Chapter 37: Let Me Think About How to Beat You Today

Chapter 37: Let Me Think About How to Beat You Today

A black shadow squeezed out from a crack in the wall, spreading like ink across the floor. It began to rise gradually until it covered the entire room.

Startled, Henie took a few steps back, unable to discern the creature within the dark ink.

She hurriedly pulled out a box of matches from her pocket, intending to light one.

Just as she struck a match, before she could even raise her gaze, the tiny flame was instantly extinguished by the darkness.

"Why... again..."

"Isn't one or two times of mockery... enough?" Henie asked, her emotions on the verge of collapse.

The inky shadow fell silent, just staring at her quietly.

Yes, just staring at her.

As if it had seen through Henie's thoughts, it opened its pitch-black, ink-like maw and spoke. The voice, like demonic sounds, poured into Henie's ears.

"I know what you need, little girl."

"Just stay here and wait for me."

The voice abruptly stopped, and the darkness in the room dissipated instantly with the cessation of the sound.

The entire office once again became utterly silent.

Henie raised her head, kneeling powerlessly on the ground, her face devoid of any discernible emotion.

...

Soon, the ink shadow that had just disappeared returned.

The suffocating black ink once again filled the entire room.

It was like a gust of wind, freely entering and exiting the Mage Tower.

Henie looked up at the ink shadow and suddenly froze.

She just realized that this was the Mage Tower.

Only those with proper authorization could enter and exit freely.

Why could this ink shadow appear here?

Before she could ponder further, the ink shadow before her eyes suddenly took on a more defined form.

She couldn't make out exactly what it was, but she could vaguely see the monster open its large mouth and violently thrust its arm into its own throat, stirring around.

After a series of gurgling sounds, the ink shadow extended its giant hand.

It pulled out three orbs of light from its stomach, like beacons of hope in Henie's despair.

"Little girl," the ink shadow spoke, followed by a series of strange noises, "Hmm... ugh... smack smack..."

"You need power, don't you?"

"I..."

Henie trembled slightly, not even knowing what was happening, completely disregarding how disgusting the thing before her was.

"Come on, this is the power you need."

"Touch it, and it will be yours."

Henie felt something was terribly wrong, but every word from the ink shadow seemed filled with intense temptation.

As if possessed, she reached out her hand and touched the orb of light.

The ink shadow's smile grew even wider.

...

Early the next morning, Viktor got off the carriage and stood at the entrance of the academy.

He was back.

Back at this academy after a long absence.

In fact, if it weren't for Lia angrily shouting and kicking him out early in the morning, Viktor had planned to stay at home for another morning.

'Should I send her back to the territory?' Viktor thought to himself, but quickly abandoned the idea.

Even if he sent her back, Lia would surely keep traveling back and forth between the capital and the territory for business reasons.

She'd still end up nagging him a bit anyway.

Viktor entered the academy, feeling a gaze sweep over him.

It was the Chancellor's spell—[Natural Sparrow].

When he was a third-tier mage, Viktor couldn't sense this natural force.

After advancing to the fourth tier, he could clearly detect the discordant flow of magic in the air.

Viktor looked up at the sky, where countless natural sparrows were darting about the academy.

The Chancellor's gaze covered the entire academy.

The gaze quickly left him, presumably having confirmed his identity.

The royal family had already made an announcement, declaring Baron Levi and Viktor innocent.

Of course, only a handful of nobles knew about the series of events from the near-eruption of the volcano to its conclusion.

So Viktor's return didn't cause a stir at the academy.

Viktor walked naturally on the path, completely disregarding the gazes around him, fully immersed in thoughts about how to transition into his upcoming classes.

He sat like this until noon.

The sound of turning pages rustled, very quiet.

Vega, standing on the desk, was dozing off when suddenly its head hit the desktop, startling it awake.

"What? Oh, she didn't come..."

This time around noon was when Henie most frequently came to the Mage Tower.

She would almost always bring that thick book, then happily tell Viktor what kind of lesson she had written today.

Each time, she would wake up the sleeping Vega.

So waking up at this time had almost become a habit for Vega.

This time, Henie didn't come.

Vega glanced at Viktor, who didn't even raise his head, just turning pages, seemingly immersed in his own world.

Vega suddenly remembered that the little girl probably didn't know Viktor had returned to the academy.

It didn't care, feeling drowsy again, and dozed off once more.

Time always passes surprisingly quickly when sleeping.

In the afternoon, the faint sunlight slanted through the window, elongating the shadows.

"Vega, it's time to go."

"Hm? Where to?"

The crow, woken up, blinked its eyes, seeing Viktor put away his book in a daze.

"It's time for class."

"Oh, okay."

Vega flapped its wings and stood on Viktor's shoulder.

To be honest, I was looking forward to the afternoon.

At that time, how would that timid little girl react when she saw Viktor?

Would she run away in fear like a startled deer?

Or would she shyly avoid eye contact?

Or perhaps she would excitedly surround Viktor, happily jumping up and saying:

"Professor Viktor! You're finally back!"

No matter which reaction, it all seemed quite interesting to Vega.

The teleportation array descended upon Viktor.

The man and the bird disappeared from the Mage Tower.

When they reappeared, the two were already in the corridor of the teaching building.

The corridor was empty, with occasional teaching sounds coming from other classrooms.

Viktor's footsteps were very crisp in this environment.

Tap—tap—tap—

"So, based on this magic array, we..."

Suddenly, Viktor's footsteps stopped.

His gaze, deep and unfathomable, looked ahead.

That was where Class One was located, and similarly, the voice of a professor lecturing could be heard from inside.

Vega also stared straight ahead, its single eye fixed on the front, its voice devoid of emotion.

"This is quite troublesome—"

Tap—tap—tap—

The footsteps sounded again, but this time, they were heavier than before.

Finally, Viktor arrived at the classroom door.

The voice inside became clearer.

He pushed open the door.

Suddenly, the entire room fell silent.

"Who dares to enter without knocking during class time..."

The voice abruptly stopped, like a duck with its neck wrung, shrill and unpleasant.

Viktor looked towards the source of the voice.

His gaze locked onto the person standing on the podium.

"It really looks like a pig..." Vega quipped in his ear.

Viktor didn't respond, perhaps silently agreeing.

His face expressionless, his tone flat.

Yet it made people feel the indescribable anger in his voice.

"Let me think, your name is Devin..."

"Devin Reiser, right?"