The night was already deep — not the best time for lengthy conversation. Dark Demon and Professor Sarah Silf continued walking.
Before long, the two arrived before the Noble House tower. The Feathered Serpent Golem's serpentine eyes had opened at some point, the distant moon reflected in both pupils. Professor Silf exchanged a glance with it, and it closed its eyes once more.
Dark smoothly pushed open the tower door and turned back to look at Professor Silf. "Good night, Professor."
Professor Silf returned the farewell. "Good night."
...
The common room past the curfew checkpoint was quiet and cool. Dark stepped inside, and the door swung shut behind him on its own. The Magic Guide lamps along the walls and the flames in the fireplace flickered to life one after another, as if offering a welcome.
Something shifted in Dark's expression. On a whim, he decided to sit for a while in the otherwise empty common room. He casually summoned a few one-star Magic Guide Spirits and gathered around the hearth with them for the better part of an hour.
Only once he felt warm from the inside out did he contentedly take his spirits back to the dormitory.
Once inside, he expanded [Paradise], then summoned the rest of his Magic Guide Spirits one by one. As the dormitory's space gradually filled to the brim, the warmth welling up inside him spilled over entirely.
The cold sweat on his back could finally, quietly, trickle down.
Truth be told, tonight's hunt — especially the latter half, when he had faced Vampire Vlad alone — had looked calm on the surface, but only he knew how tightly wound he had been inside.
After all…
He had been facing a real vampire. A member of the Demon race who killed without so much as a flicker of hesitation, whose tricks were entirely unknown.
Even with the [Wind Spirit]'s blessing and two professors standing by, there had always been that slim chance something could go wrong.
If he had slipped up just once —
Robert might have been in real danger.
Thank goodness everything had gone so smoothly.
Dark let out a long, heavy breath, then retrieved his change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. He drew a bath first, then showered. After rinsing off, he sank his entire body into the tub.
As the warm water slowly rose around him, every joint and muscle unwound. Dark could no longer resist the exhaustion crashing over him like an avalanche. His heavy eyelids fell shut, and he could not pry them back open.
His breathing gradually steadied.
...
When he woke again, his internal clock told him it was six in the morning.
Dark slowly sat up from beneath the covers, looked down at the perfectly neat pajamas he was wearing, and wondered how he had made it to bed.
"(>^ω^
Sylveon wound her two ribbon-like feelers around him with the smug air of someone claiming credit, trying to get close enough to make Dark forget the mistake she had made on Valentine's night.
In practice, Dark had already forgotten it entirely.
He gave the soft fur on top of Sylveon's head an affectionate pat, and a smile broke across his face without his meaning it to.
A new day had arrived.
...
The vampire-hunting incident barely caused a ripple across the academy.
Setting the hunt after curfew had been an exceptionally wise choice. A few students had noticed something unusual in the castle, but with curfew standing between them and the door, they had given themselves one extra reason to think twice before going out to investigate.
In the end, no one actually uncovered the truth of what had happened. And those directly involved certainly were not going to talk.
Friday had only two classes: Dueling and Magical Beasts.
Professor Pava Jones lectured on dueling theory. Dark had already finished self-studying this material, so he spent most of the time watching Robert.
In a sense, Robert was still something of a patient.
But after observing him through the whole class, Dark found that the change in Robert was not dramatic. Vlad's influence on him had been subtle — working through guidance rather than forced brainwashing. So Vlad's departure had not instantly snapped Robert back to his old self.
That was a good thing.
But for Robert, there was an even bigger windfall.
The four Magic Guide Cards Vlad had left behind were still in his possession. The professors had not thought to reclaim them.
That meant Robert had, by pure accident, gained four extraordinarily powerful Magic Guide Cards without breaking a single school rule. Among them, the Secret Ritual Card capable of summoning the Vampire Count was priceless beyond estimation.
It was as if he had suddenly won a hundred million in the lottery — and the ticket had been lying on the ground when he found it.
Unless the professors someday remembered and decided to impose restrictions, Robert had hit the jackpot.
But Robert himself hadn't realized his good fortune yet. His attention was somewhere else entirely.
"Virt." Robert, who had just dotted the period on the last word of his notes, turned toward Virt and murmured, "Take a look — do you think this prophecy of mine goes too far?"
"Prophecy?"
Virt read from his notebook: "Thy fate, the chess-piece's fate — when the piece shatters, the person perishes…"
...
At the same moment, Dark recalled that very prophecy.
He flipped open his own notebook and copied the line down, feeling a quiet sense of surprise.
"The 'chess piece' Professor Medea mentioned in this prophecy fits perfectly with what happened to Robert being parasitized by Vlad. A chess piece is the same as a puppet — Robert had indeed become Vlad's puppet. Given how things were at the time, one wrong move and Robert might truly have died."
"So — is this a genuine prophecy, or pure coincidence?"
...
Even though Professor Medea had repeatedly insisted that what she said at the time was not a prophecy, once even a single point of it came true, one couldn't help feeling that all the rest must be true as well — and the mind fell into a loop it couldn't escape.
Perhaps that was what it meant to possess "the power of a prophet."
...
The Magical Beasts class that followed was equally uneventful. Professor Nini had once again ventured into the dungeon to capture a creature for use as a live demonstration. The students made a great show of complaining, but were in fact thoroughly entertained.
Once Professor Nini had finished the lesson, she said brightly, "We've gotten to know quite a few magical creatures over this stretch of time. Going forward, I'll keep bringing you more interesting ones to talk about.
"Once your theoretical foundation is solid enough, I'm going to apply to Professor Silf for a one-day dungeon excursion! I really hope it gets approved."
"A dungeon… excursion?"
The little mages who had just been clamoring went dead silent.
If their understanding of St. Marian's Academy's dungeon had once been limited to surface impressions, then after Professor Nini's lessons, they now had a rough but genuine picture of just how dangerous things were down there.
Soul-Suckers. Basilisks. Both were what you might call rookie-killers — lethally dangerous to any adventurer who went in without proper preparation.
And on top of that, the professor leading the group would be Professor Nini herself.
The little mages had grown considerably fonder of her over their long acquaintance. But that did not mean they were prepared to deny how unreliable she could be.
So their feelings about this so-called "dungeon day trip" amounted to one thing: an overwhelming sense of impending doom.
"Professor Silf won't approve her application, right?"
Several students exchanged nervous laughs and glances. Professor Nini might always look a little timid and skittish, but when she dug her heels in, they had all seen how stubborn she could get.
Their only hope now rested with Professor Silf.
...
Friday afternoon. Dark had originally planned to head to Traveler Street to buy some tools and materials for wood carving — and perhaps pick up the supplies he needed to start developing the [Flower Cards] ahead of schedule.
But just as he reached the castle entrance, the wisp of wind hidden in his hair swept out and tangled playfully with another breeze blowing toward him. From within that second wisp, Professor Silf's voice reached him: "Come to my office."
Dark paused, then said, "On my way."
No choice but to turn back.
By the time he arrived at Professor Silf's office and knocked, there was already someone else inside. Sure enough — it was Professor Kazel.
Professor Kazel looked perfectly at ease, which told Dark that today's business was not urgent.
A faint floral fragrance drifted through the office. Quite pleasant, actually.
Dark stepped inside and closed the door behind him, then took a seat beside Professor Kazel. He glanced over at Professor Silf, who was behind her desk grading assignments at full speed, and said, "You called me in — is there something you wanted to say?"
Professor Kazel poured him some tea, then slid the plate of snacks over before saying, "Nothing major. You mentioned to Silf last night about the access cards, didn't you? I think that's a good idea."
Dark had a feeling he knew where this was going and asked, "Could it be that Principal Cynthia has agreed?"
Professor Kazel smiled. "She's agreed in principle. But the specifics haven't been decided yet."
Dark picked up his teacup, lifted the lid, blew on it a few times, and said, "That makes sense — this isn't the sort of thing that can be sorted out quickly. The design of the access cards, what functions they serve, how they'll be distributed, how many, and who's eligible to receive them — all of those points need careful consideration."
Professor Kazel said, "Principal Cynthia's thinking is that the access cards should ideally be made in the style of Sorting Cards — not only able to receive notices from the academy, but also bound to the individual user. Ideally they'd have a Rift Escape Device function built in as well."
"Access cards with personal registration?" Dark said.
"Personal registration?" Professor Kazel nodded approvingly. "That's a good way to put it. The idea is that each card corresponds to exactly one person. By checking the usage records on a card, you can know who entered the secret passage. If any problems arise afterward, responsibility can be traced easily."
"Having the Rift Escape Device function also means better safety guarantees," Dark said.
"Exactly," said Professor Kazel. "We'd rather not see anyone lost and trapped in the passage again."
"But that would make the cards significantly more complex to produce, wouldn't it?" Dark said.
Professor Kazel smiled. "The harder it is to produce, the harder it is to counterfeit. Besides, the fewer cards issued the better — especially in the early testing phase, when issuing just one or two would be sufficient.
"And as you mentioned, there needs to be a threshold for obtaining one. Principal Cynthia's thinking: since we're in an academy, we use the academy's rules — earn it through dueling!"
"Earn it through dueling?"
Dark was a little surprised. Was Principal Cynthia also a duel-brain?
But Professor Kazel continued, "Competing through duels is perfectly fair and reasonable, and it won't look contrived. If the invisible intruder wants access to the passage, they'll have to find a way to get it themselves — or get someone to compete on their behalf! And if they try to steal or snatch it after the match, well, so much the better."
When you got down to it, the whole point of the access cards was to lure the snake out of its hole. Compared to some dedicated key capable of breaking through seals, an "access card" was obviously far more believable.
As for the year-level gap, Professor Kazel had already thought it through: "The preliminary plan is to issue two cards — one for years one through three, one for years four through six. If you want one, you're welcome to compete for it too."
Dark sat there with his mouth half open, feeling distinctly like he had picked up a rock to drop on his own foot. "That means if I want the card, I'd have to go up against second and third years?"
Professor Kazel blinked. "Losing is a learning experience too."
"Fair enough," said Dark.
"Of course, this is all still in the planning stage," Professor Kazel went on. "Drawing out the invisible intruder was the original goal, but the initiative itself will genuinely help the academy manage the passages — so it's worth implementing properly.
"Once the cards start being issued, the original goal becomes incidental. We could also let word leak out beforehand — maybe someone will come try to steal one from me directly."
"Here's hoping," said Dark.
That was roughly the situation as it stood. Even if adjustments came later, they probably wouldn't be drastic.
In any case, Dark realized he would have to shelve any plans to re-enter the secret passage during his first year. The third years were a deep pool of hidden talent — the odds of wrestling the card away from one of them were slim to none.
Better to wait for the next round of cards. The academy was hardly going to issue only two cards forever. Plenty of opportunities lay ahead.
...
Dark himself had his own vision for how the access cards might roll out in the ideal scenario.
Holding an access card would become a mark of the elite — few in number, but not vanishingly rare. Those who held one would possess strong self-discipline and the ability to handle danger, capable of making good use of the passage once inside.
...
A pot of tea later, Professor Silf set down her pen and joined their discussion. By the end, the three of them were debating the card's design and appearance, and had nearly forgotten all about the invisible intruder.
The professors' minds really could be wonderfully unpredictable and creative. Even just talking with them about matters that had nothing to do with magic theory, Dark came away richer for it.
By the time he left the office, the sky had grown dark. Dark decided against making the trip to Traveler Street and spent the evening finishing his assignments instead.
The following day — Saturday — he finally had time to go out and set about a round of extensive shopping. His Sorting Card now held a full fifty thousand credits, and spending it had a genuinely lavish, free-handed feel.
As he passed the old bookshop run by the Goblin, he found himself stopping without quite meaning to.
He looked again: "Isn't that Senior Angelia?"
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