"W-Wait a minute! President!" Aurore raised her arms, her face pale with terror.
"I didn’t perform a Deva ritual! N-No. Did I do it? No! To be exact...!"
Simon gave her a questioning look. Watching her ramble, he spoke calmly.
"Calm down and take your time. I’ll listen to everything."
She hurriedly grabbed her water glass and gulped it down.
Only after emptying the entire glass did she seem to calm down enough to speak.
"It’s... something that started happening after Goddess Deva appeared in my dreams. Aside from the self-harm..."
Simon waited for her to continue.
After going to bed, she would unknowingly leave her house and bring back items like brass bowls and candles. She had stolen goods from the general store, sawed wood to make crosses, and even killed monsters or livestock, dragging their severed heads back home.
Then, when she came to her senses, her face would be covered in blood, and her house would be littered with ritual tools like brass bowls.
She repeated this routine time and time again. She was terrified of what she was doing every night.
"Then I got caught by the guards once, and it caused a bit of a scene," she said, her voice gloomy.
"They interrogated me, asking why I was carrying Holy Federation ritual tools. Fortunately, I managed to get out of it because I’m a Kizen student, but people still haven’t stopped looking at me with suspicion."
Simon nodded.
In a situation where she was already receiving unnecessary suspicion, if she needlessly revealed these worries to a professor or an adult and an investigation began, she could even be accused of goddess worship.
The Dark Alliance respected cultural diversity more compared to the Holy Federation, but they showed absolutely no mercy when it came to worshipping Goddess Deva with ritual acts. It was a terrifying felony that could result in a maximum penalty of decapitation if caught.
Simon scanned the tools scattered on the floor.
"You really didn’t perform the ritual, right?"
In the world of white magic, this was an issue that absolutely had to be addressed.
He wasn’t trying to blame her; it was just that if she had successfully performed the ritual, a much stronger white magic effect might have manifested.
Aurore hugged her legs, trembling with a terrified expression. Then, she lowered her head and muttered softly.
"Once..."
Simon’s head snapped up. She hurriedly added, her face pale,
"It was really just that one time! O-One day, I woke up and there was something like an altar set up in my house!"
"And the dream I had then was of Goddess Deva strangling me while wailing! I was so scared! So... I bowed down in front of it."
Simon closed his eyes. She raised her voice defensively.
"But I didn’t do it because I worship Goddess Deva! I was just begging for my life! Pleading for her to spare me!"
"To stop! I thought that if I at least did that, the goddess wouldn’t appear in my dreams the next day...!"
"Yeah, I understand."
What wouldn’t a cornered person do?
Simon tried to grasp the situation by mobilizing all the holy magic knowledge he knew.
’If Lethe were here, she would’ve solved it immediately. Should I send a letter to my mom? But it would take two weeks to get a reply from Leshill.’
It seemed the best course of action was to visit Professor Parahan of Holy Defense Studies early tomorrow morning.
However, the explanation he just heard from Aurore wasn’t enough.
He needed more information.
"Aurore. Did you have that nightmare yesterday too?"
She gave a small nod, her eyes trembling. Simon thought for a moment before speaking.
"Then I’ll sleep here tonight too. Is that okay?"
Her terrified face suddenly stiffened in a strange way.
"W-Wait a minute! You’re going to sleep here? Tonight?"
"Yeah."
"T-That’s..."
Simon smiled and pointed at himself.
"I’m the Student Council President, and I have a duty to protect the students of our school. Nothing improper will happen."
"But still..."
Eventually, after some thought, Aurore agreed.
However, there was a condition.
With a sharp ’click’, they secured a clothesline in the middle of the room and draped a blanket over it. The two ended up lying in the same room with a thin blanket separating them.
"Don’t peek."
"Got it."
He could see her hurriedly changing into comfortable clothes from beyond the blanket. Simon quietly lay down on his bedding and pulled up his covers.
The dark, dusty, and old room fell silent.
The two stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment.
"President."
"Just call me Simon. Keep it casual."
"Okay. Simon, here."
Aurore reached her arm past the blanket and shyly handed him something. He turned his head to see a small pair of earplugs.
"Use them just in case I scream. Your ears might bleed otherwise."
"Thanks."
Simon took the earplugs. Aurore lay flat again and stared at the ceiling.
"Being like this reminds me of my dorm days in our first year."
She looked exhausted, but she managed a small smile.
"It feels like it’s been a really long time since I slept in the same room with someone else. I was worried at first, but now I feel somewhat at ease... Simon?"
Soft breathing sounds were coming from next to her.
"He already put the earplugs in."
’ ’
The night wore on.
Simon, who had been sleeping motionlessly under his covers, slowly opened his eyes.
Then, keeping his head fixed upward, he only rolled his eyes to stare to the side.
He could see a blurry outline beyond the thin blanket.
That outline wasn’t lying down.
It was standing.
With its arms dangling limply and its waist bent backward at a bizarre angle.
’What the...’
It was looking this way.
Simon slowly reached out and grabbed the blanket hanging in the middle. And then...
He pulled back the blanket with a swift ’swish’ and sat up at the same time.
He blinked in confusion.
However, Aurore was asleep. She was turned the other way, breathing softly.
’What was that just now?’
As a half-asleep Simon was lost in thought, he flinched when he saw her underwear strap beyond the pulled-back blanket. He quickly returned the blanket to its original position and lay back down.
’Did I see things?’
A long while later.
Simon felt that same sense that something was off and opened his eyes.
A strange rustling sound could be heard from beyond the blanket. Simon once again only moved his eyes to look to the side. The blurry outline had gotten up from the bed and was rummaging through something.
That was the direction of the wall where the cross and various magic circles were drawn.
It was blurry, but he could guess what was happening. A table was being set up beyond the blanket, and a candlestick was being placed on it.
She was building an altar.
’I won’t miss it this time.’
The moment Simon carefully reached out and grabbed the blanket...
The blanket suddenly surged up with a sharp ’swoosh’ and charged at Simon.
"Ugh!"
Simon urgently grabbed the surging mass with both arms. It felt like he was holding the jaws of a monster. Along with a clattering sound, he felt a damp liquid seeping through the fabric.
Simon held his ground, concentrated jet-black aura into his legs, and kicked it away with a heavy ’smack’, using the momentum of his body. The entity was pushed back, and Simon did a backflip in place to get on his feet.
"You finally showed up," Simon said with a smirk.
Aurore was hunched over, her long hair hanging down like a ghost. And a hazy spirit body rooted in her back was staring at Simon.
It had the form of a distorted angel. It was a gruesome sight, with long blades protruding from its back instead of wings.
’Is it holy spirit magic?’
If Necromancers had ’Spiritology,’ Priests had ’Holy Spiritology.’
While Necromancers controlled the undead, Priests handled holy spirits.
The problem was...
’How is something like that inside the body of a Necromancer like Aurore?’
The holy spirit sent the wing-like blades from its back slicing toward Simon. Simon lightly tilted his shoulder in place to dodge them.
The blade grazed past Simon’s shoulder with a sharp slash. The school uniform’s barrier was drastically depleted in an instant.
’And it even has physical force.’
The holy spirit moved with a heavy ’thump’.
[Kekekekekekekek!]
Surging from Aurore’s body like a snake, it twisted its waist like a pretzel and rushed toward Simon. Reaching out with both hands and screaming, it was far too horrifying to be called a holy spirit.
In response, Simon swung his fist with an unimpressed expression.
[?!]
The effect was tremendous. The holy spirit, its cheek violently distorted by Simon’s fist, was sent flying and crashed into the wall with a loud ’smash’.
[???]
The holy spirit reacted as if it couldn’t believe it had been hit.
"What, is this your first time seeing a Necromancer beat up a holy spirit with their fists?"
Simon continued speaking as he let his clenched fist hang down.
"Get out of Aurore’s body while I’m still asking nicely."
Simon approached with slow, deliberate steps. The holy spirit raised its body again and sent out its blades, as if the previous hit was just a mistake, but...
Simon casually swatted them away just by roughly swinging the back of his hand.
Simon’s body, which had been defending expressionlessly, suddenly jolted with a sickening ’crunch’. He lowered his head and looked at his own body.
Right in the middle of his chest, where he had let his guard down, a large awl of holy magic was lodged.
[Kekekekekeke!]
The holy spirit, having succeeded in its surprise attack, smiled broadly, tearing its mouth wide. Then, it twisted its body upwards and swallowed Simon’s face.
The massive maw mumbled as it swallowed Simon’s head, crunching down.
However.
[Kekek?]
The holy spirit’s expression wasn’t very good.
It couldn’t chew.
"What are you doing?" Simon muttered in an indifferent voice, grabbing the angel’s nose with one hand and lifting it up.
The holy spirit screamed and flailed about as Simon squeezed.
"I told you to get out."
Simon clenched his other hand into a fist.
It wasn’t jet-black aura. Holy magic was shimmering in his hand.
[Kek?]
"Clench your teeth."
Simon’s fist struck the holy spirit with a heavy ’bam’. Its cheek was crushed like dough.
He then pounded it with his fist over and over again, landing ’whack’ after ’smack’. The holy spirit was beaten helplessly, and cracks appeared on its body.
Soon, a flash of light surged from Simon’s fist and transformed into the shape of a cross.
A new Holy Combat skill had inadvertently manifested with a booming explosion while he was beating up the holy spirit.
Simon’s fist slammed into the holy spirit’s side, and the creature screamed as its side bent at a bizarre angle.
[Kekekekekekekekekekekek!]
The enraged holy spirit widened its maw to an impossible degree and charged at Simon.
Simon quickly deployed a magic circle.
’Lethe Original — La Escrim’
The spinning holy spear pierced through the holy spirit’s mouth with a gruesome ’crunch’ and advanced deep inside.
Along with the sickening sound of flesh being ground up, the holy spirit’s long body was smashed from the inside out and shattered into pieces.
A perfect finish.
Aurore slumped down limply with a dull ’thud’, and Simon sighed as he dusted off his hands.
"Good grief."
’KEEEEEEEK!’
At that moment, Aurore’s eyes rolled back, and she charged at Simon. Simon grabbed her wrist like lightning and struck her with his shoulder. With a heavy ’whack’, she was pinned against the wall.
"Since holy magic isn’t working, you’re trying to use Aurore’s body to do something?"
Simon gestured with his hand.
Separated pieces of Bone Armor flew over and secured her body to the wall. Her two arms were crossed and pinned above her, and her legs were stuck firmly to the wall.
"This is my final warning," Simon said, his eyes blazing. "Get lost."
Aurore’s eyes, which had been glaring at Simon, trembled violently before her head drooped down.
The alien aura radiating from her body completely vanished. Simon finally smiled in relief.
"W-Where is..."
And Aurore opened her eyes.
She tried to move her hands, but they were restrained with a metallic ’clank’. She looked confused.
She was tied up, and right in front of her, Simon was giving her a meaningful, villainous smile.
"Um, wait a minute. Aurore."
Simon broke out in a cold sweat and raised his palms.
"I know this looks like a situation you might misunderstand, but this is...!"
[Kyaaaaaaah!]
The scream of a Banshee poured out.
Simon had to hurriedly run, put his earplugs in, and drop to the floor.
’ ’
The next day at dawn.
As soon as the sun rose, Simon was walking through the Kizen campus with Aurore.
"You said there wouldn’t be any dishonorable situations! You said there wouldn’t be any dishonorable situations!"
"I think I’ve told you thirty times that it was a misunderstanding."
Aurore seemed deeply affected by what had happened in the morning, but since she herself knew that she entered a strange state whenever she slept, she seemed to be barely letting it slide.
More importantly, the problem was...
"Something like that... came out of my body?"
Simon nodded and brushed back his hair.
"It’s definitely not a normal situation. Let’s go see Professor Parahan first."
She put on a slightly frightened expression.
"P-Professor Parahan, you mean that Priest, right?"
"Right. But he’s someone we can trust. He won’t report your story to the school, either."
Simon pointed ahead.
Beyond the hill, a picturesque little house came into view.
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