SRS 132

“Where did Mikael go?”

He didn’t ask again because he thought he misheard. He asked to see if the man who called himself a headmaster was in his right mind, but at that moment, something occurred to him.

Wait.

Did he use formal speech?

That wasn’t the headmaster’s way of speaking.

Yohan quickly took action once he made his judgment. He manifested divine power immediately and built three walls around the headmaster to block his escape. He kept a sphere of divine power spinning above that in case the headmaster tried to fly away. He stared at the headmaster…the being he suspected was the headmaster’s doppelgänger.

“…Are you a doppelgänger?”

Yohan laughed even as he asked. He’d dealt with Professor Will’s case before, so he knew the doppelgänger wouldn’t just admit it was a fake. He wondered why he even bothered asking. However, he had no other choice for now, so he ignored the awkwardness.

“Yohan, are you insane?”

The dumbfounded Suhyeok whispered from beside him. Yohan tried to ignore his voice. He rolled his golden eyes and analyzed the headmaster’s divine power.

Clap, clap, clap.

Three claps came from behind him.

“……!”

Yohan was startled because he hadn’t sensed any presence. He turned around without withdrawing his divine power from the suspected doppelgänger. Then, he saw the headmaster with his familiarly glowing face.

“I placed it here as a test, and as expected, it’s Yohan. You noticed faster than I thought. It seemed like the fellow was trying its best to mimic me, so how did you know?”

That sly tone and the choice of words that could shake even a priest’s composure, the kind of speech that made one want to throw a punch. Even a doppelgänger couldn’t copy that. This time, there was no mistake. The being that was acting like a play’s director was the real headmaster.

Yohan bowed to the headmaster, who tilted his head and asked again how he’d known so quickly.

“I couldn’t feel your divinity in the lingering divine power.”

He couldn’t say that it was because the fake was less annoying and more polite, so he phrased it nicely. The headmaster seemed to realize that, but he laughed.

“Status isn’t something a mere creature can mimic. It can be faked, but not truly copied. Hahaha!”

The headmaster laughed happily and snapped his fingers. The being trapped within Yohan’s divine power melted away and turned into a liquid-like slime.

“A slime?”

“It’s similar to that monster, but a bit different. Even this state is a form of mimicry. You could say its actual form is pure liquid.”

“Liquid…”

If that was its true form, he understood how it could act as a doppelgänger. Since its true form was liquid, it could change its shape into anything. Yohan curiously stared at the transformed doppelgänger, then looked back at the headmaster. The real one had appeared, but Mikael was still nowhere to be seen.

It seemed Professor Will was indeed a doppelgänger too. The headmaster snapped his fingers again, and the professor turned into the same slime form and was trapped in a glass tube. Yohan watched the scene and brought up his business once things were settled.

“Where is Mikael?”

“Ah. He’s in the barrier’s rift zone.”

“What?”

Yohan raised his voice again. It was strange. He’d caught the doppelgänger and met the real headmaster, but the answer remained the same.

What kind of place was Fantasiademia’s barrier rift? It was the source of the mess in the school, where various dimensional monsters emerged through rifts that had suddenly appeared in the once-perfect barrier. Even the headmaster couldn’t fully close the rifts, so accidents and incidents still happened there.

The headmaster sent a student to a place where monsters that even professors struggled with were appearing? Was he sane? Yohan sincerely wished there was an organization higher than Fantasiademia. That was the only way he could report the headmaster’s atrocities. He prayed desperately to his god for help, and the headmaster explained himself under Yohan’s and Suhyeok’s contemptuous glares.

“I should add that I didn’t exactly send him, in case you’re misunderstanding something. Mikael went there of his own accord.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, it’s like this. It isn’t hard for me to distinguish a doppelgänger, so I recognized the fake immediately, defeated it, and put it in here. Then I ordered Mikael to return, but something bad must’ve happened on his way. He came back on his own feet and asked me to send him to the rift zone. I only granted his request. I can’t very well reject a worker who walks right in.

The headmaster’s cheerful tone made Yohan’s insides boil. If Suhyeok hadn’t sensed his anger and grabbed Yohan’s arm, he might’ve lost his manners and slammed his fist against the table.

Why couldn’t he reject it? It’s a true educator’s duty to refuse and send a student back if they want to go somewhere dangerous.

“…I think you’re asking too much of a mere first-year student.”

“The barrier zone is a place you had to eventually go, so why the surprise?”

“It’s different because my main purpose is the divine beast, and I’m going under the condition that you accompany me.”

Yohan frowned and protested, which was rare for him. The light from the headmaster’s head intensified as he laughed.

“If you’re so worried, why don’t you go too? I had something to ask you.”

“…….”

“Hey, Yohan. Refuse. This is strange.”

Yohan closed his mouth tight like a clam at the suggestion that seemed far too prepared. Suhyeok lowered his voice so the headmaster couldn’t hear and advised. Yohan felt like the headmaster was using a trick to lure him to the rift zone. He glared at the glowing head with suspicious eyes.

“I don’t know why you’re so suspicious. I’ll say it again: I only granted a student’s request. Well, you’re free to believe what you want.”

“So, what’s the favor?”

“It’s almost time for Fantasiademia’s divine beast to wake up. If it’s still asleep, could you force its awakening?”

“Forced awakening?”

He intended to ignore it if the topic was trivial, but this caught his interest. The Nameless One looked proud when Yohan showed interest in the unfamiliar term.

“Yes, forced awakening. That’s what we call the method to wake a divine beast that’s preparing for its awakening a bit faster.”

“How do you do that?”

“It’s simple. You just feed it the person’s blood it imprinted on. You don’t need much; about three drops’ll be enough.”

“What kind of…”

This time, Suhyeok, who had been listening more calmly than Yohan, became agitated. Yohan quickly covered his friend’s mouth as he tried to speak up, forgetting his opponent was the headmaster.

“Is there a reason you must wake the divine beast so early?”

The headmaster sighed.

“Do you even need to ask? There are plenty of reasons right here.”

He showed the row of glass tubes on the desk. They were all doppelgänger bodies.

…True, strange things had been increasing at school lately. Repairing the barrier quickly was good for everyone. Yohan didn’t have the right to go to the barrier unless the divine beast woke up. Even if he went, his safety wouldn’t be guaranteed. So, waking the divine beast was the wise choice if he wanted to find Mikael.

Yohan thought for a moment and finally sighed. Since Mikael was the one there, he didn’t have many choices. What happened to Mikael that made him go to the barrier on his own? What could he do in his condition…?

He had to meet him to find out. With a clear answer, Yohan didn’t hesitate and reached a conclusion.

“Should I bring the divine beast now?”

“Hey, Yohan…!”

Suhyeok was shocked by the unexpected choice. Yohan patted his friend’s back and shook his head.

“It’s fine. So, don’t try to join in; just stay here. I’ll bring Mikael back.”

“…….”

“Don’t worry. I have the divine beast and the spirit. And if I go, the headmaster promised to come along. Isn’t that right?”

If he had a conscience, he should provide support. Yohan looked at the headmaster for help with the persuasion, and the Nameless One readily agreed. Since even the headmaster stepped up to guarantee safety, Suhyeok had to back down. He gave up more because he couldn’t ignore the headmaster’s status rather than because he trusted him.

“Be careful.”

“I will.”

“Don’t trust the headmaster either.”

“Don’t worry.”

That was something Yohan was good at. He answered instantly, and the headmaster looked hurt as if he’d heard the whispered conversation.

Yohan ignored him and left the office with the headmaster, heading to the dormitory. He opened the bottom drawer and saw the young divine beast still sleeping soundly.

“…I’m sorry.”

Yohan felt a bit guilty for waking it from its deep sleep, so he apologized as he took out an awl and pricked his index finger’s tip. Red blood flowed out. He pointed his finger down so the blood’d fall onto the divine beast. Just as the headmaster said, when the third drop fell, light began to pour from the divine beast.

After the blinding light faded, Yohan saw the transformed divine beast. The beast, which had been hard to identify because its body was too round despite having a beak, had become a pure white pigeon that suited Fantasiademia’s buildings.

Yohan felt like he’d witnessed a mystery and blanked out for a moment. He snapped back to his senses at the bird’s small chirp and pulled the divine beast into his arms. When he left the dormitory, the waiting headmaster looked surprised to see the beast and then laughed loud enough to shake the territory.

“This divine beast’s appearance is… detestable.”

Yohan adjusted his hold on the beast and turned his back slightly to hide it from the headmaster. He didn’t bother mentioning that he thought the headmaster was even more detestable.