Chapter 21: Why are you coming out from here? Part 2

The preparations for the grand scheme were progressing smoothly.

They had checked the movement routes multiple times and successfully contacted their collaborators.

The goal of the operation: the blood of the Divine Beast.

In other words, they had been continuously tracking the locations of the First and Second Princesses.

No matter how much divine protection they received from the Divine Beast, there was no way those girls could withstand the ‘Sacrificial Ritual,’ a spell that had already consumed the lives of countless humans.

No knight, no professor, could prevent the death that would descend upon the princesses.

Now, all that was left was to wait for the moment when the two princesses would meet.

Once their puppet—a student of the academy—approached the princesses, all they had to do was activate the ritual.

That should have been all.

But why—

“One hundred… No, two hundred lives must have been sacrificed for this ritual. You’ve gathered quite a lot.”

Why.

“Fanatics, then and now, never seem to value their own lives. Why on earth do you live like that?”

‘What grudge did they have against the apostles of Lakael?’

‘What reason could they possibly have to obstruct the most sacred and noble path of all?’

The only thing the sudden assassin left behind was confusion.

Some of the apostle’s comrades had tried to resist, but they were all swiftly cut down.

Then, once again, that sickening sound rang out—the sharp noise of something piercing flesh.

Almost simultaneously, a familiar figure collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

“Lakael!!”

Thud.

A man, unable to suppress his rising fury, let out a roar as his black spear struck the ground.

The assassin turned to him, their gaze momentarily filled with interest.

The man gripped his spear and charged like a beast, aiming to punish the heretic who dared to obstruct their sacred mission.

“…Hmph.”

Karian’s twin daggers, held in a reverse grip, twitched slightly at the sight of the man charging like a wild beast.

A dark shadow rose in response.

The spearhead came flying straight at him, but Karian’s body leapt lightly into the air.

Then, with the shadows that had surged up just moments before, he engulfed the entire area in darkness, erasing every trace of light.

“You think hiding will change anything!?”

The apostle shouted defiantly into the darkness surrounding him, scanning his surroundings.

A faint presence soon flickered.

“There you are—!”

But that was as far as he got.

—Slash!

“Guh!”

Before he could bring down his spear, deep cuts had already been carved into his spear-wielding hand, his left ankle, his waist, and his right shoulder.

Blood burst forth.

Only when he saw the crimson droplets splattering everywhere did he realize they were his own.

His body collapsed, drained of strength.

He hadn’t even been able to react.

Hadn’t even registered the pain until it was too late.

A fraction of a second.

A fleeting instant.

The sheer impossibility of someone achieving such speed with a human body filled him with confusion and despair.

—Step.

—Step.

The darkness slowly receded, revealing Karian once more.

He met the apostle’s dull, fading gaze.

“Even if… you struggle… Lakael’s wrath… will manifest…”

Clinging to the last threads of consciousness, the apostle forced out a curse-like declaration.

Even if he perished here, his comrades remained.

He had no doubt they would carry out their destined mission.

And so, in his final moments, he sneered at the assassin before him.

“Who knows.”

Karian’s voice cut through his conviction without the slightest hint of concern.

“You seem to have chosen the wrong time and place. But if that’s what you call fate… so be it.”

Recalling the young girl who had once kicked him in the shin upon their first meeting, Karian muttered indifferently before vanishing completely.

He had no interest in why the apostles of Lakael were planning their scheme.

The only reason he had raided one of their hideouts—

The only reason he had set foot in the academy—

‘Was because they had the potential to interfere with his objective.’

Yet, after facing the apostles and their allies firsthand—

There had never been a group of misfits more unworthy of the cause they believed in.

‘Where do they even get such confidence?’

Rather than going out of his way to hunt down the remaining apostles, Karian chose to observe the situation.

They were far too incompetent to plunge the academy into chaos.

Besides, the commotion they caused would serve as the perfect distraction for his infiltration.

And so, he decided to focus on two things:

Finding the person his former subordinate had encountered—

And watching over the young professor marked with the emblem of an ancient dragon.

“Guess I should start by getting close to them.”

“Professor, are you… close with the High Dragon?”

As soon as the morning lecture ended, Irina, the Second Princess, cautiously asked me about my relationship with Orphion as I made my way back to the faculty office.

Now that I thought about it, we weren’t exactly distant.

But calling that ill-tempered lizard my closest friend filled me with an overwhelming sense of rejection.

In the end, I settled for a neutral answer.

“Well, we exchange letters sometimes. And if we run into each other, we acknowledge each other.”

“T-That’s amazing.”

‘What is.’

‘What kind of image did Irina have of Orphion?’

Come to think of it, ever since the entrance ceremony, people had known that I was acquainted with Orphion.

‘She has the Divine Beast as her guardian, so what’s there to be scared of…?’

She was a princess, after all.

I couldn’t understand why someone like her would be intimidated by a mere lizard.

As far as I remembered, Lilian had never once shrunk back, even in front of Orphion.

‘…Was that just because Lilian was unusual?’

Well, whatever.

Right now, my priority was to check whether Orphion was staying put in the faculty office.

—Creak.

After walking and walking, I finally arrived at the office door and stepped inside without hesitation.

Irina and Evan had said they would wait outside, so I told them to do as they pleased.

“Godfather.”

“Oh, you’re here.”

But something was off about Orphion’s expression.

I had expected him to be bored out of his mind, yet for some reason, he was grinning as if he had just watched something amusing.

Unease crept in.

‘Had he caused some kind of trouble while I wasn’t looking?’

“Don’t worry. This time, I was just watching.”

“Watching? Watching what?”

“It wouldn’t be fun if I told you.”

Orphion rose from the guest sofa and slowly approached me.

With our significant height difference, I had to tilt my head back to look up at him.

“You’ve grown quite polite.”

“I’m not sure what you mean…”

“You finally seem to be showing proper respect. It’s nice to hear.”

‘…Isn’t showing respect to my godfather only natural?’

It seemed Orphion enjoyed the fact that I was speaking formally to him.

‘Did he actually think I was doing it willingly? How ridiculous.’

—Ahem.

『The assistant instructors outside the office are eavesdropping, so I’m doing this on purpose. Did you really think I’d use honorifics for a lizard out of affection?』

“You’ve even mastered telepathy now.”

『Thanks to a certain someone. Anyway, let’s go. We’ll talk at the dormitory.』

“Before that, I must stop by the café.”

『…Don’t even think about messing with the café owner.』

“I’ll try my best.”

A sigh escaped me.

Orphion never listened to me, no matter the time or place.

And when it came to things that piqued his curiosity—whether it was food, drinks, novels, or unknown magic—he was impossibly stubborn.

—Creak.

In the end, I left the faculty office with Orphion, and we started walking down the long corridor together.

I could only hope the café owner would somehow make the drinks taste worse today.

Not likely.

***

“Oh, Professor! Good morni—eh? Uh… Uwaah?!”

“…Sorry for startling you.”

The problem was that the students who usually greeted me as I walked through the hallway were now recoiling in shock at the sight of the lizard beside me.

As expected, I could hear stifled laughter coming from right next to me every time a student flinched.

“You must be quite close with your students. Or have you still not abandoned your old habits?”

“…What’s wrong with a professor being friendly with their students?”

Still, I hadn’t expected Orphion’s human form to be this well-known.

‘What exactly had he been up to?’

‘Did pictures of him get circulated or something…?’

Lost in thought, I soon found myself standing at the entrance of the café.

I briefly turned my back to Orphion, handing him the menu and telling him to pick something while I placed the order.

“You’re being unusually considerate. Are you that worried about the café owner? Hiding them like some precious treasure?”

“I simply wouldn’t want to trouble you, Godfather.”

“Your words always sound so polished.”

Then came his order—”Latte macchiato.”

I walked up to the familiar café owner and ordered Orphion’s drink along with mine.

—Crash!

“Y-You… Why are you here?”

“It’s been a while.”

A few steps away, Lilian and Orphion were staring at each other.

The teacup that had been in Lilian’s hand just moments ago now lay shattered on the floor.

Something about her reaction felt strange.

Now that I looked closely, Orphion also seemed… off.

“You recovered faster than I expected. I thought you’d still be wasting away in the palace.”

“And whose fault do you think that is?!”

A bad feeling stirred within me.

‘Just what had happened between these two?’