[Be careful].
The Corpse Queen opened her mouth in an irritated tone.
Her irritation rose in her voice from the depths of her lungs, the source of which contained the heat of the infernal fires simmering in the depths of the Black Demon World.
".... .... ...."
Naturally, the female student whose shoulder was bumped could only shudder and didn't say anything in response.
[... hah.]
The corpse queen snorted and turned her attention away.
The girl who had just bumped into her shoulder seemed to be from the Academy.
Judging by the look on her face, she might be a new student, maybe even an early enrollee.
The corpse queen suddenly felt uncomfortable as she thought about it.
Maybe. Really, just maybe.
What if she hadn't become a corpse queen?
What if she hadn't been admitted to the Academy, like so many other girls her age?
She knew full well that there were no ifs in history, but just this once, just this one time, if she could put on an age-appropriate act, she might think so.
'...with him.'
The Corpse Queen saw a face in her thoughts.
The waves of time would slowly sweep everything away until eventually nothing remained, but they would never erase this one face.
The gaze, always expressionless, always looking so far away that it was impossible to tell where it was looking.
The face she could still remember so clearly and distinctly.
At the same time, she remembers the conversations she had with him before she became the corpse queen.
'Hey. Do you want to come to my house and cook?'
'....'
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll just take you in.
'....'
'So, when are you getting into the academy? Let's match it up with me. I'm probably going to get in a year or two early. It would be so much fun if we could be first years together....'
Then.
There was a presence that scattered the Corpse Queen's thoughts.
…Nod!
A small woman beside her tugged on the collar of the Corpse Queen's cloak.
Geronto. A red-haired mage with bandages covering her entire body, including her face and neck.
She was a Lich, a high-ranking undead who had been brought back to life by the Corpse Queen.
The Corpse Queen listened to Geronto's unspoken report and nodded.
[Yes, Rose, the Night Hound, his scent seems to be leading this way].
The Corpse Queen naturally couldn't help but recall the events of the previous night.
The disruptor who appeared out of nowhere. It was only recently that she realized he was an unprecedented villain who had been terrorizing the nights of the Imperial City recently.
'Certainly no ordinary man.'
The barbarian's archery, his swordplay, all too familiar.
At the crucial moment, however, the blinding light from the tip of his blade prevented me from reading its exact trajectory.
However, the Corpse Queen had witnessed a sun-like aura like this once before.
[...Madame of the Eightlegs, in that night's battle].
The Corpse Queen felt her heart beat for the first time in a very long time.
She hadn't felt her heart beat in a very long time, ever since she had forced herself to peer into the Abyss of Magic in an attempt to leap to a higher realm during her Closed training and suffered a mana backflow that killed half of her body.
Since then, her heart has been beating again, even though it hadn't beaten properly since then.
What does this mean?
[no way. No way. No way. That can't be possible. … … but. but.]
Even she couldn't pinpoint what she was hoping for, what she expected, what she wanted to see.
And so the Corpse Queen had come to the Academy in a state of confusion.
To meet the Night Hound she had met the night before.
Next, Geronto led her to a dormitory.
[A dormitory? This place looks like it's for students. Surely the Night Hound that's been wreaking havoc across the Imperial City isn't a student at the Academy?]
The Corpse Queen shook her head in disbelief.
She fumbled with the lock on the back door of her dormitory.
chiiiig...
At the Corpse Queen's touch, the lock instantly melted into molten iron, like ice dumped on a stove.
The corridors inside the dormitory were dark and empty.
It was the festive season, and everyone seemed to have gone out to play.
After melting down a few more locks in her way, the Corpse Queen broke into one of the rooms in the dormitory and swallowed a small gulp.
[...This looks like a girl's room, doesn't it?]
A plainly decorated single occupancy room.
However, judging from the decorative items and the smell in the room, this is definitely a girl's room.
The room was empty, as I had guessed based on the atmosphere in the hallway.
What's unusual is that there are a few small paw prints on the window sill that appear to belong to a dog.
[You have a dog? Let's get it off your hands].
The Corpse Queen muttered hoarsely.
How many animals had she cut and pasted as experiments in order to reach the pinnacle of black magic?
Naturally, there were many dogs among them.
Therefore, the Corpse Queen harbored a vague feeling of guilt or indebtedness for having pets, including dogs.
Meanwhile.
…Bam!
Geronto stood there and shook his head.
It was a sign that the scent had stopped.
The corpse queen was forced to leave the dormitory without much of a payoff.
[...Well, at this point, the only thing we can do is capture and interrogate the owner of this room].
Following the trail of the room's owner, the corpse queen emerged into the festival streets once again.
Moment.
[...!]
There was a scene in front of her.
Countless cherry blossom petals. Those pink waves.
The skull mask's eyes widened at the sight of a cherry blossom rain on an epic scale.
Even if they were just fake petals created by magic, it was still spectacular.
[....]
As she stares at the festival petals fluttering in the night sky.
"Wow, you did a great job with your costume!"
A group of schoolboys said to the corpse queen, grinning broadly.
[...?]
Before the corpse queen can turn her head, the boys walk past, laughing amongst themselves.
"Wow, I thought her helmet and armor were made of real bones."
"She must have put a lot of work into her costume."
"Did you see that? Didn't he have a nice jawline under that skull mask?"
"Ugh, the proportions and the lines are so graceful, you should walk a horse."
Small talk.
The Corpse Queen found it quite refreshing to be the subject of such small talk.
Compared to the atmosphere of her previous groups, or her current one, it was hard to imagine.
But he didn't feel any new feelings of offense or anger.
'It was Halloween, after all.'
Halloween, which symbolizes the Academy's summer festival, is more passionate and open, unlike Halloween in the winter.
It's a festival where even strangers pass by and exchange greetings and hugs.
The Corpse Queen watched the crowd of passersby come and go with newfound emotion.
Students dressed as zombies, skeletons, ghouls, vampires, death knights, ghosts, mummies, and more.
Outsiders enjoying the students' costumes and imitating them in their own ways.
Then.
"Hey pretty girls, buy a skewer, it's half price because you're pretty!"
A female student started hawking the corpse queen.
"Wow, your costume is really tight, you must be looking forward to the festival!"
[....]
"Awww, I feel great, you're enjoying the festival so much, I'll give you one more as a service!"
The corpse queen was taken aback by the skewer that was suddenly thrust in front of her, and was immediately subjected to a hard sell.
[...Delicious?]
...Nod!
The corpse queen walks down the street with her sugared fruit skewers and Geronto with his ice cream waffles.
For the first time since her heart stopped beating, the Corpse Queen felt a little bit, just a little bit, good about this situation, even if it was only for a moment.
Following the scent from her room, Geronto walked from tavern to bar, from passerby to passerby.
Up and down the street, right and left, back and forth, left and right, everywhere.
Handsome bards busking, dance troupes performing, water balloon tosses and whack-a-mole games with all sorts of prizes....
The corpse queen looked suspiciously at Geronto, who was carrying water balloons, ice cream, whirling potatoes, and a giant teddy bear.
[Are we on the right track, Rose?]
…Nod!
Geronto flinches slightly, but then nods and points to a spot.
A bar came into the Corpse Queen's view.
A ghost bar run by a newspaper club.
Students dressed as ghosts were hawking, serving, and cooking, welcoming customers to the bar.
On a large stage opposite, guest dancers dressed as skeletons were performing to loud music.
Flames roared and heart-pounding drums pounded.
A melting pot of chaos and revelry, with crowds of people weeping and laughing and stomping their feet.
And there, the Corpse Queen could see one familiar face again.
[...Isn't that the woman who bumped shoulders with me earlier?]
The woman she bumped shoulders with earlier is standing here again, looking dazed.
I'd warned her to be careful in the future, but here she was again, looking so stupid.
The Corpse Queen clicked her tongue.
[You haven't woken up yet, stupid girl, you won't live long].
This is puzzling, since she seems to have pretty good instincts, given that her eyes immediately snapped shut.
Suddenly, the Corpse Queen stopped clicking her tongue and turned her head to the side.
She was curious as to what it was that had so mesmerized the pretty girl.
And.
[...!?]
The corpse queen's eyes, which had been turned away without a second thought, soon opened wide enough to tear.
It was a person cooking in the bar's kitchen.
Upon seeing that face, the Corpse Queen couldn't help but freeze in place, shocked as if struck by lightning.
Then, she stuttered and opened her mouth.
[...He, did he have a sister?]