Some time ago, late at night…

Baron Roskiel and Archmage Diebin swooped into the interior perimeter over the massive wall, and the vampire let the old man out of his grasp back onto his feet.

「Now what?」

Roskiel asked as he followed him to the corner of the small, unlit, out-of-sight building they landed near.

「…Now we make our way inside. If nothing has changed, that recluse should still be alone in his study.」

The archmage replied while cautiously peeking past the wall, his eyes darted down the nearby path for movement. He turned around and looked into the young man's red eyes.

「He knows me, so he will likely become suspicious of why I'm here. I will distract him, and you get rid of him. If anyone else recognizes me we'll need to remove them too. Follow me closely, but remain hidden…」

Diebin calmly explained, then turned his eyes to the side entrance of the auxiliary building. One that he knew never saw any use. He nonchalantly made his way across the freshly trimmed grass and across the stone path, then towards the door.

He pushed the door in, making his way inside with a hasty step. Roskiel's unmistakable presence was with him, somewhere. The halls were quiet and dim just as expected. Reassured and confident, he moved onward, navigating the winding hallway as if it were his own home. He took a turn, and made his way straight for the demonology study.

Archmage Diebin peeked his head into the study, with only a quiet creak of the hinge to accompany him. He looked over his back, and Roskiel's red eyes were staring at him from up close, waiting for the old man to make a move. He briefly glanced at the young man behind him, and entered. A black blur quickly stretched upward into the darkness shrouding the ceiling.

Quietly, cautiously, Diebin approached the black-haired man as he was mumbling something to himself in a disjointed fashion, digging through thick tomes and searching for something underneath piles of papers.

Crackle.

「Hm?…」

Lightly startled by the sound of paper as it was stepped on behind him, the man turned his head around and looked at Diebin. His face looked just a little younger than the archmage, with the hair on his head as black as a raven, and his beard neatly trimmed just past his chin.

「…Archmage Diebin?」

Professor Arkeis asked, furrowing his brows. He stroked his short, rounded black beard with curiosity as he approached the unexpected guest.

「I thought you were a court mage at the Redwing court?… Well, not Redwing court, but whoever it was that took power? Did you lose your position? The queen reclaimed her throne, didn't she?」

He kept asking, and Diebin stared back at him in silence with a grim but otherwise expressionless face, holding his hands low in front of himself. Taken aback a little by the silence, Arkeis kept talking.

「…Truth be told, I don't really pay attention to politics, so I don't know much. I've just heard there were some troubles brewing. What brings you here, archmage? Do you need something of me?」

The professor asked again, shaking his head in confusion as Diebin appeared to be unwilling to respond, and his stare was only very briefly broken to glance upward at something.

「It's quite the late hour for a visit- Well, not that I mind, I'm a night owl, ha ha…」

Arkeis remarked, then quickly raised his hand to correct himself with a faint awkward grin, waiting for Diebin to reply. He did not. The professor, now fully discomforted, began to idly look around.

「It's just, if I knew, I'd have made tea… 」

He added, pointing his hand at his cluttered work desk behind him before he turned his uneasy eyes back to the grim, silent guest. While initially only surprising, the encounter grew ominous.

「…Did you just arrive? Does the headmaster know you're here? I certainly wasn't informed that you will be visiti-…」

The professor's voice trailed off as he remarked, looking at the archmage with his brows furrowed. Diebin kept staring silently… Grim, but ultimately expressionless.

An uneasy silence began. Indeed, nobody informed him that someone would visit him, certainly not an archmage. The background presence then grew into a palpable killing intent.

Fwap!

「Vortexes, vortices-」

Professor Arkeis lifted his arm with a loud whip of his sleeve, pointing his palm at Diebin while chanting an incantation. The archmage remained silent and still, but a shape fluttered behind Arkeis.

「Hn-!?」

He could only catch a momentary glimpse of a young man's face, before another shape moved in from the side of his face.

「Hmpfnhggh! Hnmpppfff!」

The professor screamed in muffled pain when a sharp clawed thumb dug into his eye and the rest of the hand coming in from the side covered his mouth. He started thrashing around, trying to break free, but the young man's sharp clawed grasp on his face and other shoulder was inhumanly strong. The next moment, his head was forcibly tilted aside, and fangs tore apart the side of his neck.

「Nghhhh! Mrrrrgh!」

Professor Arkeis kept screaming. Archmage Diebin calmly watched the baron guzzle the blood that was gushing from the professor's neck and soaking into his robes at his shoulder. Arkeis briefly turned his panicked gaze to him, maintaining one-eyed eye contact. Blood streamed from his gouged eye down his cheek like bloody tears, before his other one quickly lost focus. His thrashing turned into weak and feeble flailing, then stopped completely.

Thud.

Baron Roskiel ripped his fangs out of the man's neck and discarded him to the ground, limp and bloodied.

「…What took you so long?」

Diebin asked, unfazed by the vampire attack, though his voice carried a hint of frustration.

「I was waiting, you senile fool. You didn't give me a signal.」

Roskiel replied, wiping away then licking the blood up from the back of his hand.

「There was no need for a signal, I was waiting for you to take action… No matter, he is dead, and the plan is going well so far.」

The archmage dismissed the base of the argument with a wave, and turned back to the door. He opened it cautiously and peered into the hallway. Seeing as it was dim and empty, he walked up to the door across.

Cla-cla-cla-clack.

He jiggled its handle, then promptly returned back to the study and shut the door behind him.

「Good. Roskiel, the door is locked as expected as well. Give me a moment to open it, then help me dispose of the trash.」

Diebin announced, then walked back into the hallway…

…

A few moments later…

Clack.

With two of his fingers pointed at the lock, then a flick of his wrist towards the doorframe, Diebin locked the door marked 「No entry」 by a plaque hanging off a nail.

「Now? Can I slaughter?」

Baron Roskiel dusted his hands off, then crossed his arms.

「Not yet, Roskiel, patience… You will get blood to your still heart's content…」

Diebin replied, reaching for his small satchel at his side. He opened it, pulling the grimoire out along with a sheet of paper.

「…You must prepare the circle, I will handle the spell part. Take the grimoire. This note has instructions how to properly invert it.」

The mage added as he put the note into the grimoire as a bookmark on a page with a magic circle, and held the tome out for the baron. The vampire reluctantly took it, glaring at him.

「You must be quick, but focus on accuracy, not speed. Use the red gypsum soapstone for the fine details, and the gypsum powder for the rest… Be conservative with the powder. We have just enough.」

「Why can't you do it?」

The baron asked, pointing his clawed finger at the old man's face.

「I would have, but we do not have the time, Roskiel. You can do this in the fraction of the time it would take me. I am going to get started on the barrier. I will return in a few hours…」

The archmage replied, staring at the vampire's finger before turning his gaze up to his crimson eyes. He then turned around, and left down the hallway. Roskiel scoffed, and turned into a black blur…

…

Twenty minutes later, on the road leading to the Academy's gates…

Baron Roskiel was crouched down, scribbling fine runic markings on the underside of the brick that he ripped out of the ground. He pulled out the note, then looked at them both.

「Idiotic human… Do I look like a mage?…」

Roskiel grumbled, comparing the mage's sketch with his own on the brick. He put the note away in his pocket, and placed the brick back in the dirt where it was before.

The baron stood up and took a few steps away. He paced around the bricks, looking closely, inspecting them for signs of being disturbed. Satisfied, he took a look at the brightening sky.

「…That's enough for tonight.」

He said to himself, and turned into a black blur as he leaped back onto the Academy's wall, then into its perimeter…

…

Days later, late at night, in demonology…

「Diebin! I'm done!」

Baron Roskiel announced as he enters the large, tall room, approaching the archmage while he sifted through the professor's old letters. Diebin turns his head towards him.

「You're sure?」

「Are you questioning my competence?」

The vampire growled as he pulled the grimoire out.

「No, Baron Roskiel. Good work…」

Diebin took the grimoire back, set it down on the desk, and stacked a pile of tomes upon it, concealing it in plain sight.

「…Roskiel, did you at any point return to me before you were finished?」

He asked, looking at the vampire with his brows furrowed.

「What are you implying, you gray rat? That I am lazy?」

Roskiel asked back, glaring at him with his arms crossed.

「No, not at all… But for the last few days I've felt like I'm being watched. I thought it was you, at first, but then I realized that can't be…」

Diebin shook his head in reply, then started brushing his beard in deep thought.

「…But if not you, then who?-」

「…Me…」

An unknown man's ethereal voice interrupted the mage, and alarmed them both.

「Who's there!? Show yourself!」

The mage shouted, already postured in a combat stance.

「…I did…」

The voice replied from right in front of Diebin, confusing him. It sounded almost like the man was right in front of him, but he couldn't see anyone. His eyes looked down at his shadow, noticing something odd about it. He looked and looked, furrowing his brows and trying to make sense of it. He then realized it… There was no light source behind the archmage to cast a shadow ahead of him.

「Ah!」

Diebin shouted as he jumped away from the shadow on the floor, which remained fixed in place.

「…I want… The same thing…」

Two voices said, as if two people spoke two different things out of context. One voice belonged to the unknown man, and then there was another male voice.

「What? A talking shadow?- No…」

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Diebin shook his head, realizing the nature of the shade as it emerged from the floor, taking on a vaguely humanoid shape.

「…A wraith.」

He added, while Roskiel's scarlet, confused eyes kept glancing at him.

「Same thing?… Do you even know what we want?」

The archmage asked the wraith, still remaining in his combat stance.

「…Death… The Academy…」

The unknown man's voice said, though it still sounded like out of context, disjointed soundbites. Diebin exchanged a glance with the baron, then slowly left his wary stance while brushing his beard.

「…You want the death of the Academy of Magic?」

「…Yes…」

Archmage Diebin asked, and the wraith replied nigh-instantly. He exchanged one more look with Roskiel, smirking a little.

「But why have you revealed yourself to us? Are you intending to help us?」

He asked inquisitively, still brushing his beard.

「…Yes…」

「How?」

「…I need… Mana… The Cursefire Brazier… Curse…」

The wraith replied, using a discordant patchwork of voices, including one female, all at different tones and pitches from each other.

「What?… Am I understanding you correctly?… You need mana to curse the Academy with the Cursefire Brazier?」

「…Yes… I'm going to kill!… The students… The professors… The gardener… The headmaster…」

The wraith continued using multiple soundbite-like voices. When Diebin heard the wraith mention the headmaster, he smirked.

「That would be really helpful of you… But the Cursefire Brazier's curse only renders people sick and weak at worst. I could think of a way to infuse you with mana… But why would I?」

Diebin asked, circling around the wraith. He noted that it's extremely difficult to ascertain where exactly is looking, or even facing. Its dark, wispy body was hard to get a good look at.

「…No… I'm going to kill!… I need… Mana…」

The dark entity repeated, once again partially using a female voice. The mage furrowed his brows and tilted his head.

「…Are you trying to say that you can make the curse kill, if given mana?」

「…Yes…」

The wraith simply said. The hand brushing Diebin's gray beard stopped, and an amused grin appeared on his face.

「Roskiel. Change of plans…」

Archmage Diebin said, turning his smug smirk to the baron. The wraith sunk back into the ground, turning into a flat shadow once again…

…

「…And then, by some unknown means Diebin subverted our barrier, activated the summoning circle, and the wraith cursed us with its grudge. I think we all know what happened after that. How's that?」

Headmaster Corvus asks, looking at Straf's extremely bored face.

Snap!

「That is exactly it! Yup! You've got it!」

Straf declares, snapping his fingers and pointing it at Corvus.

「You think? I'm glad to hear that, I'd like a reasonable-sounding theory to tell the battlemages when they arrive…」

The old man nods in reaction, adjusting his glasses.

「Lia's going to be upset now…」

Straf sighs, standing up from his chair.

「…You're a very caring person, Straf.」

Corvus declares, smiling warmly at him.

「Huh? What the fuck brought that on?」

He asks, spreading his arms.

「You could have left at any point, but you stayed and listened to an old man's ramblings. It might be my last. Who knows?」

The headmaster explains, shrugging his shoulders, still smiling.

「What, I humored you, so I'm caring now? It's like calling all people who are useful to you good. There's a difference between being caring and not wanting to have to come back here again.」

Straf replies, placing his hands in his pockets, causing Corvus to chuckle softly.

「That's right… But still, on a personal level, you took a moment to listen to what I have to say. I just appreciate that…」

「Got it out of your system yet? Feeling all giddy inside that you got to talk, old man?」

Straf mockingly asks, leaning forward a little. The headmaster nods, stifling a grin.

「…Yes. You see, Straf… Someone like you should be a headmaster instead-」

Corvus replies, looking at him with a faint smile, rubbing his wrinkled palms together.

「Not gonna.」

Straf swiftly blurts out.

「Of course not… But with someone like you, the problem would've been solved nigh-instantly. No… I don't believe you would've let it crop up to begin with…」

The old man remarks, then lets out a large sigh, taking his glasses off as his eyes drift down to his desk.

「…My life is full of regrets, and my legacy is that of incompetence, Straf. The recent events have me questioning whether I have ever made the right choice in my life at all.」

He adds, and looks at Straf's blurry face without his glasses on.

「How so?」

Straf's blurry shoulders shrug.

「People died because of me, Straf. You are the only reason why the death toll was not higher.」

「Yeah, people died because me too. I'm kind of good at making that happen. So?」

Straf shrugs, nonchalantly grimacing a little.

「No, not like that, Straf… I mean that a better headmaster would not allow this to have taken place.」

Corvus shakes his head, and places his glasses back upon his nose.

「Not allow what to take place? Some delusional old guy colluding with a vampire and an angry ghost to kill everyone?」

「A better headmaster would have prevented it, Straf. Something like this has never happened before at the Academy. My sheer incompetence lead to this.」

「Bullshit.」

Straf scoffs, looking at Corvus with an amused smirk.

「How is it not true, Straf? I'm the only headmaster on record that almost lead to the death of all students. It's an irremovable black mark.」

The old man asks, quizzically spreading his hands.

「Yeah, think of it that way… No other headmaster had a fucking wraith rampage around their shit, or a vampire running around at night. All in all, I think you could have done worse.」

Straf scoffs again, shrugging his shoulders as he replies.

「Straf, all other headmasters would have prevented this-」

「Yeah, I wonder how? Would they have handled it better than you if they didn't?」

He then cuts the old man off, not allowing him to finish his sentence.

「…The only reason why everyone was saved is you, Straf. I had nothing to do with it. All I've done is let you into the Academy as a plot to blackmail you using the queen… What a complete joke.」

Corvus says, pointing his hand at Straf before interlocking his fingers. He lightly shakes his head, denying any and all credit before letting out a large, sullen sigh.

「Again, you can think of it like this… What if some other headmaster was a stickler for the rules? What if he'd turn Lia away? You think I'd bother staying in this shithole if you wouldn't let her in?…」

Straf replies, spreading his arms with an inquisitive, lightly mocking grimace on his face.

「Wha-? That has nothing to do with anything…」

The headmaster's face gains an amused and lightly outraged expression as he looks at Straf in disbelief.

「Yes it does. You said I'm the reason this mess got cleaned up. Well, you are the reason I'm here… Aside from Lia. Even if you suppose that my little trick would fool another headmaster…」

Straf replies, shrugging his shoulders before rubbing his chin as he thinks for a brief moment.

「…The first thing they'd do is run to Lia for help, not me. They could have also handled the whole situation just plain worse. They could have caused mass paranoia, panic…」

He continues, waving circles with his hand as he does so.

「…Basically, everyone has regrets, and the apparent incompetence boils down to how well you can sweep it under the rug. I think this one was swept up pretty well, all in all.」

Straf says, then turns for the door. Corvus lets out an amused huff from his nose, smiling.

「…You really are a caring person, Straf.」

He remarks, and Straf briefly stops in his tracks, looking at the old man over his shoulder with his mouth heavily scrunched to the side.

「I think the queen already knows this. I know how hard you've been working to keep her safe. Bodyguard may have been a cover story, but you made it into a real one.」

The headmaster adds, spreading his hands with a warm smile on his face. Straf remains silent, and continues for the door.

「The funeral should be around noon, Straf… If you plan to attend.」

「Whatever…」

Straf shrugs, and leaves the office without saying another word.

「Interesting term, if nothing else…」

Corvus says to himself, and lets out an amused huff, shaking his head…