The vice principal of the Aurora Academy, Cassi Colvin, was facing a great ordeal! At least it was a great ordeal for her.
After hearing that the new assistant teacher of the 'royal' class was missing for two days, she reported this matter to the principal in the hope of evading responsibility. After all, she didn't want to get in touch with the matters that included the Chief Inspector Caelum Achard. Even though she was less scared of him than before, she still didn't want to be near this high-ranking person.
However, her wishes were crushed by the principal.
"Go take a look at his room, try to find some clues about his whereabouts. I don't think he got killed but who knows his outcome."
"..."
"Ah right, I forgot. Cast a barrier magic around yourself. He is a former military man, there is a chance that his room is filled up with all kinds of traps."
"..."
Seeing the principal nonchalantly forget such an important detail while puffing out smoke from his nose wasn't reliable. But Cassi Colvin took the advice to her heart. Regardless of how the principal looked so unreliable, she knew when to trust him and when to ignore him.
And now Cassi Colvin was standing in front of the door of Caelum Achard's room with the strongest barrier magic she knew, cast on herself.
Hesitantly lifting her hand, she knocked on the door and called out.
Knock! Knock!
"Sir Caelum, it's me, Cassi Col– Vice Principal!"
Knock! Knock!
"Sir Caelum, are you there?"
Knock!
"Sir Caelum?"
"..."
"Damn you! Please be there, I don't want to enter inside..."
The Vice Principal Cassi Colvin's cries were unanswered. She didn't have any choice other than entering Caelum's room, even if she didn't want to.
Carefully inserting the master key inside the keyhole, she opened the door and hesitantly took a step forward.
"Phew!"
Her first step into the room was successful without any injuries. The fear for her dear life lifted off from her shoulders.
Suddenly, the danger in the eyes of Cassi Colvin felt insignificant, and she couldn't help but ask.
"Huh, is that it?"
Whoosh!
Then a large hatchet flew towards her face and bounced off by the barrier.
Her back instantly drenched with the cold sweat and her legs lost their strength. She collapsed on her butt and hiccuped. Her knees were bent in front of her, trembling because of the sudden surge of adrenaline and fear.
"Hahaha..." The vice principal Cassi Colvin laughed dryly, no hint of joy could be found in her voice.
Her eyes were on the hatchet. The hatchet would surely split her head open if she were to forget to cast barrier magic or if the principal forgot to remind her.
Like this, Cassi Colvin quietly sat on the floor for some time, about an hour. Her eyes were vacant, devoid of life. Currently, She was questioning her life.
She was the vice principal of the prestigious Aurora Academy, and her talent was mostly better than the so-called geniuses.
But why was she experiencing this kind of thing?
Why?
Cassi Colvin however remembered her master's– principal's words.
"You are weak. Too weak. Not magically but mentally. You need real-life experiences or else you might even get killed by a lowly bandit."
Gritting her teeth, Cassi Colvin pushed herself to her feet and poured more mana into her barrier.
With the stronger barrier, she felt more safe and her confidence rose enough for her to continue.
Thud!
A dagger flew to the barrier but it couldn't even leave a scratch.
Flush!
One step forward.
A ball of water materialized above her head and exploded, spraying water around her, however, she didn't get wet because of her barrier.
She took one more step.
Crack! Bzzt!
Lightning flared below her feet, damaging her wet barrier.
Another step. A wall of fire rose beneath her.
Another, another, and another...
The vice principal Cassi Colvin survived the traps, both magical and physical ones, and managed to pass the corridor, which was strangely perfectly fine even after all kinds of traps.
"Huh?"
Cassi let out a dumb sound. Her breath was rough and the barrier around her was verge on the of breaking, she wanted nothing but to run to her house and get under the safe and warm blankets.
'I should go back and call Master, the traps are beyond my level. My mana is about to deplete.'
Even though she thought this, her legs didn't turn towards the direction of the exit door.
Not because Cassi suddenly got a burning courage to follow the rest through what she began to do, but because she felt a particular metallic scent right on her side, she just needed to open the ominous-looking door to see the source of the scent.
Yet, her hands trembled when she touched the handle and she withdrew her hand.
'Yes, I need to go back. If there is a scent of blood, then that means the inside is dangerous. There might be more lethal traps or a murderer right behind the door.'
Convincing herself with assumptions, Cassi turned her back to leave–
"Ugh..."
–but after hearing the familiar voice of Caelum, Cassi's hand moved itself and she found herself in a dark room.
A slight scent of blood on the air and the coldness of the room made Cassi shudder.
[Fire]
Lighting a small ball of fire above her palm, Cassi illuminated the room and warmed herself up.
"Hiyaaa–!"
Cassi let out a terrified scream for a moment before she slapped her hand to her mouth to shut herself up.
Why did she scream?
Well, with the help of fire, she managed to get a clear look at the room.
The walls were covered with all kinds of tools and weapons. Swords, daggers, guns, saws, hatchets, carpenter pincers, metal strings, large scissors, and many more things that seemed very dangerous in the eyes of Cassi Colvin.
'A torture room!?'
Some of the tools and weapons had blackish-red remnant spots– dried blood.
Cassi Colvin averted her gaze from the tools to the middle of the room.
There, a table. Two chairs were stationed opposite of each other, one of them was empty while the other one was occupied by someone.
This person's face was a familiar one, it was Caelum, however, it was a bit hard to recognize him because of the blood that was covering half of his face.
His cheek was resting on the table, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was shallow, a bit too shallow which made Cassi Colvin worry about his health.
Rushing to his side, she put her index and middle finger go his artery to check his pulse.
"What...?"
When Cassi's skin came into contact with Caelum's, her vision turned upside down and she felt like she was flying.
Thud!
"Aghh!"
Her back crashed onto the table with a loud thud and her senses woke up with the great pain she hadn't experienced before.
Her eyes opened wide and she clenched her teeth. Two large hands held her down, one of them was squeezing her throat while the other one clasped her hands.
A pair of cold and ruthless gray eyes were directed at her, causing her to shiver like a powerless ant.
Soon, soft hums sung by soothing, graceful voice reached Cassi's ears. It was the hums of the death when someone got close to death.
Ta ta ta ta ta~
Hmm hmm hm~
Hmm hmm hm~
La la la la lay~
...