I Became an Academy Counselor - Chapter 25

Ophelia’s POV

After parting with Leo and returning to the counseling room, I said to Orca:

“You can sleep if you’re tired, Orca. You looked exhausted.”

“I was going to do that anyway. I almost died of boredom.”

Orca complained that she nearly fell asleep even though she wasn’t supposed to.

I chuckled, remembering how Orca had still come to watch Leo’s duel despite saying this.

‘You’re not very honest, are you? If you’re worried about your friend, you could just say so.’

“I’m going to sleep. Don’t bother me.”

“Well, I wonder if that will really be up to me.”

“…? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“You’re being silly.”

Well…

I don’t think I’m being silly at all.

But since it was something Orca shouldn’t know, I kept my mouth shut and lit some incense.

‘That should do the trick.’

Sure enough, Orca fell asleep less than ten minutes after I lit the incense.

And when Orca falls asleep, the demon dwelling in her body usually comes out.

However, recently, for some reason, it hasn’t been coming out much.

To be honest, I was a bit anxious.

While I know a lot of different information, I don’t know everything.

Could something have gone wrong because I messed with Haze’s mind?

That thought kept circling in my head.

Surely Haze should come out.

Without Haze, Orca is just an ill-tempered delinquent…

I watched the sleeping Orca for a while.

…I guess it’s not possible today either?

Just as I sighed and was about to turn my attention to my laptop to play a game, I saw Orca’s hand move.

“…Damn. I feel awful.”

“Hello, Haze.”

“Don’t greet me! I’m in a bad mood! …Hello.”

I greeted Haze, who had started controlling the sleeping of Orca’s body.

Here I am, casually greeting a demon-possessed person whose body has been taken over.

Other people would be horrified if they saw this.

But Haze returned my greeting after expressing irritation.

“Your words say one thing but your body says another.”

“T-This is all your fault!”

“Is it really? Was it?”

“Urgh…!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I watched Haze grinding their teeth at me while neatly folding the blanket. Orca will probably think that I clean up around her when she wakes up…

I wonder how she’d react if she saw this?

Just imagining it made me feel amused.

“Damn it, why am I doing this…! Forcing me to do such things…!”

“I never forced you though? I just made it so doing good deeds would make you feel good.”

“Shut up! No, I mean, be quiet! Do you have any idea how I feel?!”

…I can’t stop teasing them. Their reactions are too good.

It’s just too funny seeing such great reactions from someone using Orca’s usually cold appearance. Plus, they’re not even human but a demon.

I couldn’t help but laugh seeing a demon catch themselves before using vulgar language and cleaning up their speech.

What demon in the world would act like this?

“Haze, do you have any friends?”

“…I do. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. Just wondering how your friends would react if they saw you like this.”

“…!”

‘Ahaha.’

Look at that horrified expression.

This is what makes Orca and Haze so interesting.

Their personalities are similar yet slightly different, like watching twins.

It’s quite entertaining seeing reactions Orca would never show.

“…”

‘Oh dear. They’re sulking.’

I must have teased them a bit more than usual because their reactions were so enjoyable.

If I push any further, they’ll probably stop talking like a child.

…How do I know?

Because I’ve experienced it before.

While Orca’s pouting face with puffed cheeks was cute in its own way…

Now’s not the time for such things.

I should get to the main point.

“Well, alright. Haze, let’s get to the point.”

“…What is it?”

“You haven’t been coming out of Orca’s body much lately… I was wondering if there was some problem.”

I wondered if it might be because I had messed with Haze’s mind, but no matter how I thought about it, that wasn’t related. If that had been the problem, they wouldn’t have suddenly stopped coming out – they wouldn’t have come out from the beginning.

For Haze, who had persistently tried to take over Orca’s body without giving up, to stop trying to come out – what could be happening?

“…It’s nothing. I just feel bad, that’s all.”

“Feel bad?”

“I saw something disgusting.”

Something disgusting…?

I couldn’t understand what Haze was talking about.

Something disgusting? Were there cockroaches in the counseling room?

“Did you see some bugs? If there were any, you should have told me…”

“No, not bugs. I saw something worse. To think I even showed such a side of myself to that bastard, it’s unacceptable…”

…Showed? Showed what, to whom?

Not understanding Haze’s words, I asked again.

“Wait, what do you mean? What exactly…”

“They’re here again! It’s them! This is driving me crazy. Why here…!”

“W-Wait! What are you…”

But I didn’t get to hear the answer to my question.

Haze suddenly lifted their head as if sensing something, then hid under the bed with a horrified expression.

…What’s going on?

Haze had said before hiding:

 “They’re here again.”

Does this mean someone dangerous enough to make them hide like this is approaching?

Why? For what reason?

My head was spinning with confusion.

At least nothing like this had ever happened in the game.

Scenes with Haze usually only appear in bad endings.

While they sometimes appear in special events like prologues, no special event has ever occurred.

…In other words, this meant something had changed because of me.

*Knock, knock*

“…!”

Someone started knocking on the counseling room door.

It’s probably the disgusting person Haze mentioned.

Given how they suddenly hid just before this person arrived, it must be.

What student would visit the counseling room at this hour?

I was skeptical.

It might be better to assume it’s something other than a student.

Who could it be? Maybe an attack?

All sorts of thoughts mixed in my head, giving me a headache.

“Are you there?”

“…Anastasia?”

Just as I was debating whether to open the door, wondering who could be standing outside.

I quickly opened the door when I heard the voice from outside.

“Hello, Teacher. I’m sorry for coming so late.”

“…It’s fine. What brings you here?”

“May I come in for a moment?”

Wavy silver hair, eyes covered by an eyepatch.

A luxurious white nun’s habit embroidered with golden thread.

The Observer, Anastasia.

She had suddenly come to visit.

***

“Here, have some tea.”

“Thank you.”

I had been thinking that I would eventually meet all the playable characters.

After all, my goal is to guide them to happy lives.

…Still, I hadn’t expected her to come visit me directly.

She’s a unique existence, one of a kind in this world.

I didn’t know she would come without guards.

“…It’s delicious.”

“I’m glad.”

The Observer. She is called by that name because she lends her eyes to God by covering them with a special eyepatch. If devout believers had a chance to meet her directly, they would probably willingly offer all their possessions.

Why would someone like her come here?

She probably hasn’t given up yet.

I hadn’t expected her to come to the counseling room – she who holds a secret she can’t tell anyone, carrying a vein of hope that everything can be returned to its original state.

“…So? What brings the esteemed Observer to the counseling room?”

“Aren’t you being too formal? I’m just a student.”

“I wonder about that. For just a student… your position is too high. On par with the princess.”

“Ahaha…”

Now I understand why Haze hid.

She’s a person with skill and status that stands out even among the clergy.

To a demon, she must be nothing but a detestable existence.

…However, questions still remained.

Why did she visit this place?

She’s not someone who can share her worries with others.

And her worries aren’t meant to be shared.

“Do you have something troubling you?”

“…No. I came to meet Orca.”

“Orca…?”

“Teacher. You might think this is nonsense. But I… I witnessed it.”

“…What did you witness?”

Anastasia spoke with a trembling voice, hands clasped together.

Like a believer who had found salvation.

“A demon! There was definitely a demon! That day, during the friendly match! I saw a demon!”

A friendly match.

…She and Orca were together then.

Is that what she’s talking about?

“Well, that’s natural. Orca is possessed by a demon after all.”

“No! It wasn’t Orca! A demon had taken over her body!”

“…”

I finally understood what Anastasia was talking about.

During the match, Orca had fallen asleep.

When Orca briefly fell asleep.

At the time, since Orca kept her eyes closed, I hadn’t thought about it.

But thinking about it now, of course, Haze must have taken over her body.

And she is the Observer.

She must have known well enough that Orca had been taken over by a demon.

“For a demon to take over the body but do nothing harmful, and then return it! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“…I see.”

“Teacher, don’t you have any thoughts about this!?”

“…”

Though Anastasia’s eyes were hidden behind her eyepatch, I could almost see them sparkling beneath it.

…Damn. We’re in trouble.