Chapter: 47
Time remaining until the first class: 5 days.
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It was the dawn of a day marked by pouring rain, crashing thunder, and fierce winds.
Niolle Lestman woke up in her bed. It wasn’t a nightmare that had disturbed her or the noisy sounds around her. She just naturally opened her eyes. It was quite a rare occurrence.
Despite waking up early, she didn’t feel tired at all. On the contrary, she felt more energetic and clear-headed than ever. She felt like she had slept soundly for at least ten hours.
The room in the dormitory was drenched in a deep, gloomy blue. Looking around, she noticed her roommate with red hair lying on the bed opposite hers. She was sleepily nibbling on her oddly braided bangs.
This was a two-person dormitory at the Academy, and the girl across from her was Niolle’s roommate.
Though they had only exchanged greetings for a day, Niolle recognized that her roommate was a good person, ambitious yet kind. The fact that her roommate was a commoner didn’t matter — the Lestman Viscounty had long fallen from grace, after all.
Outside the window, a refreshing downpour poured down.
Every now and then, the wind would gust in, causing the window to shake slightly, but there was no clattering noise. That was thanks to the protective magic surrounding the outer walls of the Academy dormitory.
Suddenly, Niolle decided to change into her outdoor clothes. She felt that she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep and didn’t want to disturb her roommate’s sleep either. She planned to go outside, explore the Academy, and if time allowed, jog until sunrise.
Niolle’s gaze fell onto a small whiteboard leaning against her bed.
Ah. Ah.
Niolle inhaled deeply, opened her mouth, and exhaled through her vocal cords. However, all that came out was the sound of wind whistling, with nothing resembling speech.
She couldn’t speak.
That was why the whiteboard was essential. The whiteboard and pen were her vocal cords. She had to write down what she wanted to say on the whiteboard to communicate with others.
But… it should be fine for now. It was dawn, and with the rain pouring, it seemed unlikely she would run into anyone else.
Having thought that, Niolle turned her body, carefully opened the door, and left the dormitory. She figured a clockwise and then counterclockwise lap around the Academy grounds would take just the right amount of time.
She visualized a map of the Academy in her head.
(▲ Academy Map)
(▲ The route Niolle visualized in her mind)
Perfect. Let’s go.
Niolle told herself and began to dash through the rain.
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It was refreshing.
The rain, which seemed intent on washing away the world. The sounds drifting into her ears. The sensation of heat generated from running being cooled by the rain. Everything felt amazing.
The only inconvenience was the need to tightly bind her chest with a compression bandage.
Every time she ran, her center of gravity swayed excessively. She thought of it as training to maintain her body’s balance. However, honestly, it would have been more comfortable without it.
Splash, splash.
Niolle ran straight through puddles, splashing water everywhere. She laughed out loud with joy, but instead of a proper “HAHAHA!”, it came out as Heuh… Euh… Even so, it was fine.
Niolle wanted to purely enjoy this moment. Moving her body, leveling up her skills, and then being able to move even more freely. This virtuous cycle.
With each splash of raindrops, Niolle’s figure was reflected in them. Her shoulder-length bob cut, chestnut hair, round eyes, and the faint outline of a pattern twinkling in her pupils.
About twenty minutes into her run, as she passed halfway through the lecture facility area, it happened.
CRRRRACK-!
Lightning struck. And then, a suspicious voice carried by the wind reached her.
“…really need to do this… dead of night… wizard.”
“…without getting caught…”
Two people were conversing while digging into the ground.
Niolle halted her run and held her breath. Then, she cautiously climbed up a nearby tree to hide herself. The atmosphere suggested that getting caught would be a bad idea.
What on earth could be so important that they needed to dig at this late hour, in this pouring rain? With a mix of slight fear and curiosity, Niolle swallowed hard and peered down.
Flash. CRRRACK-!
One was a wizard wearing a hood. The distance was considerable, and the rain made it hard to see clearly. Their features were blurred like a shadow. She could only guess it was a male based on his voice.
The other was a woman in a fitted suit. Her sensual, sleek figure was fully accentuated by the tight-fitting clothing. She looked far more suited for a ballroom than digging a hole in the middle of the night. The combination of a wizard and a beautiful woman felt strangely mismatched.
Around them were piles of dirt. With each scoop of the shovel, dirt poured into the pit. It was the opposite of what she had thought before. They weren’t digging a hole; they were burying something.
Thud. Thud.
The pit was being filled.
Due to the distance and darkness, it was difficult to see what they were burying. Additionally, the height of the tree Niolle was perched in was such that it made it tough to look inside the pit. Niolle’s eyes widened in concentration. An eerie tale she had heard somewhere echoed in her mind.
The Academy ostentatiously denied any disparity in social class. They said nobles and commoners were equal within its walls… but that principle was rarely upheld. After all, the real world existed outside the Academy. They had to be wary of those in power.
It was therefore not uncommon to hear tales of high-ranking individuals arranging for students they disliked to be killed and disposed of. The bodies of such students would be disguised as either accidents or quiet disappearances.
Flash!
Lightning struck again, illuminating the world momentarily. In that instant, Niolle caught a glimpse of the wizard’s ominous, glowing red eyes and… something that resembled human eyes inside the pit, though she couldn’t be sure.
Niolle instinctively covered her mouth with her hand.
“…entire body… has… hasn’t it? …even see.”
“In my eyes…”
They spoke while looking into the pit.
What about the body? What did they mean? What exactly did they see? Was it something grotesque, things that should never see the light of day? The person in the pit, that is.
No…
It must be a misunderstanding. She must’ve seen it wrong. If they were indeed burying a dead person, they would just take it out to the forest through the North Gate. After all, the monsters dwelling in the forest could clean up a body overnight. There was no need to bury it on Academy grounds.
She decided to go back and sleep as if nothing happened. It was probably nothing after all. Niolle reassured herself and started to descend from the tree to return to the dormitory.
-Master… I’m…
That was until she heard such a sinister voice coming from the pit.
As the wizard waved his hand, the voice promptly stopped. They had done something. It was a person. They were burying a living person. Niolle was certain. She trembled. Why on earth…
A perfectly serene voice could be heard. After covering the pit and tamping it down with their feet, they spoke in an ordinary tone. This nonchalant demeanor stirred a myriad of emotions within Niolle.
“Yes, used it. Didn’t want to…”
“No wonder… couldn’t see…”
What did they use to kill? Was it a special weapon worth mentioning? Did they want revenge? What did they not see? Did it imply a disappearance?
The two finished their task and stepped into the darkness, dragging their shovels behind them. The pouring rain erased their traces. No one would ever know what had happened there. If Niolle stayed silent, that is.
…
Niolle bit her lip hard.
She needed a diploma from the Academy. Getting entangled in such a suspicious incident would be detrimental to her. For her own safety, it’d be better to curl up in her blankets, closing her eyes tight as if she saw and heard nothing. But…
But what if they were black wizards hiding in the Academy? Then this could be early preparations for a terror attack, and she ought to inform the school. Their outfits were suspicious enough for such an act, yet…
Above all, she couldn’t tolerate the idea that they so easily took a life.
Niolle remained perched in the tree, drenched by the rain for what felt like ages. The once-refreshing rain lost its appeal. Her thoughts grew tangled and convoluted. First, she had to find out.
Who they were. Who they got rid of.
After a long time, Niolle ran back to the dormitory almost as if she were fleeing.
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As they buried the cursed sword, Pink-Haired Lesbian grumbled.
“Do we really need to do this in the dead of night, crazy wizard?”
“Pink-Haired Lesbian, it’s precisely because it’s the dead of night that we can do it secretly without getting caught!”
With the torrential rain pouring down at dawn, no one would be lurking outside. It was the perfect moment to hide a Hidden Piece. After all, digging during the broad daylight could lead to being caught, and who would want that chaos ruining the fun?
“It’s raining. I’m soaked through. My button-down shirt is practically see-through now; you can see my bra!”
“In my eyes, I don’t see anything.”
I glanced her way; it was almost reflex. Beneath her clingy shirt were just two flesh-colored watermelons. And the straps on her shoulders? Not visible at all.
-Are you my new Master? To think you’d awaken me, I commend your reckless boldness!
Perhaps triggered during the burial, the cursed sword blurted out its stored dialogue. I flicked my finger, activating a week-long hibernation mode.
The work was completed.
It was well buried. We stomped and suppressed it firmly with our feet. Now, it was just a matter of timing—specifically, the right moment to distribute a treasure map that marked the location of the cursed sword hidden by a black wizard who had infiltrated the Academy.
As our task finished, Pink-Haired Lesbian proudly revealed her fashion choice.
“Yes, I used the Intangible Sword. I didn’t want to have to wash my favorite underwear, you see.”
Basically, she was saying she wasn’t wearing any.
“No wonder I couldn’t see the lines over your suit pants.”
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Morning arrived in full brightness.
Red Tower Wizard, Selvier, stretched widely. It was a refreshing morning. Just a few days left until school started. She anticipated learning a lot from the famous professors she had only heard of in stories, thereby gaining the opportunity to aim for a higher realm.
And if she were to become stronger and more renowned as a disciple of the Red Tower Master…
She would use the wish ticket that the Red Tower Master grants his students to ask him to find her childhood friend.
She wasn’t particularly worried about her childhood friend’s fate. She remembered him as a clever boy from a young age, not the type to die easily, like a hero from a story. He was definitely living well somewhere.
Maybe he was living as a wizard, just like she was.
Feeling that the day of their reunion was nearing, her heart raced. Selvier resolved to live earnestly today as well and cheerfully greeted her roommate.
“Niolle, good mor—why do you look like that?!”
“…”
Her roommate, who just yesterday had been equally thrilled and spent five hours discussing the lectures they would take at the Academy, had turned into a zombie overnight.
[Good morning.]
Niolle showed her morning greeting written on the whiteboard. Maybe it was just her imagination, but even the writing seemed gloomy and twisted. Selvier conjured the most serious scenario she could think of.
“Did I perhaps snore last night?”
[No, um, I have something I want to ask.]
“Y-Yes…”
[Do you happen to recognize someone who looks like this?]
Scrible, scribble.
The two-person sketch Niolle drew looked familiar. It was the newly appointed professor from the Purple Magic Tower and his secretary. They claimed otherwise, but they looked like an SM couple. Their every action was so memorable that they were impossible to forget.
“Yes, they are the newly appointed professor and his secretary. He’s a wizard from the Purple Magic Tower. They are a bit… no, they are really strange, but not bad people. They helped me back in my hometown, you see… Seriously, why do you look like that?!”
After pondering for a long time, Niolle explained everything. She recounted her nighttime stroll and what she witnessed—the duo burying someone. Selvier listened in silence and then smiled softly.
“You must have misjudged, Niolle. We haven’t known each other for long, but they were probably just playing some pointless prank, you know?”
[Selvier, are you perhaps hypnotized…]
“If you’re that worried, wouldn’t it be better to check?”
Niolle held the whiteboard with both hands, ready to conduct a primitive hypnosis test.
“No, I did not mean check if I was hypnotized! I was referring to what they buried! It must have been some trivial toy or something. It’s morning, and we have that course registration to handle, so if we have spare time, we can check tonight, right?”
Niolle hesitated but mustered her courage and nodded.
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That night, Niolle revisited the spot yet again.
The pit had been dug by someone, and blood stains remained.
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