After the sunset, in Cycelia's and Straf's room…

Crrrrr-rrrreaaaaak… Thud!

Straf quickly swings the door open, and lazily pulls it shut behind himself. With his hands briefly in his pockets, he lets out a short, fatigued sigh as he approaches his bed, and jumps right onto it with his back.

Thwomp.

「Ahhhhhh… What the fuck do I do?…」

He groans out another sigh, placing his elbow over his eyes like a sleeping mask.

《I wasted so much fucking time chasing false leads… Seriously, what is wrong with women? And why are there guys drawing dicks on girls, here of all places?》

Straf drops his arm to the bed with a heavy womp. With his mouth lightly slanted, he stares listlessly at the dark ceiling, faintly lit only by the weak flame from the oil lamp.

《…I don't even feel like coming up with new theories anymore. I know I have it nailed, but I'm sure I'm missing something. But what?… It ought to be someone from the outside. But who?…》

He thinks, and without an aim, his eyes slowly roll away to another point in the room.

「Gahhhhh!…」

Straf groans in frustration, and gives his face a quick rub with his hand.

《…For fuck's sake. This makes no sense. None of it makes sense. Everyone is cursed, except me. Maybe some magic animal did it?… No, I don't think I'm at the stage of chasing pigeons yet…》

「Tsk…」

He clicks his tongue, and his eyes return directly upward.

《…What the fuck is the point of luck if it doesn't just make everything go my way? I've been searching for this fucking guy practically since I got here, where's my fucking clues? Where's my deus ex machina?-》

「Ah.」

Straf's mouth scrunches more and more, before he quietly utters out a single sound. He blinks at the ceiling with a dumbfounded look on his face.

「Athea.」

He says in a clear, loud and commanding tone.

《…What do you want?》

Perhaps unsurprisingly so, he hears Athea's stern voice in his head.

「I'm in a little bit of a pinch. So, I left with Lia for this magic school of copyright infringement, and-」

《I know.》

Still stern, Athea cuts Straf's story short, audibly not wanting to be take part in this conversation.

「Yeah, figures. Anyway, a few days after we got here, some asshole did some magic shit to the barrier around it, and now it kills people-」

《I. Know.》

She repeats, pausing for emphasis. Straf furrows his brows.

「…You do? You have been watching? For how long?」

《…From time to time.》

「…Wait, so you've seen the thing with Lia and-?」

《No. I stopped looking when she was right on top of you…》

Athea explains, and Straf blinks at the ceiling in mild confusion with his arms spread as much as the wall beside him will allow.

《…Did you end up doing it?》

She asks, sounding almost reluctant to do so.

「Nah, we got interrupted.」

《I see…》

Athea softly replies, and Straf furrows his brows.

「…Why are you asking? Are you jealous?」

He asks, and a smug grin forms on his face.

《As if! Don't get ahead of yourself!》

She shouts into Straf's mind with outrage in her ethereal voice.

「So, why are you asking, then?」

《…I wanted to know if you're finally settling into this world. Even though you do not deserve her, I was hoping that you would eventually become happy and accept your place there.》

Athea quietly says.

「…Sounds like you're jealous, actually.」

《I'm not! How dare you even imply that!?》

Now angered and flip-flopping through emotions, she yells at Straf.

「I'm not implying it, I am outright saying that you are. For your information, we didn't even kiss, so if you want to try your luck at that, and something more-」

《Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!》

Athea shouts, while Straf chuckles with a massive snide grin on his face.

「Hey, I'm just saying that next time she gets frisky, it might be a room without windows. If you want to be the first, you better swallow your pride, and I'll give you plenty of other stuff to swallow.」

He adds, shrugging.

《Shut up! Is this why you are bothering me!?》

「Hahah… Nah. I actually wanted to ask you something.」

Straf ends his chuckle with a heavy sigh, and his grin slowly fades.

《What?》

Athea asks, slightly calmer, but her stern tone now has a tinge of anger in it.

「You know who's behind it, right?」

He asks, staring at the dark ceiling with bored eyes.

《…Yes.》

Athea reluctantly replies after a prolonged silence.

「Who is it?」

《I can't tell you.》

She says, sounding almost apologetic.

「Why the fuck not?」

Outraged, Straf throws his arms up. His mouth scrunches heavily to the side as they drop back down.

《Because there are very few things that I am allowed to do. Interfering in a conflict between beings is specifically not one of them.》

「Why?」

《Because that is my command. I am only allowed to act if one side grows too powerful and may wipe out the other. What they call the Night of Fangs was one of those times, and even then, I did very little.》

She explains, and her stern tone softens.

「Didn't you literally give a guy superpowers to fight the vampires!? I think I am owed a little hint!」

Still outraged, he spreads his hands and stares at the ceiling with an incredulous expression.

《That was different. Even with the blessing, he was a mere mortal. A mistake could have costed him his life, and the rest of humanity. He persevered through his love, and the will to protect others.》

「Tsk… Seriously, the entire magic school is going to fucking die, and you're going to give me the power of friendship bullshit in response?」

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Straf clicks his tongue, and rolls his eyes away with his mouth heavily scrunched.

《I am saying you, too, can look up to him.》

「You're out of your fucking mind if you think I'm going to look up to a cliche. Just tell me the whodunit, and I'll figure out the whydunit.」

He says, and crosses his arms with a displeased expression on his face.

《You very well know I cannot. As much as I hate to admit it, humanity is not at stake here. You are on your own… But I do hope that you will succeed. A great calamity will begin otherwise.》

Athea ominously declares with a serious voice in Straf's mind.

「All the more fuckin' reason to tell me!」

《I will not.》

「Tell me!」

《No.》

「Tell me!」

《No.》

Athea and Straf go on a back and forth, with each becoming more insistent as the other becomes more stubborn.

「Tell me!… Or I will call your boss and ask him instead! And I'll tell him about your little typo, too!」

Straf scoffs, and threatens her with a smug smirk.

《…If I interfere by revealing who is responsible, he will be far more upset at me, than if he were to find out that I made a mistake, and gave you too much power to placate you.》

「So you don't mind then!?」

《Of course I do mind, but if you intend to get me into trouble, there is nothing I can do about it. You are on your own… I can only give you a hint, that you have already come across the most important clue.》

Athea explains, remaining completely calm despite the threat.

「Seriously? That's fucking it? Thanks for nothing!」

《…I wish you luck. For her sake as well.》

She says after a brief pause with a calm, but serious tone.

「Tsk… For fuck's sake… Where's the maintenance man? Deus ex machina broke…」

Straf clicks his tongue, grumbling. He shakes his head and rolls onto his stomach, sinking his face into the pillow with a fatigued sigh.

Crrrrr-rrrrrreaaaaaaaaak…

The rusty hinge of the door makes itself known, and footsteps approach Straf's bed while he lies face-down.

「…Straf? Are you okay?」

Cycelia asks, looking at Straf with her brows furrowed. He lifts his head off the pillow without moving much else, and turns his bored-looking face towards her.

「…Yeah. I'm just tired.」

He replies, staring at her with bored eyes while she sits down on her bed, and takes her boots off.

「I… See…」

She utters out, greatly furrowing her brows and sounding reluctant to believe Straf's statement.

「How was your day, Lia? Caught the ghost yet?」

Straf lets out an amused huff out of his nose, but most of his expression doesn't change. His brows rise a little quite sardonically.

「No, not really… Straf, listen…」

She replies, lightly shaking her head, and she leans in.

「…I went to thank the headmaster for turning a blind eye to us, and he told me about the situation with the curse.」

Cycelia says, and as soon as she finishes her sentence, Straf's expressionless face turns into an angry scowl.

「Son of a fucking bitch! I'll rip his fucking beard off!-」

「Straf! Straf, calm down! It was an accident!」

She stretches her dainty palms out towards Straf, as he jolts upward to his knees out of his listless stupor.

「How the fuck do you accidentally overshare shit that's on need-to-know basis!? He didn't need to tell you that you have a noose around your neck!」

「Straf, it was my fault! I accidentally lead him to believe that you told me everything, when I only knew about the barrier. He just misunderstood how much I knew. That's all.」

She calmly explains, and Straf crosses his arms with a long sigh.

「Great. So now you can't even enjoy your wish fulfillment shit in fear of the clock.」

He says as he relaxes a little, and he shuffles over to sit down on his bed as well.

「There's one more thing, Straf…」

「What?」

Straf asks, looking at her hands while she meekly taps her fingers together.

「…I kind of told my friends. But only them! And I told them not to tell anyone else!」

Cycelia says with a little pout, and is then quick to extend her index finger and elaborate.

「Great idea, Lia. If a panic and rioting breaks out, we'll know who to point our fingers to.」

With a grin, he lets out an amused scoff, then a resigned sigh.

「…We've decided to help you find whoever is responsible. Will you join us tomorrow?」

She asks, tilting her head inquisitively.

「…Yeah, I guess. Since I was already on it, we might as well do that together.」

Straf replies, and slips underneath his blanket. Cycelia's head perks up in surprise.

「Ah. You're going to sleep?」

「No, I'm just going to pretend that I am sleeping, and hope it makes me feel better. Goodnight, Lia.」

Straf says as he lies his head down on the pillow, and closes his eyes. Cycelia blinks at his handsome sleeping face in confusion, then lies down herself.

「Goodnight, Straf.」

She replies, and closes her eyes too…

…

The next morning, in one of the classrooms while waiting for the monster biology and alchemy professor…

Damian, and Cycelia's friends keep glancing at Straf. He sits in his usual spot, right beside Cycelia, wearing a deerstalker on his head and holding a calabash pipe in his mouth.

「…Straf, I have to ask… What is that?」

Neela says, looking at his unlit wooden pipe. He pulls its neck out of his mouth, and side-glances at her.

「Well, that should be obvious to you at this point…」

Straf replies in a snobbish, conceited tone.

「It… It should?」

She tilts her head, furrowing her brows at him.

「It is a pipe. A smoking implement… But, uh, I've yet to see any tobacco in this shithole…」

He explains, still keeping his arrogant tone, before shrugging his shoulders and adding one more sentence in his usual manner of speaking. A thin, weak-looking man with round glasses on his face enters the classroom.

「Good morning, everyone!… So, who wants to talk about dragons!? Haha…」

The man says, and smiles nervously at the students while approaching the teacher's desk with a thick tome in hand.

Crrrrclunk!

Cycelia nearly stands up, propping herself up on the desk as her chair noisily scrapes against the floor, and she waves her hand at the man below.

「Ahahah… Good to see you are excited about the topic, Ms. Lia! But for now, please sit down!」

The weak professor says, pointing at Cycelia and returning an acknowledging nod of his head. He quickly adjusts his glasses by pushing them up his nose with his middle finger, and takes the chalk.

Cycelia blushes a little as she lowers herself down onto her chair, and makes herself small.

「You like dragons, Lia?」

Tisha asks, grinning a little while she props her head up on her hand. Cycelia silently nods back.

「Yeah, they're kind of awesome. I saw one fly in the sky far away when I was young.」

Tisha adds as she turns her head forward, nodding while the man below quickly sketches a rather impressive looking chalk drawing of a dragon, considering how little time he had to do so.

「Okay… Does anyone know anything about dragons? They are quite relevant to alche- Yes, Ms. Lia?」

He pauses, noticing Cycelia has her hand up again, and she is waving it hard in an effort to be quickly seen.

「Dragons have magic blood! And they can transform! And they're not evil, they're just driven by different interests! And they come from a continent far north east-!」

「Okay, okay, okay, please slow down!…」

The professor exclaims, waving his hand with an awkward smile, cutting Cycelia's stream of trivia short.

「…But yes, you are correct, Ms. Lia. Dragon blood is a very precious alchemical ingredient… But, er… We call it polymorphing, not transforming, Ms. Lia. Please write that down…」

He adds, pointing at her as he nods and turns to the blackboard. He then begins to write down all the things Cycelia has listed, and a few more.

「Wow, Lia, you may not be that good at magic, but you have knowledge about dragons memorized. I'll come to you if I need to know something about them.」

Neela says, looking at Cycelia with her brows raised in surprise. She glances at Neela, and lets out a triumphant huff out of her nose.

「Anytime!」

Cycelia replies with her head proudly held high and smiling…

…

Just after the morning classes, in the afternoon, during the free period…

Damian, Straf, Cycelia and her friends leave the classroom, deposit their tomes back in their rooms, and regroup in front of the Cursefire Brazier.

「Right. Let's continue where we left off yesterday-」

Damian says, and takes a few steps towards the auxilary building.

「Nah, fuck that. Let's go, Lia, we're going to find the guy.」

Straf declares, and walks off in the other direction. Despite her initial surprise, she follows him almost on an instinct. Tisha and Neela look at Straf and Damian with a little more conflicted gazes, but ultimately decide to catch up to the two as well. When Damian glances over his shoulder and realizes nobody is following him, he throws his hands up, shakes his head, and runs to catch up with the rest…