Chapter 56: Firm Handshake

The principal, who had been standing in front of his window and looking at the view, turned around when Kami barged in with the three students in tow.

"Hello, students. I apologize on Kami's behalf for dragging you all out of your beds at this hour, but I thought it best to waste no time. And…" The principal paused as he looked closely at Julius and the Mannequin.

"It seems that was a good decision." The principal narrowed his eyes as he looked between Julius and his Mannequin.

Zach, who had been about to say that the principal didn't have anything to apologize for, and Dukiel, curiously followed the principal's gaze and looked at Julius. He didn't seem any different from his usual grumpy self.

The Mannequin still had black spots from where the tubes connected to the ground in the Giupusta Locale had pierced its wooden skin. But other than that, it didn't seem like anything strange was up.

However, Zach frowned.

Julius hadn't been grumpy or a brat before the Giupusta Locale. If anything, he had been the opposite. he wasn't necessarily overly joyous or energetic. But he was good-mannered and talkative.

Zach turned to the principal

"...Are you saying Julius is a brat because he came in contact with the Underworld or whatever?" Zach asked without bothering about being polite.

The principal nodded.

"That's right, though, to be exact, it's his Mannequin. And it's the underworld energy that the underworlders pumped into it that's the problem." The principal turned to Zach as he finished confirming Zach's question.

"Give me all the details, please."

Zach nodded. The principal had asked politely and even had a smile on his face as he did so. But there was something deep in the principal's eyes when he asked for the details that startled Zach.

He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt slightly like a distant storm on the horizon. It was far enough that the breeze had barely picked up. But it was possible to feel the static in the air, and it gave rise to an army of goosebumps.

Zach gave all the details, including the trip leading up to the discovery of the mountain. The principal had asked for all the details, and he received them happily.

After all, the mountain hadn't been on the maps handed out by the Academy, and the students said it had just popped up.

It had been hidden by some kind of mechanism or underworld magic. But Zach and the others had still found it.

As Zach finished detailing the trip, the principal's eyes widened slightly.

"...I see. I don't know if you're lucky or unlucky. But if my guess is correct, what you three encountered was a double-layered misdirect. It was probably weak since we or Jarron didn't notice it. But right at the border between the two layers is when you switched from wandering around to Dukiel leading you straight. That's how you arrived at the mountain without getting lost again."

After explaining that, the principal urged Zach to continue talking, even if he was curious about that whole thing that they hadn't even noticed. But now wasn't the time for questions.

So, Zach told the rest of the story, including the miner, the tasker, the Great Ugor, the buffet, the dead miner, the guided tour, the ambush, the tussle with the fighters, the polished stone orb—

"That was most likely a mountain essence."

"A what?"

"The essence of a mountain. It's a physical manifestation of a mountain—It's heart, if you will."

"So…"

"It's a good thing for your familiars. It's also not something everyone can take and use. I'm especially surprised your angel could use it, Zach. But that doesn't matter. You said the Mannequin drank the water below the essence?"

"Yep."

"And you're sure the water was tainted by the underworld energy?"

"If the underworld energy is the same thing they pumped into Mannequin, then yes. It bathed, rolled around in, and absorbed it."

The principal frowned at Zach's words and looked at the Mannequin again.

"Huh."

The principal got up and walked over to the Mannequin.

"Pardon me." He grabbed the Mannequin's hand and inspected it closer before grabbing it in a handshake. He squeezed it until it cracked.

The principal pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows slightly. He was a tad surprised.

"This guy was a D-rank, right?" The principal turned around and looked at the students.

"That's right." The one who answered him was Kami. The three students were too surprised at the principal's display of strength.

The Mannequin wasn't an incarnation of sturdiness or strength. But it was still as hard as common stone, and since it bent before splintering instead of cracking, it could even be called more durable.

The principal ignored that and, seemingly as easily as breathing, squeezed the Mannequin's hand until it let out an audible crunch and a crack ran along its palm.

"Well, I don't think it's a D-rank anymore. Julius, do you mind looking at your interface real quick?" The principal politely asked Julius, the one who showed the least emotion regarding the Mannequin's quickly healing injury.

"Why should I?" Julius glared at the principal. Zach had a feeling it wasn't related to the principal crushing the Mannequin's hand. Julius was just being obstinate.

"Right. We should do something about you first. While your Manneqiun apparently can handle the underworld energy to some degree, you still can't." The principal narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin while looking at Julius, unbothered by his glare.

"Kami."

"Got it." Sёarch* The nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Before any of the students noticed, Kami was already standing behind Julius with a hand on the poor boy's head. A moment later, a purple light escaped from Kami's palm and lit up Julius. Light escaped from Kami's hand and Julius' orifices. After a few moments, it seemed like even Julius' skin glowed violet.

Finally, a puff of black smoke escaped from all over Julius' body before gathering in the air above him. Before it could escape, Kami removed his hand from Julius and directed the light at the black smoke, erasing it.

Julius fell to the floor.