SRS 26

“Suhyeok, you need to tone down your mischief.”

Seeing Suhyeok’s arm, Yohan used his divine power to heal him.

“Ugh!”

“Yohan?”

“Yohan, what’s wrong?”

Then, when Yohan suddenly clutched his chest and staggered, his two friends panicked and grabbed him. He broke out in a cold sweat and fell to the floor. His eyes lost focus for a moment, trembling before returning to normal after a few blinks.

“Ha, ha…”

Panting heavily like he’d ran at full speed, Yohan quickly lifted his head and looked at his two friends. His narrowed pupils observed Seiga and Suhyeok’s faces. The weight of that stare made both of them freeze unconsciously, and they awkwardly called out to him.

“Yohan, are you alright?”

“…Ah.”

Only after seeing his friends move and talk did Yohan regain his sense of reality. He staggered to his feet and leaned against the railing.

So that’s why his senior stopped him earlier.

Abel had said he didn’t have time to clean up after a junior’s mistake. Now that Yohan had tried using divine power in a space without a protective barrier, he finally understood what those words meant.

“…Suhyeok mostly uses his body, so he should be fine, but Seiga, just in case, don’t use your water ability here.”

Yohan rubbed his eyelids and muttered. Hearing that, his two friends’ faces grew grim as they realized what had caused Yohan’s condition.

“No way, is it that bad?”

“Is the flow here really that strange?”

“…Rather than strange, the moment you use your ability, hallucinations start. And not pleasant ones. They break your focus, your power wavers, and the organs that release that power inside your body go haywire. So that’s what it meant when Abel said their magic circuit would twist. If you don’t prepare for the hallucinations, using your ability will just cause backlash.”

As he spoke, something trickled from his nose. Yohan lowered his head and pressed his sleeve under his nose, and his white cuff quickly turned red.

Clicking his tongue, Yohan pinched the bridge of his nose to stop the bleeding. If he could still use divine power, a nosebleed like this would’ve stopped in seconds, but not now.

The moment he had used his ability, the hallucination had shown him Cheplen. Because of that, he remembered the face he’d briefly forgotten while struggling to survive in the chaotic school. Yohan bit his lip.

Of all moments, it had shown him the scene of Cheplen’s betrayal. The illusions in Fantasiademia really had the worst taste.

“Are you alright?”

Suhyeok asked anxiously. Yohan nodded.

“It’s just for a moment. It’ll stop soon. …don’t use your powers unless you really have to.”

At his repeated warning, his friends nodded. Only then did Yohan relax a little, straightened his back, and patted their griffins.

“Sorry. I can’t help you for a while.”

The reason Suhyeok and Seiga’s griffins were more exhausted than his own was simple. The difference in the amount of divine power they possessed.

That was why Yohan had wanted to feed their griffins with divine power, just like he always did with his own, to replenish the energy they’d lost while traveling with the demon student. But he couldn’t help the griffins when he wasn’t even able to heal his own nosebleed.

–Prrng!

The two griffins flapped their wings as if to say they were fine.

–Kieek!

Then Yohan’s griffin, jealous of the attention, nuzzled him. Yohan chuckled, stroked his griffin, and looked toward the iron door.

“Wait here for a bit. I’ll be right back.”

After a brief commotion, they had finally arrived at the clock tower. It was time to head to the headmaster’s office.

Yohan and his friends soothed their griffins, opened the iron door, and started to move.

“The griffins are this exhausted because they’re divine beasts. They react more sensitively to demonic energy and use up their divine power protecting themselves.”

As he explained while descending the stairs, Seiga tilted her head.

“But Yohan, you’re a priest too. How come you’re not tired?”

“…Good question. Maybe it’s thanks to the vice headmaster.”

Yohan tilted his head thoughtfully as he muttered.

If he only considered the pressure he’d felt when facing them, it was obvious that Serdik’s presence was far greater than Abel’s. The shock he’d felt when meeting the vice headmaster had been much worse, and Yohan remembered how hard those encounters had been.

Every time he met the vice headmaster, his heart pounded, it hurt, and every moment the divine power in his chest screamed for him to exorcise that demon. After repeatedly enduring that agony, he’d grown used to it. Now, even when standing before the vice headmaster, he only felt a little discomfort, no longer suffering from impulses or pain. That must be why he didn’t feel anything unusual when meeting Abel.

Suhyeok nodded in understanding at Yohan’s explanation.

“Yes, back then you almost fainted when you first saw the vice headmaster.”

He raised his thumb in admiration, impressed that Yohan could now face the vice headmaster calmly. Embarrassed, Yohan fell silent. Seiga, still confused, spoke up.

“But we saw the vice headmaster too, right? We didn’t feel anything weird. I don’t understand why that senior makes us feel so pressured.”

“Hmm… Judging by his attitude, it probably wasn’t on purpose. He’s just not good at concealing his aura yet. The vice headmaster keeps his power contained most of the time, except when he’s deliberately putting pressure on us for disobedience. That’s why everyone else is fine.”

“Then even when the vice headmaster holds back his power, you still find it hard?”

“It’s not just because of demonic energy for me.”

The past tangled with demons, the unique discomfort of their souls, the pulse of those souls mixed together to bring a complex pain.

Yohan explained calmly, just as Abel had said, they descended two floors before suddenly stopping as the atmosphere changed.

“This must be it.”

From the hallway, divine power strong enough to draw gasps filled the air, and it was obvious at a glance that the headmaster’s office must be here. Yohan, shocked by the density of divine energy that made him think demon students weren’t even meant to approach this place, stepped out of the stairwell and walked down the corridor. At the end of the long white hall, there was only one door.

<Headmaster’s Office>

Seeing the name engraved on the golden plate, Yohan turned to his friends. They nodded. After exchanging signals and taking a deep breath, they knocked on the door. Without any response, it opened automatically, welcoming the three of them inside.

By now, they had grown used to Fantasiademia’s unreal scenes, so they slowly entered the headmaster’s office. The room was filled with transparent display cases on all sides, making it look organized and businesslike, more than they had expected. Yohan looked around at the various objects stored inside until a powerful light ahead made him turn his head.

The headmaster, glowing from above his head, was standing there reviewing documents.

…I thought he’d be slacking off, but apparently not.

Judging from their first meeting, the headmaster had seemed playful, irresponsible, and fond of fun. Yet, standing in his office now, Yohan could feel the authority and dignity befitting his position.

Together with his friends, Yohan bowed politely.

“Greetings, Headmaster.”

“You made it here safely with 15 minutes to spare.”

Unlike before, the headmaster didn’t use telepathy to speak. It made talking to him far more comfortable.

The headmaster tilted his chin slightly toward the sofa. It seemed to mean they should sit, so Yohan hesitantly sat down with his friends and looked awkwardly at him. They had come because he called, but the headmaster’s attention was still on his papers, so Yohan couldn’t bring himself to speak first.

“Would you mind waiting a moment?”

The headmaster asked without even looking at them. It wasn’t something they could refuse. Yohan nodded along with his friends and began to look around the office while waiting.

The display cases were filled with objects Yohan had never seen before. Among them was one especially tall case, which contained a spear that radiated a power so overwhelming it made him feel small just by looking at it. As he stared, the headmaster finally finished his work and walked over to the sofa.

“You’ve all done well coming here. Was the trip particularly difficult?”

At the kind question, the students’ eyes grew cold.

“…We didn’t know the way, so there was a bit of a trial.”

“Oh dear. That’s unfortunate.”

The headmaster replied in a tone that didn’t sound apologetic. Yohan sighed and shook his head. He shouldn’t have expected an apology from this headmaster.

“Can we receive a reward?”

“Of course. I’ll open the vault for you, so go inside and pick something you like. Anything is fine, but only what you can actually carry out will be accepted. Also, it’s rare for first-year students to come to the headmaster’s office… hmm, how about I answer one question each for you? Nothing too serious.”

Yohan rubbed his fingernails. Being told not to ask anything too serious only made him more hesitant, but after a moment of thought, he picked one that was harmless yet interesting enough.

“Um… Headmaster, how did you end up taking the position of headmaster at Fantasiademia?”

From their first meeting, Yohan had found it strange that someone this strong would serve as a school headmaster. If it was a rude question, he figured the headmaster would cut it off himself, so he asked carefully. The headmaster chuckled softly, a low, chilling laugh that sent shivers down their spines.

“Well, you see… I became headmaster because I lost at rock-paper-scissors.”

“…What?”

“At our level, everyone has the power of foresight. So when we make a bet, there’s no better way than rock-paper-scissors. Each of us foresees the future, foresees again, foresees the other’s foresight, and the one with the stronger foresight wins. I happened to lose. That’s how I became the headmaster.”

“……”

Faced with such a ridiculous explanation, Yohan and Suhyeok fell silent. Seiga, flustered, spoke up.

“Then, Headmaster, does that mean your foresight is weaker?”

“No.”

“……?”

But he had just said he lost a foresight battle and became headmaster.

While everyone’s faces filled with confusion at the contradiction, the headmaster laughed again.

“I only lost because the angel I was facing could read minds. No matter how strong your foresight is, if the opponent reads your mind and sees what you’ll say, it’s useless.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Silence fell once more over the headmaster’s office. The headmaster, still laughing softly to himself, seemed to find their quiet reactions amusing. Suhyeok and Yohan glanced at each other and frowned.

Seriously…

What kind of headmaster is this?