Magic Tower City (3)

I was organizing documents in the faculty office.

The routine that had felt so foreign just a few days ago now felt natural. Of course, I pawned off most of the paperwork on Serena.

The Hero’s swordsmanship tutoring is expensive, this is the price for it.

“Isn’t it wrong to make a student do this?”

Serena asked, grumbling.

“That’s why I’m repaying you with tutoring.”

“Are you even a teacher doing this?”

I replied, raising the corner of my lip.

“If I’m buried in paperwork, wouldn’t that delay your swordsmanship tutoring?”

“I understand. I’ll do it all!”

I chuckled as I watched her run out, clutching the documents. Teaching a diligent student is a joyful thing.

I lazed around for a while and spent time watching Serena’s swordsmanship. A peaceful daily life for the first time in a while.

“Teacher, did you hear?”

One day, an academy teacher approached me. Why is he talking to me all of a sudden? My Hero status is a secret, so he probably just thinks I’m a parachute instructor hired by the president. They were whispering that I seduced President Lucy to get in.

“Hear what?”

“The city’s been acting strange lately. There have been constant assault incidents…”

His voice trembled.

“At first, it was just back alley thugs disappearing, but lately they’ve been targeting our magic school students too. There are already injured students…”

Looking out the window, the sun was setting. The magic lights on the spires began to turn on one by one.

“Assaults, huh…”

Something felt off. If it’s a crime targeting academy students, it’s probably not a minor issue.

“How’s the investigation going?”

“Well… the Magic Department came out, but they haven’t found any leads.”

I frowned. An incident that even the Magic Department investigators can’t solve.

“Any commonalities among the victims…”

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway.

“Teacher! Something terrible has happened!”

A student burst in, panting.

“Serena-sunbae… Serena-sunbae…”

My heart sank.

“Where?”

“In the west alley…”

I kicked back my chair and stood up. This time it’s the west alley… it’s different from where it happened before.

My mind raced as I ran. This is strange. Why is it that only Serena keeps getting attacked?

‘Something’s weird…’

Even as I ran towards the west alley, I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling. It felt like I was missing something important.

Turning the corner into the alley, a familiar scene unfolded. Serena was surrounded by thugs.

“Ehehe… a student shouldn’t be in a place like this, right?”

“And why is your skirt so short? Are you trying to seduce us or what?”

“This bitch… she’s even carrying a sword, is she thinking of resisting?”

Are these thugs into model students? But her skirt is kinda short to be a model student these days.

“Let me go.”

Serena’s voice trembled. She seemed scared… but something was different. The emotion in her trembling voice didn’t seem like fear.

“Everyone, step back.”

Her hand moved towards her sword.

“Oho, something a little different…”

In an instant, the sword flashed. It was the stance I had taught her. A natural movement like flowing water.

“Ugh!”

One of the men went flying. It was such a perfect technique.

“Well done. But still lacking.”

I grabbed her sword from behind.

“Teacher!”

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

I quickly dealt with the remaining men. But something was off. I could feel a sense of real combat from her movements that couldn’t be achieved through mere practice.

“Serena.”

“Yes?”

“How many times… is this?”

She lowered her head.

“T-twelve… twelfth time.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry… I’m causing trouble for you, Teacher…”

I cut her off. Something was fishy.

“Could it be…”

Why is it that only Serena keeps getting attacked?

Why always at a similar time, in a similar place?

And why was she always carrying a sword?

The puzzle pieces began to fit together in my head. But I was afraid of the conclusion.

The night streets suddenly felt darker. Even the magic lights on the spires shone coldly.

*

“Please solve the missing persons case.”

In the office on the top floor of the Crystal Tower, her voice echoed through the floating magic circles.

Lucy, the president of Ether Academy, turned her sky-blue eyes towards me.

Looking at her sitting across from me, the corner of my lip rose. The opportunity has finally come.

“Then will you allow me to use the Arcane Archives? For real this time?”

“Of course. I will grant you permission to access it immediately.”

“Until now, you’ve said that access is impossible unless I accept a position as a teaching assistant in the Magic Tower, right?”

“The situation has changed.”

Her finger tapped the desk. Tap, tap, an uneasy rhythm continued.

“The city has become too unsettling. From disappearances to assaults… the complaints from influential families are endless.”

Lucy’s sky-blue eyes stared straight at me.

“This time, I’m serious. I will issue an access permit immediately.”

My fingertips tingled. Finally… could I find a clue to dimensional travel?

The clue I had been searching for since the moment I fell into this world. The key to returning home.

“I understand.”

“Please resolve this quickly.”

I nodded at Lucy’s words. But inwardly, I gave a bitter smile.

‘I already know who the culprit is…’

It was that night.

“Help me!”

A familiar scream. A familiar place. A familiar situation.

Serena was surrounded by thugs again.

But this time, it was different.

I decided to hide in the shadows and watch.

“This is the end, missy.”

The thugs approached. The moonlight partially illuminated Serena’s face.

The corners of her red lips were raised. It wasn’t her usual neat and polite smile.

“Yes, it’s the end.”

Her hand moved towards her sword.

“Shall we have a fun time today too?”

With a cold metallic sound, the sword was drawn. It wasn’t a training sword, but a real sword with a properly sharpened blade.

“W-what is it?”

The thugs were flustered. But it was already too late.

“Heu-heut…”

The sword slashed through the air. Under the cold moonlight, a red streak was drawn. A man’s arm fell off.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

A scream echoed. But Serena’s smile grew even wider. It was beyond a smile, bordering on ecstasy.

“Does it hurt? How much does it hurt?”

Her voice rang out sweetly. A gentle voice, like a lover’s whisper. But the madness hidden within sent a chill down my spine.

The sword moved. Blood splattered.

The sword moved again. Blood stained her white uniform. A vivid red flower bloomed under the moonlight.

“Haa… haa…”

Serena’s breathing grew rough. Her eyes gleamed with ecstasy. That look, a mixture of madness and pleasure, was no longer that of a model student.

“More… more…”

“Are you having fun?”

I stepped out of the shadows.

“T-teacher?”

Serena’s face turned pale in an instant. The sword in her hand trembled.

“You’ve been enjoying yourself like this every time?”

“N-no. This is…”

Serena’s eyes widened.

“How did you…”

“It was too suspicious. The attacks happening at the same time, in the same situation, every time.”

The sword fell from her hand.

“I’m curious about the reason. Why would you do this…”

“I… I…”

“No. I think I know.”

She slowly turned her head. Her usual model student appearance was nowhere to be found. Her uniform was stained with blood, and her eyes gleamed with madness.

Serena’s gaze, which I felt was familiar every time we practiced.

I wondered where I had seen it before, but it was a gaze commonly seen on the battlefield. The gaze of a murderer who has learned the taste of cutting people down and continues to crave blood.

“I see why you wanted to learn swordsmanship so badly. Psychos like you hate magic because it doesn’t have the same feel.”

“Yes… that’s right.”

Serena smiled. It was a smile filled with pure joy.

“I wanted to cut more precisely, more beautifully. Your swordsmanship, Teacher, is truly an art. How perfect each and every movement is…”

Her sword flashed under the moonlight.

Her usual model student appearance was a mask, and this moment, this was the real Serena.

“Teacher, do you know?”

Her voice rang out sweetly.

“These pieces of trash… I lured them in on purpose.”

She slightly lifted her skirt. The moonlight illuminated her white legs.

“If I walk around late at night wearing something this short…”

A bloodless smile spread under the moonlight.

“They scan me with their dirty gazes… and eventually pounce. Like starving beasts.”

Her eyes shone with ecstasy.

“So I cut them down. These pieces of trash… no one will look for them even if they disappear.”

A voice filled with pure joy. Eyes filled with madness and pleasure.

“But lately, you’ve been by my side, Teacher… so I haven’t been able to feel this joy. So…”

Serena’s sword slashed through the air.

“I had to find other fun.”

“Hobbies should stay as hobbies. If you attack students, things will get out of hand. Are you frustrated?”

“I was getting bored with the thugs. The reactions of the academy students are different…”

A smile spread across Serena’s face. It was a smile filled with pure pleasure.

“But I could at least torment these pieces of trash to the end… but if it’s a student, it becomes a problem. So I left them alive, appropriately. Did I do well, Teacher?”

“You’re really…”

I looked into Serena’s eyes. Even my death would be a pleasure to these murderers.

“Beyond saving.”

“Yeees… that’s right.”

Serena smiled. It was a sweet and pure smile. As if confessing her love.

“I need this. Someone’s pain, their screams, the flowing blood…”

Serena raised her sword.

“What do you think, Teacher? Of my true self?”

Under the cold moonlight, her smile twisted even more grotesquely.

“Are you disgusted? But I…”

Serena’s eyes wavered. Eyes filled with madness and pleasure.

“I like this. This feeling, this thrill, this pleasure… slaughter.”

I sighed. Now I understood.

Serena was a complete psychopath. A bloodthirsty murderer.

The sticky gaze that had been directed at me all along wasn’t just simple affection or obsession. No, she probably did like me. To her, I must have seemed like the ultimate prey.

“Teacher… are you going to stop me?”

Her voice trembled.

“I want to cut down more people… with the swordsmanship you taught me…”

Only then did I realize. The real reason she wanted to learn swordsmanship was to enjoy slaughter more beautifully, more artistically.

“Serena.”

“Yes, Teacher?”

Her eyes sparkled. Like a child waiting for praise.

“I’ve been teaching you wrong all along. You need some discipline.”