༺ The Method To Save You ༻
After reaching the end of the stairs, Findenai and I stayed silent. Although we were using magic to illuminate the place, the space was too wide and dark to see anything beyond the immediate vicinity.
“Hmm, this place is really large.”
Findenai looked around, grumbling.
“Do you feel anything?”
“Yes, I do. There’s a strong smell of death.”
“….”
She scanned the room with a frown on her face. Her crimson eyes seemed to have adapted to the darkness in an instant, observing something that I was unable to.
Now that it had come to this, I felt helpless for being unable to see anything. I transformed a few souls into light and walked around the room.
The screams of the souls echoed like the sound of the wind… though that didn’t bother me.
“….”
Finally, I saw what Findenai had been staring at.
This place was some kind of warehouse.
The only bizarre thing was… as if waiting for someone to discover them, numerous bones were attached to each other.
“Kya, who did this!? Was it the Guardians of the Glorious Verdi Household, or was it some monster that devoured so many people?”
Findenai exclaimed as she fiddled with the bones on the floor using her foot.
It was an unbelievable sight, but in a way, I finally figured it out.
‘So, this is the reason the mansion was overflowing with evil spirits.’
I finally understood why this mansion had so many evil spirits with grudges haunting it.
[Kiaaaak!]
Suddenly, one of the souls illuminating the area was extinguished with a scream. One by one, the remaining souls were sucked away.
I turned my gaze to the source of the phenomenon. An eerie blue light burst out and soon lit up the entire basement. And from among the bone fragments that were piled as high as a mountain, emerged a huge centipede with the face of a human.
The centipede, which was made up of white bones, was absorbing the souls that had been earlier absorbed by me with haste.
[No! I hate it!]
[Save me!]
[I don’t want to die!]
The spirits screamed as if recalling memories of their actual death.
Looking at this soul-eating monster, I realized why Sukla did not accompany me here.
“A centipede made of human bones?”
Apparently that monster was also visible to Findenai, who went ahead of me with a laugh.
“Master, I don’t think we can just catch this thing using our bare hands. We need an axe or something.”
Even Findenai felt that the centipede was too intimidating and complained that she did not have a good weapon to fight it.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
The centipede scurried toward us with footsteps that sounded like insects being crushed. It looked like it would devour us at any moment with its gaping mouth.
“Hey, you!”
I yelled as Findenai hurriedly turned around, picked me up like a sack, and headed for the entrance.
I tried to protest with my eyes at the manner she was carrying me, but Findenai just chuckled as she ran.
“Having a competent maid is good, right Master? If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead already.”
“Phew, please don’t ever rescue me in such an unimpressive manner again.”
“You have quite a lot of demands, Master! But… if that monster comes up as well, won’t the mansion collapse?”
“It’s okay. If it hadn’t escaped from the basement all this while, it probably won’t be able to even now.”
“Hehe, it would be fun if it chased after us.”
While hanging from Findenai’s shoulder, I observed the centipede monster closely.
It had a human skull for a face, and on either side of its massive centipede-like body were multiple human bones that served as its legs.
‘……A centipede made from human bones.’
I tried to identify where the end of its body was with my eyes; as the souls illuminating the basement were eaten by it earlier, I just conjured light using pure mana.
“….!”
At the end of the centipede was not simply a tail, which was what I had expected to see. Instead, an expressionless girl with half of her skin peeled off and a gaping hole in her chest was being dragged around.
The centipede was connected to the girl’s heart.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
After passing through the entrance, Findenai dashed up the stairs. The bone centipede twisted its body and broke through the entrance as well, starting to crawl up the stairs.
“It’s really disgusting and creepy!”
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Findenai crouched and held me tightly with both hands. Then, she grinned.
“Master, hold on tight.”
As soon as I wrapped my arms around her neck, Findenai’s hidden, overwhelming mana burst out like an explosion, allowing her to cover more than half of the passage with a single leap.
Additionally, the skeleton centipede could no longer chase us as the step that Findenai had used to launch herself had collapsed due to the impact.
Finally, we reached the first level of the basement. Findenai looked reinvigorated, saying that she finally got the opportunity to move her body after a while, but my expression was grim.
‘Who was that girl?’
There was nothing normal about the girl whose heart was connected to the giant centipede’s tail. And the centipede was way too large to be classified as a parasite.
As I sunk deeper into my thoughts, I was about to reach a state that was similar to being submerged in the deep ocean…
Grasp!
…Realizing this, Findenai stood before me, grasping Darius’ wrist, who had come running and tried to slap me on the cheek.
“Let go of me! If a foreign lord has shown you favor, you should remain obedient and not interfere with your Master!”
“You’re not my Master, though?”
That was right.
Findenai belonged to me, not the Verdi Household.
I gazed at Darius and asked him softly,
“Did you know what was in there?”
“What? What’s it to you? Your job is to just drink and fool around with women as usual! Don’t you forget that you promised not to interfere with matters of the Household!”
Did I ever make such a promise?
Sorry, but that wasn’t me.
“I’ll ask you again. Brother, did you know what was in there?”
“You can figure it out yourself…!”
“…Break it.”
Crack!
“Aaaargh!”
Findenai neatly snapped my brother’s wrist, which was in her grasp. The servants at the back were startled and tried to come close to Darius in haste.
But they backed away the moment I stepped forward with sudden movements.
I looked down at Darius, who was writhing in pain on the ground and cautioned him.
“Don’t test my patience anymore, brother. I’ll ask you one last time, did you know?”
* * *
The Dean’s Office of the Loberne Academy.
Caren and Professor Erica Bright were having a heated debate in front of the Dean.
“We need to call Professor Deus back.”
Hearing Caren’s statement, Erica frowned and refused.
“Are you kidding me? Do you realize that it’s not even been that long since Professor Deus was fired?”
Erica turned her gaze toward the Dean and continued speaking,
“Dismissal is the highest disciplinary action. There’s a law designated by the Kingdom that prohibits re-appointment for a certain period of time after a Dismissal. If we call Deus back, not only will the Royal Law be looked down upon, it will also undermine the authority of the Loberne Academy.”
Once she added that the support of the Royal Family, which was already shaky, could worsen, the Dean’s expression darkened.
Caren sneered, unconvinced.
“So what? Is this insignificant authority more important? Haven’t you seen the atrocities of the strange ghosts with me? Professor Deus was the first to figure it out!”
“Deus was just lucky to learn about it. Now that we have found some clues, we can also react appropriately.”
“No! Ha…”
Caren, who always remained rational and cool-headed in combat, but in such a debate, her experiences from her mercenary work were of no use.
Now, frustrated and incredulous, Caren glared straight at Erica and asked,
“What happened? Weren’t we just trying to solve this case together yesterday? What made you have a sudden change of heart?”
“I haven’t changed. I have been doing my best to resolve the incident, and I will continue to give it my all.”
“Stop.”
The debate seemed like it would continue indefinitely, but eventually, the Dean, who had remained silent with a serious expression, spoke up.
He was a warm-looking man, but today he looked way more serious as he contemplated.
Finally, he answered.
“It is impossible to reinstate Deus, but let’s at least ask him for his counsel. Looking at the circumstances, it’s probably true that he may have some idea about this strange phenomenon.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Erica Bright bowed her head deeply with satisfaction, and Caren turned and stepped out of the Dean’s office biting her lip.
Seeing Caren like that, the Dean sighed and said to Erica.
“It seems that Professor Erica doesn’t want to be involved with Deus anymore.”
“…”
She gave a silent affirmation.
“I will contact the Verdi Household separately. Professor, please take good care of the students and work hard to resolve the incident.”
“I understand.”
Erica bowed her head once more and stepped out into the hallway, staring at the sky.
The sky was unusually dark and the thick clouds that seemed to represent the unsettling situation of the academy, even though not a single drop of rain was falling, were a sight to behold.
To be honest, there were multiple ways to reinstate Deus Verdi. In the first place, he was just a guest professor invited thanks to Erica.
In other words, he was a non-regular employee.
Of course, as he had demonstrated his ability as a skilled professor for three months, it was only a matter of time before he was appointed as a regular professor.
In fact, the Letter of Recommendation for his permanent appointment as a professor had already been sent to the Royal Palace.
But before that could be processed, a letter for dismissal was sent, and it was passed first.
According to the Kingdom’s Law, the punishment of dismissal could not be given to a guest professor like Deus Verdi. At most, he could only be removed from his current position.
This basically meant he received a kind of disciplinary action in a position where he literally shouldn’t be able to.
It would not be possible in normal circumstances, but she did it.
If she was asked to give a reason, there was nothing she could say except that Gideon’s Zeronia family had exerted their influence.
‘I’ll make sure you don’t return to this academy Deus, no matter what.’
As she walked down the hallway, Erica clenched her fists and reaffirmed the promise she’d made herself.
‘I will definitely stop you from returning.’
Even if she used dirty means.
Even if she had to pretend that she was dating a bloody narcissist…
She’d do it.
Because… that was…
‘The only way to save you.’
