Chapter 18 – TeacherTeacherTeacherTeacherTeacherTeacher
It was like a scene from a dream.
Memories that were a bit faded like an old photograph in a frame, but warm because of that.
I can picture the days when I, still young, used to follow my teacher around the cabin and the surrounding forest. My mother would wave at us from afar, and I would hold my teacher’s hand, wagging my tail and smiling broadly.
I remember reading somewhere that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes.
It must have been truly fortunate to see the two people I love for the last time. I was watching that picture from a distance.
Now, my teacher’s face is clear.
Why were the memories erased? It must be someone’s prank. I couldn’t have forgotten my teacher’s face on my own.
Teacher… You must have recognized me from the beginning…
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Why didn’t you let me know?
Why didn’t you scold me?
Professor Neferna… Teacher Eugene… My teacher… My own teacher…
I take a deep breath and exhale.
As I inhale deeply, my lungs fill with watercolors.
A world without scent was a colorless, ashen world. Just the fact that I couldn’t smell made me feel like a slowly withering plant.
Every morning, I used to bury my nose in the scent pouch sent from my hometown. Now, it’s just a habit. I spend my days imagining the scent of the pouch that no longer holds any smell.
I couldn’t believe that I could vividly recall the scent.
My heightened senses send shivers down my spine and my hairs stand on end.
I smell it. A very distinct and strong scent.
Somehow, I felt a foreign presence in my mouth. The familiar and comforting scent spreads thickly from that foreign object. It was undoubtedly the sweet scent of my teacher, buried deep in my memories.
I couldn’t have forgotten it. If only my nose had been working properly from the beginning, I would have recognized it right away.
I’m sorry, teacher.
Cecilia is a bad girl.
My nerves start to twitch.
For some reason, my consciousness wakes up, and one by one, my senses start to flicker.
And first, a woman’s voice catches my ear.
“Teacher? Teacher? How about you stop pulling your finger out now?”
“It’s not enough yet. Think about when you first became a bloodsucker. You needed more blood, right? At least a liter at first. You haven’t even had half of it yet.”
“Even so, sucking on your finger… that’s… that’s so… um! Oh, anyway, can’t you just pour it into a cup for me?”
“Cecilia is asleep… but I can’t postpone her first blood meal.”
“Wait! Are you telling me to quietly watch for twenty minutes as this rude little vampire nibbles on your finger, teacher?! Is this some kind of new torture method?!”
“What torture? What torture? She can’t do anything to her friend.”
“Friend? Chi-in-goo? Who is friends with whom now?!?! Officially protesting… Ueup! Han-i-ham-mi-dam!”
“Why don’t you eat some bread, Bread-Bbang. You haven’t even had lunch yet, right?”
“U-min-moo…”
“Here, Un-di-ne. Have some milk too.”
My own teacher.
Finally meeting again, my teacher.
I won’t let you leave for the second time.
I will never let go.
So……
“Eo…?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Cecilia just lost a tooth. It tickles.”
“What? What? A tooth? Right now? The expression ‘losing a tooth’ is not something I can just casually brush off! Ueup! It’s too cute!”
“Chew your bread and then speak.”
“Nem-e-mem~♡”
So, please,
Don’t enjoy yourself more than the time you spend with me.
Don’t laugh carelessly where I can’t see.
Don’t turn a blind eye.
Please look at me.
Here it is.
I am right here.
The one and only disciple of the teacher.
The one and only student of the teacher.
And,
The one and only woman of the teacher.
Teacher…
Please don’t go.
Teacher, teacher, teacher.
Now, please don’t go anywhere.
Stay by my side,
With me,
Look only at me,
Teacher,
Teacher, teacher,
Teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher, teacher,
“……………”
“Oh my, teacher? Your complexion doesn’t look good.”
“……………”
My complexion… not good?
It was only then that I became aware of how tense I had been.
Why was that?
Ah, right. I heard something strange. Where was it… Somehow, my senses feel off.
My fingers tingled, prickling. Uneven.
… Huh? Uneven?
I had made a cut on my finger to give blood to Cecilia. But I didn’t feel any pain from carving a thin groove along my index finger.
Curiously, I gently withdrew my index finger, which had been in Cecilia’s mouth. Her transparent and viscous saliva stretched like loose threads, and her tongue, which had wrapped lazily around my finger, drooped listlessly.
No matter how much it was for the sake of bloodsucking, letting a disciple bite my finger was a rather provocative act, even for someone like me.
My index finger was tainted with Cecilia’s saliva. Normally, Vundine would have puffed up her cheeks and protested loudly, but now she remained stiff and speechless.
Because on my finger, there was not just Cecilia’s saliva but also,
“Ah.”
“……………”
“……………”
“……………”
“……………”
At that moment, the door to the ward opened, and a young man with silver hair smiled and greeted us.
“Ah, Professor Neferna.”
“Oh, yes… Ignis, did you come?”
“Professor Freya also came… Hmm? What’s with the finger? Did Undine get jealous and twist it? Ah, sorry. It’s our parents’ fault for not giving proper upbringing.”
“No… that’s not it…”
As I awkwardly replied, Freya, with a sly look, followed.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, Professor Neferna’s finger was bent the other way. Isn’t it strange?”
“Finger…? Eugene…? …Ah! I must be crazy! What have I done again?”
I didn’t do anything…
“You know best that your mind becomes unstable during the first bloodsucking! You should have been careful!”
Furrowing her delicate face, Freya began to inspect my finger. Even though she shivered slightly at the clear bite marks, she calmly cast a simple emergency spell.
“Is Cecilia awake?”
“Hmm? Oh, Cecilia woke up… Huh? Cecilia?”
At the rustling sound, Cecilia had already gotten up.
“I-I… I’m fine! Even if my mind goes blank during the first bloodsucking, what could possibly make me twist my hand like that!”
Undine, who belatedly came to her senses, protested frantically, but the response was strangely absent.
Long flowing locks. Cecilia’s eyes, dazed and unfocused.
Instinctively, I could sense that something was off about Cecilia’s aura.
Was there a problem during the bloodsucking process? It was at that moment, as I approached with worry, that I felt it.
Something soft touched my neck. It took me a moment to fully understand what it was.
“Mm… Hm… Ah… Shan-shan… Ni… Hm…”
“Eek! Can’t you stop that?! In broad… broad… broad daylight, what are you doing to the teacher! Ambushing like this, where is the decency! It’s s*xual harassment! It’s a crime! Don’t casually throw around such heinous things! If you don’t stop, I’ll call the security! I’ll make sure you eat prison food for the rest of your life!”
Rustle~ Rustle~
Whether she spoke or not, Cecilia only buried her face in my clothes and trembled. Undine frothed.
Fox ears pricked up and the tail gently wrapped around me. Feeling a slightly warm breath near my neck, I couldn’t help but go, “Ah, it’s touching. Wait, Miss Yangho? Wasn’t it common not to wear underwear under the hospital gown? Wait, Cecilia. No, no, no, good thoughts. Good thoughts. Let’s sing the school song first. But what was the school song again…”
“Cecilia…?”
“Teacher. I really… really missed you a lot…”
I pondered what to say first. Warmth. I should have said that first, that one word.
“… missed you a lot.”
“Cecilia. It might be sudden, but first about your body or family…”
“That’s okay. As long as you’re here, it doesn’t matter what it is. But… what I’m curious about right now is…”
Cecilia whispered softly into my ear.
“Why did you pretend not to know me…? No… more importantly…”
“……….”
“………. Who erased the memories about you, about my memories?”
“Huh? Well…”
I reflexively tried to answer but couldn’t finish and just closed my mouth.
That’s where it ended.
Cecilia’s pitch-black dead eyes.
“………. I wonder? I forgot. Who was it.”
I diligently wiped away the sticky sweat, drenching my body. One wrong move, and someone could be caught.
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“We’ve become quite close. I’m glad,” Freya chuckled softly, prompting Ignis to sigh and lower his head.
“Well, at least it’s good that you seem to be enjoying yourself for now,” he replied.
…Instead of just standing there, could you help me a little?
***
“Archmage, Wundine. Responding to the summoning of the noble lunar aspect, Manwol, I take my place here.”
“Archmage, Ignis. Responding to the summoning of the noble lunar aspect, Manwol, I take my place here.”
A spire designed solely for the purpose of magic, belonging to the bloodline.
The endlessly desolate and dry interior never ceased to feel unfamiliar.
Wundine secretly scrutinized the woman who stood before her, silently considering how living in a place like this might wither away all sense of aesthetics. Her fiery red hair, dyed in crimson unlike any other in the bloodline, fell in a cascade. A mature woman with an unblemished face that had never seen a single wrinkle from the time Wundine was young. She never asked for her exact age, but she knew it must not end in two digits.
Manwol, one of the lunar aspects guiding the bloodline’s spire, was the title referring to the woman in front of her.
“So, what is Eugene doing at that school that I keep hearing about even from me?”
“He… is teaching the students.”
As Wundine remained silent, Ignis politely responded to her curiosity.
At that moment, Manwol began to act as if she had been waiting. The formal attitude she displayed was probably meant to mock Eugene explicitly.
“Teaching? Who? Whom? Pfft! That psychotic psychopath? Well, is he teaching how to properly extract organs or maybe how to correctly kill demons or humans?”
“……….”
“Did that person also kill the hero of the Sixth Holy Sword and their party this time? Impressive~ Anyway, that kind of personality doesn’t change easily. Whether they’re erased from the records, imprisoned in the school by other Holy Sword heroes, or holding onto a bomb, it’s bound to explode someday. That director really hasn’t learned.”
Once again, when there was no response, Manwol continued to speak as she pleased.
“Eujin… that foolish guy. Since he lacks showmanship unlike his father, he’s quickly forgotten, right? When people hear about the Second Holy Sword now, they only remember his father, the ‘Hero Nepherna.’ No one mentions his son.”
“…We’ve only come to deliver the news of the death of the hero of the Sixth Holy Sword. We’ll be on our way back.”
Ignis, who replied in a businesslike manner, cut off the conversation and turned away with a brief farewell.
“The hero of the Second Holy Sword, erased from the records by the empire… a thoroughly forgotten hero. Eujin, serving as a clown at school, isn’t he? Puhuhu! It’s a waste to keep it to myself. I should tell the others too~”
Muyeongchang’s presence was fleeting, and even the casting was momentary. Spatiotemporal magic. Udine, who was literally staring at the evaporating remnants of Manwol, muttered with a chilling voice.
“That brat…”
“…Udine. This is the stronghold of the bloodline. Show some respect.”
“…………Hmph.”
“First, let’s return to the school.”