The Overpowered Cult Leader at the Academy Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Intrusion (3)

“Shall we grab sothing to eat.”

It had been quite a grueling schedule, so I was unusually hungry.

“That sounds fine.”

Winter did not object. She shifted the steps that had been heading straight toward the chapel.

We headed to the shopping district inside the academy. It was an alley filled with restaurants that students mainly used.

“What do you want to eat.”

“Uh. Anything?”

“Sure.”

It was the answer I had expected, so I replied roughly. We headed to a fast-food place where we could eat sothing simple.

It was funny that fast food even existed in this kind of world.

“We bought a lot, didn’t we?”

While waiting for the food, Winter, who had been looking through the catalog, spoke quietly.

As she said, the items we had bought at the auction today were considerable. Of course, most of them were for Bereninche.

“They were all good items, right?”

“Yeah. Otherwise Bereninche would kill .”

“……No way. My older sister would.”

Winter answered with an awkward smile. But I shook my head.

She was the type who would do it if she decided to. Even when I was being expelled and the head of the Duhein Family tried to kill , Bereninche had known.

“……Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

And yet she had not taken any action. She had even used it as a condition.

“How many of them were ours?”

“Three.”

Out of the items purchased at the auction, three were ours. One was a ring to present to the Imperial Princess. Another was an oak tree infused with Divine Power.

“Oh. There was this too. What is this?”

Winter, still looking at the catalog, pointed at one and asked.

“A cursed totem.”

“Oh~ A curse, huh?”

The last thing we bought was the cursed totem. It had been introduced as a sacred item from the jungle region in the southern part of the continent.

At the sudden word, Winter’s mouth fell open.

“A c-curse? It just says here that it’s a sacred item of the Black Panther Goddess from the jungle……”

“That’s the cursed totem.”

“Ah.”

Winter was at a complete loss for words. Her face clearly asked why we had bought sothing cursed.

“W-why would you buy sothing like that.”

“Because I need it.”

In the mid-episodes, the boss could change depending on various choices. This cursed totem was a quest item that altered that boss.

“Do you like jungles?”

“……No.”

Having struggled in the desert, Winter imdiately showed her dislike. But I did not care. The rewards were too worthwhile to give up.

The difficulty was not that high either, and if the rewards were even better, there was no reason not to do it.

“Look forward to it.”

“Eugh.”

As if she had sowhat expected it, Winter nodded weakly. There was not that much ti left until Episode 5.

If we could prepare, it was better to do so.

***

“Senior. Where did Canis go?”

In the strangely quiet interior, Winter tilted her head. After looking around and sensing that sothing felt empty, she fell into brief contemplation.

Before long, she realized that Canis was not there and asked . I made a puzzled expression. I simply wondered why she was asking that.

“I wouldn’t know. She’s not part of our Order.”

“Oh. Right.”

Only then did Winter nod at my words. It seed Canis had subtly seeped into our daily lives. Only then did Worden also realize that Canis was absent.

“No wonder, I couldn’t hear the humming.”

“Canis.”

“Yeah~ Did you call ?”

Since it looked like they wanted to see her, I called her myself. Whenever I called Canis’s na, she popped up from behind like this.

Winter and Worden flinched in surprise, and Canis, seeing that, let out a displeasing smile.

“Is that warp?”

Warp was one of the grand-scale magic spells. A top-tier movent technique that folded and compressed space up to specific coordinates to travel. Canis’s movent skill looked similar.

“No. Ancient Magic.”

“Can I learn it too?”

I had once heard a story about a warrior in the past who could warp in the form of Chukji. Just in case, I asked Canis.

If it was learnable, it would be a technique worth bowing and begging to learn. Smiling charmingly, Canis tilted her head.

“But Davide can use it too?”

“What?”

I heard sothing absurd. I stared at Canis with my mouth hanging open. She kept tilting her head.

“You didn’t know?”

“……How would I know that?”

“Now, repeat after ~ [Cupido].”

The others looked like they had just swallowed sothing foul. Except for Canis, everyone here was a complete amateur when it ca to magic.

At best, Winter could use a bit of Divine Magic, but its principles were entirely different from ordinary magic. Even amateurs like us knew that magic did not work just by chanting sothing like a spell.

“I don’t know the principles or anything. You think just saying that will make it work?”

“Of course? Ancient Magic works as long as it’s engraved—you just have to recite the activation word~”

“……[Cupido].”

With a face full of doubt, I uttered the word Canis had said. Astonishingly, nothing happened.

Canis’s eyes were trembling from side to side in an uncharacteristic manner. She was clearly flustered.

“Are you ssing with ?”

“N-no. This was real?”

“So you’ve been ssing with normally?”

“Th-that’s how it sounds?”

When I glared fiercely, Canis hid behind the sofa. I let out a small sigh and sat down.

Realizing I was staying still, Canis cautiously peeked her head out. With a sigh as if finding her pathetic, Winter handed a cup of black tea.

“Davide. Davide. Would you take a personal request?”

“A personal request? What is it?”

“It’s not an official request, though.”

Quickly taking a seat, Canis snatched my black tea and drank it. As if she had expected it, Winter promptly handed another cup.

After emptying about half of her teacup, Canis brought up the request. Since it was not an official request, it ant it would not be registered with the academy and we would not receive Practical Training Points.

“What is it.”

“Hmm. I need to go to the Poison Swamp, and I heard a rumor that you walk around without a gas mask, Davide?”

If soone had no gas mask in the Poison Swamp, the greatest advantage was speed. There was no need to rest periodically, and without worrying about external contamination, the pace was entirely different from that of a normal party.

“Hmm.”

I rested my chin between my thumb and index finger and fell into thought. A request that required speed. I figured it was probably so kind of gathering task.

“Gathering?”

“Huh~ You caught on right away?”

“What are you gathering.”

“That! Is a secret, you know? I can’t tell anyone but you, Davide~”

Could I take down a Hellhorn Bull in my current state? At the very least, I needed to be capable of that to freely roam the Poison Swamp alone.

“I’ll accept it on the condition that you participate in combat too.”

“Mmm. Sounds troubleso~”

“Hey. Get lost. Forget it.”

“Alright~ Alright~ I’ll do it.”

If Canis genuinely helped, then aside from the master of the Poison Swamp, we could handle most things. At this level, it would be difficult for us to die anywhere.

“What’s the reward?”

“Hmm. Is there sothing you want?”

I brought up the most important part—the reward. When she instead asked , I scratched my chin. Was there anything worth extracting from Canis?

“What would be good.”

Since she was a mage, I wanted to demand sothing like a secret magic passed down through her family.

It would beco formidable power. Whether she would actually give it or not was another matter, but the problem was that I had no mana.

“Is there a way to use magic without mana?”

“Of course?”

“What?”

My eyes widened at the unexpected answer. Such a thod existed? Seeing my surprise, Canis grinned mischievously.

“You can just use sothing else instead of mana, right?”

“Huh?”

“Stamina or blood?”

“Blood Magic? That’s a secret art—you can’t learn it easily.”

This was good. In the ga, there had been soone who used Blood Magic.

He was an Eastern-type character who used sorcery. I was a bit reluctant about that guy, but there was no rule saying only he could use Blood Magic.

“Isn’t this when connections co in handy?”

“So what you’re saying is, you can make it possible for to learn Blood Magic?”

“Of course~”

“Okay. Deal.”

Magic like Blood Magic was a secret art passed down through families. The very word secret ant they were ticulous about managing it.

Whether she could easily obtain the other party’s consent, I did not know. That was for Canis to handle.

“Good. So when are we going?”

“Can you do tomorrow right away?”

“Of course. Then shall we go look for a weapon.”

***

—Knock knock.

“Co in.”

While organizing the Order’s tax statents, Winter stood up at the sound of knocking on the chapel door.

Having dealt with people who barged in without a word every ti, the knock felt welco. Since they had shown the gentlemanly act of knocking, she thought they should be treated accordingly.

“Student Winter.”

“Ah, Vice-Commander!”

The one who entered was quite a welco face. The Vice-Commander, with her long black hair flowing down, greeted Winter.

With a bright expression, Winter gave a small bow and prepared black tea. As if she had expected that, the Vice-Commander brought out the box she was holding.

“I’ve been treated too many tis empty-handed, so I prepared a gift, you know?”

“You didn’t have to. Hehe.”

Winter grinned as she accepted the box. It contained cookies packaged from a high-end bakery. She imdiately opened it and set them out.

“Are you skipping work again today?”

“Hehe. I wanted to, but unfortunately I got caught.”

“Oh no. That’s a sha.”

Winter truly looked disappointed. Talking with the Vice-Commander was one of her favorite ways to relax.

Finding her adorable, the Vice-Commander smiled gently and took a sip of black tea.

“Then what brings you here?”

“I originally ca to see Student Davide. I have a request for him.”

At the ntion of Davide’s na, Winter looked apologetic. Sheila tilted her head.

“Senior just left on a request……”

“A request? I didn’t hear anything about that?”

The Imperial Knight Order could also check the academy’s roster that managed requests.

Sheila, who had checked the roster before coming to the chapel, let out a regretful sound.

“He left 30 minutes ago.”

“Oh my. We just missed each other.”

She had not expected their paths to cross like this. The reason Sheila had co to the chapel was because of a request.

Pressed by the Imperial Princess, she had co earlier than planned.

“Where did he go for the request?”

“He said he was going to the Poison Swamp.”

“……The Poison Swamp. I’ll have to hurry.”

As it happened, the place Sheila intended to request as well was the Poison Swamp. That made their mistid crossing all the more unfortunate.

To think their timing would be this off. In that case, it seed best to chase after him imdiately.

“You’re going to follow him right away?”

“Yes. It’s a rather urgent matter, so I think I should.”

“Um. Senior is quite fast, though.”

“Pardon?”

“I heard he was going to run straight to Zone D. As you know, Senior isn’t affected by poison.”

“I think I must be going now. Student Winter, I’m sorry. It seems I’ll have to drink the tea later.”

“Oh, not at all! Work cos first.”

Thankfully, Winter understood Sheila’s situation. Feeling sowhat pleased by Winter’s kind heart, Sheila promptly left the chapel.

Zone D was where the Hellhorn Bull they had hunted before lived. Was he going to hunt a Hellhorn Bull again this ti?

It was difficult to infer his movents. Just in case, she planned to bring soone skilled at tracking paths. For so reason, she had a feeling they might miss each other again.