Taking a breather when the 1st semester of the Academy ends is not a privilege exclusive to students.
A Professor who prepared lectures for students during the semester can also have a short period of rest.
Black Magic Defense Arts Professor Yulian was the same.
When Vacation starts, he returns to the Main Estate to spend time with family and prepare for the next semester...
Or so was Yulian's publicly known Schedule.
Unfortunately, because Clinical Professor Director Schun had to perform Surgery at the Academy even during the Vacation period, there was no Vacation for me.
Still, just having the 1st and Second Year Black magic lectures gone meant my schedule freed up a lot.
Thanks to that, I could immerse myself in developing the hobbies I had put off during that free Time.
'I should do some Cooking Research after a long time.'
Special cuts for Equipment,
Lean meat for the Butcher Shop,
Mana Stones for Magic tools.
Demonic Beasts contributed frugally to the economy of the Academy Territory in that manner.
I had handled various Demonic Beast Meat since I was in the Capital, but the types of Demonic Beast Meat in the Academy Territory were vast.
Thanks to that, there was a joy in doing Research on how to handle the Meat of Demonic Beasts I was seeing for the first time.
'What kind of unusual Meat should I try using today.'
Basically, when talking about edible Demonic Beast Meat, it usually means Meat from Pig, cow, or bird-type Demonic Beasts.
The Meat handled by Wangcho's Slaughterhouse wasn't entirely Livestock; there were times when Demonic Beast Meat occasionally came in, so there were many opportunities.
However, I wanted to try different Meat during this Vacation.
'It's not a meal I'm serving to my family anyway.'
Wouldn't it be fine to try somewhat experimental Meat.
With that thought, I visited the Adventurer's Guild in the Academy Territory today as well.
"Have you arrived, Professor. Which Part will I give you today?"
The Guild Master warmly welcomed me as I stepped into the guild.
He was welcoming me like this because I bought the innards of Demonic Beasts that were difficult for Handling.
"These are the types of Demonic Beasts our Adventurer friends caught this time."
I checked the list the pot-bellied Guild Master handed out.
'A Monkey-type Demonic Beast... This is a bit much even for me to handle.'
In my Previous life, I had heard they cooked with monkey brains somewhere.
The problem was that Cooking a monkey felt somehow like Cooking a person, so I disliked it.
No matter how much I enjoyed unique Cooking, my stomach wasn't that strong.
'A Rabbit-type Demonic Beast?'
I had handled a Rabbit last time.
The Lean meat was delicious, but the innards were too small, making it impossible to attempt any unique Cooking.
'A shark... looks fine.'
After shopping and checking the lists of Demonic Beasts that came into the Dismantling Facility one by one, I was able to pick out a few types.
After some deliberation, I bought the Meat of a Shark-type Demonic Beast and an Ostrich-type Demonic Beast.
The one that excited me in particular was the Shark-type Demonic Beast.
"A fish. I never imagined such a rare Demonic Beast would come in."
"Haha. I heard you had a lot of Interest in fish Cooking last time, Professor, so I kept it freshly frozen."
"Thank you, Guild Master. The freezing must have cost a considerable amount. I will pay the cost."
The pot-bellied Guild Master shook his head.
"No. Thanks to you usually buying the discarded Demonic Beasts, Professor, my Wallet has become much richer. I also had a Wizard I know do the freezing, so the cost wasn't much either."
These Demonic Beasts were Demonic Beasts the Guild Master had personally bought from the Adventurers.
This was because not all Demonic Beasts created value.
Some Demonic Beasts were profitable, but some Demonic Beasts were not.
The problem was that Adventurer was not a Profession that did Volunteer Work for free.
So someone had to buy those corpses.
Although the Nation or a Lord did buy them for now, that alone wasn't enough to encourage the Adventurers' hunting.
That was why the Guild Master was buying them personally like this.
For the reason that his Juniors shouldn't go hungry.
"If it really bothers you, I would appreciate it if you could send me an Invitation to your meal next time as well, Professor. It was my first time knowing Demonic Beasts could be used in Cooking like that."
"Since it is Vacation, I think I will be able to invite you to meals often."
"I am already looking forward to it."
It was also the reason why I personally liked this Guild Master.
He was a good person, but I liked him even more because he liked my Cooking without any aversion.
Even if I sent an Invitation to Students for Dinner, they wouldn't accept a second Invitation after eating once.
At most, only Jenny would occasionally come for a meal along with Shallot.
'The Students probably don't have that much Allowance.'
So I thought they would gladly accept the Invitation if I offered to serve them delicious Cooking for free.
Was the Cooking not tasty?
Or was it very polarizing?
If not that, was a meal with a Professor a Burden because they were Students?
'Though they did have a noticeable Pallor throughout the entire meal.'
I had even requested a Consultation with Perisia about the reason.
Then the answer that came back was...
— "How about you try changing the interior, at least?"
— "Is the atmosphere of the Dining Room strange?"
— "It's a bit spooky, I'd say. Before that, this house Lord Yulian bought, isn't it a Stigmatized Property?"
— "This was the only house available at the time, so what could I do."
The answer that came back was that it might be the Fault of the rumors entangled with the house.
Anyway, due to this reason, I like people like the Guild Master.
It was because he responded well to meal Invitations and ate deliciously even when I used unique Ingredients.
The Guild Master said.
As an Adventurer, one had to eat even bugs to survive in the Demonic Realm anyway.
Compared to that, he said my Cooking was at the level of a Top-tier Restaurant if you only considered the taste, with only the Ingredients being the problem.
"Since we're on the topic, I'm planning to try some fish Cooking today, so would you like to try some too, Guild Master......"
I was in the middle of chatting with the Guild Master while standing at the guild counter like that.
The door of the guild opened, and Soldiers with their hats pulled down entered the guild.
The Major who appeared to be leading them walked straight up to me, saluted, and spoke.
"I have been looking for you, Professor Yulian Nihilrit."
Recalling the Imperial Prince explaining in the past that the military rank he bestowed upon me was roughly Captain but closer to a Civilian,
I replied to the Major with a light salute.
"Hello, Major."
"Excuse me during your Vacation, but could you possibly spare some Time right now?"
"Is it a matter that is difficult for you to speak of here?"
The Major stepped aside slightly instead of answering.
Then I saw Eri, Freya, and Jenny standing among the Soldiers.
Was their party name Sisters?
Just the fact that they were accompanying the Soldiers allowed me to guess the reason they came looking for me.
It was probably a story related to Black magic.
Guessing that fact, I saluted the Guild Master first.
"I am sorry. I suppose Dinner will have to be postponed to the next Opportunity."
"It is fine, Professor."
Like that, out of nowhere, I ended up having an unplanned Dinner with Black Sorcerers.
***
"...So, if it's as you say, Miss Jenny, you want me to naturally dig for Clues from them like Miss Charlotte?"
"Yes. That is correct, Professor."
"Hmm..."
Right after hearing that explanation from Jenny, who came out of nowhere.
The very first Options that came to my mind was refusal.
'It's not like I have excellent Deduction skills like Shallot.'
I am only fitting the current case into the knowledge or cases I already know.
The Star Anise Incident was like that, and so was the Arsenic case.
I only fit the Clues into cases I knew as a medical scholar; it wasn't that I traced the Clues backwards.
I've emphasized it countless times, but I only slightly excel in Perception for Diagnosis on Patients; I can't figure out a person's past at an almost Magic-like level like Shallot.
'However, since this Misunderstanding Genre setup was my Intention, I can't bring myself to issue a Denial.'
The problem was that Jenny and the others did not think that way.
Because I milked the fact that I closely competed with Shallot in the beginning too much, the expectations they had of me were huge.
The situation had grown too big for me to express Denial now.
In the end, unable to refuse, I decided to firmly find out what they wanted from me first.
"Miss Jenny. If so, what do you want me to do?"
"Unlike Shallot, you are good at applying Pressure with Clues, Professor. So I would like you to conduct a Pressured Interrogation."
Hearing those Words, I was relieved.
It was because she wasn't asking me to figure it out like Shallot just by looking at Clues, but to make them confess.
If it was that, it was at a doable level.
How much experience did I have acting using the Power of the Misunderstanding Genre.
Bluffing as if I knew everything was no different from my Daily life.
'Even if they are Black Sorcerers, they should have one or two Occupational Diseases left anyway.'
If it was about applying Pressure based on those Symptoms.
It didn't look that difficult.
"Alright. Let us give it a try."
They said these were people who wouldn't open their mouths even under torture anyway.
It didn't seem like my Fame would be greatly chipped away just because they didn't open their mouths for me either.
So the matter was decided, and I was in the middle of preparing for the interrogation.
Jenny carefully handed me one Proposal.
"Professor. How about trying Cooking for them?"
"Cooking, you say?"
"Yes."
Jenny spoke as if it were obvious.
"My Peers said that when they eat with you, Professor, they end up answering things that weren't even asked without realizing it. I was like that too. Is it because of the atmosphere?"
Hearing those Words, the corners of my mouth slightly went up.
Did it mean my Cooking was so delicious that their guard went down.
If it meant that, it was a pretty heartwarming compliment.
"Alright."
I didn't really like the idea of Cooking for Black Sorcerers, though.
Still, since I had already performed Surgery on a dying Chimera Sorcerer, I decided to serve them a meal with the Feelings of giving one more rice cake to a hated person.
Who knows.
Maybe their guard would crumble after eating my delicious Cooking when they've only been eating terribly tasteless Prison food.
However, there was one thing I needed to be certain of before moving on.
'I don't want to give them expensive Special cuts.'
It might be different if I were acting as a Doctor.
A Cook doesn't have anything like the Declaration of Geneva.
It meant I had no Duty to go out of my way to serve the best meal to a Terrorist Attack perpetrator.
Of course, there were Cooks who took Pride in their Cooking, but for me, it was in the realm of a hobby, so I was free from such things.
So I decided to make the Cooking served to the Black Sorcerers using Ingredients with strong polarizing preferences.
'The food Ingredients that just came in are also unique ones.'
First of all, treating the Shark-type Demonic Beast like tuna, I didn't want to give them expensive Parts like the fatty belly.
So I decided on the head area, which wasn't eaten often.
Just in time, an Eyeball Cooking came to mind.
Tuna Eyeball Cooking had a high difficulty and was polarizing, but even so, the taste alone was top-notch.
Thinking a shark and tuna were similar, it was worth an Effort to try it once.
The Ostrich-type Demonic Beast was the same.
Usually, the breast and leg meat, or wings would be used.
However, I didn't want to serve such delicious Parts to these things.
So I decided to use the Pancreas and liver.
'Well, I decided on these for the Ingredients.'
Still, I had at least a minimum level of Pride in the Cooking itself.
With these Ingredients, I cooked by putting in my Best effort in my own way.
***
The underground of the Academy's Security Bureau, where not a single speck of Sunlight entered. (Even though the surface didn't get much Sunlight originally either.)
A Prison existed there, engraved with Runic formulas and an environment that forced a Denial of all magical Symbols.
The faint Old Testament Style Divine Symbols carved into each Iron Bar sealed the Wizards' Magic by using the Principle that Divine Power interfered with Magical Power.
Even the darkness, the friend of criminals, was hard to find under the Magical Lamps of this space.
As if not even giving Permission for them to plot any Ulterior motives in the dark, light filled the Prison to the point that it was difficult to find a single shadow.
As if not even granting Permission for privacy, there was only one room, and it was a place where even the bathroom had to be dealt with a pot.
On both sides of that corridor, Eyeballs rolled from beyond the Iron Bars.
Grave robbers, deserters, and murderers.
Criminals who hadn't even seen a Mage in their Lifetime were shoving their faces against the bars.
It was because there was no event as exciting in this Underbelly as the spectacle of something worse than themselves being imprisoned beyond the Iron Bars that trapped them.
Their gazes gathered on the Black Sorcerers locked inside the room engraved with even more special symbols at the innermost part of the corridor.
At the center of those gazes, the Blood Mage woman Rodeny leaned her back against the wall, ignoring the stares.
"Hmph."
Leaning against the wall, her left Shoulder was missing its arm.
It was the Result of Erika's axe swings.
Due to Erika's Innate Magic that used Blood Clots like poison, the Blood Mage's arm suffered Necrosis, resulting in the Fault of having to undergo an Amputation of the arm.
She could have saved her arm if she had kept to the Time properly.
But for the reason that she didn't want the Priests' help, she stubbornly hid her Symptoms to the end, and as a Result, Rodeny lost her arm.
Although she herself didn't seem to regret that choice.
"Weren't you used to these kinds of gazes at the Brothel?"
"Shut up, One-eye."
Beyond her room.
Rodeny snapped towards the Curse Caster Otma, who had one eye closed and covered.
This Eyepatch was also Erika's Creation.
At the time of their suppression, the face kicked to interrupt the Curse Caster's Chant ended up hitting a very bad spot.
Otma had no choice but to undergo a Surgical Removal of his burst Eyeball.
He himself wanted the Saint to make this eye return, but
The only answer that came back from the Saint was that the Surgical Removal of the eye before Infection was the Treatment, substituting it with a Prosthetic Eye.
Since recovering the Eyeball itself was an act beyond life-saving Treatment, a firm refusal telling him not to wish for any more Goodwill was a bonus.
Since that day, Otma would complain every day about why his eye wasn't returned while the Chimera Sorcerer received Treatment.
Then, if there was another prisoner he didn't like, he would spend his Time arguing with that prisoner.
"Heok... huk..."
"Are you sleeping, Wolf Oppa?"
"...Uuuh."
The Chimera Sorcerer Baltazan had only recently opened his eyes.
As an Aftermath of his liver Surgery, he was staring into space and spouting Nonsense, though.
The Black Saint, Director Schun, gave a Diagnosis that this was Hepatic Encephalopathy or Delirium caused by Trauma, and said there was nothing he could do other than rely on Natural Healing.
Lastly, Belgian.
"Lord Belgian."
"..."
"Lord Belgian?"
"Be quiet."
"Hmph. Still Acting tough, are we."
Lastly, Belgian.
He rarely opened his mouth after surrendering to Erika.
As if he had no reason to spill Information, even though he was arrested.
Like that, at the deepest part of the corridor.
The 4 Black Sorcerers were imprisoned in their respective rooms.
Killing Time to the guards' roll call without knowing what time it was, being occasionally dragged to the torture chamber was their Daily life.
It was sudden when their Daily life met an Inflection Point.
Clank.
The sound of a Lock turning came from the end of the corridor.
"Those two. Drag them out."
The door of the adjacent Prison Cell opened, and guards holding spears engraved with Runic formulas stormed inside.
The first to walk out was the Curse Caster Otma.
Even while being pushed and stumbling, his eyes were glaring at the guards.
His palms itched to bloom dark blue Energy, but the shackles sucked in that Energy like a straw.
He closed and opened his fingers in vain.
Following him, the Chimera Sorcerer Baltazan was dragged out.
Baltazan, being dragged by the guards without any strength.
However, the touch of the guards Handling him was somewhat cautious.
Because the Chimera Sorcerer was in a state where it wouldn't be strange if he died suddenly at any moment.
Following those two, the remaining two, Belgian and Rodeny, were dragged outside the Prison.
"You guys are next in line after those two. Move to the Waiting Room."
"Well, guys. Like I said, you won't be able to make us open our mouths with those kinds of tortures."
"..."
Belgian was also dragged away with an indifferent Facial expression.
What kind of torture would they bring this time.
It wasn't that it wasn't painful, but it wasn't to the extent where he couldn't endure it and would spill everything he knew.
That was why he could maintain this Stance consistently.
Like that, Belgian and Rodeny were moved to a new room named the Waiting Room.
The Waiting Room had a structure directly connected to the interrogation room with Iron Bars in between.
And beyond the Iron Bars, three people were sitting in the middle of the interrogation room.
Chimera Sorcerer Baltazan.
Curse Caster Otma.
And...
"Professor Yulian. It is our first time meeting."
"Hello, Mr. Otma."
It was the Black Sorcerers' Natural Enemy and mortal enemy, Professor Yulian.
A Dining table was placed in front of those three, arranged so that two Black Sorcerers were sitting on either side of Yulian, who sat at the Seat of Honor.
Yulian gave A glance to the guards.
Then the guards uncuffed the prisoners, albeit reluctantly.
Otma gauged whether Magical Power gathered in his hands as soon as the cuffs were undone.
However, due to the shackles still remaining, his Magic was left sealed.
Yulian spoke towards the two Black Sorcerers whose hands were now free.
"Originally, I intended to conduct one-on-one Meetings, but due to Mr. Baltazan's poor condition, I decided to have a Meeting with the two of you together."
"Do you think I will open my mouth, Professor?"
"Who knows."
Yulian replied to Otma's Words as if it were no big deal.
"I simply came to have a meal with you all. First, before the Cooking is placed, shall we have a brief conversation?"
"..."
The Curse Caster immediately shut his mouth.
He was using his entire body to project a Stance of not giving away even the slightest Clue.
However, Yulian continued the conversation as if he had no Interest.
"You changed your Right side eye to a Prosthetic Eye."
Yulian pointed to the Curse Caster's eye first.
"Is the Prosthetic Eye not Uncomfortable?"
"..."
"It is easy to overlook, but a Prosthetic Eye is a very important Medical Device. It must not be too big, not too small, and not too heavy. As it is a substance that stays in contact with the skin for a long time, the Materials are also important."
"..."
Otma gave no answer.
Whether he did or not, Yulian continued his Words.
"After the Surgical Removal of the Eyeball, that empty space must absolutely be filled with a good Prosthetic Eye. The Orbit (*the space in the Skull where the eyeball should be) is not structurally built to withstand Gravity. If you leave the space where the Eyeball disappeared empty, one side of the face will slowly collapse due to Gravity. Did the person who made the Prosthetic Eye explain this well?"
"..."
At Yulian's tone that sounded like Worry, the Curse Caster's mouth itched to speak.
However, if it was the Yulian he knew, there was no telling what Information he might dig out from even a very simple word.
That was why he put in the Effort to not even react as much as possible.
But as if that judgment was a misjudgment, Yulian pointedly figured out something from him.
"So the Words I want to say are, do not insert and remove the Prosthetic Eye too frequently."
The Curse Caster flinched for a moment.
"The Conjunctival Injection and Eye Crust are too severe. It is a trace of inserting and removing the Prosthetic Eye too frequently. Above all, the Focus is adjusted strangely. You seem to have inserted it to look straight ahead, but well. The human eye forms a shape that gathers slightly more inward than one thinks, which appears as looking straight ahead when seen by the other party. There's no way you'd make this mistake if someone else put it in for you."
Yulian spoke while wiggling his finger.
"What did you hide, in your eye?"
"!!!!"
As soon as the Words ended, the guards slammed the Curse Caster's head onto the Dining table.
The guards immediately pulled out that Prosthetic Eye and smashed it.
Then wads of Hair came out from inside.
The one who deciphered the meaning of those wads of Hair was Yulian.
"Judging from the varied colors, it's the guards' Hair. Did you plan to collect Hair to cast a Curse on them as a group, incapacitating them for a Prison Break?"
With just that short Exchange, everyone watching the interrogation had an Intuition.
That the control of this space was already with Yulian.