Seeing the girl’s reluctant expression, Miona spoke up to encourage her. “This isn’t all bad for you either. After all, this is a chance to become my, Miona Drako’s, bodyguard.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
“And if you cooperate well with me, I, Miona, can specially tell you some things about Death Speech.”
“Death Speech?”
“That’s right! Noelle’s great legacy, 72 kinds of supreme magic carefully selected from it. Don’t you want to learn about them?”
That really was hard to refuse.
Currently, she had already mastered Nullification and Bird Command. These two were already quite useful magical incantations. If she could master more similar Death Speech spells, it wouldn’t be impossible to directly raise her combat power by a whole tier.
After all, the Drako family had originally obtained various abilities and treasures from the Noelle family. Although most records regarding the Demon King had been burned and destroyed, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were still remnants of the Noelle Royal Family’s legacy within the Drako family.
Miona Drako truly lived up to being a young lady from a great family. She seemed very skilled at bargaining.
“Alright, I’ll do my best.”
“As you should.”
“But no matter how much you imitate someone else’s behavior, you can’t change your appearance and form, right?”
“That’s not a problem, because our family has a treasure—Karma Skin Painting.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a magical item that allows for slight adjustments to one’s appearance once a month. It’s a legacy of King Solomon.”
“Oh.”
Hearing the name of this item, a bright light flashed in Erika’s mind. This seemed to be a prop that appeared in a certain volume of the original novel, Flower of Evil. It was an important treasure dropped when a certain mysterious Necromancer was defeated by the main character’s party.
And it just so happened that Miona Drako possessed this item… It was hard not to suspect that the insane Necromancer in that scene might have been Miona.
So she was also destined to meet a miserable end as a villain, just like Evelyn and herself… Thinking this far, a tinge of melancholy welled up in her heart.
But that was in the world line where the Drako family returned to Noelle. This was the Ark, and Miona was right here.
It could be said that due to the shift in the world line, the possibility of her awakening as a Necromancer and being encountered by the main character’s party was greatly reduced.
“Now, Erika Angelina, you and I shall forge a new identity together!”
“A new identity?”
“Correct! Since we’re creating a backstory, let’s make it dramatic! For example, you are a descendant of a fallen royal family from a distant neighboring country. You’ve infiltrated the Ark under a hidden identity to restore your family’s glory, having endured countless hardships and tribulations. How about that?”
“…”
Once again, the Level 9 Shadow Empress, struck right where it hurt, was left speechless.
This pointed setting made the girl’s heart tighten, as if a sharp blade had pierced her chest. She didn’t know if Miona did it on purpose, but it truly described more than half of her actual situation. Erika even suspected that Miona might have deliberately learned something and was testing her.
“How is it?”
“It’s excellent. Truly worthy of Miss Miona.”
“Then come to the Drako Manor outside Regtaya City this Saturday. Ark students can leave the city on weekends.”
*
Thursday, 4 PM. A lazy afternoon. To attend the ‘Elven Index’ class, Erika arrived at another building.
Although it was her first time attending this quite interesting course, the girl’s mind was filled with the earlier conversation with Miona Drako, leaving no room for anything else.
Thinking about it carefully, had she just been invited to the Drako family villa? Perhaps she could learn something useful for the restoration of the Noelle family there.
Erika’s initial plan was to get close to Miona Drako so she could control her in the future.
It was precisely for this reason that Erika, suppressing her guilt, had extended an olive branch to the seemingly easier-to-approach younger sister, Vivian Drako.
Although she had been quite flustered just moments ago, after some calm thinking, she unexpectedly found this proposal wasn’t too bad for her.
Provided it could be successfully carried out!
But where exactly was the classroom? Erika scratched her cheek. She didn’t have a ‘lost’ attribute, but how come there wasn’t even a floor plan here? Bad review!
Using a spell, she commanded a pigeon flying nearby and gave it a mental suggestion: “Go find the location of the Laboratory Building.”
“Coo coo.”
“Good.”
The pigeon quite humanely nodded its head and fluttered its wings, flying away. Thanks to the guidance of Mr. Pigeon, Erika successfully found the Laboratory Building.
Magic really was super amazing. She should practice more when she had time.
“Coo coo.”
“Well done! Now go to the Platinum Dormitory and monitor Emile and Evelyn’s rooms.”
“Coo?”
“Don’t understand? Is the command too complicated?”
Issuing complex and difficult commands didn’t seem easy to accomplish. Actions like ‘monitor’ were indeed broadly defined. Was it because pigeons weren’t considered high-intelligence among birds? She felt they couldn’t accurately understand the instructions.
Well, that’s just how pigeons are. Were there any crows nearby? She’d heard crows and parrots were very smart.
Thinking this, Erika walked into the cool brick building. Climbing the old wooden stairs, she saw the classroom she was looking for.
Creak.
She walked into the spacious classroom and took a seat. The classroom had everything from anatomical models to experimental racks filled with beakers and flasks. It was just like a scientific research office.
Huh, that six-legged field chicken specimen soaking in the cabinet over there… was probably real, right?
Only now did Erika truly develop interest and curiosity about this course. Was it about researching Elves? It was said to cover the entire branch of the Elf race, which naturally included Fairies.
She heard this was a C-level course. The professor hadn’t been confirmed yet, so it was still unknown who would be teaching it.
Creak.
Just before the class was about to officially start, the door was finally pushed open a second time. This time, many people filed in.
Somewhat surprisingly, the seat next to the girl wasn’t cold-shouldered this time.
“Hello.”
“Mm, hello.”
Although it was a rather boisterous female Dwarf, which didn’t interest Erika much, it was at least some comfort that she wasn’t being subtly excluded like in the last class.
“I watched your duel. How on earth did you defeat that FFF like that?”
Alright, it had been too long since someone suddenly struck up a conversation. It still felt a bit unfamiliar and troublesome.
“I challenged him, he accepted. That’s all.”
“When I was watching that strange word chain game, I thought you were crazy. I never imagined it was actually a provocative tactic to lead to a duel. Clever, clever!”
“…”
Please don’t bring up that embarrassing word chain game anymore. Really.
“Oh, I’m Asgard Stone Duke, rank 487, Mithril Rank. Call me Stone.”
“I’m Erika Angelina. You can call me Angelina or Erika.”
After a simple self-introduction, the brown-haired Dwarf looked at the girl and chuckled. “I naturally know you. Rather, I’d say in this academy now, there’s probably no one who doesn’t know you. In a sense, you’re as famous as the ‘Spider Queen’ who enrolled this year.”
“Spider Queen?”
“Evelyn Calista. I heard the ‘Lion King’s’ daughter also enrolled. What was the name of Leonardo’s daughter again?”
“Is it Miss Emile Liones?”
“That’s right. Your reputation is no less than theirs. By the way, are you interested in raw gems and mining? I run a club…”
Ah, so it’s a club recruitment.
Right, since this place followed the style of an operating academy, such things were naturally common. Come to think of it, there really were quite a few people running around trying to recruit members for clubs and form Hero parties within the campus.
The bulletin boards were also full of such information. Erika was already used to it.
“If you’re interested, you must come take a look. Our club is in the marble room on the 3rd floor of the Central Hall. Here’s a pamphlet.”
Erika politely took the scroll and casually stuffed it into her bag, silently thinking it would be great if class would just start soon…
“Alright, everyone, settle down. Class is about to begin.”
A familiar face. A woman wearing a sharp jacket pushed the door open and entered. Beautiful purple short hair with a mysterious glow fell to her shoulders. Her pointed ears easily linked her to the name of the course.
Around her neck, she wore a decorative collar with a bell attached, reminiscent of Icarus and Togame Togame from her past life memories. In terms of aura, for now, it seemed more like the latter’s cool big sister image.
“I am Professor Kotifen. The originally assigned professor for this course, Professor Gomis, is unable to teach due to maternity leave. Therefore, I will be responsible for the Elven Index course this semester.”
It seemed because the original teacher went off to have a baby, Kotifen Polkbeck would be taking over their course.
“Although it’s not my course, suddenly taking over is indeed a bit troublesome. But well, let’s work hard together.”
Was it really okay for a teacher to say such things in front of students?
The Polkbeck family’s way of doing things was famously as unpredictable as a feather drifting in the wind. Seeing it firsthand, Erika had to agree it was indeed true.
“Now then, Maid—no, Teaching Assistant, come in and distribute the course syllabus.”
After Polkbeck said this to the door, a figure dressed in a black nun’s habit walked in and began distributing thin sheets of paper to everyone. The small heart-shaped tail behind her swayed left and right with her steps, particularly eye-catching.
“A Succubus?”
“Isn’t that a Succubus?”
She didn’t spend a second caring about the surprise of those around her, because Erika herself was stunned.
Cielciel? Why was she here?
And, Teaching Assistant???