Chapter 288: Revamped Story and a Crowded Room

Recap: After sneaking into Mage's Shadow with the help of Olpi, a half-Elf Demi, Cerlius's progress was halted by an obsidian door which can only be opened with an Allpass. Just as they were about to leave, an ancient Watchman approached them and revealed a fragment of Cerlius's past. It crumbled to pieces shortly after. In a fit of rage and sadness, Cerlius blindly gathered the shards and received a horrible injury on his arm.

Olpi patched him up and escorted him back to his room. Cerlius then sorted his past into two of the most significant events: his rebirth as a Lich and the founding of the Magic Academy. He had hardly let out a sigh of relief when he discovered that his crystal window had been shattered by an arrow.

Attached was a note from the mysterious Notemaker, warning that Jackal was watching and of his friends' plan. Cerlius quickly tossed the note and arrow away and put crystal in his arm as a cover for his injuries. He lost consciousness right as the instructors burst in. Larque voiced a growing fear.

Now back to the story…

Olpi yawned as she locked Cerlius's door. Luckily the entrance to the servant's quarters was a few feet away. 'Cerlius sounded so sure that he would regain his memories and escape, but I can't join him,' she thought. 'If I left, I can't even imagine how many Demis would fall under instructor Jersin's cane. I wonder how many humans would follow Cerlius if he asked them.' She pulled a heavy, jingling keyring out of her pocket and flipped through the dozens of unique keys. Except for the obsidian doors, the keys could open any bedroom, any classroom, and anything in between. The Demis were free to roam around the cage for the rest of their lives, but never further. The privilege to leave was saved exclusively for graduates.

"Hey Olpi," a voice whispered from behind her, making her jump. She glanced back to see a boy walking from door to door. His job as a Demi was to systematically check students at night, and immediately report anything against the rules. He stood a few feet from Cerlius's door, fiddling with a keyring as big as Olpi's.

Olpi almost turned to face him but remembered that her chest was covered in blood. She stuttered out a greeting and flipped through the keys a little faster.

"You didn't happen to see Menla, did you?" The boy kept talking, and her blood pressure kept rising.

"No I didn't see her," Olpi resisted the urge to curse as her wet hands slipped over the small metal keys. "Why do you ask?"

"Well I was walking along checking the rooms as usual when she bolted right past me like she had seen a ghost or something. She didn't even care that she tracked in a bunch of mud, and it's her job to keep the floor clean." Olpi finally got the right key and shoved it in the old, rusty lock. "Do you think I should talk to her?" The Demi stepped past Cerlius's door and closer to Olpi, who tensed up.

"Y-you should finish your shift," Olpi stuttered as she creaked the door ajar. "I can talk to her." She couldn't even breath. She was so close to safety. She took one step in the room and felt a tug at her sleeve. If the boy had grabbed her wrist, he would have felt a furious heartbeat. 'I can just yank my arm away and run.' Just the thought of accidentally hitting the poor kid made her hesitate.

"You would do that for me?" The Demi asked. "Thank you Olpi. No wonder you're the one training all us newbies. You're the nicest one here. We'd all follow you to hell and back."

Small tears formed in Olpi's eyes. She inched closer to the door in a poor attempt to hide more of her front. "Thank you. It means a lot...Say do you really mean that? Would all of you follow me anywhere?"

"Of course," The Demi let go of her sleeve and shrugged. "And thanks again for talking to Menla for me. She looked really bad." Olpi heard small footsteps and metal clinks as the boy went to Cerlius's door. "Now I just need to dig up this last key. Good night."

"'Night," Olpi didn't have the energy to be courteous. She practically shoulder-checked the door and gently closed it behind her.

As opposed to the simplistic beauty of the academy, the servant's quarters were a sort of organized chaos. For that reason, many Demis thought of their home as a housing structure attached to the academy rather than a housing structure within the academy.

Cots and ladders lined up the white stone walls. To the left was a circular staircase built into a massive support pillar, which also served to hold up the creaking second and third floors.

Other than the outlining white stone walls, the Demis had set up their own boundaries out of racks of clean, pristine suits and the occasional light crystal. At the very back, looming over everything, was a massive pile of dirty suits.

The instructors only gave leeway when it came to clothes and cleanliness. Because of this, a large trough of water had been built along the backwall next to the pile of clothes. Olpi didn't know the exact enchantment, but she knew that the water never dirtied, never stopped flowing, and never flooded out of the trough. 'I don't think I can make it across without being seen,' she thought as she looked at the empty cots.

Typically most Demis were asleep at night except the ones responsible for laundering the suits or cleaning up the dirty pots and pans. The nightlife, if she had to think back, were the occasional gambling games and squeaking cots, but this night was the busiest she had ever seen.

Olpi ducked into a rack of suits and emerged wearing clean clothes. Her professional pride took a hit as she left her old bloody suit behind, an action she had instructed nearly every Demis against doing. Since the suits were public domain, she didn't have to worry about ownership. If a suit was clean, it was up for grabs. Whatever was happening, she had a bad feeling about it.