The sky was just beginning to brighten.
The fog had not yet dispersed, hanging over the plaza of the Royal Magic Academy like a layer of damp gauze.
The air carried the faint, fishy scent of earth.
A figure was wandering near the fountain.
He would take three steps, then stop for a moment.
He would squat down and stare blankly at the moss in the cracks between the paving stones.
Then he would stand up and continue circling.
Horn Montfoss.
He was here every morning.
No one knew what he was doing, and no one wanted to know.
In the eyes of most students, he was just a freak who couldn't even speak clearly.
“Good morning, President Horn.”
Bell’s voice pierced through the fog.
Horn’s shoulders jerked as if he were a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
He whipped his head around, his thick lenses completely covered in condensation.
“B... Bell? Junior?”
Horn greeted him stutteringly, his gaze lingering on Tia behind Bell for a second.
Then he quickly lowered his head, staring at the tips of his own feet.
“T... That, I’ll be heading back first!”
With that, he clutched his head and scurried away along the base of the wall.
He ran faster than a rabbit.
Bell watched his retreating back, lost in thought.
“What is he running for?” Bell muttered.
“He’s probably afraid of me.”
An aged voice suddenly emerged from behind the fountain.
Bell’s muscles tensed instantly.
Tia’s fingertips had already turned into silver blades, hidden within her sleeves.
The fog cleared.
An old man wearing a grey robe, leaning on a withered wooden staff, walked out with a smile.
His white beard reached his chest, and the wrinkles on his face were piled up like old tree bark.
Headmaster Griffin.
The headmaster of the Royal Magic Academy.
One of the longest-living mages on this continent.
“Good morning, Headmaster.”
Bell put his hands behind his back and gave Tia a signal.
Tia retracted her blades and stood obediently half a step behind Bell.
Like a perfect maidservant.
Griffin didn't look at Bell.
Those cloudy old eyes were staring intently at Tia.
He watched her for a full minute.
He watched until sweat began to bead on Bell’s back.
“Truly beautiful,” Griffin remarked.
“Even in my nearly two hundred years of life, I have never seen something so pure.”
He reached out a withered finger and pointed toward Tia’s chest from a distance.
“No breath.”
“No heartbeat.”
“There isn’t even a trace of mana fluctuation.”
Griffin smiled, the wrinkles on his face squeezing together.
“Bell, my boy.”
“Don’t tell me this is some alchemical puppet you picked up on the side of the road.”
Bell remained silent.
He couldn't bluff his way through this.
In front of ordinary students, Tia might just be a cold beauty.
But in front of an old monster like this, who had one foot in the grave.
Tia was like a giant lightbulb shining in the dark.
She was too perfect.
So perfect she didn't seem like a product of this world.
“She is my girlfriend.”
Bell raised his head, looking directly into Griffin’s eyes.
“Tia.”
“The one who withdrew a while ago?”
Griffin raised an eyebrow.
“I remember the records stated she died in an accident.”
“That was a misunderstanding.”
Bell didn't bat an eye.
“She was just very ill and changed... her body.”
The smile on Griffin’s face faded slightly.
He leaned on his staff and took two steps forward.
An invisible pressure descended like a mountain.
“Changed her body?”
“Boy, do you know what you’re saying?”
“Soul transfer is a forbidden magic.”
“And this isn’t just a transfer.”
Griffin’s gaze became sharp.
“To take the soul of a living person and place it completely into a non-biological container without any cleansing.”
“While still preserving self-awareness and memory.”
“This isn’t called alchemy.”
“This is called resurrection.”
As those words were spoken.
The wind in the plaza seemed to stop.
Bell’s palms were soaked with sweat.
But he didn't back down.
“I suppose it is,” Bell admitted.
But he didn't mention thermodynamics, the mana pump, or the physics formulas that had driven Antinoia crazy.
He simply claimed it was some ancient family secret.
Griffin stared at Bell for a long time.
Suddenly.
He laughed.
The pressure vanished instantly.
“It seems I really am getting senile.”
Griffin shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of self-deprecation.
“Back then, I only had my eyes on that little girl with all-element affinity.”
“But I missed a monster like you.”
“To be able to bring back the dead.”
“A talent like that would be enough to drive those old fogies seeking immortality mad in any era.”
Bell breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed he had passed this hurdle.
“What do you want?” Bell asked.
“Compensation.”
Griffin tapped the paving stones with his staff.
“It was my lack of foresight that threw you into the Terra Branch.”
“Now, where do you want to go?”
“Ignis? Aqua? Or my private laboratory?”
“You only need to ask.”
Bell was stunned for a moment.
This old man was actually quite reasonable.
“No need.”
Bell shook his head.
“I’m not interested in changing branches.”
“However, there is indeed a favor I need from you.”
Bell took Tia’s hand.
“Give her an identity.”
“A legal, legitimate identity that can walk in the sunlight.”
“Correct the records.”
“Replace the photo with her current appearance.”
“I want her to live.”
“Under her own name.”
“...Tia Olivia.”
“To live with dignity.”
Griffin looked at Tia’s impossibly exquisite face.
Then he looked at Bell’s firm gaze.
“Is it that simple?”
“It’s that simple.”
Griffin stroked his beard.
“Fine.”
“Her student ID will be delivered to your dormitory tomorrow.”
“She will remain in the Aqua Branch.”
Bell bowed.
“Thank you, Headmaster.”
“One more thing.”
Bell straightened up.
“The Soul Research Club.”
“Could you please not disband it?”
Griffin was about to turn and leave.
Hearing this, his footsteps paused.
His back seemed to stiffen slightly.
“That club...”
Griffin turned around, the smile gone from his face.
He became serious, even carrying a hint of wariness.
“Bell.”
“Stay away from that place.”
“Especially from that boy named Horn.”
Bell was somewhat puzzled.
“Senior Horn?”
“He’s a bit strange and cowardly, but his technical skills are quite good...”
“Cowardly?”
Griffin let out a cold laugh.
“Do you know why the Freshman Entrance Ceremony is held with such grandeur every year?”
Bell shook his head.
“It’s so Leovet Victor can take a look.”
Griffin pointed to his own eyes.
“That boy’s eyes can see the essence of things.”
“Every student who enters this academy must pass his inspection.”
“The dangerous ones are removed.”
“The uncontrollable ones are monitored.”
Griffin took a step forward and lowered his voice.
“Do you know how Leovet evaluated Horn back then?”
Bell swallowed hard.
“How did he evaluate him?”
Griffin raised his head, looking in the direction where Horn had just disappeared.
There was a chill in his eyes.
“He said.”
“That wasn't the soul of a single person at all.”
“It was stuffed with thousands upon thousands of wailing souls.”
Rate on N.U.
