I looked at her and then looked at my food.
Haah...
Slowly getting up I walked over to Kathryn who was tilting her head.
"Did I disrupt your breakfast? It's fine! You could eat! I can wait!" She looked a little apologetic
"It's fine. I'll eat later."
I gave a wave towards Rio and the rest of them then we headed out.
---
"So, do you know what my dad wants to talk to you about?" Kathryn asked.
"Nope." I responded, A few seconds after I said that I suddenly had a thought.
Wait... Oh it's probably about the succubus. Haah, why'd that crazy chick appear anyways? I don't get it, what could I have done that changed the story. Or- Maybe I didn't change the story? What if it was just something I didn't write but happened off-screen? That's a possibility...
"We're here!" Kathryn suddenly spoke as we were at the entrance of a building.
"Hm? This is..."
"My dormitory, they're waiting for you in my room. It's strange, even Uncle Glenn is there. Did you do something bad, Leo?" She ended her sentence with a sarcastic, joking tone.
"Maybe." I responded with a joke.
"Eh? Wait, really!? Are you a criminal?!" She had a shocked look on her face.
"Who knows?" I shrugged my shoulders as we headed into her room.
"Eh!? I can't tell if you're joking or not!"
Surprisingly her room was quite ordinary, I was expecting it to be encrusted in gold or diamonds, but it just seemed cozy instead.
Sitting in a chair, the king was talking to another person.
Is that her 'Uncle Glenn'? He's not the king's blood brother, is he the advisor?
"Ah, you made it." the king, Richard, spoke.
A few seconds later after I was just looking at him, a thought suddenly came to mind.
Oh fuck. I forgot about the stupid nobility thing.
I got on my knee and bowed my head,
"Greetings to his-" Richard cut me off as I was speaking,
"No need for the formal greetings"
I stood up after hearing that and scratched the back of my head.
"Kathryn." Richard smiled at Kathryn who snuck by and sat on the bed hoping to listen in on the conversation.
"Aw... Alright..." She stood up and gave me a wave as she left the room.
Hm? Did I blank out during him speaking or something? I could've sworn all I heard was him say her name and then she left.
"You can sit if you'd like, Leo." Richard had a soft smile.
Hm? Sure, thank fuck, I didn't know if it was allowed or not, the nobility thing is really confusing.
I sat on the bed without a second thought.
Ah, what the hell? This bed is so comfy. I almost instinctively laid down.
Richard's eyes widened for a brief moment before going back to normal, he tapped on his ring which caused everything to suddenly become very quiet and then started to speak.
"Before we start, this is my advisor, Glenn."
"Hello." Glenn said to me. He had a soft smile.
"Hey." I responded with a wave before coughing and starting to speak again, "Hello."
"It's alright, you can speak comfortably, there's no need to force yourself." Glenn responded
"Alright, thanks." I immediately loosened up and began to talk normally.
"So, Leo, could you tell us what happened yesterday?" Richard put his hands together on the table and it was like the air shifted, although they were both still smiling, it was like the mood became serious.
"Haah... Should I start from when everyone passed out?" I asked
"Yes." Glenn responded
"Hm... I'll try to explain it as best as I can. Please interrupt me if something doesn't make sense... Kathryn, Rio, Ian and I were talking about the party and then suddenly I felt a sharp, piercing pain in my head. It was like I got stabbed. It took me a few seconds to come to my senses but when I did, I noticed that everyone started to drop like flies."
"You felt a sharp pain in your head?" Glenn cut in and asked.
"Yeah, I think that's what knocked everybody out." I responded
"Hm... Please continue." Glenn asked.
"Alright, and then after that, after everyone was unconscious, the entrance doors suddenly burst open, and our eyes locked. I remember her saying something along the lines of 'You resisted my magic?' So, she probably used some kind of sleep magic which was also the cause of that head pain-"
"Leo, I'm sorry for cutting you off again, but I have a question." Glenn cut in.
"Oh, no worries, please feel free to interrupt and ask anything you need." I responded.
"I've asked some of the other students if they knew anything from before they went unconscious, but it seems like they don't. They never mentioned anything about a sharp pain either. Could I ask how you resisted it?" Glenn asked.
Hm? I was the only one who felt a pain in their head? Is that the price of my skill?
"If I had to say, it'd be because of my skill."
"Your skill?"
"Yes, I don't exactly know what it does, but I believe that's why I was able to stay up."
"Alright, thank you, I was just curious, please continue your story."
"Hm... Where did I leave off... Oh yeah, after that she suddenly appeared in front of me, like she teleported or something. She was also curious about me and said some illicit things. After that, she started to choke me. And despite looking like she had little strength, I couldn't pull her hands away from my neck. I thought about just letting her knock me unconscious, but I didn't know whether or not she'd attack Rio or Kathryn or someone else. So, in my last-ditch struggle, I moved my arms downward and yanked as hard as I could on her tail."
"You yanked her tail?" Glenn asked
"Yes, it was quite hard to grab because it was moving like an excited cat's tail. But luckily, she dropped me after that."
"Hm..." Glenn seemed to be deep in thought.
"Um... Yeah, and then I forgot to mention but when she was choking me, she said something like, 'Damn you mom, if only you didn't emphasize how important this mission was.'"
Suddenly the look in their eyes got even more serious.
"Leo, are you sure she said, 'Mom'?" Richard spoke for the first time since the story started.
"Yes, and that's about all I know, afterwards she went deeper into the building and then you showed up."
"Haah, so that's the situation..." Glenn no longer had his soft smile but instead a more serious looking face.
"Thank you, Leo, you could go now. Also, I want to thank you as a father as well. Even if it wasn't your main intention, you did want to protect Kathryn and Ian." Richard smiled.
The air suddenly eased when he started to talk about Kathryn and Ian, it seemed like he really cherished them.
"Um it's no problem. Actually, I had a question I need to ask." I responded, still sitting in the bed.
"Of course, ask anything you want." Glenn responded, he put back on his soft smile as he talked.
"Do you know about the mark of a succubus?"
"The mark of a succubus?" Glenn put his hand on his chin like he was thinking before beginning to speak again, "Wait... Did she-?"
"Ah, yes, she marked me." I pulled down my shirt and showed the mark on my chest.
"Haah... I do know a little about it, but I believe Ms. Philan would know more about them. She's a teacher here, so you should be able to ask her about it. Bear in mind, she is a little..." Glenn stopped what he was going to say at the end
"Hm?" I tilted my head
"Anyways, she should be very recognizable, she has blonde, curly hair. Was that the only question you had?"
Blonde, curly hair? Oh no...
"Um... Yes, thank you."
"Ah no, thank you for telling us what happened."
I got up and began to leave before hearing Glenn start to speak again.
"Ah, Leo, don't leave campus until you get that mark checked out."
I nodded my head before Glenn started to speak once again,
"And could you be quiet about this whole incident please? Towards the students at least, we don't want them to panic."
"Sure, sure." I waved as I left the room.
Ms. Philan... Haah, something tells me this is going to be annoying.
Outside the door, Kathryn suddenly backed up far.
"Hm?"
It seemed like she was trying to listen in, she probably had her head up against the door.
"I totally wasn't trying to listen in." She said with a serious face.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yep. Not one bit."
"That's too bad, you would've heard something very interesting if you had."
"Eh? Liar! I couldn't hear a single sound!" Kathryn immediately went quiet after that.
She couldn't hear anything? Did he set up some sort of noise thingy then? Oh wait... Was it his ring?
"So, what'd you talk about?" She asked
"Nothing important."
"Hm... C'mon, we're friends you can tell me."
She seemed to be very curious for some reason.
After I didn't say anything, she started to speak again,
"Then could you at least tell me if dad said anything about me?"
Oh... Was that the reason? I put my hand over my mouth to stop me from smiling.
"Ah, he did say something positive- Anyways, I need to head to the teachers' lounge again, see you later."
I looked back one last time before heading out and it looked like her eyes were sparkling, it seemed like she really loved her father as well.
---
I walked inside the teachers' lounge and looked around again. It was still as populated as it was earlier.
Haah. Should I just go eat and worry about this later? No, I shouldn't... Haah, I should just get this over with.
I didn't see Mr. Mispholfo so I went up to a random teacher who was sitting on the couch.
"Um, excuse me." I spoke.
"Ah, yes?" He looked towards me and responded.
"Um, do you happen to know where Ms. Philan is?"
"Ms. Philan? Um... I believe at this time she's usually in her research room."
"Her research room?" I asked
"Yes, it's just down the path from here, this building." He pointed at a building on a map before continuing to ask, "Did you need anything else?"
"Ah, no, thank you."
"No problem, but are you a student of hers?"
"No, I just had something to ask her."
"Ah, alright, then good luck. She's a little..."
"Hm?"
"Never mind."
I guess Ms. Philan has quite the reputation then, both Glenn and even this teacher seemed to be wary of her.
He waved me off and I started to head towards the research building.
---
It was quite a bit of a walk but eventually I was in front of the building.
I knocked on the door and waited.
…
A few dozen seconds later, after getting no response, I knocked again.
…
Another few dozen seconds later, I just opened the door and walked in.
"Hello?" I spoke as I looked around, there were a bunch of tables and medical supplies everywhere. It had looked like a lab.
Hm? I don't see anyone else in here?
Is she not here? I yawned.
Should I just wait for her or something? Or should I come back later? Haah...
*Dink*
Huh?
I heard a noise from further in the building.
"Ms. Philan? Are you there?" I raised my voice
I could hear a faint voice responding,
"Oh! Do I have a guest? I'll be out in a second!"
I decided to go sit down at a nearby table, I looked at the papers that were on it and it was research about Ogre's.
Hm? Is this-?
Yeah... I don't understand any of this.
There was a drawn picture of an Ogre with tons of scribbles and notes about possible weak points and something about demonic mana.
I looked at some other papers on the table and there were writings about other demonic creatures as well.
Huh? She seems like she'd be a pretty important character if she's researching all of this stuff... Then why don't I remember writing about her?
Why are these all just laying around here though? Shouldn't they be organized in a filing cabinet or something? It's like she wants these to get stolen.
A few dozen seconds later, Ms. Philan walked into the room.
Ah... I should've known.
"Huh? Aren't you the kid that was looking for a succubus? What're you doing here? Oh yeah! I told Grant about your little 'problem' he said he'll talk to you about it, oh wait! Did he already talk to you about it and is that why you're here to see me? N-"
"Uh, can you tell me about the mark of a succubus?" I cut her off, if I didn't it seemed like she'd go blabbering on forever.
"Eh? The mark of a succubus? Oh! Did I get it wrong, are you not interested in blowing some steam? But instead, are you interested in learning about the creatures we call demons!? Ah! I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were also interested in this field! Were you hoping to become an assistant? Or were-"
At some point I just stopped listening to whatever she was saying, this lady is tiring to deal with...
---
Pulling down my shirt, I showed her the mark on my chest.
"Oh! I'm sorry, sometimes I just blabber on and on, haha. I misunderstood you. Now... About that mark... Come with me."
She took me to a room in the back, it looked like her personal office where she did research.
"Take a seat and take off your shirt."
I listened and did as she said while she looked through a filing cabinet.
"Hm... Let's see..."
A few dozen seconds later it seemed like she found what she was looking for and then looked towards me.
"Heh..." She had a weird devious smile on her face. Before continuing to speak, "It's not here..."
Huh? Why does she look like some crazy psycho right now? Should I leave?
"You're my first!"
The fuck?
…
"Oh... So, this mark isn't recorded in your journal, and you'd like to research more about it?" I asked
"Yes, out of the 24 succubi marks we know of, we've never seen this type. Each of the marks have their own unique look depending on the succubus that marked them. They also do different things depending on the mark, so I'd need to research yours so we could understand it." She responded.
"Then, why'd you shout, 'You're my first'?"
"This would be my first time researching the mark of a succubus that no one knows about. The other marks my seniors have found first, so you'd be my first."
"Mhm..."
"So... Can I research your body!?" She suddenly clasped my hands, and it looked like her eyes were sparkling.
"..."
Haah...
"Yes, you can research my body."
Although her wording sucked, she was probably the real deal. I didn't even know there was more than 1 type of mark, I also wanted to know if this mark did anything more than tracking.
"Then- Every day I want you to come around 8 P.M-ish. I'll have to set up some research stations, here I'll give you the key! Also, make sure you don't leave school grounds, the one synonymous thing we found between all the marks is that they have a tracking feature."
"Sure, sure."
"You can come back later! I'll be getting everything ready! Make sure... You come!"
"Sure, sure..." I put the key in my pocket and began to head back to the dormitory.
I guess that means no more ice cream for the time being...
Hm... I guess for the next few months I'll just be chilling out then... Running... Training... Getting researched... Hanging out with my friends...
Haah, oh well, I guess for now I'll go eat breakfast.
---