As he looks at Corvus, Straf slides the drakes closer with his fingertips, but just as he's about to scoop them up, the headmaster decisively yanks them away, and places the banknotes back in the drawer.

Clunk.

He slides the drawer shut, and the old mage interlocks his fingers once again.

「…So? Are you going to explain, or just keep me hanging like this? Or is this the part where you build the suspense?」

Spreading his arms, Straf nudges the old headmaster to speak. Corvus pinches the side of his glasses, and readjusts them on his nose.

「Akhem… Even now, I am still reluctant to tell you the essence of the matter, minister…」

The old man clears his throat, audibly discomforted. He lets out a troubled sigh, staring into Straf's eyes.

「Can you just call me Straf? I've got at least four separate identities to keep track of at this point, and it's getting a little difficult. Speak up already.」

Straf requests, after quickly counting on his fingers. The headmaster's brows rise momentarily, but he nods his head in reply.

「Very well. It will be easier on me, as well…」

Corvus sighs one last time, and leans back in his chair. The leather creaks softly.

「…The very fact I am sharing this information with you feels like I am admitting defeat, but I suppose I have no choice. The well-being of my students is paramount.」

He says with a grimly serious face, and his hands resting in his lap, fingers interlocked.

「There has been a situation, Straf. I suppose I should say, a series of events had occurred. Perhaps you have noticed, but the Cursefire is now burning bright, and powerful.」

「Knew it. So the reason we can't leave is connected to that after all, right?」

Straf scoffs, shrugging his shoulders. The headmaster's tone remains deathly serious.

「Yes… But not quite. As I said, a series of events. The Cursefire roaring back into life is merely one of them…」

The old man's troubled eyes drift down to the desk, before returning back to Straf.

「…As a Minister of Security I suppose you should know this, since you are responsible for the queen's safety. When I discovered the Cursefire revitalized, I first thought it was a bitter student's doing.」

Corvus explains, gesturing with his hands, separating his hands for brief moments at a time before joining them again.

「Such things happen, although rarely. One incident every five, six or so years… Most often, the student regrets placing the curse and lifts it on his own. We consider those moments a good time to deliver a moral lesson…」

「…And?」

「And we have learned a few things about the curse, just recently. It is not as innocuous as we were hoping it to be. It is a broad-spectrum curse, indiscriminately targeting students and professors alike.」

The headmaster spreads his hands, continuing his explanation.

「Now hold on… You said curses can't kill anyone, and they just make you sick and stuff. How is this even a problem? Everyone's gonna have to live with having the shits every now and then? Big deal.」

With his index finger out, Straf pauses the old mage. He leans in, spreading his arms, swiveling them around on his elbows against the oaken desk.

「If only it were so simple, Straf… We have learned of another, more unnerving element…」

Corvus lowers his head, pinching his spectacles once again to adjust them.

「…Are you well-versed in curses, and their specific workings?」

「No.」

Straf bluntly replies, staring with his arms crossed, and mouth in a tight-lipped grimace.

「Very well, let me quickly explain, then… The more widespread the curse, meaning, more area to cover or people to curse, the weaker it is…」

「Like diluting a poison?」

「Yes! Precisely, Straf. Curses are very much like poison…」

The headmaster's brows rise, and he points his wrinkled finger at Straf, nodding his head.

「The more… Dilute, shall we say, a curse is… The less pronounced the effects. However, the opposite also holds true. The more defined and direct the target, the more debilitating the effects of the curse.」

「That's why you need someone's face and name when writing it into the book, huh?…」

Straf idly remarks, looking up at the dark, tall, conical ceiling.

「Hm?… Anyhow, have you heard of the alchemists' saying? The dose makes the poison. Even healing potions can kill you. Granted, it would take quite a few of the concentrated ones…」

「So, since the curse is targeting like a thousand students and however many professors, why is it a problem?」

「I was getting to that… But I'm sure you can already guess, given that I've already explained the basics of curses' power scaling?」

Corvus says, adjusting his glasses again. Straf looks aside, thinking deeply with his arms crossed. The headmaster's room is spacious, although not excessively, or overwhelmingly so. A few large bookshelves, and an adjacent room, presumably leading to a bedroom and a bathroom. A tall window in the back contributes majority of the room's light, supplemented by more traditional and mundane candle sconces that hang off the nearby pillars. Straf returns his eyes back to the headmaster's spectacles, looking at them with a bored face.

「…Something about the area of effect? I dunno.」

He underwhelmingly replies, shrugging his shoulders.

「Correct, Straf. It's very difficult to establish the specifics of a curse, but we are blessed to have learned as much as we did… The curse is limited to the Academy's workers and students, and the area within its barrier…」

The old mage slowly nods his head, once again heavily gesturing with his hands.

「Wait, hold on… Does this mean I am affected too, or am I not?」

Straf asks, pointing to himself. Corvus briefly untangles his fingers to spread his hands, and joins them again.

「…As far as we know, ironically, you are the only person on the premises of the Academy that should remain unaffected. Curses are like stubborn children. Once they set their mind on something…」

「I'm immune, but Lia isn't, right?」

「Correct. You are merely her bodyguard. Not a student, not a professor, not even an Academy worker. The curse should avoid you… But Ms. Redwing is a genuine student, even if she's clueless at magic.」

The headmaster nods, shrugging his robed shoulders.

「Uhhhhh…」

Straf utters out with his index finger raised in protest.

「…Are you wondering how I know? After that awe-inspiring display of magic?」

Corvus asks with a gentle smile, and his mouth's corner is smugly tilted upward.

「…I will explain the unimportant details later. We are not exactly in a rush, but we don't have the time to waste, either.」

He adds, adjusting his glasses by pushing their central part up his nose with his middle finger.

「But Lia seems fine. Are you sure the curse is even real, and it's not some centuries-old prank?」

Straf shakes his head in confusion, spreading his hands.

「Absolutely certain, Straf. There are at least three historical records of deaths linked to the Cursefire. Ones that we know of, at least… And countless others of sickness and general maladies. She may appear fine…」

Corvus leans forward again, and places his elbows on the desk once more.

「…But I assure you, she is experiencing the effects of the curse as well. She is sure to take it a little better than most, given that she has the constitution of a dragon… But I'm certain it's affecting her as well.」

「…And what are the symptoms?」

Straf hesitantly asks, leaning onto his armrest with a serious face.

「Varied. Although eventually, they will converge. In my case, it's lethargy, and a mild mind fog. I've asked other professors, and their symptoms are similar. One has mild headaches, other sleeps too much…」

Corvus explains, helplessly spreading his hands. He lets out a sigh, and after a moment, so does Straf.

「So if I am the only one unaffected, aren't all fingers pointed at me?」

「You are correct, Straf. We have all suspected you… Initially. However, after I've learned that you are the queen's most trusted man, I've told the professors to search for clues elsewhere.」

「Why? Just because Lia trusts me doesn't mean I couldn't have done it, does it?」

Straf asks, furrowing his brows at the old headmaster. He lets out a quiet, amused huff from his nose in response.

「…I don't think guilty people beg to be investigated further, Straf. The queen trusts you, and I have decided to put my trust in you as well. Otherwise, I am stumped, and the investigation will go nowhere.」

Corvus smiles at him, and spreads his hands again as he explains his reasoning.

「Of course, you could have murdered the queen at any other point. Presumably with much more ease as well. I simply do not believe that you have come all the way here, just to do it in such a roundabout, and complex way.」

「Can I ask you something?」

Straf says, crossing his arms. Corvus silently nods in response, still smiling.

「…When exactly did you figure us out?」

「You mean your real identities? Hm…」

The headmaster humms, pensively looking aside at the candle on one of the pillars.

「As embarrassing as it is, you have successfully tricked me. At the time of the exam, and the few days beyond that, I was convinced that you are Straf Katastrof, and Lia Vindict…」

「Wait, so then-?」

「…But I was also aware of your exam trickery. I did not mind. After all, I had the perfect student material right in front of me. The cost of admission for Ms. Lia, or should I say, Ms. Redwing was comparatively small…」

Corvus continues, holding his palm up to softly silence Straf.

「…I was genuinely impressed. I immediately hatched a plan… I will simply pretend to buy your trickery, and just before the term begins, coerce you to join the term as a student, in return for Ms. Redwing's education-」

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

「Wait, so you wanted to fucking blackmail me!?」

Straf exclaims, visibly outraged, sneering.

「Hohoho… Can you blame me? I've gotten my claws into you like a griffon, and I really didn't want to let go… You would have spent the term together anyway, so where's the harm?」

Spreading his hands, Corvus returns an innocuous smile befitting a harmless old man, and joins them back together.

「However… My plan was brutally dismantled by some foul antagonist… Let me ask you something in return, Straf. Did you feel anything… Peculiar since you have arrived here?」

The headmaster regains his serious expression, and stares intently at Straf while he leans in.

「I don't know?… I felt a… Presence, I guess?」

Straf dismissively shrugs, glancing aside with his arms crossed.

「Presence?」

「Yeah. Like the feeling you get when someone is watching you… But that was after I came close to those woods out the back.」

「Before I ordered no one to be allowed out?」

「Yeah. As soon as I came close to the forest, I realized the presence is gone. I didn't really feel it coming in, I just felt it when it was suddenly gone.」

「Hmm… That's roughly where the Academy's barrier ends. It makes sense someone very mana-sensitive would feel something akin to that…」

Corvus nods his head, looking down at his oaken desk while slowly brushing his long beard with his fingers.

「Anything else?」

His gaze shoots back up to Straf, and he asks.

「Yeeaah… When I was coming back, I felt another presence. I figured it was the Academy barrier, honestly. The rest of that day flew by kind of uneventful…」

「I see… Was there anything else?」

「Yeah. Late at night, I felt a weird presence again. It felt kind of…」

「Evil?」

Corvus chimes in, looking at him with a deathly serious gaze. Straf grimaces, rubbing his chin for a few seconds with a troubled expression.

「…That's really shitty prose, but for lack of better words, yeah. It felt evil. I thought it may have been this vampire I know… But no, it wasn't… It was a familiar sensation, though.」

He shrugs, then spreads his arms. Corvus nods, and continues brushing his beard. A brief silence begins.

「…And this was before I locked the Academy down?」

The old mage's gaze rises, and the lock their eyes together.

「Yeah. I think it was the same night, even.」

Straf nods, scrunching his mouth to the side a little.

「…So the barrier indeed flipped at that moment…」

The headmaster mumbles underneath his breath, his words amounting to inaudible murmur.

「So… Can't you just leave after the term is up? Don't you have an entire city down there to spend the time off-season? What's the problem? Why the lockdown?」

Straf asks, and lets out a frustrated sigh.

「…I was just about to explain, but I suppose this neatly wraps the two issues together. We cannot leave.」

Corvus bluntly declares with a serious face, joining his fingers together once more.

「Why the fuck not? Just let us leave, and don't expel Lia-」

「Straf… That's just a false threat to keep the students in line. We want to keep everyone in for their own safety.」

The old mage replies, staring Straf into his eyes, almost as if attempting to burn a hole in them with his intense gaze beneath his bushy brows.

「…So it is fucking zombies after all?」

Straf's shoulders slump, and he looks at Corvus with a slack-jawed expression of pure disappointment.

「Hm?」

The old man's serious face briefly cracks into consternation, and he tilts his head, blinking at Straf.

「…Wait, it's not? So what happened, then?」

Straf asks, leaning in with his brows heavily furrowed.

「I will explain. Allow me to return to that same night… As I was lying in bed, preparing to sleep, I suddenly felt a deep sense of unease. I have felt a presence as well, just like you. A vicious, evil presence set on harm…」

Corvus replies, and places his hands down on the desk, regaining his serious composure.

「At the time, I thought nothing of it, but I felt an urge to leave my room… Perhaps I was afraid of this unknown presence. I then decided to go on a night walk through the Academy. Nothing unusual, really…」

He continues, feebly waving circles with one of his hands, idly looking aside at the bookshelves.

「It was then, when I noticed it. The Cursefire Brazier… Burning bright like a torch with its morbid flame. There and then, I suspected it was not a coincidence. To make matters worse, a panicked laborer ran into me…」

The headmaster's narrowed, serious eyes return to Straf, and they lock their gazes.

「I believe I might have previously mentioned, that we hire mundane, simple laborers to do light work around the Academy grounds? Cutting the grass, and whatnot…」

Corvus asks, raising his brows a little. He then does a quick, dismissive wave with his hand.

「Either way, he said, that he and his friend were done with work for that night, and they were heading to the city for drinks. When outside the gate, he told me that he had to… Relieve himself on the Academy wall…」

「Don't tell me we're stuck in here because of a magic short circuit…」

Straf grumbles, rolling his eyes to the bookshelves with his mouth aslant.

「…His friend carried onward. They were talking, and his friend was warning him against doing that. He replied that he had no choice, and they continued talking…」

The headmaster ignores Straf's remark, and proceeds further with his story.

「…And then, his friend abruptly went silent mid-sentence, and dropped on the cobblestones with his back. Understandably, he first thought it was a joke. He told him to get up, and that it's not funny.」

「Don't fucking tell me…」

Straf says as his mouth scrunches to the side, furrowing his brows at Corvus. He nods his head in reply, and continues.

「…He became a little concerned. He ran up, and saw that his friend's stare was… Blank. He did not respond, didn't move, no amount of slaps would get him to react. Then, he checked his breath and heartbeat…」

「And there were fuckin' none. Yeah, I can guess. Dramatic. Can you get to the point?」

In response, Straf throws his hands up, then crosses his arms.

「Yes. The laborer then left his friend as he was, and ran in panic back to the Academy. By chance, he ran into me. I didn't believe him at first, and came with to see.」

The headmaster adjusts his glasses, pinching them. He spreads his hands, explaining further.

「We arrived beyond the gate, and indeed, his friend was right where he left him, lifeless. His feet were right where the barrier ends… Or perhaps begins, depending how you look at it.」

He shrugs, quickly glancing aside.

「I immediately called an emergency meeting at the gate. All the professors, and certain workers that could be trusted to keep a secret. One of the rats we use for magic experiments was brought…」

Corvus lets out a troubled sigh, pausing for a moment. A brief silence begins.

「…We threw it at the barrier, exactly where the man had attempted to cross. The barrier briefly became visible and shone red, the rat bounced off, as if off a hung fishing net, then dropped limp and dead beside him.」

He adds, after a pause, staring into Straf's eyes with a troubled gaze.

「I then ordered nobody to be allowed out, and posted guards at the gate. Our best duelists, handpicked by me, and approved by Professor Aria. Only she could be a better choice, but for obvious reasons she was unavailable.」

「So that's why those assholes wouldn't let us out…」

「You have tried to leave?」

Corvus inquisitively tilts his head.

「Yeah, early that morning. They stopped us, and told us there would be an announcement.」

Straf replies, shrugging.

「Yes… A temporary solution, due to the lack of better alternatives. That is why we cannot leave, Straf. Indeed, if we were able to, avoiding the curse would be rather trivial.」

The headmaster concludes, once again helplessly spreading his hands, with a somber look on his wrinkled face.

「Oh boy… A magic barrier that kills you if you try to leave, where have I seen that before?…」

Straf idly grumbles with his arms crossed, rolling his eyes.

「…Can't you just dispel it, or something? Shift it to a magic stone, or stuff like that? Name a chicken「The Academy of Magic」and then kill it? Anything?」

He adds, spreading his arms as he leans back in his chair.

「Curses cannot be dispelled. Not under normal circumstances, at least. There are only three ways to get rid of a curse. One, to succumb to it. Obviously, that's out of the question. Two, have it lifted by the one who cursed you.」

Corvus replies, enumerating on his bony fingers.

「And three?…」

「Three… Theoretically, while a curse cannot be dispelled, it can be removed. Just like in alchemy, you cannot simply remove impurities, but you can distill it to separate them…」

He stands up, with a quiet grunt and a creak of his leather chair. The headmaster turns about, and gingerly climbs the stairs to the window, holding his hands behind his robes.

「…Suppose that we found out whose doing it is, if we were to… Remove his being from this world, the curse would be pulled away, too.」

「Remove? Is that an euphemism? What do you mean by being? Can you just explain like I'm stupid?」

Straf asks, placing his boots on the headmaster's desk as he precariously leans back in his chair.

「…By being, I mean his essence. By means of sacrificing him to a demon, or somesuch… But I find that idea rather distasteful.」

Corvus says as he stands in the window, looking at Straf over his shoulders with a somber and serious face.

「Ahhhhhh… Fuck…」

Plap.

「Hm?」

Straf lets out a large groan, and places his palm on his face with a noisy slap.

《So the entire fucking problem would be gone if I still had Omnicidus? Fuck.》

He sighs, and his hands slump down to his lap.

「Sorry teach… The dog ate my MacGuffin.」

Straf says, shrugging his shoulders. Corvus furrows his bushy brows in confusion, and tilts his head…