The chilly night breeze brushed against my cheeks.
Ever since the people from the Church entered the Academy, Amy had been through a lot of chaos.
It’s true that the Church within the Academy, which mostly focused on worship during weekends, had many vulnerabilities and wasn’t exactly a fortress against demons.
Therefore, Amy frequently patrolled the Academy and hunted the demons that had crossed over from Hell a few times, following their trail.
This was a secret that Amy had never told anyone.
It seemed so obvious that she never felt the need to share it with anyone.
‘If the Knights patrol, we may have less work to do.’
– That would be the case.
Her companion wasn’t hostile towards the Church folk.
As soon as Amy’s skills began to level up, the first thing she suggested was contacting Saint McKinto.
After all, there were hardly any groups with a common goal of opposing demons.
‘If I say I specialize in hunting demons, I’d be treated like a lunatic…’
After centuries of the defeat and retreat of the devil worshippers, people had forgotten the existence of demons.
The Church always warned to be cautious of demons, but who would believe it when they had never actually seen one?
Though demons were extremely threatening, they were beings from another realm, making it difficult for people to even confirm their existence with their own eyes, and without making contracts, it was challenging for them to stay long in the human realm.
On the surface, a Demon looked no different from a human, so ordinary people wouldn’t even realize that a Demon was passing by with demonic traits.
After being thoroughly crushed by the Church, most people had successfully forgotten about their existence entirely.
The damage caused by monsters or bandits was far greater than that inflicted by demons, so in most countries, strategies for dealing with demons were often pushed to the back burner.
The Academy was no different.
The problem in the Academy stemmed from external forces targeting the students.
Due to its island status, pirates had fired their cannons, and some had even attacked riding wyverns from the sky.
All of these actions were aimed solely at the students attending the Academy.
Though many precautions were now in place regarding such issues, there were still very few strategies to handle demons.
‘Will that Code of Conduct… really help?’
– It will be of no use. What’s more important is that the Knights are patrolling all over the Academy and that Inquisitioners have increased in numbers.
If it’s them, they should be able to root out the average believers that we couldn’t identify until now.
Both Atlas and Amy recognized that there were still many informants within the Academy.
“That aside… I need to finish what I was doing.”
– To the left.
– Bang!!
In sync with her companion’s words, Amy’s pistol unleashed a fierce shot.
The precious blessed silver bullet sliced through the air.
It was hard to believe that Amy would waste such an expensive bullet in thin air.
[Graaaah?!!]
The bullet, fired with intense aura, struck the air, and a ripping scream was heard.
A demon resembling a human with pale blue skin collapsed, black magic energy seeping from its shoulder.
The silver bullet was not wasted.
The one who fell from the shot was a demon from Hell, tangled in the corrupt emotions that had built up in the Academy.
Judging by its position, it was presumed that it had crawled out of Hell in the evening and hid upon spotting the Knights.
It had managed to evade the Knights’ sight but was caught by Amy.
This was how demons slipped across from Hell without anyone knowing.
They all hid in unseen corners, yet the number of demons in the continent was far more than expected.
“See… running away doesn’t mean you can hide.”
[How did you notice even though I was hiding properly…?]
The blue demon already had another hole in its abdomen besides the shoulder, a mark left by the bullet shot as soon as it was discovered near the Academy.
The demon, wounded, tried to hide and escape, but coincidentally, Amy was quite skilled at tracking injured demons.
If it’s a demon that has yet to find a contractor, it doesn’t have a physical form, so it’s easier to deal with swiftly.
[W-Wait!! You’re the demon hunter…! If you just spare my life here… I’ll tell you the locations of the other demons hidden in the Academy…
Isn’t that what you need?? With my life, you could eradicate the seed of demons hidden in this Academy…!!]
The blue demon, stepping back at the sight of Amy approaching, made an intriguing offer.
It claimed it would share the locations of the hidden demons within the Academy.
It was a little amusing.
“Do you know that?”
[Yes! I’m the contact person! So… ]
Upon hearing Amy laugh, the demon brightened, rambling excitedly.
It boasted about its position in Hell and the demons presumed to have entered the Academy, gloating about how remarkable it was.
Yet, Amy’s finger remained firmly on the trigger.
– Bang!!
“That’s not happening.”
[W-Why not…?]
With a resolute stance, Amy shot the demon, as though it was unworthy of consideration.
The two silver bullets, precisely fired with one hand, pierced the demon’s forehead and heart, spewing magic energy from the wounds.
Amy’s expression was icy.
There wasn’t a trace of her usual carefree demeanor.
“Demons really do lie.”
The demon crumpled, transforming into a mass of magic energy and dissipating.
While humans’ souls remained upon their death, demons lost their form and scattered when they perished in this world.
“What a phony contact, nothing at all.”
Judging by the remnants, it was hard to believe that a low-ranking demon who had just crossed over from Hell could be called a contact; it was ridiculous enough to leave me speechless.
All demons are liars.
No matter how much they crawled in the dirt like insects in Hell, they become overly confident when they come to the world of humans.
As long as they heed three warnings, they are invincible in this realm.
– That’s enough for today.
“Though it seems like there aren’t any demons, they still manage to crawl out, one by one.”
– It can’t be helped. There’s no complete way to liberate ourselves from the threat of demons.
I sighed, yet I already knew that was the case.
I decided to head back around this time.
“I’ll take the shortcut…”
I decided to cut across the hill on the way back to the dormitory, just like when coming to school.
Thanks to running quickly while searching, I was now strolling leisurely on the way back, but I sensed a presence somewhere.
‘What time is it…?’
– … No, let’s just head back.
While I thought it was suspicious and was about to check, my companion stopped me.
‘What are you talking about? Who’d be roaming outside at this hour… It’s suspicious.’
– I’m saying this for your own good. Just pretend you didn’t see anything and turn back. It’s better that way. You need to start preparing for the skills assessment, so it’s wise to get some more sleep.
Amy felt an urge to get further in and see what was going on.
What on earth could be hiding there that made her companion advise her so strongly?
– Amy…!! You’ll regret it!!
‘What’s lurking there that’s so scary?’
Apparently, if you’re told not to do something, it makes you want to do it even more.
When she entered the bushes, the usual rustling sounds were absent, but with her sneaking skills, she was able to move silently through the grass.
With every step forward, her companion’s warnings echoed in her mind, but her curiosity took precedence.
“Ah…”
She heard a voice.
It was a voice filled with warmth.
It was a voice Amy had definitely heard somewhere before.
‘What… is it? No way?’
At this point, it was too late to turn back.
“Ah… Atlas….”
Under the beautiful night sky, on the blanket spread across the grass, a couple was entwined passionately.
And those two were very familiar figures to Amy.
‘Ugh… Aaaah??? I should have just gone back…!!!’
– Didn’t I say you’d regret it…
