63. Reward
63. Reward
Adelia's bewitching crimson eyes swept over my body, here and there.
"Why the sudden curiosity about that?"
Then she whispered in a sticky voice.
"And who told you that there exists someone who can see the shape of souls?"
I didn't answer, just counted numbers in my head.
Like that. One. Two. When I reached three.
Thud.
The door, already shattered and barely propped up, toppled over.
"Special Professor Adelia Baros. I clearly saw you leave just a moment ago, so why are you here?"
The head maid of the Signia building.
Mikel Vendelin entered.
"Hmm...? Oh my...?"
Adelia, who had been holding an enigmatic air just moments ago, now wore a thoroughly flustered expression at Mikel's appearance.
I looked at her and grinned.
"Isn't this, like, a violation of academy rules or something?"
"Correct. No matter how much of a special professor one may be, entering a student's room without any consent is a clear violation of academy rules. Therefore, you will face disciplinary action accordingly."
"That's what she says, Professor... Adelia."
"When did you even...?"
"Who knows."
A moment ago, the instant Adelia let slip that she could see the shape of souls, I had pressed the emergency bell.
I'd gotten all the information I needed, so time to clean up.
Anyway, she could even see that I was weakened? I didn't expect her to be that sharp.
Still, the fortunate part was that Adelia didn't seem to be over 400 years old.
She only said she could see the shape of souls, and she didn't seem to know at all that I had been Ronan.
Anyway, with that one answer, the puzzle pieces in my head clicked into place.
The reason she'd been pouring sticky attention on me since the start of the semester was because of the shape of my soul.
And that, from the shape of a soul alone, she could see things like a person's talent or potential.
Furthermore, my future course of action was now set.
I must avoid catching the eyes of anything related to demons as much as possible.
Of course, I'd already thought before about not drawing their attention until I got stronger, but it seemed I'd need to be a bit more careful.
A sigh escaped me on its own.
I solve one incident and an easier path should open up, but instead, even more complicated problems keep popping out.
Still, it's a relief I found out before it was too late...
I let out another sigh and shook my head.
"Mikel. Please take care of Professor Adelia. And could you also bring me a sick leave application form?"
"Yes. I'll prepare a simple meal as well."
"Thank you."
"Call for me whenever you need."
Mikel, leaving behind a bow measured as if by a protractor, immediately looked at Adelia's face and murmured low.
"Let's go together, Special Professor Adelia."
"Um... couldn't you let this slide?"
"Not twice."
"...I suppose I have no choice."
Adelia nodded weakly, let out a small sigh, and glanced at me.
"Miss Eliarnes is truly too cruel. Last time you sucked out all the sweet nectar and tossed me aside, and today too..."
"When did I ever suck out the nectar? The nectar was just flowing out, so I merely put my lips to it."
"...Huh?"
Adelia's expression, always overflowing with composure and utterly insufferable, shattered in an instant.
"I never asked, nor was I ever curious. Everything was just... Professor Adelia volunteering all sorts of information, wasn't it?"
I shrugged and bowed my head to Mikel.
"Then, I'll leave it to you. Mikel."
"Yes. Rest comfortably. I'll have the door fixed within an hour."
"Yep."
"You're really... really too cruel..."
Adelia, being dragged outside, stared at me to the very end with a face steeped in resentment, frustration, disbelief, and betrayal.
Watching Adelia like that, I started to raise my middle finger...
barely folded it back down, and instead stuck out my tongue—bleh—and sneered at her with all I had.
And so, quiet peace returned once more.
I heaved my trembling body up and pulled out the Device I'd shoved into a drawer.
I'd thought I'd never use it since it was so inconvenient, but now was the time to use it somehow.
*****
Tap— tap—
Chilled platinum eyes heavily swept over the documents laid on the table.
The emergence of a Labyrinth.
An attack by Demons and Demonized Humans.
An attempted assassination of an imperial family member.
And the eerily swift resolution of the incident, the handling, the rumors, the movements.
The Labyrinth emergence "accident" within the Imperial Capital had, on the surface, produced not a single death.
Only missing persons had appeared.
And, naturally.
The treason of the escort knight who had tried to assassinate the Second Princess was also buried without much fuss, under the pretext of Demonic Energy erosion and hypnosis by a Demon's Authority.
Following that, all students of Karelai Academy were forbidden from leaving campus.
It wasn't that there had been deaths inside the academy, but given the nature of an academy that gathered all the Empire's talents, they had taken a hard line to protect the students.
On the surface, that is.
Behind the scenes, there was another reason.
Because they thought there might be Demon collaborators mixed among the students.
Thus, among the children of high-ranking families, quite a few students applied for leave of absence under pressure from their parents.
Especially students who had come from kingdoms other than the Empire.
If one held Imperial citizenship, one couldn't recklessly file for leave, mindful of the imperial princes and princesses enrolled at the academy, and further, of the Empire's watchful eye.
Karelai Academy was the pride of the Empire.
Applying for leave out of concern and worry over the security of such an academy could be perceived as doubting the Empire's public order.
But if one's nationality was different, there was no need to walk on eggshells. No matter how powerful and mighty the Empire was, pressuring a kingdom with such flimsy justification was absurd.
Moreover, this was not an accident, but an incident.
And that fact was surely known to everyone in high positions, even in other kingdoms.
A Demon attack. The emergence of a Labyrinth.
Deaths resulting from it.
It was an incident that had not occurred even once within the Imperial Capital in nearly 100 years, so the aftershocks were bound to be great.
On the other hand, the imperial family and the nobles aligned with them used this incident as a weapon.
Demons were the enemy.
The common enemy of all humanity, an evil that must be united against and wiped from this land.
That was a fact known to everyone living on the continent.
Those Demons, who had signed a peace treaty and remained quiet for a time, had revealed themselves once more.
They had even run rampant within the Imperial Capital.
It meant that the "enemy" all humanity must unite to annihilate had appeared again.
Because of that, all of humanity would have no choice but to unite once more.
And the Empire, possessing the greatest power on the continent, would become the focal point.
For the Empire, it was a crucial opportunity that could serve as a stepping stone to rise once again.
On the surface, the Hermann Empire presented itself as mighty, but inside it was already rotting and festering.
After the peace treaty, the Empire's political situation had slowly begun tilting toward instability.
It was inevitable.
After the long war ended.
The nobles, now guaranteed their right to survive, moved to fill the bellies that had gone hungry throughout the war.
Of course, it wasn't only the nobles.
The neighboring nations that had joined hands with the Empire—the center of the war and the strongest power on the continent—also had their turn to reclaim what they had lost and given up.
Because of the internal divisions that began that way, and the petty external pressures, the Empire had been silently suffering, hidden from others' eyes.
There were even opinions from some quarters that a war not among Demons, but between humans, might break out.
But at that very moment, the Demons appeared.
They dragged the forgotten terror of Demons back to the surface and reawakened a sense of urgency.
And so.
The Empire's power, which everyone feared, and its geographical advantage, which everyone found annoying. Along with information that could only be found in the Empire's Forbidden Archive.
It was an opportunity to sharpen a blade that had grown dull.
Which was why it was strange.
Everything had gone unnaturally smoothly—too easily.
Fabiana, who had been retracing the large and small incidents that seemed to flow naturally along someone's intent, massaged her throbbing brow and leaned back in her chair.
The incident had unquestionably begun with the imperial family.
At the very least, the origin of the incident would be a marquis-level or higher noble aligned with the imperial family.
Otherwise, there was no way things would flow like this.
"I can't face Eliarnes..."
Fabiana had tried to conceal as much as she could, according to Eliarnes's wishes.
That didn't mean she tried to hide everything.
She had intended to reveal only enough achievements to justify granting access to the Treasury and the Forbidden Archive.
But it wasn't easy.
In some respects, it was impossible.
An unspecified number of people knew about things that had happened only inside, having heard them as rumors.
And the origin of those rumors, naturally, could not be found.
It was absurd.
Fabiana de Hermann.
She was the First Princess. The princess known to hold the most formidable power in the imperial family and to have the highest succession rank.
For such a Fabiana—Fabiana, who held the Information Guild of the Imperial Capital in her grasp—to fail to find the mere source of a rumor was nearly impossible.
But it was not absolutely impossible.
There were certainly people who could blind Fabiana and draw the bigger picture.
The Emperor, and the Empress.
And.
"Anton de Hermann..."
The First Prince. Anton de Hermann.
"Is this the doing of that bastard of an older brother I’d like to chew up and kill?"
Crunch— Fabiana ground her teeth, took a magic herb from her bosom, and put it in her mouth.
Then, flick— flick— engraved with the imperial crest.
Just as she was about to light it with the Emperor's lighter she had stolen last month.
Ding—
"Hm?"
Her Device rang.
Who was bold and insolent enough to contact her by message?
Wearing a menacing smile, Fabiana picked up the Device with rough movements.
And.
"Ha... ahahahaha!"
Without suppressing the laughter that burst out, she took in the message that appeared on the Device screen.
[uiouas1.,]
[This is Eliarnes~...^^]
[Good.,morning.]
[I.have.something.to.tell.you.about.yesterday's.work...]
[Would.you.happen.to.have.some.time~?]