The next day, morning of the teaching week. As soon as she found the classroom, Erika saw Cielciel carefully sticking something on the classroom door.
[Today’s 9:00 AM “Introduction to Ancient Death-speech” class is temporarily canceled due to the professor’s personal reasons]
“Class canceled?”
“Ah! Comrade! Great to see you! And this Ancient Death-speech class is canceled!”
“Is that so?”
The girl was a bit puzzled by the change in Cielciel’s attitude. Earlier she spoke like a strange elf, but now she was talking normally—the contrast was too great.
“Looks like your way of speaking is back to normal?”
“Professor Polbek said that if I don’t speak normally, he’ll dock my pay…”
‘Survival really is the most important thing.’
“And also, forget that weird way of talking from back then!”
Cielciel seemed deeply ashamed of her past mannerisms, flustered and a bit frantic. Erika understood, of course. Because she too had once pretended to be an elf to attend their gatherings, and she felt very awkward about that elfish accent back then. Cielciel also seemed to want to hide her embarrassment, so she changed the subject.
“In any case, it seems the professor in charge, Professor Barlan, has fallen ill!”
“Yeah, I know.”
Due to the incident yesterday, Black Mage Professor Barlan simply couldn’t continue normal teaching. It’s said she’ll be bedridden for ten days to half a month. Moreover, the students who were controlled by Galier’s curse had large portions of their recent memories erased. Now they were speaking incoherently one after another, undergoing intensive treatment.
‘Can’t even attend a proper class anymore?’
Although the academy had been open for two weeks, she had learned very little from the courses or professors, and nothing truly useful.
whoosh
Right then, the Tail Wand on the girl’s wrist suddenly tightened like a living thing, wrapping around her wrist. Snapping back to reality, she remembered something and said what she had prepared to Cielciel.
“Cielciel, your tail is really amazing. Thanks to it, I’ve escaped death several times.”
“Of course! The Succubus Tail Wand is a treasure even the Demon King Solomon cherishes!”
“Really? The Demon King also uses a succubus tail as a wand? Not something high-end like the Phoenix Feather Staff?”
Erika fidgeted with the long heart-shaped tail while imagining the majestic Demon King. When she thought of the Demon King, the image that came to mind was a dark mage wearing a black steel helmet with long horns, a black cloak, making a screeching sound like nails on glass, riding a bone dragon.
But now… a middle-aged man cosplaying a magical girl using Bara energy? He uses a tail as a wand just like her? The incomparably majestic figure in her mind suddenly became very bizarre.
However, Cielciel puffed out her flat chest—no better than Erika’s—looking very proud.
“Succubi tails have high magic conduction efficiency… no, they’re the highest! And when hungry, they can even be eaten as food!”
“What? They’re edible?”
“Hungry succubi sometimes eat each other’s tails. This is precisely where we succubi are superior to elves.”
That was not a scene one wanted to imagine.
“In any case, the Succubus Tail Wand is top-notch! When its service life ends, just plant it in a flower bed, water it, and praise it, and it will be reborn!”
‘What kind of idealistic planting method was that?’
Erika felt like she was listening to a pseudo-scientific story, but according to Cielciel’s explanation, it seemed the succubus tail itself was like a living organ—no, an independent life form—so it had to be cared for with love.
“And most importantly, absolutely never praise other wands in front of the Tail Wand!”
“Alright, I won’t.”
As Cielciel said that, her long slender tail, now grown to the length of the girl’s arm, was swaying left and right. But the tip of the tail was very peculiar—a square rhombus, or more precisely, like a diamond shape.
“Why is your tail diamond-shaped?”
“Exactly! As expected, Comrade, you noticed! This is a rare shape—how lucky!”
‘What exactly were succubi? Their tails were random too?’
Then Cielciel looked at the clock drawn on her arm. It looked like a watch, but on closer inspection, it was just a clock pattern drawn on her skin.
“Ah—! At this rate, I’ll be late for Professor Polbek’s errand! Comrade, Cielciel will go ahead!”
With that, Cielciel left her seat and hurried away. Erika had thought that with her speech back to normal, her behavior would improve, but now it seemed she was becoming even weirder.
‘Forget it, I’ll just study on my own.’
Oh right, she should probably buy Cielciel a watch in the future.
…
“Have you heard? The thing about controlling undead in the outskirts—apparently it was all Professor Barlan. She stole corpses from the Drake family and kidnapped students.”
“I heard too. They say she collected a large number of corpses in the basement of an old castle, trying to form some kind of skeleton legion.”
“Professor Barlan? You mean Black Mage Barlan? Why would she do such a thing?”
“Don’t know. Heard she was controlled by some curse…”
Rumors spread and ferment unexpectedly quickly within religious organizations, and Ark Academy was no exception. Although only a day had passed since the incident, rumors about Professor Barlan’s bizarre behavior and its consequences had already spread rapidly around the student cafeteria.
“Extra! Extra! The grave robbery incident caused by Professor Barlan and the story of the undead legion—all recorded in this report! Extra, extra—!”
Erika was eating alone in the cafeteria. Hearing the strange voice, she turned her head and waved to the blue-haired little elf who was walking around shouting.
“Please give me a newspaper.”
“One hundred Star Coins…!”
‘What newspaper costs one hundred Soft Girl Coins? You elves are really in it for the money, always trying to rob people.’
But the information the newspaper might contain tempted her, so she ultimately decided to spend the one hundred Star Coins to satisfy her curiosity.
“Please continue to support the News Agency’s Spark Newspaper next time…! Hueh…!”
Leaving that strange remark, the elf continued hawking newspapers and disappeared into the distance. Erika shook her head and opened the newspaper printed on rough paper.
[Shock! Black Mage Professor Barlan (32 years old, single) exposed as grave robber]
[Is her usual hobby of Beast Chess causing violent tendencies…? Need to regulate the violent games spreading within Ark!]
[Was the ultimate target the cute elves? Is this a premeditated hate crime against elves, or simply retribution against society?]
The newspaper was filled with many articles that seemed gripping but were actually devoid of substance. Erika picked one and began reading.
[Professor Barlan was captured by forbidden power while exploring ruins in her childhood. She claimed she was manipulated by that power into committing the crimes, insisting that her actions were not intentional.]
[It is a foregone conclusion that Professor Barlan will be convicted, but if the ‘Curse Removal Technique’ she has studied all her life can prove that she was a passive victim, then the punishment may be reduced.]
[Those who defeated Professor Barlan are Emil La Liones, Ranked 5th, and Miona La Draco, Ranked 6th, and another person, XX.]
Why “another person, XX”?