Every living being inside Lykeion Magic Academy’s Seven Sealed Prison was a mythological creature and designated calamity. If even one of them escaped, it could destroy an entire city. So I’d heard, anyway. In reality, there had never been an escape, so I had no way of confirming the veracity of that rumor.
As for why the academy housed such dangerous creatures, we had the headmaster to thank for that. He had always been an eccentric, so it made sense that he had bizarre hobbies. All the cages had multiple locks on them, and you had to dispel them in a specific order or else they would never open. Even without them, the quintessence that the seals couldn’t hold back flowed through the air as a thick shroud of miasma. Any ordinary person who entered this place would instantly fall into a coma. Claude was a hero, and he couldn’t even handle it. No one would be so foolhardy as to try sneaking inside.
I carefully went through the troublesome steps that granted me access to each cage. If I took too long, though, she would get mad at me. I should hurry. Panicking a little, I proceeded deeper inside. The sign on the cage in the deepest depths of the prison read: Fallen Queen Erinyes.
With slow, measured steps, I entered the cage. The miasma hanging in the air clung to my skin. It was so thick, it was akin to a cloud of poison. To prevent myself from losing consciousness, I’d cast several layers of barriers around my body. After all, it was because of my protective white mana that the headmaster had chosen me as the Demon Queen’s caretaker.
“It’s been a century since I last allowed a student in here! You should be proud of yourself, Eugene!” I remembered the headmaster telling me jovially. Yeah, and then, right after that, he forced me to join the Biology Club.
I sighed and dragged my feet as I walked deeper into the giant cage. It was full of glamorous furniture that made it resemble a noble’s bedroom. I made my way to the massive bed at the back of the cage. On top of it lay a woman, her foot secured to it by a thick chain.
“You’re finally here. What took you so long?”
“This is the usual time, isn’t it?” I replied airily as I looked down at her. No matter how many times I see her, I can’t get used to how breathtakingly gorgeous she is. If I’d asked a thousand different people their opinions on her looks, they would all have agreed that she boasted an inhuman beauty. Well, that makes sense. She really isn’t human, I joked to myself.
She had pale skin and bright red lips. Though her physique showed traces of youth, she exuded a mature and seductive elegance. A pair of wings—proof that she had once served the Goddess in Heaven as an Angel—protruded from her back. However, the feathers weren’t white. Instead, they were a corrupted black.
Her name was Erinyes, the Fallen Queen. In eons past, she had been a High Archangel in the service of the goddess in Heaven. However, after provoking the goddess’s wrath, she’d been cast down to Earth, making her a fallen Angel. It hadn’t taken her long to earn the title of Demon Queen, and she’d brought the entirety of the Southern Continent to heel. More recently, having been laid low by the legendary hero, she’d been spending her days sealed away in the academy.
“Now then, fulfill your duty,” she said.
I bit back a sigh before saying, “Yes, yes, I know.”
I approached the enormous bed and sat down on the mattress. It creaked under our combined weight. The beautiful demon queen stripped me of my clothes and climbed on top of me.
“It’s been a week since the last time,” she said.
“I brought you some food and a change of clothes,” I informed her.
“Give them to me later!” Eyes burning in her ethereal face, she leaned down over me and pressed her lips against mine, stealing my breath away.
It was my duty, as a sacrifice for the Demon Queen, to provide her with my essence every month. This was the most difficult but also the most important task I’d been assigned as a member of the Biology Club.