Chapter 5 - Let's Learn Magic (2)

The next day, Yohan came to the department office to apply for a leave of absence.

It wasn't really so I could work more shifts to pay for Grizzly's food. It was because this would look natural.

The office was bustling. I glanced at the other students who had gathered to apply for leave, and heard them whispering about the professor's death.

Well, the professor's fucking head had suddenly fallen off in the middle of a lecture, killing him. Of course they'd feel too uneasy to attend classes. People were already calling this a cursed university.

It was a shame to lose my credits by taking leave in the middle of the semester, but I had no choice. Besides looking natural, taking leave would give me more time. University activities would only get in the way of protecting myself and learning magic.

And the murderer who'd killed the professor... Personally, I considered it an accident, not murder. Anyway, if anyone was looking for me, they'd start by investigating the university. There was no reason to keep attending and leave a trail.

Well... if they said, 'The culprit must have taken leave to hide. Let's investigate every student who's taken leave!'

'Oh! Let's dig up everything and kill them all!'

I wouldn't have an answer to that. But there'd be no end to it if I kept chasing one possibility after another, so I decided to take leave.

And so I mingled with the other students, submitted my application, and left the university.

* * *

Working part-time at a comic café.

That was my current job, and personally, I liked it. It was still work, so I couldn't say it had no difficulties, but at least it was much better than loading and unloading cargo.

My main duties were making coffee, cooking instant noodles, shelving books customers had finished reading, and warning couples who drew the curtains and got intimate when other customers complained.

Personally, I could let kissing slide. But what the hell was wrong with those assholes who left their used condoms behind? At least throw them in the trash.

This depended on the owner, but when there weren't any customers, I could take out comics and read them. Honestly, that accounted for a large part of why I liked the job. It was the typical kind of part-time work where busy meant really busy, and quiet meant quiet.

Right now, I was using that quiet time to read my grimoire in a corner of the counter. For some reason, its pages went on endlessly, and there were some I couldn't understand at all. Still, from my skim through it, there were all sorts of spells, but the main magic recorded in Mysteries of the Worm belonged to a branch called ritual magic in the Middle Ages.

You know, the kind where you draw a round magic circle on the floor and do a lot of preparation. Ritual magic was further divided into two branches: demonic pacts, where you made a direct contract with a summoned demon, and ceremonial magic, where you borrowed the authority of God, angels, and great names to command summoned demons or spirits and make them obey.

The latter seemed overwhelmingly better, but each had its pros and cons. To put it another way, a demonic pact was a direct transaction with a demon. That allowed more freedom in your dealings. You could ask it to kill someone, or let you use the powers under its control.

Of course, a demon wouldn't work for a pittance. It wanted payment in exchange for granting power: the contractor's soul. When making a demonic pact, you couldn't receive any help. You had to protect your soul and negotiate the contract with your own strength alone. Get it wrong, and you'd lose your soul, sign away your life, and become a demon's plaything.

Ceremonial magic, on the other hand, was safe.

(Of course, that was assuming you'd properly prepared the magical procedures.)

Since you summoned demons using borrowed authority, they couldn't pull any shit. In exchange, the services they could provide were limited. They could only answer the wizard's questions or teach magical knowledge such as astronomy, astrology, and necromancy.

Mysteries of the Worm mainly dealt with ceremonial magic, perhaps because it was a grimoire written by a former Catholic crusader. That was fine by me, since I preferred ceremonial magic too.

... It might sound narcissistic, but I'm the most important person in the world to me. I was learning magic to protect myself and live in peace. Risking my soul as collateral would defeat the whole purpose.

DING!

Just then, the door opened and customers came in, so I closed the grimoire. Studying was one thing, but I was getting paid, so I had to work. The newcomers were a child who looked about elementary-school age and a woman who looked like his mother.

"Welcome. A party of two?"

"No, just one. My child has cram school at six. I'll pay in advance, so please feed him dinner at five thirty. And make sure he gets safely onto the cram-school bus, too."

"..."

Don't get flustered. This happens all the time. In situations like this, you shouldn't raise your voice as if you've heard something absurd. I spoke in a gentle, polite tone.

"Ma'am, we're a comic café, not a kids' café."

I had to make it clear that we couldn't provide that service.

"Of course we care about our customers' safety while they're here, but since this is a space used by many different people, we can't give any one person extra attention. I'm sorry."

"What!? That café nearby does it! Why won't you do it here?"

Then go to that café? I was genuinely curious about that. Why had she bothered coming here?

Anyway, I'd said what I needed to as an employee. All that remained was to listen to her rant with just enough attention. As the words poured out, I calmly checked Grizzly's reaction where it was crouched behind the counter.

"..."

After sending the customer away, I returned to my seat and stroked Grizzly's head in a blind spot of the security camera.

"Grrrr~."

I'd worried it might act on its own again. But thankfully, it hadn't. Apparently my order not to touch anyone unless I directly told it to kill... or, to put it more mildly, gave it the signal to "bite," had worked.

Under no circumstances could a third incident happen somewhere I was present. At least for now, I needed to lie low. I checked the articles about the professor's death on my phone.

Because that was the kind of game I was playing now. One side was trying to find, and the other was trying to hide. Put like that, we might seem evenly matched, but the hiding side—me—had an overwhelming advantage. Grizzly had caused the accidents, and the best evidence they could possibly find was the coincidence that I'd been at both the first and second crime scenes.

There was no need to do anything stupid like, 'I'll have Grizzly commit more murders to throw the investigation off.' I didn't need to engage in a battle of wits at all. All I had to do was stay hidden and quietly let time pass.

In the quiet café, empty of customers, the soft rustle of turning pages filled the air. Yohan's black eyes calmly sought out the grimoire's knowledge.

* * *

In the lecture hall where the professor had been murdered, Shin Sion, team leader of Division Three of the Special Response Section, surveyed the scene while listening to a subordinate's report. She was a black-haired woman with a calm-looking face.

"What came of the body we sent to forensics?"

"Yes, well... They say they found nothing."

"Nothing?"

When Sion frowned, the female operative hastily elaborated.

"Yes. I mean, they found a few incidental fingerprints, but no traces at all of the entity that actually killed the victim."

"It seems to be the kind that leaves no traces."

Sion rested her fist against her lips and considered the bloodstains on the floor.

"... Where is Team Leader Park investigating?"

"Well, since it was a professor who died, he thinks the graduate students are suspicious. He went to investigate them."

A haphazard investigation, just hoping to stumble across the culprit. Still...

"In these circumstances, that is one approach."

As they continued their investigation, the operative breathed a sigh of relief.

"Still, it's a relief no one else has died."

Anomalous incidents had occurred one after another in places where people were openly present. She'd been on edge, fearing this university might already have become a murderous wizard's playground. Fortunately, nothing else had happened.

... But Sion flatly replied,

"No. This is the worst outcome."

"What?"

"They're trying to control the magic, rather than being controlled by it."

Realizing her mistake, Sion smiled at the frightened operative and apologized.

"I'm sorry. That's just my imagination running wild."

Yet the question remained in her mind. For someone who had gained the power to kill without being detected, they were far too quiet. That silence frightened her.

"... What on earth are they planning, and what are they doing?"

With her fist against her lips, Sion murmured quietly to herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that very moment, Yohan was drawing up a list of tools needed to perform magic, intending to test whether it really worked.

Though it varied depending on the spell, the essential items came down to five: a brazier, a censer, holy water, a holy-water sprinkler, and an enchanted dagger to serve as a multipurpose tool.

"... That's seriously a shit-ton of equipment."

Anyway, since I'd decided to try it, I was reading the book to prepare everything step by step when I couldn't believe my eyes.

[Earthenware bowls used to make incense or prepare ingredients are more effective when made by the wizard personally.]

My eyes blinked of their own accord.

"... What?"

What... personally? Couldn't I buy them?

A deep sigh escaped me.

"Haa..."

And that weekend...

[Children and Families! A Fun Pottery Experience!]

"Hello, my little friends! Thank you so much for coming to our pottery studio today! Now, shall we all have fun making beautiful bowls of our very own?"

"Yaaaay! Let's make them!"

The young pottery teacher's clear voice rang out as she welcomed the participants with a radiant smile. So brimming with professionalism that she wanted to include everyone who had come, she even reached toward the participant who wasn't a child and called brightly,

"Now, you in the back, don't be shy!"

One lone adult man at a children's event!

With all the children and guardians staring at me, I lowered my eyes listlessly and answered in a quiet voice.

"Yees... Let's make them..."