༺ Lovers ༻
“Here you go.”
Speaking politely but informally, Findenai handed me a cup of black tea.
I pushed the cup away after taking a single sip.
And before I could get a word in, she began to complain.
“Do you happen to be a picky eater, Master?”
“Findenai, this is my first order…”
With my eyes still focused on the book I was reading, I said,
“…Never prepare tea again. In Norseweden, tea is a precious commodity but you handle it like urine.”
“You little…!”
Hearing my words, she was about to start swearing, but I ignored her and continued reading my book.
It would be ambiguous to say that I liked books. Although I often read novels to kill time, I had a preference for games and visual media.
Although this was somewhat understandable for a person living in the 21st century, I had a slightly different reason; as ghosts often messed with the books I borrowed, causing me to replace those torn books, I shifted my interests in a direction where it was difficult for ghosts without a strong spirit to interfere, such as phones and computers.
But I was not reading this book for the sake of leisure.
I was reading this book to gain knowledge. Because as a person who suddenly transmigrated into this world, basic knowledge wasn’t enough.
Hence, I was reading this book out of necessity, and when it came to magic, it was especially important to be able to understand and comprehend it.
A strange smell began to waft into the room and interrupted my thoughts.
Even though I wanted to continue reading, the strange smell kept bothering me, so I had no choice but to close the book.
“Ah, Sukla.”
[Yes, Master.]
At my call, Sukla appeared beside me.
Findenai also looked around with a puzzled expression, but of course, she couldn’t see Sukla.
“What is this smell?”
“Smell? What are you talking about?”
As Findenai didn’t know my question was for Sukla, she butted in. But when I gestured for her to remain silent, she crossed her arms and pouted… Though it had no effect in moving me.
[Every Wednesday, a smell leaks from the basement of the mansion.]
“Wednesday?”
[Yes, that’s right. I tried to investigate it myself, but I couldn’t get a confirmation as a fierce evil spirit was blocking the way.]
“….”
I stroked my chin with my hand and glanced at Findenai.
“You’re not getting this strange smell, right?”
“Yes, my senses are better than that of an average person, so I wouldn’t have missed any strange smell.”
“Okay.”
Just as I was thinking about checking the basement, I heard a knock from outside.
When I nodded, Findenai strode forward with steps unlike that of a maid and opened the door.
“Umm… Miss Deia?”
“Have you already forgotten the honorifics I’d taught you?”
“I remember them. I just find it bothersome to use them.”
“That’s even worse.”
Deia and Findenai continued to wage a war of nerves. The problem was that Findenai, the maid, should be the one to bow down. But forget bowing, her neck stiffened even further in pride and arrogance, as if to say she would never lower herself in front of someone like her.
As if Deia also knew that was pointless to try and correct her, she passed by Findenai and said,
“Five minutes.”
As she didn’t show up before today, I had been wondering if our deal had slipped her mind.
‘I guess she’s finally done dealing with the Scrapyard Nomads’ members.’
“Findenai, leave.”
“Yes.”
Findenai left, her voice trailing behind, and Sukla had also disappeared before I could instruct him to.
Deia stood still with a pocket watch in her hand.
-Click.
“Start.”
Deia stood with an expressionless face, like a wooden puppet, while her eyes were glued to the stopwatch.
I just stared at her in silence.
Tick-tock.
Tick-tock.
Time continued to pass. And after a minute, Deia, who was clenching her teeth with her arms crossed at first, began to relax.
Two minutes passed just like that.
In the end, she frowned in disapproval as I continued to stare at her in silence for the full five minutes.
Her lips twitched. She seemed to have something she wanted to say, but she turned around abruptly and left.
Findenai, who came back after Deia left, shrugged, saying it was not fun.
“I thought the two of you wanted to have a conversation, but it was too quiet… Did you both converse in writing?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. And from now on, don’t eavesdrop when I’m with Deia.”
“Ha, you have a lot of instructions. Unfortunately my ears are as good as my nose, so I can hear things even if I don’t want to.”
Findenai proudly tapped her ears while bragging.
I got up from my seat and sighed, thinking that I needed to work on her attitude.
“In the future, when I spend time with Deia, step outside the mansion.”
“…But why do I have to go outside for just 5 minutes?”
“Use it as your smoke break.”
“Ah, I see.”
Findenai smiled broadly and nodded her head as if she was satisfied.
Since she seemed quite frustrated that smoking was prohibited in my presence, I allowed her to take a break so that she’d become less annoying to be around.
“Then, let’s go.”
“…Where to?”
Findenai couldn’t hear what Sukla told me, but I didn’t feel the need to explain.
She had no choice but to follow me anyway.
As I walked outside silently, Findenai followed me like a shadow, grumbling to herself.
*
Professor Caren, who was in the midst of investigating the strange incidents at the Loberne Academy, entered Professor Fel’s laboratory.
Professor Fel, who had fainted on her first day at the academy, had not set foot in her laboratory since that day.
“So, is this mirror?”
Caren stood in front of a full-length mirror that was supposed to be weird and unusual, based on Fel’s testimony.
But all that Caren could see was a beautiful woman wearing a white gown;
The scar running down her nose gave her a tough and commander-like aura.
The narrowed dull gray eyes seemed to be skeptical and as if they were judging everything in the world.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s a problem.”
‘Didn’t she say that even if she turned around, the reflection in the mirror remained the same?’
Caren turned around, but her reflection in the mirror also turned the same way.
“Iyaaaa.”
Caren stroked her chin, drew the sword fastened to her waist and swung it.
“You moved in the same direction as me, huh.”
Clink!
The mirror shattered.
Amid the shattered pieces of the mirror, Caren saw her reflection laughing at her, mockingly.
“There’s definitely something here.”
This was Professor Fel’s laboratory now.
However, this was also the laboratory that Professor Deus Verdi used before he was dismissed.
“And this place was also the starting point.”
Looking at the timeline, this laboratory was the starting point for the abnormal phenomenon.
Professor Fel said that amidst the numerous screams and haunting voices she heard, she saw a girl with long hair, but that girl didn’t show up no matter how long Caren waited.
Thinking that it would be a shame to end her search after only checking the mirror, she began to look around the laboratory.
There were quite a few things to inspect as the Former Professor Deus used a lot of equipment that belonged to the Loberne Academy and some of his possessions were left behind.
The door of the laboratory creaked open as she was going through the professor’s desk. She thought it might be the start of another strange incident, but it wasn’t.
“What are you doing here?”
Erica Bright, the beautiful fiancée of Deus Verdi, entered with her blonde hair resting on her shoulders.
“Oh, Professor Erica. You’ve arrived at the right time. Did your fiancé happen to say anything about this incident?”
Erica frowned openly at Caren, who seemed to be taunting her.
“He hasn’t contacted me since he left, and I doubt that he’s the one behind these incidents.”
“He has nothing to do with them?”
“Yes, he doesn’t.”
Hearing Erica’s answer, Caren began to become suspicious of her.
“What makes you think that?”
Erica was annoyed by Caren’s questioning tone.
“Professor Caren, you may think that this is some kind of terrorism, but Deus doesn’t have that kind of ability. He’s just someone who couldn’t even get the title of professor by himself. Don’t you forget, he was barely able to get the title of a guest professor as he was my fiancé.”
“Hmm.”
Certainly, the possessions left behind by Professor Deus were only books about the basics of magic. Well, their content was so simple that she thought it was unhelpful.
“So, don’t waste your time in vain and find the real culprit.”
“Well, I’ll do it my way. You know, the Dean has entrusted me with full authority to investigate this case.”
“….”
Erica kept her mouth shut as she had already received a report about this matter.
Thud, thud, thud.
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed in the hallway. Both of them knew that it was not an unusual sign.
Because those loud footsteps were quite famous at the Loberne Academy.
“Huh? It looks like all the beautiful professors of our Academy have gathered here.”
With looks that were good enough to call him a “pretty boy” and a passionate personality, Gideon Zeronia entered the room. In addition to being an exceptional swordsman, he was also the son of a powerful noble family and was the most popular professor among female students.
He smiled refreshingly, and Caren replied listlessly,
“Are you investigating this case as well, Professor Gideon?”
“Excuse me? No, I came to pick up Professor Erica. I need to inform her about something.”
Erica said she understood and stepped out of the research lab immediately.
“Don’t waste your time poking your nose in random places.”
She said to Caren, in a dismissive tone as she passed by.
Thud.
As the two of them left and shut the door, Caren’s eyes quivered for a moment.
“Hmm?”
Before the door closed, it seemed like Gideon’s hand was approaching Erica’s waist.
Even though she seemed to have broken off her engagement with Deus, wasn’t it too soon to start a new relationship?
Caren cautiously peeked out the door.
“I think I told you to not touch me.”
Erica pushed away Gideon’s hand that was approaching her waist.
“Come on, you’re too old-fashioned. People who are dating do things like this.”
Gideon laughed and tried to stretch out his hand again, but…
Slap!
…Erica slapped it away.
‘Are they dating?’
That being said, it didn’t seem like Erica had any feelings of affection toward Gideon. At least, that’s what Caren thought as a fellow woman, while observing her behavior.
‘Well, it’s none of my business.’
Ignoring Erica’s advice, Caren closed the door silently and began to go through the lab again.
