Awakening

“Student, please take a detour.”

“Ah, but if I take the long way, I’ll be late!”

“It can’t be helped. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

“But...”

Several enforcement officers appeared on the street. They wore bicorne hats, deep blue coats, black trousers, and tall leather boots. Belts were cinched around their waists, each carrying a sword. Behind them, the street was completely cordoned off with signs marking it as a restricted zone.

This was the street where Li Yue had killed the forbidden magic user last night. It was now sealed off by the police and the Church, likely to investigate the residual mana and discover which entity’s magic had permeated the academy.

“Ah, I hope they don’t trace it back to me...” Li Yue was wearing a black overcoat today. For some reason, her attire had recently returned to her old style. She couldn’t muster any interest in the little pink dresses Clo picked out for her, treating them merely as the latter’s little hobby.

“I don’t want to get involved in another strange incident or clean up someone else’s mess.” Li Yue sighed. The blood demons in this world would only become fewer; she had already cleared or absorbed most of the remnants of “Death.”

As long as she didn’t use it recklessly, the seal would remain. Although the power might not be incredibly strong—it was perhaps only a thin wall, so fragile she could shatter it with a single punch—as long as she didn’t strike it, the wall would never collapse.

She quickened her pace. Today’s schedule wasn’t very tight, but the first class of the morning was Ethics of Magic. It was a mandatory course, the kind where one could not be late or absent.

The content was simple. Li Yue felt it was effective, though not particularly useful.

It mostly covered things like not using humans for magic experiments, not using human tissue as materials or mediums for spells, and the prohibition of blood sacrifice and other ethical issues.

Li Yue thought the lectures were well-delivered; they reduced the possibility of people becoming madmen after the fact. However, there was no way to suppress those who were born that way. The world’s oversight of Great Mages or Mages was still not that strict.

St. Victoria Orphanage in Parvati had claimed to adopt orphans, but it was actually a site for adaptability testing with God’s remains. Yakutsk had human and organ trafficking, and its ruler, Reinhardt, was the mastermind who experimented on living people and blood demons.

If it hadn’t been for Lane, she would have killed him eventually anyway. Fortunately, his nature wasn’t entirely bad, and the value he was creating now was certainly not small. Perhaps he really could open a new era.

As for the crimes he had committed, if he felt a psychological burden, he could go and atone for them. If not, no one would force him. Li Yue didn’t care about those things anymore.

She listened intently. She had done well enough back then, killing many people she considered evil while sparing ordinary civilians. However, human nature was so complex that perhaps neither good nor bad people truly existed. Maybe this world created by the old gods had no value in existing, and everyone should just die.

In any case, it was already past twilight; the last light of day had faded, and the brief night must eventually come. Ah...

She suddenly snapped awake, realizing she had been nodding off.

What was I just thinking... I almost fell asleep. I should read for a bit.

She rested her chin on her hand and flipped through an old book with her fingers. The sunlight outside the window was pleasant. As the professor lectured, he used his wand to pull open the curtains. It was early morning; occasionally, birds flew past, perching atop the marble pillars.

The artificially diverted river flowed under several raw stone bridges, appearing ancient and clear.

The clock on the tower pointed exactly to nine o’clock. On its massive hour hand sat a snow-white pigeon. It tilted its head, watching everything before it while letting out constant coos.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.