Less than five minutes later, in the rear hallways of the Academy…

Straf is breathing heavily, sweating, tugging at his shirt rapidly in an effort to cool down. The grimace on his face becomes more and more discomforted by the minute.

「Straf?… Is something wrong?」

Cycelia tilts her head when she notices Straf is flicking his hands as if he just burned himself.

「Uh… Lia, do you know where the closest baths are?」

He asks with a tight-lipped grimace and wide-open eyes, still waving his hands to cool them off.

「A bath? Why?-」

「Just tell me if you do!」

Straf says in an urgent tone, and his hand-waving picks up the pace. He's now jumping up and down a little from one foot to the other.

「Um… There should be one over there, the central door beyond that corner, but I don't-」

She points down the hallway at a junction, and a little off to the side. Straf breaks into a sprint, following her directions.

「Straf!?」

Cycelia blinks in confusion as he leaves her in the dust, slides to a halt, and rushes beyond the corner. She runs to follow.

Straf reaches the central door in the corridor, right at another T-junction. He pulls the door open, and rushes in. Inside, there is a short entrance hallway, and two open doorways on each side. He picks one at random, and sprints in. The entire room sans its ceiling is coated in neat white tiles, and filled with gentle steam rising from a large, oval pool of water nearby.

「Ow ow ow ow, fucking hot!-」

He rushes for the water in jumpy steps, flicking his whole arms to cool off, if only by a little. He leaps into the water feet-first, disabling [Freedom of Movement].

Splash!…

The water level rises violently, and washes over the tiles above the pool, pouring into a little channel and flowing it elsewhere to prevent a flooding.

「Pfwah!…」

Splash!

Straf emerges his head above the surface, and lets out a loud exhale.

「Whew…」

He sighs out, and rests his elbows on the tiled floor as he's soaking fully clothed. Cycelia runs in, and peeks her head into the room.

「Straf?… This is the girls' portion-」

She meekly says, pointing her finger over her shoulder towards the other doorway.

「Ah, who cares?… I just needed to cool down a little.」

Splosh!…

He waves his hand of dismissively, splashing some of the water everywhere.

「But this water is hot, Straf…」

Cycelia remarks, walking up to the edge of the water.

「Hotter than a fire?」

He asks, looking up at her over his shoulder.

「Huh? I don't think so…」

She furrows her brows, tilting her head a little. Just as Straf is lightly shifting his head to get a better look under her skirt past her thigh, she suddenly lowers herself onto both knees right beside him.

「Tsk… Then it's good enough for me. I already feel much better…」

He very subtly clicks his tongue, and sucks the air through his teeth as he stares forward at the gently rising steam.

「…Though it's still a little uncomfortably hot between my legs. It better not stay that way.」

Splash.

Straf adds, looking inquisitively at the ring on his finger.

「Straf… Are you okay now?」

Cycelia meekly asks, looking at him with a mixture of expressions. Her lips are partially pulled into her mouth in mild concern, but her eyes appear a little sullen.

「Yeah. Give me a moment and I'll cool down enough-」

「That's not what I meant…」

She cuts in, causing his brows to lightly rise in surprise.

「…I meant, are you okay? You were really gloomy lately… And different. Now you seem normal again, just… Tired, I guess.」

Cycelia adds, tilting her head a little as she looks at his face. He turns forward, and shrugs.

「I'm fine, Lia. Of course I'm tired. I think I've spent the last three days dodging all sorts of sharp and pointy shit today.」

Splosh!…

Straf replies, shrugging with his hands.

「Huh?…」

《Last three days… Today?》

She blinks, grinning a little at the bizarre statement, and lets out a sigh.

《Ahh… I should ask him to teach me his language sometime. I wonder what that actually means…》

Relieved, Cycelia smiles softly, silently watching the steam slowly rise above the hot water for a few moments.

「…You don't want to get in with me?」

「N- No… I took a bath not too long ago…」

Straf glances at her, and she shakes her head with a light blush.

「Man… Kind of crazy how one guy can cause such a mess, huh?…」

He comments, looking at the wispy, white, undulating shapes of the steam rising towards the ceiling before they disappear.

「…I wonder if he had an iconic mustache.」

Straf adds, smirking a little.

「Isn't it a little sad?…」

Cycelia asks, looking down with a little frown at the clear, greenish-blue water.

「Why?」

He asks, glancing at her sad face. Her eyes briefly turn to him, before returning to the rippling water.

「…Wraiths are embodiment of grudges, aren't they? Someone has to die really unhappy for a wraith to form.」

「Yeah… Old beard said some magic babble about how wraiths are memories, and whatnot… I was only partially listening, but I figured the guy wasn't feeling too good about being dead.」

Splosh.

Straf idly nods, shrugging his hands while his elbows are still resting on the tiles behind him.

「Then… He must have had some really bad experiences that lead to this. I think that's pretty sad…」

Cycelia says, and Straf lazily looks at her, only partially turning his face around.

「…The curse aside, I had a pretty wonderful time here so far. I made new friends, learned a lot of things… What went so wrong that he'd hate everyone so much?」

She adds, and turns her glum emerald eyes to his. Straf breaks eye contact, and shrugs.

「Well, Lia… Some people just deserve it. They're rotten inside, and everything that comes to them is just their own actions biting off a juicy piece of their ass. He was an asshole, he won't get pity from me.」

Splosh. Plonk.

He says, waving his wet hand about as he gestures, before dropping it back under the water.

「You say that, but… I don't think he was that bad, Straf.」

Cycelia meekly says, lowering her head. In deep thought, she looks at her hands in her lap.

「Huh? Why not? He tried to kill you, I think that's as bad as it gets.」

With his eyes narrowed, Straf furrows his brows and lifts the corner of his lip, baring his fang in an expression of deep confusion.

「About that… I don't think that's the case, Straf.」

She replies, and looks at his perplexed face.

「…Huh? Now you fucking lost me, Lia. What do you mean?」

Straf rolls around, with his back now turned to the rest of the pool as he focuses on her.

「I mean, if he really wanted to kill me, he could have done so a lot of times. There were plenty of moments where I was alone and in the dark.」

Cycelia shrugs, and Straf snaps his fingers.

「Oh yeah, that and makes it an original title. Carry on.」

He says, pointing at her with a light smirk. She tilts her head, but continues.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

「Then at those stairs, when he lunged at me… He just stopped. He didn't bump into anything, and nothing really stopped him… I think he just decided not to kill me.」

Cycelia continues, and shrugs again with a troubled, sullen expression on her face. Straf stares at her in silence with his brows elevated.

「…That's why I don't think he's as bad as you say, Straf. I think he was just misunderstood, and died a terrible death that left him vengeful.」

She adds, and Straf turns back around, once again placing his elbows on the tiles.

「…Yeah, I guess he did. But he's still an asshole and that doesn't really change anything. I don't think he deserved to be murdered, but did he really not see that coming? He was asking for it.」

Splosh!

Straf shrugs, throwing his hands up. Cycelia furrows her brows, and hesitates in silence for a few seconds.

「Straf… I was meaning to ask you… You talk about him like you knew him. How do you know he was murdered?…」「Ah.」

She asks, and Straf's eyes open wide. He cringes a little, and sucks air in through his teeth.

《…Shit.》

He thinks, as he lets out a troubled sigh.

「…Lia, have you at any point thought that I may be a little unhinged?」

Straf asks, looking at her with his mouth stretched side to side into a tight-lipped grimace.

「Well… Um… I don't mind? I know a lot of peculiar characters-」

Cycelia meekly replies, tapping her fingers together as she glances aside.

「Ahhhhh… Peculiar character, am I, huh?…」

With a large sigh, Straf throws his head back, mumbling under his breath as he stares at the stone ceiling. A drop of water falls onto his forehead, causing him to flinch and turn his head upright again.

「Well, whatever… If your opinion of me is that I am a peculiar character, I suppose I might as well tell you…」

「I don't think being peculiar has to be bad…」

Cycelia attempts to feebly backpedal, but Straf shrugs with his whole arms, and briefly rubs the back of his damp neck.

「Tsk… Okay. Believe me if you want to, but I've actually seen that asshole's memories. Little snippets, but I did.」

Splash.

He explains with a tight-lipped grimace directed forward, throwing his hands up.

「Huh? How?」

Cycelia blinks rapidly in shock, tilting her head.

「Don't know, don't ask me. All I can tell you is, it's similar to that dream-eater or whatever it was called… Fuckin' little piece of purple shit. I'll stomp it flat into a pancake next time I see one…」

Straf continues his explanation, and begins grumbling heavily.

「…What did you see, then?」

「His friends, or, at least I assume it was his friends. That's what they felt like to me. That's another thing. I could feel what he felt. He was a real jealous and angry fucker.」

「…Jealous?」

「Yeah. He had a spat with his supposed friend, and he ended up getting murdered by him. No wonder he turned into a wraith… He got his ass kicked, lost a girl, and his friend killed him.」

Straf shrugs, spreading his hands again as he gives Cycelia a quick rundown.

「…What caused this? What was the reason that started this?」

Cycelia asks, greatly furrowing her brows with a very sullen face.

「Hmmh…」

Straf looks up, grimacing as his mouth jumps left and right.

「…From what I understood and felt, the two of them were vying for the same girl. She friendzoned both of them to not hurt the other one, but it ended up making things worse.」

「…Friendzoned?」「Ah.」

Cycelia asks, tilting her head. Straf turns his face to her.

「It's when a girl goes,「you're such a great friend!」to a guy who loves her. I don't know why it's called a friendzone, it's like calling the most militarized place in the world a demilitarized zone.」

Straf explains, and shrugs his hands before turning forward again.

「…What happened aftewards?」

She asks, looking at the gently rising mist with Straf.

「Dunno, didn't see. She probably said something that set Shadow the Shadow off, and he figured he blew his chances with her. From there, it was just a spiral down. Hngh…」

Straf says, and lifts himself out of the pool of water with a light grunt while Cycelia stands up as well. Water sluices off of him, flowing rapidly into the channel below.

「Alright, I'm fine now. Want to grab something at the cafeteria?」

He asks, nonchalantly placing his hands in his sopping wet pockets. Cycelia smiles, and nods in reply.

「Right, let's go then…」

Splosh. Splosh. Splosh. Splosh. Splosh…

With Cycelia following behind, Straf casually heads out of the bath. His shoes make a specific water-laden sound each step…

…

Moments earlier, in the infirmary…

The beds are filled with mumbling students and professors alike, some feebly moving their arms about, some groaning in pain with their faces twisting. Professor Reise and Corvus are among the patients. The old headmaster opens his eyes, and briefly watches the young and still healthy professors run around the room, forcefeeding everyone in the beds potions. One of them notices he has woken up, and approaches his bedside.

「Headmaster!… How are you feeling?」

The young professor asks. Corvus furrows his bushy brows, and sits himself up.

「Ah, wait, you shouldn't-!」

「I feel fine…」

Corvus remarks, sounding almost surprised. The professor retracts his hands away, aborting his attempt to set the old mage down in his bed.

「R- Really?…」

He asks, and his head perks up in surprise as he blinks at the headmaster.

「Yes… In fact, I feel remarkably good. Ahem… I still feel a little urge to cough, but my mind feels sharper than ever, if I dare say so myself.」

Corvus nods, and turns his head aside. The groaning has abruptly stopped, and everyone in the beds seems to have recovered the same instant.

「Ahhhh!!」

In the bed beside his, Professor Reise abruptly jolts up to sitting while screaming.

「Professor?…」「Professor Reise! What's wrong!?」

Corvus calmly asks, while the infirmary professor panics and runs up to the small old man's bed.

「Ahh! My students!…」

Reise shouts frantically, and throws the blanket off his short body.

「Professor, wait! You were sick!-」

Slap!

The young professor sticks his hands out towards the old man, but he slaps them out of the way with his wrinkled hand.

「I know, stupid! My students are going to fail the term, and it's going to be because of me!」

Reise says, and jumps out of the bed.

Thud!

「Ow! Oww! Ow, ow ow!…」

He immediately plummets to his knees, as the high bed is nearly half his size.

「What are you doing you old fool!? Do you want a reason to stay in the infirmary!?」

Corvus exclaims, throwing the blanket aside as well. He jumps out of his bed, and lowers himself to grab Professor Reise.

「My students!… Ow!… I have to get to class!…」

Reise shouts, massaging his aching knee as Corvus helps him back up.

「The classes are cancelled today, Reise! Slow down!」

The headmaster explains, clutching onto the small professor's shoulders.

「Not on my watch they aren't! Tell them the classes are on! They have to be on!…」

Reise pulls himself out of his younger colleague's clutches, and rushes towards the exit on his stubby legs.

「Oh no!… So much material to go through!… Oh no, oh no!…」

He yells into the hallway as he runs out of the infirmary, clutching onto his mostly bald head. The entire infirmary watches him exit, leaving most utterly confused. The young professor turns back to the headmaster.

「Since even Professor Reise is fine now… This must mean Straf has dealt with the wraith.」

Corvus remarks, thinking as he brushes his fingers through his beard. A satisfied smile verging on smug appears on his old, wrinkly face.

「…And just in time, too. Our potions are running low. We were arguing whether or not we should give you two any more.」

The professor grimly replies, and points his hand at his exhausted colleagues as the students and professors alike gingerly rise up from their beds.

「…I have a favor to ask of you, professor. Find me Straf, and tell him to come to my office.」

Corvus says, smiling at the young professor as he walks past him towards the exit.

「Will do, headmaster. We're glad you're alright.」

The professor says, and Corvus silently nods his head in response, leaving the infirmary along with some of the patients…

…

Two hours later, in the headmaster's office…

Knock knock.

Corvus lifts his eyes up from the thick tome before him, and looks at the door.

「Enter!…」

He says in a loud voice, and Aria squeezes in through the doorway.

「Ah. I thought Straf has decided to surprise me by knocking… What do you need?」

Corvus smiles softly at her as she walks a few steps into the room, and stops.

「It's about him…」

She replies, holding her hands behind her back.

「Yes?」

The headmaster's bushy brows rise, and he looks at her from above his spectacles' frame.

「You requested for him to come to your office. He said, I quote, fuck off.」

Aria quotes Straf with a little nod of her hatted head, and looks at Corvus with a tight-lipped grimace. He blinks in surprise, then his face gains a grin.

「Ohohohoho!…」

He covers his mouth with a fist, chuckling heartily. After a few moments, he gets his laughter under control, but continues struggling to suppress his smile.

「Well… Perhaps tomorrow, then?」

Corvus says, and returns to reading through the thick tome in front of him. A pile of similar books lies stacked on the desk right beside the one he is currently reading through.

「…I am fine, thank you, Aria.」

He abruptly adds, quickly glancing at her before returning his eyes back to the tome.

「Wha-?…」

Aria utters out, a little taken aback by the headmaster's declaration, but her surprise quickly dies down. She silently bows her big-hatted head, squeezes herself out through the door, then quietly shuts it behind herself…