The next day, in the morning, in one of the classrooms…

「Lia, what was the difference between dragons and wyverns again?」

Neela asks, reading through her notes with a quill in hand.

「Dragons have four legs, wyverns' front legs are morphed into wings, and wyrms have no legs at all! Only true dragons breathe fire, by the way.」

Cycelia explains with a smile, and her index finger extended.

「…How do you even know this? It's such a minor detail. I don't even know why Neela cares, it's not like it'll be on the exam.」

Tisha asks, propping her head up on her hand while she looks at the classroom door with bored blue eyes.

「You don't know that, Tisha. You have to be prepared for even minor things.」

Neela replies, nodding her head as she writes something into her notes.

「Holm didn't even say anything about any wyrms.」

Just as Tisha mentions the professor, he enters the classroom.

「Hello! Everyone ready to talk some more about dragons? Our last lesson on draconids before we move onto the rarer beasts!」

Professor Holm greets the students, quickly looking over them all before turning his eyes to Lia. She rapidly nods her head with her lips tightly pressed together.

「Okay… I hope everyone remembers the exam is coming up? Yes?」

He says, placing his tome on the teacher's desk. There is no reaction from the students, and with a nod of his head, he decides to open his tome.

「Where were we?…」

He mumbles, skipping past his neglected bookmark and skimming through the text of his tome while he leans over it.

「…Ah, yes. True dragon physiology! We'll go over other draconids after, but please note that down…」

The professor adjusts his glasses, and takes the chalk from the blackboard. He draws a few inverted pentagonal shapes overlapping each other, and turns to the class.

「Does anyone know why dragons are resistant to-?」

「Their blood and gold in the scales!」

Cycelia exclaims with her hand up, before the professor can even finish his sentence. A low murmur of chuckling spreads through the class.

「…Magic. Yes, Ms. Lia. That is correct. Why is there gold in their scales?」

He nods, then asks, pointing at her.

「They eat it! It deposits in the scales, and gives them another layer of magic resistance!」

Cycelia replies with bright-eyed smile on her face. Tisha and Neela look at her with furrowed brows, while Straf side-glances at them with a bored gaze. The professor adjusts his glasses, and nods.

「Correct, Ms. Lia. Now, here's a question just for you… Can you give me a descending order of true dragons by their gold content in the scales?」

He says, rubbing his chin with eyes narrowed at Cycelia.

「Golden, red, green and black!」

She exclaims with her head proudly raised high. The skinny professor furrows his brows, then leans towards his desk to peek at the tome.

「…Yes, that is correct, Ms. Lia. Frankly, I did not expect you to answer that one… I was going to lead that question into my lecture… This is a little awkward…」

Professor Holm paces around, rubbing the back of his neck.

「…Oh well. I will just continue regardless. If you were to apply as a Professor of Dracology, I would vouch for your knowledge, Ms. Lia.」

His remark causes Cycelia to gain a barely suppressed ear to ear smile. Tisha and Neela glance at each other with surprised, amazed expressions on their faces. Only Straf remains unimpressed.

「…As Ms. Lia has said, dragons have quite a unique physiology which makes them rather fearsome creatures, especially to mages. Do we know any historical dragons?」

He says, as he writes down the order of dragons named by Cycelia in a descending list. She immediately raises her arm and begins wiggling her hand, but Straf reaches for it, and pulls it down to the desk.

「Huh?」

「…I don't think that's a good idea, Lia.」

He says in a hushed tone, leaning closer to her.

「W- Why not? I know the answer-」

She tilts her head, blinking at him with a confused look on her face.

「I know you know, that's why you should sit this one out.」

Straf replies, and lifts his hand off of hers, looking at her with his mouth scrunched. The professor turns away from the blackboard, and looks directly at Cycelia.

「Ms. Lia? Perhaps our dracology expert knows?」

He asks, staring at her. Cycelia's emerald eyes escape sideways at Straf's bored face propped up on his hand, then return to the professor. With a tight-lipped grimace, she energetically shakes her head.

「…No? I suppose there are things even you don't know, Ms. Lia, there is no shame. Admittedly, it's a piece of history I decided to drag into the lecture on a whim…」

Professor Holm's brows rise, and he turns back to the blackboard. Upon it, he writes Redwing, and taps it with the chalk.

「…I thought the students from the kingdom would know, but apparently not. The dragon Redwing is a good example. For rather obvious reasons, there are a lot of historical accounts on him.」

He says as he partially turns around, and looks at the students.

「Much of the strife, and the eventual formation of the contemporary Redwing Kingdom can be attributed to him. The current queen is actually his descendant, but there has been some recent political turmoil…」

Professor Holm says, rubbing his chin as he thinks, staring at the floor.

「…Their current ruler is not related to the House Redwing at all, but the queen remains an official head of the kingdom… I'm not quite sure how it all works. It's complicated, and frankly uninteresting.」

The thin man dismissively waves his scrawny hand, and adjusts his glasses.

「Either way, I am sure you know that the Academy of Magic is built on land granted to the Mage Federation by the Redwing Kingdom. Just a little historical tidbit, before I return to my point…」

He shrugs his hand, and explains, looking at the bored students.

「…The Redwing king who signed the agreement could polymorph his body parts into that of a dragon. There are multiple accounts of his hand turning into like that of a dragon in a burst of flame…」

The professor adds, then turns his eyes to Cycelia again.

「Ms. Lia, perhaps you know this one… Dragons can polymorph into other races due to their blood, and can then interbreed with them, but what of their descendants?」

He asks, and Cycelia turns her hesitant face to Straf. Straf shrugs, and turns his eyes to the professor below.

「Um… The direct descendant cannot transform into a dragon, but his entire body can turn into a humanoid dragon form.」

She anxiously replies with a tight-lipped grimace.

「Correct. There are historical accounts of this as well. As Ms. Lia has said, the descendants are unable to turn into dragons, although they can sprout wings. The thinner the blood, the less they can polymorph…」

Professor Holm draws a silhouette of a dragon, and an arcing arrow stretching from the dragon into a silhouette of a human. He draws another in inverse direction, then crosses it out.

「…Aside from polymorphism, what other effects of dragonblood are there? Alchemical, for example.」

He asks over his shoulder, looking at Cycelia. She stares back with a troubled, tight-lipped grimace, but says nothing.

「…No? I see alchemy is not your strong point, Ms. Lia… Either way, dragonblood is an extremely prized alchemical component. It makes healing potions seem as if they are able to revive the dead.」

The professor says, then writes multiple words… Catalyst, purifier, enhancer, extender.

「It really is no wonder why an army powered by dragonblood potions won such overwhelming battles. I've heard that a drop of dragonblood in a potion of power can make a man strong enough to rip out an oak.」

He shrugs his hands and shoulders with a little tilt of his head, then taps the words with the chalk.

「Seldom are alchemical components this versatile and potent. It can make a completely clueless alchemist seem like a master… What other effects, Ms. Lia?」

Professor Holm asks, once again looking at the dragon expert.

「Umm… Longevity… Good health…」

Cycelia shrugs, tapping her fingers together underneath the desk.

「…Yes. Descendants of dragons live for up to hundreds of years. There are historical records of multiple Redwing rulers walking away with mortal wounds, only to reappear in another battle shortly after…」

He nods, realizing that Cycelia isn't going to continue with her list. He branches the examples away from dragonblood on the blackboard.

The students mutter amongst themselves, sneaking glances at Cycelia. The lecture continues, although Cycelia's role in it fades while the topic slowly transitions to wyverns…

…

Donnnnnnngggggg… Gonnnnnnnggggg… Gonnnnnnnngggg…

「Ah. We'll move onto rare creatures after the break! It's going to be quite interesting!」

Professor Holm exclaims as the students shuffle to the exit.

「Lia, I'm going to do some stuff, don't wait for me.」

Straf says, leaning in towards her while they walk to the exit.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

「Huh? Will you be back for the next class?」

「Unlikely. I'll wait by the Cursefire when it's free period.」

He says, and leaves the classroom. Cycelia squeezes through the crowd to catch up.

「Straf, should I join you?」

She asks, tilting her head with a concerned gaze.

「…Nah, I'm good. Go take a break, Lia.」

With his hands in his pockets, Straf replies with a bored expression on his face. He walks off, merging into the crowd as Damian and the girls join Cycelia…

…

Fifteen minutes later, in the headmaster's office.

The door swings open, then swings shut.

Thud!

Straf approaches the oaken desk with his hands in his pockets.

「Straf. You are always welcome, but it's common courtesy to knockkkhakhh… Khakkhh…」

Corvus says, but a sickly wheezing cough interrupts him. With his face in a wince, he covers his mouth and quickly recovers while clearing his throat.

「If I'm always welcome, knocking is pointless… I've got a question.」

Straf declares, standing in front of the desk and idly looking around with disinterested eyes.

「Ahem… Yes?」

Corvus lets out one more strained grunt as he clears his throat, looks up at Straf from above his spectacles.

「Suppose I find the guy who did it… If I just kill him on the spot, that's bad, right?」

Straf asks, turning his eyes back to Corvus with a slanted mouth on his face.

「Hm…」

With his fingers interlocked, the headmaster lowers his head and rests his mouth on his hands. After a moment, he draws a breath while lifting it back up.

「…Indeed. If the barrier is life-linked to the one responsible, killing him will collapse it immediately.」

Corvus nods, pensively rubbing his mustache with his thumb and finger.

「So my question is, if whoever is responsible wants to die, why doesn't he just kill himself? That would kill everyone inside, wouldn't it?」

Straf leans onto the desk, pulling one hand out of his pocket and propping himself up on it.

「…Yes. Yes it would.」

The old mage nods with a gravely serious face after a brief pause.

「Figured I found a plot hole… That leads me to believe… If the guy wants to die, and he wants to take everyone else with him, he'd just kill himself… The only reasons why he wouldn't do it are…」

Straf nods back, and pushes himself off the desk, he paces around in front of it, and extends his index finger, stopping in his tracks as he looks at Corvus with a side-eye.

「…One, he just wants to gloat about it. Unlikely, but still…」

He says, then shrugs. He then extends his middle finger.

「Two, he may have found a way to dodge the curse, and they don't want to die.」

Straf continues, and Corvus nods. He then extends a third finger.

「Three, and I think it's the most unlikely one, it's actually two or more guys, they don't know about each other, and the barrier guy doesn't want to die.」

He adds, shrugging his hands and shoulders, then places his fists on his hips. Corvus nods, and his pace of nodding picks up speed.

「I think those are likely theories. I quite frankly feel somewhat ashamed for being of so little help, but my mind is a tad bit foggy…」

The headmaster remarks, and stands up. He stumbles aside a few steps, and wobbles briefly before regaining his balance. With his hands behind his back, he gingerly climbs up the stairs to his window.

「Are you hitting the bottle from the pressure, old man? Do you have a little pocket flask you like to take a sip from?」

Straf scoffs, grinning with his hands spread.

「Hm?… No. I am fine, Straf. You need not worry.」

Looking over his shoulder at him, Corvus shakes his head, and returns his troubled gaze beneath bushy, furrowed brows back to the window. He takes a big breath, and lets out a long sigh.

「…Maybe it's better like this. Professor Aria could take over. She's hotheaded, but I'm sure the Academy would do well with her at the helm… Provided everyone else lives.」

He says, looking at the city bathed in morning sunlight below.

「Huh? You're giving up already? I'm making more and more progress, and you're ready to throw your hands up, and let someone else clean up your mess?」

Straf asks with a snide grin, tinged with ridiculing disbelief.

「No. Of course not. I will fight to resolve this incident until I have no strength left… But the alternatives must be considered.」

Corvus peeks over his shoulder, shaking his head before quickly looking through the window again.

「Well, here's an alternative… I go find the asshole, beat the shit out of him, and solve the problem just like that.」

Straf says, and snaps his fingers, smugly grinning. Corvus turns around, and begins descending the stairs back to his desk.

「…I wish I could have a portion of your confidence, Straf. I will fight, because I have no choice but to fight. I am just not certain if I will succeed… The problem of the life-linked barrier remains.」

The headmaster comments, sitting down on his comfy chair. He swivels forward, and brushes his beard while leaning onto the desk with his elbow.

「I'll think of something. In the meantime… Give me a list of all professors, their rooms, their offices and laboratories if they have 'em. Workers too.」

Straf replies, and extends his hand out palm-up towards the headmaster, then expectantly wiggles his fingers. The old mage's eyes widen, and his face gains a tight-lipped expression.

「…For what purpose?」

He hesitantly asks, leaning away a little.

「You seriously have to ask?… For the purpose of solving this shit. Gimme.」

Straf wiggles his fingers again, and Corvus becomes visibly discomforted. He lets out a troubled sigh, adjusts his spectacles, and his gaze bounces around the room.

「Come on, what are you hiding?」

「I am not hiding anything, Straf. I am simply concerned over what you are going to do to the professors.」

The headmaster replies, spreading his hands in exasperation while Straf stands before him with his fists on his hips.

「I am going to politely ask them if they are involved. I won't get violent unless they get violent first. Pinkie promise.」

Straf says, extending his pinkie finger and wiggling it. Corvus lowers his head, and visibly troubled, he aimlessly looks around some more. A few moments later, he throws his hands up, and nods.

「…Fine. But if it goes as I think it will go, I will be very reluctant to endanger anyone else for sake of the investigation…」

「Thanks for placing your trust in me…」

Straf rolls his eyes while Corvus pulls a drawer out, takes a blank sheet of paper, and places a cork-sealed ink pot on the desk. He additionally takes a quill from the drawer, uncorks the pot with a pop, and dips the quill in.

「Give me a moment, we have quite a lot of professors, and quite a lot of workers… Perhaps read a book in the meantime.」

Corvus glances up at Straf, and begins writing. Straf shrugs, and idly wanders around the dim office, looking over the decorative baubles and titles of books in the shelves…

…

Less than an hour later, after the bell for another hour of classes…

「There. It's complete… I believe I haven't missed anyone.」

Corvus announces, quickly skimming through the contents of the paper. He puts the cork back into the pot's neck, and returns the quill into the shelf along with it, noisily sliding it shut.

Straf takes the paper from his extended hand, and likewise skims through it. The list features roughly thirty to forty professors, and a little under twice that of simple workers. Each name has a room number and a wing next to it, with some having the location of their office, study, or otherwise laboratory described in the parentheses right next to that. The headmaster's handwriting has a very specific and ornate flourish to it, but not excessively so to be difficult to read. In fact, it is quite pleasant, and easy on the eye.

「Hm. Right. I'll go look for those right away.」

Straf hums, recognizing some of the names, such as Aria, Wolfskopf, the dwarf handling the keys, the elf woman, and a few others. He nonchalantly throws it into his [Portable Storage], causing some visible consternation at the casual display of mythical-level magic, and heads for the door with his hands in his pockets.

「Straf, wait!… What is your plan, exactly?」

Corvus asks, halting him with his wrinkly hand outstretched as he rushes out of his desk to catch up.

「Hm? Well… Honestly, I don't have one. I'll just harshly accuse them of shit and act like I know they did it, until one of them loses their cool.」

Straf's eyes briefly drift upward as he thinks, before shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands.

「So you intend to act as a bait?…」

The headmaster asks, visibly relaxing as his shoulders go slack in his robes.

「More like a mouse trap for a really big rat. If he doesn't bite the cheese, I'll have to think of something new…」

Straf replies, shrugging again as he continues for the door. The headmaster briefly follows, slowly separating away for another door off to the side.

「Very well… If anyone asks, I am in my bedroom and taking a nap…」

Corvus declares, shuffling to the second door.

「Old man… It's morning. Did you not wake up just now?」

Straf stops in his tracks, looking at the headmaster's back with an incredulous expression and furrowed brows.

「…Yes, but I am feeling quite fatigued. I'll handle my responsibilities better, when I'm feeling refreshed.」

The headmaster nods as he looks at him over his shoulder with his lips stretched wide into a troubled expression, before unceremoniously walking through the door, and leaving Straf alone in his office.

Thud.

Straf shrugs his shoulders, and likewise leaves, placing his hands in his pockets as soon as he pulls the door shut…