Chapter 291: Dark Demon Overwhelmingly Popular (4k)
Professor Kazel’s capabilities were actually quite strong.
However, sometimes he was not very willing to act.
Before the lunch break ended, he had already extracted the information from the golem from the previous night.
Skimming past the chaos caused by the two golem spirits, he indeed found traces of the “Invisibility Person.”
The “Invisibility Person” had indeed been lingering near one of the secret path entrances.
There were also signs that the seal on that entrance had been disturbed.
But the seals set up by the professors were not so easily broken.
So the seal remained intact, and the “Invisibility Person” couldn’t penetrate the secret path.
…
“Is it a student or a professor?”
Professor Shylph couldn’t help but ponder.
Saint Maryann’s students have never been well-behaved, and their backgrounds and identities give them various stances. There are also other forces secretly infiltrating the school.
Much of the academy’s information flows out through this.
But Saint Maryann Academy is fundamentally a pure educational institution, with a hint of “universal education,” and doesn’t particularly care about the composition of its students.
Therefore, if that “Invisibility Person” is truly a student, it would be very hard to find them.
But conversely, if it’s a professor…
The suspect range would instantly narrow down to just two people!
Most of the professors in the academy know each other inside and out, and are more trustworthy than the students.
However, this does not include the new professors, Ryan Hux and Metia Barseth.
Though Professor Shylph and Professor Metia are old acquaintances, they do not know each other well enough to be considered close friends.
And Professor Ryan Hux is even more suspicious!
Since the founding of Saint Maryann Academy, almost all professors have been personally selected and invited by the successive principals.
To this day, this has become an unwritten rule.
But Professor Ryan Hux applied on his own initiative!
Even though his application seemed to have ample reasons, it still raised suspicion.
But today’s matter cannot be resolved simply by having a suspect.
Professor Shylph slightly frowned.
From her standpoint, she could not easily interrogate a professor.
Moreover, everything needs a cause and effect.
What was the reason for the “Invisibility Person” wanting to enter the secret path?
If it was for the vampire—likely already dead—who had something special about them?
Why would someone risk so much to find them?
“No, that’s not right!”
Professor Shylph suddenly realized something very important.
She sharply looked at Professor Kazel and asked, “Kazel, did we publicize the vampire incident?”
Kazel was taken aback for a moment before shaking his head and confirming, “No.”
Professor Shylph then said, “So theoretically, the new professor shouldn’t know about that. And among the students, only they know…”
By “they,” she naturally meant Dark, Wit, Robert, Scott, and Betty.
Although students’ mouths are generally unreliable,
Professor Shylph also considered the possibility that one of them might have leaked the information.
But in such a case, it would be easy to narrow down the suspects by investigating each one.
Unless the “Invisibility Person”’s purpose in approaching the secret path wasn’t related to the vampire!
This logic made sense too.
But to solve the case, it would have to be done step by step.
After carefully discussing with Professor Kazel, they decided to temporarily keep it confidential and investigate secretly.
…
On Monday afternoon, it was time for Potions class.
After the class ended, Dark originally planned to go to the library as usual to do his homework, but just as he was about to get up, a gentle breeze brought a note to him.
He opened the note and immediately understood, heading straight to Professor Shylph’s office.
Compared to the offices of Professors Kazel and Lily, which he was already quite familiar with, Professor Shylph’s office was relatively unfamiliar to him.
He stood at the door for a while before knocking.
“Knock knock.”
“Come in.”
Professor Shylph’s voice came from inside the office.
As always, calm and cool.
Dark turned the doorknob and entered.
Professor Shylph’s office was spotless, exuding a fresh grass-like scent.
A quick glance revealed neatly stacked assignments on the desk and a beautiful elemental sitting behind it.
“Come, sit down.”
It wasn’t Professor Shylph who invited Dark to sit, but Professor Kazel who was sitting on the sofa.
Dark closed the door behind him and sat on the sofa, feeling at ease.
Professor Kazel poured him a cup of tea and then asked, “Did you say anything about last night?”
“Of course not.” Dark nodded and countered, “Professor, did you find out who it was?”
Professor Kazel shook his head. “How easy is it to find out? But we’ve made a list. Take a look.”
Dark naturally took the list and scanned it from top to bottom, somewhat surprised.
The names listed were all students, and the name of Professor Ryan Hux, whom he suspected, was not on it.
This made him look again.
“Wit, Robert, Scott, Betty…”
He only recognized a few of the names after that, but they were all members of the Seafood Sect.
He couldn’t help but raise his head and ask, “Professor, about this list?”
Professor Kazel explained, “These are the people who know about the vampire in the secret path. You should have seen them before; Wit is good friends with them.”
Dark thought for a moment and understood.
Professor Kazel then asked, “Well, did you tell anyone else?”
Dark replied, “Apart from Diana and Rose, no one else knows.”
Professor Kazel nodded. “That’s good. The number of people we need to investigate has decreased.”
Dark curiously asked, “Professor, do you suspect it’s a student?”
Professor Kazel nodded. “We’ve investigated the two new professors from the first year, but they both have solid alibis. Professor Hux was drunk at the tavern in Traveler’s Street last night. Professor Barseth was visiting Little Lily. It’s less likely to be any other professor.”
“Is that all?”
Dark couldn’t help but frown.
Of course, he wouldn’t doubt the professors’ investigation results, but in this era, such alibis didn’t seem to be worth much.
Magus users were professionals with countless ways to attend events without being present.
“Are you suspecting it’s some kind of substitute, puppet spell, or perhaps a golem acting in place?”
Professor Kazel sipped his black tea. “If that’s the case, it would indeed be difficult to uncover. But that’s something to consider when we delve deeper later.
Tonight, I’ll install concealment devices in some golems. If the person insists on entering the secret path, they will eventually reveal themselves.”
Dark nodded, realizing the professors’ thinking was even more meticulous than he imagined.
Today calling him here was probably just a reminder not to leak this information and avoid causing a commotion.
Regarding the list in his hand…
Dark couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. “If it’s one of these students, it might just be a prank or a violation of rules.”
Professor Shylph, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up from behind her desk, “Actually, the chances are slim. So we need to prepare, as the person might not be here for the vampire.”
Dark pondered. “In that case, the search area would instantly expand to the entire castle.”
Professor Shylph nodded. “The key is that the person hasn’t left many traces, making it difficult to track them down.”
Dark asked, “Can divination be used to calculate?”
Professor Shylph smiled. “Divination isn’t something that can be relied upon easily.”
Dark: “Indeed, then we can only lure them out.”
In reality…
Students sneaking around the castle at night with invisibility spells isn’t such a big deal.
Every year, there are a few troublemakers caught and put in detention.
This incident gained attention because it involved the secret path.
And it happened during a critical period when the path was sealed.
During another time, it would merely be a small topic of conversation, and likely forgotten by the next day.
…
Dark assisted the two professors in investigating the people on the list, and the results were as expected.
The members of the Seafood Sect had become overly obedient after the goddess incident last semester.
Due to their personalities, they rarely interacted with classmates, so the “vampire incident” known only to Wit and his friends did not spread.
…
Investigating without much background information was inherently difficult.
The plan to “lure them out” didn’t work.
After that night, no one approached the secret path entrance again.
It seemed like that night’s actions were just a fleeting whim.
But the investigation didn’t stop.
Instead, it shifted from a short-term plan to a long-term one.
…
This week seemed to pass in a blink.
With only three days left until the end of January.
Apart from his regular studies and helping with the investigation, Dark had almost become a charger for the Big Milk Jar, needing to charge a bunch of Ultimate Skill cards every day.
Ever since his first outing, the Big Milk Jar had been enjoying itself.
Despite instinctively choosing quiet times to go out, rumors of the pink baby cow began to circulate around the castle.
Each time the Big Milk Jar went out, it carried a golem spirit that paid the fare.
However, the fare kept dropping, from three red flowers to just one.
Even so, for golem spirits without a steady income, this was still a significant burden.
Consumption effectively stimulated economic growth.
Golem spirits, in order to earn more red flowers, became more proactive in their studies.
The entire economic circle started moving towards a positive direction.
This outcome was unexpected by Dark.
He was busy investigating the “Invisibility Person,” and it wasn’t until a few days later that he suddenly realized the progress in the golem spirits’ learning!
The best learner was Deoxys, already able to spell a large portion of words.
But the most impressive performer was Ditto!
The Ditto that transformed into Dark’s head successfully used a human vocal apparatus to speak!
Though limited to simple sounds like “粑粑麻麻,” it was still a significant improvement.
But the habit of transforming into Dark’s head always gave people an eerie feeling!
At the initial educational stage, Ditto had limited models to imitate.
For future plans, Dark had to endure!
Once successful,
The communication problems between Dark and the golem spirits would be completely solved!
The spirits, despite their different calls, could understand each other.
This puzzled Dark, but they seemed to be such creatures.
Dark was looking forward to Ditto becoming the dedicated translator at home!
…
The second-to-last day of January.
The weather was clear…
The temperature didn’t rise but continued to drop.
Students wrapped in thick scarves sat in the arithmetic classroom, cold both physically and mentally.
Even the little imp, who loved to smile, didn’t laugh anymore.
She had a stern face from the moment she entered the classroom, and after handing out the assignments, deducting points, and explaining, she did everything seamlessly.
This was the third test paper the young magi had taken.
The difficulty level jumped from elementary school to middle school, making the young magi who had only learned for a few weeks suffer greatly.
Even the students from the Noble Academy couldn’t escape.
Their “after-class professor” was busy with mundane affairs and couldn’t spare any time for after-class tutoring last week.
The upgraded difficulty crushed the students’ nerves, leaving everyone with a worried expression.
But they didn’t know that the little imp on the podium was also facing similar difficulties.
Last week, after grading the second test paper, Professor Lily sensed something amiss.
She intended to seek help from Dark, but her “little heart” was already booked for a whole week!
So, when writing the third test paper, she unknowingly added more pressure.
Now, the students had been scolded twice and stopped filling in answers randomly—they simply left them blank.
There was a silver lining.
Grading the papers was easier!
“Snap!”
The chalk broke suddenly.
Professor Lily’s explanation came to an abrupt halt.
She couldn’t help but glare fiercely at the golden-haired youth in the corner of the classroom.
Her gaze resembled that of an unloved woman in seclusion.
Dark Demon was puzzled.
The investigation assistance ended over the weekend, and this week he could finally relax a bit, so he felt pretty good.
But Professor Lily’s unusual behavior suddenly made him feel a foreboding sense of unease.
That sense of foreboding soon came true!
Dark Demon was finally caught by Professor Lily Laplace in her office.
Facing Professor Lily’s unreasonable demands, Dark couldn’t help but be stunned.
