Wang made a face of realization, but it was already too late.
The strength drained completely from his body. It was as if his soul had separated from his body.
I caught the falling man with my own body.
His weight was imnse, and we ended up rolling to the floor, with Senior Noah's body on top of mine.
Ugh. He's heavy.
I tried to push him off, but it wasn’t easy. It was at that mont that his shoulder twitched.
I froze in surprise and held my breath.
The man on top of slowly lifted his head. His face ca into view, but the problem was that it was uncomfortably close.
His eyes t mine—they were blue.
A deep, intense blue, like the color of a lake.
Now, I thought I could recognize Senior Noah just by his eyes. It was a relief to know I could still recognize him.
"lody."
He called my na in a heavy voice, full of unease.
It was definitely Senior Noah.
He stared at for a long ti without saying a word. His face was extrely handso, but that wasn’t the issue right now. His breath was close.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I cautiously opened my mouth.
"Senior, you’re heavy."
Ah.
It seed like he only just realized that he was on top of . He quickly pushed himself up.
"Sorry."
He extended his hand to .
I grabbed his hand and stood up, brushing myself off.
I was wearing a dress, but luckily it was a long one that reached my ankles, so it wasn’t an embarrassing sight.
"Senior, what happened? Are you okay?"
I recalled what Wang, or Vidar, had told .
"Senior, there was a king inside you. He said you’d be in a cage."
"...."
"Senior, are you really okay?"
I moved a little closer, lifting my face toward his. Then, I carefully placed my hand on his forehead. Thankfully, there was no fever.
Senior Noah just stared at my face without saying anything. I felt a little awkward and was about to pull my hand away and step back, but he grabbed my hand.
I felt his blue eyes shift slightly as they wavered, locking on .
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"Thank you."
"What? For what?"
He didn’t answer my question. Instead, he spoke about sothing else.
"I was really in a cage. When I opened my eyes, that’s where I was. I couldn’t find a way out, but then I heard your voice."
Now that I thought about it, he was still holding my hand.
He looked at my hand for a mont, then slowly let go. The warmth from his hand faded. For so reason, I felt a little sad about that.
"'Bring Noah back.' That’s what I heard."
Ah. The words he had heard were probably the last thing I had said to Vidar, the command I gave him.
I then told him everything, except for the part about Sister Gloria. I explained that Senior Noah was trapped in a cage and that the place might be in the "Other World" of Johannes Castle. I also ntioned that we would need another sacrifice to lift Raven’s curse, and that I had learned his na, which gave control over him.
"He’s a part of the king, but he isn’t the king himself."
"Then, does that an Vidar isn’t the king’s na?"
Senior Noah nodded.
"Vidar seems to be under a misunderstanding. The only one who knows the king's na is the king himself, but that’s wrong information. The ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) king never had a na from the beginning. He was created by devouring evil spirits."
The king, who devoured evil spirits, and is called the king of evil spirits. I think I read about sothing similar in a book on evil spirits.
"Then, is Vidar one of the evil spirits that the king devoured?"
"Evil spirits don’t have the logical intelligence to think like humans. The evil spirits the king devoured were all absorbed by him and no longer exist. ‘Vidar’ seems to be another persona that appeared when the king was sealed. It looks like he gave himself that na."
What a strange being.
Senior Noah muttered, and sohow, the way he said it felt a bit unfamiliar.
"...Senior, how do you know all this?"
"I learned it while I was in the cage. I still don’t know why. I just... learned it."
He answered with a face full of confusion.
The "vessel" he had spoken about before must have referred to the king’s vessel. Since their bodies were shared, it was possible that the information Vidar had flowed into Senior Noah.
Ding—
Ding—
At that mont, the bell tower rang, signaling 10 AM. I was late for my part-ti job.
Also, I had heard that outsiders would be coming to the island at noon today.
"Anyway, I have to go to my part-ti job. Do you want to co with ? We can talk on the way."
He nodded and quietly followed .
I told him about the conversation I had with Erika earlier that morning. About how the head of the academic departnt had given Erika candy at .
"The candy does seem strange."
Senior Noah answered.
"For the 100th-anniversary opening event, the Pope and the crown prince of the Kingdom of Brendan will be attending, so the headmaster is preoccupied. The head of the academic departnt seems to be planning sothing while everyone’s distracted, but I don’t know the goal. Let’s start by investigating the candy."
I nodded and headed out of the girls’ dormitory toward the village.
On the way, Senior Noah gave one piece of advice.
"The head of the academic departnt can’t know his plans are failing."
"But because of Vidar, everyone already knows you’re awake."
"Act like you’re not in your right mind."
"How?"
At my question, Senior Noah let out a quiet laugh.
"Just watch."
If the head of the academic departnt’s goal is to stop Senior Noah from performing the sealing ritual, then?
That would an it would be pointless for to perform the ritual as the student representative. In fact, that might be exactly what the head of the academic departnt wants.
So, I decided to step in as the student representative for Senior Noah. That way, the head of the academic departnt would be reassured. And it would also work out better for our future plans.
We decided to tackle the problems we could solve right now.
First, we’d investigate the candy and make sure I’d be the student representative for this event. Then, we’d figure out the head of the academic departnt’s plan and stop it.
As we entered the cafe, I spotted Father Miella waiting for .
It was a relief, since I wasn’t sure how to et him and had planned to ask Mrs. Louis for help.
It was quite unexpected for Father Miella to co looking for first.
"Heisting, are you okay? I heard you didn’t go to the hospital."
Father Miella awkwardly stood up and greeted in an uncomfortable way.
"I’m fine. What about you, Father?"
"Thanks to you, I’m fine."
Father Miella seed to have a lot to say but fumbled with his words, looking a bit uneasy.
Just then, Mrs. Louis ca out with a tray full of homade cookies, sighed when she saw Father Miella, and looked at him as if he were a troubleso younger brother. Before, Father Miella had seed intimidating, but thanks to Mrs. Louis, he now seed strangely more approachable.
"I have a lot to ask, but it’s not the right place. Let’s talk later in the disciplinary committee room. And if you need help, just ask."
"I actually do need a favor, Father. Could you help with sothing?"
"Right now?"
"I heard the grading for the exams is done. The rankings are out, but they haven’t been posted yet?"
"After the 100th anniversary event, the notice will go up."
That was too late. Today was the night of the dead festival, and everyone would be preoccupied. It was the perfect ti to get things done.
"Could you give the list? The nas of the top-ranked students by year."
"That’s a bit difficult."
"Isn’t it information that will be released in a few days anyway? It’s not like I’m leaking exam papers, it’s just the rankings."
Father Miella looked visibly troubled. I knew it was a difficult request, but I pushed forward.
I smiled at him, and he flinched.
It seed like Father Miella was a bit scared of since the incident at the Night of the Dead. That worked in my favor, as I could use that to my advantage.
"Father, you’ve probably heard the rumors, but I can see ghosts. You’ve experienced it yourself, so now you know. Ghosts are real."
Father Miella’s face turned pale. Even though his face was half-covered with the eye patch, it was still obvious.
"I also know how to deal with them."
As I gestured, the ghosts watching from near Noah’s side ca closer.
They were terrified of Noah but liked so much that they were willing to risk their lives to approach , showing affection in a cute way.
When I pointed at Father Miella’s hair tie, they gleefully untied it and played with his hair, blowing air into it.
Father Miella shrieked and fell to the ground. I felt a bit sorry, realizing I might have overdone it.
"I, I’m sorry. I believe in ghosts now. I believe!"
"Then you’ll help , right? It’s not even that difficult a request."
"It is a difficult request, but..."
"So, you won’t help ?"
Father Miella had to help , not Father Cesario.
I’d heard that Father Cesario was already on the academic departnt’s blacklist because of his investigation into the ghost stories.
Father Miella, on the other hand, openly opposed Father Cesario, so the head of the academic departnt wouldn’t suspect him too easily.
That’s why I planned to use Father Miella as much as possible in this plan.
"...I’ll help, but only this once."
Of course, it wouldn’t end with just once, but for now, I nodded with a smile.
Father Miella added so explanations.
"The reason I’m helping you isn’t because of threats. It’s because I’m curious. This is a deal. If I help you, I expect you to answer my questions."
It seed like he was very curious about the strange events from last night.
I nodded again. From the side, Senior Noah looked at with a proud expression.
"Good at negotiating."
"Could you call it a negotiation?"
Just then, Leonard entered the cafe, looked at , Father Miella, and Senior Noah, and tilted his head.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"Why is he late for work by himself? Really, a junior I don’t like."
I decided to ignore Senior Noah’s muttering from beside .
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