Chapter 13: Deus' Note

"Ugh! I can't even take a break as I have so much to do."

Professor Caren, who was investigating the laboratory, was asked to return to the Nurse's office with haste. It was because something strange had happened to the students once again.

On arriving at the nurse's office, Caren saw Erica and Gideon comforting five students, who were huddled together.

I thought the two of them went on a date.

As Caren entered the office, she immediately went toward the frightened students.

Most of them were trembling and unable to speak, but one of them was talking to Erica.

"S-she suddenly offered us candy."

"Candy?"

"What? What candy?"

As both Caren and Gideon looked puzzled, Erica narrowed her eyes and put her index finger on her lips, asking them to remain silent.

"H-Her mouth. She stuck out her tongue a-and offered the e-eyeball that was on top of it."

"..."

It was a strange and unbelievable story. But looking at the five students who were trembling as they recalled the incident, it couldn't be false.

"Those were her eyes! That person didn't have any eyes in her sockets! Hiccup!"

In the end, Erica hugged the student who couldn't stop bawling.

Although Caren cared for the students in her own ways, she didn't have the confidence to comfort and hug a student, so she only shrugged and, like a good nurse, checked for any injuries.

There are no wounds.

Caren groaned in frustration as she thrust her hand into the pocket of her white coat.

She was unable to figure out 'their' intention; all they did was either frighten the students and cause panic or cause them to faint.

To be precise, the students only had minor injuries from either falling over in surprise or a simple bruise from bumping into something. Caren couldn't grasp their motive.

The three professors left the room after the students had calmed down.

Gideon, leaning against the corridor wall with his hand in his pocket, spoke out his thoughts.

"There must be a mage hiding somewhere and causing this mass hallucination."

"That's not possible."

Erica remained silent with her eyes shut, while Caren outright denied it as it was still too early to arrive at a conclusion.

But Gideon didn't back down and asked the two of them.

"Then do you really think that that really happened? An old woman with empty eye sockets offering her eyes as candy?"

Gideon guffawed, finding it even more absurd as he said it out loud.

He then continued,

"That makes no sense. A hallucination spell must have been cast on the students while they were exhausted. There's no other explanation."

"There were no traces of magic on any of the five students."

Erica, the only mage among them, crossed her arms and denied it.

"Even hallucination magic has its own drawbacks. The more senses you try to trick, the more traces are left behind."

For example, only a few traces would be left behind if it was hallucinatory magic that affected the eyes...

"However, the five students described the situation in detail. The sight of an old woman with no eyes, the smell, the voice offering them candy, and her wrinkled hands..."

...But in this case, at least five senses were tricked. It would be difficult for anyone to do that and not leave any traces.

"They even felt the sticky sensation of the eyeballs given to them as candy."

Caren supplemented her explanation. Erica met Caren's eyes and nodded.

"You're right. Hallucinatory magic that deceives all five senses will naturally leave some traces."

But there were no traces at all.

Gideon raised his voice with frustration and asked again,

"So you're suggesting that the students really saw something like that? It makes more sense to assume that a highly skilled mage has infiltrated the academy, doesn't it?"

He was right.

Neither of them could counter that point.

Amidst the frustrating situation where no one could form a proper conjecture, a pink-haired woman approached them from the end of the hallway.

She tried to hide the curves of her body with a baggy sweater, but the eye-catching chest that did not match her short stature still drew the attention of men.

Gideon was not any different.

Hmm?

Seeing Erica completely unphased with Gideon staring at the newcomer with lustful eyes, Caren felt puzzled once again.

Are the two of them really dating each other?

"Professor Fel, are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, yes! I'm fine!"

The woman who approached them was Professor Fel. She was the newly appointed professor and also the first victim in this series of incidents.

Erica approached her first, and Fel bowed her head, not only to Erica but also to Caren and Gideon.

"H-Hello. I'm Fel Petra, the recently hired professor. Please take good care of me."

It wasn't that she couldn't read the room; it was more like Fel read it a bit too well, thus causing her to blabber without any need.

Gideon and Caren greeted her by raising their hands briefly.

Wondering if she made a mistake, Fel quickly took out a letter from her pocket. It was an antique blue letter with an emblem that was very familiar to Erica.

Verdi?

It was the Verdi Household's emblem, which meant that the letter was left by Deus Verdi.

"Wh-when I woke up, I found this letter on the bed in my room. I was so scared that I immediately rushed over with it."

"You mean this letter wasn't there yesterday and you just received it?"

"Yes!"

Erica's expression turned sour. She snuck a glance at Gideon and Caren behind her, wondering if they recognized the emblem.

"Let's check its contents first."

Caren calmly approached Fel and seized the letter. Erica, a mage, was unable to react to the former mercenary and swordsman's swift and nimble movements.

"Oh, the mountain and tiger that represent Norseweden... Isn't this the Verdi Household's emblem?"

"Verdi?"

Gideon seemed intrigued as well and came closer right away, thinking it might have been left by Deus Verdi.

"Can I read it?"

"Oh, yes!"

After getting permission from Professor Fel, who had received the letter, Caren immediately opened the letter. Gideon and Erica stuck to either side of her to check its contents.

It was a typical letter written using a quill pen and cursive handwriting.

[Precautions when using the laboratory.]

1. Remove the full-length mirror.

2. Do not be loud.

3. Do not run around.

4. Do not talk to yourself when no one is around.

5. If you accidentally talk to yourself and someone replies, ignore them.

6. If possible, leave the lab before evening.

7. If someone knocks on the window, ignore it.

9. If a woman with black clothes suddenly opens the door and enters, hide under the desk, close your eyes, plug your ears, and hold your breath.

10. If a number is missing from this letter, burn it immediately.

"...Huh?"

Even Professor Caren, who had gone through all sorts of experiences while working as a mercenary, couldn't help but remain puzzled.

What were these nonsensical precautions?

"A missing number? Isn't number 8 missing?"

Gideon, who was next to her, mumbled after having finished reading the letter belatedly. Then a moment later, he smiled brightly.

"Hahaha! Professor Deus is more amusing than I thought. To play this sort of a joke..."

But it was a forced, twisted smile.

Erica bit her lips. Snatching the letter hastily, she burnt it.

"Have you ever seen that man crack a joke?"

Even Erica, his fiancée, had only seen him smile once- it was the day he left the academy.

The letter turned to ashes and scattered.

Caren frowned, wondering if Erica had been too impulsive in burning it.

But she froze when she saw that the ashes of the letter didn't scatter or fall to the ground, but remained in the air as if waiting for something.

"...This...."

As soon as Caren noticed the strange phenomenon, she immediately looked at Erica, who had already begun pouring her mana into the ashes.

As soon as she did that, they began to form words.

[If a number is missing from the letter, it means that the entire academy is already in their hands and not just the lab.]

"Their?"

Gideon spoke with a puzzled voice, but the others focused on the words formed in the air.

[I cannot predict how the situation will unfold, but I've left a solution to this chaos in the third drawer of the desk in the room I stayed in.]

"...!"

[Just, mercy.]

That was the end of the message and the ashes scattered.

Caren was the first to start running without delay. Having already gone through all the labs, the only place left was Deus' room.

"Mercy...?"

Professor Fel pondered on the last words with a dumbfounded expression, but Gideon and Erica were already chasing after Caren.

"Do you know the room Professor Deus stayed in?!"

Taken aback by Caren's question, Gideon replied,

"Where were you running off to without knowing that? It's the last room in the faculty dorms! Room 404!"

All three of them rushed to the room. Caren broke open the locked door and entered with haste.

Only the basic furniture remained in the otherwise empty room.

There was a small note lying in the desk drawer she opened.

"Looks like Professor Deus knew something!"

"What did that damn professor do?"

Caren and Gideon were pleased thinking that the troublesome task could finally be solved, but Erica remained silent with her lips tightly shut.

Flutter.

Caren unfolded the note, which was hastily written in the same handwriting as the letter.

[1. Regarding the Girl Who Appeared in the Lab]

"Was this the same girl Professor Fel saw?"

Professor Fel, who had just caught up with them, was panting and gasping for air. Her bountiful breasts swayed so much with every breath that they drew everyone's attention.

As they were about to continue reading...

[Found it. Hehehe...]

...A girl's voice resounded in the room.

Whoosh!

And instantly, the note left behind by Professor Deus caught fire.

"What the-!"

Caren threw it to the ground and stomped on it to try and extinguish the flames, but they only grew stronger instead of weakening.

"Move aside!"

Erica sprayed water from her palms as she attempted to put out the fire, but...

The note was burnt to a crisp, with only the ashes left behind.