Damn Academy chapter 226

226 – Black Paw Prints

One thing is for sure from the smell of the blood, she is not a normal person. Who would think of using blood as ink? Then again, it is not a normal person’s behavior to keep sending letters to someone with whom you have no connection.

The contents of the letter are written on white gravel with dust falling off. Blood and gravel. What kind of person is she? She must be living in a place far from civilization.

But then, her handwriting is elegant and luxurious like a noble’s.

The contents of the letter are affectionate but extremely monotonous. She said that the place where she lives is in the spring season, with silver flowers blooming and the starlight is so bright that it can be seen even in the fog.

As I read it, the strange feeling of discomfort did not go away. It was no different from being watched by an unknown person.

Moreover, this woman knew my personal information.

[The guardian you trusted and relied on has left, and you must be lonely. Don’t worry too much, he will return someday.]

The guardian was referring to Sylverin. She knew that Sylverin had left. Perhaps she is someone connected to Sylverin. A maid? A butler? Someone from the Magic Academy is also a possibility.

I checked the other letters. They contained the strange daily life of Amaryllis.

[There must be many wizards in Ispania. I have many wizard friends too. I know the princess of the kingdom, a great archmage, and a mysterious scholar who possesses ancient secrets. Yesterday, my old friend Nocturne came to visit me. She was a wizard among wizards. However, the dazzlingly beautiful girl in my memory is gone now. All her hair has fallen out and all her teeth are gone. There is a crater-like hole in her abdomen, from which green gas escapes. What happened to her?]

I opened another letter.

[I had an ominous dream. The faces of those who attended your entrance ceremony had all turned into ghouls. I was so terrified that I couldn’t sleep for a while. Why did I have such a dream? Maybe it was because I saw a dead body on the street yesterday, or maybe it was just because it was raining. I am easily swayed by superstition. I was anxious and wandered around the house all day. Don’t go to the entrance ceremony, come to Mayhen. Be with me there.]

It is a message that seems to accurately hint at the events of the entrance ceremony. When was this sent? And how did this woman get my news? Why is this happening…

I opened another letter. And there, a story about the princess was written.

[…Barbicia is a land of flowing sorrow. The princess’s sorrow will resonate with the land. And you will be caught up in it too. That woman is destined to perish in a few years, so just hide for a while. The city of fog can hide you.]

She even knows about Vivi. The hair on my arms stands on end. The expressions that seem to know my future in advance make me very uneasy.

I still couldn’t tell what this was.

At the present moment, she knows the events of the past accurately, but there was not a single letter that foresaw the future. Maybe she is just trying to confuse me.

The letters sometimes contained cruel, unrealistic, and gloomy stories, like fables adapted from personal experiences.

[…Nocturne had no lower lip, and her tongue was so decayed that she could barely speak. But I listened to her story all night long. As I listened to her old stories, I could feel that the soul of the beautiful girl still dwells within her. She wanted no one to remember her because of her ugly appearance. I prayed for her all night.]

Judging from the information in the letters, the foggy city of Mayham where Amaryllis lives seemed to be very similar to a place like Barbicia. The beings she described were neither demons nor humans. They might be beings born of delusion.

I gathered all the letters. I had to find out who this woman was. Because this being was a potential threat to me anyway.

***

Cecil hugs the book with both arms and looks at me with a sullen expression.

“Oh, I think I know what it is. I’ll tell you instead. You need help. You have a favor to ask. Can you just find out one thing?”

“…”

“And my answer is… I’m sorry, I’m busy!”

Then she turns around and leaves. I hurriedly grab Cecil.

“I need help.”

Cecil sighs deeply.

“Haah, can’t you just visit me once without any business?”

“…”

“Just because you miss me, because you’re curious about something, because you want to have dinner and talk together while passing by. Can’t you visit me for reasons like that?”

“If I pretend to need help but actually came to see you, will you believe it?”

“No!”

Cecil raised her voice, and I put my index finger to my lips to warn her. This was a library.

“…Cecil, I really need your help. I came to borrow a day from you.”

“…Are you just going to take me?”

I took out something I had prepared in my pocket.

She thrust a flower candy towards me.

Cecile snatched it as soon as she saw it and popped it into her mouth.

Then she spoke with one cheek puffed out.

“It’s tasty, but it’s not enough to win me over.”

“What else do you need?”

“…A souvenir.”

“What kind of souvenir?”

“Buy me a souvenir from Claridium.”

She seemed quite grumpy, but this was what she was after. I would have given her one even if she had just asked.

“That’s a reasonable request. Okay.”

That was no problem.

“Make it something exclusive. And include a heartfelt, handwritten letter.”

It was a bit demanding, but not impossible to fulfill.

“Okay.”

“Deal.”

Cecile held out her hand for a handshake. We shook hands solemnly like diplomats who had just signed a treaty.

“So, what do you need my help with?”

“I want you to investigate a region called Mayhen. And the foggy city within it.”

It was the place Amarilis always mentioned at the end of her letters, inviting me to visit.

“Hmm….”

Cecile rolled her eyes upward and pondered for a moment.

“The Mayhen region and the foggy city?”

“Have you heard of them?”

“Unfortunately, no. If I haven’t heard of it, it’s probably not a major city or a famous place. It’s likely a remote area known only to the locals, or a place that has fallen into ruin and been forgotten.”

“Let’s start by searching the maps.”

“Good. Bring the ‘World Map Annotated with My Daughter’ and ‘Dalton’s Travelogue of the Continents.’ I’ll bring all the geographical records from the past hundred years.”

“Got it.”

“Wait.”

Cecile stopped me as I was about to leave, placing a hand on my chest.

“You know we’re meeting tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. I’ve already laid out my clothes. Is there anything else I need?”

Cecile’s lips curled into a slight smile as she reached up to gently smooth my bangs.

“Just look your best when you come.”

Cecile patted my chest again and turned to leave.

***

“Yawn….”

Cecile, sitting across from me, stretched.

“Sleepy?”

From Noble mtl dot com

Cecile, her body relaxed, sank into the chair like a mollusk.

“No. I’m just disappointed because we didn’t find anything.”

After spending a whole five hours in broad daylight, we still hadn’t found anything worthwhile.

“There are so many foggy cities that the name Foggy City is meaningless,” Cecil sighed.

The name Mayhen was nowhere to be found on the map. Cecil had even searched through old place names and found areas with similar pronunciations, but none with an exact match in spelling.

“Snack?”

Cecil silently held out her hand. I placed a flower candy in her hand.

She popped it into her mouth and mumbled, “Can I take a short break?”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t keep Cecil occupied all day, so I decided to wrap things up.

“Let’s just check out the new territories and the west coast and call it a day.”

Cecil must have been bored because she was tapping her foot under the desk.

She kept fidgeting by herself and then slyly placed one of her feet on my thigh.

“…”

Cecil watched my reaction and pursed her lips in amusement.

“My leg is swollen, that’s why.”

Her action distracted me, so I took a break from reading. I also took a candy and asked Cecil a question that had been on my mind.

“Are you getting along with Trisha these days?”

“Hmm, why?”

“You don’t seem to hang out together as much lately.”

“It’s nothing.”

Cecil briefly avoided my gaze. Her attitude was ambiguous, neither positive nor negative.

Cecil didn’t seem interested in asking about my relationship with Trisha. Even if she knew our identities, there would still be a lot she wouldn’t know.

Before I could ask any more questions, Cecil changed the subject.

“I’m curious. Why are you so dead set on finding this place called Mayhen?”

“I received a suspicious letter from Mayhen.”

“…What?”

“It wasn’t threatening or anything. It seemed friendly… but I think I should investigate it anyway.”

“Was the address on the letter Mayhen? Did the sender write it themselves?”

“Yes.”

“Um… wait, did an agent hand-deliver it to you?”

“Hmm, I received it while I was out, but I don’t think so.”

“Then it must be from Stitch.”

“I guess so. Why?”

“If it’s from Stitch, there’s a way. It flies through the air, so during warm weather, it collects pollen. If we collect it and analyze the flora, we can pinpoint the general path and area.”

Since different plants grow in different parts of the continent, the collected pollen will also differ. Just by pinpointing the area, our search will become much easier.

It was a brilliant idea.

“I’m glad I came to you.”

Cecil put her other foot on my thigh, looking smug.

“Where in the world can you find such a perfect friend? Right? Give me the letter.”

I rummaged through my bag, sorted out the ones that were completely preserved without being put into the fireplace, and handed her only the envelope.

“Here.”

Cecile brought the paper to her nose and said,

“Hmm, okay. I’ll give it to my friend in the pension department for now. If we tell him that it’s a favor from our Lord Demian, the results will come out faster. Maybe.”

“Thank you.”

Cecile yawned again. She seemed quite tired.

“Is this the end?”

“Yes.”

“My… my legs hurt so bad, I’ll stay a little longer.”

“…”

***

The next day, I went to find Lilia to retrieve the dress I had given her to repair.

“Lilia, are you there?”

I knocked on her room, but there was no answer. She must be cleaning somewhere or went out.

Cecile was waiting outside the mansion, so I opened the door in a hurry.

As I opened the door and entered, a strong herbal scent wafted through the air.

I looked towards the desk and saw Lilia lying face down, asleep. Books were scattered everywhere, and potion samples and handwritten recipes adorned the walls.

After a long time, Lilia’s room had changed a lot.

“…”

Among them, I occasionally saw materials related to the entrance exam for Eternia.

I wondered why she was studying so hard, but was she preparing for the entrance exam?

My heart sank for a moment. Even during the time we were apart, she was struggling to build her own life.

I took out all the gold coins I had in my pocket and put them in a pouch. Then I put it on Lilia’s bedside table with a note. There would be a lot of expenses for materials and textbooks while preparing for the entrance exam.

I picked up the dress that was neatly folded on the couch and quietly went outside.

***

Cecile was standing in the courtyard, looking up and admiring the mansion. It didn’t seem like anything special to me, but Cecile couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“What are you looking at?”

Cecile glanced at me and looked back up at the mansion.

“It’s just strange.”

“The mansion?”

“No, the fact that Candy is Demian, and Demian is a disciple of the Great Mage. It feels even stranger when I see it with my own eyes.”

“Shall we go?”

Cecile stopped admiring and came next to me. Then she walked towards the carriage, matching her pace with mine.

“I got a message from Stitch a little while ago.”

“What is it?”

“The thing you asked for. The results are out.”

“What is it?”

“Apparently, it’s the pollen of a type of flower that grows in the north, the far north.”

“…”

“Mayhen is very different from the place names in the north, so I’m a little suspicious. There’s a possibility that the sample was contaminated.”

Cecil had only considered the north, and anything beyond that had been out of the realm of his expectations.

But I could tell.

Now everything fits perfectly. A place where humans couldn’t live with their right minds. A magic sword that had found me out of nowhere. A place where ink was absent, forcing me to write with blood and stone. A location that couldn’t be found even after examining all the maps of the continent.

Everything pointed to the Land of the Dead.

Mayhem and the City of Fog were places that existed beyond the Land of the Dead.

***

Lilia knocked on Damian’s door, cleaning supplies in one arm.

The sound of her knocking echoed hollowly throughout the empty room and hallway. Disheartened, Lilia sighed.

“He’s gone…”

Her true purpose was not to trifle with Damian but to assist him. Calming her mind, she entered the room to finish what needed to be done.

First, she opened the windows and tidied up the hastily discarded clothes and the rumpled sheets.

Then, standing before the fireplace, she spread a large rag on the floor. Next, she picked up a poker and began raking out the ashes.

As she did so, she muttered to herself, envisioning the day Damian would return.

“Surely, he’ll come back today…”

But then, instead of the sound of the poker scraping against the bottom of the fireplace, there was a tearing sound of something being ripped apart.

“…?”

Sensing something amiss, she reached into the pile of ashes she had been raking and rummaged through them.

Buried within the ashes, she found a black letter that had been torn into several pieces by the poker.

“Ack!”

Lilia screamed as she realized her mistake.

In a panic, she unfolded the letter to check the extent of the damage and read its contents.

[…Nocturne wept for days in a cave after looking in the mirror. Why is God so cruel to us?]

[…Poor Nocturne. She can never go back now. I have told her stories about you to comfort her. I don’t know what she thinks, but she always stops crying and listens when I tell her about you.]

[…Nocturne still cries a lot when she sees the remnants of her past flesh. I’ve given her a new name to comfort her.]

[…Poor Priscilla. May the blessings of the goddess be with her.]