Damn Academy chapter 90

90 – Shadows (13)

From noble mtl dot com

At first glance, the second recipe seemed to consist mainly of records of wandering the continent and exploring regional alchemy traditions.

The language used is different for each date written in the paragraph. While traveling, it seemed that he left a record in the local language of the region he was staying in.

I had to put a lot of effort into interpreting it because it contained professional content. Fortunately, the traditional alchemy records of a few tribes were written in the common language.

Damian doubted whether it would be possible to interpret without errors with his linguistic abilities.

I had no other choice. He had no choice but to live with a dictionary in the library for a while.

I wouldn’t risk getting help from someone else for a sentence or two, but finding a reliable linguist was another matter.

***

The next morning, on the carriage heading to Eternia, I asked Trisha.

“Do you know any other language other than the common language?”

Trisha answered confidently.

“No!”

“Or not.”

If she had known how to interpret Trisha, she would have been the best scenario. Then it is.

“Why? What are you going to learn from it?”

“There is a book I want to read, but it is in a language I do not know. Are there any seniors or classmates who are fluent in languages?”

I thought about asking Haley, the head of the art department, to help me find someone, but it seemed a little too early to ask for a favor when we had just finished the face-to-face meeting.

Going to the professor also bothered me. This recipe should be interpreted as best I can. I couldn’t show the professor the full text, and I couldn’t follow the professor all the time to ask for interpretation of some sentences that I was stuck on.

I need someone like Lyria. Someone who will definitely teach you what you need without being deeply involved.

And Tricia came up with the right name just in time.

“Yes, Cecil is the smartest. Her older sister is of mixed race, so her family is all over the place.”

“… Cecil?”

“But you seem very busy these days. I can’t see the face either. Won’t you deal with me too? I’m not very familiar with you.”

“… Where do you usually stay? Do you know which department you belong to?”

“…… I don’t know.”

“Is there a place you are expecting to go to?”

“Do you really need to see Cecil?”

A pretty good choice for Cecil.

“Yes, he is the person I need the most.”

“….”

Tricia’s expression subtly darkened.

“Why is that? Did you fight with Cecile by any chance?”

She answered firmly.

“No.”

Then she turns her head away from me as if she doesn’t want to talk anymore. She didn’t express it openly, but she seemed a bit depressed.

I don’t openly express that I’m offended like I usually do, but I feel like I’m feeling something I can’t even say.

Why is he like this? Am I in a bad mood in the morning?

I put everything aside for now and started planning to find Cecil in my head.

First of all… Stop by the Whitdruff House and pick up some petal candy. I’ll have to think about whether to wear a mask or not.

***

Cecile sat across the magic fountain in front of Eternia’s central library and took a break.

She was somewhat proud. She’s on Eternia. She’s in her freshman year. She says nobody’s as busy as she is.

She spent her days in and out of the library and laboratory for several days doing her personal research.

I didn’t even have time to think about my art skills.

I was thinking of just letting go and then going to the place where I was assigned.

I liked the unpopular department the best. Because it takes up less time, and people who are less annoying are filling the seats.

While smoking her cigarette with her blank face, she sensed the eyes of the passing students lingering on her for a moment and wrinkled her eyebrows.

I was accustomed to receiving attention because of my mixed-race appearance, but lately, those gazes have subtly touched my nerves. This is because the number of people approaching it for joint classes has increased rapidly recently.

Cecile’s premonition came true.

Someone put her gaze on her and started approaching her. I couldn’t check who it was because I was blind after staying up all night in her library, but I had no intention of dealing with the prince right away.

I was sick of it. What the hell is that ‘compensation’ for? Why are you so desperate?

She let out a long puff of her smoke through her mouth and spoke loudly to herself, as if to hear it all.

“Ah, I’m in a good mood, but I want you to turn everything off.”

It doesn’t matter whether others look at you badly or not.

After hearing that, some of them looked at their surroundings in shock, then turned around and left.

Cecil finished burning her cigarette and went back into the library.

She then took a seat ahead of her and sat down at the square table in the reading room and opened the book again. She put on her round study glasses and returned to her reading.

Then someone tapped her table with the tip of her finger and got her attention.

Cecil’s cousin. Bertan, a freshman in the pension department, quietly took his place across from her.

Cecil sighed lightly and turned her eyes to her book again.

At this, Bertan spoke in a small voice.

“This is not the time to be like this.”

Cecile then retorted with a sarcastic tone.

“Did you have a good interview for the theater department?”

At this, Bertan was quite taken aback as to whether her shameful memories had come to mind.

“No, I said that I failed in the 3rd test. Why are you saying that again?”

Cecil took off her study glasses and brushed her long, wavy hair behind her.

“Why are you here? So what do you want to talk about?”

“I figured out what a joint class is. That’s an alchemy class.”

Cecil furrowed her eyebrows for a moment.

“It is related to phantom beasts, so why is it an alchemy class?”

“Alchemy knowledge is absolutely necessary to track down the phantom beast. In that class, the spirit love alchemist is the key.”

“….”

“And I knew what the reward would be if I brought you the Horn of the Beast. Originally, only the person who received the potion knew about it, but it must have been so effective that rumors spread secretly.”

“What is that?”

“You will be surprised when you see it. Instead of doing research, we need to prepare for a joint class right away.”

Bertan watched her surroundings, took out her note from her pocket, and pushed it toward Cecil.

She took it in doubt.

And Cecil’s eyes widened as she confirmed what was written on her note.

***

Cecil put her personal research aside for a while, just as Bertang had said. After she knew the identity of the reward, she fully understood the attitude of her seniors, who were full of desperation.

Just imagining what she could do with the potion made her feel better.

She was also dominated by her greed and turned her direction to preparing for her joint class.

She moved between the long bookshelves in the reading room, picking up books that looked like they might contain useful information and loading them onto the cart.

“Um… ‘Continental phantom beasts’ and ‘Calamity’s Witchbeast Trainer’… also….”

As I was pushing the cart, I noticed something that seemed fine, so I stopped and reached for the top shelf of the bookshelf.

I couldn’t reach it because the bookshelf was high. Not bothered to even get to her footrest, she stepped on the shelf under her bookshelf and climbed up.

Soon after that, the bookshelves slanted and the books slid down, pouring rain like rain.

“Wow!”

Unable to overcome the pouring books, she fell to the floor.

Fortunately, the bookshelf didn’t fall over completely, so I was spared a major disaster, but I was irritated because the surroundings were in disarray.

While she was organizing the messy books, someone heard a loud noise and came to her side to help organize the books.

A cart was blocking the way between Cecile and the stranger, so I couldn’t tell who it was. Through the gap, her sleeves were rolled up and her forearm was visible. She didn’t dare refuse, as her hands were in urgency.

She picked up a bunch of her books and hurriedly put them on her cart. I had to leave the sorting of the books to Library Plantera.

She got up after roughly tidying up. The person who was helping her also stood up and handed her something of her own.

That was the book she was about to pull out.

She took the book and looked up to see her opponent’s face. A dark red haired man wearing a wooden mask.

It was candy.

A sudden reunion stopped the accident for a while.

“You…… Why are you here?”

“I came to read a book.”

While staring at Candyi blankly, Cecile suddenly realized what kind of situation she was in and lowered her head slightly.

“Now, wait a minute.”

And then, as if telling me not to approach, I stretched out one hand in front of me and covered my face with a book.

I never imagined that it would suddenly appear. This was a surprise attack. I stayed up all night and my hair was messy and I couldn’t even wash my face in the morning. He was in a state of unpreparedness, so he had no choice but to panic.

“What is this? Suddenly, without a word.”

He skillfully threw a pun.

“… Do you need to go too?”

“Poem, noisy. You stay here I’ll be back soon. If you run away, I will turn you into an ice snack.”

“Yes. Go.”

Cecile turned around and quickly walked out of the reading room. I knew Candy wasn’t following me, but I couldn’t put the book down because of a strange feeling of shame.

It was only after coming to the break room with a large mirror that I let go of my guard.

When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t look very good. His hair was disheveled, and his lips were pale pink from blood. She ran her hand through her hair and painted her lips.

Then she unbuttoned one of the top buttons of her white blouse, revealing her collarbone.

Cecil was about to head to the reading room, but she stopped in front of the mirror again, feeling that she was lacking something.

She pondered for a while, biting her lip, and finally unbuttoned two more of her buttons.