(Chpt. 72) Walking down a skewed path (1)

Alice.

«Aizen»  

«Earlier that day»  

‘Kind of disappointing that neither Ari or Cecil knew what time it was… Although I think it was obvious… Sigh, I guess I might’ve been asking too much, although I don’t know…’ I dropped my shoulders in disappointment as I walked down the azure cobblestone road, it was a bit of a weird experience trodding down the place without having anyone with me. I guess I just had never experienced it. 

I dwelled in my thoughts for a bit longer. Eventually sighing in disappointment once again, I found it truly unbelievable they did not know what I was talking about. However, there was still something nice about the whole of everything that happened. The robe I had been given was extremely nice, it was fluffy and accommodating, it was probably an item of sorts, although it didn’t really compare with the original clothes Kuro gave me, but, the clothes with the robe truly made it a wonderful experience. 

“It’s kind of weird how I don’t feel drained from the heat of wearing so much clothing…” I muttered my thoughts out loud. “Well, whatever, better for me.” I kept walking without much second thought, passing by the houses without paying them much attention. 

And at last, I was finally standing before the academy, it was completely empty, I guess it was a perk of being incredibly early. I had been hearing some high-pitched sound in my ear for quite some time, but it was probably just my imagination. Without a second thought I started walking into the academy’s plaza. 

“I said wait!” Eh? Did I hear something? “Wait pleasse…” Oh… 

I turned around with slight shock, only to see Cecil panting. I guess she had been calling for me? Although I don’t remember hearing her, weird...  After a second I finally opened my mouth. 

“Em, yes?” 

“Why so early? I thought it was late and rushed here!” The first thing Cecil did was complain to me. Although it did not have much effect as I just shrugged without care. 

“I mean, I can decide when I come and go, so can you, so why would you need to come here with me? Besides, you can always go back if it’s too early.” Cecil’s eyes widened I guess she did not expect me to reply like that. 

“It’s fine…” She sheepishly said as she walked past me and into the student building, as she had called it previously. She looked oddly sad, I wonder what I did? Was it my coldness?

I did not pay much thought to what could’ve caused it, and instead continued walking into the teacher building, or the building I met that crazy fanatic of the old man. And… There she was. She groggily raised her head to see who it was, and as soon as we made eye contact she jolted. 

“Y-Y-Y-You!” 

“I?” I couldn’t figure out why she was stuttering so much. 

“W-What did you do to Lord Lynn!” Eh? “He does not want to come out of his office, it must’ve been your fault! After you came to visit yesterday he hasn’t been the same!” Eh… 

“I did not do anything though…” I thought for a second and started walking towards the elevator. 

“Wh-what are you doing?!” The receptionist panicked as I boarded the elevator. 

“I will give him a little therapy visit.” My reassuring words just made her panic grow, what could be so bad about what I was about to do? I was just going to check on him, that’s all. I was one-hundred-percent not curious about what Ari had truly done. 

I reached the top of the building and left the elevator in a hurry, as soon as I stepped out of the elevator went down again, I guess I had plenty of time, considering said receptionist stuck me there forever. I leisurely made my way through the hallway and the carpet, seeing the occasional repeated plant here and there, and eventually I stood before the pair of doors before his office. 

“Pardon the intrusion!” I slammed the door open and entered the room, it was completely dark, the big window that was normally behind the old man, was completely covered with a veil, I could not see that well. 

“Who is it?” A grumpy voice asked. It took me aback a bit. 

“It’s me, your one and only.” I decided to play for a bit. 

“One and only who?” He was clearly confused. 

“The one and only that will see the truth!” I playfully said as I ignited fire in my hand, there he was. His eyes widened from astonishment as I saw him. 

“You look ridiculous!” I started laughing, black eyes, cat whiskers, and even a little star on the cheek. Everything was just… too silly for me not to laugh. 

“Were you the one who did this?!” The old man furiously asked. 

“Eh… Who knows…” I said with a nonchalant voice. “However, maybe if you weren’t drinking nothing would’ve happened.”

“It was in my office! Although who would’ve thought I would get assaulted like that in my own office!” He grieved about his face some more. “I have a conference!” 

“Eh… Just wear a mask or something… Make an excuse, anything could happen after all. Say you were injured in the castle explosion from yesterday! I don’t know, anything goes.” I firmly suggested. 

“How did you… Anyway, castle explosion or not, it’s not something that sim⁠—” He paused as he thought. “Maybe it is.” 

“You have something in mind?” I asked as he rummaged underneath his desk. Some time passed as he kept looking before finally looking excited, although the old man looked weird, to say the least. Black eyes, kind of like a panda, with whiskers and a star, except his eyes were all sparkly, so he looked silly. 

“Found it~” he pleasantly informed me as he wore a mask. It was akin to a bird, it had a beak and such, it was also black. “It’s my battle mask, no one will say anything if I wear it since it’s recognizable and I can be recognized.” Bluntly speaking I thought he looked retarded, he reminded me of Kuro trying to be inconspicuous with wearing all black. 

“Yeah…” I lied through my teeth seeing I did not want to bother with it anymore.   

“So why are you here?” The old man finally caught on what I wanted. 

“Do you not see?” I spun around like a princess. 

“Your black robe?” He approached me and examined it. “Looks to be real.” 

“Well, of course, it’s real!” I grumbled in annoyance, how could dare he doubt me?! 

“Hmm… so what is it that you want? Miss Royal mage?” He sat back down on his chair. 

“Well, I said it yesterday but you were probably too drunk to remember. I came to replace the elf.” 

“Oh…” He broke into a smile. “I had forgotten, at first I was against the idea, but I would rather not be the one needing to replace since we actually don’t have replacement teachers… Long story…” He awkwardly scratched his neck. “Anyway, yeah. At least, for now, I will allow it.” 

“Yay…” I emotionlessly expressed my joy. “So, where do I go?” 

“Hmm, let’s see…” He looked around his papers and pulled out a list. Browsing through it he finally recognized where and showed me the list. “Class 303, is your class.” 

“Sounds good,” I recalled which room was which, this one was almost right next to Cecil’s, which I did not mind. I started leaving the room. 

“Where are you going?” He asked with confusion. 

“The classroom?” I mentioned the obvious. He silently pointed at the corner, it had a big magic circle with things I did not understand. 

“Just stand there, give it mana and think about number 303. There are a few other circles but this is my personal one, you are using this one for the special occasion.” 

“I see…” I thought for a second. “By the way, what type of magic does this thing use?” I pointed at the circle with curiosity. 

“I wish I knew the answer…” He plopped down on his chair. “The founder of the academy made these circles over three hundred years ago, no one really knows what magic he used, and replicating them has yielded no results, you could say they are an artifact of a lost age, or just magic of the lost age.” 

“Lost age?” I asked with confusion. 

“It’s a long story, I guess they no longer teach it to kids huh?” He frowned ever so slightly, although I did look like a child so I guess I couldn’t blame him. “Well, it was basically an age in which humanity was always advancing, legends talked about the limits of the status being reached, the impossible being possible.” He was getting excited. “Well… I guess it sounds silly now, seeing the current strong people probably would not be able to compete with the average adventurer in that time.” Eh…  

I felt oddly happy hearing him. “I see, see you.” I stepped on the plate as I thought of the number. “By the way, there are people currently alive that have reached the limits.” I smiled. 

“Wha⁠—“ And teleported. 

I chuckled to myself in the now dark room I was in, I guess there was a world out there to explore wasn’t there. It’s a whole body of rock to be explored, almost endlessly. Well, I’d probably die before I find every secret, but at least knowing such a legend exists brings me inspiration, legends could be true or false after all. But they always had a reason to exist. 

I noticed a light coming at the bottom of my feet, I quickly realized I was standing before a door. I heard some chatter right outside, I arrived at the conclusion that I was at the infamous teacher door. With resolution, I opened the door and walked into the light. I was blinded for a second as I walked towards the lectern. Well, it was more of a desk rather than a pedestal of sorts. 

I arrived behind it and looked up, a bunch of unfamiliar kids that seemed to be in their teenage years met my gaze. Some of them looked at me with confusion, others with pity and others with hopefulness, it was a weird experience, I also felt like they were looking down on me due to the classroom layout. I have to work on that… 

“Um, are you lost?” A girl in the front row asked with kindness. Although I simply tilted my head with confusion. 

“I am your teacher.” 

“””EHHH””” The classroom immediately lost it and broke into chatter and rumor spreading as soon as I made my statement. Some of them looked lost and were even silently pleading to some unknown god to be able to continue their magic studies. 

“Anyway, what would you kids want to know? Not really sure about what to teach since I kinda just got thrown into it…” Well, I did not mention that I was the one that threw myself in, but I digress. 

The entire class went silent for a second and quickly became confused. 

“Aren’t you the teacher? Do something…” 

“Sending a kid really isn’t the best, maybe I am wasting my time.” Talk about judgemental. 

“I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!” An ear-piercing voice came from the back. I looked for the source, there he was, a kid that was probably around fifteen years old was looking down on me as he stood on a desk, he got down and proceeded to trod down to the front and stand before me. 

“Scared?” He asked with a mocking tone. 

I immediately began laughing. “First, why should I duel you? Second, it’s going to end badly for you.” 

“As stated by school policy, any student is free to attack the teacher and try to take their spot, although the student can be likewise injured and even outright killed. Although I don’t think we will go that far. We are not in medieval times anymore. Don’t you agree? T-e-a-c-h-e-r.” 

"Ha... that's a dumb rule... If students died in it, I assume it would've been removed already." He stiffened. 

"Just because it's a rule from over 300 years ago it doesn't mean it's any less valid!" They started cheering him.

So it starts like this, first things first someone mocks me... How infuriating... I started violently shaking my fist in rage. 

“Oh, looks like I went too fa⁠—” 

“I wish I had killed the elf right then and there...” I hatefully voiced out my resentment, I wish I had known that the school had such a dumb policy. “Fine kid, I accept. I will use only a single spell, of course, I will let you attack first.” 

A lot of the kids looked worried, most of the eyes seemed fixated on me though. Looks like I had to establish my place, through my own means… Even if it meant being a torturer instead of a teacher. 

Alice.