139. The Night the Waning Moon Rose
139. The Night the Waning Moon Rose
"Improper heterosocial interactions are currently prohibited. Please cooperate, Jo."
Even after all my lectures were over, I heard the Holy Knights' voices.
This time they were separating couples holding hands.
With just over ten people trying to cover the entire academy, their fatigue level must have been no joke.
Which meant they were that desperate.
....
"Why, are you worried about something?"
"If they... tell people not to like that... won't it just make things worse...?"
Lucia murmured, watching the female students being separated by the Holy Knights.
They were forcibly separated, but the longing in their eyes hadn't vanished.
"Probably."
Humans had a strange trait where the more you suppressed something, the more they wanted to do it, so it was definitely going to explode.
Though I said that, if someone asked whether I wasn't concerned about the Holy Knights' movements, that would be a lie.
——————————
Riber was supposed to come tonight.
Whenever Riber came, the room, which normally felt cold, would brighten up, and that was always nice.
'He should be arriving around now...'
-Tik tik
As I waited, I heard the sound of pebbles hitting the window from outside.
Thinking she had arrived, I opened it and saw Riber outside the building throwing pebbles with exquisite skill.
'Before, she used to knock on the window directly...?'
Even before that, she originally just came in through the door.
I didn't know exactly what was going on, but I was sure there were circumstances, so I roughly grabbed my things and jumped out of the window.
"What's the matter? Why didn't you come inside?"
"Haah..."
Riber had a thin gown on over her sleepwear.
As if she had rushed over right after her shower, her skin was flushed and moist.
"Oh?!"
Riber suddenly hugged me as soon as she saw me.
I could feel Riber's body heat through the thin sleepwear.
I was a bit surprised but quickly wrapped both arms around her body and held her.
"I was... a little cold. Just let me stay like this for a bit."
"... Alright."
When we stood, it looked like she was holding me rather than me holding her, so the feeling wasn't great,
and I could have just used my Law to stealthily raise myself up a few steps for a better angle, but I didn't bother.
It wasn't midsummer yet, so it did get quite chilly once the sun set, but not enough to tremble like this.
It seemed like something unsettling had happened.
"...Atlas, there's a problem...."
"What kind of problem makes you tremble like this?"
Riber looked down at me with moist eyes.
"The male dormitory security seems to have been strengthened too. I almost got into big trouble..."
"The security here??"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"You tried to go in and the door wouldn't open, and you even felt signs of someone walking around inside the dorm?"
"Yeah... hearing the sound of metal, I think it might be Holy Knights..."
We faced each other from less than a handspan apart as Riber grumbled.
Her long blonde hair, swaying in time with Riber's bobbing head, tickled my nose.
I pillowed her head on one arm and listened to her story.
"This is uncomfortable."
"I know."
The dormitory security had been further reinforced.
After hearing what Riber said, I tried it myself. As a male, the door opened for me, but it wouldn't open for Riber, since she's female.
They had strengthened the security system in that brief span of time.
It was infuriating how frighteningly competent they were.
Actually, I wondered if things had been too lax until now, but as the security tightened, it became hard to do things the way we used to.
And by raising the overall security level, not only were male students blocked from entering the female dormitory, but female students were also blocked from entering the male dormitory.
When I took a look, it wasn't just that Holy Knights had been added to the night duty rotation; it looked like they were simply posting one extra person at each station.
The faculty who had been casually snoring through their duties until now must be in agony, with a Holy Knight standing duty strictly by the book right next to them.
It meant it was now impossible to secretly slip into the dormitory in the middle of the night, fool around and giggle, and play until morning.
Right now, we weren't both in my dorm bed like before.
We were lying on a mat laid out on the grass of a hill near the dormitory.
Lying on the grass at night looking at the stars made for an incredibly nice atmosphere.
"The night sky is truly beautiful."
"I never thought I'd be sleeping rough."
"Sleeping rough, let's just think of it as a chance to look at the night sky together."
I could hear insects chirping all around, and unlike in the dormitory, the air wasn't filled with anyone's scent but felt like nature.
The chill was still a problem, but we had brought one blanket and were sharing it, so it was bearable.
In my previous life, we would have been swarmed by all sorts of bugs doing this, but in this world, convenient techniques like insect-repelling magic and bug-chasing spells meant we didn't have to worry about that.
But we couldn't lie on the grass like this every time.
We needed to come up with a countermeasure.
"Now that it's come to this... should we set up a hideout outside instead of the dorm?"
"Isn't the scale suddenly getting too big?"
"The academy grounds are wide, so if we just pick a spot well where we won't be caught, we could buy a prefabricated mansion and install it, and then we can use it for a long time."
As I talked, a good idea came to mind.
The area where professors could reside always seemed to have vacant rooms; wouldn't it be okay to use one of those?
"But that place is too far. If it gets more complicated than coming all the way here, isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"
"It's better than sleeping rough."
While chatting, I suddenly stared at Riber's face as she lay beside me.
When I looked at her openly, Riber likewise turned her head and locked eyes with me.
Maybe because of the open feeling of the outdoors, or the natural scenery spread around us, Riber looked more mysteriously beautiful than anyone else under the dim moonlight.
The sight of Riber locking eyes with me from just a handspan away was so endearing that I couldn't help but launch a surprise attack, lightly kissing her red lips.
"Eut..."
"No. Sometimes, doing this is nice too."
"...It's already become more than just sometimes."
At the surprise kiss, Riber's face turned red.
I thought about going all the way, but the fact that we were outdoors kept putting the brakes on my mind.
"The openness is too much... Should I really try talking to Bishop about easing the security on the dorms?"
"Is that possible?"
"We won't know until we try. But it's a bit awkward to bring this up."
"Is it really that awkward...?"
"Asking him to let women enter the male dormitory after curfew is too blatant, so I need to think about how to phrase it indirectly. "
If I had to deliver a message to Bishop, I would have to go as a Shadow, and if I went and asked him to lift the security because I was going to call a female student into my dorm room, he would definitely do that for me.
It wasn't even a question of whether he'd do it—just having to say those words was incredibly embarrassing.
It was no different from publicly revealing the secret relationship we had been hiding from others; could I really do that?
No, did I have to?
Rather than taking such a risk, wouldn't it be better to just set up another place on the grounds?
"We're stuck between a rock and a hard place..."
My actions were being indirectly restricted like this for now, but it was bearable to this extent.
It also felt like a thrill that hadn't been there before, and thanks to it, situations I normally wouldn't have imagined were being created.
But at the same time, there was another unease.
The scene I saw during the day came to mind.
The thought occurred: if they suppressed me the same way, would I be able to endure it?
'There's no way I could endure it.'
A huge fight would definitely happen.
The thought crossed my mind that if I was going to fight anyway, wouldn't it be better to fight now? But fighting as a Master of the Empire and fighting as a mere academy student were completely different things.
For now, as long as they don't touch me, I don't want to get swept up in headaches.
I had far too many things I needed to focus on to waste time on useless nonsense like a code of conduct.
Like how the Demon Church would move next, or how I could dump the matter of the Demon Church onto other Masters at the summit, or how I could tease everyone at this study session, or what to eat for dinner tomorrow—such weighty thoughts.
And with vacation right around the corner, I also had to go back to Titan at least once.
Just as I was organizing those thoughts in my head, I felt a gaze from beside me.
"Atlas, look here."
"Me?"
When I turned my head back, Riber was wearing an incredibly dissatisfied expression.
"Honestly...!"
-Kudangtang!
Out of nowhere, Riber grabbed both my shoulders and climbed onto my stomach.
Because it happened in an instant, I just opened my eyes wide in surprise and looked up at Riber.
"You keep turning up the heat, you're not planning to end it here, are you?"
"Uh... huh?"
I felt Riber's rough breathing.
Looking again, Riber's eyes were already gleaming gold.
I was flustered and didn't know what to say.
"Well... no matter what, still, outside is a bit much, isn't it...? Someone might see..."
"Who would come all the way into the woods at this time of night?"
Riber lightly nibbled the nape of my neck.
I felt a hot heat contrasting with the chilly air.
'Ah, whatever.'
Inhaling deeply Riber's scent as she nibbled my neck, I swept both hands up from her lower body to her upper body.
At this point, caring about such trivial things was stupid.
When my hands slid up her body, Riber flinched.
The brake that had been engaged due to being outdoors was smashed to pieces by the golden wolf.
It was a night with a waning moon.
———————————————
"An honored... guest has arrived. Welcome, Bishop-nim."
"You say that, I don't know where to put myself, Pastor-nim."
At the academy's one and only church, two clergymen exchanged greetings.
One was Pastor Pareway, who oversaw the academy church, and the other was Bishop Peter, who had been directly dispatched from the Holy See to the academy this time.
"As children serving the same Father, who could not be considered precious? But still... what brings you here?"
"I came to offer admonishment (諫言)."
"Admonishment... Please, speak freely."
When the Bishop gave a kindly smile, the pastor brought out the words he had prepared.
"The code of conduct Bishop-nim proclaimed at the academy as soon as you took office... it still seems too early. Would it not be better to take some time to better grasp the academy first? The students are in great confusion over the academy that changed overnight."
"I have no intention of withdrawing the code of conduct."
The Bishop cut off the pastor's words without a moment's hesitation.
His expression was no longer the gentle smile from before, but had become as taciturn and solemn as a stone statue.
His skin, usually soft and mobile, now looked like a solid lump of stone that would not budge.
"Those two policies are the minimum conditions to protect the students from demons. As Shadow-nim also knows, demons that have already entered this world can be caught. But there is no way to catch demons that do not yet belong to this world.
No matter how much we set up defenses outside, if a demon appears inside the academy, we cannot block it. And do such demons not appear in response to emotions pushed to the extreme, unless a ritual is being conducted?"
"However, if you oppress the students to block demons, might the oppressed students themselves not produce such emotions...?"
"The emotion that emerges when something is prohibited is, at worst, mere discontent. It is nothing compared to the fall of emotions generated by the prohibited actions themselves, Jo."
"That method is one used in monasteries where everyone has already entered with resolve. The academy is full of young children whose emotions are already highly volatile."
"...."
At the pastor's words, Bishop Peter seemed to quietly think before opening his mouth.
"Pastor-nim, do you remember the incident at the academy 12 years ago?"
"?!"
At the Bishop's words, the pastor was visibly flustered.
Twelve years ago had been the pastor's fifth year assigned to the academy church.
And what that incident meant, the pastor remembered more clearly than anyone else.
"... H-how did you know about that..?"
"When I received Pope-nim's order to go to the academy, I investigated the academy thoroughly. The code of conduct is not something I uttered without meaning."
The Bishop turned around.
"I came here having received the order from Pope-nim to protect the academy from the clutches of demons. I will definitely protect this place."