Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight - Chapter 24

Chapter 24 – The Approaching Threat.

 

—–CROW—–

 

On the academy road, shrouded in deepening darkness, the vampire nun headed towards the women’s dormitory.

 

‘I’m glad our Phine seems to be doing well at the academy.  Though it’s a bit concerning that she’s close with a boy!’

 

Even to her, the two looked alike.  Knights who wore helmets even inside the academy.

 

The way they denied being friends seemed like child’s play, and it was cute.

 

‘It doesn’t seem like he’s after wealth or power, and all they did was a swordsmanship exchange.’

 

Thinking back on the conversation she just had, he wasn’t a flatterer.

 

Junior Licht seemed like a pure boy who simply loved love.

 

A smile spread across her face, feeling as if this could be an opportunity for her close friend to erase bad memories.

 

“Oh my, Chartinese.”

 

“Cardinal..?”

 

Just then, as she was having such happy thoughts, someone with a familiar face appeared.

 

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

 

“Yes.. I heard you came as a lecture professor this time, Cardinal.”

 

It was Beatrice, the academy’s Divine Power Studies professor.

 

Two nuns in the same attire, except for their hair color and length.

 

Black habits, shoes of the same design. Similar ways of speaking.

 

They looked so much alike that anyone who didn’t know them would think they were mother and daughter.

 

“I was lucky. It was like fate, filling the vacant position. I also wanted to see our Chartinese.”

 

“Cardinal, it’s a bit embarrassing when you say things like that..”

 

As Chartinese scratched her cheek, expressing her embarrassment, Beatrice simply smiled.

 

“You’re like a daughter to me. What’s there to be embarrassed about? I even gave you the surname Saint Mary.”

 

“Hehe.. That’s right.”

 

When she smiled with her eyes, Chartinese felt something strange, but soon let go of her guard.

 

“..It’s been a while for me too, Cardinal!”

 

Shrinking back slightly as if shy, the vampire nun also returned a bright smile.

 

“The academy is a really good place, Chartinese.”

 

“That’s right!  It’s like how we met like this..!”

 

Seeing that, Beatrice spread her arms wide, as if lost in admiration.

 

“Heheh, you’ve become much brighter. I cried a bit when our Chartinese left the church.”

 

“R-really?”

 

“Do you think I’m lying?”

 

“No.. Because I know you don’t usually do that.”

 

A sense of intimacy flowed between the two as they exchanged jokes and asked after each other’s well-being.

 

“Oh my, look at my mind.”

 

Suddenly, as if a thought had occurred to her, the blond-haired nun spoke.

 

“..It’s getting too late. Let’s talk later, and go in for today, Chartinese.”

 

“Ah, you be careful too, Cardinal!”

 

The two immediately parted ways.

 

The sound of their footsteps on the ground faded away.

 

“Ah, Chartinese.”

 

“Yes, Cardinal? Do you have anything else to say..?”

 

After taking a few steps, the blonde nun turned around and gave her a final message.

 

“..Sweet dreams.”

 

Thus, their midnight encounter came to an end.

 

—–CROW—–

 

Nex Aureus, as usual, greeted Chartinese with a communication spell as soon as he woke up.

 

-Did you sleep well? My pretty bat? Want to meet at the terrace today?

 

Even if he was going to be beaten with divine power later,

 

He used cheesy words because it was nothing more than an expression of affection for him now.

 

“.. ? Why isn’t she replying?”

 

Nex was grinning, anticipating his lover’s reaction.

 

But what returned was an unusual silence.

 

“Chirp..?”

 

Something was strange. His spirit was also expressing doubt.

 

Normally, she would reply, ‘You fox-like man!!  Are you a pervert? What are you doing!  The nickname bat is forbidden now!’

 

“Why is she quiet..?”

 

He grabbed his coat. He felt a chilling sensation.

 

His face was reflected in the phoenix insignia. His uneasy feeling didn’t subside.

 

“Chartinese. Huh, she didn’t come?”

 

Her seat was empty in the second-year lecture he conducted afterwards.

 

‘Why isn’t she answering.. Chart..’

 

It doesn’t seem like she’s sick. If she was, she would have submitted a leave of absence or wouldn’t be unresponsive to the communication spell.

 

As soon as the class ended, Nex ran to the library.

 

He thought the Sage might know something.  She was a hero specialized in that area.

 

“Sorry, divination is blocked.”

 

“Huh..? Sage, what does that mean..?”

 

“It means even Laplace, who specializes in information, doesn’t know. Sigh.. It’s the Hero Church again.”

 

But even after asking the Ten Swords about Chartinese’s whereabouts, all he received were unpleasant answers.

 

“I’ll bring it up at the board meeting. Wait.”

 

The woman with devil horns sighed, rubbing her forehead. Watching her, the purple-haired man yelled.

 

“That’s too late!!  It means Chart is in danger!”

 

“You don’t know how vicious the Demon Lords are.  It’s been almost 20 years since they appeared, so we need to handle this more carefully….”

 

“Forget it. I’ll find someone else!”

 

Leaving the Sage in the library, Nex ran around the academy, asking around.

 

‘The Ten Swords? Ten outstanding heroes?  They don’t even move when they don’t know what happened to someone!’

 

Recalling the discord with his mother, he pushed through the crowd. He gritted his teeth.

 

*Crash!*

 

Just then, Nex was knocked back by a man who emerged from an alley.

 

“Oops, be careful!”

 

“Master Drake?”

 

The blonde man with many scars on his face helped Nex up.

 

“What’s going on? Nex?  To be running around so frantically!”

 

The middle-aged man gave a hearty smile.

 

“..Please help me, Dragonslayer.”

 

The purple phoenix asked Drake for help.

 

—–CROW—–

 

[Chartinese♡Nex 51% “DOWN↓”]

 

“What is this..?”

 

A few days later, I woke up to a status window that was like a bolt from the blue.

 

Why did their love meter suddenly drop?

 

I expected it to rise and fall since it’s a game.

 

But there haven’t been any incidents that would cause this.

 

Only two days have passed.

 

I guess the love line was added the night before last when the route was confirmed.

 

I rubbed my eyes.

 

[49%]

 

[48%..]

 

The numbers kept dropping.  Isn’t this serious? I immediately grabbed my sword and got out of bed.

 

“Oh, Licht, you’re up?  Today we’re going to the training grounds….”

 

Without even answering Kainel, I quickly got dressed and ran outside.

 

I have to find Nex or Chartinese first.

 

I headed to the terrace.  The store was closed, as it was before opening hours.

 

I climbed over the chain-link fence and went inside.

 

Empty seats and tables.

 

I looked around, searching for the spot where they had their first meeting, but it wasn’t there.

 

This isn’t it either.

 

“This place too.. isn’t it.”

 

No matter how much I looked, they weren’t there.

 

I ran. I sprinted. I stumbled.

 

I caught my breath.

 

Lastly, I headed to the cathedral, wondering if the nun might be there.  As expected, the door was tightly shut.

 

Another failure.

 

“Is anyone there?”

 

Even after knocking on the iron door, there was no answer from inside. It was still early morning, the air cold and piercing.

 

The academy was quiet, as if there hadn’t been any attack from a Demon Lord.

 

‘Where are they and what are they doing..’

 

Sweat started to gather inside my helmet.  My head spun.

 

There were no more places I could think of.

 

The back mountain, the courtyard, the central hall. I checked everywhere, even marking them on the university map.

 

Did something happen outside the academy?

 

The university wasn’t properly depicted in the original or sequel. I couldn’t possibly know its structure inside and out.

 

It would be bad if they were trapped in some secret room.

 

The only thing I could remember was an instance dungeon nearby….

 

“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!”

 

At that moment, a purple sparrow flew over and circled above my head.

 

“This is..?”

 

“Junior Licht─!!”

 

Seeing the spirit, I looked around, and a man was waving and running towards me from afar.

 

“I was looking for you, Junior!!”

 

“..Senior Nex!”

 

*Click*

 

The cathedral door opened with a spare key Nex brought.

 

Did the Vampire Saint give it to him? We immediately went inside.

 

“Chart has disappeared.  I haven’t seen her since yesterday..”

 

“Senior Chartinese?”

 

“Yes, the communication spell isn’t working, and she’s absent from all her classes.”

 

He was unusually anxious. He was already biting his nails.

 

“Chirp..”

 

Perhaps affected by his emotions, the phoenix also looked listless.

 

“I saw her the day before yesterday, could it be that she disappeared right after that?”

 

“Really? Did she say where she was going?”

 

“She was headed towards the women’s dormitory..”

 

“..I asked the security guard about that yesterday. He said she didn’t enter.”

 

What?  Then did something happen after she met Mardol and me that day? The status window only changed today.

 

‘It happened two days ago at the latest, yesterday at the earliest.’

 

Looking at it this way, the status window is really useless.  Shouldn’t it prevent dangerous things with quests or restrictions?

 

There’s no shop, no traits, no skills.  It doesn’t even appear when I want it to.

 

I sighed deeply. Can I really protect our Saintess with this level of ability?

 

“If the position of Second Saint is vacant, there will be chaos.”

 

“It seems they’re aiming for that. Probably.”

 

Nex also sighed, expressing his frustration just like me.  The two of us were worried about different Saints.

 

“Have you met with the Ten Swords?”

 

“Of course I did. The Sage’s divination is blocked.”

 

“..It’s the Hero Church.”

 

I frowned inside my helmet.  This is much earlier than I remember.

 

Is it because of me?

 

“Right.  As expected, you know something.  You’re the Dragonslayer’s disciple, right?”

 

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known about the property issue.”

 

As expected of Nex. He quickly guessed the source of my information.  But there was nothing to worry about.

 

‘Then Laplace’s ability is also useless.  This might be quite difficult.  There’s a reason why the Ten Swords are being cautious.’

 

Judging from their bitter experiences in the war, they must think that if they move, the incident will become too big.

 

“So I even met with Master Drake, but since it’s highly likely a trap, instead..”

 

“What did Master say?”

 

“He recommended you.  He said you’re the most promising swordsman he’s ever seen.”

 

Ugh, the old man dumped this on me.  I think I can handle Apostle level to some extent….

 

Wait, there’s one more person who’s similar to me.

 

“..What about Mardol?”

 

“He can’t, he has severe trauma.”

 

As expected, something happened related to the Demon Lord.

 

My deduction was correct.

 

The Glass Knight seems stronger than in <Black Heart>, so I thought it would be convenient to bring him as a companion, but it’s a shame.

 

‘Kainel and Ariel also have similar wounds, and if Denis leaves the academy, the school becomes too dangerous.’

 

Something must have gone seriously wrong.

 

Is this why it didn’t appear in <Knight Heart>? It makes sense if Nex couldn’t save her because of the incident that happened at this time.

 

Because I wasn’t originally in this world.

 

I felt a bit complicated.

 

“..I know a place, Senior.”

 

As expected, this world is cold and harsh to our Saintess.

 

A happy academy life?  I doubt it.

 

“If it’s not here, there’s no other way…. Can you trust me?”

 

“I trust you, Junior. So tell me quickly.  You’re not from the Hero Church, are you?”

 

“Alright.”

 

If it were that easy, would I have struggled so much to clear <Black Heart>?

 

“..There’s a blind spot in the basement adjacent to the academy’s barrier.”

 

I pointed to the location of the dungeon on the map.

 

“The Sunset Rendezvous.”

 

It was the most likely place from the beginning.

 

“If it’s related to the Hero Church, this is the closest place.”

 

Unlike the original or the sequel, this is the past.

 

“This place, right?”

 

“Probably.”

 

There was a long explanation, as if something had happened there.

 

It’s too suspicious to be dummy data, there were traces and gimmicks of a boss monster, and

 

..the rewards were suspiciously good.

 

“Let’s go right away, Junior Licht.”

 

“Yes, Senior Nex.”

 

The two men jumped up and headed towards the same destination.

 

—–CROW—–