Chapter: 460
Using Joy’s halo, we arrived at the Academy’s dormitory after hitching a ride on several people.
Somewhere here, there’s a baron family who, regardless of their situation, have a Noble Young Lady among them. So the dorm where Visi stays is where nobles live.
However, her dorm was quite small compared to the ones Nana and Joy stayed in.
Though small, it was worlds better than the semi-basement I lived in during my past life.
“I’ve put Visi to sleep for a while. She was in a state that needed mental stabilization,” said Phoebe, who was taking care of her.
According to her, Visi’s mental state was rather precarious.
Is the necromancer really suffering from PTSD after such hardships?
Seriously, she’s really made a poor career choice.
Hmm. This is troublesome. If I don’t talk to Adri through Visi, Phoebe will figure it out.
I need some way…
– You don’t need to worry about that. She’s already caught on.
After a blunt remark from Adri, I turned my head slightly to see Phoebe nodding.
“…Sloppy Saintess. When did you know?”
“For quite a while. At least about half a year, I think.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“Since the Young Lady was quietly observing, was there any reason for me to intervene?”
Phoebe’s words, considering I didn’t say anything, carried no hesitation at all.
So if I say it’s fine, then there’s no issue, even with a necromancer and a necromancer?
…I appreciate the trust,
I really do.
But isn’t this a bit too much?
At least something like asking me would be good.
“Uh, you two? Can you explain to me what you’re talking about?”
While I was pondering the weight of Phoebe’s faith, Joy cautiously spoke up.
Ah, she doesn’t know yet.
After a moment of thought, I blocked out the sounds from inside the room and turned my gaze to Adri.
The age-old hag sensed my intent and subtly revealed herself.
– Greetings, Young Lady of the Partlan family. I am Adri, the necromancer of a fallen old house.
“…Y-y-you!?!”
Joy shrieked at the translucent figure of Adri and stepped back, turning her gaze toward me and Phoebe.
“…Why isn’t anyone doing anything?”
“What should we do, you silly goose?”
“Isn’t something supposed to happen?”
“No. There’s an undead here.”
“Do you think every undead should be exterminated?”
“Hmm. You think if they have a different race, they should be killed? Such cruelness hides behind that silly behavior. Truly a daughter of a sloppy duke.”
“Is it wrong?! Did I do something wrong?!”
While we, the clergy, projected a nonchalant demeanor, Joy seemed to calm down, biting her lips and then sighing.
“So, why has this ghost… Adri come to find us?”
“This old hag is an insignificant lonely ghost. It’s just optimized for sneaking around. Can’t you tell?”
When I frowned in despair, Adri and Joy’s expressions became subtle.
“Lady, could you please explain to us what is happening?”
“A sloppy little nobody got kidnapped.”
Phoebe expressed her worry regarding the assumption that the Young Lady of the Cleve Marquise was somewhere within the Academy, and Adri raised an eyebrow slightly.
– So, it’s about finding someone hidden by the Power of Void, huh.
“Can you do it?”
– Can you tell me the suspected locations? We should move efficiently when searching for a missing person.
Nodding at Adri’s words, I took out a reasonably large piece of paper from my inventory and began drawing a map of the Academy on the spot…
Hmm. Uh…
With every stroke, my aesthetic sense screamed _AAAARGH!_
The voice from my aesthetic sense questioned if I couldn’t even draw correctly.
Not much I could do against the painfully factual critiques of my aesthetic sense.
Damn! My power that was useless during the fight against the Followers of the Void suddenly gets overly vocal in such a pointless moment!
So infuriating!
Despite the annoyance, following the advice of my aesthetic sense, the map of the Academy I was creating was stunning.
It looked so polished that it could be inserted into the map without any sense of incongruity.
“…Lucy. Did you draw this so well?”
“Your talent is boundless, Young Lady.”
<_What am I even looking at? Is this reality? The Lucy I know was a kid who drew like a five-year-old!_>
Those around me appeared bewildered, but I was the one most surprised.
This is really the map I drew?!
I drew an ogre to enter the dungeon, and they thought it was a goblin!?
My aesthetic sense is out of this world.
I feel like I understand where the Perverted Apostle’s artistic temperament comes from now.
“Old hag. I’ll tell you where to search, so remember well. You’re not senile yet, so you can memorize it, right?”
– No need to remember. I’ll be here.
As Adri pointed a finger, small souls began to float around her.
The fragments of souls, which seemed small enough to be held in my tiny hand, scattered into the Void at Adri’s command.
– Not here. Not here either.
Every time Adri waved her hand, a pen danced in the air, marking Xs on the map.
Through a series of actions that unfolded like breathing, the narrowing suspicions eventually came to an end, leaving only one place.
– I think it might be here.
“Why the guesswork? The old hag appears to be a sloppy one lacking confidence?”
– Other places feel very clear, but this one is blurry.
Probably because the Power of Void is present. When all clues are erased, only the truth remains.
Recalling words that a famous detective might have said, I led my friends toward the location indicated by Adri.
It was a garden hiding a secret passage leading out of the Academy.
This place, similar to a maze, had various hidden corners besides the passageway.
Like a box filled with potions or a bag of silver coins for no apparent reason. Or even stairs leading down to the underground.
This place, which has been said to be made for fun by a headmaster decades ago, had secret items that were really useless aside from the passage, and so they naturally tended to get discarded.
However, if someone were to consider this place as a location to hide someone?
It would become an extremely useful place.
It was regarded as an eyesore even among the professors.
Ka-BLAM! Stomping my foot down, I smashed the iron plate that was concealed under the pile of dirt, making a loud noise as it tumbled down the stairs.
Seeing this, I conjured a divine ball into the air and stepped down into the underground.
“Cleve Young Lady!”
The noble young lady we were searching for was quietly sleeping next to a stamina potion, which was the reward given to those who discovered the basement.
Wow. How useless must the reward have been that even the Followers of the Void didn’t take it?
This place is really useless.
How great it would have been if they had made a dungeon with that effort instead.
“The Young Lady is fine. Her Evil God’s energy has been withheld, so she just needs to wake up now.”
Fortunately, the young lady seemed to be fine, contrary to our concerns.
Thanks to the Saintess personally verifying it, there was no need to worry.
Watching Joy exhale a sigh of relief after hearing Phoebe’s words, one question suddenly crossed my mind.
“You silly Joy.”
“What is it?”
“How did someone like you, who lacks sense, find the lousy followers?”
If Phoebe had detected something wrong, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
Even if Frey detected something abnormal, I would’ve just thought that ‘Ah, that beast found something with her senses.’
But not Joy.
Among my friends, she seemed the least likely to recognize something like this!
There’s definitely something going on here!
“…Despite how I look, I’m a Duchess’s Young Lady. There’s no way I lack sense when gathering noble young ladies.”
“Oh, is that so? I know our simpleton is quite amazing, but how did you figure it out?”
Joy’s eyebrows lifted as though annoyed by my utterly insincere words, yet instead of raising her voice, she let out a deep sigh and continued explaining.
“Do you remember yesterday when I dispelled a power?”
“Yeah. I remember because it was surprisingly clever for you.”
“…I’m not really sure if that had an effect, but naturally, I could sense something odd.”
After retracing the ominous feeling’s energy, Joy recognized it as the Evil God’s energy, drawing together several trivial clues to confirm that the Evil God’s followers were a fake.
“Do you understand, Lucy? Even if I might look foolish to you, I’m quite capable!”
“Are you really capable? In the end, you’re the silly little fool Joy who made a mistake at the critical moment.”
“W-well, that’s true.”
While Joy muttered with pursed lips, I reflected on what I had just heard.
The method she discovered the Evil God’s followers was entirely different from mine or Phoebe’s.
We find abnormalities through our individual abilities, but we can’t communicate that to others.
But Joy can. Joy’s method relies on her ability to magically interpret the Evil God’s power.
To put it another way, it means she can pass on what she has dispelled to others.
Creating the environment isn’t difficult.
There are many things I can use within the Academy.
With the help of the aging old maid’s assistance, I can obtain various tools as well.
It’s possible.
Perfectly possible.
I can respond to the Followers of the Void without humiliatingly spreading my accessories around!
Clutching onto a shred of hope, I suddenly raised my head and looked at Joy.
Joy, who had been sulking, met my gaze before blinking and taking a cautious step back.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong again?!”
This feels strange.
Joy is definitely capable.
In terms of magical talent, she ranks among the top in the Soul Academy characters.
She even demonstrated that talent right in front of me.
So why am I feeling this unease when I’m about to assign her an important task?
…She’ll be fine, right?
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