"You're asking me to fetch it myself?"
I looked at Professor Jade, eyebrows raised. He just nodded casually.
"Yes. It shouldn't be too difficult, since you know where the magic-infused Seven Star Herb typically grows."
"And where would that be?"
"Here."
He pointed to a dust ball drifting lazily across the grimy laboratory floor.
Obviously, he didn't mean it literally grew in this dump.
"...You mean on school grounds?"
"Exactly. There's likely no better place on the continent to find the Seven Star Herb imbued with natural magic."
I narrowed my eyes.
The only place on the continent? I could guess why.
"Is it because of the seal?"
"Oh?"
Professor Jade's eyes twinkled with interest.
"For someone who scored the lowest in first-year history, you're surprisingly well-informed."
"...Why do you know my first-year grades?"
"Shouldn't I be familiar with the academic records of my future teaching assistant?"
"I never agreed to that."
"And yet here we are."
I glared. No way I was joining his lab. Not in this lifetime.
"Kkk. In any case, that's a response worthy of about 80 out of 100. It's not because of the seal, per se, but due to the ley lines connected to it."
"Ley lines...?"
Now that he mentioned it, Senior Sophia had once talked about a massive ley line running beneath the academy.
"Since we're here, I might as well explain."
Professor Jade's eyes lit up as he entered lecture mode.
"Five hundred years ago, after a grueling battle, the Five Great Heroes succeeded in sealing the Demon God."
"Is this turning into a history class?"
"Shut up and listen."
He continued, voice firm.
"Reynald—one of the five—founded the Hero Academy directly above the seal."
We'd covered that in our first-year history class.
"Do you know why he chose this location?"
"Wasn't it to create a fortress? To guard the seal?"
That was the prevailing theory—Reynald built the school to draw heroes from all over the continent, creating a defense against demons attempting to breach the seal.
And it had worked.
At first, nations resisted sending their young talents to such a dangerous place. But when Reynald decreed that only graduates from this academy could be recognized as true heroes, they relented.
Five centuries later, no one batted an eye anymore.
Unless they paid attention in history class, most cadets probably didn't even know the Demon God was sealed beneath the school.
Of course...
'Sooner or later, they'll have no choice but to care.'
Because I had seen that future—the one where the seal broke.
"A fortress… That was one reason," Professor Jade acknowledged.
"There were others?"
"Remember the ley lines I mentioned? Reynald—or rather, my ancestor, the Great Sage Julius Bastian—connected those ley lines directly to the seal."
"He connected the ley lines?"
"Yes. Think of it as chaining the Demon God using the very flow of the continent's magical energy. The academy acts as a conduit, concentrating that power to reinforce the seal."
A school functioning as a continent-wide magical lock.
'That might explain the seal's collapse in my past life…'
If something had damaged or severed those ley lines, the weakening would make sense.
'That gives me another reason to stay here.'
Not that I was planning on leaving. I still had to gather my old comrades. But now I also needed to investigate the weakening seal.
'Still, that's not something I can fix overnight.'
Better to focus on the immediate task.
"So, because of the ley lines, the Seven Star Herb grows easily around here?"
"Correct."
Jade looked pleased, sipping coffee with a wistful smile.
"Standing here like this... It reminds me of when I used to teach."
Once, he had been a beloved professor. But ever since the incident two years ago...
'The so-called Student Killer.'
But having worked with him these past few days, I didn't see it. Eccentric? Absolutely. But not murderous.
'Still... no time to dig into that now.'
Too much on my plate already.
"Anyway, if you fetch the herb, I can finish the Stigma Amplifier potion."
"But why me? Don't you know where it grows?"
"Are you telling this old man to go picking herbs?"
"..."
Old man?
'You've got nerve. I've lived far longer than you in past lives, geezer.'
Of course, I couldn't say that out loud.
My neck flushed slightly with irritation. He'd spent a million gold on research, and I was supposed to go foraging?
"Kkk. Besides, if I were seen collecting the Holy Kingdom's national flower..."
Ah.
Professor Jade, infamous for forbidden research into Stigma, roaming around picking Seven Star Herb?
That'd raise holy hell—literally.
"Ugh. Fine."
No way around it.
"I'll send the location to your Hero Watch. Just search around there."
The map pointed to the outdoor training grounds we'd used recently for Demonic Beast Tracking.
"…Isn't that area off-limits outside class hours?"
"You can get special permission for research."
"Hm. Got it."
I still had a mountain of things to do, but...
'No use arguing with the old man.'
Time to get moving.
* * *
"According to the map, it should be somewhere around here..."
I followed the Hero Watch map deep into the training grounds. The sun had begun to dip low, casting long shadows across the forest. Darkness crept in, slow but steady.
'If this keeps up, I'll have to camp out.'
Not that I minded. I'd slept rough more times than I could count. Still, camping without Iris felt... empty.
"We need to hurry—hm?"
Something glinted in the underbrush.
A narrow crack between rocks, just wide enough to slip through.
Faint mana trickled out.
"...Is it in there?"
Curious, I slid through the gap and emerged into a spacious cave.
"Let's see."
Tuning my senses, I scanned the cavern. Between jagged stalactites, pale flowers bloomed.
"Seven Star Herb."
I plucked one. It buzzed softly in my hand—definitely infused with mana.
"Well, at least I won't need to camp now."
Smiling faintly, I harvested every herb I could see—two good handfuls. Enough to craft the potion.
But just in case...
"Let's look around a bit more."
The cave twisted on, wide and winding. As I moved deeper—
"...?"
A light?
Not natural. Steady. Artificial.
"A lantern?"
It sat nestled among rocks—standard issue for exploration.
'Someone's here.'
There were no scheduled training classes today.
'I double-checked when getting the permit.'
Which meant it wasn't a cadet.
And what professor would sneak out here, alone, after dark?
'Not a professor. Not a cadet. Then…'
I crept forward, staying behind a stalactite.
"Damn it... why am I always stuck with these chores?"
A man muttered inside the cave. Shaggy black hair. Threadbare robe. Definitely not a student.
"Man, if only I were a priest, I wouldn't have to do this grunt work..."
He grumbled as he hammered a black stake into the wall.
Then—
Bzzzzzt.
Dark energy pulsed from his chest and into the stake.
Unholy. Disturbing.
Familiar.
Demonic energy.
Only those marked by a demon could wield it.
Which meant only one thing:
A demon.
One of humanity's greatest enemies.
'What the hell is a demon doing here?'
Didn't matter.
'I'll ask him myself.'
I gathered mana in my legs. Dropped into a low stance.
Then lunged.
"Damn it, why's it taking so lo—?!"
I struck his neck from behind with pinpoint mana.
He collapsed, limbs frozen.
Acupoint strike. A technique Berald taught me—disrupting the flow of mana in a body to paralyze it.
"Wh-what?! Who are you?!"
"You don't need to know. Just answer: why are you in the school?"
"Grrr... why can't I move...?!"
"Not talking? Figures."
Demons were tight-lipped. I knew that too well.
"Guess we'll start with a slap."
Smack!
His head snapped sideways.
"Ugh! Wait—!"
"I am waiting. Second hit."
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Each slap rang like a whip, swelling his face into a mess of bruises and blood.
After thirty strikes—
"Urgh..."
"Wow, you're tough."
The demon spat out a tooth. Still wouldn't talk.
"Then…"
I drew my sword.
Shrrk.
Brought the blade close.
"Two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth. I only need one ear and the mouth."
I leaned in with a bright smile.
"So, which ones do you want to keep?"