Volume 3 Chapter 4 (1/2)
Was planning on posting this earlier, but then I got sick ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Also, yep, I changed the theinally posted on RBKTR Translations
Author: Lan Qi Zuo Ren (藍旗左衽)
Translated by: Yujuan
After the Shadow Academy students had dispersed, the school cohts were already off for thedi's television
Under the gentle wind, the hazythe outer walls a pearl-like sheen
In oldenthe night breeze, thecoold mist, and in the next ed
Byriel's snapped his fingers to call on a di, as a room filled with various different costumes and tools
This was the Drah he could have chosen to directly enter the Supernatural Research's classroom, he didn't want to accidentally attract soh an ehtly toward the entrance door, and just as he was about to open it, a hand unexpectedly reached out to circle around his waist, turn hiainst the wall
”Careful” A gentle voice traveled past his ear, ”There's a tracking spell on the door It'll stick to you the ya's genial s
Dongya released his grip Byriel s himself, ”Why are you here?”
”The same reason as you”
”I know” Byriel furrowed his eyebrows, ”But this isn't your style”
”Oh, you clearly do not know ave him a pleasant smile in return
”I just know that the food you cook cannot be eaten, and that's enough Hehehe…”
Dongya shrugged
”We can't use the door Do you have any ideas?”
”Through the air vents” Dongya pointed upwards at the ceiling, ”It passes through the Supernatural Research classrooht space We'll have to find soet in”
Byriel eyebrows raised, ”Let's talk about that after we get in Lead the way”
A light breeze brushed past, and the two inside the roo the co the Supernatural Research classroo tall in the center of the rooo
Quetzal turned around, unsurprised to see theya s towards the file roo his hand, and the shadows on the walls and floor rushed forth like a tide Billowing from all for sides into the center, it transforaps of the door
The gaps of the door lit up with a red glow, and the spell hidden within e up with a co unusual and tried to start up, but was clah, only able to operate at the previous step The ed by a tenon
Quetzal twisted the doorknob and entered the file roo behind
Byriel walked towards the cabinet that held Cao Ji Xian's casefiles following his memories He found the serial number of the file and took it out
”This one”
He flipped through the file, reading the page that had recorded the residence They hadn't been able to read it earlier at daytihly scanned all three short pages of inforinal owner of that house had been an exile of the underworld, a kind that had willingly slipped into another world from theirs They hat the Summoners called 'Usurpers'— Not summoned, demons that had snuck into the human world
The demons of the underworld could not come into the human world easily, nor did they have the means to survive For them to reside within the human world, if they didn't bind a contract with a hu to this world, increasing their own presence in this world
Those Usurpers needed to consuly, in order to stabilize themselves Like a balloon that had a hole, it needed to keep on sucking in air to keep its form
The for outside at irregular periods, not letting anyone discover his tracks But in the end, he had been discovered by a miemoshi+
But before the miemoshi+ could arrive, the former owner had already been annihilated
Phantoe about this” Byriel suddenly spoke ”If the miemoshi+'s mark can detect contracts and attack the Ping Lan?”
”Not just hiya tilted his head to think, ”Is there really a mark?”
”…The miemoshi+'s barrier was placed on ourselves All spells were re Lan released the seal” Quetzal slowly said his inference ”Although the spell has been released, the , a kind of object, or a seal After the spell had been released, it would have turned into so else?”
”Nothing in this one” Byriel pointed at the words 'Phanto here”
”What?”
Byriel closed the file in his hands, 'Exceed 16100-16800', written at the side
”All the serial numbers of the files on this shelf start with the character 'Exceed', and a string of numbers after it The words 'Phanto with the character 'Phanto expression on ”How did you know that?”
”I guessed It could be wrong, it could be right, hehehe”
Quetzal raised his eyebrows, ”…The theft of the Royal Family's collection of ancient scrolls that year…”
”Aiya, why are you o? Hehehe” Byriel smiled, then turned to size up the cabinet, ”Let's find if there are any cases that start with the 'Phantom' character first”
The three took one round around the file rooya thought they were to end up empty-handed, Quetzal stood by the corner of a s as if it was made to be pushed outwards
”What is it?”
”This doesn't feel right…” Quetzal looked at the scenery out the”The vierong”
Frole, they couldn't see the cross on the ad
”Oh?”
The shadows rose, covering up the iuise on it melted off, drip by drip
Plop
The uise was lifted, a faintly h the air, barely discernible
At the entrance of Block B, the pair of eyes staring at the television suddenly narrowed, slowly turning its gaze up to the ceiling
”Looks like they're hiding so in here” Byriel looked at the safe cabinet after the disguise had been taken off, rubbing his chin, ”If this is just a case file deposited here, it really seems like too much effort put into it”
It felt pretty unusual
”It must be classified infor to do with uessed
”Possibly, we'll know the answer once we open it” Byriel stretched his hand out towards the cabinet, but was stopped by Quetzal
”What is it?”
”…So from outside, and the unclear vibrations sent by his shadows
A beast's roar rang out, and then heavy running closed in on the?” Byriel was astonished, ”How did she notice?”
”Looks like she isn't as slow as she seeya frowned, ”Do we leave? Or temporarily hide? A middle-class demon shouldn't be a threat…”
”That isn't a normal demon” Quetzal muttered, ”That's a barbaric beast”
”You're sure?”
”From the sound and its odor, it's possibly a Border Wolf”
Border Wolves were a brutal and obstinate type of barbaric beast, a kind that was a huge headache for the Royal Clan
For this kind of barbaric beast to appear in the human world, the Summoners of the Shadow Academy were pretty intractable
The footsteps closed in, already approaching the hallway outside the Supernatural Research classroom
”Go!”
Quetzal dived into his shadows, and Byriel and Dongya transforh the air vents just aentered the roo quickly
The threea barbaric beast as a guard dog, the Suht Hehehe…”
”We can't have left any traces, right?” Dongya spoke worriedly, ”We need to leave the school quickly”
”No” Quetzal stopped hi at the school's entrance, ”The barriers have been strengthened”
Just like that day they had entered the Shadow Acadethened, the deet out anymore For them, if they forced their way out, they would only be seen as criht suddenly turned blurry He had used tooearlier, and at thishis own consciousness
”We can't just keep on hiding” Dongyaour way out of it?”
”There is!” Byriel had a idea, ”We have a good reason for appearing on ca” A light voice transferred over
Feng Ping Lan was gripping a hose He saw a golden figure at the entrance, a snohite figure following at the back
”The sya?” Feng Ping Lan was astonished, ”Why are you guys here?”
”To express our syift to convey it”
”What gift? A ht snack? Sorry, but I don't really have an appetite—” Feng Ping Lan's words, upon seeing the black figure that had appeared, stopped short, his eyes widening in pleasant surprise
”Q-Quetzal?”
Quetzal's expression was apathetic as usual, but had a slight bit of aardness to it, see Ping Lan yelled excitedly, subconsciously squeezing down on the hose in his hand It put pressure on the hose, and water spurted out, splashi+ng Ivan and Igor who stood by the side fro! Isn't that just a Contract, you'll see hi such a fuss?!” Ivan complained as he flicked the water off his body
”Aah, sorry sorry! But…” Feng Ping Lan turned his head, about to explain his innocence He forced hiaze towards the entrance, then burst out excitedly, ”It's Quetzal! It's not an illusion!” Quetzal was visiting hihly soaking Ivan and Igor a second ti this on purpose?!” Ivan raised his voice resentfully
”I' Ping Lan hurriedly apologized, then turned to Byriel, ”Why did you guys come so suddenly?”
”WeLan sucked in a breath, ”O-of course it isn't! Q-Q-Quetzal too?”
Quetzal wanted to immediately leave, but the circumstances before him forced hi Lan with
Feng Ping Lan backed away a few steps, hand at his chest to force down the frantic beating of his heart
Goodness, was he dreareat happen to him? If this was a dreah it was a little shed the cons!
Ivan snatched away the hose in Feng Ping Lan's hands, pressing down, and splashed in on Feng Ping Lan's face
”Finally awake? Alice?”
”Cough cough! …Cough…” Feng Ping Lan spat out a , staying back after school to clean for the past few days So we caently, sweeping a gaze at the toilet's interior When he saw the dirty and damp start inside, a co, distress, and… M Lan couldn't really tell if it was astonish spirit, like the expression a rock cliive when faced with a steep mountain rock
”Uh, you don't need to! The teachers told us we couldn't ask our Contracts for help…”
”Oh, you did not ask ya took up the brown brush, surveying the toilet, ”May I ask, has this toilet never been washed since the day it was built?”
”That's probably exaggerating it” Feng Ping Lan looked at Dongya's eager look, trying to dissuade him, ”You really don't nee—”
Before his words could fall, Dongya summoned his wind
The wind forced the tinyopen, flushi+ng all the dirty air out, also blowing out rooves, and ventilation fans The floind brought in fresh air, the rubbish on the floor gathered to one side, and the damp floor was mostly dried
”Woah” Liu Yi Chen whistled appreciatively, ”You should haveLan hadn't wanted to trouble Dongya, but his expression looked incredibly joyful He could only let hilanced at Quetzal who stood at the entrance When the two locked gazes, his mouth cracked out a foolish smile
He was still there… It really wasn't a drea in the hallway by hi the school cos without a sound
There see after them for now, but they didn't knohen a probleestion that Byriel had offered As Contracts of a Su there as as a pretty good reason Theirjust around twenty ya's help with cleaning, their appearance was very reasonable
Quetzal turned his head a little sideways, glancing at Feng Ping Lan as frantically helping clean
Why was it only when he saw him, he would become so excited…
Just because he had appeared…
His train of thought hooked on a past and distantprince let out a happy and relieved s hied, in the short interval of tie cereht, incredibly earnest, that was fitting and restrained for the occasion The joy that had leaked out of those eyes, had been the last of the prince's naivete
The coe ceremony was one of a Royal Clans line between an easy and co power and bloodshed The prince before co a harmonious facade around him After that, all those pretenses had been torn off, and all the malice and enmity had all been spread out before him
The protection that had been shrouded around hile person had reached out a hand to help hi all this, any prince wouldn't feel secure, which was also the case for Shuekan
But, the uneasiness in his heart had turned resolute and confident, the et that moment, Shuekan's words, that expression
That moment made him really feel that he was actually important There was some value in his existence, because there was someone that actually needed him…
He understood why Prince Shuekan why attached so much importance to him, relied on hi such to Prince Shuekan
But, what about Feng Ping Lan?
Feng Ping Lan did not need his protection, did not need hiht, did not rely on hi
So as it that Feng Ping Lan would feel happy, upon seeing hi an undeserved reward, he hated this feeling…
That's right
The only uy has is the sweet, sweet blood that flows in his veins…
The craving of his instinct unexpectedly led on his train of thought, tossing out an alluring notion in his head And then, a burning thirst lit in his throat
Quetzal reached out his palitated thirst
Footsteps rang out in the hallway, pulling Quetzal out of his thoughts
He saw Seno, with a singlet, boxer shorts and blue-white sandals, co unhurriedly over When he saw Quetzal and the other two, he stopped short
”Why did you come so early today?” Liu Yi Chen looked at her watch, ”It's only been half an hour”
Su Li Wan stealthily pulled on Liu Yi Chen's sleeve, saying quietly, ”We're done…”
”What?” Liu Yi Chen turned, only to see that during her break, the toilet had turned sparkling clean, not a dust to be seen Even the shabby old brush looked new mascara see up
”What are you guys doing here?” Seno asked Dongya and all
”Acco our Summoner, of course” Byriel smiled, ”We don't knohen such a dirty toilet will be fully cleaned, you know”
”You've been here all this while?”
”What do you think?”
Seno poked his head in to sweep a gaze around the clean toilet, and a h that lazy expression
”Mood, it's cleaner than my room…” They must have used up a lot of time to clean this
Seno turned, ”But Contracts are not allowed to help You can't do this next tiya replied hu you a wash on the way out?” Byriel mocked
”Let's talk about that when the weather's hotter” Seno scratched his head, ”We'll end things here for today, you guys can go”
Byriel, Dongya and Quetzal silently glanced at each other
Crisis averted
The next day
The school compound was the same as usual, not any different fro would occasionally sweep a suspicious glance at Feng Ping Lan and the others, but didn't ask either
When afternoon caain entered the building to survey the clubs
As they passed through the lobby for the first floor, Aunt Liang was still in the same spot, but the nurabbed a fistful of peanuts and shoved theitatedly, then spat out the disintegrated nutshells Through the way she ate, anyone could tell she was in a really bad ya were slightly worried about going through the entrance, but Aunt Liang just glared at thelared at the other students She didn't react ic Research Club
What entered their vision the e and fan-shaped seats There were students acting out on stage, with the audience concentrating all their attention on the play, even taking notes It didn't see an experi Lan and the others arrived, Ivan rushed excitedly over
”Hi hi, ere you guys so slow? For you guys, I actually obediently stayed behind in the club, you know!”
”Are you guys having a perforestreao over and have a look
”Oh, that's a routine experiic, and the ones below the stage need to observe and unravel his trick”
”What's so alass of water into a well” Conglong objected
”You can turn a car into fertilizer when you sit in it” Byriel huic Research's rules forbids the use of any curses or spells” Ivan suys around then! Want to see a person cut in half? Or the water-prison escape?”
Zong Yu's eyes lit up, seelooh… is the failure rate of thespecial equip as the procedures are done correctly”
”May I ask… How do I do the procedures incorrectly?” That voice held an anticipating tone
The others were momentarily speechless
”Can we come in just like this?”
”Of course you can! Didn't I tell you? The club president's not here” Ivan pulled Feng Ping Lan on with a s the others forward, ”Hurry, hurry!”
The Magic Research's clubrooe from on the surface, but there were actually e, separated for the use of various h a sor and a few other students were in
There were quite a lot of first years practicing inside this roo that all these tricks weren't achieved by using spells, the deazes attracted by different types of or stood by an instru before it Seeing Feng Ping Lan and the others, Igor nodded slightly in greeting
”What's that?” Feng Ping Lan rushed forward, circling around the machine in amazement, ”So cool! What does this do? Teach ly a little hesitant At last, he ca a flat and stiff voice to say, ”Okay… Firstly, put in the gherkin”
”Does it have to be a gherkin? I don't like gherkins”
Igor paused for a second, ”You can also put in carrots”
”Radishes or white radishes?” Feng Ping Lan questioned seriously
”Anything is fine”
”Are there any options?”
Igor paused for a second, ”There is” He then turned, taking out a basket froetables and fruits placed within it
”Wo, there's so many! There are baor took out the bauillotine, then recited as if he was reading from a script, ”Please have a look This machine is not false in any way, the blades are incredibly sharp” He then pressed down on the handle
Screech! The moment the blade descended, the ba Lan clapped with all his e, ”The next one is the corn!”
Igor tried to open hisLan's expectant expression, took a corn, placed it in, and pressed the handle