Chapter: 409
The information about the current faculty brought by Karl was just a list of names stored in the administrative office.
Compared to what Karia had shown last time, it was something infinitely sloppy, but it was enough for me right now.
After all, I remembered most of the names in here. Finding suspicious names among these isn’t a difficult task.
This kid is someone who clings to the First Queen.
And this one was supposed to be part of the Knights, but did the Second Queen push him here?
This guy is originally an NPC meant to be added in the second year, so he’s not worth worrying about. And this one…
While I was drawing lines as I recalled the names of the NPCs in the game, I skipped over some ambiguous names and glared at the list.
There are definitely a few suspicious ones. A guy who absolutely shouldn’t be here at this point. A name I don’t recognize. Or someone so sloppy that it wouldn’t be surprising if they were tempted by the Evil God at any moment.
Honestly, I want to poke at all of them, but I can’t.
Having already caused a ruckus on the streets, would I dare to stir it up again within the academy? Wouldn’t the Followers of the Void try their best to hide their traces even more?
That being said, I do need something concrete.
Glancing at Luca’s name, I remembered that he was involved with the First Queen’s faction and shook my head.
I’ve placed several restrictions, so I don’t think he can do anything harmful, but I don’t want to fully trust him.
That lunatic Luke would laugh, saying that as chaos grows, talent gets refined.
For now, let’s leave him as the last resort. There are just too many concerns to rely on him right now.
“Gomeric can be excluded from the suspect list. That author was brought in by the First Queen, so he won’t cause immediate problems.”
Caught up in such thoughts, Arthur, who had been looking at the list beside me, added his opinion.
“Copen is the same. When we met at the last social event, we had an in-depth discussion about Fire Magic. His responses were so excellent that only a professor could provide them.”
Following up, Joy also shared her perspective. After listening to the both of them, I pondered for a moment and decided to accept their insights.
I didn’t have any useful clues right now, and if two people with good judgment appraised them like that, there had to be a reason.
As I nodded and moved my pen, Phoebe also quietly spoke up.
“Ettinger can also be excluded. When I saw him at the church praying, there was no problem at all.”
As I listened to my friends’ advice and started eliminating names from the list, only three people remained.
If the information I had was correct, it meant there was a Follower of the Void among them.
Two from Dungeon Studies, and one from Combat Studies.
…Wait. Dungeon Studies?
The moment I saw the fields of study of the suspects, one thought crossed my mind.
At the entrance ceremony of the Soul Academy, golems created by the academy attack the students as part of an event.
Normally, this event should end without a single injury under strict control, but if the Followers of the Evil God get involved, the story changes.
If someone imitating an academy professor interferes with the golems’ magic and twists their orders, it would definitely create massive chaos.
It’s not certain yet, but it’s worth checking.
Jumping up from my seat, I headed straight for where the Dungeon Studies professor was.
“Lady Allen. It’s been a while.”
The Dungeon Studies professor, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, welcomed me with a bright smile.
She started to chatter about how the academy’s reputation had risen thanks to the dungeon I created, but I interrupted her by forcefully pushing in the names of the two dungeon professors listed.
“Two names I’ve never heard of, sloppy pieces of trash. What are they doing right now?”
“…Uh. They are the new professors who just joined.”
The Dungeon Studies professor answered my question while tilting her head in confusion.
One is helping with the production of the academy dungeon this semester, and the other is maintaining the golems that will appear at the opening ceremony.
“In simple terms, they are being punished. They’ve been assigned to a task that’s hard and tedious, yet they get criticized massively.”
While the professor’s words dripped with pity for the rolling professors, I couldn’t focus on what she was saying.
The fact that one of the new Dungeon Studies professors was in charge of the golem maintenance for the opening ceremony made it highly likely that my suspicions were correct.
“Where are the golems located? …Um. That’s a bit difficult to say. No matter how much of a lady you are, that’s classified information.”
“Self-proclaimed professor! If you keep this up, I might just expose how to smash the sloppy academy’s trash dungeon.”
The Dungeon Studies professor gasped at my threat, imagining the chaos of strategies flooding out as soon as the academy dungeon opened.
“Ah. Okay! But please don’t touch the golems! That’s an academy tradition!”
Hearing her plea, I ignored her and dashed out of the room.
“Did you find some clues?”
As soon as I stepped out into the corridor, my friends surrounded me as if they had been waiting.
Why are they here? I was just planning to move with Karl.
Well, having my friends nearby isn’t a bad thing. At this point, they could undoubtedly contribute more than enough in battle. No matter what happens, most of it could be suppressed by their status and reputation.
Seeing my friends waiting for my response, I briefly hesitated and decided to share my thoughts.
“Is that even possible?”
No sooner had I finished speaking than Arthur raised a question.
“I suppose it’s possible to infiltrate and implant magic. However, if the Dungeon Studies professors aren’t complete fools, wouldn’t they check everything? Is it worth it?”
“If the opponent is a Follower of the Void, it’s entirely possible.”
Before I could finish my answer, Phoebe spoke up in an unusually stern tone.
“Their power specializes in blending into something. Even those from the church who’ve fought against the Evil God for a long time can hardly notice it. The academy’s professors wouldn’t be greatly different.”
“That was a foolish question.”
Phoebe’s statement carried the weight of someone who had seen the numerous disasters caused by the Evil God’s followers.
As a result, Arthur wisely refrained from asking further, but Frey was not so restrained.
Without grasping the weight of others’ words, she blurted out her thoughts casually.
“Why are the Followers of the Evil God targeting the academy anyway? Is Soul Academy such a great place?”
“…I’m sorry. I’m not sure about that.”
“What about Lucy? Does Lucy know?”
“Yeah. She knows.”
“What is it?”
“But I won’t tell you. You’re just a foolish idiot who wouldn’t understand even if I did.”
“…Tch. Lucy doesn’t know either, huh?”
“Actually, I’m different from you, an incapable fool.”
My friends thought I was just joking like usual, but the reality was different.
I truly knew why the Followers of the Evil God were targeting this place.
Having witnessed countless saviors and destructions, how could I not know their purpose?
However, it wasn’t time for me to speak about it yet.
As long as that timid coward Agra might be watching over me, this had to remain my secret for now.
After concluding our conversation, we quickly moved to the location the Dungeon Studies professor had mentioned.
The basement of the Dungeon Studies building.
The place where golems to be used in the Soul Academy dungeon are manufactured and stored.
I had shuffled through this place countless times when we created the dungeon last time.
Since I remembered every inch of the geography here, I headed straight to the location of the golems to be used during the entrance ceremony without ever getting lost.
“Lady?!”
In front of me stood a graduate student guarding the entrance, but upon seeing our faces, he said nothing and opened the door for us. Our status was far too intimidating for him to resist.
“…Your intuition as a lady was correct.”
[No matter how much you search the streets, nothing will be in sight.]
As we stepped inside, Phoebe spoke sharply, and Grandpa expressed his annoyance.
The moment their opinions aligned, there was no room for doubt.
The golems positioned in this space had long since fallen into the hands of the Followers of the Void.
“Saintess, Third Prince, Lady Partlan, Lady Allen, Lady Kent, and Professor Karl. What brings such busy individuals to this place together?”
The professor, who was busy working with several students inside, expressed genuine curiosity as if he didn’t understand why we were here.
His act was so natural that anyone unaware might have overlooked it.
However, unfortunately for him, we were not fools.
Crack! Drawing my mace, I smashed a golem next to me and grinned at the startled professor.
“I didn’t want to see a sloppy piece of trash doing sloppy trash deeds♡”
Upon hearing my provocation, the professor froze momentarily before regaining his composure.
“Professor Karl. Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
“You’re quite the actor. How fitting for an idiot who serves nothing but sloppy garbage♡”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“How could someone be so shameless?♡ Have you rationalized your existence to believe in something you’re not even sure exists?♡”
“… ”
“Congratulations♡ Your death will be a foolish death, and the god you believe in won’t even remember you♡ A fitting end for a sly piece of trash♡ Right?♡”
As I let out my giggles, a thud! echoed as the door behind us closed tightly.
The moment a loathsome energy settled above that door, the expressions of everyone remaining inside the room changed from bewildered to serious.
“It seems you want to die so badly. I’ll grant you that wish. If it’s dying alongside the likes of trash like you, I suppose that’s not a bad outcome.”
Watching the aura of the Evil God spreading from the outer edges of the room, I stopped Phoebe, who was about to unleash Divine Magic, and raised my mace high.
“Lazy Sloppy God. Do your job.”
Even in a tone that couldn’t be called a prayer due to its blasphemous and cheeky nature, the sloppy God responded eagerly to my call.
The divinity contained in the mace spread out, purifying the Evil God’s energy around us.
“If you have any parting words, say them now♡ If your last words are begging to be saved right before you die, it will be too pathetic, you know?♡”
As the eyes of those facing my laughter filled with hatred, the golems within this room began to stir.
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