Ch.207207. One Month

“Hmm.”

Coming outside the laboratory and breathing in the fresh air, I finally began to feel like I had truly escaped.

True to the name Dreamwalker, stepping outside felt like waking from a long, painful dream.

First, I planned to leave the laboratory and find someone.

Judging by the bright sun shining through the window, I thought it might be around lunchtime.

‘The weather has become milder than expected.’

When I entered the Dreamwalker, it was late January. It should have been a time when spring cold snaps were still fierce, but now it wasn’t as cold as it was then.

‘Surely not.’

As I tried to ignore my rising anxiety and step outside.

Creeeeak.

“So I’ve contacted Clark City Hall just in case. You never know.”

“Well done. I’m also reaching out to all my connections.”

The laboratory door opened, and in walked the pianist boy, Owen, and the woman with disheveled pink hair, Per Petra.

Though only five days had passed for me, a feeling of gladness to see them both peeked out from within my heart.

“It’s been a while.”

I greeted them both impassively.

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

They both showed exactly the same reaction. Professor Per Petra dropped the bread bag she was holding, probably intended as a lunch substitute.

Owen’s music score sheets scattered over it.

And then.

“Spirit Masterrrrr!”

“Professor Deussssss!”

Both of them lunged toward me.

If I hadn’t reinforced my thighs and soles with mana before their charge reached me, I would have fallen over.

Looking down at the two people hugging me tightly from both sides, I frowned deeply.

“What are you doing?”

From their reactions, I could tell that more than five days had passed.

I appreciated their joy at seeing me, but I didn’t particularly like this kind of physical contact.

“Wow! It really is you, Spirit Master! That scary expression!”

“That chilling way of speaking! That bone-freezing voice! It really is you, Professor Deus! Waaaaaah! You’re back!”

But despite seeing my discomfort, they both jumped up and down with even more excitement.

It seemed they would need some time to calm down.

* * *

“One month.”

A short time in some ways, but long in others. While I was in the Dreamwalker, late January had already become late February, and the cold was gradually retreating.

‘I dislike him to the very end.’

My resentment toward the demon named Learic deepened once more.

Just as even the longest time in dreams is ultimately no different from a moment…

The five days I spent had passed mercilessly.

“S-so everyone was in an uproar trying to find you, Spirit Master.”

“That’s right. Professor Erika also returned to her family home.”

“…”

I let out a deep sigh.

It was fortunate, at least, that the academy was still on winter break.

But at the same time, a person who might make rather extreme choices immediately came to mind.

“What about Findenai?”

I couldn’t help but worry about what she might be doing now that I had disappeared.

Not for Findenai herself, but for the innocent people who might be at her mercy.

The two who had been answering promptly until now couldn’t immediately respond this time.

Was there some problem?

Had something actually happened to Findenai?

As anxiety began to creep up inside me, Professor Per finally spoke up under my urging gaze.

“Um, Professor. I think it would be good if you could listen calmly.”

“But the Spirit Master is always calm, isn’t he?”

Owen chimed in from the side. Professor Per scratched the back of her head, acknowledging that was indeed true, then took a deep breath as if to calm herself instead.

“Whew, so… during the month that Professor Deus was missing, a tremendous amount happened.”

According to the game’s progression, there shouldn’t have been any major threats during this break. But this continent was already on a completely different path from the game.

I wondered if Dante’s side had made a move after learning I was absent.

But what Professor Per said was quite unexpected.

“Someone has appeared claiming to be the real Spirit Master.”

“The real Spirit Master?”

This time, even I needed to pause and digest the words. So someone else was calling themselves the Spirit Master.

“They’re saying that Professor Deus uses Black Magic to show false illusions that comfort souls…”

She swallowed hard and glanced at me nervously.

I gestured for her to continue, and she went on.

“They claim to be someone who truly heals souls and guides them to the gods.”

“That’s absurd.”

For the dead, all that remains is rest or oblivion. Nothing else.

Heaven or hell, or the six realms of reincarnation.

Such things don’t exist.

Maybe in my previous world, but I could definitely assert that they don’t exist on this continent.

And they claim to guide souls to gods?

“A fraud.”

At first it was somewhat interesting, but now it seemed laughably pathetic. Such people usually trip over their own feet.

But Per and Owen’s expressions told me this wasn’t a matter to be taken lightly.

“Actually, there’s been ongoing talk among the kingdom’s citizens about installing him as the new Spirit Master.”

“Th-they’re even holding protests. If you go into the city, you’ll see banners hanging.”

“…”

Replace me, personally selected by King Orpheus, with someone else as Spirit Master?

This could be seen as a direct challenge to the king’s authority, but…

“It’s because I was absent.”

The answer came with a sigh.

In the end, it was my absence that allowed them to move so actively.

“They’ve been criticizing and slandering you, saying if you have anything to refute, you should come forward…”

And since I wasn’t there, it naturally looked like I had fled.

“Th-the timing was bad! It was just bad luck!”

Owen exclaimed dramatically. But could this really be dismissed as mere bad luck?

Because they knew I was gone.

More precisely, they knew I was in the Dreamwalker, so they deliberately staged this radical performance—that suspicion rose in my mind.

At the same time, a man’s name came to mind.

“Is the name of the man calling himself the Spirit Master perhaps Mul?”

The very person who brought in Romuleus, who lived in room 109 and devoured the Dreamwalker.

The man who committed suicide, telling me to meet him outside.

The two were startled by my question and nodded vigorously.

“Yes! Yes! That’s right!”

“H-how did you know?!”

“Sigh.”

I’d like to ask the same thing.

The Mul in this Dreamwalker was fake. But he acted as if he knew he was fake.

I don’t know what trick he used.

It seemed I had found myself standing opposite a rather irritating existence.

“The religious community is also taking his side. They’ve always been… uncomfortable with you, Professor, and the fake one claims to act in the name of the gods.”

The religious community would naturally support Mul.

“At-at least the Saintess is holding them back, saying it’s a hasty judgment!”

“Lucia…”

Various thoughts crossed my mind, but I needed to return to the original subject.

I had asked where Findenai had disappeared to.

The answer naturally emerged.

“…Don’t tell me.”

I clenched my fist and looked at the two of them. Professor Per avoided my gaze and quickly blurted out:

“Th-the timing is too perfect, these b-bastards must have done something to the master… That’s what she shouted before leaving.”

“Sigh.”

Professor Per trembled, apparently unaccustomed to using such harsh language.

But that wasn’t the end of it, as Owen added:

“The Verdi family members in Norsweden are also taking action. They’re all extremely angry…”

“Darius and Deia.”

I understand their feelings.

I’m grateful, but…

“This is chaotic.”

It truly was chaotic.

“She was! She was! About to split heads! Swinging an axe saying she’d find out even if she didn’t know!”

Professor Per mimicked holding an axe with both hands and swinging it around, probably recalling Findenai who had once caused havoc in the laboratory.

“Yes, I understand.”

I’d heard enough explanation.

First, I needed to contact the royal family to inform them of my return.

“I’ll go to the dean’s office.”

They should have means to contact them there.

The two looked curious about where I had been all this time, but they knew the urgency of the situation and didn’t try to stop me.

So I left them in the laboratory.

As I walked down the empty corridor where the approaching spring breeze was gently flowing through the windows…

[Huh?]

At the end of the corridor.

My eyes met directly with a woman in a black robe with violet eyes.

She still covered the area below her eyes with a semi-transparent black veil.

Comparing her at 18 to now, she definitely showed more maturity in both physique and demeanor.

[D-D-Deus?!]

She called my name in a flustered manner and ran toward me in shock.

[Y-you’re not dead, right? You didn’t enter eternal rest, right?! You’re really alive!]

“Yes.”

Seeing her flustered state, I couldn’t help but smile gently.

I wanted to say I was glad to see her, but somehow the words wouldn’t come out properly.

[Deussssss!]

I welcomed the Dark Spiritmaster, who was running toward me with tears welling in her eyes, in my own way.

“It’s been a while, Jenny.”

[Puwaaaah!]

Despite being a soul that could float around.

Seeing her deliberately trip and slide across the corridor made me chuckle involuntarily, momentarily forgetting the current situation.