Alon stared blankly ahead.
Yutia was still there, smiling.
Not white hair and red eyes, but black hair and black eyes.
Even her appearance was slightly different.
If the original Yutia had looked closer to a young girl, then the woman before him looked somewhat more mature.
And yet, despite that, Alon was certain she was Yutia.
Even though he could now feel mana from her—a presence he had never sensed from her before—and despite the change in appearance, her unique atmosphere had not changed.
And besides—
Tremble, tremble—
Until just moments ago, Penia had been grinning brightly while linking arms with Alon.
Now she was trembling.
That alone made it certain.
Penia had a tendency to be afraid of Yutia.
“—First, shall we change the seating arrangement a little?”
Professor Stonia—somehow smiling toward Penia as she spoke.
At that, Penia, who had been trembling until moments ago, unconsciously began to nod—
“Hah—”
Then, as though she had thought of something, she let out a short gasp and looked toward Professor Stonia—no, Yutia—with slightly trembling eyes.
Eyes that seemed to be thinking deeply about something.
And after about two breaths of silence—
“M-Me?”
Penia opened her mouth.
Her eyes looked as though she had made some kind of decision.
However—
“No, surely you don’t think I’m asking only Lady Colina to change seats? Everyone has to change.”
Yutia answered with the same smile still on her face.
Then, as though she had been waiting for this, she pulled out the paper she had brought with her.
“Now then, please come up one at a time, check your seats, and sit accordingly, alright?”
She spoke with a smile.
Listening to the sounds of students beginning to move forward with rustling noises, Alon looked at Yutia’s seating chart.
His own seat had not changed.
The very front seat in the magic class.
The seat he had chosen in order to maintain the image of being a diligent student remained exactly where it was.
On the other hand, Rine and Penia—
“Professor.......”
“Yes? What is it?”
“......Why are we in the very back row?”
They were seated in the very back.
“It’s according to grades.”
At Stonia—no, Yutia’s smiling answer, Penia spoke.
“......According to grades?”
“Yes.”
“But we’ve never taken any tests......?”
“It’s according to your entrance exam scores.”
“I never took an entrance exa—”
“According to grades?”
“I didn’t even take the entran—”
“Grades.”
Penia wore an expression that clearly said, There were entrance exam scores......?
However, after seeing that none of the other students found anything suspicious about it, she let out a quiet sound of realization.
“Professor.”
“Yes, go ahead?”
This time, Rine spoke.
“My eyesight is not very good, so I would prefer to sit closer to the front.”
“Yes, I think the center would probably be best.”
“I see. Then I’ll seat you in the center.”
Smiling as she spoke, Yutia flicked her finger on the spot.
And then, as though it were a lie, Alon’s name vanished.
In its place, Rine’s name appeared.
“There. Is that alright?”
“......I would not mind sitting beside him either.”
“There’s no need to hold back. Student Alon can sit at the seat at the far edge instead, after all.”
Perhaps because the classroom was arranged diagonally, Yutia placed Alon’s name in the seat closest to the professor.
Seeing that, both Rine and Penia lowered their heads without either one waiting for the other.
“Now then, shall we begin?”
In contrast, the smile at Yutia’s lips somehow looked even deeper.
And after some time passed, Yutia—who had suddenly appeared as the magic professor—finished conducting the lesson far more smoothly than expected.
“Alright, that will be all for today’s class.”
After ending the lesson—
“And the three of you, come see me for a moment, alright? It feels nice seeing my students again after so long.”
She spoke while looking at Alon, Rine, and Penia.
“?”
For a moment, Alon wore a puzzled expression.
But he soon realized this was part of Yutia’s own fabricated setting and nodded.
“Then shall I speak with Student Alon first?”
“......With only me?”
“Yes. After all, you’re my most fa.vorite student, so I wanted the two of us to catch up alone.”
“......If you say things like that, we’ll feel hurt, you know.”
Rine immediately responded to Yutia’s words.
But despite Rine’s reaction, Yutia still did not erase the smile from her face.
“Oh my, is that so?”
“Yes.”
“But what should I do? It’s the truth.”
That was her answer.
As though asking, And what exactly can you do about it?
Rine and Penia looked at Yutia with expressions that said, Seriously?
But Yutia simply turned her gaze away as though she no longer cared.
“Now then, shall we go?”
And soon, she walked off together with Alon.
####
Click—
Right after entering Professor Stonia’s private office.
“Yutia.”
As though adjusting her voice, Yutia cleared her throat softly at Alon’s words and smiled.
“Oh my, so you recognized me, Teacher?”
“......There was no way I wouldn’t.”
At Alon’s words, Yutia let out quiet little chuckles as though she were pleased.
Watching her silently, Alon soon voiced the question he had wanted to ask.
“How did you end up here?”
The reason for the question was simple.
The fact that Alon was currently hiding inside the academy under a disguised identity was top secret.
However—
“You don’t need to worry so much, Teacher. To be honest, I thought there was a possibility you might be here, but I didn’t expect you actually would be.”
“You didn’t know......?”
“Yes. The Wanderer was the one who told me to come here. Though I did receive help from the prince for the disguise.”
“.......”
Alon fell silent.
Certainly, if what Yutia said was true, then it was not hard to understand why she had come here.
“And just in case, you don’t need to worry about our relationship setting either. Apparently Professor Stonia really was the magic instructor for children of northern nobles.”
“Probably no one will find it suspicious,” she added with a smile.
Alon nodded.
Then he quietly looked at her.
“Why are you looking at me that way, Teacher?”
Yutia asked softly with a smiling face.
Alon hesitated for a moment.
Truthfully, he felt that now was not the right time to ask.
But regardless of that, he could not help remaining curious.
“......Yutia.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Would it be alright if I asked you something?”
“What is it?”
At that, Alon asked the question that had been bothering him.
“Contanias said you were the one who taught him how to create the consecration barrier. Is that true?”
At Alon’s words, Yutia nodded.
“Mmm—yes, that’s right.”
“......How did you know how to do that?”
At Alon’s question, Yutia answered as though it were obvious.
“The Wanderer told me.”
“......The Wanderer?”
“Yes. In the first place, my connection with the prince started back then as well.”
At Yutia’s words, Alon’s expression became strange for a moment.
There was nothing odd about what she said.
At least, not on the surface.
“.......”
However, that was only if one looked at it superficially.
If he thought about it even a little, it did not make sense.
After all, the Wanderer had spoken to Alon as though she knew nothing about the consecration barrier.
“.......”
Alon looked at Yutia.
She was still smiling, as though waiting for his response.
He had to choose.
Should he press further here?
Or let it pass for now and ask about it again later?
Alon’s choice—
“......Have you actually met the real Professor Stonia?”
—was the latter.
If he followed his heart, he wanted to ask more.
But under the circumstances, that was not the important issue right now.
“Professor Stonia?”
“Yes.”
Professor Stonia.
According to Evan’s information, this was someone connected to the Church of War.
So when Alon asked, Yutia nodded.
“Yes. Honestly, it’s a little funny, but one of the reasons I chose this person as my disguise identity was because I was investigating them.”
“......Investigating?”
“Yes. I managed to discover to some extent that this person is connected to the Church of War.”
“!”
At Yutia’s words, Alon was startled.
She smiled.
“Should we bring the other two in before continuing the rest of this conversation?”
As she said that, she curled her finger as though she had been waiting for this moment.
And together with that—
Click—
“Wah—!”
“.......”
Rine and Penia, who had apparently been leaning against the door until moments ago, tumbled into the room.
“Ahem—”
Without either one saying who started it, they awkwardly fiddled with their hair.
####
After Rine and Penia awkwardly entered the room.
“......Professor Stonia is one of the believers of the Church of War?”
“Yes. More precisely, she’s only been brainwashed.”
Alon summarized the first piece of information Yutia had given them.
“So in other words, aside from the Apostles, all members of the Church of War have been brainwashed?”
“That’s right. They’re essentially nothing more than puppets being controlled. Which means that if we want information about the Church of War, we have to capture one of the Apostles.”
“......This just became troublesome.”
Of course, Alon had already known that most members of the Church of War were being controlled.
But he had not realized it was this literal.
As he reacted with a hollow feeling—
“Still, among the information I obtained, there was something useful.”
“......Was there?”
“Yes. Though it’s still only speculation.”
Yutia continued speaking.
“......Professor Stonia may only be a chess piece, but it seems they still used her in useful ways. For transmitting information between each other.”
“......Transmitting information?”
“Yes. I found information in one of the letters she sent. Of course, there’s no need to worry about suspicion.”
“I only checked and copied the letter before letting it be delivered properly,” she added.
Then she pulled out a single letter and showed it to them.
“......‘It will be carried out during the period when the most people are gathered’......?”
Only a single line was written in the letter.
It will be carried out during the period when the most people are gathered.
Just that one sentence.
And then—
“......I see. So that’s what it means.”
Rine nodded as though she understood.
“Did you figure something out?”
“Yes.”
Rine nodded at Alon’s question and continued.
“Godfather, next month the academy will be holding something called the Grand Festival.”
“......The Grand Festival?”
“Yes. It’s a three-day festival held to honor the former Emperor who founded the academy. And members of the imperial family and nobles all gather there.”
“.......”
“After all, it’s a major event.”
“And the Church of War’s goal is to gather as many believers as possible, isn’t it?”
“......!”
At Rine’s words, Alon immediately understood.
And at the same time, he understood why the Church of War intended to carry out the ritual inside the academy.
“......So they intend to wipe out the nobles and imperial family, then swallow up the citizens of the Empire?”
“Whether they plan to use them after brainwashing them like before, or kill them all first and then move them around, I don’t know.”
At Rine’s words, Yutia nodded.
“They’ll probably kill everyone. It’s easier to seize control when you eliminate those at the top.”
“......That’s extremely important information.”
“It was nothing.”
Yutia smiled at Alon’s words, though she also looked a little proud.
Right after that—
“......We’ll gather together later and discuss this matter further. We still haven’t found the ritual site yet.”
With that, they decided to end the meeting.
If he followed his heart, he wanted to continue discussing things longer.
But they had already stayed in her office far too long.
So—
“Then I’ll see you again.”
“Yes. I’ll do what I can to arrange chances for all of us to gather together. Without drawing suspicion if possible.”
Alon nodded at Yutia’s words and was just about to leave.
“Ah, and Teacher.”
Yutia lightly grabbed the sleeve of Alon’s clothes just as he was about to leave last.
“?”
Alon looked at her questioningly.
But Yutia lightly gestured with her hand for him to come closer.
As Alon leaned his head closer toward her lips in confusion—
“Teacher.”
She whispered softly into his ear.
“I’ll give you the real answer to your question next time we’re alone together.”
“!”
At those words, Alon looked at Yutia in slight surprise.
She was still smiling.
And yet the reason Alon was surprised was—
“Because I don’t want to become a liar to you, Teacher.”
—because he could feel anxiety within her smile.
“Really.”
The smile on her lips had not disappeared.
But her eyes trembled slightly, as though she were carefully watching Alon’s reaction.
And seeing her like that—
“......Alright.”
Alon could only nod quietly.
