The breeze was cool and the stars were sparse in the sky.
On the summit of St. Caroline Academy, two strangely dressed middle-aged men sat on the ground. They were enjoying a game of Go with each other, surrounded by the beautiful scenery.
The outcome of the game was obvious.
Every time the man who wore a strange eyepatch and tight-fitting black dojo uniform with a long black cloak made a move, the other man sitting in front of him in similarly tight-fitting blue dojo uniform with a long red cloak would frown in deep thoughts. As the little curl hanging in front of his forehead swayed in the breeze, Elder Mord rubbed the stone piece between his fingers hesitantly.
For most of the time in this seemingly balanced game, Elder Mord was actually thinking hard while the man in black was admiring the wonderful scenery of Dragon God Lake.
Every time Elder Mord finally made a move, the man in black would turn his head back and effortlessly make his next move. Then Elder Mord would be mulling over his next move for a long time.
Only a small part of the board was filled with pieces, there was barely any progress made.
“I give up, I give up! This Go thing is really headache-inducing!”
Elder Mord tossed the stone piece he was holding onto the board then looked at the distant scenery that the man in black was admiring, but not forgetting to express his frustration, “Why are we playing with black and white pebbles like kids?”
“Hoho. You still lack patience, Elder Mord.”
Instead of getting angry, the man in black merely picked up the pebbles and unhurriedly returned them into a box piece by piece.
“This is something that the first dean of the academy left behind. As the elders of this academy, we have an obligation to popularize it. Only by doing so, will he continue to bless and protect this academy.”
“Hmph. In any case, I’m done with this Go thing. I’d suggest you find someone else instead, Elder Carter.”
“If I could find someone else to play with, I wouldn’t have asked someone who is well-known for his low IQ in this academy like you. The vice dean and others are very busy lately because of the incident regarding the spy.”
Upon hearing the mention of spy, the expression on Elder Mord’s face grew serious. “No leads yet?”
“It’s not that easy. It was said that the girl from the Emona family ran into the demon and the spy during their rendezvous, but she didn’t actually see anything. All this trouble only happened because the other party thought she saw them.”
“In other words, the trail has gone cold?”
“Correct. That’s why the vice dean is taking that little girl around the academy, in hopes that she might have enough recollection to identify the spy.”
After saying that, Elder Carter sighed deeply. “This is the last resort. It’s very difficult to find someone when the trail has gone cold.”
“The spy for demons have been hiding for so long, it won’t be easy to identify him through such a stupid method.”
“True. Elder Wilson, Elder Rosland and the others have been sent to monitor the movements of those key suspects. Only both of us that are bad at concealing ourselves couldn’t be of use. That’s why we can only sit here and wait anxiously.”
Elder Carter put the Go board to the side after putting away the pieces, then took two steps forward as if doing so would allow him to have a clearer view of the distant scenery. Latest content published on novᴇlfire.net
“The one flying above the lake is the student who has been attracting a lot of attention lately, Lilith?”
Elder Mord’s eyes followed the direction where Elder Carter pointed and indeed, saw Lilith who was circling around the lake.
“Hey, that brat is actually doing her job seriously. How surprising.”
Elder Carter rubbed his chin while looking at Lilith, who could fly easily without any external aid.
“I heard that Lilith is actually a demon beast in disguise? Not only that, she even killed a demon when she ran into one and stopped other demons from escaping. Vice Dean even planned to find a chance to reward her personally. With such outstanding talent, I really wonder what her true form is. Have you ever investigated that, Elder Mord?”
“Come on, that brat must have crushed that demon with a magic scroll since she’s rich. Why reward her? And why would I investigate her background? The first dean has set a rule that one must not question anyone on their racial identities except for demons. As the chief disciplinarian, I mustn’t violate this particular rule.”
“You have a point, the rules of the academy mustn’t be violated… Huh? I think Lilith dove into the lake.”
Elder Mord’s eyes widened in anger and he instantly sprung up from the ground. “Doesn’t that brat know that it’s forbidden to swim in the Dragon God Lake? What is she doing, diving into the lake at this hour? To catch a few fish for supper?”
“Calm down, calm down. There’s no need to get angry over such trivial matters.”
“The Dragon God Lake is the Holy Dragon Empire’s sacred lake! Such blasphemy will not be tolerated!”
“It’s just a few fish for supper. What harm can it bring?”
“But rules are rules. They’re not rules if they can be casually violated.”
“Let’s not jump into conclusion. It’d be embarrassing if you stormed over there, only to find out that she had fallen into the water because she lost her balance.”
Elder Mord finally sat down again after hearing Elder Carter’s dissuasion. Even so, he kept his eyes glued to the place where Lilith had jumped in. It was almost as if he would rush over there and skin Lilith alive if he saw her coming out of the water with the fish she caught.
“But then again, is there any fish in Dragon God Lake?”
“I have no idea either, but there should be since it’s a lake.”
Elder Carter nodded. “The Dragon God Lake has the natural abilities to hinder perception and is regarded as a sacred lake. We can’t even tell if there are fish in it.”
“Hmph, who cares about fish? If that brat can’t finish cleaning up the lake today, I’ll teach her a lesson.”
“Do you have to be so cruel to a little girl?”
“Go see what she has done in the academy lately, that’s what you should call cruel!”
“I have naturally heard about the things she did. Although they seem terrific, they’re mostly a child’s mischief.” Carter took out a bottle of fine wine from his collection and poured a glass for Elder Mord. “Cool down. It’s not like a little girl like her could do anything crazy.”
“Keep your eyes off her and she might leave a hole in the sky!”
Elder Mord downed the wine in one gulp. “People like her need to be constantly disciplined. Otherwise, they’ll stir up huge trouble.”
“You’re such a worrywart.”
Elder Carter poured himself a glass and took a sip. “What can a little girl like her do alone? It’s not like she could blow up Dragon God Lake.”
Elder Carter’s words amused himself. “If she could really blow up Dragon God Lake, then I’ll eat this wine bottle. Not only that, I’d do it in front of everyone in this academy!”
“You’re spouting nonsense again.”
“It’s not nonsense. I swear in the name of Dragon God, I’ll keep my words! But only if that little girl named Lilith is really capable of blowing up Dragon God Lake, haha…”
Elder Carter was only halfway through his laugh when a loud noise came from the direction of Dragon God Lake.
Elder Carter turned his head around stiffly and was nearly blinded by a bright light. Even so, he couldn’t afford to care about his eyes. He looked at the ‘sun’ that was slowly rising from Dragon God Lake through the tears that were streaming down his face.
“No way… That little girl really did that? I was just joking about it.”