Catherine's appearance here at this moment was naturally no coincidence.
She had meticulously calculated the timing, believing this to be the perfect opportunity to make a natural approach to Victoria and Silvia.
Her plan was very clear: first, initiate a friendly conversation as a Senior to establish a good initial impression.
Once they were a bit more familiar, she would casually bring it up: "If you two are participating in this subjugation, would it be convenient to do me a small favor? I happen to have an experimental magic conduit newly developed by my family's workshop that has special effects against undead creatures, and it urgently needs some data from actual combat..."
At that point, she could offer a generous reward for the test that they would find hard to refuse.
That way, she could naturally establish a connection with the two of them and create a client relationship.
With this connection in place, subsequent interactions, communication, gaining their trust, and gradually probing for intelligence regarding Greg Sass would flow as smoothly as water.
However, plans often fail to keep up with changes.
As soon as Catherine finished her introduction, before she could even offer any bait, the gray-haired girl in front of her suddenly lit up like she had discovered some treasure. Stepping forward to get closer, she tilted her head up and stared intently at Catherine with her beautiful eyes:
"You're that Senior Catherine from second-year Class A?!"
"Y-Yes..."
Catherine was taken aback by Victoria's overly direct and passionate reaction, causing a tiny ripple to disturb her flawless smile.
But she quickly adjusted, rapidly analyzing in her mind:
It seems she recognized my background because of the name 'Roman.' Is that expression of hers because she plans to ask me for a loan?
That wouldn't be bad either.
Catherine thought to herself.
If she takes the initiative to request a loan, I can use it to build a closer creditor-debtor relationship, which might make gathering information even easier.
Thus, that impeccable smile resurfaced on her face as she threw out a bait to lure the other party in:
"Have you encountered some difficulty and need my help?"
Her tone was gentle and encouraging, like an understanding, gentle Senior preparing to listen to a Junior's troubles and open her purse generously.
Victoria nodded vigorously, her gray eyes shining brightly. Without beating around the bush, she directly stated her request:
"Senior Catherine, form a party with us! Join us for this undead subjugation!"
"No problem. Since a Junior needs help, as a Senior I naturally... And since you're my Juniors, regarding the interest on the loan, we can negotiate a very favorable—"
Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly realized that the other girl wasn't talking about a loan at all.
"...Did you just say form a party?"
Catherine blinked her beautiful azure eyes, her tone carrying a rare hint of hesitation and uncertainty, wondering if she had misheard.
Victoria nodded vigorously, her expression earnest. "Right! Form a party with us and participate in this subjugation mission!"
Catherine: "...?"
The perfect smile on Catherine's face instantly froze.
A rare trace of confusion flashed through her azure eyes.
Form a party?
Subjugation of undead?
Me?
...
In a vast underground space, the smell of stale dust and a faint, coppery-sweet scent filled the air.
This had clearly once been an ancient tomb, but now most of the sarcophagi had been moved or broken. In the cleared central area, a large, intricate magic circle had been drawn with a dark red pigment that resembled dried blood.
The twisted lines of the array connected several black candles that were still burning weakly around it. The flickering candle flames cast lingering, flickering shadows across the mottled ancient murals on the walls.
A figure clad in a dark gray linen robe with a low hood was kneeling at the edge of the magic circle, hands hovering over the runes on the ground as she hummed incantations with strange tones and broken syllables.
As she chanted, thin wisps of black energy rose slowly from the center of the magic circle, merging into the deeper darkness above the tomb.
Flap, flap, flap—
The faint sound of flapping wings approached from afar.
Several bats, jet-black with blood-red eyes, flew rapidly through the narrow passage of the tomb entrance. After circling a few times above the magic circle, they violently converged into the center!
A flash of black light!
The flock of bats vanished, replaced by a girl who had silently appeared in the center of the magic circle.
She had silky long black hair, skin that was pale from long absence of sunlight, and features so exquisite they bordered on demonic. Her violet eyes glinted with a lazy yet dangerous luster in the gloom.
She wore a tailored black dress whose hem seemed to flow like night.
The moment the robed figure conducting the ritual saw the girl, her entire body trembled, and her chanting came to an abrupt halt.
She almost instantly released the runes, turned around, and knelt on one knee before the girl in the center of the circle without hesitation. Lowering her head as the shadows of her hood completely veiled her face, her voice carried respect mixed with a barely perceptible tension:
"Lord Cult Leader!"
"Hehehe..."
The black-haired girl, Melina, let out a soft, playful giggle.
She slowly stepped out of the magic circle, walked over to the kneeling woman, and looked down at her.
Then, raising her excessively slender fingers, she gently lifted the woman's chin, forcing her to look up.
"Don't be so formal, Huang Quan. Relax a little..."
Her fingertips lightly stroked the line of the woman's chin as her violet eyes narrowed slightly.
"I know the one you are truly loyal to in your heart is my father. So rest assured, I won't do anything to you."
Leaning in slightly, her breath sweet as orchids, she lowered her voice even further, though it carried an even clearer warning:
"However, I also hope that out of consideration for your past bond with Rock Spike... you will continue keeping those little secrets for me, okay? Just as you have always done."
Hearing the name Rock Spike, the body of the woman called Huang Quan stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment.
She slightly turned her head away to avoid Melina's fingers, her voice becoming dry and low:
"Please... do not mention him. He is already... dead."
"Hmm... indeed."
Melina smoothly withdrew her hand and straightened up, a perfectly measured look of regret appearing on her face:
"I, too... feel deeply sorry for his passing. He could have gone so much further."
Ceasing to look at Huang Quan kneeling on the ground, she turned and took light steps toward the tomb entrance, her black skirt trailing faint marks in the dust on the floor.
"It seems... there isn't anything here that requires my help."
Her voice recovered its previous laziness, as if that oppressively tense conversation had never occurred.
"In that case, I should also go... to prepare a suitable new identity in order to complete the mission my father gave me."
Pausing briefly before the shadows of the exit, she turned her head sideways to cast one last glance with her violet eyes at Huang Quan, who still maintained her kneeling posture, the corners of her lips curling into a meaningful arc.
"I hope that the next time we meet... we'll have time for a proper talk, Huang Quan."
As her words fell, her figure quietly merged into the darkness of the exit and vanished without a trace.
Inside the tomb, only the flickering candles at the edge of the magic circle remained, along with Huang Quan, who stayed kneeling for a long time.
...
Passing through the narrow stone stairs extending downward and pushing open a hidden, heavy stone door disguised as a tombstone, Melina returned to the surface.
Spread out before her eyes was a massive, ancient graveyard.
Countless tombstones leaned haphazardly, submerged in waist-deep wild grass and dense, unyielding grayish-white mist.
The mist was not moisture, but a magical fog laced with a faint necrotic aura and the stench of decay, making visibility extremely low.
From deep within the thick mist came low, intermittent roars.
"Lord Cult Leader."
As soon as she appeared, a figure also wearing a hood with its body concealed in the mist darted out like a ghost from behind an overturned cross, bowing respectfully to her.
Melina did not respond immediately.
Her gaze casually swept over the thick mist, spotting a skeleton with eerie green soulfire flickering in its eye sockets wandering aimlessly among the tombstones not far away.
She gestured with a slender finger at the undead creature with interest.
However, the undead had no reaction to her motion, continuing to drag its feet vacantly, stumbling deeper into the mist.
"Heh..."
Melina let out a light chuckle and shook her head, her tone carrying a touch of childish disappointment and mockery:
"It seems undead things... are all so lacking in romance. Truly boring."
Only then did she turn to the waiting hooded person, the laziness in her violet eyes entirely fading into a calm like a deep pool:
"The news I told you to spread, has it been handled?"
"Yes."
The hooded person answered respectfully:
"Following your instructions, I spread the news about this place ahead of time. Just as you predicted, Glory Cael Magic Academy has officially accepted the commission for investigation and purge."
The hooded person paused, a hint of doubt creeping into their voice: "However... relying solely on those academy students, do they truly have the ability to... kill her?"
Melina waved her hand dismissively, cutting the person off as a sly, cold smile appeared on her face:
"Silly~"
"After a few students die, it will naturally be time for those academy professors with actual weight to make their entrance."
Her gaze seemed to pierce through the thick mist, directed toward Glory Cael Magic Academy.
"Furthermore, this way... it will be much easier for me to acquire a new identity to enter the academy and approach that so-called Hero."
The hooded person trembled, seemingly grasping her scheme completely. Lowering their head even further, their voice overflowed with awe:
"So that's how it is! This subordinate was dense, but now fully understands! Everything will be done according to your will, Cult Leader—Her Highness the Divine Maiden!"
Melina said nothing more.
She looked back one last time toward the hidden entrance leading to the catacombs behind her, an elusive gleam flashing deep within her violet eyes.
Afterward, her figure dissolved like ink dropped in water, slowly fading and dispersing into the dense necrotic mist until she disappeared completely, as if she had never been there.
Only the ceaseless roars of the undead and the dense, unyielding mist remained in the graveyard, lingering over this land entangled in death and conspiracy.
Rate on N.U.
