At first, I thought it might just be a coincidence, so I left Vish alone.
To me, it seemed careless, but from the perspective of others, there were many people who would easily consider him a big shot. If he suddenly stood up and came over, it would surely be incredibly intimidating.
Especially for Faby, from Vish’s point of view, she probably looked like a grim reaper. There was no need to make things more difficult for him. Yet, Vish continued to sneak glances at me, never quite breaking his gaze.
By now, it was clear he had something to say to me. Even if it was a misunderstanding, I couldn’t complain.
After asking for my friends' understanding, I stood up and walked over to Vish, who was too flustered to know what to do.
"Oh. Young Lady Alrn?"
"Why so shy, Young Lady? You keep glancing around like a girl who's fallen in love for the first time."
"...What? What do you mean?"
"Oh, wait. Are you in love with me? Sorry, I can’t help being so cute and pretty."
"That’s not it!"
Vish, who had yelled, quickly corrected his posture when he noticed my friends’ gazes on him.
Why was he turning pale just because people were watching? Is he really that timid?
"Young Lady Alrn, what brings you here?"
"Oh, well... it's about Adrie."
I had wondered where Adrie was, and it turned out it was something related to her.
After hearing her story, I took her arm and led her inside the building.
Conversations about necromancy weren’t something you discussed openly in front of others.
Vish, despite being a half-baked necromancer, was harmless, but real necromancers caused far more serious trouble. Necromancy was taboo for a reason.
Given the widespread suspicion of necromancers, any mention of necromancy would be met with severe repression.
If word got out that Adrie had anything to do with necromancy, it would not only ruin Vish but her entire family.
Realizing this, I reserved a private room to talk with Vish and sealed off the noise with a signet given to me by Karia. I sat across from her.
"So, what happened to the old ghost?"
"Well, the Saintess recently defeated the followers of the evil god."
"Not bad for a pathetic Saintess, I guess. But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Because of that, the church's priests have started moving actively."
The incident with the evil god's followers on the street had been a huge shock to the church.
The fact that their enemies had infiltrated their territory without them noticing—what a disgrace!
If it hadn’t been for the Saintess, we would have been caught off guard by those mad followers of the evil god!
After such an incident, the priests, both voluntarily and reluctantly, began patrolling the streets with their eyes wide open.
They vowed not to let anything like that happen again and started patrolling the streets desperately, refusing to allow even the smallest trace of corruption to remain.
"Adrie’s mansion wasn’t spared, either."
Adrie, an exceptional necromancer, always kept her energy hidden.
At this point, she had abandoned hatred and greed and was living as a ghost, enjoying the world by Vish’s side. She had worked hard not to engage in actions that would put her existence at risk.
So far, Adrie had successfully deceived the church, but now the priests’ patrols were growing dangerously close to her neck.
"Right now, she’s hiding in the basement, but who knows how long she can keep this up?"
After listening to Vish’s explanation, I crossed my arms and pondered deeply.
With the increasing intensity of the priests’ patrols, it was certain that the evil god’s followers would soon target the academy. The more aggressive their attacks became, the tighter the security would grow.
How did Adrie survive in the game?
Wait, wasn’t there never an issue like this in the game?
Realizing that I had no reference to fall back on, I decided to meet with Adrie and hear her thoughts. I felt that talking to her might offer some insight.
I left the academy and, as usual, drew the attention of the people around me while chewing on my lip.
I was used to being the center of attention.
Since stepping into this world, I had always lived under the gaze of others.
But the way people were looking at me now was different from usual.
It wasn’t just curiosity; there was a definite interest in their eyes.
"Is that Young Lady Alrn?"
"She’s even prettier in person than in the jewelry."
"Is she really the one everyone’s been talking about? Is something wrong with her?"
"If anyone saw her at the social circles, they wouldn’t be saying that."
"Don’t get too close. You never know what kind of danger you might encounter."
"...If she’s that kind of person, I wouldn’t mind being stepped on. Heh."
The Art Guild’s jewelry was causing a huge stir.
As I absorbed the mixed stares of curiosity and caution, I arrived at Adrie’s mansion, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
I never thought I’d be grateful for the mess Lucy had caused.
If it weren’t for Lucy’s reputation, the people on the street would have surely swarmed me.
...At this rate, I might as well start making trouble myself. If I don’t create an atmosphere where people can’t get too close, something terrible might happen.
Shuddering at the thought that the Art Guild’s scene might be reenacted, I seriously considered going into the social circles and causing a ruckus.
"Why are you here?"
"Yikes?!"
I let out a sharp scream as Adrie suddenly popped up from beneath the floor.
"Heh! What’s this? You little brat! You’re scared too, huh?"
"...Shut up. You foul-mouthed old ghost."
"Heh~ But you just screamed, didn’t you? Yikes?! What a sound! Hahaha!"
Hearing Adrie’s mocking laughter, I frowned for a moment but then smiled back at her.
"So you came because you thought it was dangerous, but it seems like it’s not urgent after all?"
"...Ah."
"Or maybe you just want to rest? If you do, I could purify you, you know?"
I subtly raised the divine energy and brought it near Adrie. She recoiled in horror and backed away.
"What... what is this?! Why is it so much stronger than before?! What happened during the break?"
"Why are you running away, old ghost? Didn’t you want to die?"
"I’m already dead! And I’m not—! Ah! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Is that good enough?!"
"Old ghost, weren’t you a noble? How do you not know the proper etiquette for apologizing?"
As I took out my mace, Adrie trembled and eventually bowed her head.
"I... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you."
"Heh. I still don’t like you, but since you’re old, I’ll let it slide this time. Ah~ I’m really kind, aren’t I?"
After tapping her on the head, I checked the situation with Adrie, who seemed to be shaking with frustration.
"It’s humiliating, but staying in the mansion is too dangerous. If a bishop-level priest shows up, I can’t do anything about it."
"That’s true. No matter how great a necromancer Adrie is, there are matchups. If she faces off against a bishop-level priest without proper preparation, she’ll just be purified."
"And by the way, little one, what exactly did you do for your picture to be spreading around in jewelry on the streets? A picture of you, blessed by the god, is dangerous in itself!"
On top of that, the increasingly widespread Art Guild jewelry also became a problem for Adrie.
A piece of jewelry with my image, crafted by the Art Guild’s believers, was acting as a relic.
I hadn’t realized it before, but it wasn’t all that surprising.
Considering that the Art Guild was behind the creation of these items, it was only natural that they’d function as relics with the devotion of the priests.
...Could it be that this pathetic god is orchestrating a grand design?
If I hadn’t known the pathetic god, I might have been amazed by his wisdom. But I had seen his ugly side too many times to be fooled.
The pathetic, perverted god might have just wanted my merchandise. It’s likely he simply acted on his desires and stumbled upon this by accident.
"Anyway, the situation is getting worse. There’s no place for us in the academy district."
Hearing Vish’s frustrated tone, I shrugged and spoke up.
"Then just go somewhere else. Are you scared of the outside now, old ghost?"
"If we leave the mansion, our connection with Vish will be cut off! I can’t just leave that child alone!"
It was a situation where I couldn’t leave the academy district, not just for Vish, but because if we stayed within it, Adrie would eventually be purified.
But from my perspective, there was no easy solution. Wherever we went in the academy district, it was impossible to escape the church’s gaze.
Ah.
I had an idea.
It would be good for both Adrie and me.
"Old ghost, there’s a good place for a necromancer who likes dark and damp places."
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"A good place?"
"...There was a place like this?"
I had guided Adrie to the hidden underground facility of the Academy Graduate School, a place I had visited months ago to obtain a shield.
This location, which was impossible to access without a stone tablet, was a place so obscure that even those who had been with me at the time would never have guessed its existence.
If Adrie were to hide here, even the most skilled clergy would not be able to find her. Not unless she willingly stepped out, asking to be killed.
"This is nice. I especially like how the impure energy is subtly gathered here."
"I knew you’d like it. You’re like a cockroach, so I figured you’d enjoy a place like this."
"...Ugh!"
Adrie seemed to have a lot to say, but she couldn’t bring herself to respond.
The difference in our resonance right now was stark! She couldn’t overpower me, and there was no justification to defeat me. No matter what I said, she had no choice but to endure!
Watching the old ghost twitch in frustration, I couldn’t help but feel the urge to tease her until she exploded. But I suppressed that urge.
I had something I needed to ask, and it would be a bit awkward to bring it up while she was this worked up.
There would be plenty of opportunities to tease Adrie later, so I decided to save it for another time.
"Old ghost."
"What?"
"You don’t really have anything to do, other than stalking the spare, right?"
"...Why?"
"Since you’re following the spare around, I thought you could also take a look around the academy while you’re at it."
Though I had an informant in the form of the Dean, I couldn’t learn about the secret matters from him. He was, after all, just an outsider.
But Adrie was different. As a necromancer, she could easily overhear other people’s confidential conversations.
As long as she wasn’t caught, that is.
"Can you do that?"
"I don’t want to. I came here to avoid danger, and now you want me to..."
Adrie began to refuse, but then saw the divine energy gathering in my hand and forced a smile.
"Fine. I will. I’ll do it. Yes, I will. I’ll do my best."
Adrie bowed her head politely, promising to help, and not long after the academy reopened, she kept her word.
She brought back information about those in the First Queen’s faction who were planning to test me.