Light and Curses…
“Please wait for a moment…”
It was dead at night….
Cold and dark.
The hallway of Killian Hall was practically deserted, a cold silence filling the space as I stood awkwardly in front of Emilia’s dorm
room.
The magical dim lights cast eerie shadows against the walls, flickering ever so slightly as the moonlight seeped through the massive, open windows.
The door in front of me was familiar
enough-just like every other one in Killian Hall with its high-standard design and intricate markings.
This was the door leading towards Emilia’s dorm room…
And beside the door, flanking it, were two figures who made the situation all the
more uncomfortable: Anna and Amon,
Emilia’s personal guards.
Both of them stood rigid, their faces stern but uneasy.
Except for their first request of making me wait for a moment…
They hadn’t said a word since I arrived,
merely glancing at me with tight lips and
avoiding direct eye contact.
Fifteen minutes had passed since I’d shown
up, but Emilia still hadn’t let me in.
The silence between us was almost
suffocating, the occasional flicker of the
magical stones on the walls the only sign of movement.
Their discomfort was almost palpable as well.
They couldn’t even look at me properly,
their eyes shifting away every time I caught
them stealing a glance.
‘Just how long was she going to make me wait out here?’
I understood the need for precautions- after all, she had already cast some sort of divine barrier around her room, locking the space between us to ensure that whatever happened inside and outside the vicinity of her room remained invisible to anyone passing by.
But there had to be a limit to its effect.
Divine magic this strong couldn’t go
unnoticed for too long, and if the dorm master or anyone else in authority caught wind of the anomalies surrounding this
area…..
Well, let’s just say that wouldn’t end well for me. Being caught lingering outside a girl’s dorm room late at night with magical barriers in place was practically a death
sentence.
The rumors alone would be enough to destroy whatever little reputation I had
left.
Clank!
Click!
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the
dorm room door creaked open.
A head poked out, and there she
was-Emilia, looking completely disheveled.
Her face was flushed, and her hair was a mess, strands falling across her face in chaotic spirals.
It was clear she had been flustered, probably rushing around inside to prepare for this moment.
Despite her usual graceful demeanor, right
now she looked more like someone who
had just scrambled to put out a fire.
“Y-You can enter now, Senior R-Riley… Sorry for the wait,” she stammered, her voice shaky as she blushed deeply. She was out of breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly, as if she had been running around for the past several minutes.
The sight was so uncharacteristic of the saintly image she usually projected that it almost caught me off guard.
But just as I took a step forward, eager to
finally get this awkward waiting game over with, two blades swiftly slithered across the tip of my neck, their cold steel resting uncomfortably against my skin.
“Please know the limits of your actions, Sir
Riley,”
“If we notice any irregularities inside, we
won’t hesitate to take your head…”
‘Well, that escalated quickly.’
I knew Emilia’s personal guards were overprotective, but this was a bit much, even for them.
The cold steel against my throat was a clear reminder that, despite Emilia’s invitation, they weren’t going to let their guard down for even a second. Though I couldn’t exactly blame them.
After all, from their perspective, the
situation must have seemed incredibly suspicious.
Emilia, the cherished saintess and symbol
of purity, suddenly invites a random male
student to her private dorm room in the dead of night?
Without prior notice or explanation? Yeah,
if I were in their shoes, I’d probably be suspicious too.
Any member of the Templar Order who
caught wind of this would have me strung up in the town square by morning. But the real kicker was how unprecedented this was.
Emilia wasn’t the type to act impulsively—
without giving them any proper reasoning at least, not in the game. Although I don’t know how much she told
this two.
The fact that she had called me here, and under these circumstances, was beyond abnormal. I could only imagine the alarm bells going off in Anna and Amon’s heads.
“I understand,” I said calmly, trying not to escalate the situation any further. The last thing I needed was to provoke
them into acting on their threats.
Slowly, ever so slowly, their blades withdrew from my neck, retreating back into their scabbards in smooth, fluid
motions as if nothing had happened.
The tension in the air, however, didn’t fully dissipate. I could still feel their eyes burning into the back of my head as I
stepped over the threshold and entered Emilia’s room.
As soon as the door clicked shut behind
me, I could hear the faint murmurs of Anna
and Amon resuming their silent vigil outside.
The fact that they can’t enter inside despite the presumable threat I possess, just goes to show the limits of their
influence over her huh.
Her words and opinion remain top
priority… if so, I might be able to take more advantage of her in the future… Turning back toward the room, I finally
took in the sight of Emilia, standing there, still flushed and nervous.
She fidgeted slightly, clearly uncomfortable, her hands twisting together as if she didn’t know what to do
with them.
Her eyes,
which had glowed faintly before,
now seemed hesitant-almost vulnerable,
even.
“Did something happen outside?” Enna
asked, tilting her head slightly, her eyes flickering toward the door behind me. Her gaze sharpened as she seemed to
notice the faint glow of divine energy lingering in the air.
It didn’t escape her attention-of course, as
a saintess, she would easily pick up on
something like that.
I forced a smile, trying to brush it off. “No,
nothing,”
“I-I see….” Enna shifted awkwardly, biting
her lip for a moment before trying to regain her composure. “A-anyway, w-welcome, Senior. I know everything
looks a bit weird right now, but trust me, every little thing has a purpose.” She was nervous-her stuttering and fidgeting made that
very clear.
Her room was surprisingly ordinary, considering who she was.
It wasn’t all that different from mine, in fact-unlike the other heroines, whose dorm rooms had been customized to suit their personal preferences. Some had lavish decor, training facilities,
or even specialized layouts to accommodate their abilities or status.
Enna’s room, however, was just… standard.
From the plain wooden furniture to the
bed, the same simple desk near the window, and even the small kitchenette tucked away in the corner, it all looked exactly like my own dorm. There were no grand adornments, no
special features, nothing that stood out. It was almost as if she had chosen to blend
in, to remain modest, despite her status.
But as my eyes swept the room, one thing did stand out.
Right in the center of her room, drawn
hurriedly and with clear intent, was a massive magic circle.
Its intricate patterns and glowing runes radiated a soft, divine white light. I didn’t even need to activate my mana
sense to recognize that it wasn’t just any
ordinary circle.
The sheer intensity of its divine properties was unmistakable.
“S-Senior R-Riley, sir… I know you’re very
curious as to why I asked you to come here all of a sudden,” Enna stammered, her voice shaking as she wrung her hands together
nervously. “And honestly, I’m very thankful you accepted without any problems…
that
but before I explain everything to you, can
I ask you to do one more thing…?”
I raised an eyebrow, already sensing where
this was going.
The room hummed with power, and I had a good guess that this was the same purification ritual she had used in the game
on Lucas.
Back then, it was to cleanse him of the dark abnormalities placed upon him, allowing him to resist the influence of the evil god,
Erebil as well as remove the curse Liyana placed on him when they first fought
against each other…
So, if Enna had summoned me here for the
same reason, she must have realized that
there was some sort of abnormality lurking
in me.
A darkness that needed to be purged.
“Go ahead…”
Enna shifted her weight from one foot to
the other, her face turning an even deeper
shade of red.
The divine light from the magic circle
illuminated her features, casting her
expression in a serious, almost desperate, glow.
Her eyes locked onto mine with a strange
mix of determination and hesitation.
“S-Senior Riley… P-please take off your clothes…”
My mind stuttered to a halt as her words
sank in.
‘Okay, I take it back. I had no idea what she
was up to.’
