Ch.8888. Elia Convent

In truth, I had nothing particularly to do at the academy.

This is not a joke—I really had nothing to do.

Occasionally I would chat with Erika, or send away a tearful Gideon Zeronia.

Besides that, I would exchange research opinions with Professor Per Petra, who shared the same laboratory.

Days like that continued.

Even so, it was right before summer vacation, so there wasn’t much to do separately, and in the game, the first semester summer break passed without any significant events.

Being a professor, my lectures would start from the second semester, so I just spent my days reading books.

The letter that arrived from Saintess Lucia Saint after a long time was unexpected.

– How have you been?

This place is still immersed in deep turmoil, but if I think of it as a trial, I can find the courage to overcome…

Skipping all the unnecessary words, the content was like this:

A letter had come from the convent where Lucia had been a nun before becoming a Saintess, asking for help.

It seemed to be related to evil spirits, so she was requesting me to check it out.

‘This works out well.’

I was getting bored waiting for the vacation to start anyway. Using the Saintess’s letter as justification, I prepared to leave Robern Academy ahead of everyone else.

Of course, there was one concern—Aria Rius.

I wondered if I should take her with me, but seeing that she had things to do during summer vacation, it seemed unnecessary to worry about her.

Besides, this being the second playthrough, she already possessed enough ability to become stronger on her own.

Leaving the academy before the exams began.

“Ugh, why do I have so much luggage again?”

“I’ll help you.”

“No need, what are you doing as a pregnant woman?”

The luggage was heavy, probably because of all the books.

With grumbling Findenai and awkwardly standing Illuania beside me, we headed toward the carriage waiting outside, where professors had come to see us off.

“Oh my! Dark Spiritmaster! Thank you for your hard work for the kingdom!”

The dean immediately bowed deeply and grabbed my hand. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him stand straight in my presence during my time here.

That’s how much he bowed his head and watched his step around me.

“Yes, I’ll be going now.”

After shaking off the dean’s hand, other professors added their own farewells.

“Have a safe trip.”

“We’ll be waiting for you.”

“Next time, I hope we can have tea together.”

Formal greetings.

Just as I was starting to get tired of them, the blonde woman, Erika Bright, was staring blankly at me.

I thought she might say she wanted to come along, but she didn’t go that far.

However, her expression of barely contained disappointment made her look more like a young girl than a professor.

“You’re coming back next semester, right?”

“Yes, I have to give lectures then.”

Of course.

In the second semester, I was an official professor with scheduled lectures.

Hearing that, Erika nodded as if somewhat relieved.

“Take care.”

The gazes of the surrounding professors naturally turned toward us, but when I swept my eyes over them once, their gazes scattered in all directions like a flock of fleeing pigeons.

They must have been curious about the conversation between me, the Dark Spiritmaster, and Erika, my fiancée.

Finally boarding the carriage, I gestured to Gideon, who had been fidgeting and looking in my direction.

“Get in.”

“Pardon?”

“See me off at least to outside the city.”

Illuania and Findenai subtly made room for Gideon.

Not only was he surprised, but the other professors were as well, especially Erika who seemed even more disappointed, but I ignored her and took Gideon with me.

It might have seemed strange to take a male professor instead of my fiancée, but I had my reasons.

As the carriage departed, a calm silence settled inside.

Findenai was fidgeting with his hands, wanting to smoke, and Illuania offered a drink to the unexpected guest.

After drinking the water Illuania gave him, Gideon cautiously asked me.

“May I ask why you brought me?”

“I’m going to tell you how the Zeronia family can survive.”

“…!”

Gideon’s eyes widened. His once glossy red hair had become dry and lifeless, and the dark circles under his eyes showed how much stress he had been under.

I had tamed him enough, and now it was time to put him to use.

“Several hundred years ago, during the invasion war. You know about the Setima residents who lived on the academy grounds, right?”

“…!”

Of course he would know.

The records about them were what Erika had demanded while pretending to be his lover.

“Confess to the continent about the atrocities your family committed against them. Tell the Saintess that you repent for your past sins, that should be enough.”

“B-but if I do that…!”

Just revealing the inhumane torture inflicted on the Setima residents would be quite a blow to the Zeronia family.

“Don’t stop there, build a memorial for them. You already have the list of names, so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

“…!”

“What His Majesty wants is the contraction of the Zeronia family. You’ve been reaching too far.”

But they had been steadily declining through the royal family’s checks. Now they needed a definitive blow.

Not for the royal family, but for the Zeronia family. It would serve as an unmistakable mark that they had been damaged enough not to dare challenge the royal family.

“If you announce your atrocities against the Setima residents and inflict damage on yourselves, you’ll be free from the royal family’s pressure.”

“…”

“The choice is yours.”

Whether to continue being eroded under the royal family’s pressure, or to decisively end it by inflicting damage on themselves.

Whether to cut off their own flesh,

Or wait for the opponent to take their bones.

That was their choice.

By now, the carriage was heading outside the city, and with a strange jolt, an arrow flew in through the window.

“Huh?”

Findenai, who had been looking outside with a bored expression, became interested, wondering what the commotion was about.

But I grabbed her shoulder and naturally made her sit down.

Then I nodded to Gideon.

“Now, you should go.”

“Y-you mean right now?”

I nodded gently at his foolish question.

There were probably assassins outside targeting my life. They could have been sent by nobles in retaliation for the royal family’s pressure, or perhaps the religious faction still hadn’t come to their senses.

Knowing there would be danger once we left the city, I had deliberately brought Gideon along.

“You can handle this much, can’t you?”

When I rested my chin on my hand and gave the order, Gideon couldn’t even think of defying me and opened the carriage door.

“Ah!”

Illuania was startled by the sudden gust of wind that swept through the carriage interior. Gideon glanced at me with a bitter expression and replied.

“Thank you… for the advice.”

“Go quickly.”

There was no need to force him to say words he didn’t want to say.

Resting my chin on my hand as if watching a well-trained dog, I watched as he immediately jumped out of the carriage.

Findenai closed the door while glancing in that direction, looking somewhat disappointed.

“Wow, that looks fun.”

At first, we could clearly hear Gideon’s battle cries mixed with frustration as he created a flame sword to fight the assassins.

But the carriage moved farther away, and soon the sounds disappeared completely.

* * *

Elia Convent.

A convent boasting history and tradition, it was a place that specialized in training a small number of nuns.

Its rules were terribly strict, and communication with the outside world was cut off.

But because of that, it was a place purely devoted to serving God, unrelated to worldly affairs.

The current Saintess, Lucia Saint, was also from Elia Convent, as was the previous Saintess.

Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Elia Convent was essentially a place that produced Saintesses.

As such, the nuns were clean, pure, and each day was an offering to God itself.

“What on earth.”

Hamates, the Mother Superior, who had lived here for a long time, had never been so perplexed.

No, beyond perplexity, terror was rising.

Early dawn, as the sun was gradually rising over the mountain range.

Outside was drawn a pentagram symbolizing the devil in the form of a goat, and on top of it lay three charred bodies wearing nun’s habits.

The burns were so severe that the smell of burning flesh, unfamiliar to the convent, was overwhelming, and their faces were distorted beyond recognition.

Moreover, the devil’s pentagram had already faded slightly, which meant one thing:

Three nuns had been sacrificed to summon a devil.

Facing a crisis for the entire convent and needing to identify which insane nun had done such a thing,

The Mother Superior hurriedly rang the bell she always carried.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

With the harsh bell sound, nuns poured out. There were a total of seven nuns in Elia Convent.

Truly worthy of the title of women closest to God, and the Mother Superior was confident that the next Saintess after Lucia would also come from here, so her sense of betrayal was exceptional.

As many as three had betrayed God and done such a thing.

The Mother Superior gritted her teeth, unable to contain her rising anger.

The nuns, finding the dawn bell unusual, urgently came looking for the Mother Superior.

In reality, their number was less than usual.

But the important thing was:

“Five?”

There were five nuns.

Originally there were seven nuns.

Three corpses had summoned the devil.

But there were five nuns remaining.

That’s one too many.

“Huh?”

The Mother Superior looked back and forth between the corpses and the nuns with a bewildered expression.

Then, looking at the devil’s summoning circle, she naturally reached the answer and threw the bell she was holding onto the ground.

Ding!

With the clanging bell sound, she glared at the five remaining nuns.

Among them, one.

A devil was hiding.