Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Cleanup and Aftertalk #3
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The next day, Wednesday morning.
When I arrived at the lecture hall, I saw Marmar busily pasting something up at the entrance.
「Today's 9 o'clock lecture on 'Understanding Ancient Dead Language' has been temporarily canceled due to the professor's circumstances.」
"Canceled?"
"Aah...! Comrade...! Nice to see you...! And this Ancient Dead Language lecture is canceled...!"
"Yeah?"
I felt a bit bewildered by Marmar's changed demeanor. She'd been using that bizarre nymph speech before, so the gap was huge now that she was talking normally.
"Your speech is back to normal, huh?"
"Professor Belhok said he'd cut my daily pay if I didn't speak normally...."
Money really is the best.
"And forget about that weird way of talking from before!"
Marmar flailed around as if her slip-up was deeply embarrassing.
I get it.
I'd felt mortified myself when I pretended to be a nymph to infiltrate their gathering.
Marmar seemed to change the subject to hide her embarrassment.
"Anyway, they say Professor Ballan, who's in charge of the lectures, collapsed!"
"I see."
After yesterday's incident, Professor Ballan the black mage was in no state to give lectures.
On top of that, the students he'd put under spells with Gamigin had huge chunks of their recent memories wiped, leaving them babbling nonsense, so they were receiving intensive treatment?
"No proper lectures anywhere."
It'd already been two weeks since Ark opened for the semester, but I hadn't really learned anything helpful from lectures or professors.
Ssslrk.
Just then, the imp tail wand on my wrist tightened around it like it was alive. Snapping to attention, I said what I'd meant to tell Marmar.
"Marmar, your tail is amazing. It's saved my life several times."
"Of course! The imp tail wand is an item even the ancient demon king Solomon cherished!"
"Really? The demon king used an imp tail? Not something like a phoenix feather staff?"
I pictured a demon king wielding magic by pointing this heart-shaped tail around.
My image of a demon king was a dark black mage in a black helmet and cloak, riding a dragon with a voice like scraping glass with iron nails.
But hearing he used an imp tail wand like mine made the image suddenly turn bizarre.
Marmar, however, puffed out her flat chest proudly.
"Imp tails have the highest mana conductivity...! And when you're hungry, you can eat them instead of food!"
"No, you eat this?"
"Hungry imps sometimes eat each other's tails. That's one way we're superior to nymphs."
Not a scene I wanted to imagine.
"Anyway, the imp tail wand is top-class...! When its lifespan ends, plant it in a flower bed, water it, and praise it, and it bounces back to life...!"
Plant it in a flower bed, water it, and praise it?
It felt like one of those pseudoscientific tales about plants growing based on praise or insults.
According to Marmar, though, the imp tail wand was practically a living creature itself. So you had to treat it with affection.
"And the most important thing: never praise another wand in front of your tail wand!"
"Got it. I won't."
As she said that, a thin, long tail about the length of my arm was already swishing side to side from Marmar's butt.
But its tip was oddly square— a diamond shape, to be precise.
"Your tail's diamond-shaped?"
"Right! As expected of my comrade, you noticed? It's a super rare shape. I got lucky!"
What even are imps?
Just then, Marmar glanced at the watch drawn on her wrist. It looked like a wristwatch, but now I saw it was just a drawing.
"Aah—! At this rate, I'll be late for Professor Belhok's errand! Comrade, I'll head out first!"
And with that, Marmar left ahead.
I'd thought she was fixed since her speech normalized, but it was clearly getting weirder by the minute. Looking at a drawn-on watch?
Guess I should buy her a real one later.
* * *
—Heard about it? The undead in the outskirts. Turns out Professor Ballan was behind it. Stole corpses from the Draco family, kidnapped people, all that.
—I heard. Collected tons of bodies in the old fortress basement, making some skeleton army or whatever?
—Professor Ballan, the black mage, right? Why would he do that?
—Dunno. Heard he was controlled by some curse....
Rumors spread fast in religious groups and on campus.
Ark was no exception. Just one day after the incident, stories of Professor Ballan's antics and the fallout were already buzzing around the student cafeteria.
"Extra! Extra! Extra on the corpse desecration and undead army by Professor Ballan! Extra, hooo, hoooo—!"
I was eating alone in the cafeteria when I beckoned the small blue-haired girl—a nymph—shouting weirdly as she wandered around.
"One paper, please."
"Ten coins...!"
Ten coins for a newspaper? Pricey.
Still, the info tempted me, so I decided to flex a bit.
"Next time, come find Hoenoi from the newspaper club too...! Hooo...!"
Leaving her weird words behind, the nymph vanished to sell more papers. Alone again, I unfolded the crudely made newspaper.
「Shock: Black Mage Professor Ballan (32, single) revealed as grave robber—」
「Did his favorite chess games spark brutality...? Need regulations on violent games spreading in Ark—」
「Nymph hate crime? Or just plain crime?」
Plenty of clickable headlines.
I picked one and read.
「Professor Ballan claims he was possessed by forbidden power during a childhood ruin expedition and controlled into committing all acts, denying intent.
His punishment is a foregone conclusion, but lifelong study of 'Warning Spell' may earn recognition for resistance, potentially lightening the sentence.」
「Professor Ballan defeated by rank 5 Elga von Lioness, rank 6 Mirna von Draco, and one other—」
Why "one other"?
Anyway, Ballan's incident would reveal what needed revealing and bury the rest.
No mention of ties to Demon King Angmar's deeds. Probably decided by the church higher-ups.
I didn't care either way.
I'd already profited hugely from this mess.
Leveled up the hard-to-level mage job.
Tested various spells, even learned the advanced necromancy spell 'Gamigin.'
I'd like a chance to test this new curse.
But as I experienced firsthand, it's so potent it might develop its own will—dangerous to use recklessly without safeguards.
I'll hold off for now.
More importantly, really no articles on Angmar?
I scoured the paper. I was tasked by the three houses' ladies to investigate the demon king's descendants.
Hilarious—I'd become the one they were hunting.
Investigating the demon king's heirs and traces felt like part of reviving House Angmar.
Might lead to his vast legacy, magical knowledge, power, a hidden vault or something.
Srrk. Crinkle.
Then someone snatched my paper. Looking up, red eyes stared down.
"There you are, Theo Gospel."
"Miss Mirna."
Mirna Draco showing up in this budget student cafeteria? Totally unexpected, leaving me flustered.
Other students felt it too—whispers erupted around rank 6 single-digit Mirna.
—She took down Professor Ballan yesterday?
—wasn't he the top graduate, 22nd in his class?
—Single digits really are another level.
She was already campus's biggest buzz, now seeking me out.
Though the attention on her must annoy her, she sat across without a hint, ignoring it all.
"What brings you here?"
"About yesterday, Theo Gospel. Why else would I spend an hour trudging from the dorms to find you?"
"You searched an hour for me?"
"Not important."
Flutter.
Mirna opened her fan to hide her face.
"Theo Gospel, that spell yesterday. The one you used to take down Professor Ballan."
Her words caused a huge stir around us.
—That guy took down Ballan?
—that Theo Gospel's barely 300th rank trash.
—Wait, I heard he was near 1000th before...
People leaned in, tongues wagging at the shocking info.
Suddenly, all eyes on me too. As I squirmed awkwardly, Mirna spoke clearly, loudly—like for everyone.
"You took down Professor Ballan with some fine skill."
—OMG, he really did it!
—Ballan lost to that half-fairy? We all saw how lame he was in that weird word game. Epside incident.
—No, could be real. Leading Silverz committee member Conde got wrecked without landing a hit. No chant heard. Conde's hospitalized now, you know?
—What's truth? Who's right? Weak or strong?
Chaos reigned.
Worried it'd spark trouble, I clarified crisply.
"I just added a tiny spoon at the end. Even without me, Lady Elga and you could've handled it fine."
"True. But you made the mess less messy. So, Theo Gospel, time to be more confident."
"...I see."
I caught on: she was praising my feats, hyping me to others on purpose.
Naturally, one question crept up.
Why?
It soon dissolved in her bombshell, spoken behind the fan for all to hear.
"Humility is the church's virtue. With surname Gospel—evangel—you embody it well. But light never hides in darkness, nor salt its saltiness in water."
"What are you getting at?"
"And Theo Gospel, it's clear fact you proposed to me. No hiding now."
"Ah...!"
"I, Mirna, won't have my suitor seen as worthless, tarnishing me and House Draco."
—Heard that?
—He proposed!
Mirna Draco, you...
Announcing it publicly.
Totally blindsiding.
Wasn't she the type ashamed of a commoner's suit? What changed?
Under evil necromancy?
—Belial—
I quietly chanted to dispel any spells on her. No change— she continued matter-of-factly.
"To keep my and Draco's honor intact, show yourself worthy from now on."
"Uh..."
"Be proud. Not first choice, but you're in the running for my hand—unique among commoners! Top ten fingers, say."
Mirna chuckled hohoho.
I... I screamed internally.
"Shh...!"
"Shh? I know that. Commoner talk for super grateful and happy, right?"