Chapter 261: The Narrow-Eyed Villain of the Demon Academy

The Narrow-Eyed Villain of the Demon Academy

The harsh midday sun beat down as if it would pierce through one's eyes.

Someone flung open the classroom door and shouted,

“Emergency! Emergency! It’s an emergency!”

Turning my head, I saw Fron, so out of breath from running that she could barely speak.

“Huff, huff, Instructor Tammy… Instructor Tammy…”

“If you're trying to tell us that she’s missing, you don't have to.”

Samuel casually cut off Fron's frantic words.

Fron's eyes widened in response.

“Hmph, it's only natural that I would know before a fool like you.”

“Wh-what?”

“Did you not see the other instructors bustling around this morning?”

Samuel's sharp gaze made Fron flinch and stammer.

“W-well, I was sleeping…”

“You were sleeping at school? Unbelievable. Sytan is not a place for sleeping. It's a place for studying.”

“...!”

Fron couldn't retort to Samuel's undeniably true statement and simply glared at him.

Lately, perhaps due to the incident in the Lust Territory, Fron had been living a very leisurely life.

She wasn't studying as hard as before, and she had stopped boasting about her class president position or claiming that she would be the top student again this time.

Initially, I didn't mind the change, but her laziness was growing by the day.

It was almost as if the embodiment of Lust was about to be adopted by the Sloth family.

“Well, you have been slacking off lately.”

I nonchalantly tossed my textbook into my bag and chided Fron.

“You're one to talk.”

Samuel let out a sarcastic laugh, as if he found my words ridiculous.

I smiled as brightly as a summer fruit and replied,

“Still, I’m better than you, Ms. Fron.”

“I refuse to acknowledge that!”

Fron yelled, but I just scratched my ear.

It felt like a loser was barking somewhere, making my ears itch.

“Y-you… I will definitely… you guys…!”

“What, are you going to hit us?”

“Yes, I'll beat you up! I will definitely… you gloomy-looking bastard…!”

Fron was just about to swing her fist at me when,

“Be quiet.”

Luna, who was sitting in front of Fron, spoke without taking her eyes off her textbook.

Her flat tone silenced me, even though I had been about to tease Fron a bit more.

Regardless,

Scribble, scribble-

Luna simply continued to move her pen, seemingly taking notes.

Samuel's eyes lit up like a child who had discovered a new toy as he looked at me.

“Suddenly gone silent, are we? Why, do you have to listen to everything she says?”

“...“

Fron chimed in as well.

“Ha, haven’t I told you countless times? Even if you do that, the chances of you and Luna getting together are…”

Hold on, these guys?

Why are they suddenly turning on me?

I couldn't help but click my tongue at their sudden barrage of criticism.

As I was being teased by Samuel and Fron, I glanced back and made eye contact with Luna.

“...“

However, Luna continued to focus on her studies, as if nothing had happened, simply brushing her hair behind her ear.

As I looked away from her,

“By the way, you mongrel, do you know anything about this incident?”

“What do you mean?”

“The incident where Instructor Tammy went missing. I heard you were close to her.”

“Well, I don't have any particular clues.”

I acted nonchalantly, without a hint of nervousness.

At the same time, I put on a worried expression for Instructor Tammy, responding to Samuel's question.

“I can't believe an instructor at Sytan would go missing… I hope it's nothing serious.”

“Hmm, have there ever been times when you hoped something wasn’t serious and it actually wasn’t?”

“Not really…”

I trailed off, furrowing my brows.

As if I had nothing to do with this incident.

As if I was genuinely worried about Tammy.

But something felt strange.

“Do you really not know what happened?”

Samuel asked me again.

His expression seemed quite serious, forcing me to frown.

What is it?

Did he perhaps see that scene?

“Yes, I really don't know.”

“...Then, where did you go last night?”

Ah.

So that's why he's suspicious.

Judging by his reaction, it didn't seem like he had found any concrete evidence.

But it didn't feel like the atmosphere was right for me to tell a blatant lie either.

I answered, carefully blending truth and falsehood.

“I had an appointment with the Headmaster.”

“The Headmaster? You had an appointment with her? What kind of appointment would you have with her?”

“That's a secret.”

I hadn't actually met with the Headmaster, but it was true that we were in the same boat.

When Samuel realized that the Headmaster was involved, he didn't press further, only frowning.

As if he didn't like the current situation.

However, there was nothing Samuel could do.

Scoot-

I got up from my seat and smiled at Samuel.

“What’s going on? Explain it to me too.”

Only Fron, who hadn't grasped the situation, tilted his head in confusion.

***

After concluding my conversation with Samuel, I headed to the faculty office, where only Idea remained.

Idea was sitting in a chair, leisurely sipping tea as she had done yesterday.

“Class president, welcome.”

After taking a sip, she looked at me and smiled gently.

Her appearance made me feel nauseous, but I forced myself to smile back.

“Are you satisfied with the results?”

“Hmm, well? I'm not sure what you mean.”

Idea feigned ignorance and took another sip of tea.

However, her face was filled with a satisfied smile.

Just yesterday, Tammy had been her fellow instructor.

To think she would react this way to Tammy's death.

She was a truly frightening woman.

“Is that so? Then, were they satisfied?”

“They said they were. Of course, they also mentioned some regrets. Like the body, for example. Things like that.”

“Haha, what can you do? I had to incinerate it since I couldn't risk being discovered.”

Whoosh-

Black flames flickered like a viper's tongue at my fingertips.

It was one of the fire magic spells I had learned while practicing magic with Samuel.

Although my proficiency was lower than with Dark Lightning, it had enough firepower to burn someone to ashes.

Idea stared at my flames and spoke.

“That's a beautiful flame.”

“Is it?”

“Instructor Tammy was beautiful too.”

“...Is that so? She wasn't really my type.”

Suddenly, the memory of what I had done last night surfaced, making me feel a pang of guilt.

Tammy's distorted face, her gasps that seemed like they would break at any moment, the blood that had poured from her body…

And the image of myself becoming accustomed to such acts was also painful to see.

Idea observed my silence for a moment before speaking again.

“Will you be able to handle the next target? He's quite a formidable opponent.”

“It shouldn't be too difficult.”

“You seem confident. Well, you do possess that level of skill.”

Idea smiled and shrugged.

So she was watching after all.

My eyes narrowed.

Whatever device it was, Idea and the Headmaster must have been observing the scene where I killed Tammy.

'I didn't sense any magical devices, though.'

Whatever method they used, it was sufficient to monitor Tammy.

Of course, it seemed impossible for them to monitor me.

They might be trying to keep an eye on me, but they couldn't possibly watch my every move.

However, monitoring a weak individual like Instructor Tammy... it must have been child's play.

'Their intention in saying this is probably something like this.'

We can see all your actions.

So don't even dream of betraying us.

Perhaps that's what they wanted to convey.

'Diana and the Headmaster both know.'

They know that I have something I'm aiming for, and that's why I joined hands with them.

And that I'm capable of killing Tammy without reason to achieve my goal.

Hum-

I channeled a faint amount of mana and activated my 'Killing Intent' trait.

It was a message directed towards the Headmaster, who was likely observing this situation from somewhere.

Idea's eyelids twitched for a moment at the sudden shift in the atmosphere.

I simply smiled without flinching.

Seeing my reaction, Idea also smiled silently.

I smiled, and Idea smiled.

Did the Headmaster smile too?

She probably did.

“Then I'll be going now. Expect a gift tonight.”

“Yes, I'll be looking forward to it.”

Idea saw me off without getting up from her seat.

As I turned to leave the faculty office, I stopped in my tracks.

“Oh, by the way,”

I turned back to face Idea and asked with a smile,

“Is Instructor Ares not included in that list?”

Idea remained silent.

She didn't smile.

Her eyes, which had seemed empty a moment ago, were now filled with a clear killing intent.

As if warning me not to utter that name with my filthy mouth.

She glared at me as if she wanted to kill me.

“Class president, excessive jokes are not good!”

Then, Idea suddenly smiled brighter than ever and patted my shoulder.

“Haha, was it an excessive joke?”

“Yes, it was. You're really mischievous, class president.”

“That's why Luna rejects you, you know.”

Idea added.

“...“

This time, it was my turn to lose the smile.

My expression must have mirrored Idea's earlier one.

I could only guess, as I couldn't see my own face.

Then,

“Ha.”

Haha.

Hahaha.

We both started laughing, as if on cue.

We laughed loudly, loudly enough to make the faculty office ring.

Only the dagger nestled against my chest retained its icy chill.

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