Chapter 36
Chapter 36: Viktor, It is Time to go Back to Work!
"Viktor, did you not go to the Academy today?"
"What is it?"
Viktor sat at his desk, a high-tier magic tome in hand, reading it as a form of leisure.
He leafed through it as he answered Leah.
"I have already handed my affairs over to my Teaching Assistant. She is capable of handling it."
Leah looked at his utterly relaxed demeanor and could not help but feel exasperated. She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a sigh.
"See for yourself."
She pulled a letter covered in writing from her pocket and slapped it down on the desk in front of Viktor.
Viktor glanced at the somewhat helpless Leah, slowly closed his book, and picked up the letter.
After reading it carefully, Viktor's brow furrowed.
—
"Professor Viktor, it has now been over 7 days since you last came to the Academy.
Have you encountered some difficulty?
Or perhaps you find the work of teaching to be too tedious?
Should you continue to be unable to return to the Academy,
the Academy will preserve your title of Professor and reinstate it upon your return."
—Royal Magic Academy, Rashel Azure-Blue.
Rashel Azure-Blue was the Principal's name.
As the only 4th-Tier Saint Mage in the Royal Capital—well, the only one up until now; there were 2 of them now.
In any case, the Principal devoted all of his energy to the development and construction of the Academy.
An official letter of this kind was sent automatically by one of the Principal's abilities.
【Natural Sparrow】
This was a magic of the Principal's own creation.
This Natural Sparrow was shaped from the elements present in the air—it might take the form of a fallen leaf, or a mote of dust drifting through the air.
These things of nature moved according to the Principal's will and served as his instruments.
The Principal naturally had neither the time nor the energy to keep abreast of everything that had been happening to Viktor recently.
All he could sense was that Viktor Clavena had not come to the Academy to resume his lessons in 7 or 8 days.
And so 【Natural Sparrow】 activated on its own, delivering this official letter to him—a rather pointed reminder.
"Viktor, it is time to go back to work."
Leah stood to one side, watching Viktor's poker face. Still not a flicker of change.
His title of Professor was about to be stripped, and he was still sitting there without a care in the world.
She said from beside him:
"This letter had already arrived at our door before I came home tonight."
"Which means that after attending this morning's court assembly, you spent the rest of the day at home relaxing? You did not even step out the door once?"
"……"
Strictly speaking, he had not spent the entire day at home—he had, after all, made a trip to Gwen's Manor.
Viktor was quiet for a moment, then set the letter back down on the desk, straightening it to align neatly with the edge.
Watching Viktor look so utterly at ease, Leah felt a surge of irritation she could not contain. Did this person have even a shred of work ethic in him?
She could hold it in no longer, and began venting her feelings at Viktor once more:
"Do you have any idea how much I did to secure that Professor title of yours……"
"I was away from home for too long. I wanted to spend a little more time here."
Before Leah had even finished speaking, Viktor had already cut in.
"Interrupting you is impolite, I know, but I believe an explanation is in order."
"And while I am at it, I wanted to say this to you sooner rather than later."
"I was gone for far too long. Everything at home while I was away—thank you. It must have been hard."
"……"
Now it was Leah's turn to go quiet. She looked as though the words had gotten stuck in her throat. A hint of embarrassment crossed her face, and the corners of her lips turned upward—though it was plain she was trying her best to push the smile back down.
She turned away altogether, pacing around the room while muttering under her breath:
"Ha…… haha, what is this……"
At least Viktor had some self-awareness about him.
Viktor's disappearance these past few days had genuinely made things difficult for the Clavena Family.
But at the same time, it had also been an opportunity.
After all, Viktor had no shortage of enemies. Although Leah had cleared out a portion of them, many had remained hidden all along—people who feared Viktor and had never once let their guard slip.
The moment Viktor vanished, and word even began to spread that he was dead, these people came crawling out one after another, uniting to move against the Clavena Family.
Leah understood perfectly well—they had come to settle scores.
She had already been fretting over this group lurking in the shadows, knowing they would inevitably become a threat to the Clavena Family down the road. But now, as luck would have it, with Viktor gone, she finally had the chance to deal with them all in one sweep.
With Leon's help, the 2 of them had quietly and methodically dismantled more shops than she could count, and in doing so had obtained a considerable amount of valuable goods.
All in all, the Clavena Family had come out slightly ahead in recent days, enough to fill the gap.
Of course, there were still the visible hardships to contend with.
There was no denying that quite a number of merchants had seized on the opportunity to go after the Clavena Family's business.
And that kind of open, above-board attack was not something Leon and the others could simply respond to as they pleased—the stakes were too significant.
The item shop they had only just opened, in particular, had already been struggling with dismal business. After all of this, not a single customer had come through the door.
Reality truly had a way of crushing even the brightest hopes.
Who was it again who had sworn up and down they would definitely make money?
Leah shot Viktor a sideways glance, her eyes making no effort to hide her disdain.
"So, what was the outcome today? You were certainly fine—I am asking about the Duke."
Viktor looked at her calmly and said:
"His name was cleared."
Leah was puzzled, and frowned as she asked:
"Didn't you and the Duke already have a long-standing grudge between you that was anything but easy to resolve?"
She was referring to the incident in which Viktor had confessed his feelings to Erika.
"The Duke is absolutely devoted to his daughter—how could he possibly have gotten on good terms with you?"
Leah could not figure it out. Had Viktor used some kind of leverage to coerce the Duke?
Not that it would be entirely out of character for him.
"Certain matters required me to act as I did."
"In any case, you need not worry about the shop for the time being."
Hearing Viktor say that, Leah formed a suspicion and ventured:
"Are you planning to use the Duke's influence to build a reputation for our products?"
Viktor knocked lightly on the desk.
"That was indeed my initial thought—however, I have no intention of exploiting the Duke."
"After all, his reputation is in no state to be of use at the moment."
Even though the Duke's name had been cleared of the charges against him, what he had done before everyone's eyes remained an undeniable fact.
Under those circumstances, whatever good standing the Duke had built up over the years had been all but destroyed in an instant, at least within the Mage community.
And magical potions were aimed primarily at Mages as their main customers.
If they used the Duke's name, they might as well shut the shop right now.
"His daughter would serve us far better."
"What are you scheming now?"
Leah was bewildered again. She truly could not make sense of Viktor's thinking, and simply shrugged and decided not to dwell on it.
After all, the only thing she cared about was results.
As though something had just come back to her, she added:
"Oh, right—Gwen contacted me today. She said she wanted me to pass something along to you."
"Hmm?"
Viktor was a little puzzled, and then heard Leah relay it with an equally puzzled expression.
"She says her sister wants you to keep watch for any Filth that has slipped into the Royal Capital."
"Her sister? Filth? That is all she said?"
"Mm, nothing more."
Leah watched Viktor's expression shift into something rather complex, and gave him a look.
"Never mind—just go back to your book. I will leave you to it."
With that, she turned and sashayed out of the Study.
Viktor did not even lift his head, sinking into deep thought.
"Gwen's sister……"
In his memory, there was only 1—her eldest sister, Kavra Delin.
Yet this character had never appeared anywhere in the main Storyline.
Because before the main Storyline even began—back in the prologue—she was already dead.
Dead from……
"The demon invasion."
Viktor closed his eyes.
In Chapter 1 of the game's Storyline, the Kingdom of Carencia was struck by a demonic incursion.
A vast number of residents had been reduced to mindless, shambling husks—all of them with their minds seized by the demons.
And countless minor demons roamed the streets freely.
They were spread throughout every corner of the Kingdom of Carencia.
In the early stages of the game, the starter monsters that players needed to kill were not slimes—they were these minor demons.
To players, those minor demons were nothing more than ordinary experience fodder.
It was not until the mid-game, after players defeated the mid-chapter demon Boss of Chapter 1, that the Kingdom of Carencia was finally restored to order.
What was that demon Boss called again?
"Let me think……"
"The Demon of Greed—Yem."
"Hey! Kid, you just casually said something rather unfriendly out loud there."
Weija suddenly began chirping and chattering away on his shoulder. Simply hearing the true name of that thing was enough to give the Evil God a crawling chill all over.
"So? A demon? How do you know that thing's name?"
Weija's single eye bored into Viktor as it asked.
"Just something that came to mind."
"I don't believe you."
Weija did not trust his lie in the slightest. Something that revolting just happened to come to mind?
Revolting—yes, thoroughly revolting.
As a deity in the strict sense of the word, what Weija despised most of all were demons of that sort, ones saturated from head to toe in filth.
Viktor looked at Weija with mild curiosity. The thing was certainly repulsive, but the fact that it was enough to make even an Evil God feel nauseous was still somewhat unexpected.
"Are you not an Evil God? I assumed you and the other demons would have plenty in common."
"Why would you lump gods together with demons?"
Weija raised its head with aristocratic disdain, as though asserting the dignity of its station.
I, a god, demand respect!
"So—that Filth the young lady mentioned, that is what we are dealing with?"
Weija wrinkled its nose with distaste and said: "Why don't you lock me in a cage, deal with it, and let me back out afterward."
Viktor looked at it and shook his head.
In Weija's view, the fact that Viktor had spoken that thing's name aloud meant he knew something.
"I have not confirmed it yet."
To be honest, Viktor found this sort of thing deeply distasteful as well.
Different demons employed different methods, but without exception, they all fed off of human emotions to satisfy themselves.
The Demon of Greed, Yem—its method was……
"To exploit the greed of others, granting them whatever they desire, again and again."
"Until the moment comes when they can no longer repay the debt—at which point, the greedy are dragged into an endless abyss and made to repay it a thousandfold."
Viktor opened his eyes.
"Truly revolting."
***
Heni was in Viktor's office, gathering her belongings.
She was preparing to leave.
To leave this Academy and go somewhere else.
The only person who had ever cared about her was no longer here.
Her dream had already been reduced to ash.
Heni had nothing left to linger for.
"Little girl, you look very unhappy."
A deep, resonant voice spoke from somewhere in the shadows. Heni spun around sharply.
There was nothing there.
"Is this another prank?"
Heni thought to herself—what kind of person still had the heart to play pranks at a time like this. Truly tiresome.
"Oh~ I am sorry, little beauty—you do not look well at all."
"Is there anything I can do to help you?"