Chapter 674 “Begging for Subscriptions” Dark Demon
The “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” gave Emma a slight smile, and the third eye between her brows glimmered faintly under Professor Lily’s spell.
Emma suddenly became alert, but what she was thinking had already been seen by the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes.”
Even though she could see through the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes'” ability to read minds, she had no effective countermeasures.
This made her very angry, and she glared fiercely at the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes.”
But in response, the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” looked at her with mockery.
“Cough!”
Dark hurriedly coughed to draw attention, then said, “Emma, if you have any thoughts, you can say them out loud.”
Emma withdrew her gaze and tried not to think about anything else: “I have nothing to say. Should we follow the procedure or skip directly?”
She naturally wanted to skip it, but Dark chose to go through the procedure.
…
Although a comprehensive search was extremely inefficient, it was indeed an effective method.
However, he was very familiar with the second-year students, and after basic confirmation, there were no suspicious individuals. Thus, when checking the second-year students, he felt quite relaxed—until Wit Gold entered the barrier.
“Hey, Dark,” Wit Gold waved as he walked in.
Dark glanced over and saw Robert Broheim being checked by Professor Kazel.
He nodded and said, “Good evening, Wit. Take a seat first.”
Wit sat down, curious, and asked, “Nighttime search, is it because of Senior Fern Morse?”
He had experience in this area.
Dark nodded slightly and said, “I need to ask you a few questions. Just answer honestly.”
Wit’s gaze swept over him and looked at the other two teachers.
One was a long-haired woman he had never seen before, and the other… well, was Professor Lily sitting upright.
Though he wondered why Professor Lily wasn’t sitting in the middle but rather Dark Demon, Wit didn’t bring it up at that moment.
But he didn’t know that his thoughts had already been completely seen by the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes.”
Seeing no reaction from him, Dark proceeded with the usual procedure and pointed at the “Brain Fluid Demon,” asking, “Do you know what this is?”
Wit examined it carefully and hesitated, “Is it a slime? Or a jellyfish?”
Dark looked at the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes,” who nodded slightly.
Dark then said, “Then it’s your turn to ask.”
“Alright, master.” The “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” asked under Wit’s astonished gaze, “Since you don’t even know what a ‘Brain Fluid Demon’ is, you certainly can’t be a ‘Cultivator.’ Have you ever had contact with Senior Fern Morse?”
“No,” Wit Gold immediately rebutted, “I still know what a ‘Brain Fluid Demon’ is!”
The “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” frowned and asked, “What is a ‘Brain Fluid Demon’?”
Wit Gold’s eyes flickered, and he quickly replied, “A demon that feeds on brains?”
The “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” smiled sarcastically, laughing softly, “So this is what you call knowing? How did you learn about the ‘Brain Fluid Demon’?”
“Of course from…” Wit Gold was momentarily stunned, but he continued, “someone told me.”
“It seems that person only has a partial understanding.” The “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” said lightly, “Since you can’t even recognize a ‘Brain Fluid Demon’ right in front of you, you shouldn’t claim to know anything. Please answer my question again: Have you had any contact with Senior Fern Morse?”
Wit Gold looked displeased and said directly, “Why would I have contact with a senior from the Fool’s Academy?”
As soon as he finished, the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” turned her gaze toward Dark.
Dark nodded slightly, and the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” said, “You can leave now.”
Wit Gold walked out of the exit, bewildered.
He really didn’t understand what he had done to upset that woman.
…
After he left, Dark whispered, “What did you find out?”
“The Goddess of Heartful Eyes” became serious, “He might not be related to the ‘Brain Fluid Demon,’ but I saw fog in his mind.”
“Fog?” Dark frowned.
“The Goddess of Heartful Eyes” said, “There is a layer of fog covering his mind, making it hard to see through. However, the fog is currently too thin, so I can easily penetrate it.”
Dark asked, “Is that fog good or bad, known or unknown, controllable or uncontrollable?”
The “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” said softly, “When I peeked, there was no feedback, which suggests he might not know about it. It’s possible something is parasitizing inside him, using the fog to hide its presence.”
Dark frowned, “Isn’t it the ‘Brain Fluid Demon’?”
The “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” shook her head, “That should be something entirely different.”
Dark became more puzzled, “He often meets with the Blood Princess. If something really is parasitizing him, it couldn’t have remained hidden from the Blood Princess. What do you think, Professor Lily?”
Lily widened her eyes, “Ah? Ah! Lily wasn’t sleeping!”
Dark: “…”
This mechanical search work was indeed boring for the Imp.
Dark: “Why don’t you find somewhere else to sleep?”
Lily: “I already said I wasn’t sleeping! You keep doing this and Lily will get angry!”
Dark turned back and put three marks next to Wit Gold’s name.
Wit Gold’s anomaly couldn’t be ignored.
Even if he wasn’t the “Cultivator,” he was still a key focus.
…
The search for the second-year students quickly ended, and then it was the third-year students, followed by the fourth-year, fifth-year, and sixth-year students.
After all six years of students from the Knight Academy were thoroughly searched, Dark relaxed, took a sip of tea, and said, “Apart from those going to the dungeon, everyone else should have been searched, right?”
Professor Shylph had already entered the barrier and said, “It’s correct. The ‘Dungeon Escape Device’ records everything.”
Each student wears a “Dungeon Escape Device” when entering the dungeon, and the school uses these devices to track their locations.
Although tracking isn’t reliable within the dungeon, it can confirm who is inside.
Dark nodded, “Let’s tally the results.”
He stood up, walked around the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes,” and joined Professor Kazel to count.
Dark pointed at the notebook, “On my side, there are three high-priority targets marked with three stars, a bit more with two stars, and fewer with one star.”
“I’m similar.” Professor Kazel said solemnly, “Three-star targets are two, two-star and one-star combined are six. I didn’t expect so many students needed attention; this is just the Knight Academy. I heard the Fool’s Academy is worse?”
Professor Shylph refuted, “Actually, very few have real problems, and that’s not what we should focus on now.”
Dark said, “Should we do a second round of rechecks on the high-priority targets or start a full search of the Fool’s Academy?”
Professor Shylph looked at Professor Kazel and asked, “Kazel, what do you think?”
Kazel pondered for a moment and said, “I suggest doing a second round of rechecks. In the Knight Academy, I have two suspects. If confirmed, maybe we don’t need to continue searching.”
Dark asked, “Are they the two marked with three stars?”
“No,” Kazel shook his head, “They are two marked with one star.”
Dark was surprised, “If so, why not mark them with three stars?”
Kazel smiled, “Because they only have appropriate suspicion.”
…
Then, Professor Shylph gathered twenty students on the teacher’s platform according to the list.
Among these twenty high-priority targets, twelve were chosen by Dark.
Those marked with three stars, apart from Spike Leon from the first year and Wit Gold from the second year, also included a fifth-year student.
Andrew Morten, a physically strong fifth-year student, seemed like an ordinary student. But the “Goddess of Heartful Eyes” saw something odd in his heart!
While he was a Magus, he was also a rare Wizard!
Although Wizards are a type of magic profession, unlike revered mages, Wizards typically require various materials as mediums for casting spells.
Thus, they often deal with cauldrons and frequently boil herbs with unusual odors.
These odors accumulate and become hard to remove, leading to the dark impression of Wizards.
Saint Maryann Academy’s “Potions” originated from Wizardry.
Andrew Morten has kept his identity hidden, rarely using “Mana Potion Cards” even in mana duels.
This made his extraordinary strength unnoticed, and his grades remained mediocre.
But in today’s indiscriminate search, he was finally exposed!
In fact, his identity as a Wizard would earn him favor in the professors’ eyes, so there was no need to hide it.
Unless he had a special reason!
And a Wizard capable of creating a “Brain Fluid Demon” makes sense.
Plus, he frequently interacts with Fern Morse, making him even more suspicious.
…
Professor Kazel believed the key suspects were a first-year student and a fourth-year student.
Both from the Knight Academy, the first-year student was a timid-looking girl.
Dark, as a part-time arithmetic teacher for the first year, naturally knew her well.
She was named Julie Zephyria, of average height for her age, and performed averagely in class. When called upon, her round face flushed with shyness—this was precisely what made her suspicious.
She was a Knight Academy student!
According to Professor Kazel, Julie Zephyria’s heart was actually wild, and she had studied Mana Theory for at least three years.
In other words, if she hadn’t held back, she could have easily become the top student in the first-year Knight Academy.
Dark never expected her to be such a high-achieving student, so seeing her timidly walk into the barrier, he felt somewhat helpless.
The other fourth-year student suspected by Professor Kazel was Cameron Macefield, a male student.
Cameron Macefield possessed highly advanced mental magic. According to Professor Kazel, he was a born mental mage, whom even Professor Kazel found hard to read.
Cameron Macefield was relatively well-known in the Knight Academy, unlike Andrew Morten and Julie Zephyria, who preferred to stay low-key.
Only when Professor Kazel mentioned that Fern Morse might become a fool due to the “Brain Fluid Demon” implant did his emotions fluctuate significantly. Otherwise, Professor Kazel wouldn’t have doubted him due to his mental magic.
In summary, the five most suspicious people in the Knight Academy are:
1. Spike Leon from the first year;
2. Julie Zephyria from the first year;
3. Wit Gold from the second year;
4. Cameron Macefield from the fourth year;
5. Andrew Morten from the fifth year;
…
Among the remaining fifteen focus targets, there might be three to five spies.
Dark and others summoned them all to prevent the five most suspicious targets from becoming too nervous and doing something regrettable.
On the other hand, it was to lock the mouths of these potential spies, preventing them from spreading misinformation before the results came out.
Of course, the second round of rechecks would also be conducted one by one.
Professor Shylph divided the teacher’s platform barrier in half, letting Professor Lily manage one side while she, along with Dark and Professor Kazel, went to the other side. They reviewed the twenty students according to their year.
The first one to enter was Spike Leon from the first year.
Spike Leon sat upright, his spine straight, exuding a lion-like aura naturally.
Dark had a good impression of him and originally didn’t want to doubt him, but…
“Spike, can you tell me about your situation? If you’re seeking help from the academy, I believe Professors Kazel and Shylph would be willing to assist you, provided you tell them everything.”
Dark looked at Spike Leon’s eyes and said slowly.
The tall orc prince, facing this shorter second-year senior, suddenly felt like he was the smaller one.
His face tightened, and the fists on his knees clenched, but he remained silent.
