Chapter 129: Camellia Zephyr

"M-Miss Zephyr, help!" (Olivia)

"Huh? Oh, right, you. Stop it—stop bothering my student." (Zephyr)

It seemed like the two of them knew each other, and apparently, the latter was her Professor.

And not only that: in the blink of an eye, before I even realized it, she moved behind me and grabbed me by the collar, as if mimicking what I’d done earlier.

"All right, I understand the situation. You’re the one who’s been following me, right?"

"Oh! You noticed. That’s impressive. Ahem, I mean, I’m the one asking the questions here now!... All right, student Olivia, answer the question from earlier." (Zephyr)

"Huh?" (Olivia)

"..."

Wait, something’s off here.

I thought she’d be the one asking me questions now that she’s in a dominant position, but apparently, she’s going to keep pressing the issue.

I didn’t say anything either, even though she’s holding me by the neck. I don’t sense any ill will; rather, it feels like she did it to fit the situation or something like that.

"Ahem. I’m just asking since you’re both my good students. Ahem! And, as a Professor, I have to make sure of certain things." (Zephyr)

"You’re just curious, aren’t you?"

"...Well, you’re right. Now that I’m curious, I need to satisfy that curiosity. Student Olivia, answer quickly or I’ll fail you in my class!" (Zephyr)

"ah? I-I... y-yes, I l-love her r-romantically (≧﹏ ≦)." (Olivia)

"(⊙ｏ⊙) Oh!" (x2)

So that was it, after all. This has, in a way, gotten interesting.

"So that’s why you were following her around like a stalker."

"I-I wasn’t." (Olivia)

"Wait, I didn’t know about the stalking. Student Olivia, that’s not okay. No, wait—before that, I want to ask if the feeling is mutual." (Zephyr)

"Oh, I can answer that. Actually, I know Lys too, and as far as I know, she’s totally straight."

"/_ \"(Olivia)

"huy, so it’s a one-sided forbidden love." (Zephyr)

"Is it forbidden here?"

"No, not really, but it sounds more exciting that way, don’t you think?" (Zephyr)

"Well, that’s true."

"C-could you let me go and—and also stop t-talking about that?" (Olivia)

Now that I think about it, we suddenly started chatting casually, but I was still holding this girl—who’s now called Olivia—by the neck, and that woman was still holding me from behind.

Feeling that there were no more problems, I let go of Olivia.

"Miss Zephyr, right? Can you let go of me? Really, it was a misunderstanding. I brought that girl here because she was stalking Lys, which worried me since Lys is an acquaintance of mine."

I asked her to let me go, but...

"Well, I could do that, but I don’t want to." (Zephyr)

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, I have a few questions for you, and I want you to answer them honestly." (Zephyr)

"...I want this to end well, so I’ll answer, but if it gets too personal, I’ll report this to the authorities and say that a Professor at the academy harassed me, an ordinary citizen."

"Fair enough. Tell me, how old are you?" (Zephyr)

"...20."

Well, I was honest. That’s my age, and no one can say otherwise.

"Well, that’s good. Even though it’s a few years late, it’s still within acceptable limits." (Zephyr)

"Acceptable—for what?"

"I ask, you answer. Let’s see, you’re someone with the unusual profession of a massage therapist, right?"

"Yes."

Damn, I don’t know how she knows that, but I’m going to assume it’s because of some skill or artifact she possesses.

But what she said next surprised me even more.

"But you’re not just massage therapist—you’re a rank-three potential, and you’re already at rank two. But the wind also told me you have something even more special about you. However, it didn’t tell me anything else, since it seemed to be afraid of something. What do you have to say about that?" (Zephyr)

"That it’s bad to use substances that affect the mind. The wind doesn’t talk, and it’s even more ridiculous for it to be afraid of anything."

"Huh? Oh, hahaha! How funny. You really don’t seem to be from around here, nor do you seem to know who I am. Well, I see that at least you don’t know that I scare the wind—which makes me even more curious to find out what makes you so special"(Zephyr)

"I really don’t know what you mean by ’something special.’ The only thing special about me is my dazzling beauty."

"Huh? Is the wind telling me that you’re emitting an skill... that you’re using it?" (Zephyr)

Damn it, it seems she isn’t crazy after all. This woman seems like someone I shouldn’t mess with.

It doesn’t seem like she noticed exactly that I tried to use the Madman’s Reason, but she does seem to have noticed the activation. I need to be careful.

"Hmph, that’s personal—I won’t say anything else."

"Yeah, I guess it’s not something you’d easily tell strangers, but that might change, hahaha! After you fill this out...." (Zephyr)

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the woman, using her free hand, held a piece of paper right in front of my face—I didn’t know what it was about

"Don’t be flustered—just fill out this entrance exam!"(Zephyr)

Yeah, now I was sure: she was the one who’d been following me earlier, and, just as I thought, she’d prepared a Surprise test for me.

"At least explain it to me a little—give me some context. I’m always ready for a Surprise test, but tell me why I have to take it."

"Hmm? Isn’t the fact that I’m holding you by the neck and could kill you with just a squeeze enough of a deterrent?"(Zephyr)

"At first, yes, but now that I know you’re a Professor, I know you won’t do it. Besides, with Argos around, that’s not even a good attempt at a deterrent."

"Ugh! I thought you were new around here and that I could scare you a little, but I can also see you’re smart. That’s good. All right, I’ll explain a bit. It all started early this morning..." (Zephyr)

"Do we really need to start that far back?"

"Hey! Since I’m going to explain, I’ll explain it thoroughly. As a teacher, I’m really good at this, you know? Where was I? Oh, right, early this morning I..." (Zephyr)

*****

POV: Third Person

*****

"Good morning, Professor Trinity. You don’t look very energetic."

"Whew~! Yeah, I stayed up late doing some personal research."

With a sleepy face and a preemptive yawn, she greeted the student who passed by her.

She was a professor at the prestigious Omphalos Academy, the most important educational institution in this world.

She wore glasses and had light green hair that covered half her face; her eyes were orange, and she had beautiful ebony skin.

On top of that, she had a pair of white wings protruding from her thick robe; the robe covered her figure, but beneath it lay a very voluptuous and striking figure.

Along the way, she encountered several students who, upon seeing her in such a "lackluster" state, greeted her.

She nodded and greeted them back.

She was a very popular and beloved professor among her students. Even students she didn’t teach knew her because of her uniqueness, which made it impossible not to hear about her if you were a student.

Many of those who greeted her referred to her as Miss Trinity, while others called her Miss Zephyr.

The latter was normal, since her name was Camellia Zephyr.

As for "Trinity," it was a nickname given to her by the students because of her quirk.

And although she seemed a bit low on energy at the moment, the purpose of her walk was to leave the academy.

Her goal? To de-stress a little with her hobby in the city.

She’d been a bit absorbed in her research and felt she needed a change of scenery.

She’d already gathered all the money she could and was eager to see how things would unfold today.

..

.

~Look over there.

"Huh?"

By then, she had already left the academy, and as she flew through the city toward her favorite hangout, she heard a whisper.

It was the whisper of the wind—something she could hear thanks to her professional skill.

Where the wind told her to look, there was a hooded figure whose presence was low and whose features were hidden.

Camellia was immediately curious.

Why?

Because Camellia had, essentially, been the inventor of presence-reducing hoods.

She had created several models of presence-reducing cloaks, hoods, and robes and had patented them, designing them with varying levels of effectiveness and making them accessible to many people.

She herself wore one that concealed her figure, and many others walking through the city wore them as well, since many people liked to be discreet.

Wearing them wouldn’t actually make anyone look suspicious, since they’d been on the market for many years.

But at a glance, she realized that the cloak this person was wearing didn’t seem to be made according to the design logic she had invented.

And if there were competitors creating cloaks with that function in a different way, she’d be the first to know.

Besides, she realized just how effective and high-quality it was—in fact, it seemed superior to her own.

That alone had already captured her full attention, but...

~Massage therapist, rank three, something, more, special!

The wind seemed to keep whispering to her and told Camellia more:

"Huh? That person is a rank-three massage therapist? That’s really strange. Is it a mutation of her profession, or did she have a chance encounter? Hmm, something like that would be a waste for a masseuse. And in what way is it more special?"

~No.

The wind didn’t make communication easy, but, in addition to hearing it, she could sense a kind of intention that made things clearer.

And that "No" seemed to be accompanied by a resounding refusal to let her ask any more about the subject.

She sensed that the wind was cautious and afraid. It was strange; it was the first time she’d felt something like that.

"What’s going on? Can’t you tell me anything about it, or is it something I’m not supposed to know?"

At that moment, as she spoke, Camellia—whose interest was beginning to be piqued—started to change her appearance slightly.

Her hair turned a more intense green, and her skin began to lighten slightly: instead of ebony, it was more tanned.

She even adjusted her glasses, which were a bit crooked, and tidied up her bangs a little, which were covering her eye.

By that point, she looked like a completely different person.

~No... she, he, caution, friend, investigation, help, time, future, stay together, Argos, fall, Sloth,wrath, protection, together, Chronos, time is running out, uncontrollable, mask,cycle, support, gods, chastity, destruction, causality, death, time ago, Lust.

"Wait, wait a sec. Calm down. I can’t process all this. You’re sending me too much at once, and I don’t understand most of it. Explain it to me calmly and in detail."