After class, in the evening, in the auxiliary building…

Damian and the girls are walking through the dim hallway. They encounter a pile of collapsed rubble, and a hole in the ceiling.

「Eh? When did this happen?…」

He utters out, staring at the dark, damaged hallway. There is a blue light from the magic lamps shining from beyond the distant corner, far at the other end of the hallway.

「This must be Straf's doing…」

Cycelia remarks, looking at the shattered rocks on the ground.

「You mean he's just physically destroying the Academy now!?」

Damian exclaims with his eyes wide open at Cycelia. She shrugs her shoulders.

「It probably happened when the wraith was chasing us. We should report it to the headmaster tomorrow.」

She replies, and turns her emerald eyes back to the rubble.

「Tsk… Come on, I'm not going to let a pile of rocks stop me.」

He sighs, and begins climbing over the jagged, waist-high pile. Despite her grimace, Tisha is the first to follow, and helps the other two get across.

They continue onward, walking through the dark. Damian quickly notes the damage ahead in the form of torn out doors and gouged floor.

「Careful, watch your step.」

He cautions, and points his finger at the large hole in the ground, big enough to trip over. They walk around it, as well as the rest further down the dark corridor.

「Did he seriously destroy all the lamps here?… It didn't even work.」

Damian notes, looking up at the dark ceiling while they approach the light ahead.

「I wonder how you would handle it.」

Tisha scoffs, trailing behind him.

「Not by causing a magical reaction along the entire hallway, that's for sure.」

「Hoooh? You said someone else should do it, so Straf did. You're all talk, while Straf walks the walk.」

Damian replies, and she immediately bites back, mocking him.

「Tsk… I'd think of something.」

He clicks his tongue, shaking his head with a frustrated grimace hidden by the dark.

「The way you acted was completely unbefitting a man. Straf is more of a northerner than some actual northerners… I will teach you how to be a man when you're my slave, so you better be grateful-」

Tisha continues mocking him. Damian is well aware of the sneer on her face without having to look at her face.

「Shut up! You lost the bet! You just don't want to accept it!」

Damian exclaims, turning the bright corner.

「Ahhh… You southerners have to put up with men like him? I feel bad for you, Neela…」

Tisha, smirks at Neela, and follows Damian, also disappearing beyond the corner.

「…Why me?」

Neela asks, and slinks into the light as well. Cycelia lets out a sigh, and follows the rest.

Damian angrily stomps down the hall while Tisha follows him with a smug smirk on her face. He slows down when he approaches the door to demonology, and the rest of the girls catch up.

「So? What are we doing here again?」

Tisha asks in an unimpressed tone, looking at the door with the plaque with her arms crossed. Damian glances over his shoulder at Cycelia, and looks at the door across.

「…You said the wraith came out of this room, right?」

He asks, approaching the closed door with the plaque stating「No entry」hanging off a nail.

「Yes… When I was here with Straf. There were some things inside, but it was too dark to see…」

Cycelia nods, though Damian is focused on the door. She looks around, and her eyes count the lamps.

「Huh?… Someone has taken it?…」

She quietly mutters out, furrowing her brows at the magic lamps.

「Taken what?」

Tisha asks, looking at her with her fists on her hips.

「The magic lamp. I came here with Straf, and we brought spare lamps-」

「Hey, you're not supposed to open that…」

Neela says, interrupting Cycelia's explanation as Damian reaches for the door handle. He looks at them with a serious expression.

「It's just a lousy sign. Do you really want to walk away without checking what's inside?」

He asks, and briefly glances over the three. Neela and Cycelia stare back at him with their faces growing increasingly troubled, while Tisha simply shrugs in quiet approval. He turns his eyes back to the door.

Cla-clack.

He pushes down on the handle, and his eyes narrow in surprise.

「…It's locked?」

Damian remarks, and takes a step back.

「Of course it is. It's an abandoned room, isn't it? Something to do with an extra level that never came to be.」

Tisha says, joining his side as they look at the door.

「…If there was a ghost, it would probably be haunting this place.」

Neela comments, joining Tisha's side, albeit a little behind her.

「What makes you say that, Neela?」

Cycelia asks as she approaches as well, warily watching the door.

「…It's just spooky. I don't like the idea of an abandoned room next to demonology.」

She shrugs, nonchalantly replying with a little frowny pout. Cycelia lets out a quiet sigh.

「…Did the wraith phase through the door? Did it pour out through the keyhole, or something like that? Beneath the door?」

He asks, and glances at Cycelia.

「No, the door just opened by itself. It was at the bottom of the stairs, then it was right next to me before I even realized it.」

She shakes her head, and quickly turns her wary emerald eyes back to the locked door.

「…But it's strange. The dwarf woman handling the keys said the key to the room was lost.」

Cycelia adds, furrowing her brows.

「Maybe the professor has it?」

Damian says, and turns around, reaching for the door to demonology. He opens it, and walks right in.

「Ah- No, I don't think-」

Cycelia reaches her dainty hand out towards him, but it's already too late. Tisha shrugs at her, and follows him in. Cycelia lets out a defeated sigh, and follows everyone in as well.

「Hello? Professor?」

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Damian calls out, looking around. The old man comes angrily rushing out from beyond one of the pillars, stomping angrily towards them.

「Why do you keep coming back!?」

He asks through his teeth, scowling at Damian and the rest.

「Ah… Apologies for disturbing you, professor… Professor Aria asked us to check on you the other day, but the wraith got in the way…」

Damian bows his head, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward smile.

「How many times was it that I told you, that I do not need to be checked on!? You, and that man!」

The man shouts, glaring at Damian, then at Cycelia.

「Again, apologies, professor… How are you feeling? If there's anything-」

「I'm feeling frustrated, frustrated enough to write a letter to the headmaster regarding you.」

The old mage angrily brushes through his gray beard, staring at Cycelia with narrowed eyes.

「Yes, my apologies…」

Damian bows his head repeatedly. Tisha scoffs, shaking her head.

「…Fox-eyed coward…」

She utters out with her arms crossed. Damian clicks his tongue in frustration, and suddenly gains a tight-lipped grimace as he looks up at the man's scowling face.

「…Actually, I may be able to use you. Wait outside.」

He says, looking at Damian, and turns around on his heel to approach his desk.

「We will wait…」

The handsome young man continues to deferentially bow his head over and over. He gestures with his head towards the door to the rest of the girls, and herds them outside while the man grabs an ink pot.

Cla-cluck.

The door latches shut. Damian lets out a tired and frustrated sigh.

「…Can you not make things difficult for me while we're investigating things?」

He asks Tisha with a serious face tinged by anger as he crosses his arm, and rests his back on the nearby wall.

「I can't bear watching you act like this. You're completely spineless. It's pathetic.」

She replies, leaning onto the wall across in mirrored manner.

「People are more likely to tell you things if they feel high and mighty… And this place…」

Damian says, looking at the dim ceiling.

「Damian, is there something suspicious about the professor?…」

Cycelia asks, looking at him with Neela, both with troubled expressions on their faces. He momentarily glances at them, before returning his eyes upward, thinking.

「…I don't know. It's strange. If it came out of that door, the presence I felt here before was definitely the wraith…」

He replies, turning his gaze to the door across.

「…But now I don't feel it anymore, and yet, it's like someone else is in the room with him.」

「But he's always alone…」

Neela chimes in. She and Cycelia look at each other with their brows furrowed.

「Exactly… If someone is there with him, then where?…」

He nods, and lowers his head. He rubs his chin in deep thought, blankly staring at his own feet.

「…I can't discount the possibility that my ability is wrong, either. It wouldn't be the first time… But it would be the first time like this.」

Damian adds, and turns his face to Cycelia.

「He said that man… Who?」

He asks, first looking at her, then at Tisha.

「Ah, he probably meant Straf…」

Cycelia replies, nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders.

「He came here before? Why?」

Surprised, Damian bounces himself off the wall, facing her.

「I'm not sure… Straf's motivations are pretty mysterious to me, but he seemed to suspect him of something… Vague. He said something about good cop, bad cop…」

She shrugs again, lightly tilting her head.

「Good cop, bad cop?…」

「…What's that?」

Tisha and Damian say, glancing at each other before turning their eyes to Cycelia.

「I don't know-」

Cla-cluck.

Cycelia replies, but the sound of the door opening beside her interrupts her. The old, gray-bearded man stands in the doorway, warily looking at them.

「…Take this to the headmaster.」

He instructs Damian in a low, growling tone full of displeasure as he holds an envelope out for him. Damian takes it, and the professor places his hand on the door to swing it shut.

Thud.

「Ah, professor!…」

Damian quickly exclaims, placing his foot in the door's way. The old man's upper lip twitches in obvious anger, and he silently stares at his nearly entirely closed fox-like eyes with a scowl.

「…Do you perhaps have a key for this door here?」

He asks, awkwardly smiling at the man as he points the envelope at the door with the plaque on a nail.

「…There is no key to that door. Leave.」

The old mage replies, and shoves his body into the door. Damian winces in pain, and pulls his foot away.

Thud!

The door loudly slams shut. Damian limps a few steps away.

「Nnhh…」

He groans, limping in a circle, grimacing heavily.

「…Are you okay?」

Tisha asks, bouncing herself off the wall to approach him with her brows furrowed.

「…I'll walk it off…」

He grunts out, and turns towards where they came.

「…I will deliver it tomorrow. Let's call it a day for now.」

Damian says, still limping and slower than the girls' comfortable walking speed.

「…Really, that's all it took?」

With her arms crossed while following right beside him, she asks with an incredulous tone and a pitying smirk on her face.

「Tsk… Shut up, I ran out of ideas for today… That's all it is… Ngh…」

He clicks his tongue, refusing to even glance at her as he limps beyond the corner into the darkness under the escort of the girls…

…

Late at night, in one of the workshops…

Straf is fiddling with the interior of a magic lamp, examining the fine grooves and runes running alongside them within. An assortment of gems varying in colors and sizes waits ready on the table.

「Wait, but why does this shit?…」

He mumbles, tracing one of the channels to the housing for the gem. He grabs a random one, and inserts it. The lamp immediately lights up and attempts to right itself up from its side, but Straf keeps it down.

「But why is it like this?… That's so fucking wasteful…」

He thinks out loud with his hands hanging limp over the opened lamp, furrowing his brows at one of the lit channels. He points the tip of his screwdriver-like implement inside, and begins carving an extra channel.

ZAP! Clunk!… Clunk. Clunk…

「Ow! Fuck!」

The tool is flung out of his hand by a powerful force as a painful shock runs through his arm. He winces and jumps back, letting the lamp go. It floats up a little above the table, finally righting itself.

「Tsk… Tsss… Fuck… Ow…」

Straf clicks his tongue in frustration, glaring at the lit lamp as he shakes his numb, aching hand. He walks a few steps towards the wall to pick his magic device tool up after it bounced wildly, and returns.

He rips the shining gem out of the lamp, sets it back down on the table along with the lamp itself, and continues carving away the channel, cursing and grumbling under his breath.

After roughly ten minutes of careful scraping against the malleable metal, he straightens out and lets out a large sigh. He takes one last glance at the lamp with his fists on his hips, and takes the gem.

「Now, let's see…」

Straf inserts it into the lamp. The gem begins to glow and arc within its housing, shining with a blinding light that burns Straf's eyes.

「Ow, ow, ow! Fuck!…」

He covers his eyes, wincing heavily. He grasps blindly at the lamp floating just above the table, and when he finds the gem, he violently rips it out.

Crash!

The lamp abruptly drops down, and the glass meant to encase the gem shatters on impact, sending shards all over the floor and the table. Straf clicks his tongue again, looking at the damaged lamp, then the gem.

「…Guess this is why they don't do that… Fuck, I hope the after-image goes away…」

Straf remarks, rubbing his sore, red eyes. He scoops all the gems, and throws them into his [Portable Storage].

「Well, that's enough of that for today…」

He leaves the mess and the magical tools be, and heads for the door. He walks into the dim, empty, silent hallway outside, and shuts the door behind himself.

「Hm?」

As he turns back around, something shoots past a distant junction in the corner of his vision. He stares down the hall, blinking.

「Ahh… It really better not be permanent… I should try closing my eyes…」

Straf sighs out, grumbling as he rubs his face and teary eyes with his palm. He turns around, and heads in the direction of the dormitories.

「Man, magitech can really fuck you up, huh?… The whole Academy is sleeping on this…」

Walking away, he shakes his head and places his hands in his pockets, then turns a corner…