Chapter 1: Year 402 of the Kokuryo Calendar
Chapter 1: Year 402 of the Kokuryo Calendar
In the year 402 of the Ankylosaurus calendar, five years before Rudeus was born.
This winter was exceptionally difficult. Even the streets of the magical city of Sharia were covered with thick snowflakes, and even students from the La Noah Magic University were forced to take to the streets to sweep away the snow with brooms or staffs.
On the street in front of the magic university, a blue-haired girl and another black-haired girl were slowly sweeping the snow with brooms. Perhaps because she was too short, the blue-haired girl's movements were particularly slow.
"Luo Qixi, what do you think the headmaster is thinking? We're students! We're magicians! How can we do this kind of work?" The black-haired girl seemed to have reached her limit and threw the broom aside.
Seeing her like this, the blue-haired girl called Loki sighed helplessly and said, "There's nothing we can do about it... Besides... the principal is willing to pay those of us who help with cleaning... I'm already very grateful to her."
"You're still short of money?" The black-haired girl looked at Luo Qixi with some surprise. "I remember you've always been doing part-time jobs, haven't you?"
"Those part-time jobs... don't pay much." Luo Qixi sighed and pinched her hair.
"Ah..." The black-haired girl understood what she meant by looking at her actions.
Her friend, Lokishi Migrudia, was not human, but a demon from the Demon Continent... In the Central Continent, which was full of humans, she was naturally disliked by most people.
Someone must be using her race as an excuse to deduct money from her pay again, right?
Thinking of this, the black-haired girl pursed her lips and picked up the broom on the ground: "Then let's clean it up quickly, and then we can go to the principal to collect our money."
"At least we don't have to worry about her withholding our wages, right?"
This is probably one of the few good qualities of the principal herself. Ever since she, Cinderella Sylvania, became the principal of La Noah Magic University, the entire school has undergone a tremendous transformation.
She required each student to provide a portion of their blood upon enrollment, and then immediately sealed herself in the school's astronomical tower. Except for the occasional sighting of the principal at night, she was mostly a mysterious figure.
However, the black-haired girl, Lanleta, considered herself quite lucky, having seen her once at the opening ceremony. But the weather was so nice that Principal Sylvania only said a few words before leaving.
No wonder some people speculate that she is actually a mysterious dark sorceress who cannot stand the light of day and uses students' blood for experiments.
However, her arrival did bring about some changes to the school. According to the professors, the funding for La Noah University has increased year by year, which seems to be due to the president.
Therefore, there are rumors that she may be the illegitimate daughter of King Lanoa, or the cousin of the king of the southern kingdom of Asra.
In short, rumors about this mysterious principal have never ceased.
Thinking of this, Lanleta frowned slightly and muttered with some worry, "Hopefully she won't eat us while she's giving us our reward."
"No..." Lokishi actually quite liked her, because it was this Sylvanian principal who reformed the school's tuition system, allowing even a poor demon like Lokishi to attend school through student loans.
At least I don't have to worry about tuition fees anymore, right? Although I still have to pay them back...
The work of clearing the snow was completed amidst the two girls' casual conversation.
Looking at the now-cleaned streets, Lanleta stretched and said, "Let's hurry and find the headmistress. Didn't she say that after finishing our work, we only need to go to the Astronomical Tower?"
"Hmm." Luo Qixi rubbed her slightly cold hands and smiled slightly. If she got this money, the new staff she had been longing for would finally be settled.
So they took their brooms and hurried to the school's astronomy tower.
Since Principal Sylvania arrived, the Astronomy Tower has become a forbidden area of the academy. No one is allowed to enter or leave without special permission. It is said that someone who did not believe in the superstitions secretly went in, but the next day she was found lying stiffly on the grass and could not remember anything.
Therefore, when she stepped into this place, the inexplicable coldness made Luo Qixi subconsciously shiver. Although the principal was a good person, she was still a little afraid of this mysterious principal.
But the thought of receiving the money soon made her fear slowly disappear. She mustered her courage, patted her face, and then carefully walked up the tower step by step.
Soon, they arrived at the door of the room on the top floor of the astronomical tower. The wooden door was locked, and the words "No Entry" were written crookedly in multiple languages on it.
The strange, seal-like object made both of them swallow hard upon seeing it.
"Is our principal some kind of monster?" Lanleta muttered softly, her words causing Loki's face to turn slightly pale.
"No...don't say that," she whispered. "It wouldn't be good if the principal heard..."
"This door is so thick, she probably can't hear me..."
"Are those Miss Migludia and Miss Gwen outside the door?"
"Hmm!"
The cold voice coming from inside the door made both girls instinctively stop breathing, especially Lanleta, who covered her mouth and instinctively took a few steps back.
"How's your work going?" After an awkward silence, the voice came again from behind the door.
"Ah..." Lanleta quickly pursed her lips and said, "We...we've already cleaned the school gate."
"I see..." The cold voice behind the door fell silent after giving this answer. After a moment of anxious waiting, the door suddenly clicked open.
The scene, resembling something out of a horror story, made Luo Qixi tremble and take a few steps back. She gripped the broom tightly in her hand as if it were a weapon.
"This is your payment."
A hand reached out; it was a rather pale hand, paler than the whitest hand Loki had ever seen, even as pale as white marble.
And this hand was more childlike, or rather, much more delicate than she had imagined... It didn't look like the hand of an old man or some kind of dark magician at all, but more like the hand of an ordinary young girl.
And lying in that hand were several Asura coins... Unlike the relatively cheap Lanoa coins, the Asura coins were undoubtedly much more valuable.
"Thank you... thank you, Principal." Lanleta mustered her courage, pursed her lips, and then stood on tiptoe, as if pinching the coins one by one into her hand.
The principal just stood there with his hand outstretched, waiting for her to take all the money away.
It seems... the principal isn't as scary as we imagined? Luo Qixi subconsciously had this thought. She took a few steps forward and curiously looked behind the door.
Behind the door was complete darkness, but she could still vaguely see something.
They were a pair of red gems...like amber, quietly watching me.
"Huh?!"
"Miss Migludia." As Lokishi stepped back in fright, the principal's cold voice rang out, followed by the hand that hadn't retracted suddenly grabbing Lokishi's arm.
"Ah?!" This sudden turn of events startled Lanletta, who screamed and scrambled down the tower.
She left only Luo Qixi at the top of the tower, where the principal held her hand.
"Principal... Principal?!" Luo Qixi felt like she could barely stand; the principal's icy hands sent chills down her spine.
"Are you curious about what's inside?" the principal asked quietly.
"I...I wasn't curious...I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Principal, I shouldn't have..."
"It's good to be curious... but sometimes... too much curiosity isn't good." The principal said slowly, and then Luo Qixi felt her arm being pulled suddenly.
She was pulled into the room by that pale hand, and before she could react, she felt a tingling sensation on her neck.
"I must say... demons taste much better than humans." Sidrin Sylvania sighed as she lightly bit her neck.
20demayo