Ding!

A chime rang in the air as Aoife and Evelyn stepped out of the bookstore. The two of them had been paired up together.

Coming out of the store, Aoife held onto several books. The pile was quite long, with Aoife having to hold the books with both hands.

The two quietly walked around the town before finding a place with a nice view to eat.

"I'll have this."

"...."

Unlike Aoife, Evelyn took her time to choose her dish. Her eyes turned unusually serious as she scanned the menu.

Evelyn was taking so much time that Aoife felt compelled to say something.

"Are you ordering anything?"

"I am."

"It's been several minutes."

"I know."

".....So?"

"Quiet."

Aoife was taken aback. This was the first time she had seen Evelyn act that way. In fact, taking a look at her now, she seemed like a completely different person.

Even her aura appeared to be different.

What in the...

"I'll have this one, please. I'd also like it for it to be accompanied with some Givvon Wine."

"....?"

Aoife's expression turned even stranger. Givvon Wine? What the hell was that? Even though Aoife was a noble, she had never heard of such a type of wine. It sounded fancy.

Evelyn's response was cold.

"I take my food seriously."

".....I see."

The atmosphere turned awkward. But not for long as Evelyn shifted the attention towards the book on the table.

"Food aside, what did you get?"

Aoife had spent quite a bit of time searching for the books. Evelyn hadn't had the chance to check what she had bought.

"Oh, right."

Aoife flipped one of the books open.

"Besides study materials, I also got some information about the town. Since we're here on a mission, I thought it was appropriate to do so."

"Oh?"

Evelyn grew somewhat curious. Taking a sip of her water, she leaned back, brushing her purple hair behind her ear.

"What did you find out?"

"....Hmm."

Aoife frowned. Skimming through the book, she paused after a short while. Looking around, she lowered her voice to whisper,

"A necromancer."

"Eh...?!"

Evelyn had to hastily cover her mouth to prevent herself from shouting. Thankfully, no one noticed her outburst as she apologized to Aoife.

"Sorry."

"....It's fine."

Taking a breath to calm herself down, Evelyn whispered back,

"Did you say a necromancer?"

"Yes."

Aoife nodded her head with a serious expression and flipped the book to a certain page.

"According to the book, a necromancer has been haunting this city for over thirty years. Several raid parties had been sent by the town to fight against the necromancer, but unfortunately, they ended up in defeat every time. It's a powerful one."

"Wait, did you say for over thirty years?"

"Yes."

Aoife grimly nodded.

"....Thirty years."

Evelyn stayed quiet for a short moment to digest the information. Then, once she did, she asked,

"And they've never asked for help?"

"No."

Aoife shook her head.

Despite being from the Megrail family, this was the first time she had heard of such a case. This either meant that the Megrail family ignored the situation, or the town had never asked for help from outsiders.

Aoife was leaning more towards the latter.

Especially since the Empire took Rogue Necromancers extremely seriously.

Belonging to the [Curse] category, these beings possessed the ability to revive the dead and control them as 'puppets'. While individually not powerful, their power lay in their ability to amass an army of these 'puppets', rendering them a significant threat.

Especially if they were given a lot of time to grow.

".....What is this?"

Evelyn rubbed her forehead in shock.

As a noble, she understood well just how powerful a necromancer was. For the town to not have reported such a dangerous entity for so long...

"How strong is it now?"

"I don't know."

Aoife shook her head and closed the book.

"However, if the Academy sent us, it means that we can handle it."

"You think?"

".....Yes."

If the situation was serious, then her family would've already sent someone by now.

"That's a relief."

Evelyn patted her chest in relief. Just then, her eyes paused on one of the other books on the table and her expression scrunched up slightly. Raising her head, she looked at Aoife weirdly.

"Why do you have that?"

"What?"

Evelyn pointed at the book in question.

"That."

".....Ah."

Aoife covered the book with her hand.

"I wanted to cross reference some things. I have a similar book in English so I wanted to use it as a reference for when I'm learning."

"Oh."

Evelyn wasn't sure whether to believe her or not.

<Fun Jokes that will make you laugh all day>

".....How is that supposed to help? Don't tell me you actuall-"

"No."

"Rea-"

"No."

In the end, Evelyn stopped caring. There was something else that was more important. Their food was here.

"Here you go. Enjoy."

Immediately, a nice smell wafted through the air and Evelyn smacked her lips.

'Aroma. Nine out of ten. It's pleasing to the nose and isn't overbearing. It cuddles you like a warm blanket in winter.'

Picking up the fork, Evelyn was just about to dig into her food when she paused.

"Hu?"

Not far from where they were, she spotted two figures. The two were walking together without saying a thing.

It was an odd sight.

As if noticing her reaction, Aoife turned her head

"What... Ah."

The moment her head turned and she took notice of the two, her head flicked back into place. It was almost as if she was avoiding them.

Wait, what?

Confused, Evelyn looked at Aoife. However, before she could get any words out, a shadow cast over the area they were in. It was none other than Leon.

"Leon?"

"....Hello."

Looking behind him, Evelyn noticed that Julien was there as well. Looking at the river, he appeared to be lost in his own thoughts. It was a weird sight.

Turning her head, Aoife confronted Leon.

"What are you doing here?"

"....I was wondering if you found anything."

"Hmm."

Squinting her eyes, Aoife's head briefly looked back and then she sighed. Opening one of the books, she started to recount everything that she had told Evelyn.

It took no longer than ten minutes and by the time she was done, Leon was staring back at her with a frown.

"A necromancer?"

"Yes."

".....That's troublesome."

"It is. Especially since we don't know how strong it is. However, judging from the initial scouts by the Academy, it doesn't seem like something we can't handle."

"That's tr-"

Leon paused halfway through his sentence as his gaze fell on a certain book on the table. In a flash, his head flicked back to Julien and then to the book.

His unusual actions attracted the curious looks of the girls.

"What's wrong with you? Is-"

"This book."

Leon pointed at it while lowering his voice.

"Why do you have this?"

His gray eyes stared deeply into Aoife's. He almost seemed shaken.

"Didn't I tell you it's cursed?"

"....Uh? When? I just bought thishey what are you doing!"

Splash

Aoife's opened her eyes wide. By now, everyone's attention was on Leon who seemed like a totally different person.

"What the hell was that for?!"

Leon didn't appear all that bothered about Aoife's anger. Rather, he seemed relieved. But not for long.

Especially when he noticed Julien's gaze directed towards that crystal clear water.

His eyes seemed to be fixed on the cover of the book.

".....Oh, no."

And for the first time in Evelyn's life, she witnessed Leon's expression crumble.

***

Time passed. It was now time for dinner. The day had passed in a flash, and before I knew it, we had to return to the rendevous point which was located in the hotel we were staying in.

It was a large building that stood out just as much as the casino.

The walls were adorned with paintings depicting all sorts of images, while rich wooden accents, from polished oak furniture to finely carved beams, added warmth to the ambiance.

"....It's a pity that we weren't able to go to the casino."

"Um."

Leon nodded in agreement as we entered the building.

After the meeting with Aoife, we spent the better second half of our day looking into the situation.

If I had one word to describe it then it'd be 'grim'.

The situation was grim.

While the place looked joyful and happy on the outside, it was merely an outer facade.

A facade that they had created just for us.

"Akh!! She's not here too?!"

A sudden shout snapped me out of my thoughts. Looking towards where the sound came from, I noticed a haggard-

looking Josephine by the entrance of the hotel.

With sweat dripping down the corner of her face, she frantically looked around.

"Oh, no... Oh, no..."

Leon and I exchanged glances as we both grew serious.

Don't tell me...

"What's going on?"

Aoife was the first one to step up.

She too appeared equally serious. Probably, she also realized what we had found.

And the fact that the professors weren't here yet added to the tension.

"Did something happen?"

"Ah, this...! Aoife!"

Josephine rubbed her hair in frustration and panic.

"What?"

The tension around the room elevated.

So much so that one other cadet urged from the back.

"Spit it out? What is it?"

"It's Kiera!"

Josephine said exasperatedly.

"Kiera? What about her?"

"She... She went missing! I've been looking for her the entire day! She was meant to have gone to the bathroom, but she never came back. Oh no...! What if s-"

Josephine stopped.

Blinking her eyes, she turned her head. In the distance, a figure appeared. Josephine blinked yet again to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

When she was sure it was indeed Kiera, her expression changed.

"Enng?...Kiera?! Wait, why does she...? Nn?"

"That's...!"

"...?"

Everyone's expressions changed the moment they looked in the same direction she was looking at.

"What's going... Ah."

When I faced the direction they were looking at, I understood perfectly why their expressions were like that.

"What is she doing?"

No, more importantly.

Why was she dressed like that?

*Puff*

"Yo~"

Holding onto a big cigar, Kiera greeted all of us. Her nonchalant air mixed with the arrogant expression she was making stood out and people started to look her way.

It wasn't just her expression that stood out.

"Where did you get that?"

But the huge fur jacket that she was wearing as well. With black stripes across and the fact that it draped all the way down to her legs, she stood out amongst the crowd.

Coupled with a pair of sunglasses and a cigar, she looked like a pimp.

"Oh? You mean this?"

Kiera pinched and pulled on the coat.

*Puff*

And took a drag of her cigar.

Smoke lingered around her face for a couple of seconds.

"Nothing much. Just gambling and shit~"

"Gambling?"

Josephine's eyes widened.

"Wait, what?! You went gambling?!"

I stared at the scene speechlessly.

Kiera nodded while putting her hand in her pocket.

"No, for real. I went in there with all my money and..."

She scratched the side of her face.

"...I lost everything."

"..."

"But...!"

She raised her finger. As if trying to justify that she had gambled all her money away.

"I still managed to win myself this nice jacket! Made from real Belstron skin. Fucking awesome, right? Keke... Plus, I also got a free box of cigars. They're of good quality. Want to try one?"

"...."

Josephine opened her mouth, but the word just refused to leave her.

Misunderstanding her actions, Kiera stuffed a cigar in her mouth.

"....Ukeh!"

"There you go!"

And lit it up with her finger.

"Now take a big puff."

"Cough...! Cough...! Akh! Why do my eyes burn?"

"Kakakaka."

Slapping her thigh, Kiera bent over and started to laugh.

"Did you see the face you made?"

".....Akh!"

From that point forward, everyone lost interest in what was happening. It was just the normal stuff.

That was until...

WHIIIII

The large blaring sound of a horn echoed throughout the entire town.