Chapter 279: Calm Before the Storm (4)
Lian and Professor Windy May passed by Lancia without stopping and quickened their pace.
“You’re quite cold-hearted, unlike your appearance.”
Professor Windy May tossed the remark toward Lian as if casually throwing something away.
Her tone sounded as though she were cracking a joke.
“If you’d just said, ‘I’m here with you. I’ll help you,’ and given her a hug right there, things might have gone more smoothly.”
“Please don’t joke like that, Professor.”
Lian replied in a quiet voice.
Even at that response, Professor Windy May continued in the same joking tone.
“Half of it was a joke.”
“Then the other half was sincere?”
“Well…”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“The Lian I’ve seen until now—maybe not whispering sweet words and embracing someone—but I thought you’d at least offer some similarly gentle advice. You had a bit of a soft side, like a floppy squid that couldn’t stay firm.”
“……”
“So honestly, what you did just now was a bit unexpected. I didn’t think you’d speak that… hmm, coldly.”
“I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly good person.”
“Ahahaha.”
Professor Windy May let out a dry laugh.
It was the reaction of someone who had just heard a joke that wasn’t funny at all.
“People like you who meddle so much are actually hard to find.”
“……”
“…Has someone said something similar to you before?”
Her tone was still joking, but the question itself was piercingly sharp.
They had not known each other long, yet she sometimes threw questions like this—questions sharp enough to see straight through the other person’s heart.
This one was no different.
“Yes.”
Lian nodded.
“At the time, it actually made me angrier. But when I think about it now… it’s probably the reason I was able to stand back up. Sometimes gentle words sound nice, but they don’t help at all.”
“Hm…”
“To be honest, I don’t know what the right answer is. I just have to hope Senior Lancia is as strong as I believe she is.”
“See? Even in a situation like this, you’re worrying about someone else.”
Professor Windy May muttered in disbelief.
“Lian, don’t forget—you could end up being hung on a stake for killing a Cardinal if things go wrong. We’re moving right now to prevent that from happening.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Don’t just say it.”
She sighed.
“What I mean is this isn’t the time to worry about other people. Focus only on your own problem.”
“…Understood.”
Lian nodded.
“Good.”
Professor Windy May nodded as well and glanced around.
There was still no sign of anyone nearby.
“Still… it’s too quiet.”
She muttered casually and tapped Lian’s shoulder.
When Lian looked at her questioningly, she raised her palm in a gesture telling him to stop.
“We should take a moment to assess the situation before moving.”
“Like the Headmaster did earlier?”
“Hah!”
Professor Windy May snorted deliberately.
“I’m several times better than him. Didn’t I tell you that I almost became the Headmaster here originally?”
“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“Anyway, it happened. I ran away with my tail between my legs, so Yeriel ended up taking the position instead….”
Casually admitting that she had dumped the responsibility and fled, she raised her hand.
Magical power gathered instantly, and before long a sphere similar to the Crystal Sphere Lian had seen in the Headmaster’s Office floated above her palm.
“I possess the same level of authority as Yeriel. Normally I don’t use it because it would be overstepping my authority…”
The authority of the Headmaster.
Come to think of it, Yeriel had mentioned something like that in passing before.
“It’s authority possessed by all direct descendants of Sage Arpentia. Currently in the Academy, only Yeriel, Deiare, and I have it.”
As she explained, Professor Windy May gazed into the sphere of magical power.
Soon, just as Lian had seen earlier in the Headmaster’s Office, scenes from all around the Academy began appearing clearly within it.
Looking at it, she asked Lian,
“Did Yeriel tell you how many members of the Holy Sun Church there were?”
“Five in total. But he said four of them were the ones we needed to worry about.”
Lian answered immediately.
“The ordinary Followers guarding the place after fortifying it. And four groups made up of Agents.”
“And the destinations?”
“The Professors’ Wing where the Room of Memories is located, the Headmaster’s Office, the Library, and the Forbidden Forest.”
“Hm… Well, Lian already dealt with the group at the Library.”
Professor Windy May muttered while flicking her fingers.
“The group heading to the Professors’ Wing has also been taken down. Some professors and a few students… Hmm?”
She tilted her head slightly.
“Mercedes. She was there. I’m not sure what happened, but it seems they subdued them.”
“What about the other places?”
“……”
“…Professor?”
“Ah, sorry.”
After a brief silence, Professor Windy May spoke in a quiet whisper.
“…The Forbidden Forest looks like it destroyed itself earlier. I don’t see anyone standing on their feet.”
“What about the Headmaster’s Office?”
“Good question. That one isn’t over yet. I’d like to say Yeriel is terribly inexperienced, but…”
She muttered in a slightly serious tone.
“I thought the numbers were a little small earlier, but it looks like they all gathered there. Even for Yeriel, handling that many would have been difficult. Still, he managed to hold out.”
“He said that if they seized the Headmaster’s Office, they could obtain authority over the entire Academy.”
“It’s not exactly like that, but it’s similar.”
Professor Windy May nodded and added,
“At the very least, it means the Academy would no longer be safe only for us.”
“Then shouldn’t we hurry there?”
“That’s exactly why I was about to ask for your consent, Lian—”
As she said that and reached out toward him, Professor Windy May suddenly flinched.
Her body trembled slightly as she tilted her head as if someone had struck it, her brows tightening.
“…Professor?”
“…Just a moment.”
Holding out her hand to stop Lian, she placed her other hand on her forehead.
She was receiving and organizing the memories and information shared by another version of herself.
“……”
Yeriel’s situation was certainly urgent, but in her judgment, this matter was more important.
And she felt an inexplicable premonition that Lian needed to hear this now.
“Huh.”
Just then—
A heavy sound cutting through the air echoed loudly.
Lian immediately turned his head toward the source.
He saw several dragons that had been resting near the Library taking flight into the sky again.
‘There are more of them.’
There were clearly more than before.
Two… no, three.
“…Menoruka, Junongren, and Amaruah.”
‘If I calculate it like that, it fits exactly.’
While Lian was wondering what had happened, Professor Windy May finished organizing the chaotic information in her mind and shook her head.
“Lian.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“I’ll explain briefly, so listen carefully. I won’t have time to repeat it.”
With that introduction, Professor Windy May began explaining.
In summary, it was this:
The reason the dragons appeared in the capital in a group was to fulfill an ancient Vow they had made with the Saintess in the past.
At the same time, they had come to recover the bodies of their fallen kin and rescue young dragons who had fallen into danger.
The content of that Vow involved asking them to preside over and witness the Human Sacrifice Ritual that the Saintess had explained.
To fulfill that Vow, one of the dragons—especially powerful among them—had come personally.
Lastly, when asked about the most important element of the Ritual… the Human Sacrifice itself, they did not give a proper answer.
However, judging from Amaruah’s behavior and words before leaving, it seemed the sacrifice was someone closely related to her.
After finishing the explanation, Professor Windy May looked at Lian and asked,
“Does anything come to mind?”
As if anticipating his reaction, she added immediately,
“I only knew her by face, and we never had any deep interactions. But if I remember correctly, Lian had quite a connection with that person.”
“If we’re being exact, I only exchanged greetings with her as well. Our recent interaction became deeper because of Prince Behad and Menoruka.”
“And…?”
Lian hesitated briefly before speaking carefully.
“…I heard that she and my stepmother were seniors and juniors during their time at the Academy.”
“Your stepmother?”
“Yes. Not just a simple senior–junior relationship either. It seemed they were very close. After all, Amaruah revealed to my stepmother that she was actually a dragon.”
“Hm.”
Professor Windy May nodded.
“And she also gave my stepmother a brooch as a token of a promise, saying she would help her whenever necessary. My stepmother passed that brooch to me… and through it, I was able to receive Amaruah’s help.”
“…Hmm.”
At those words, Professor Windy May nodded slowly, as if thinking.
“I don’t know the details of what happened between them. Neither of them ever talked about it, and it didn’t feel like a subject I could ask about.”
“Even without hearing the details, it sounds like something significant happened between them.”
Professor Windy May nodded.
“…Alright. So aside from that, nothing else comes to mind?”
“No.”
“Then we’ll think about the rest after helping a certain pathetic priest who’s currently dying.”
With those words, Professor Windy May extended her hand toward Lian.
That magic again.
Lian steeled himself and accepted her hand.
“……”
And for some reason—
The thought that Amaruah had murmured something in a deeply regretful and sorrowful voice at the very end, as Professor Windy May had said, lingered uncomfortably in his mind.
“Hm.”
Deiare slowly swung the halberd in her hand.
Shaking off the blood from the blade, she cast a glance toward the direction from which she had just felt someone watching her.
‘Windy May… it must be that girl.’
She had probably been surveying the inside of the Academy and unintentionally glimpsed her.
Windy May usually behaved freely and did whatever she pleased, but she was unusually respectful toward Deiare.
Well, that was only natural.
Deiare and Edas—Windy May’s master—had been fellow disciples under the same teacher.
Since Windy May had quickly looked away as if realizing her mistake, and given the current situation, Deiare did not feel the slightest irritation about being observed.
Even so, the reason her movements carried extra force was simply because of the Agents she had just dealt with.
“They’ve become quite inferior.”
She murmured after easily cutting down the Agents who had been heading toward the Forbidden Forest.
After finishing confirmation and cleanup just in case, she immediately began running at full speed toward the center of the forest.
“Master.”
She murmured softly and covered one eye with her free hand—the one not holding the halberd.
That was where the Far-Seeing Eye bestowed upon her by Arpentia rested.
“…I will keep my promise.”
Even though no reply would come, she spoke the words and continued sprinting toward the collapsed Sanctum.