Chapter 31
For several days, Henrik monitored Bena.
Having returned to her lectures, she diligently taught her students, and when classes ended, she shut herself in her personal research lab to study magic.
It was difficult to find any signs of her contacting or communicating with demons.
"......."
But that glittering necklace still hung around her neck.
Parasite, heart-at first hearing, these sounded like incredibly ominous things. Yet she had returned to her daily routine as if nothing was wrong.
It was extrely difficult to pinpoint her movents before she collapsed from illness. Her behavioral patterns from the beginning of the sester until now hadn't changed much.
He needed the opinion of soone who had observed her more closely.
Of course, there were people he could ask.
But would they be able to answer properly?
Grimory was sharp-if he asked her, she would imdiately sense sothing was wrong.
On the other hand, while Acitia had excellent intuition, her pure and quirky personality made him wonder if he could draw out the answers he needed.
At the very least, since a high-rank devil was involved, he had to move carefully and discreetly to keep the students from getting caught up in this.
One wrong move could lead to a major casualty incident.
He couldn't go around carelessly asking students.
"Professor?"
Acitia approached Henrik as he hung from a tree, lost in thought.
"What...... are you doing?"
"Training."
"You canceled class and wouldn't even watch my training...... so you've been doing this by yourself?"
Acitia casually turned her gaze in the direction Henrik was looking.
The first floor classroom of the Magic Departnt-Bena could be seen earnestly lecturing her students.
"Don't tell you're watching Professor Bena?"
"......."
Henrik didn't answer.
But Acitia suddenly started bouncing excitedly on her own.
"No way......? Wh-whoa. No way?!"
"Whatever you're thinking, it's not for the reason you think."
"You're still young too, Professor...... and you're the sa age as Professor Bena."
"Acitia."
"It's possible, sure. There's definitely a possibility. It's not bad. I approve, Professor."
"......."
It felt like a ridiculous misunderstanding had ford.
Henrik climbed down from the tree and looked at Acitia.
He thought she might know the specifics of Bena's recent movents.
With her characteristically keen senses, she might have felt or noticed sothing.
There was just one problem with her personality.
For soone so perceptive, she was naive, and her quirky nature made it hard to expect the kind of sharp analysis Grimory could provide.
'Still, it's better to at least hear what she has to say.'
Henrik looked at Bena lecturing through the window and spoke to Acitia.
"Acitia, I heard you've been auditing Professor Bena's lectures."
"Yes, that's right. I've been attending magic lectures with Grimory."
"How has Professor Bena seed lately?"
"Seed......?"
At Henrik's cryptic question, Acitia tilted her head and thought.
"How should I put it, she feels a bit gentler? That's the impression."
"Gentler."
"Yes, normally if students were chatting during lecture, she'd go whoosh whoosh! and throw chalk at them. But lately she doesn't really seem to care."
"......."
Henrik quietly listened to Acitia's story.
"And how do I say this......."
She made a complicated expression, then glanced at Henrik and continued.
"It's strange. It's strange but also kind of subtle. Like there might be a reason but there isn't...... I don't know why she's like that either......."
"Strange how?"
"It's a small thing. Professor Bena usually said she only ate vegetarian food. But lately she only eats at. Maybe her magic research is really exhausting...... or she gave up being vegetarian......."
Henrik quietly nodded and said.
"That's enough. You can go."
"Huh? Oh, okay......."
Acitia kept glancing back at Henrik as she picked up her weights and headed toward the training yard.
'Subtle changes in personality.......'
Henrik watched Bena with sharp eyes.
Her alibi was far too perfect. The problem was that it was excessively perfect.
If even Acitia, with her excellent intuition, called it subtle, ordinary people probably wouldn't feel much dissonance.
Henrik decided to continue his surveillance again in the evening.
In the sparsely populated evening, sothing about her might change, and he could observe more closely while fully prepared.
* * *
After school.
Acitia was heading ho with her friends.
Even after the written exam ended, Acitia continued to frequently visit Carmine's house with Grimory.
While Carmine had extended the invitation, at so point they'd all grown accustod to coming and going from his house, using it like a hideout.
"You look annoying."
Carmine said, looking at the grinning Acitia.
"Did sothing good happen?"
Grimory asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Actually...... sssss, no. Never mind."
"Even more annoying."
When Acitia stopped mid-sentence, Carmine glared at her with a deep frown.
Her lips were itching to speak, but she forcibly suppressed the urge.
This was Henrik's private life too.
Thinking he might be troubled if rumors spread, Acitia decided to keep it as her own secret.
Student romances could spread as rumors without causing much trouble, but professors' love lives were on an entirely different level.
This was an issue that could directly lead to marriage!
Acitia resolved to quietly cheer Henrik on.
Opening the front door and entering, she spotted William.
Ever since the day Acitia had been knocked unconscious by a club, he'd been checking for guests before training.
And today was a day with guests. William smiled brightly and greeted them politely.
"Welco, young ladies. Thank you so much for always keeping the Young Master company."
"Oh, it's nothing really."
"That's right. We enjoy spending ti together too."
No.
Acitia was after gold coins.
Grimory wanted information.
They persistently followed him because there were things they wanted to obtain from Carmine.
But William, who had no way of knowing this, wiped away tears at their words.
"You're all such kind people... This William will always look forward to the days you visit!"
"...Haha."
Honestly, her conscience pricked at her.
The kids gathered around the table as usual and began reviewing that day's lectures.
As Acitia humd while copying her notes into Carmine's notebook, Carmine narrowed his eyes and glared at her.
"Sothing happened."
"I cannot say, Young Master."
When Acitia mimicked William's speech, Carmine's face scrunched up.
-Ting!
Finally, Carmine tossed her 1 gold coin and tilted his head.
"Speak."
Grimory, who had been quietly reviewing beside them, subtly perked up her ears.
"Ahem! Well, now I have no choice but to talk. Actually, it seems Professor Henrik is interested in Professor Bena."
"Interested?"
"Yeah, I ran into the professor on my way to run laps at the training yard, you know? He was hanging from a tree, watching Professor Bena from a distance. I wonder if they're already dating-it was totally steamy."
"......"
"......"
Carmine and Grimory struggled to hold back their laughter.
Henrik showing interest in a woman? It was unimaginable.
"You're not lying, are you?"
Carmine looked at Acitia with disbelief and asked again.
"It's true, I'm telling you!!!"
"Acitia, let's think about this calmly."
"No, Grimory, why are you like this too?"
"It's not that I don't believe you. Just calm down first. Look, look."
Grimory held the thoroughly excited Acitia's hands as if to soothe her.
"Let's think about it. Whether Professor Henrik is really the type of person to be interested in won. Let's consider if he has that kind of personality."
"......"
At her words, Acitia took a mont to cool her head and organize her thoughts.
'Professor Henrik and romance... the professor... romance...'
Strangely, she couldn't picture it.
That expressionless face only smiled when mocking others or when he himself was satisfied. She'd never even seen him smile purely out of happiness or joy.
"Now that I think about it, you're right."
"See?"
It would actually be more convincing to say Henrik had fallen in love with a demon. Watching him go crazy with obsession over demons, she sotis even wondered if he actually loved demons more than anyone else.
"Huh?"
But it was strange.
Henrik was definitely paying attention to Bena.
Enough to cancel classes for a whole week. He had pursued Bena.
"......"
"......"
Carmine and Grimory silently t each other's eyes.
As if thinking the sa thing, they both smirked.
"It's an incident."
Carmine spoke up.
"It must be. There's nothing else it could be."
Grimory nodded as if in agreent.
"What? What is it? An incident? What incident?"
"Yes, Professor Henrik has often canceled classes, but he's never canceled for rest."
"But it wasn't just one day-a whole week. An entire week of canceled classes."
"If there were business outside the Academy, he probably would have left. But the professor stayed inside the Academy the whole ti."
"Then we can assu an incident occurred inside the Academy."
Grimory and Carmine began unraveling Henrik's intentions, bouncing ideas off each other.
"What kind of incident, obviously."
"What Professor Henrik is interested in is demons."
"Demons..."
Grimory fell into thought. Demons would certainly make sense. Henrik beca a completely different person when it ca to demons.
"Co to think of it, it was strange that the Academy's barrier was breached by a low-rank demon."
"Right. There must be sothing behind it."
"What if Professor Henrik noticed that?"
"And if it's connected to Professor Bena..."
"She was said to have suffered from a severe fever recently too."
It was entirely possible.
This was why Henrik hadn't asked Grimory about Bena. If he gave her even the smallest clue, the sharp-witted girl would reach the answer on her own.
That's why he'd asked Acitia instead, avoiding Grimory-but Henrik hadn't known that these three were close enough to gather at one house and chat.
-Thud!
When Carmine snapped his fingers, William, who had been preparing dinner in the kitchen, rushed over in a single stride.
"You called, Young Master?"
"Investigation."
"An investigation? Who should I look into?"
"Bena Aspera. Professor Bena, the new professor in the Departnt of Magic."
"Yes. Understood."
William nodded as if he understood and returned to the kitchen.
"Wow... this is the power of a rchant family..."
Acitia stared at Carmine in shock.
"You didn't have Grandpa William investigate us behind our backs, did you?"
"..."
Carmine didn't answer.
"Hey, Carmine."
When Acitia poked him repeatedly, Carmine avoided her gaze.
"Look at this. You already finished investigating us completely, didn't you?"
Carmine slipped a gold coin into Acitia's pocket.
At that, Acitia quietly returned to her seat.
Grimory silently recalled the devils from the other day.
She hadn't realized it herself, but Grimory could understand the demonic language.
Acitia seed to have no idea what they were saying, but to Grimory, the aning ca through clearly.
Even though it was her first ti hearing it, she'd understood it naturally, as if she'd known it all along.
Grimory gripped her hat tightly.
"Carmine."
"...?"
"Aren't you curious? About who's behind this incident?"
"Of course I'm curious. I'm planning to solve it myself."
"I knew it..."
Grimory grinned.
She'd expected as much from Carmine.
Spending ti with Carmine, Grimory had quickly grasped what he wanted. That Carmine wanted to build achievents, and that he wanted to use them to graduate from the Academy quickly.
Seeing how his eyes had sparkled when he heard Acitia's story, Grimory had anticipated that Carmine would make a move.
"Let join you."
"You too?"
"Yes, too. I need to find out who's behind this incident as well."
If the mastermind could breach the Academy's barrier and hide a low-rank demon, they must be a high-ranking demon-which ant she might be able to gather more information.
"..."
"..."
Quietly, Grimory and Carmine clasped hands with a smack.
Their interests aligned, an alliance was born to investigate the incident together.
"What? What is it? Let in too."
Oblivious, Acitia could only look back and forth between Grimory and Carmine.
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