“Looks like we’ve had a thief, doesn’t it?”

Rael surveyed their dormitory room after finishing class and remarked to Vivien. The place was in complete disarray, with clothes and belongings scattered everywhere.

“A thief?”

“How else would everything be so thoroughly ransacked unless someone broke in?”

Their room truly looked as though a swarm of locusts had swept through it.

“It looks exactly the same as when I got ready and left this morning.”

Of course, Rael wasn’t actually suggesting a break-in. She was sarcastically commenting on the mess Vivien created every morning, turning their room into something resembling a battlefield.

“Make this place livable by the time I get back,” Rael sighed, picking up a book from her desk that she had promised to lend Edwin.

“Aww, aren’t you going to help me today?” Vivien’s eyes sparkled with a pitiful gleam.

Rael firmly shook her head. “You’re getting too used to it. I need to visit Edwin, so clean everything up properly!”

“Raeeel…”

Even after closing the door behind her, Vivien’s whining continued.

Rael left the women’s dormitory and headed toward the men’s dorm. She had arranged to meet Edwin in the garden between the dormitory buildings right after class. Feeling guilty for forgetting about the book she’d promised to lend him, she was determined to deliver it today.

“Not here yet?”

Upon reaching the garden, there was no sign of Edwin.

Edwin and Vivien were cousins, and the three had become close friends since Rael began sharing a room with Vivien. Both Vivien and Edwin were nobility, the kind of people who would never associate with Rael outside the academy.

Within Tensibla Academy, everyone was treated equally regardless of whether they were royalty or commoners. Though that was the official stance, a hierarchy among students certainly existed. Nevertheless, both treated Rael as a genuine friend.

Rael sat on an empty bench while waiting for Edwin. With the pleasant breeze and remaining sunlight, she thought it might be nice to skim through the book again.

“I’ll lend him the book and maybe get a meal out of it.”

Edwin always insisted on giving her something in return whenever he borrowed a book. Though these books were readily available in the academy library, he claimed to dislike books handled by many others—a contradictory standard since he was perfectly fine borrowing books that had been in Rael’s hands.

“Hmm.”

The pages turned with a soft rustle.

As she read slowly page by page, a strange feeling suddenly washed over her. The air flow seemed to stiffen. Rael reacted sensitively to this subtle change.

The sound of wind ceased. The chirping birds fell silent, and even the distant noise of people disappeared.

At that moment, she felt a magical disturbance from the western wing of the academy. Though Rael lacked talent in handling magical power, she was still a mage. Such a significant movement of mana couldn’t escape her notice.

Soon after, a thunderous sound enveloped the entire academy—a deafening explosion loud enough to make her hair stand on end.

“What was that?”

Rael rose from her seat in a trance. The book fell from her lap onto the bench, but she paid no attention as she headed toward the western annex.

“That’s where the library is.”

Her initially slow steps gradually quickened. Her heart pounded in her chest. On the way to the annex, she spotted some students.

“Emily…!”

She called out to a familiar face, but something was wrong. Everyone was frozen in place, frozen in time.

“What on earth…”

Concluding she needed to reach the source of the magical disturbance, Rael hurried to the library.

As she approached, she found debris scattered around, evidence of a massive explosion. Whatever had exploded was powerful enough to shatter the wooden doors. She needed to investigate inside.

Thud.

Just then, her foot struck something. Looking down at the metallic sensation, she found a small golden object.

‘A key?’

It was indeed a key. While she might have ignored something else, a key seemed too important to leave lying on the ground.

Rael instinctively reached down and picked it up.

In that instant, the silence around her shattered as sounds erupted all at once—footsteps, voices, and startled screams.

“Eek! What is this?”

“Why is the library door destroyed… Oh no, everything inside is a mess!”

Startled, Rael quickly slipped the key into her pocket. The previously frozen people suddenly began moving, apparently unaware of the explosion but shocked by the library’s devastated state.

‘What in the world is happening?’

Concerned about potential injuries, Rael pushed through the crowd gathering at the entrance.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no one inside. No, that wasn’t entirely true.

“Senior.”

Rael’s eyes met with Rubellan’s as he walked out of the library. Among the crowd, he spotted her and smiled.

“Rubellan? Why are you here… Are you alright?”

Momentarily worried he might have been caught in the explosion, Rael expressed her concern.

“Why do you ask?”

Rubellan questioned her with a look that wondered why she was worried about him.

“There was just an explosion here…”

As she spoke, Rael sensed something strange. How could the library be empty of people? Why was Rubellan the only one inside? And precisely at the time of the explosion.

“Explosion?”

His question was subtly probing. Suddenly, she felt she shouldn’t mention that she alone had been able to move while others were frozen, or that she had heard the explosion.

“…Oh, the library looks like something exploded in there. It’s a complete mess.”

Rael hastily rephrased her words.

“…Hmm. You’re right. When I came to my senses, it was already like this.”

For someone who had been in the midst of such destruction, he appeared remarkably composed. Rael carefully examined the library behind Rubellan.

One wall had a particularly large crater. That was where the massive portrait of Tensibla Herman had hung. Black marks spread widely around it. This had been no small explosion.

“What’s wrong, Senior?”

A cold hand touched Rael’s shoulder as she stared blankly at the devastation inside. She flinched.

‘Can a human’s hand be this cold?’

A chill ran down her spine.

The frozen time, the library explosion, and Rubellan calmly walking out of it all.

“Nothing. You must be shocked—go get some rest.”

Rael wanted to get away from Rubellan. She turned to hurry back to her dormitory.

“Senior.”

Rubellan called after her.

“…What?”

Her throat tightened with tension as she swallowed.

“Aren’t you borrowing a book?”

Rubellan pointed at Rael’s empty hands.

Was it suspicious to come to the library and leave without borrowing anything? For a moment, Rael wondered if she should grab something.

“The library is in that state.”

Rael gestured toward the library with an awkward smile.

“So it is.”

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

Rael ran back to her dormitory without looking back. Rubellan’s gaze followed her until she disappeared from sight.

Rubellan was displeased. His carefully orchestrated plan had yielded no results.

“Joseph.”

He called out to someone. The moment he finished speaking, a small fairy-like creature fluttered noisily before settling on Rubellan’s shoulder.

It was a demon.

[Yes, Demon King!]

The small demon spoke in a high-pitched voice. He was a servant of the Demon King. Currently sneaking around in the human realm, there was no need to reveal his true form, so he comfortably assumed the appearance of a small fairy—though unlike actual fairies, his black bat wings and the horn on his forehead clearly revealed his demonic nature.

“Didn’t you say the key was there?”

Rubellan’s voice was filled with frost as they walked down an empty corridor. Demon Joseph flinched. If the information he had provided proved false, Rubellan would likely destroy him with his bare hands.

[My information is absolutely certain! I obtained it through hypnosis! The key to Tensibla’s vault is definitely kept beneath Herman’s portrait.]

Joseph pounded his chest in indignation.

“Then why isn’t the key in my hand right now?”

[That’s because! When you blasted the place so crudely, the key and everything else…]

Joseph raised his voice in frustration but quickly covered his mouth with both hands when he sensed Rubellan’s murderous intent.

[W-well, that could happen. It won’t be destroyed by physical impact. It must have been blown somewhere. I’ll search the area thoroughly.]

Joseph wisely chose to flee. With a soft “poof,” the small demon vanished.

Though he hadn’t mentioned it to Joseph, Rubellan couldn’t imagine Herman hiding such an important key with just a wall for protection. He had casually thrown some magical power at it, expecting it to bounce off, but incredibly, it shattered the wall instead. The whole situation was absurd.

“Hah…”

Click, click, tap.

Amid his complicated thoughts, Rael’s face suddenly flashed in his mind.

‘Explosion…’

She knew something.

Rubellan wasn’t the only one who sensed something unusual. He believed Rael possessed an ability that conflicted with his power.

Her acting was mediocre, and she seemed resistant to his brainwashing. Judging by her reaction, his magic had clearly failed to affect her today as well.

Rubellan was the king of demons, possessing intuition superior to humans. He could easily see through Rael’s obvious lies just by the slight trembling at the corner of her mouth when she spoke.

Yet her reactions, so unlike other humans, intrigued him.

At first, he thought he might have to kill her if she showed excessive interest in him. Well, that decision was still under consideration.

But surprisingly, she showed no interest in him. Instead, she tried to avoid him. Whether she had good instincts or superior survival instincts, she was following the only path that could keep her alive.

Strangely, this behavior captivated his attention. Her seemingly ordinary yet entirely extraordinary responses.

Rubellan wasn’t a demon who developed curiosity without reason. She clearly possessed something special.

“Rael.”

Even her name rolling off his tongue tickled his nerves in an unusual way.