TSN 17

Chapter 17

Morning.

The student cafeteria was filled with endless commotion.

“Really? No, did that really happen last night?”

“I’m telling you it did! The artifact warehouse was completely burned down! What was the culprit’s name again……”

“Chipness. Apparently it was a fourth-year student from the Cleric Class. What was someone about to graduate thinking?”

“Well, maybe she went completely crazy from graduation thesis stress. Thanks to that, Chipness or whatever her name was has ruined her life.”

The artifact warehouse arson incident.

An unprecedented major incident had swept through Lykeion Academy last night.

Then, one male student put down his spoon with a disgusted expression and said.

“Hey, don’t even mention that Chipness name or whatever in front of me! I couldn’t sleep a wink all night putting out fires, so my misanthropy is fully charged right now.”

The male student’s face was covered in black soot.

Like this, there were more than a few students covered in grime throughout the cafeteria.

Not only the senior teaching assistants working in the Research Building, but even students who happened to be staying late that night studying for exams were hastily called in and had to put out fires all night long.

The faces of students constantly stuffing food in their mouths still blazed with undigested anger.

Eventually, one student famous for being well-informed smiled and opened his mouth.

“Hey, don’t get so heated. That Chipness person or whatever is completely ruined anyway, right?”

“Ruined? Why?”

The informant enjoyed the other students’ reactions and smoothly unraveled his story.

“You think you can just get away with committing arson on a building of the great Lykeion Academy? This is on a completely different level from just burning newspapers on a house rooftop. From what I found out, the headmaster is properly furious. She’ll probably think death would be better.”

“Wow, the headmaster? Then she’s definitely screwed. She’ll obviously get fired as a teaching assistant too.”

“Hey, is getting fired as a teaching assistant a big deal right now? She has to compensate for all the artifacts. How much do you think that is?”

“……How much?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably about a ducal family’s annual budget.”

“Wow, that’s insane! But that Chipness person, was it the Alma family? I’ve never heard of the Alma family before.”

“Well, it’s some insignificant family in the countryside. Probably that household will now have to live paying debts to the Order for generations – sons, daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren.”

“Hey, but did that Chipness person just stay quiet? If it were me, since I’m screwed anyway, I’d insist I didn’t do it. She apparently has full-body burns too? If she said ‘Someone kidnapped me. I don’t know anything,’ what evidence would there be? Wouldn’t it be uncertain if it went to trial?”

Then, the informant leaned his head close to the table and whispered secretly.

“That’s the thing. This is premium information. That person, she’s become a bit strange.”

“Strange……?”

“You know how painful burn treatment is. But she didn’t scream once and just sat there like a doll saying only ‘I admit to all my crimes.’ After that, she just kept staring at the wall blankly like a disabled person.”

Then the surrounding reactions became noisy again.

“Whoa, amazing! Isn’t there something? Like she was brainwashed or something.”

“Right, there’s really something fishy, isn’t there?”

“Maybe she actually did something even worse.”

At the conspiracy theories spreading around, Hermione perked up her ears.

“……”

She had wondered why Chipness unusually didn’t call her out last night, but such a thing had happened.

‘But why did that person do such a thing?’

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.

It was definitely Chipness who had been persistently tormenting her until yesterday.

Whatever wind had blown through her, suddenly setting fire to the artifact warehouse.

For Hermione, who had observed Chipness most closely, it was an unbelievable story.

‘Could there be something else like those guys are saying?’

Then, one student stood up from their seat and pointed toward the window.

“Huh!? Hey! Isn’t that person Chipness or whatever, the one who set the fire?”

“Really? Where, where?”

“Wow, the main character appears.”

Students flocking to the window.

Between the heads that almost completely covered the window, the figures of guards and Chipness could be seen.

Scrape-!

Hermione roughly pushed her chair.

And she got up from her seat and headed straight out of the cafeteria.

She didn’t have any particular thoughts.

She just felt it was strange and unsettling for things to end this way.

As soon as Hermione left the cafeteria, she quickly approached Chipness.

Then the flustered guards crossed their polearms to block her.

“H, hey! We’re currently escorting a criminal! Stand back!”

But Hermione stuck her head over the crossed polearms and shouted.

“J, just a moment! I want to ask something……”

But Hermione unconsciously swallowed her words.

The sight of Chipness standing behind the guards was too shocking.

Unlike usual, Chipness was barefoot and her hair had turned white as snow like an old person’s.

Saliva was dripping from her slightly open mouth.

But the strangest thing among all was her gaze.

Empty eyes like a chrysalis with only an empty shell remaining.

At that moment, Chipness, who had been staring into space, muttered softly.

“Her……mione?”

A dry voice with no emotion whatsoever.

Hermione was a bit startled by the eeriness but soon gathered herself.

“What happened? That, that condition is……”

Chipness turned her head to look at Hermione and was silent for a moment.

Then she slowly opened her mouth.

“I was……hazed.”

“What?”

Hermione doubted her ears.

Hazing?

Why was that story coming up now?

But Chipness didn’t seem to have any intention of explaining.

The guards pushed Hermione away and spoke firmly.

“Enough! Stand back! If you don’t stand back now, you’ll also be referred to the disciplinary committee!”

Hermione stepped back but didn’t take her eyes off Chipness.

She was hoping to catch some clue.

Then.

“……!”

Hermione saw one emotion burst from Chipness’s face.

Overwhelming terror.

Chipness looked at some place and was startled, beginning to chatter her teeth.

Then.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Suddenly screaming, Chipness hastily began running away somewhere.

The guards watching this scene were startled and blocked Chipness.

“Wh, what!?”

“Stop!”

But somehow finding such tremendous strength, Chipness shook off the guards and began running frantically.

Clank- Clank-.

Though her running was awkward due to the handcuffs and shackles on her arms and legs, Chipness paid no mind and flailed as she ran.

“Stop right there! Can’t you stop!”

“Stop! Damn, why is she so fast!”

Soon the guards hurriedly chased after Chipness and disappeared.

Hermione suddenly turned her eyes toward where Chipness had been looking, toward the old school building.

But all she could see was the same shabby building as usual.

‘What did she see that startled her so much?’

Chipness’s reaction was definitely that of a herbivore facing a predator.

‘There was talk that her mind had become strange…… Could she have seen a ghost from the old school building?’

It was a strangely questionable situation, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Old school building, 3rd floor.

Standing in front of the window, Robespierre stroked his chin.

Chipness, who had hurriedly run away as soon as their eyes met, had already disappeared from his mind.

Robespierre looked again at the artifact in his hand.

The glutton Erysichthon.

An ancient monster said to have a dragon’s head, dog’s body, cow’s hooves, monkey’s tail, and snake’s scales.

An evil spirit that devoured everything in the world, fueled by the original sin of gluttony.

A legendary monster that, not satisfied with cramming the entire Oil Realm into its belly, finally ate itself and returned space itself to nothingness.

Erysichthon’s Intestines was an artifact made by cutting open that monster’s belly and extracting its intestines.

Soon black mana began rising from Robespierre’s fingertips.

Gulp gulp gulp gulp gulp gulp gulp-!

Erysichthon’s Intestines began greedily sucking up the black mana like a starving demon that had been hungry for hundreds of years.

Soon the intestines, which had been like dried jerky, plumped up and blood vessels stood out clearly.

Winding black intestines.

A brilliant black light rippled within them.

Like a cut section of the universe, an unfathomable depth could be felt in that space.

That wouldn’t be wrong to say.

Since Erysichthon’s Intestines was a subspace that expanded infinitely.

A vessel that could contain anything infinitely.

Soon a short incantation flowed from Robespierre’s mouth.

Conversio.

The ultimate body transfer magic that only Robespierre could perform.

Eventually.

Swoosh-.

Like spinning a web, black mana spread densely around Robespierre’s body.

The black mana that had been tangling here and there soon began forming individual shapes.

Knives, scissors, needles and thread, forceps, and so on.

Before long, surgical tools made of magical power began floating in the air.

Eventually.

Whirr whirr whirr- Whirr- Whirr whirr-.

When Robespierre gestured, the surgical tools began moving.

At first moving tentatively as if waking from sleep, the surgical tools soon began moving at an astounding speed.

Conversio didn’t require large amounts of mana or complex techniques.

The reason only Robespierre could perform this magic was simple.

No one else could control mana as delicately as Robespierre.

Tss tss tss tss tss……

The surgical tools moving through the air left only afterimages, looking like a translucent sphere.

Incision, removal, combination, restoration.

All these processes proceeded at a dizzying speed.

High-level magic of the Aberrant School that transplanted monster flesh into one’s own body.

An ordinary dark mage would take several months just for that process.

But Robespierre condensed that time to just a few seconds.

It was mana control that would astound all mages of the current era.

Tss tss tss tss tss tss tss tss……

The wind that had been howling as if to blow away the old school building slowly subsided.

Robespierre looked down at his lower abdomen.

Inside skin so white it appeared translucent, a dark blue silhouette could be glimpsed, as if a black snake had settled inside.

Erysichthon’s Intestines had already completely taken form and was living and moving inside Robespierre.

It was a successful surgery, but…… Robespierre wasn’t particularly pleased with it.

‘I’m still not used to this body.’

His hands were tingling.

It seemed his body had been strained from delicately controlling mana.

Then.

Rustle-!

Something moved at the end of the old school building corridor.

At the same time, a small puppy peeked its head out from a corner.

[Whine! Whine! Whine!]

A puppy crying in a pitiful voice as if looking for its master.

Its identity was the hellhound that Robespierre had revived.

Due to not receiving mana infusion for a long time, the hellhound had shrunk to a size that could fit in a teacup.

Robespierre gestured.

[Woof-! Woof woof woof-!]

Then the hellhound came running, wagging its tail vigorously.

Petting the hellhound, Robespierre soon muttered in a gentle tone.

“You don’t have to hide anymore.”

At the same time, a black magical field was generated between Robespierre and the hellhound.

A portal leading to the subspace within Erysichthon’s Intestines.

A space that was cold, dark, and maintained without any change revealed itself beyond the portal.

It was truly the optimal place for storing undead soldiers.

Sure enough.

[Woof woof-! Woof woof woof-!]

-Hop!

The hellhound jumped into the portal as if entering its own home.

As if responding to the weakened hellhound’s condition, the black mana accumulated in his body flowed into Erysichthon’s Intestines.

The black mana harvested from George and Chipness wrapped around the hellhound like sticky swamp water.

[Woof-! Woof-!]

The hellhound swam happily through the swamp of black mana, wagging its tail.

Seeing it steadily absorbing black mana, it would soon regain its original form.

Meanwhile, observing the subspace, Robespierre soon muttered quietly.

“……Just one now.”

Erysichthon’s Intestines, which had once housed an army of millions, tens of millions of undead soldiers.

But now there was only one tiny hellhound.

Compared to 666 years ago, his body, mana, and the number of undead soldiers were all pitifully insignificant.

But he had obtained the vessel, so that was enough.

All that remained was filling it.

Whether mana or undead soldiers, he could steadily collect them from now on.

“……It should be quite enjoyable from now on.”

Fortunately, Robespierre had quite a leisurely personality.