040

Judging by her appearance alone, Berlis was a person who did not look like a magician at all.

Her voluminous, pinkish hair was braided down to her waist and tied in a somewhat unfashionable pigtail style, and she favored a long, straw-brimmed hat.

Her clothes were a bumpy two-piece with a quilt pattern, and the colors and patterns inside the pattern were all different, giving it another unfashionable feel.

Her appearance also felt unfashionable; her forehead without bangs was wide, and her eyes were so narrow they seemed almost closed.

Below her squinting eyes, which were hard to tell if they were open or closed, were a lot of slightly dark freckles, and her lips were thick, and her small lips gave an unreadable impression.

She was taller than expected, at about 168cm, and since she was a person with broad shoulders and a sturdy build, the quilt-patterned two-piece made her look a bit bulky.

Her entire appearance gave the impression of a commoner woman who would work on a farm.

So who would look at Berlis and think she was a 4th-circle magician, and a magician who handled evil black magic at that?

But this impression slowly changes when you observe Berlis from a close distance.

‘She’s a person who exudes a strange aura.’

It was as if a strange gaze from within her always-smiling squinting eyes was observing me.

That gaze was different from Yuria’s characteristic lifeless gaze, and also different from Avril’s inorganic eyes that put a price on everything.

It was more like.

‘The eyes of someone who has found good material.’

The atmosphere was similar to Avril’s eyes, but it was more fundamentally dangerous.

At least Avril seemed like he would keep me alive to use me, but this person felt like she was looking at me not as a living creature, but as material for her research.

And she actually did.

‘Your constitution is unique~ You've trained your swordsmanship this much, but your body is so clumsy!’

‘I'm sorry.’

‘No, no. It’s just interesting. I know a lot about the human body! I may be lacking, but I’m at the 4th-circle level. May I take a look at your body, Teacher?’

That day, I was able to indirectly experience what a biological experiment was.

I couldn’t say for sure, but it was the worst experience of my life.

“……So that damn bitch fiddled with your body, is that it?”

No, it was just a few potions that made my body feel bad, my mind hazy, and my physical symptoms strange, and she just checked my reaction.

But Yuria and Rozalin had no intention of listening to me.

Both of them looked at Berlis, expressing their hostility to the fullest, like beasts whose territory had been invaded.

“Teacher~ The academy has gotten noisy again while I was away~ Wow.”

Even seeing the two of them, Berlis just smiled faintly and gently placed her palm on her cheek.

Rather, it was Rozalin who seemed a little tense at Berlis’s gesture.

‘Of course.’

The circle of a magician signifies how well they know magic.

The 1st-circle signifies a being who has realized the heterogeneous power that exists in this world, mana, and can utilize it.

The 2nd-circle refers to a level where one can transform the pure form of mana into natural attributes such as fire, ice, and lightning.

The 3rd-circle refers to a being who can strengthen mana.

Not just being able to use magic, but being able to control that magic with one's own ability is what earns the 3rd-circle.

And the 4th-circle.

It was a rank awarded only to those who had gone beyond the conventional magic theory and established their own form of magic implementation.

In other words, that light gesture could actually be a magic implementation formula.

“Oh my, that's not it.”

As if she had guessed Rozalin’s concern, Berlis let out a soft smile.

It was easy to misunderstand because her narrow eyes were curved, but after seeing her for a few years, I knew.

Her eyes were not smiling.

“Baby kittens? I don't know why you're being like this, but let's get along, shall we? Teacher~ Are these people also the little lambs who came here because of the Chairman’s meddling~?”

“No. The Chairman did approve their admission and withdrawal, but it's not necessarily like that.”

“Ahahaha, then the situation is a little different from mine~. Hey, that fanatic, how did she get demoted to a rural backwater school like this~? Little girl, did you kill a High Priestess like me?”

Her eyes curved for the first time.

And in that moment, Yuria lunged forward.

Hwook—!

And almost at the same time, Rozalin’s hand grabbed the scruff of Yuria’s neck and pulled her back.

She was stopping Yuria from going berserk.

Yuria tried to get away from Rozalin by pulling her shoulder and twisting her body.

“H-hey! Yuria, calm down!”

But Rozalin, as if she had predicted Yuria’s move, held her tightly and stepped back.

Yuria, who was small, could only be dragged away, almost as if she were being held.

“That’s a lie, right? As far as I know, there have been no cases of a High Priestess-level person being assassinated in the Holy Kingdom in the last 20 years. If such an incident had occurred, the Holy Knights would not have stood by.”

“Ahahahaha. I could be a 40- or 50-year-old grandmother, you know.”

“You look young.”

“Are you saying I look young? Oh my~ This young lady has some sense. Are you Teacher Cassian’s disciple~? You seem to have taught her well.”

Her eyes, which had found some amusement, did not uncurve.

That was even more chilling, but I hid my emotions as much as possible and changed the subject.

“Did you have some results from your research trip this time?”

“Oh, of course~ I found a few good dolls.”

Every time she spoke, Yuria and Rozalin flinched.

Berlis smiled as if she found the two of them cute.

“Teacher~ Are they being like this because they know what kind of person I am?”

“I just told them that you're a person who deals with corpses.”

“Aww. That’s why that young priestess misunderstands me~ And that swordsman young lady too. Her killing intent is too strong, you know?”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Hmm~ Simply put. I'm a wholesome magician who pursues true magic!”

She waved her hand as if she were harmless.

The word ‘wholesome’ couldn't have been more out of place.

“The magic in this world is all strange, isn't it? All it does is spew fire and strike lightning, just imitating natural phenomena. I'm just pursuing magic beyond that kind of magic~.”

“That’s called heresy.”

“Aww. That’s too religious. What kind of magic is it if it can’t even realize our human imagination.”

Her eyes half-opened for the first time.

Her vertical pupils, a bewitching yellow, flashed.

“That’s just a trick. Magic? Or theory…… ahaha. I'm so bad with words. Teacher Cassian is good at wagging his tongue at times like this.”

“……”

“So people just misunderstand me, but I'm wholesome~ And the dolls I brought are like this~!”

Berlis’s hand, which had been waving in the air, dropped.

At that moment, a ball-jointed doll appeared under her hand with a thud.

It was a bizarre doll.

It was a doll with only a body, without any accessories or clothes, and the strings tied between the joints were connected to Berlis’s fingers.

At Berlis’s gesture, the doll slowly stood up from its place as if it had life and bowed gracefully.

Its blue glass pupils, close to white, reflected our figures.

“Hel.lo.~ I. am~ a~ tea.ching~ a.ssis.tant~ who~ re.cent.ly~ en.rolled~ with~ Tea.cher~ Ber.lis.~”

Whether Berlis was ventriloquizing or not, a voice that was somewhat choppy, with a strange rhythm and tempo, but with a strange sense of regularity, flowed from the doll.

At that bizarre greeting, Rozalin took a step closer to me and became more vigilant.

Berlis looked up at the empty air for a moment, then waved her hand again.

In an instant, the doll had disappeared without a trace, but the short-lived afterglow of the doll still lingered in the air.

“Well~ then I’ll go report to the Chairman~ and since I'm so tired, I'll go to sleep for a bit~ Ahahaha. Bye bye, little birdies~ Let's have a more wholesome and fun chat next time~.”

Slowly, Berlis disappeared towards the school.

By the time she had completely disappeared, Rozalin, who had been staring at the place where she had disappeared, let out a breath.

It was a breath tinged with a great deal of tension.

“Great General. That person is dangerous. For a person who exudes such an evil aura to be the magic master of the academy, there is something wrong with this. Great Master. That person is so insidious and full of evil energy that she should be reported to the Empire or the Holy Kingdom and arrested immediately.”

Yuria, who had been released from her embrace, began to rattle off words as if she had been waiting.

It seemed she was laying out all the words she hadn't been able to say because Rozalin had been covering her mouth.

“I know.”

But there was no proper way.

That magician had been staying in this territory longer than I had, teaching students.

If, by any chance, someone from the Holy Kingdom or the Empire were to be dispatched.

I didn't know what she would do to the students in the academy, which was her territory.

“She didn't seem to have done anything clearly wrong either……”

“I don't think so.”

Rozalin declared, cutting me off.

It was a rare occurrence.

“Rozalin?”

“Teacher. I was wrong. So let’s not mix magic into swordsmanship.”

“Why……?”

That’s different from what you said earlier.

You said that in order to face the demons, swordsmen had to awaken and be able to cut magic.

That was the reason why Pan was valuable.

But Rozalin seemed to be serious.

“That doll just now.”

“Yeah. It was a bit unstable and ominous, wasn't it?”

“That way of speaking was strange.”

Rozalin looked up at me.

“That’s military Morse code.”

“Morse code?”

“It’s a way of signaling by dividing a language into a rhythm of ‘dit’ or ‘dah’ to transmit a code in a specific situation.”

“First time hearing about it.”

“Because it’s only used in the military. When there are no magicians, it's a way for ordinary soldiers to convey their opinions by blending them into everyday noise……”

Her expression was more serious than ever before.

“‘Help me.’ That’s exactly what it said.”

At Rozalin’s words, I turned my head and looked at the place where Berlis had disappeared.

Even though it was still morning, the sky was full of clouds, making the day gloomy.

“So, Teacher. Don't associate with a person like that……”

“No. Don't worry.”

I reassured Rozalin and Yuria.

“……Before you two regressed and came back. Did Pan ever talk about anything related to Instructor Berlis?”

“No.”

When Rozalin first heard the name Berlis, she didn't remember her.

In other words, in her previous life, Berlis hadn't caused any particular incidents and had just lived well as a teacher at the academy before disappearing.

“We don't know. Maybe she was related to the monsters.”

“Do monsters appear in relation to people?”

“Monsters appear to take away what humans hold dear. Ranged weapons. Or melee weapons. The earth. God. The sun. The wind. Love. Family……”

So that's how things like the World Eater or the Eternal Nightmare came to be.

“But if she were that kind of being, Pan probably would have said something.”

“Pan didn't talk much about his own awakening in the first place. Maybe……”

I understand her concern.

But if you think about it differently, in my previous life, I had experienced all these situations as if they were everyday life and had finally developed a swordsmanship that utilized mana and taught it to Pan.

“I can’t always receive your help. I'll try to do the things I originally achieved myself.”

“Teacher.”

“That doesn't mean you should just stand by and do nothing.”

In the past, I had no power, so I could only watch Berlis’s insidious and awkward atmosphere.

But now.

I had people like Rozalin, Yuria, Avril, and Hati.

So.

“You two, find information related to Berlis. Look for any suspicious aura in the academy or the village.”

Because that was something I, who knew nothing about mana and had avoided it, couldn't do.

The two of them slowly nodded, as if they understood.

I looked again towards the academy where Berlis had disappeared.

There stood the Akarind Tree, the guardian tree that always protected Akarind Academy.

The wind blew, and the leaves on the branches trembled once.

It was a dreary morning.

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