### Episode 54: Shadows (2)
Thanks to Cecilia’s divine power, I recovered quickly and was summoned to a faculty meeting by the principal.
It seemed they were holding a hearing regarding the series of events that had happened to me.
“Don’t worry too much. You didn’t do anything wrong, so just recount what happened to you.”
“Yes.”
Professor James, while walking with me to the meeting room, seemed to think I was nervous and tried to reassure me, saying it wasn’t a big deal and it would be over soon.
Considering the position of a student, being in such a situation might feel awkward and frightening, so I believe he was being considerate of me.
Although he was a demon during special classes, taking care of me in this situation was quite unexpected and made me feel a little moved.
“We’re here.”
The place where Professor James and I arrived was the main conference room.
It was the location used for discussions regarding the punishment of problematic students or construction within the Academy. Its interior was as vast as a large lecture hall.
In the center of the meeting room, which was empty like an open field, there was only one chair for me, the party involved, surrounded by professors in a formation that encircled me.
This was likely to pressure students who were facing reasons for suspension or expulsion, but since I didn’t have such issues, it only seemed like an unusual structure to me.
“Good to see you, Rab. Would you like to sit over here?”
The venerable elder at the head seat smiled kindly and invited me to sit in the chair at the center.
‘This is the person I saw during the opening ceremony.’
Despite his grandfatherly demeanor, I could feel a strangely oppressive aura as I slowly took my seat.
The senior professors who were already seated were looking at me with interest.
It seemed they were surprised, having investigated the case and realized that I had defeated such a monstrous creature alone.
“Rab, could you please describe in detail what happened that day?”
“…Yes.”
I calmly explained how the creature had suddenly appeared during the practice session and launched an attack on me, leading me to eventually decide to fight, resulting in a fierce battle that ended with me barely defeating it.
As I continued my explanation, the expressions of the professors grew increasingly astonished.
“A monster imitating human voices… until now, monsters possessed intelligence but thought patterns closer to beasts, didn’t they?”
“This is odd… No matter how sudden the mutation, is it really possible for a mere nocturnal forest monster to display such evolved abilities?”
“We don’t know how many more of these creatures there might be! The nocturnal forest area must be closed down immediately, and a thorough investigation must be conducted!”
Amidst the noisy professors, the principal just quietly stared at me.
As if sensing an unspoken message, I stiffened under his gaze. Then, the principal who had been silent started to speak.
“Rab.”
“Yes, Principal.”
“We examined your signal device, and the location where you were found was twice as deep into the forest than originally planned. It was perilous, as it almost reached the middle-boundary’s edge, where occasionally stronger creatures cross over through its weak points.”
“…I see.”
No wonder I felt strange when I screamed and fought the mutant, only to realize no student came to help.
The dense forest prevented sound from spreading widely, and I myself was so far away that the other students likely didn’t notice.
“For this reason, I also suspect that this incident might be a trap intentionally set for you. Do you have any suspicions?”
“….”
I know the masterminds behind this event are the black mages who follow the Evil God.
I also suspect the person who conspired (or rather received the contract) for this incident.
However, if this information gets out too early, it might increase their resistance prematurely and cause unforeseen repercussions.
“…Honestly.”
Although it was a dilemma, I made up my mind quickly.
“I have no suspicions. I also think this was just an accident due to plain bad luck.”
I will keep this concealed for now.
There’s no benefit in revealing that the masterminds are black mages too early, especially since the culprit is still “here.”
“…Are you really sure about that?”
“Yes. Even though I almost died, the Academy wouldn’t have known about the birth of such a sudden mutant. That would be almost on the level of precognition.”
“Hmm…”
“Of course, there is a problem regarding the management of Academy facilities. If the signal device worked properly, my life wouldn’t have been in such danger.”
The principal steadily looked at me to discern if I was lying.
However, with me, the party involved, firmly asserting it was an accident, he seemed hesitant to press me further and indicated that he was preparing to conclude the hearing.
“Alright. If that’s your judgment, I will respect that. The staff responsible for managing the signal devices will face a three-month pay cut and compensatory measures.”
“Don’t be too harsh, please. They didn’t intend to harm me.”
“I’ll take that into consideration.”
With that, the hearing was over.
While the professors discussed the peculiar ecology of the sudden mutant, I quietly observed the “culprit.”
Fortunately, he seemed to show no particular interest in me, likely judging that I didn’t know anything.
“Ah, could I add one more thing?”
“Hmm? What is it?”
I turned my head to look at Professor James.
“Professor.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Didn’t Professor James say that the student with the highest score would receive an exemption from the next assignment?”
“That’s true… I did say that.”
“Would the monster I defeated be worthy of first place?”
At my bold response, the professor froze for a moment before bursting into a wide smile.
“Haha, you crazy guy… Congratulations on getting first place in this training session, Rab Netoire.”
“Thank you.”
“The next assignment is automatically exempted for you. Wow, were you that opposed to the homework?”
“Yes, well…”
‘There is another important reason though.’
The bet before the practice session with Maiten.
Had I not defeated the beast, I was going to lose the rare item ‘Emotic Flower’ that he had promised.
‘Thanks, Maiten.’
Even though his jealousy would only worsen, it’s worth enduring when I think about Cecilia’s happiness when she receives the flower.
‘Maybe I’ll ask her for something next time.’
As I happily imagined what rare items I could extract from Maiten, who had now become my valuable patron, I left the meeting room.
—
—
—
“Hmph… it’s fortunate that the reckless brat hasn’t caught on to anything. After all, how would someone like him ever know what we’ve done.”
A man muttered to himself as he walked down the hallway.
“Ah! Assistant, where are you coming from?”
“Ah, I was at a meeting. Are you heading back to the dormitory? Be careful, alright~”
“Yes, yes~!”
When a group of female students approached and greeted him, the man greeted them with a cheerful smile. The female students screamed in delight at his smile.
“Assistant Keru acknowledged my greeting!”
“Did you see the sparkle in Assistant’s eyes? It was insane~!”
As the cheerful laughter of the female students faded behind him, Keru immediately changed his expression, furrowing his brow.
“Damn… how much longer must I rot in this dump?”
Keru was a spy for the Black Mages, infiltrated into the Academy to acquire internal information.
Despite undergoing a powerful operation to suppress his Black Magic to avoid detection, his superiors had only been telling him to wait until the Great Plan, leaving him dissatisfied with not starting serious missions.
Just before his dissatisfaction reached its peak, he was elated to receive orders a few days ago to assist in releasing an artificial monster to kill a student.
Although the order failed when the monster was defeated by that reckless brat, Keru had savored the pleasure of indirectly killing an Academy student, and was now in a wild state, craving that sensation again.
“Ah… can’t someone else die soon? Preferably someone I can kill directly this time.”
As Keru entered his assistant’s room with disturbing thoughts, he noticed a letter sitting on his desk.
“What’s this?”
A pretty pink letter with a shyly placed heart sticker.
Anyone could tell it was a love letter.
“Hmph, seriously. Women get all heated up over a handsome face, huh.”
Keru, who knew he had more than a few admirers among the students, opened the letter indifferently, only to come across an unexpected name inside.
[Keru Assistant… I haven’t been able to sleep thinking about you. My heart races just thinking about you, and I cannot calm my excitement. Let’s meet at the back garden of the Department of Medicine at 10 o’clock tonight. – Cecilia Boich]
“Is the noble daughter of the Boichi Family out of her mind?!”
When Keru realized the identity of the person sending the love letter, he was initially flustered but quickly hatched another sinister plan.
“So you’re pretending to be interested in the prince, but it’s all a lie? He’s been pressuring you, so you’re doing this unwillingly. Hmph, what a useless fool. Showing no respect for such a high-quality treasure.”
Keru, who regarded the noble daughter as a valuable item, began devising a plan to sexually assault her and then kill her, framing Rab Netoire for everything, all while savoring the sweet fragrance of the letter’s paper.
