Chapter 214
The professor researching Familiars in Rikeion.
I remembered him because he had several rare Familiars, including a cat that could divide into molecules.
‘His name was definitely… well, since he’s already out of the picture, there’s no need to dwell on it.’
I spread a white handkerchief wide and covered the dead professor’s body.
Of course, it wasn’t out of respect for the deceased.
Gulp—.
The white creature, grown to fit the professor’s stature, swallowed the body in one go.
If it were a living being, it couldn’t enter the white one, but since the body wasn’t alive anymore, it was possible to store it.
I wasn’t thrilled about something so impure going inside the white one, but I had no choice since I couldn’t carry it myself.
—Meow.
As I processed the body, I noticed something fluffy rubbing against my leg.
A Ragdoll cat-type Familiar.
How adorable that it was being affectionate to the one who killed its master.
Those sparkling eyes and dignified fur. It could be aloof, yet so charming at times…
‘…Well, that aside. It makes sense that it would be tired of its eccentric master who put glass jars in his mouth.’
Considering that cats notoriously dislike those who engage in unwanted behavior, it showed remarkable loyalty for sticking around this long.
“……”
Erica, who had approached before I realized it, gazed intently at the Familiar rubbing against me.
From her eyes, I could read a fierce desire to ‘touch it.’
At this point, it was indeed one of the FAMILIARS closest to its animal form.
“Go on, hold it. From the looks of it, it won’t bite or scratch you.”
“Really?”
“It seems to be a gentle one, so you should be fine.”
“Wow…!”
As she received the Familiar, Erica cradled it in her arms, unsure of what to do now.
Thank goodness Kkamag didn’t see this scene. If it had, it would have undoubtedly felt a huge emotional wound from such a different reaction.
However, seeing Erica genuinely happy after so long made my heart soften… wait, I need to focus. This isn’t my feeling; it’s Vargan’s. I can’t get distracted.
I forcibly gathered my dulled senses.
“Erica. Let’s start moving soon.”
“Where are we going this time?”
Erica gently stroked the Familiar, treating it like a precious treasure. Her round eyes turned to me.
Her blue eyes were similar to the Familiar’s eyes. …Who’s the cat here, really?
“Right now, the Heroes are taking the stage. They are the ones performing, not us.”
While Helion and the others draw the audience’s attention, I’ll be handling those they couldn’t manage from the back.
This approach is effective, and I can take all the credit later on.
And with rewards like a Familiar tagging along, isn’t it a win-win?
“From here on, I plan to visit the planner of this stage. I did my part, so I should get my due reward.”
“Planner…?”
“Yeah, the one benefiting the most from this incident.”
A cunning individual trying to use me.
Benefits should be shared, not hoarded.
“Time to eat.”
“Of course it is.”
*
“Coo…”
“You really don’t know anything, do you?”
Arha clicked her tongue as she looked at Erlich, who was blissfully asleep.
She wanted to give her a light smack on the head, but Ferangis, who was keeping watch by her side, prevented that.
The second-ranked hero, Arha’s current mentor, and also Erlich’s mentor, Ferangis gently stroked Erlich’s head, who had her face buried in Ferangis’s lap.
The look in Ferangis’s eyes as she gazed at Erlich was filled with an apology and affection, much like a mother’s.
“How boring. We can’t even get to the semifinals, and this is what we’re doing?”
Arha sat at the table, resting her face in her hands. To emphasize her boredom, she alternated shaking her feet.
Her injuries from the battle with Alicia had completely healed.
Grumbling, she continued to mumble to herself.
“I really wanted to fight Vargan. Why’s this so dull?”
“Arha, now isn’t the time for whining.”
“Hey, Heigel…”
Arha frowned instinctively at the man with long hair who approached her.
Heigel, the chancellor of Rikeion, continued speaking kindly to Arha, who was casually using informal language to someone of his stature.
“Actually, it’s more appropriate to be thankful to Ferangis. She saved us after the quarterfinals ambush, didn’t she?”
“She didn’t save me. I could have handled it myself.”
“No, at the time, Arha was in no condition to fight. If she hadn’t intervened, Erlich, who was being controlled, would have killed you.”
Right after the match with Alicia.
Vice Student Council President Jeraman used a blessing so that their battle wouldn’t be known outside, and it was Erlich, under control, who came to attack Arha.
If Ferangis hadn’t been keeping an eye on them, it could have turned into an irreversible situation.
“…Tch. Heigel, you nag too much. You’re not my deceased dad, so please stop with the advice.”
Arha abruptly turned her head away.
Despite her attitude, Heigel continued to look at her with the kind gaze of a caring instructor.
Arha, having felt a sense of deprivation she hadn’t experienced with Alicia, still hadn’t fully processed those feelings.
This genius clearly needed more time to mature.
Heigel smiled as if watching a child throwing a tantrum, then turned his gaze to Ferangis.
“How is Erlich doing?”
“…Fortunately, she’s stable for now.”
Ferangis, with her enchanting voice, was drenched in a sense of gloom like someone caught in the rain.
Each time she stroked Erlich’s head, the fragrance that usually filled the air was lighter than usual.
She chastised herself.
“I’ve done her a terrible disservice. Even though I’m her mentor and a Spirit Summoner, I didn’t realize there was an ‘alien presence’ inside Erlich.”
“…Thanks to you, we’re at this point, aren’t we? If it hadn’t been for you, Erlich’s soul would have been completely dominated, and she would never have recovered her original self.”
“I only managed to hold it off temporarily. I’m a pathetic mentor who can’t even heal her.”
Even the second-ranked hero, Ferangis, couldn’t eliminate the alien presence inside Erlich.
Touching her soul was dangerous; if mishandled, it could vanish altogether.
Heigel thought of that alien presence and spoke.
“Only that cardinal seems capable of doing such a thing in the Goddess Church… it must be Jephar.”
“Jephar… that insane child obsessed with his experiments.”
“I think it’s crazy to turn to Altife for help, but that kid is particularly bad. The recently appeared Archbishop Salecius in hero form, and Archbishop Glashalabolas, born from a mix of countless Altifes, and now there’s Erlich, who has an ‘artificial spirit’ growing in her soul…”
“Erlich is not to blame. I can guarantee that from examining her brain.”
“I know. This incident was just the artificial spirit temporarily taking over her body… However, it’s still difficult for her to carry on with daily life as before. We will need to conduct a thorough investigation as well.”
“I was just temporarily possessed… But it’s a bit much to continue with everyday life as it has been. We should continue with the detailed investigation.”
“…That’s true.”
It was too much to dismiss Erlich’s good fortune as mere coincidence.
That’s why Heigel and Ferangis have been keeping a close eye on her for some time now.
Recently, while extracting information from a believer of the Goddess Church they had caught, they heard something unusual.
—Artificial… Spirit… Experiment… Suitable… Erlich…
In the end, they could only gather minimal information before it turned into Altife, but what he revealed was a crucial clue to the questions they had been pondering.
Erlich’s extraordinary luck was said to have been artificially manipulated and enhanced by a lower spirit known as the Spirit of Fortune.
However, it seemed there was no Divine Bug implanted, considering they could inspect her brain.
They also found no traces of her entering the Goddess Church in the information available.
What they did find was a fragment of significantly damaged memories, a figure who had approached Erlich.
They confirmed it had been a man disguised as a human.
“That must have been Cardinal Jephar… A meticulous one. He knew we would eventually probe into the brain and only damaged his own image.”
“But he didn’t implant a Divine Bug, nor did he distort her memories.”
“There are various interpretations possible, but I think he was trying to send us a message.”
“Message?”
“‘I possess this level of magic and technical skill. I can create chaos from within at any time.’ Something like that. It’s not that I think there are many successful cases like Erlich, but it is indeed threatening.”
“Seems like he wants to make the Heroes and students suspect each other. The method is rather… typical of that scumbag.”
Ferangis’s gaze had become sharper.
The mad scientist Cardinal Jephar had garnered quite the notorious reputation.
He was known as the highest risk entity among cardinals, casually committing massacres and biological experiments.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Even though she hadn’t heard the story, Erlich’s expression twisted into a frown as she let out a sound of discomfort.
Ferangis used a mental spell to improve her condition and gently stroked her head again.
Instantly, Erlich’s mood lightened up, and she began to smile.
Her reaction was like that of a pet or a baby, and the tension in Ferangis’s eyes eased.
“Heigel, what do you think is the reason the Formless Faction was hiding with Erlich?”
“Well, it’s hard to say for sure. But Cardinal Jephar, being neutral, can build alliances or cooperative relationships outside of the struggles among the cardinals.”
“So you’re saying that after observing Erlich, who cultivated artificial spirits, Jephar wants to borrow her powers whenever he wishes…?”
“That seems likely.”
The powers of the cardinals.
The information known about the Goddess Church up to now.
Ferangis and Heigel continued their discussion.
Time flew by as their talk continued until a knock at the door interrupted their focus.
—Knock, knock.
“Finally, someone showed up? They’re really late.”
Arha, glued to the table, spoke nonchalantly. They were currently in the Chancellor’s office.
But this was not the usual Chancellor’s office; it was another space within that area, the ‘Hidden World.’
The creator of this Hidden World, Ferangis, was puzzled by the knock.
“That wasn’t a knock on the ‘door,’ was it?”
“What? Are they not trying to enter the Chancellor’s office? That means they’ve noticed the existence of this Hidden World, right? Is it another Hero?”
“Who could it be?”
Ferangis moved her mana, trying to discern who was attempting to approach the Hidden World from outside.
Only those who knew of this place were the other Heroes and Heigel.
Any outsider would have had to go through a very tedious process to get here…
“Oh, it’s a student?”
“A student?”
At the mention of a student, Arha suddenly raised her head.
Even Ferangis, who always acted calmly and composed, was quite surprised inside.
I was surprisingly caught off guard by the poem.
She opened the door to the other world.
I was more curious about how she figured this place out than why I came here.
—Creeeak.
The man who entered through the door said.
“I am Schugenharz Troa Vargan from Academia. Pardon my intrusion.”
After showing noble courtesy, he walked in confidently.
For someone claiming to intrude, his confidence was off the charts.
“I’ve solved all the riddles, so I’m here to collect my prize.”
Please share some sweet rewards with me.
Vargan said with a bright smile.
*
Alicia was rummaging through the hallways of Rikeion, searching for Vargan.
However, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find a trace of him, as if he had been cut off from the world.
At some moment, his mana suddenly ceased.
Currently, Rikeion was in chaos due to the expulsion of the Goddess Church’s influence.
Though I doubt it could happen… still, worried about blind Vargan, she couldn’t stop her feet.
With a burning anxiety, she called for him over and over.
Then suddenly—
‘Young Master’s mana…!’
Alicia sensed his mana in front of the Chancellor’s office.
Channeling wind magic, Alicia rushed out in a flash.
Just then, Vargan and Erica had opened the door to the Chancellor’s office.
Was the mana flow restricted inside? I don’t understand, but I’m glad I found him.
“Young Master…!”
“Alicia? You’re still not fully recovered…”
“Helion-sama has cast healing magic on me. More importantly, Young Master, are you hurt…? Ah!”
“I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong. So, you don’t need to worry.”
“That’s a relief…!”
Alicia smiled brightly. Even so, she was rubbing her forehead, likely in pain from the slap she received.
Then, looking dejected, she apologized for finding him late.
Vargan was about to give her another light slap but sighed and walked on.
“Enough. I’ve already heard your apologies to the point of exhaustion. No matter how much I praise you, you never lift your head… Seriously.”
“I’m so sorry… no, it’s not that…! Ah, I’ll accompany you, Young Master!”
Alicia chased after Vargan’s backside.
Then a little delayed, she spotted Erica and greeted her.
At least Erica wasn’t as scary to Alicia. She bowed slightly, and Alicia beamed with an incredibly pure smile.
Then Alicia reported to Vargan.
“Young Master. You might already know this, but the Goddess Church’s expulsion is occurring all over Rikeion.”
“Correct.”
“I’m ready to follow any orders, Young Master…?”
“I’ve already answered that question many times.”
“Is that so…?”
Before Alicia could open her mouth more, Vargan shook his head.
He answered, saying it was the last time.
“The situation should be considered resolved. No, it was just a minor happening, not a crisis at all. We just need to go into the room and spend our time.”
“But… the situation outside……. No, since you say so, Young Master, I will follow.”
“That’s all I need. Most results will be made public anyway. The major episodes coming up will be known soon… Hmm, yes… then in the meantime, you can work on your cursed magic training. Follow me, Alicia.”
“Cursed magic…! It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve learned from you, Young Master!”
“I’ll be strict, so why are you so excited?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I forgot my manners and spoke out of turn… Ah!”
“For a while, the phrase ‘I’m sorry’ is banned. How much have you said that it’s grating on the ears?”
“I will keep that in mind, Young Master!”
While the entire Rikeion was in turmoil over the Goddess Church issue,
Vargan truly took Erica and Alicia into a room for personal training.
Only after all the events settled did his face finally appear.
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