A little over an hour later, in the proximity of the library…

「You!」

Straf stops and looks over his shoulder when he hears a young woman's voice. It is markedly tinged by anger, and he soon sees a woman with a sword on her hip stomping towards him.

「I knew it! It's you, isn't it!?」

She shouts, causing a massive scene in the somewhat busy hallway. Though she is wearing the Academy's uniform, and much like another student, she is wearing an extra accessory over it in form of a bright-red silk mantle over her blazer. Her long, golden hair trails behind her while she speeds towards Straf in wide steps, holding her white-gloved fists tightly clenched.

「You are asking me a deeply philosophical question that I don't feel like answering-」

「Straf Katastrof, are you not!?」

She interrupts Straf, angrily enunciating his name as she asks with a furious glare directed up at his eyes in an obvious attempt to be intimidating, as if she wasn't two heads smaller. The two golden drills at the sides of her head frame her pretty looking face like a painting of a quite angry woman. Completely unfazed, Straf stares right at her with his hands in his pockets.

「…Alright, that's a question more like my speed. Yeah, I am. What of it?」

Straf nods, and shrugs his shoulders as he asks, looking at her with bored eyes and a slanted mouth.

「Are you a nobleman!?」

She shouts, not matching Straf's tone at all, almost as if she wants to attract everyone's attention.

「…Define noble.」

Straf replies after a brief pause.

「Of gentle birth! Born to a noble bloodline! Are you, or are you not!?」

She shouts her question again, pointing her gloved finger at Straf's bored face.

「…Nah, I wasn't born.」

He lets out a long sigh, and shrugs.

「As I thought!…」

The woman scornfully exclaims, and narrows her blue eyes.

「…I am Selafina of House Abelstroff, and the primary inheritor of the house!…」

She announces as she tugs at her white glove's fingertip, and slips it off her hand.

「…And I challenge you-!」

Straf rolls his eyes, and just as they're about to finish their roll, she throws the glove at his face.

「Cool, nice to meet you, yet another noble lady…」

He snatches the glove mid-flight, turns around on his heel, and continues on his path. He bids Selafina farewell as he's nonchalantly stuffing her glove into his pocket.

「Eh?」

Pointing her bare hand at his back, she blinks at him with her mouth agape, confused by so many things in such a short time.

「H- Hey! You can't just leave! Give that back!」

She shouts, still pointing at his broad back. Her facade of disdainful composure cracks, and the noble air she was emanating is just gone.

「Tsk… Why did you give it to me if you don't want me to take it? I was going to use it later.」

Straf clicks his tongue, and reluctantly turns around while a crowd of students watches the scene unfold.

「U- Use it?… How?…」

Selafina asks, shrinking away a little, almost regretting to have asked.

「…I have my ways.」

He declares, and gives the glove a few quick sniffs.

「Smells kind of nice, too. Kind of like peaches, and something else. Shame.」

Pat!

He adds, and lazily flings the glove at the noblewoman. It hits her right in the face with a leathery noise of impact. Caught off-guard, she manages to grab the glove at the last second before it drops to the ground.

「Heh… So you've accepted the duel!」

Selafina showily declares, pointing her dainty bare hand at Straf, before slipping it back into her glove with a self-satisfied smirk.

「What? No I didn't. What duel?」

He asks, spreading his hands with a perplexed expression on his face.

「You returned the glove! In my kingdom, when you return a glove thrown at you-!」

「Okay, give it back, I'm keeping it.」

Straf cuts in and holds his hand out towards her, wiggling his fingers expectantly.

「No! You can't walk yourself back out of this that easily!」

Selafina shouts, visibly becoming exasperated, she once again points her finger at him. Straf's arms slump, and he rolls his eyes with a sigh.

「…Why do you want to duel me? What did I even do to you?」

He asks with a fatigued tone as he places his hands back in his pockets.

「To me? Admittedly, nothing!… But I've heard what you did to a fellow nobleman! Winning a duel is one thing, but a commoner like you has no right to humiliate a noble like that!」

She explains, and her blue eyes shift into a glare once more as she speaks with determination in her voice. She throws her gloved hand aside, showily flicking her red mantle upward into the air.

「Huh? Who?」

「Don't play dumb! You know who I am talking about! Aurelius of House Adalor!」

「Not really, I don't, but… Hmmm… Ah.」

Straf denies, but his eyes drift upward to the levitating lamps as he thinks. His brows rise gently when a face pops into his mind.

《Blondie…》

Straf lets out a long sigh. His bored eyes look at the ferocious, but pretty face in front of him, and the red mantle over the girl's shoulders. A style very reminiscent of the humiliated nobleman's.

「Do you remember now!? You humiliated him in ways, which I shall not even describe here! I will take the challenge back if you grovel before him and apologize for this dishonor! Do you accept!?」

Selafina asks in angry tone, placing her fists on her hips.

「Stop making it sound like I did something fucked up to him, I only kicked his ass. Are you planning to duel me with that sword of yours? Are you even aware that this is a magic school?」

Straf smirks, pointing at the sheath at her hip. Her blue eyes momentarily jump to it, before quickly returning back to Straf's smug face.

「In my kingdom, a noble without a weapon is as if stark naked!… It will be a standard magic duel!」

She declares, clutching onto her sword's hilt with her offhand.

「Yeah, I figured. Imagine making Harry walk 20 paces. That'd be kind of fucked up for a magic school, wouldn't it?…」

「…Who's Harry?」

Straf scoffs, grinning at her as she furrows her brows with a tilted head.

「…But uhhh, I don't think it's happening. The duel, I mean.」

He shrugs, ignoring her question.

「You coward! You intend to shirk from facing me!?」

The noble lady once again throws her hand aside. Her red mantle flutters.

「Well, aside from the fact that I don't beat pretty women…」

「Wh-?」

Her head perks up, and her cheeks flush a little at the unexpected flattery. Straf chuckles at the floor, grinning heavily.

「…Uh, it's just not happening. The dueling barrier is fucked. Sorry.」

He shrugs with a smug grin on his face, and audibly not sorry.

「Nonsense! Do you truly believe that I'll fall for such an audacious lie!?…」

Selafina shouts, pointing at Straf's smug face. Her voice trails off at the end, and she lowers her hand.

「You can go check for yourself if you don't believe me-」

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Straf attempts to leave, taking a step away from her. He stops the moment he turns his head around, almost shoving his face into the large brim of a pointy hat.

「Ahem!…」

Aria showily clears her throat, bearing a less-than-pleased expression on her face, standing with her fists on her hips at the distance of her hat's radius from Straf.

「…Unfortunately, Ms. Selafina, Straf is speaking the truth. Some miscreant has broken the barrier.」

The professor explains, glaring at Straf when she puts emphasis on the specific word.

「Wha-? But who could!?…」

The noble lady's voice trails off, as she stares at the big-hatted professor in disbelief.

「…If you really wish to proceed with the duel, you will be informed when, and if the barrier is repaired. Until then, please refrain from any unsanctioned dueling.」

Aria adds, looking at Selafina with her beauty-marked lips aslant.

「…Yes, professor. I wouldn't dream of it.」

Selafina nods, appearing visibly tame and unlike her previous very ferocious self. Although her voice carries no sarcasm, she looks at Straf with a very faint glare, and an upset frown. She lets out a large, frustrated sigh, and walks past Straf, departing with one last angry scowl. Seeing as the situation has been defused, the students continue their normal flow along the hall as well. Straf and Aria wordlessly look at each other for a moment.

「…The headmaster wants to see you.」

She nonchalantly declares, and tilts her head with a frigid expression.

「Tsk. Son of a bitch… Can't have any fun in this place.」

Straf clicks his tongue, and with his hands still in his pockets, he cuts a shortcut beneath her large hat by hunching forward. Aria remains where she is, watching Straf shake his head on the way…

…

Roughly twenty minutes later, in the headmaster's office.

「Knock knock.」

Straf announces himself with a frustrated voice, barging into the room. He flings the door shut.

Thud!

「Ah, Straf. I was waiting for you.」

Corvus replies with a little smile, appearing somewhat pleased to see him. The old mage descends down the short stairs behind his desk, and takes a seat.

「You're supposed to say, who's there?」

「…But I knew you were coming, why would I?-」

「Maaaan, this whole place is meant to suck fun out of everything, huh?…」

Straf shakes his head, grumbling.

「…Look, if this is about the railing, that was already there. Someone else fucked it up.」

「The railing?…」

Corvus asks, furrowing his bushy brows.

「…It's not?」

Straf asks back, looking at him with a perplexed expression.

「No. No…」

Corvus gently shakes his head, denying with a very soft voice. He interlocks his fingers, and leans forward on his elbows.

「So why did you call me here?」

「You gave me a lot to think about it, and I have done so… I've come up with a certain theory. Unverified, of course. It's just contemplations of min- Khakhhhh! Hhrakh!… Khakkkkhhhh!…」

He explains, but then a sickly coughing fit grasps him. He continues coughing and coughing with no end in sigh, momentarily drawing in air with a laborious breath, only to cough more.

「…Hey, you better not give me some fucked up death disease. Are you going to croak on me now?」

Straf says while he nonchalantly watches the old man cough. Corvus pulls his fist away from his mouth, only to give Straf a little wave and shake his head, then cover his mouth with it again.

「…Akh!… Khakh!… Akhem!…」

Slowly but surely, Corvus recovers, and clears his throat, then adjusts his glasses.

「…It is just disease-like symptoms, Straf. There is no disease, so there is nothing to transmit. As I've said… Things will get progressively worse. Young students in good health will be less affected…」

He explains, clearing his throat a few more times between sentences.

「…Anyhow, what you've said gave me a lot to think. I have a theory, Straf… What if it's not one person at blame?」

The headmaster looks up at Straf, and pinches his glasses, setting them higher up on his nose.

「You think it's a school-cursing duo? A group?」

「Perhaps… I've thought about it, and indeed, cursing the Academy grounds and subverting the barrier at the same time through some unknown means would be rather difficult.」

Corvus says, and brushes through his beard with his hand in deep thought.

「So, if you had to bet good money on it, how many bad actors do you figure we've got at work here?」

Straf asks, briefly spreading his hands before returning them to his pockets.

「…Two would be my guess. There may be more, but two makes the most sense to me. One to subvert the barrier, the other to burn his grudges in the Cursefire.」

「You realize how unlikely it is for two guys be willing to just kill themselves out of anger? I mean, it happens, but what are the chances?」

「I am aware, Straf. Which is why the theory that it may not be a student, a professor, or a worker has legs to stand on… But I haven't the slightest clue who that may be. We have no such people here.」

Corvus nods in agreement, then hopelessly spreads his hands before interlocking his fingers again.

「However…」

「Yeah?」

Straf says, wating for the headmaster to speak up. The old man brushes his chin, ruffles his mustache, and stares down at the desk with a troubled look.

「…No. It's too wild of a theory with too little grounding. I'd rather not be mocked for stating something rather outlandish.」

Corvus shakes his head, and ultimately bites his tongue.

「Come the fuck on, you can't build suspense like that. That should be illegal.」

Straf throws his hands up in frustration, and lets out a large sigh.

「Well… Frankly, Straf, I am reluctant to tell you due to how you've used the student information I have given you. I don't want you to act on wild theories…」

He replies, shrugging his robed shoulders while looking at Straf with his bushy brows lightly raised.

「…You should have not done that to poor Harry. I've talked to him, and that he said he doesn't want to cause anybody any trouble, and is willing to consider it water under the bridge.」

Corvus adds, and briefly spreads his hands again.

「…He said his name is Henry, though.」

「Hm?」

「His name is Henry. Look.」

Straf pulls out the index of students, unfolds it, and hands it to Corvus. He adjusts his glasses, and squints at the paper.

「Right here. What a stupid name, right?」

Straf points his finger at Henry's name.

「…Indeed, that is rather… Well. We have students from all corners of the world, and Harry-」

「Henry.」

「…And Henry is just one of them. New perspectives from all sorts of different kingdoms and cultures are what makes the Academy so advanced.」

Corvus shrugs his shoulders again, grimacing a little.

「Anyhow… What I want you to do, Straf, is to take a look around the Academy and see if you can find someone suspicious… But please remain cool-headed…」

「I'm always cool-headed.」

Straf scoffs, smirking at the headmaster.

「Ah, Professor Aria says the same thing, word for word. She is a good professor, but her temper is terrible.」

「Fine… I was mostly doing that anyway. Any ideas where I should start?」

Straf asks, taking a few steps away from the desk towards the door.

「…Perhaps the auxiliary buildings. Eavesdrop on everyone, Straf. If you hear anything suspicious… Please, report it to me first before taking any action.」

Corvus says, practically begging Straf with how much emphasis he is putting on his pleas.

「Fine… At least it's not a fucking delivery quest. Yuck.」

Straf shakes his head as he heads for the door. He leaves without as much as glancing at Corvus, who lets out a large, troubled sigh, takes his glasses off, and rubs his bushy brow with his finger…