinch. With her usual stoic expression, she simply turned toward the voice.
"Ah. Have you arrived, Ludia?"
"Yeah! Am I late?"
Ludia rushed into the hall, her green ponytail bouncing. Sitting breathlessly beside Carmen, sweat beaded on her forehead—she must have hurried.
Carmen picked up Ludia's carelessly tossed bag and handed it over, speaking calmly.
"No. You've arrived right on time."
"Phew, good thing. I thought I was gonna be late."
Utterly spent, Ludia slumped. When Carmen pressed her nape, she let out a contented sigh, then perked up as if recharged. Just like that, she launched into chatter as if nothing had happened.
"Hey, you hear? Carmen? Someone else heard a ghost the other day."
The ghost stories started up again. But Carmen could brush it off now. The whole Academy was buzzing with those rumors lately. She'd heard them so much that there was nothing left to be surprised about.
"You seem very interested in that sort of thing. Occult... was it?"
"Haha. That obvious, huh?"
"Isn't it?"
Ludia trailed off ambiguously at the question about her occult interest, dodging with a sly smile and a playful nod at Carmen.
"Nah, you're right on the money."
"I wanna see a ghost myself someday. What can I do about that?"
She shrugged, revealing her romantic notions. Watching her, Carmen recalled something Ludia had said before and tossed out a light question.
"You mentioned going for a night stroll. Did you succeed?"
"What do you think? Successful?"
"No. I think you failed."
She couldn't picture Ludia pulling it off. Not because Ludia was weak or lacking— even if she were a professor instead of a student, it wouldn't change.
"Because that man is on night duty."
Ian. The man guarding the Academy's nights. With a Swordmaster at the pinnacle of the continent standing firm, evasion was impossible.
Not even she, who prided herself on holding her own, could slip his gaze.
"...How could you dodge him?"
"Hehe. Exactly what I thought."
Ludia nodded readily, agreeing. With a beaming smile, she shared more.
"Spot on. No confidence there, so I just stayed quiet in my room."
For someone who'd boldly declared her plans, quietly resting was anticlimactic. Yet she showed no embarrassment. Everyone knew who her opponent was.
"Honestly, it's a bit much. How can one person pull night duty every single day?"
"He's a Swordmaster, isn't he?"
Once you properly handled mana, your stamina became absurd. For a Swordmaster at the pinnacle of martial arts, it defied imagination. Pulling all-nighters for days wouldn't faze that body.
"What choice does he have? Just bear with it."
Like it or not, she had to endure. With a Swordmaster holding the line, what could she do?
Yet for some reason, Ludia showed no regret. Smiling brightly, she spoke in a teasing tone.
"But today's different."
"I heard Professor Nameless has something come up, so he won't be on duty tonight."
Ian was stepping away. That meant the ironclad barrier blocking night strolls had crumbled.
Still, not all defenses were gone.
"Won't the other professors cover?"
"Mm, probably?"
"Can you fool them?"
"Nope."
Ludia admitted it straightforwardly again. She knew well she couldn't trick the professors. Yet her momentum didn't flag—in fact, she seemed even more confident.
"But tonight's special."
Her eyes sharpened like she'd nailed the point, fixing on Carmen with a triumphant smile. Slowly, she spilled her plan.
"While Nameless is away, my fellow night-wanderers—who've waited days for this moment—are out there."
"You think I'm the only one? Not a chance. There've gotta be dozens!"
"They'll all rush out! Even professors can't catch 'em all!"
"Which means tonight's our shot!"
The logic was so absurdly chaotic that Carmen was speechless. It felt wrong somewhere, but pinpointing exactly where was tricky.
"......"
Ludia, brimming with conviction. Stopping her would be pointless, so Carmen had nothing special to say.
Just in case she ran into a monster—and if the rumors were true.
"Please return safely."
She only hoped her friend wouldn't get hurt.