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Chapter 138 - The Academy Visit of Lormane (4)

"Sir Dian."

The door opened, and Olysia entered the room.

"I’m leaving some water here. I thought you might be thirsty."

"Thanks."

Olysia placed the pitcher and a cup on the bedside table before quietly leaving the room.

She was right. After drinking earlier in the evening, I had been feeling thirsty. Perfect timing.

I took a sip of the cool water and lay back down, falling asleep once more.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I was woken up again by another knock at the door.

"Olysia, is that you?"

"No, it’s me."

It was Ismera.

She entered the room, quietly closing the door behind her and locking it with the latch.

"You’re still awake, aren’t you? I knew you would be. You were waiting for me, weren’t you?"

Not exactly.

After all, Ismera had been completely wasted earlier, staggering around with Kirrin, so I assumed she was fast asleep by now. I didn’t expect her to show up in my room, sober as could be.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I’m perfectly fine. I only had one drink, after all."

"Then why were you acting like that earlier...?"

"I didn’t want to raise Olysia’s suspicions."

Ismera approached the bed with a faint smile.

"If I’d acted normal, Olysia would have insisted I return to the dormitory. She’s afraid some weird rumor might start between us, and that you’d end up resigning because of it. Isn’t that right?"

"I suppose that’s true."

"So, I pretended to be drunk. That way, Olysia wouldn’t worry and would feel comfortable letting me sleep in one of the upstairs rooms."

"I see... and you kept feeding Kirrin drinks for the same reason?"

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ismera responded.

"Exactly. Kirrin would have just been in the way. She’s fast asleep now, completely unaware of anything. She’ll probably be late tomorrow. And Olysia is downstairs."

Ismera then straddled me, slowly beginning to undo her clothes.

"No one is going to interrupt us, Mister. This kind of opportunity doesn’t come around often. So let’s see it through to the end."

Fear suddenly gripped me.

What exactly does she mean by "the end"?

The last time we were in the Great Forest, things didn’t stop until sunrise.

But there’s no avoiding it. She’s gone through all the trouble of setting this up so meticulously. It would be wrong to refuse her now.

"Alright, Ismera. But this time, you’d better be ready."

# # # # #

Kirrin stood in front of the Academy’s main gate.

She wasn’t wearing the black cloak that professors typically donned, but rather a simple set of everyday clothes, with a large bag at her feet.

She turned to look behind her, but the gate remained firmly shut, showing no signs of opening. To make matters worse, a light drizzle began to fall.

Sighing, Kirrin picked up her bag and walked toward one of the carriages parked in front of the gate.

"Excuse me, I need to go to Belminoa...."

"This carriage is for Academy staff only."

"Oh, sorry...."

Rejected, Kirrin moved on to the next carriage.

"Um, to Belminoa...."

"No."

"Okay...."

After being turned away several times, there were no more carriages left.

All the drivers insisted they were only for Academy students and staff, and that Kirrin couldn’t ride with them.

In the end, she had to pay double the normal fare to get into the last, shabby-looking carriage.

"Ugh...."

As soon as Kirrin stepped inside, she was hit with an overwhelming stench, causing her to cover her mouth and nose.

The source of the smell was a half-rotten rabbit carcass lying on the floor.

Flies, maggots, and cockroaches swarmed over the dead rabbit, while the cushions were torn open, and the windows shattered.

But she had no choice. Without this carriage, there was no way for Kirrin to get to Belminoa.

It was much too far to walk.

After several days of travel, the carriage finally arrived at the borders of Belminoa.

As soon as Kirrin stepped out, the carriage driver whipped the horses and fled in haste.

It was understandable, as Belminoa was a dark elf forest.

The woods were dark, gloomy, and filled with an ominous atmosphere.

Kirrin swallowed hard as she gazed at the shadowy forest, where darkness hung even in the middle of the day.

Kirrin.

As she entered the forest, the trees began whispering her name.

Kirrin, why have you returned?

Surely, you had promises to keep, didn’t you, Kirrin?

Judging by your appearance, it seems you’ve failed miserably and were chased out.

Frightened, Kirrin dropped her bag and covered her ears with her hands.

But the trees continued their sinister whispers.

A disgrace to your clan.

Your dead mother will rise from her grave.

"No!"

Kirrin shouted.

"Mother wasn’t like that!"

What do you think your mother would say if she saw you now?

Returning empty-handed, having achieved nothing of value, betraying all the clan’s expectations.

"Mother... Mother would comfort me!"

Don’t make us laugh. She would have only done that when you still had worth.

Now that you’re useless, why would she comfort you? No, she’ll tell your father, ‘You were right.’

At the mention of her father, Kirrin felt her breath catch in her throat.

Fear constricted her chest, making it difficult to breathe.

Your father risked extinction to betray the Demon King.

He succeeded in his gamble to secure the clan’s future, choosing you as the bridge to the outside world.

He even made unreasonable demands of the Emperor to send you to the city, and this is how you’ve returned.

There’s no way he’ll let you off easily.

"Stop it... stop...."

Unable to walk any further, Kirrin crouched down, pulling her ears down in distress as she sobbed.

"I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...."

After pleading for forgiveness for some time, Kirrin suddenly opened her eyes, sensing something strange.

The first thing she saw was a wooden ceiling, with soft blue dawn light filtering through a square window.

This isn’t Belminoa...? Where am I...?

Looking around, Kirrin began to piece together her memories.

Right. I was invited by Dian to attend a party celebrating Ismera’s promotion to Vice-Headmaster.

We ate, drank, and partied... after that, my memory’s fuzzy. I must have passed out from drinking too much.

Ismera kept offering me drink after drink....

This isn’t my dormitory room, so this must be one of Dian’s guest rooms.

He must have laid me here to sleep.

So, what about Ismera? She only had one drink, so she probably went back to the dorms.

Kirrin sat up in bed, her terrible nightmare keeping her fully awake. She wanted to thank Dian for taking care of her.

Plus, this was a rare opportunity to have a proper conversation with him.

There were questions she had about Dian’s past that had always lingered in the back of her mind. And she also wanted to see how much he would support the plans she’d been quietly working on.

Kirrin’s plan wasn’t anything grand.

She intended to step down from the role of Headmaster and become a regular professor in the Combat Department.

With the recent creation of the Vice-Headmaster position, Ismera would make a fine Headmaster.

Dian could then take over as Vice-Headmaster, and Kirrin could remain in the Academy as the Head Combat Professor. That seemed like a reasonable plan for the future.

However, to make that happen, she desperately needed Dian’s help.

The authority to appoint the Academy’s Headmaster rested with the Imperial Security Office, and the Second Princess herself held that power. Since Dian had close ties with her, Kirrin had no choice but to rely on him.

There was one issue, though.

Up until early this year, the Second Princess had utterly despised Kirrin.

So if Dian somehow managed to mediate and Kirrin stepped down, the Second Princess might seize the chance to expel her from the Academy altogether.

To prevent that disaster, Kirrin knew she needed to stay close to Dian, who had the Princess’s favor.

But Kirrin couldn’t handle it alone—she needed Dian’s support.

It seemed like a good idea to broach the topic with him now.

Summer break was approaching, and it would be best to settle any personnel changes during the break and start the second semester with everything in place.

With Ismera as Headmaster by the second semester, the Academy might be able to raise the level of its first graduating class.

Considering all these factors, Kirrin decided it was time to visit Dian’s room.

But just as she got up from bed, she quickly threw herself back under the covers.

The door opened, and Ismera walked in.

"Whew...."

As Kirrin turned to face the other way and squeezed her eyes shut, Ismera let out a long sigh and sat on the edge of the bed.

"My back is killing me...."

Muttering to herself, Ismera sat for a moment before getting up and leaving the room.

Kirrin heard her footsteps heading toward the stairs, and soon after, the sound of water running in the bathroom downstairs.

She’s taking a bath? I thought she’d already gone back to the dorms.

Where could she have gone in the middle of the night, only to come back at dawn to bathe?

I really don’t get it....

While Ismera washed up, Kirrin heard more clattering from downstairs, likely Olysia preparing breakfast.

Then, one of the doors upstairs opened, and the sound of Dian’s footsteps followed.

"Ouch, ouch. Everything hurts."

What does he mean by everything hurts? Maybe he slept in an awkward position and hurt his shoulder?

"Everyone, breakfast is ready!"

Lost in her thoughts, Kirrin heard Olysia call up from downstairs.

With no other option, Kirrin resigned herself to heading down for breakfast without having accomplished anything.

# # # # #

Meanwhile, Priestess Maya...

Scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch, scritch.

After tirelessly scribbling away in her patient log until dawn’s first light, Priestess Maya finally closed the book and slowly stood up.

She had reached the last page of the ledger.

It looked like she’d have to make a trip to the Church headquarters.

There’s a lot to report to the Chief Administrator.

Stretching her cramped legs after crouching all night, Maya lumbered her way out of the gate.