Chapter 67 - Return (2)

I followed Mea into a back room behind the counter.

The small room, likely once used for storage, now stood empty save for a few traces of its past.

Still, a few boxes suitable for sitting remained, so Mea and I planted ourselves on them.

"What's going on? Did you change business types?"

From what I glimpsed earlier, they seemed to be selling drinks too.

With even Mea wearing a maid outfit, had they really become a maid café?

"No. Still a school."

"Then?"

To my question about all those gathered people, Mea gave an unexpected answer.

"People looking for Devil Sorcerers."

"Devil Sorcerers?"

What kind of novel nonsense is this?

Well, I mean, people might come looking for them.

As previously mentioned, there was no better method for finding someone than hiring a Devil Sorcerer.

To the point where a detective agency might be more fitting than a school.

But no matter how one looked at it, the people gathered there weren't seeking people or items, but looked ready to rush into the Abyss at any moment.

Mea provided a clear answer to my confusion.

"A new monster called Evolver was discovered on the First Floor."

Evolver.

The name immediately gave one a sense of what kind of creature it was.

"It's extremely resistant to other attacks, but interestingly, weak to devil magic."

Ah... right.

That evolved Bugbear.

So they named that thing we killed an Evolver.

An intuitive and fitting name.

"You know about it?"

"Of course. We were the first to kill one. We discovered its weakness to devil magic because I was there."

"Really?"

Mea's tone rose a notch.

Her eyes sparkled more than before, showing interest in the story.

Come to think of it, I never told Mea.

I told Hecate, so I assumed Mea would know too.

Seemed Hecate didn't pass it along to Mea.

When I explained about the variant Bugbear, now named Evolver, Mea actively responded with small encouraging sounds.

"That's fascinating. I've explored the Abyss for quite a while, but never heard of Bugbears showing such mutation."

That's... really interesting.

Mea has, well, experience.

"Roman, what were you thinking?"

"Ah. Just wondering where that outfit... came from."

"This?"

At my instinctive evasive maneuver, Mea stood up, making her maid outfit flutter.

"Dan gave it to me."

"Dan?"

"Yeah. The potion shopkeep."

That old man... what's with the ulterior motives?

And it fits perfectly too, suspicious, very suspicious.

"Roman! Mea! Stop resting and help out!"

§

"Finally over..."

Hecate muttered in a deflated voice, pressing her forehead against the counter bar.

She looked exactly like a slime.

But what drew my attention more was the large “slimes”... squishing softly against the bar counter.

"Roman."

"Yes?"

Hecate suddenly called my name.

My startled response came out squeaky.

"Rest a bit, then come to the workshop. I have something I need to tell you."

"Ah, yes. What about Mea..."

"Alone, no... actually, it's fine if she comes too. That's also relevant."

Her voice was serious but her head was still planted down, killing the gravitas.

Anyway, Hecate probably meant it was fine since Mea received my brand.

The "something I need to tell you" probably concerned the book and potion I left with Hecate.

According to what had been revealed so far, they were items left behind by Cordelia, a member of the first expedition team.

Mea coming along should be fine.

We discovered them after all.

"Should Mea come too?"

"Yeah. Good."

I returned to my room, unpacked a bit, took a thorough shower, and came down in comfortable clothes.

Hecate's workshop was separate from the basement and was used as a training room.

It was a roughly 50-square-meter room at the back of the first floor.

Though I could enter first, I went in with Mea who'd waited outside.

This was my first time entering Hecate's workshop.

While the school building itself functioned as Hecate's domain, the actual workshop was something else entirely.

"Wow..."

All kinds of books filled the bookshelves on both walls.

The desk in front, perhaps a lab bench, was covered in reagents and notes.

Specimens were installed throughout showing her Devil Sorcerer nature.

The density made the 50-square-meter room feel like a closet.

This was a real mage's workshop.

The legacy of previous generations was somehow preserved despite the school declined, selling off even alcohol to barely survive.

"Hmm? Ah, is this Roman's first time?"

"Right?"

"Really?"

Hecate smirked slyly.

Just like a city mouse showing off urban scenery to a country mouse.

Though ironically similar in that even this city mouse wasn't a true urbanite enjoying all the city's benefits.

"Heheheh. How is it? Feeling proud about joining our school now? Is respect just welling up?"

I actually was until you said that, now it's suddenly deflating?

"Hecate, stop."

"Ah... okay."

Promptly controlled by Mea's words, Hecate shrunk and brought out Cordelia's relics.

"I figured this out."

"Oh, now I'm feeling respect?"

"R-right? Ahem. Well, this much is..."

"Hecate, explanation."

"...You've gotten too cold lately, Mea."

Whining at Mea's attitude, Hecate opened the box.

Inside was another book that wasn't there before.

"A translation."

"Translation?"

"It was quite the struggle. Not just ancient magical text, but encrypted too. Actually, the modern text on the first page is more puzzling. I wonder where it came from."

"I'm more amazed the school head translated all this in such a short time."

"Really?"

Hecate's face relaxed at my half-sincere flattery.

She shrugged, supporting her large chest with folded arms, and said, "A Devil's knowledge is limitless! We, Devil Sorcerers, uncover world truths through devil interaction, right?"

"School Head, you're surprisingly scholarly."

"Surprisingly? I'm always scholarly!"

I flipped through the translation, skimming its contents.

"You probably won't understand everything even reading it. Actually, though I translated it, I don't fully understand the content either. There might be some mistranslations."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"But I'm certain about what this reagent is."

When I closed the translation and looked at Hecate, she held up the reagent bottle and spoke in her most serious voice yet, "Cordelia named this Solutio. It means..."

"Solution, answer, liberation, something like that."

"Yes. But while translating the book, I gave this medicine another provisional name."

Divine Blood Serum.

The ancient hero's blood for making gods.

§

Just as I was about to think of Seir and Leraje regarding this name that seemed worth discussing—

"Roman, stop thinking."

"What?"

"Don't think about Devils."

Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?

Didn't Hecate use Devil power to translate and discover this potion's identity?

"This is different. I did a rough translation alone, then made a one-time deal with a summoned Devil instead of my patron. Devil magic requires many precautions."

Seeing my confusion at following her words, Hecate threw out a somewhat disconnected question.

"You know thinking of a Devil's name connects you to them, right?"

"Of course. It's one of the basic principles of Devils."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

A perfect equivalent to "Even a tiger comes if you say its name."

"As you know, a Devil's true name contains power. Like name scholars say, names have special properties. Devil names are particularly strong, they respond just to someone thinking their true name."

Patron Devils would speak to their pact-bearers just from them thinking of their names.

"That's fatal for Devil Sorcerers."

"...How so?"

Isn't it convenient to easily get information with just a thought?

"They read your thoughts, see what you're seeing, know what you're planning."

There was a privacy invasion feeling.

But if they were absolutely on my side, that wasn’t necessarily bad.

If they knew my situation more accurately, they could provide more helpful opinions.

Actually, Seir recommended that Leraje follow the same logic.

"Roman, I know you're special. One who isn't demanded payment by devils. One beloved by devils. Even I've never seen such a case. Many mysteries we have yet to understand lie dormant within you."

Hecate's voice dropped low, resonating more carefully than ever before.

This wasn't the sloppy, awkward school head from before, but advice from a senior Devil Sorcerer with generations of accumulated Devil experience and knowledge passed down through long ages.

"But Roman. Don't trust Devils," she said.

Devils aren't your absolute allies.

They can't be.

"They don't lie, and that's exactly how they deceive people. Remember. They're beings that never take anyone's side. A sword without a guard can wound its wielder."

"...I'll keep it in mind."

Honestly, even hearing that, I couldn’t help but lean more toward Seir and Leraje than Hecate.

They breathed new hope into my otherworld life and supported me to this point.

However...

There’s no need to ignore it either.

Why don't they take payment from me?

Is it really just a difference in prices due to dimensional differences?

Or do they have hidden intentions they're not telling me?

This unexpectedly gave me heavy things to think about.

But it was something worth seriously considering.

As I was about to express gratitude for her efforts and advice, Hecate showed her familiar light smile and held out both palms wide.

"What's with those hands?"

"Tuition."

"...I already paid entrance fees."

"Ahem! This is a special lesson in school head secrets!"

You just want money, don't you?

§

The next morning.

Just as I was about to leave for the inn where Leaf and Rei were waiting.

"Come hither─!"

A visitor arrived at the Telema School.