“…Pardon me.”
Darwin knocked on the door to the headmaster’s office and entered.
Inside…
“Yes! I’ve been waiting for you, Darwin!”
…was Headmaster Jake…
“Hey, Darwin.”
…and the instructor for the physical enhancement magic class, Crawford.
The two of them were sitting on a sofa with a finely made glass coffee table between them, drinking what looked to be expensive wine.
“A glass for you?” Crawford said to Darwin.
“No, thank you. I don’t drink.”
“You’re a drag, as usual. Ugh…what a pain…” Crawford dejectedly withdrew the wineglass. “By the way, Darwin, I heard you had your first class in your usual fashion again?”
“Hmph… I simply aim for the students to throw away their innocent fantasies regarding magic and acknowledge the terrifying, dangerous nature of it, if only a little. A little violence is the best medicine for those naive, peace-loving dullards.”
“More like chemical warfare.”
“Chemical warfare or not, it is essential to their education! I appreciate you taking up that dirty job every year!”
“Still, isn’t there a better way to go about it? You could at least let the students know you’ve enforced a barrier around the training grounds in advance that prevents mortal wounds from being inflicted…”
“That’s too soft. If they don’t feel the true fear of death with their own bodies, the purpose of the class is completely lost.”
“Sigh… Geez. You know, this is why the students don’t like you.”
Though, I suppose by the time they graduate, you manage it so most of the students don’t hate you completely…, thought Crawford as he drank his wine.
But Darwin showed no sign of caring about that. “Let’s get to the main topic,” he said.
“Ugh… We do have to talk about that, don’t we?” Crawford griped. “Gah, what a pain…”
“All right, let’s get straight to it! How were the results?!” Headmaster Jake asked.
“It is just as you thought—black.”
Darwin took something out of his coat pocket and placed it on the glass table.
It was a bone fragment, about the size of the tip of a pinky finger.
It had small, strange black writing on its surface, and just looking at it made one feel sick.
“Professor Lucia and I thoroughly examined Gordon,” Darwin said. “And we were able to excise this—a Demon Relic.”
“…So it was as we feared.” Headmaster Jake nodded solemnly, his voice calmer than usual.
“Ugh, what a pain…” Crawford clicked his tongue.
“The Dusk Demon—the most powerful and evil mage in history, who two hundred years ago, in the Mythical Era, plunged the world into the depths of fear and despair,” Darwin began. “A dark lord of tyranny and gluttony who destroyed everything in their power and consumed all life. And these are remains of that same dark lord’s body—a Demon Relic. Any who wield it come to bear the immense magical power and profound knowledge of the Dusk Demon. However…this appears to be a third-class relic.”
“You’re right,” said Crawford, scratching his head. “Had it been second-class or higher, the entire academy would have been blown to smithereens.”
“Hmm.” Headmaster Jake nodded.
“But there is no doubt that he had this relic in his possession. Gordon is one of the Faith Faction,” Darwin concluded.
Headmaster Jake and Crawford felt a wave of anxiety wash over them.
The Faith Faction—the dark side of this academy.
And faith magic—a mysterious kind of magic that had been wielded by the Dusk Demon.
That magic was precisely how the Dusk Demon had become the most powerful mage in human history.
For many years, the true nature of that magic had been shrouded in mystery, but the situation had changed recently, since the remains of the Dusk Demon—the Demon Relics—were unearthed.
And now at Estoria Academy of Magic, a faction of alumni had formed that aimed to revive and master the faith magic by using the magical power and knowledge obtained by the Demon Relics.
That was the Faith Faction.
For a time, the Faction was touted at Estoria Academy of Magic as the latest cutting-edge trend, a new era for the magical world…until it came to light that those who were deeply involved in faith magic saw their minds gradually deteriorate to the point of insanity. Eventually, their destructive, ruinous thoughts made them less and less human.
Naturally, this dangerous group was immediately banned and dismantled, and many of the existing Demon Relics were collected and sealed away.
However, the faction persisted behind the scenes at Estoria Academy of Magic.
While few in number, these like-minded people huddled together in the darkness, quietly planning in secret. The existence of the Faith Faction within the academy could not be denied.
“Nonetheless…Gordon is nothing more than someone else’s puppet,” Darwin added. “I have searched the dullard’s memory using magic, and I found that just recently, someone gave him the Demon Relic. Soon after, he began drowning in its power. But he himself wouldn’t know the first thing about faith magic.”
“Hmmmm? That’s quite a bold move for a group that’s supposed to be sworn to absolute secrecy.”
“Yes, how strange! There must have been something quite important going on behind the scenes for them to see value in such an action!”
“So? Who was it who gave him the Demon Relic? And what was their goal?”
“Gordon has had his memory regarding anything about it perfectly erased,” Darwin replied. “It must have been the work of whatever member of the Faith Faction he became involved with.”
“How unfortunate! But it’s nothing new for the Faith Faction to be hard to catch! Yet still, we cannot by any means allow the Faith Faction to exist! You all still have the Dardrick Tragedy fresh in your minds, do you not?!”
Darwin and Crawford fell into a hush.
“Recently, the Faith Faction has become active once again!” the headmaster went on. “And I believe the appearance of that all-too-unnatural sea monster that attacked the ship to Estoria carrying all those new students was also the work of the Faith Faction pulling the strings behind the scenes! You two must do your utmost to be careful as well! For the truly terrifying thing about the Faith Faction is not their immense magical power! It is rather that we have no idea who is part of the Faith Faction!”