Chapter 162: Love's Enchantment Curse (3)
Using the information extracted from Cavern, Elthman Elwin systematically erased the existence of the dark mages from Stella.
It was done quietly, one by one, so that no one would notice.
That way... incidents of them fleeing in panic upon realizing their comrades were dying wouldn't occur.
However, as their comrades disappeared one by one, an emergency arose for the infiltrating dark mages in Stella.
Some waited in silence, while others fled, unable to determine whose identity had been exposed.
"Did you hear? The groundskeeper from the eastern garden suddenly quit his job."
"Huh? Really? He seemed nice."
"Even the supplies manager from the 9th Tower got fired."
"Everyone's suddenly quitting their jobs..."
"Is it because of the dark mages?"
The fact that dark mages had infiltrated Stella caused controversy in various ways.
Parents were outraged that despite sending their precious children to academy, they couldn't even prevent an intrusion by dark mages, resulting in harm.
Various news outlets sensationalized the issue with headlines like ‘Is Stella's Security Crumbling Like This?’ and many parents lodged complaints.
Most parents were nobles or individuals with significant social influence, so Stella was on the verge of faltering a bit as well.
However, about a week later, Elthman Elwin publicly announced that he had executed the infiltrators within the academy.
Though he couldn't kill them all, the fact that Elthman, once the greatest dark mage hunter, personally took action caused the parents' dissatisfaction to gradually dissipate.
... And among those who contributed in creating such an atmosphere, Anella was also in a state of emergency.
“Anella. How are things over there? Elthman Elwin is deducing the identities of our kin through mysterious means and executing them all.”
"Hmm, I'm fine."
In a cubicle of the girls’ dormitory restroom, Anella, squatting over the toilet, spoke to the shadow flickering in front of her.
“If you feel it's dangerous, return. Elthman... that ruthless man won't just let you die quietly. He'll likely torture you relentlessly, to the point you would beg for death.”
“No, I’m fine! I’m not scared of something like this!”
Your confident tone is pleasing to hear. So how is the progress of your mission?
"Uh...?"
What was the mission again?
She hadn't even thought about it since the infiltration began, so her mind froze for a moment.
“Well, if everything had gone smoothly, the newspaper wouldn't be reporting on Baek Yu-Seol’s mysterious disappearance, right? Did you have plans to deal with him discreetly?”
"Um, well...?"
It came back to her.
Originally, the mission was to monitor Ma Yu-Seong and assassinate Baek Yu-Seol.
However, when Ma Yu-Seong returned to the main house, the only task given to her was the assassination of Baek Yu-Seol...
It was truly shameful, but she surrendered without even being able to defeat a mere first-year student at the academy.
Moreover, she was exposed and had all her abilities sealed, so the mission had actually failed long ago.
It would have been normal to return at this point, but Anella didn't want that.
She wanted to stay a little longer here and find a way to return to being human.
Her heart was already determined to stay by Baek Yu-Seol’s side, but she couldn't betray the organization arbitrarily.
They would send another capable assassin, and if someone stronger than her targeted Baek Yu-Seol... then it would truly be unstoppable.
"Yes. Please trust in my abilities. I can completely break someone's mind."
“Okay. I believe you. If you successfully complete the mission and return, I'll consider promoting you. Hasn't it been over twenty years since you became a dark mage? It's about time you lived a proper life.”
“...Yes."
“That's it, disconnect now.”
Ssshhh!
As the shadow seeped into the ground, Anella leaned against the wall and let out a deep breath.
"Whew..."
Had she ever borne such a heavy burden on her heart in her nearly forty years of life?
Well, it was unlikely, considering she had lived her whole life without a care in the world.
Anyway, she could only stay in Stella until summer vacation at most.
Until she went back, she had to extract as much information as possible from Baek Yu-Seol, so she had to stay sharp and act.
Click!
With a firm resolve, she opened the door of the restroom stall and stepped outside, only to find a girl standing at the sink.
"Hmm~♬"
She was humming a tune and washing her hands.
The girl had short hair which fell to her shoulders and a petite figure.
Anella's expression stiffened slightly as she confirmed her face.
“F-Flame…?”
Even though she was supposedly 40 years old, whenever she stood in front of that much younger kid, she felt intimidated and couldn't speak well. She was like a mouse in front of a cat.
Anella tried her best to pass by Flame as if nothing was wrong, but she suddenly spoke.
"Not washing your hands? I have something to tell you."
"Huh? Oh, yeah... I should wash them..."
Even though she didn't want to, she reluctantly washed her hands at the sink.
"You were in there for a long time. Constipated?"
"Ugh. No, it's not constipation."
"You react sensitively. Or maybe not."
"... I don't know."
"Then why were you in there for so long?"
With 'Shadow Barrier' installed in the restroom stall, there was no chance of the conversation leaking outside.
Eavesdropping was impossible for a mere Class 4 like Flame, so there was no need to be nervous, yet even lying became frightening for some reason.
"... Well, actually. It’s... true that I have constipation..."
"Take some probiotics."
"... I'm already doing that."
Inside, Anella shed tears.
She felt embarrassed enough with her split-end hair and high school makeup, and now she was afraid of a high schooler.
'Should I just die...'
As she was seriously contemplating that, Flame suddenly spoke up.
"Why are you so scared?"
"...Huh?"
"Who's going to eat you?"
"Aah, no one? I wasn't scared at all?"
Come to think of it, there was no reason to be scared.
No matter how notorious Stella was, in the end, it was just an ordinary academy for seventeen-year-old students, and Flame is a seventeen-year-old girl, wasn't it?
"Yeah. Don't worry. I was originally going to eat you, but now I'll let it slide."
"... Uh."
For a moment, chills ran down her spine.
As Anella turned her squeaking head to look at Flame, she looked at herself in the mirror and said, "I'm tired these days, my skin is getting worse. I hope I'm not getting pimples."
"Uh, well..."
"Yeah? Oh, right. That guy's not here right now."
"Is that so...?"
After the Academy Battle, Baek Yu-Seol accompanied Florin to the cradle of the Heavenly Spirit Tree.
Since it had become quite a topic that even the Elf King personally invited him to her carriage, there was no one in Stella who didn't know about it.
"So, I have a favor to ask of you."
"A favor?"
"Yeah."
Thud!
Flame turned off the faucet, and finally met Anella's eyes directly.
This incident was quite important as it was related to the event [Dark Magic Corruption] which occurred in the original novel.
In the original story, Professor Maizen Tyren used dark magic, causing significant harm to many.
However, in reality, due to Baek Yu-Seol handling Maizen Tyren, it became unclear who would be the instigator of the dark magic corruption.
Originally, Baek Yu-Seol intended to investigate it himself, but due to Florin’s matter, he couldn't, so he directly asked Flame to investigate.
And... It was the first time Baek Yu-Seol, who always solved everything himself, asked for something, so Flame was quite serious about it.
“While that man is away, be my errand girl.”
"... Huh?"
Perhaps because she heard such shocking words, Anella was dumbfounded and couldn't even respond properly.
———-
Most students rushed back to their hometowns during the break, but Eisel Morph didn't.
More precisely, she couldn't go back.
She had no hometown to return to. So Eisel took the seasonal term classes.
Of course, she was a strange case.
There were many students who didn't go back to their hometowns besides Eisel, but what was the point of going through all the trouble if they had enough credits?
But Eisel listened.
The reason was simple.
Because she could study more.
Exactly... Since she could study for free.
Since Stella's seasonal classes didn't charge tuition fees, it was a great opportunity for money-strapped Eisel.
To think they offer free education, it was unbelievable.
'Everyone must be idiots.'
But talk about bad luck.
"The professor is unexpectedly absent, so the class has been canceled."
"... Huh?"
Of all times, the professor for the subject she was taking suddenly vanished.
The course was famous for its extreme unpopularity, with fewer than twenty applicants, so the class itself was simply canceled and they didn’t even bother to find a replacement.
"My classes..."
Still, it was okay!
The timetable was filled with plenty of courses she could still take.
"The instructor for Logic Education has left, so the class is canceled."
"The Advanced Mathematics Level 3 class is canceled due to the professor's personal circumstances..."
"The Basic Design Theory course is..."
However.
Eisel’s enrolled classes began to be canceled one by one.
Most had the same reason.
'Because the professor disappeared.'
Why were the professors disappearing one after another when it was not like they were preparing for a special summer edition?
Of course, not all classes disappeared completely.
For classes with many students enrolled, substitute instructors came and fortunately, classes continued, so Eisel managed to keep up with her studies by attending those classes.
However, it was not very pleasing to her that she couldn't take classes with the professors she wanted, and sometimes the subjects themselves changed, which she didn't like.
She originally planned to spend the entire summer vacation attending classes, but her schedule was now riddled with holes.
"Ughhh...."
"You're really harsh, aren't you? Just because you're good at studying doesn't mean you have to nag others about it."
During lunchtime, Eisel’s friend, Marilene, who spent most of the time in the dormitory instead of returning home, appeared occasionally during lunchtime.
She always chuckled at the sight of Eisel, who was absorbed in her studies.
"Studying is about accumulating knowledge. It’s very crucial, so you shouldn't be lazy."
"You're really like a mom.... Are all top students like you?"
"Well, I'm not sure."
Eisel was a genius and hardworking student.
Everyone around her acknowledged that.
But what about other top students?
Hong Bi-Yeon couldn't be figured out because she rarely studied in places with people, while Hae Won-Ryang and Flame were occasionally seen at the library but weren't as persistent as Eisel.
Ma Yu-Seong and Baek Yu-Seol... They always fooled around.
But even so, they always received top grades, which made many students envious.
"No matter how you think about it, you're the most stubborn."
"Then what should I do? I'm not even a first ranker."
"... Aren't you third ranker this time?"
"That's right."
"Tsk... You know, if you get stabbed with a knife someday, I'll bet the culprit is me."
They exchanged jokes.
Eisel thought about the other students in class S.
Come to think of it, there didn’t seem to be any students who studied properly during the summer vacation.
Even Baek Yu-Seol received an invitation from the Elf King for the summer vacation and went to the Cradle of the World Tree.
By now, he must be enjoying dinner at the White Castle.
'No matter how you think about it, it's strange...'
Baek Yu-Seol was smart even without studying.
He was a regressor, after all.
Normally, one could just overlook it with the attitude of ‘he's a regressor, so let it be,’ but this incident was a bit strange.
'The Soul Orb shone white....'
While the thousands of spectators who witnessed the spectacle seemed to not fully understand it, Eisel had considerable knowledge of the Soul Orb, so she felt a chill run down her spine.
The fact that the Soul Orb shone so white means that Baek Yu-Seol has a 'noble soul' like the celestial angels or spirits.
'Noble soul...'
While it might seem like an easy word at first glance, having a noble soul required quite strict conditions.
However, sentient beings, including humans and extraterrestrial beings, violated most of these conditions from the moment they were born.
They must not commit sins, harm any living beings, become tainted with filth, or even entertain any impure thoughts.
To put it a bit more extreme, even the act of seeing a piece of trash on the street and ignoring it or entertaining lewd fantasies involving the opposite sex corrupted the soul.
No, that didn’t make sense.
As long as one can think, how can they possibly not violate all those conditions?
Therefore, sentient beings couldn’t be noble.
That was the norm.
...That's how it should have been.
Until Baek Yu-Seol shattered common sense once again this time.
'What could be the cause?'
Baek Yu-Seol hadn’t lived an ordinary life.
He must have harmed and sinned countless times by turning back time hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times.
Yet, if his soul was noble... there must be a clear reason.
'Hmmm....'
Eisel was inclined towards inquiry, and when curiosity arose, she delved into it until the end.
After lunchtime.
"I'll become a worm again~!"
"Yes... Hang in there and wriggle around."
"Okay! You too!"
Sending a cheerful Marilene, who was excited about taking a nap, back to the dormitory, Eisel headed back to the library.
Originally, it was time for Class, but since it was canceled, she planned to browse through some old records or documents.
"Let's see... Noble soul, noble soul..."
The most pure and beautiful souls.
She remembered there were papers or research materials on them in the library.
'Ah, found it.'
And coincidentally, she stumbled upon a thick book titled ‘Noble Souls Throughout History,’ and Eisel reached for it.
However, from the opposite side, a white wrist popped out, grabbing the same book.
"..."
Eisel checked the person opposite her.
With crimson-tinted silver hair cascading down to her waist and eyes shining like rubies, she was none other than Hong Bi-Yeon.
It happened to be her who grabbed the same book as herself.
"What's this? Are you reading this too?"
"... Forget it. You read it."
As if caught doing something she shouldn't, Hong Bi-Yeon quickly withdrew her hand and turned to leave, but Eisel grabbed her.
"No, let's just read it together."
"... What?"
“If I borrow this, you won’t get it back for a week... won’t you regret it? You’d go crazy with curiosity.”
Why would that princess be so curious to the point of seeking out such a book?
It was obvious, wasn’t it?
Probably for the same reason as Eisel herself.
Moreover, Hong Bi-Yeon was quite intelligent too, so if they put their heads together and ponder the same questions, they might come up with quite plausible answers.