Chapter 142
***
The unofficial strongest student in the Hero Department, Erica, had a simple strategy for raising her grades.
After all, in theory classes, her chances of beating the classmates who sat at their desks and studied every day were basically zero.
So Erica’s plan was to make up that gap with overwhelming practical ability and aim for the top rank.
And just in time, the era shifted in Erica’s favor.
Thanks to the Black Saint’s medical reforms, duels became more frequent, and grades were judged more on practical performance than theory.
On top of that, when an official notice was issued saying that catching the black sorcerers infiltrating the Academy would also count toward credits, there was no one among her classmates who could match Erica’s grades.
No wonder Karl wanted to join Erica’s Sisters.
“Heh-heh. Freya. What do you think? Doesn’t it feel like my world has finally come? At this rate, the top spot is as good as in the bag, right?”
Erica also felt as if the world itself was helping her, with everything going her way.
And today was the day Erica’s first-semester grades would be released.
With Freya’s help, Erica had gotten up early and brought the Sisters to the administrative office first thing in the morning.
“Hehe... Freya, don’t tell the young master, but do you know there’s a bet among Academy students based on grades?”
Wherever people live, side businesses are bound to crop up.
The cradle of learning, the Academy, was no exception.
“In slang, they call it horse racing. Apparently, it’s a game where you have to predict the 1st through 5th place rankings in order of grades. The students apparently play it to blow through all their pocket money before going back to their family homes.”
The allowance students get at the Academy can’t be used outside.
And every new semester, half of the previous semester’s allowance is withheld as tax.
This system had originally been created to make students work harder to improve their grades, but unexpectedly, it ended up becoming the reason students started running horse-racing bets.
“Sister, if that’s the case...”
“Hehe. I put everything on me taking first place!”
Erica said that with great bravado.
She looked absolutely certain that she was the top student.
“Cough!”
“Hmm? Senior Jenny, did you catch a cold?”
“Huh? Ah. Yeah. I guess I’m feeling a little off today.”
“If you’re feeling unwell, you should’ve said so. We would have delivered the report cards for you instead.”
“It’s fine. It’s not that bad.”
With an unnaturally twisted smile, Jenny waved it off.
She couldn’t bring herself to say that she was the VIP—and organizer—of that horse-racing pool.
I never thought the whole thing would get this big.
A year ago, Jenny had been lacking in dopamine within the Academy.
So she gathered a few like-minded(?) friends and formed a small gambling circle.
Then, one day, Jenny’s group, desperate for more dopamine, secretly created this horse-racing system.
The operation was handled by the merchant lord’s heir.
And the funds to build the system for collecting grades were provided by Jenny and the other big spenders.
Fortunately, she had made a lot of money recently by turning Charlotte’s case into a novel and selling it, so opening the pool wasn’t difficult.
She simply hadn’t expected the pool to grow this big.
The dean is even letting this slide, saying it’s youth and all...
Since it wasn’t cards but horse racing based on grades, the student disciplinary committee also kept quiet and let it pass, which was why it had grown this large.
If there was a problem here, it was...
“Does Senior Jenny do horse racing too?”
“Come on, Sister. She’s an old-rite priest—why would she do something like that? There’s even a vow of poverty among the precepts.”
It seemed the people around them never even imagined that Jenny was the big spender behind this horse race.
After all, within the Academy, the only person who knew about Jenny’s gambling habit was her roommate Charlotte.
Because of that, whenever her juniors looked at her like that, her conscience would sting.
“I’m from Limbus Pit, so I don’t think I could ever live like an old-rite priest. Senior, you’re amazing.”
“Me too.”
“Hahaha...”
Jenny let out a dry laugh and thought.
It was because she had remembered the fact she was keeping secret from the Sisters.
Namely, that because of this gambling habit, the symbol of ‘purity’ was being eroded.
Still, she justified herself by thinking that even if that symbol was worn down, she could still wield holy magic as well as any ordinary priest.
Well, if it came to that, I can just go without it for a week and the symbolism will come right back.
While they were talking about the horse race, the group arrived at the administrative office.
“Alright. Shall we check the grades right away?”
Ta-ra-ran. Ta-ra-ran. Ddan-ddan-dda.
Erica hummed the little tune the boss in Limbus Pit used to sing whenever he gambled as she unfolded the report card.
And the rank written there for Erica was...
“Second place? Why?”
Erica stared at the report card, as if she couldn’t understand it.
No matter how she flipped it forward, flipped it back, or held it up to the sunlight, the number in the rank column was 2, not 1.
“Why?”
Erica stared at the report card, utterly unable to make sense of it.
She was always first in duels.
And although her theory scores would be dragged down, the special points she earned for capturing black sorcerers should have made up for it more than enough.
So why was she in second place instead of first?
“There can’t be another student who captured more black sorcerers than I did...”
Even across the entire class, no, the entire year, it was hard to find anyone who had achieved greater merit than her.
At most, there was Charlotte, a second-year, who often solved unsolved cases.
That was why Erica found this report card even more incomprehensible.
“Who on earth is first? I should probably ask the administrative office...”
Just then.
“Huh? Sister?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m the top student, you know?”
“...”
Only then did Erica realize.
Whenever she was pounding black sorcerers into the ground, Freya—the founding member of the Sisters—was always right beside her.
For Erica, whose specialty was basically only crashing into things, finding hidden black sorcerers among people was difficult.
So whenever they hunted black sorcerers, Erica always relied on Freya.
In other words, every achievement Erica earned naturally reflected in Freya’s grades as well.
On top of that, Freya’s theory grades were always higher, and her duel results, while lower than Erica’s, were still around third place.
And finally...
“Right... I was recently penalized, wasn’t I.”
Because of Professor Yulian’s silver-bullet tactical movement incident, Erica’s points had been slightly deducted.
That difference swapped Erica and Freya’s rankings.
“Huh? Sister? Then what about our pocket money...”
“Nooooo!!! I went all inoooo!!!”
In the middle of the Academy plaza.
The red-haired girl screamed, clutching her head.
No!!! I bet on Junior Eri!!!!!
And behind her, Jenny silently screaming in her heart was just a bonus.
Naturally, the person with the most money in the Sisters had become Freya.
Without Freya herself even knowing it.
“Sob... Freya. How could you do this to your sister.”
“Uh... should I apologize, Sister?”
“No. Don’t apologize. It’ll just make me feel even more like trash.”
“You’re self-aware.”
And so, as the Sisters’ capital took a nosedive...
“Excuse me, are you Erica?”
A soldier approached Erica, who had been screaming in the middle of the plaza.
Erica, who had been lying on the grass and whining, lifted her head to check the soldier’s rank.
A first-year cadet was a private second class.
A second-year was a private first class.
And graduate students were slaves.
At the Academy, which also served as a military institution, student ranks were roughly like that.
And the soldier’s rank, after checking, was sergeant.
“Yes! First-year cadet from the Hero Department, Erica Nichirit! What is it?”
The moment she confirmed he was a sergeant, Erica sprang to her feet and saluted out of habit.
Seeing the grass clippings on Erica’s head and body flutter off, the soldier couldn’t hide his grim expression.
So this was... the red hound that black sorcerers were said to fear?
Such a rude thought flashed through his head, but the soldier didn’t show it on his face and opened his mouth.
“The Public Safety Bureau has requested cooperation from Erica’s ‘Valkyrie’.”
“Valkyrie?”
“Sister, our party’s official name is Valkyrie. When we registered, the Hero Administration Bureau rejected ‘Sisters’ because it could be confused with nuns.”
“Tch. But our party is still Sisters.”
Erica insisted stubbornly that she would never accept that.
“Anyway, you’re saying you called for the Sisters, right?”
“...”
The sergeant, listening to the conversation, nodded.
I see. So she really was the red hound.
After all, capable heroes always had one flaw or another.
Erica was surely a promising sprout of an outstanding hero.
With that thought, the sergeant got to the point.
“Among the black sorcerers you captured, Miss Erica, we would like to request the Sisters’ cooperation in the interrogation of Belgian and his group.”
***
The place the Sisters headed to following the sergeant was the interrogation room of the Public Safety Bureau, which handled the Academy’s security.
The sergeant who guided them offered the hero party cheap coffee and briefly explained the situation.
“Do you remember Belgian?”
“Uh... sorry, who was that? I’ve captured so many black sorcerers that I can’t keep them straight.”
“Sister. You know, that black sorcerer who was groveling at your feet recently.”
“Ah.”
Thanks to Freya, who served as Erica’s external memory, Erica barely managed to join the conversation.
The sergeant continued, thinking that she truly was a capable hero.
“Thanks to the Sisters’ efforts, we recently managed to capture that black sorcerer called Belgian. I hear he was famous enough to be wanted in the capital.”
There were four black sorcerers Erica had recently captured.
Belgian, who wielded plague and necromancy.
Otmun, who wielded curse magic.
Rodeny, who wielded blood magic.
And finally, Baltazan the chimera tamer.
Those black sorcerers were roughly at middle-management level within the Thirteen Roundtable.
They weren’t executive-level, but at the very least, they were likely to have valuable information.
The military regarded the Sisters’ feat in capturing such people highly.
However, the problem was...
“What we’ve learned is only that they wield these kinds of magic.”
Their mouths simply wouldn’t open.
“We tried various methods of interrogation, but... perhaps because they’re black sorcerers, their pain threshold is much higher.”
Why were the words interrogation and pain in the same sentence?
Freya, listening to the sergeant’s explanation, had such a question, but she didn’t dig deeper.
“I hear you’ve recently been taking the Black Magic Defense Arts class. However, as it appears you haven’t learned how black sorcerers train their black magic, may I give you a brief explanation?”
Erica nodded on behalf of the group.
Then the sergeant handed the group the documents he’d prepared and said,
“First, let me explain curse magic.
A curse sorcerer makes their body better suited for casting magic by turning one of their four limbs into a sacrificial offering.”
Necromancers frequently attempt suicide to hover on the brink of death and deepen their understanding of death.
Blood sorcerers must taste various kinds of blood or draw blood from their own bodies in various ways.
Lastly, chimera sorcerers...
“To ensure that no trace of their original form remains, they peel off the skin or flesh of that body part with their own hands, and then perform the ritual themselves over it.”
The Sisters reacted differently as they listened.
Erica found it fascinating, thinking, So that’s how it is.
Freya wore a disgusted expression,
and Jenny remained calm, as if to say, well, of course.
Of them, Freya raised her hand and asked,
“Why do they go that far to train black magic?”
“Because black magic is easy to get into.”
It was Jenny, not the sergeant, who answered.
“Black magic is easy to start and easy to advance in. All you need is the mental strength to endure pain.”
Jenny said.
Black magic doesn’t require the tricky talent that other magic does.
Of course, that didn’t mean a mage’s talent wasn’t needed at all.
But unlike ordinary mages, you don’t have to deal with absurd conditions or symbolic requirements.
“In the end, black magic is magic that deals with people, right? As long as you can endure the pain yourself, your understanding rises at a speed incomparable to other kinds of magic.”
Of course, since there’s a limit to how much pain humans can endure, black sorcerers deepen their understanding using other people’s bodies first, and when they’re about to hit a wall, they experiment on their own bodies.
“That’s why torture doesn’t work very well on black sorcerers.”
Cut them with a blade? Burn them with fire?
Isn’t that already training?
They might regret their bodies being worn down, but they aren’t the type to give in to pain and spill everything.
That was what made black sorcerers hard to interrogate.
“Senior Jenny, you seem to know a lot about this?”
“It’s similar to old-rite training. I happened to learn about it.”
Old-rite priests can also quickly raise their rank through purity and asceticism.
Things like fasting prayer, or self-immolation.
A representative example was Jenny’s older brother, Gregor.
As a result of ascetic fasting driven by overwhelming faith, he had reached the 4th circle despite his young age.
At least as far as Jenny knew, there was no lunatic who could endure asceticism on her brother’s level.
Unless there’s some crazy human who implants parasites or fungi into their own body...
Probably there wouldn’t be another Gregor.
Thinking that, Jenny shrugged.
“That’s also why I misunderstood Professor Yulian.”
“Huh? Why?”
“You two have taken his classes, right? Just from the class content, he seems like a 6th-circle mage to me.”
“That high...?”
For a moment, she almost asked whether the two of them had actually been paying attention in class, but she shut her mouth when she remembered their relationship with Yulian.
Feeling an inexplicable sense of exclusion, Jenny clicked her tongue.
Just then.
“Huh?”
“Why, Senior Jenny?”
Jenny ignored her party members’ reactions and spoke to the sergeant.
“Sergeant. You came to us because the black sorcerers won’t talk, right?”
“Yes, that is correct, Sister.”
Since a healing priest isn’t part of the military, the sergeant answered politely, as if to a civilian.
“According to the report you submitted when the Sisters handed them over to the Public Safety Bureau, there was a record that the one named Belgian had shown fear toward Erica, the student. So we came here to ask for Erica’s cooperation.”
After hearing the sergeant’s words, Jenny nodded.
Then she raised a finger as if suggesting something and said,
“There’s someone who seems a lot more effective than us.”
“If you mean Miss Charlotte, whom you’re close with, Senior Jenny, we already asked her. But she said interrogation isn’t her specialty.”
“Hmm... Yeah, she would probably refuse, saying she’s better at deduction than interrogation...”
Jenny shook her head with a wry smile.
“But the person I want to suggest is someone else.”
“Who is it?”
At the sergeant’s reaction, Jenny’s lips curled upward.
“How about Professor Yulian?”
“He refused too. He said he had signed a contract with the military saying he would not use his black magic knowledge in a harmful way, so it was impossible.”
“You’re misunderstanding. I’m not asking him to torture black sorcerers himself.”
“Then in what way...?”
Before answering, Jenny thought for a moment.
The way Yulian had counseled her in the past was excellent.
She remembered how, without even saying anything, she had been swept along by his pace and ended up spilling things she hadn’t even been asked about.
Jenny herself didn’t know how that had even been possible back then.
If she had to guess, he probably read clues from Jenny’s body and created an atmosphere as if he knew everything, making her open her mouth without realizing it.
Charlotte and Yulian have different deduction styles, but if he can make the other person speak on their own using those clues, he might uncover information from a different angle.
It wasn’t for nothing that Jenny had based the final boss in her novel on Yulian.
A deduction style different from Charlotte’s.
The ability to make the opponent blurt out the clues themselves through bluffing was enough to create tension in a novel.
Of course, part of the inspiration also came from the bizarrely meticulous way he turned murder cases into board games.
In any case, someone like Yulian should be enough to make the black sorcerers open up.
“It should be fine as long as he just had one peaceful conversation with them. Someone like him would naturally make those black sorcerers open up.”
“Hmm... Understood, for now.”
The sergeant nodded.
Jenny added.
“As for the interrogation method, I think the one I’m suggesting would be best.”
And a few days later.
Watching Yulian’s interrogation process through a surveillance artifact, Jenny regretted her judgment in a different sense.
— “Please! Make me spill everything I know. Please...”
— “Mmph... mmph...!”
The blood sorceress, gagged, fainted.
Belgian collapsed from hyperventilation.
And in the middle of it all.
— “Please... I’m sorry... I really can’t eat this... Please have mercy...”
Yulian and the curse sorcerer were across the table from each other, the sorcerer sprawled over the tabletop.
Watching all of that, she thought.
‘No wonder I was scared of him when we first met.’