Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin

Noona

Grandia Academy.

The faculty was in full emergency mode.

Understandably so. The Apostle of the Evil God had appeared, and not somewhere distant,right inside the academy, during an active practical.

〈This situation cannot be overlooked...〉

〈A clear determination of cause and a formal accounting of the facts must be...〉

An unidentified Barrier. Some students had been caught inside it, and things had come within a hair's breadth of spiraling into catastrophe.

Fortunately, no one had been seriously hurt. But the academy itself had been turned completely upside down.

Every faculty member was called into emergency session.

Days of discussion followed, one bleeding into the next.

In the end, the professors didn't get to clock out until they'd burned through three full days and nights straight.

Nothing was resolved, of course.

Same as with the unauthorized Purgatory Floor 70 run, all they'd managed was to keep things contained so nothing embarrassing leaked out.

The most credible theory was that someone inside the academy was feeding intelligence to a hostile faction.

Even that much hadn't been fully hammered out.

〈We'll take a brief recess.〉

〈Faculty, please return for the meeting in six hours.〉

After the marathon emergency session, the faculty got a short rest. Six hours of sleep, then right back in.

"Oh, dear..."

The faculty was being ground down, plain and simple.

One old professor swept up in the current like everyone else.

"Professor Glinbert, thank you for your hard work."

"Ha ha... at my age, even this is becoming a bit much."

Professor Glinbert.

Twenty full years teaching at Grandia.

A veteran so thoroughly seasoned in his craft that the calluses had calluses.

"Urgh..."

The old man pressed his fingers against the dark circles under his eyes. Shadows pooled in the deep creases of his face.

"Strange things happening at every turn."

The habitual muttering of old age.

Professor Glinbert furrowed his brow, quietly distressed. He'd been at the academy a long time, but nothing like this.

"Such bizarre incidents, one after the other..."

The unauthorized Purgatory Floor 70 incident. A floor left uncleared for years had been conquered overnight. The dragon that had held dominion there was found afterward in a grotesque state. And still, the faculty hadn't managed so much as a lead on who was responsible, let alone found the culprit.

"And not even two weeks later, this..."

Just one month. A single month since the academy had taken in its new students. Two major incidents had already erupted in that short span. Nothing like it in the twenty years the old man had spent on the faculty.

"Good grief... what is this place coming to."

A long, heavy sigh.

His naturally anxious temperament didn't help. A creeping sense of unease clung to him and wouldn't let go. An old man's worry. Even after staying up through nights of academy business, what came first wasn't complaints but concern.

Instead of heading for the faculty dormitory, Professor Glinbert made for his office. He figured he might as well get some work done rather than squeeze in a paltry six-hour nap.

'I should at least put together a simple assignment...'

The incident during the practical had put the academy on a week-long suspension. He wanted to use the downtime to prepare materials for his students in advance.

If any of them had seen that, they'd have shrieked about homework during a break. From an educator's perspective, though, there was no finer specimen of a man.

"Hmm, hmm... I do hope the students appreciate it."

Wishful thinking, mumbled to nobody in particular.

He'd arrived at his office door without quite realizing it.

But someone was waiting for him in the long corridor.

"Professor Glinbert."

"...?"

A corridor with the lights off. Dead of night, no light coming through the windows. The hour when even the teaching assistants had long gone home, let alone the students.

"Who's there...?"

The old professor squinted.

In the dark, all he could make out was a white mask. Upturned eyes curving into a grin, looking right at him.

"Good evening."

***

"Who's there...?"

The kindly old professor tilted his head.

I smiled and offered a greeting.

"Good evening."

"You are..."

A brief furrowing of the brow. Then his eyes shifted,something like recognition settling in. He was searching for my name.

"That would be... Viktor? The student Viktor?"

"You know who I am."

"Of course I do. Between the entrance exam and then the Freshmen Welcome Exam, you put on quite a memorable performance, didn't you? I'd wager every faculty member has pulled up your profile at least once. And on top of that, weren't you caught in the Barrier during the recent practical? You were also one of the three students who came face to face with the Apostle of the Evil God directly. Honestly, it would be stranger for a faculty member not to know your name."

"That's probably true. Especially right after an incident of this scale."

I was a bit of a star, admittedly.

At this point, not knowing who I was within Grandia Academy was practically a red flag.

'I'd told myself I'd keep a low profile...'

After getting dragged into one thing after another, that plan had completely fallen apart. Since I was going to keep getting involved regardless, I'd decided to stop worrying about it. Shrinking back when it mattered would only make things worse.

"Even so... what brings you to my office? Dormitory curfew should have passed quite a while ago. Have you gotten your homeroom professor's permission?"

"There's something I'd like to discuss with you, Professor Glinbert."

"Hmm...? With me? And at this hour?"

"It's important enough that I couldn't wait."

"...?"

The answer made no sense to him, and his brow creased.

Fair enough. We had no prior relationship to speak of. He knew my name, but that was from paperwork alone. We had never once crossed paths in person since I'd enrolled.

'Professor Glinbert is the third-year homeroom professor, after all.'

There was no occasion for us to meet.

Without waiting for him to react, I cut straight to the point.

"I'll get right to it."

"All of a sudden, what..."

"Would you take a look at this?"

I rummaged through my robe and produced a Crystal Orb.

Blue surface. Nothing particularly unusual about it.

What mattered, of course, was what came next.

"A few days ago, just before the practical period began, I noticed an announcement that the Student Hunting Grounds would be closed for a few days. So I went to stock up on food for my Spirit Creature in advance. The Spirit Creature I've been raising takes the shape of a bat, you see, so fresh monster blood is its main diet."

"Mm..."

"And then, of all things, I must have been in too much of a rush,I dropped the recording Crystal Orb I always carry. I only realized it the next morning, and by then the Student Hunting Grounds had already been sealed. Nothing to do but trudge back and tell myself I'd collect it during the practical."

A lie, all of it.

I'd left the Crystal Orb there after the Student Hunting Grounds were already sealed. I'd slipped in using the map-clip bug and hidden it somewhere it wouldn't be found. Not a careless mistake. I'd placed it there on purpose.

"Apparently the recording function had been left on the whole time."

But I said it like it had all been a coincidence. Like sharing a story with someone.

"So it had been recording all the way up until the practical."

"......"

The old professor listened without a word. Maybe it had caught his attention more sharply than I'd expected.

I quietly manipulated the display.

"And something rather interesting turned up in the footage."

Chime.

The Crystal Orb's screen projected outward like a hologram.

Through the wavering image, a segment of forest had been captured. The Student Hunting Grounds, Zone A.

"Please watch carefully."

"......"

I tapped the precise point and played the recording.

The timestamp was the day before the practical.

Someone approaching through dim, shadowy brush. A figure in a deep crimson robe pulled all the way up over their head. Whatever enchantment the robe carried obscured perception,the inside impossible to make out clearly.

[Rustle, rustle.]

The figure reached inside and drew out a thick bottle. Twisted off the stopper and poured the contents onto the ground.

A pitch-black substance seeped into the earth, wet and viscous.

Not the sort of material that looked remotely pleasant.

[Rustle, rustle.]

One bottle emptied, and immediately the next was produced.

Sixteen bottles in total, one after another.

Unhurried. Completely at ease.

[Whoooooosh,!]

And then, of all the coincidences.

A sudden gust of wind.

The figure's deeply-pulled hood whipped up for a moment.

And just for that brief instant, the face was caught on the recording.

"Remarkable, isn't it?"

A remarkable coincidence.

The hood had only lifted for a split second. The surroundings were thick with dense brush, cutting off the line of sight. Night, which made visibility even worse.

A sudden gust. The angle of the foliage. The precise patch where moonlight happened to fall.

Without every one of those factors aligning just right, there was no way that face could have been captured at all.

"And here, so clearly, is your face, Professor Glinbert."

"......"

My Crystal Orb had been placed in that exact spot.

"Quite a coincidence, don't you think?"

By coincidence.

Pure coincidence.

"So it was you. The informant working with the Cultists."

The Crystal Orb held evidence that admitted no argument.

Professor Glinbert said nothing for a long stretch.

His eyes had gone cold and flat.

Whatever warmth had lived in that kindly face was gone. Only a vicious, murderous intent swarmed in its place.

"Ha ha ha... has anyone else seen this footage?"

"Not yet. I wanted to confirm things with the person themselves first."

"Is that so..."

Clang, clang, clang,!

Iron bars crashed down across the corridor.

The space sealed around us, cutting off all escape. Glinbert had a Crystal Orb pressed in his palm, working the security system.

"Lucky for me. You walked right into this like a complete idiot..."

"Oh dear. Trapped."

A faint glow shimmered along the iron bars.

No ordinary bars. Some kind of Barrier sorcery had been worked into the security system.

"Ha ha ha! You should have gone to the other professors first!"

Something like relief settled over him.

The old man laughed freely and spread both hands wide.

The corridor was sealed. No visible way out.

"Oh, this is trouble..."

"Killing you here solves everything! You're the only one who knows about this footage! Just one stupid little brat!"

He'd dropped the measured tone entirely, shouting in a wild, erratic pitch.

Sharp mana crackled at his fingertips.

His intent was clear. He was going to silence me permanently.

A chill crawled up my spine.

"You little shit! You scared the hell out of me! Damn it, damn it, damn it! I thought I'd been caught! Good thing I only need to tear you apart to make this go away! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Not someone you could reason with.

He was a Cultist. Whatever remained of his sanity was long gone.

Cold sweat tracked down my back.

"Oh dear... this is a problem."

Sincerely.

The man across from me had spent twenty years teaching at Grandia. A veteran in every sense.

We were not in the same weight class.

Not the type you could whittle down with quick hits, the way the Nightmare had gone. Not a Vampire, so Stake splinters were useless. And this corridor had no bugs I could exploit.

"Die! Die, you little,!"

No gaps in the walls to clip through, either.

He was advancing.

"Damn it..."

A genuine pinch.

And I was a glass cannon with E-rank stats across the board.

One spell from a veteran professor and my insides would be scattered across the floor.

"All I have to do is kill you! Hide it and it's over! The situation's already chaotic anyway, who's going to care if one peasant half-breed Class E dropout like you goes missing! What? What if someone does care! Nobody is going to catch me! I'm the third-year homeroom professor, what would possess anyone to think I had anything to do with a student I've never once spoken to! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! You walked in here acting so bold! Stupid little puppy!"

"P-please, spare me..."

This was my miscalculation.

I hadn't expected Professor Glinbert to go off the rails this completely.

The original plan was to show him the evidence and talk it through calmly...

"Ha ha ha! Are you crying? Are you? Cry more! Beg for your life! Still going to kill you! And I'll smash that stupid Crystal Orb too! Dissolve it in acid so no one ever finds it!"

"Oh no... I was too careless! I'm going to be murdered right here and there's nothing I can do! I'm so scared!"

Scared.

So scared.

"...Did you actually think that was going to work?"

I let the performance drop from my voice.

I was a Possessor.

Someone who plans for the next step, and the one after that, and the one after that.

This situation had been in the palm of my hand from the very start.

"You've just admitted to being the informant yourself, Professor Glinbert."

"Yeah! So what! So what! You're going to be dead right here! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Hmm... is that so?"

I pressed a finger to my chin, as if working something out.

Then I turned my head toward the corner just beyond the iron bars.

"Did you hear all that? Professor Javert."

"...What?"

Glinbert froze.

Understandably. No other presence had been detectable anywhere in the corridor.

'But.'

I was certain.

She would have been watching from just outside those bars. More precisely, she'd been tailing me from the moment I'd left the infirmary.

That was the whole point.

The reason I'd acted suspiciously around Javert. The reason I'd let her suspect me, made her want to surveil me.

I had used her.

A field disadvantageous to me. Almost no usable bugs in [Glinbert's Study].

The only way. From the very beginning. All along. To clear this area.

Click.

The sound of heels on corridor floor.

There she was,the red-haired woman, standing behind the iron bars.

She'd been hidden around the corner until a moment ago. Every word of our conversation, start to finish, she'd heard.

"Professor Glinbert."

"J-J-Javert, Chief Investigator? How, how are you h-here,!"

Cold eyes.

Those green irises fixed entirely on the informant.

At Javert's fingertips, white light pulsed and shimmered, brilliant and sharp.

"Quite an interesting conversation. You intend to kill my student and bury the incident..."

Creak, crack,.

The iron bars sealing the corridor, Barrier and all.

She crushed them with a few gestures of her hand.

Bars and Barrier alike shattered to pieces.

"Say that again."

Those characteristically flat, unreadable eyes trained on the old professor like a blade.

Glinbert's face drained of color.

I smiled at the old man.

A crooked smile. The kind you wore for someone who'd made a fool of themselves.

"You may smile, Professor."

Now.

Taste a little of our Javert noona.

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