In the dim, mostly disused hallway of the auxiliary building…

Kkkrrrrrrkkkkkk… Cla-cluck!

Wearing the deerstalker on his head and nonchalantly holding the unlit smoking pipe in his hand, Straf rolls in on a skateboard at a high speed towards the end of the hall. With a kickflip, his board spins around its axis at least a few dozen rotations.

Clack!!

He casually lands, filling the ominously silent hallway with the specific noise of the skateboard's wheels impacting the hard stone floor.

「Elementary…」

Straf utters out, as he stomps the board's tail and grinds to a halt. With his free hand, he flings the board into his [Portable Storage], and reads the plaque affixed to one of the doors on the side.

「Professor Arkeis Krator, Demonology… Elementary.」

He comments, as he takes a second to read its inscription, and barges in without knocking. Leaning over a desk, the elderly man inside startles, shuffles some things on the desk, and snaps his angry eyes to Straf.

「…You. What do you want? Another letter?」

The man asks while Straf is looking left and right around the room with his hands in his pockets. Stroking his gray beard, he rushes right in front of Straf, and places himself right in front of him.

「Nope. Not this time…」

Straf replies, and pulls the pipe out of his mouth.

「…Then what is it? I have no time for you.」

He irately replies, staring at Straf with wary eyes, still stroking his beard.

「…I know you did it.」

Straf replies, pointing at his face, before nonchalantly placing his pipe's neck back into his mouth.

「…Did what? You'll have to be more specific than that…」

The elderly man asks, narrowing his eyes as he glares at Straf.

「Think I'm stupid, huh?… Do you think I can't link together demonology and a fucked up curse?」

Straf asks as he pretends to draw puffs of smoke from the unlit pipe into his mouth. The man quickly pulls his hand away from his beard, and holds it palm towards Straf, as if to wave at him.

「…And do you have any proof for this baseless accusation?」

He asks as he rotates his palm around, and inquisitively points it upward at the ceiling in a bizarrely mechanical fashion. Straf raises his brow, and remains silent for a few seconds.

「…Are you denying it, then? Is that it?」

「…Of course I'm denying it. Now get out. Cease disturbing me.」

The man insistently demands, angrily furrowing his brows. He points to the door over Straf's shoulder, then lowers his arm, taking a step away from him. Straf loudly sucks in a breath through the pipe.

「Elementary… It's refreshing how much of a prick you are. Not even attempting to downplay it, or explain yourself.」

He says, shrugging his hands with an amused smirk on his face.

「I don't have to explain myself. Get out. If you believe I'm responsible for something, bring the evidence before the headmaster.」

The elderly man replies over his shoulder as he returns to his dimly lit, cluttered desk. Straf stares at him in silence for a few seconds, pipe in mouth, before scoffing and turning to the door.

「Oh, I will… I know you're guilty anyway! You can't be a good guy if you want to learn about demons, or economics!」

Straf exclaims, shrugging his shoulders. He gives the glaring elderly man one last look of his smugly grinning face, and leaves.

Thud.

He walks away a few steps from the door, looking at the plaque stating「No entry」across from the demonologist's office.

「Ahhh… Man, this is going to be harder than I thought…」

Straf sighs out, and pulls the headmaster's list out of his [Portable Storage].

「…That was my best bet yet. Is there a curseologist? Barrierologist?」

He thinks out loud, reading through the paper. Straf sucks more air in through the unlit pipe, thinking heavily while reading the names. Still reading, he takes a few steps back down the hall, then halts.

「Hm… Guess there's no other choice but to-」

「…Enough…」

A sudden presence makes Straf turn his head towards the wall beside him. He stares at it with his brows furrowed in confusion, then peeks over his shoulder.

「…Lily?」

Straf asks a question directed at nobody in particular in the empty hallway. An eerie silence fills the general area, though the students' footsteps and chatter can be clearly heard in the distance.

Confused, he looks at the wall again. There is nothing there, except his shadow. He throws the list of staff back into [Portable Storage], and inquisitively rubs his chin for a few moments.

「…Athea, I actually died dead for real, right? I'm not locked into some mental institution?」

Heading back to the main building, Straf asks as he looks at the ceiling past the levitating lamps.

《…What? What are you talking about?》

The familiar, confused voice in his head asks back.

「I'm asking if it's not some sort of a plot twist where it's all in my head, and I'm in a straitjacket-」

He elaborates, placing his free hand in his pocket while the other remains on his pipe's head. His brows abruptly rise in realization.

「…Actually, forget it. If I am, that's going to be an even worse look for the nurses if they catch me asking you about it.」

《…Huh? What even brought this on?》

Athea asks, but Straf ignores her as he turns a corner towards the main building…

…

A few days later, one month since the Academy term's start, in one of the classrooms…

The entire class is waiting for Professor Reise to arrive, and they have been for quite some time now. Shifting his eyes away from the window, Damian periodically glances at the door. Neela is no longer paying attention, resting her head on her forearms, slumped over the desk. Tisha and Cycelia stare bored at the door with their heads propped up on their hands. Pretending to smoke his pipe with his deerstalker on, Straf sits reclined in his chair.

「…Maybe he forgot about the classes again.」

Tisha says, and lets out a large sigh. Matching Neela, she also lowers her head down to her forearms and slumps over the desks.

「…I don't know. Maybe something happened?」

Cycelia replies, and sighs. Neela perks with her brows raised in surprise.

「Lia, you too?」

She asks as she's looking at Cycelia, though her surprise quickly fades into worry.

「…We've been waiting almost an hour, Neela. He's missing more and more classes… And you know why.」

Cycelia says, and they both let out a sullen sigh. Straf stands up, pulling the attention of all three.

「Right, I'll just go look for him…」

He announces, descending down the stairs between the desks.

「Should I come with you?」

「Nah. Stay, in case he decides to grace you with his presence…」

Straf replies over his shoulder with a cynical smirk as Cycelia leans aside past his empty seat. He leaves the classroom, and with one hand in his pocket, he heads for the dormitories in a leisurely step.

「Ah!- Straf Katastrof.」

Aria enunciates after Straf pops out of a corner, almost running into him.

「…Big dick witch.」

Straf remarks with his mouth aslant, pulling his pipe out of his mouth.

「Yes, and don't call me- What!?」

「Reise is no-show to class and I'm busy, whatever it is, tell me later.」

Straf walks past her big hat, ignoring her outraged cry for answers. Before he can take another step away from her hat's perimeter, Straf feels a familiar sensation of [Contextual Time Perception]. He looks over his shoulder, and Aria's eyes are focused on his face, while her elbowed hand is reaching for his wrist. He rolls his eyes, turns his head forward, and lets her grab him.

Tap.

「Wait!… Reise didn't come to class?」

She grabs his wrist and asks. Straf struggles to feign surprise on his face, and only manages to half-convincingly raise his brows at her.

「Elementary… He wasted Lia's and everyone else's time, so I'm going to grab him under my armpit and lug him to the class. His endearing confused old man act is getting on my fucking nerves.」

Straf replies, and yanks his wrist out of her grip, placing it back in his pocket. He continues onward, and the big-hatted professor quickly catches up.

「Wait, I'll come with you…」

「…Why?」

He asks, side-glancing at her while they walk side by side.

「The headmaster requested me to remind him about his classes. I went to his room earlier in the morning, and asked if he remembered. He said that he did.」

Aria replies, looking at Straf with a concerned expression on her beauty-marked face.

「Elementary… So he forgot. Again.」

Straf says, and dismissively sucks air in through the pipe.

「I don't think that's the case… He didn't look too well. The headmaster has a constant fever, and it's unlike the professor to be so forgetful…」

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

She shakes her head, and her eyes drift down to the ground while she follows Straf.

「…Did you forget about the little problem we're having right now?」

Straf sarcastically asks, furrowing his brows at her over. She immediately huffs out a scoff.

「Of course not… Which is why I'm worried. The headmaster hasn't been taking it well, but he's as hardy as a horse… The same can't be said for Professor Reise.」

Aria says, looking into Straf's eyes with a gravely serious face.

Straf pretends to take a few puffs of smoke into his mouth through the unlit pipe, and silently turns his head forward. The two take a turn, and continue onward towards the dormitory…

…

Roughly ten minutes later…

「Hmmmp!- Hngyah!… Haaah… Haaaaah….」

Professor Aria grunts as she squeezes out of the stairwell into the dimly lit hallway above the students' rooms, and lets go of her hat. She then puts her hands on her knees, and takes a few exhausted gasps for air.

「…I knew I shouldn't have let you go first.」

Straf comments with his pipe in his mouth, joining her in the hallway as he climbs up the last step. He ignores Aria while she's catching her breath, and heads straight for the professor's room.

「Wait, wait!…」

She gasps out, tired and out of breath as she runs behind Straf. He stops out of confusion, rather than anything else, and she steps in front of Professor Reise's door.

Knock knock knock.

「Professor Reise? Are you there?」

Aria asks as she knocks, holding onto her hat to tilt it so she can actually reach towards the door.

Knock knock knock knock.

「Professor Reise? It's me!」

She weakly knocks again, appearing almost hesitant to do so. Straf rolls his eyes at the sight.

Knock knock knock knock.

「Professor! Open up! You forgot about the class!」

Aria says towards the door, this time louder. There is no response still.

「Look, if he's dead then he's fucking dead. Just open the door already.」

Straf says in a frustrated tone as he pulls his pipe out of his mouth, and spreads his arms in exasperation. Aria takes a step away from him and the door, looking at Straf with furrowed brows and concerned eyes.

「Tsk… Fine, I'll do it myself…」

He shakes his head as he approaches the door, and grabs the handle. He pushes it down, and pulls the door open. Straf nonchalantly enters the room through its narrow-necked entrance corridor with Aria in tow.

「Well, that's surprising…」

With one hand on his pipe, he shrugs, looking at the bed in the corner.

「Professor!…」

Aria cries out in a hushed voice while the two look down at Professor Reise in his bed. Covered by his blanket and mumbling, the old professor is breathing quickly and heavily with his mouth open, covered in sweat.

She kneels down next to him, and slips her glove off. She places her palm on the professor's wrinkly, sweat-coated forehead, and feels for his temperature. Professor Reise opens his eyes, and looks at both Aria and Straf, but his gaze is dull, and devoid of light of sapience. Slack-jawed, his eyes track motion, whether it be Aria shifting her hand or Straf his stance, but there is no sign of Reise's actual being behind his eyes.

「…He's burning up. No wonder he didn't show up to the classes. Can you take him to the infirmary? I need to inform the headmaster.」

Aria asks with a concerned face while slipping her glove back on.

「Tsk… I guess.」

Straf throws his hands up, and flings the blanket off the tiny old man. Only then Reise shows a sign of life, but it's in form of feebly grasping at his missing blanket out of cold. Aria begins squeezing her way out.

「Old man, if you have a dream about going to the fuckin' bathroom right now…」

With his mouth aslant, Straf picks the small old man up, effortlessly cradling him into his arms that form sort of a basket. Aria takes a hasty step towards the headmaster's door, then stops herself.

「Do you know where the infirmary is?」

She asks over her shoulder, and Straf rolls his eyes.

「Yeaaaah, I've passed it a few times… What a fucking bother.」

He shrugs, and turns for the stairwell. Aria nods in reply, and rushes for the headmaster's office while Straf slinks into the stairwell…

…

Twenty minutes later, in the hallway…

Donnnnnnnnggggggggg… Gonnnnnnngggggg… Donnnnngggg…

The bell signaling the end of the first class tolls just before Straf reaches the classroom. He casually walks in, and looks at the confused students abort their shuffle to the exit.

「So, uh… About the magitech classes-」

「The classes will continue after the break!」

Professor Aria shouts, peeking her hatted head through the doorway before Straf can complete his sentence. He looks at her with his brows raised, with a somewhat surprised expression on his face.

「…They will?」

He asks, but Aria silently departs with only a glance and a mysterious, hard to decipher expression directed at him. He shrugs, spreading his arms towards the students confused more than him.

「Straf… Did Professor Reise end up forgetting again?」

Cycelia asks as she descends down the stairs with the girls.

「Nope. He probably remembered.」

Holding onto his pipe's head with his fingers, Straf shrugs.

「…He's dead, isn't he?」

Tisha asks directly with a troubled frown. Straf snaps his fingers, and points at her face.

「No, actually! I thought the same thing, but apparently not.」

He replies, and shrugs with his free hand. The three sigh with relief while Damian joins the group.

「…Is he actually coming this time around?」

Damian asks, glancing at Straf and the girls.

「Dunno. Don't ask me.」

Straf dismissively shrugs his shoulders with a light tilt of his head, and draws a breath in through his unlit pipe.

「Are you coming to the cafeteria with us, Straf?」

Cycelia asks as the group turns to follow the last students out. Straf shakes his head, and her shoulders slump in an instant.

「I've gotta ask the old bearded bastard a few things. How's your search?」

He asks back, and glances at Damian.

「…Nothing so far.」

Damian reluctantly admits, turning his eyes away.

「Elementary… Welp, it's not going to stay that way for long. I'll catch you later, Lia.」

Straf says, and snaps his fingers, pointing at Cycelia while he peels away from the group.

「Okay… See you later, Straf.」

Cycelia nods, and waves her hand at Straf, though her face bears a gloomy frown while they merge into the dense crowd…

…

A few minutes later, nearby the dormitory stairwell…

With one hand in his pocket and the other on his pipe, Straf is heading straight for the stairs. As he passes by a junction leading to the infirmary, Aria suddenly joins his side.

「Straf. I've checked on the professor. He's doing a little better now that he's had some potions…」

She says while Straf looks at her with a side-eye.

「…Okay? I don't really care about some old fart, though.」

He shrugs his shoulders dismissively while Aria practically hangs onto his arm. His reply visibly irks her, and her mildly concerned face twists into veiled anger.

「Maybe when you're as old as Professor Reise, someone will have the same attitude towards you.」

「Yeah, probably.」

He shrugs again, agreeing with a slight tilt of his head, and Aria's anger turns into plain confusion, albeit tinged with outrage. They arrive at the bottom of the stairwell, but surprisingly find it occupied.

「Ah. Straf. Professor…」

Corvus says with a light smile as he encounters both Straf and Aria at the entrance to the stairwell. He continues his slow, gingerly descent downward.

「…I was just… On the way to the infirmary… To see Professor Reise…」

He says, pausing between each step as he looks at his feet. He pauses at the final one, and smiles at them both. He turns his eyes to Straf, extending his index finger.

「I also have something to discuss with you Str-」

Thud.

「Ungh!…」

Corvus takes the last step to enter the hallway, and abruptly sinks downward to his knees mid-sentence.

「Corvus!…」

Aria rushes in, but he holds his palm up towards her, to signify that he is fine. Despite his signal, he's visibly wincing in pain on all fours.

「Corvus, are you okay?…」

Mostly obscuring them both with her huge hat, Aria asks with her brows greatly furrowed.

「Nhh… I'm fine, Aria, my knee just gave out, that's all… Hngh…」

Corvus replies with the same tone as always, though interspersed by quiet grunts of discomfort. She grabs his arm, and tries to gently pull him back to his feet. Straf rolls his eyes at the sight.

「For fuck's sake…」

He grumbles, and walks up closer. He grabs the headmaster's other arm, and effortlessly pulls him up, affording Corvus enough time to regain his balance.

「Ahh… Thank you, thank you…」

Corvus nods his head at the two as he stands back up, and dusts his robes off.

「Are you really fine, Corvus? You shouldn't be climbing up and down-」

「I'm fine, Aria. Knees just got bruised up a little… Though making my way back up will be a bother like this… Ahhhh…」

The headmaster dismissively waves Aria's concerns away with his wrinkly hand, and lets out a troubled sigh as he looks at the stairwell over his shoulder.

「Well then… I have something to discuss, Straf… But it's better if we do so in my office. I'll pay Professor Reise a quick visit, and then head right back. Feel free to wait for me there.」

Corvus says, smiling lightly at Straf, though it's quite apparent it's an attempt at hiding the pain. He nods at Straf, then turns in the direction of the infirmary, and begins to slowly shuffle away.

「I'll come with you…」

Aria glances at Straf, then follows along with Corvus. They slowly make their way to the corner, and disappear beyond it while Straf watches with his mouth aslant, and sucks air in through his pipe.

「Elementary… It seems I have become an adult caretaker, my dear indelible paranoid sense of being watched.」

Straf remarks as he pulls the pipe out of his mouth, shaking his head. He turns around and enters the stairwell, though the feeling that someone else is there does not fade…