Advent of the Three Calamities

The air felt cold in the academy's underground chambers. A situation had occurred. Several high-profile figures stared at the small metallic door before them. They were all the senior figures of the Academy.

"How is the situation going?"

The Chancellor's crisp voice quietly echoed throughout. While her tone was low, it carried through the air and reached the ears of all present.

"We should be getting the results soon enough."

Atlas replied with his back leaning against the side of the wall.

"How were you able to tell that he's been possessed?"

"Didn't you notice his behavior change?"

"....I did, but that's far from enough to tell."

"He did also say something about him trying something."

Delilah did recall overhearing such words coming out of Julien's mouth before entering the room. Still, her eyes narrowed faintly. Something didn't quite add up to her. She nonetheless remained quiet and waited for the final results to come.

"Ah, it looks like this is the room where everyone is in."

As everyone waited for the Cleric to come out of the room, Inquisitor Hollowe entered the room. With a simple smile, he took off his brown top hat.

"I heard all about the incident. Given the nature of what happened and my position, I'm afraid I'll be on the opposing side this time."

Everyone was well aware of Hollowe's true identity and didn't say anything.

Hanging up his coat, Hollowe greeted everyone else within the room and shifted his attention towards the small metallic door.

"I've been told a Cleric has been called. Something about him being possessed? I hope that's not the case."

"We're still figuring it out."

Atlas replied, giving Hollowe a subtle look.

"Ah, I see. I guess I'll make myself comfortable over here."

Hollowe proceeded to make his way towards a nearby seat and sat down. Then, closing his eyes, he stayed silent until he recalled something. That was when his eyes finally opened again.

"Right, I forgot to mention this. Sir Ivan Khoniek is on his way to the Academy on behalf of Matthias. He should be here within the next few hours."

While his words were light, they brought a sudden tension to the room. Sir Ivan Khoniek was a figure everyone knew. Delilah knew, Atlas knew, and almost everyone within the Empire knew.

There were seven monarchs within the Nurs Ancifa Empire, and he was one such figure.

Monarch of the Undying Flame - Ivan Khoniek.

"....Yes, it's best if he comes."

Contrary to how Hollowe expected Atlas to react, he still appeared calm on the surface. In fact, he almost seemed to want this to happen.

"In light of what happened, we do need to have a talk with him with regard to what we'll have to do with Keeper Matthias. Several of us have witnessed what he's done. Furthermore..."

Atlas's head suddenly turned toward the metallic door, which opened shortly after to reveal a small, chubby figure clad in dark robes embroidered with intricate gold designs. Coming out of the room, the Cleric held his head down.

The atmosphere sank.

"What is the situation?"

Moving toward the Cleric was Herman Chambers, the Head of Recruiting. He was one of the few people allowed into the room and one of the people who had been present during Julien's entrance examination.

||

The Cleric didn't reply immediately and looked around the room, making sure that all eyes were on him. Only then did his lips part open as he shook his head.

"I'm afraid your initial assumptions are correct. He's indeed been possessed."

"What? Are you sure that—"

"I'm sure."

Herman was directly cut off by the Cleric who stepped to the side and allowed people to catch a glimpse of the passed-out Julien who was tied to a chair.

"As you're well aware, given my job, I've dealt with a lot of similar situations in the past. Telling if someone is pretending or not is easy for us, but just in case, we do have specific relics that tell us two souls are residing within one body."

Flicking his wrist, a small cylindrical device appeared in his hand. It was entirely coated in black with a faint light at the tip that glowed a purple color.

"This is the relic we typically use to confirm whether someone has been possessed or not. The color over here indicates high levels of curse magic from within the cadet's body alongside the presence of two distinct traces that shouldn't belong to the same body."

Following the Cleric's explanation and display of the relic, all people present understood the reality of the situation.

Julien had really been possessed by an external soul.

"What now?"

Delilah's voice echoed quietly. It was only then that people took notice of her presence. While her presence usually dominated an entire room, she had been awfully quiet, making people momentarily forget about her.

".....I'm not sure. The soul within Julien's body is rather resilient and I can't bind it down easily. I will need some time to properly assess the situation before acting."

"How long would that take?"

"A day at most. I just need to find the correct spell to use."

"Will you be able to solve the situation?"

"Like I said, I'm not sure. I might be able to bring the real Julien back, but I'm not entirely confident in retrieving the other soul out of his body. I will need to investigate further."

"Okay."

Turning around, a gentle click resounded across the room as Delilah turned around and made her way out of the room. It looked like she was going for the cell where the Keeper was being

Detained.

"Ah, Chancellor, wait up."

"Let's follow along."

The others followed right behind her with the exception of two people. Hollowe and Atlas. The two were the only people who remained within the Academy chambers.

"Possession, huh?"

Hollowe stood up and grabbed his coat, putting it on while also straightening it to make sure

There were no wrinkles.

"I'm rather surprised this happened. I originally thought you had seen wrong, but turns out

You have a really discerning eye. It's surprising though."

Placing his hat over his head, Hollowe paused, his back facing Atlas.

"....To be able to tell Julien was possessed from the limited amount of information you had.

It's almost as if you knew in advance."

A strange tension suddenly engulfed the room, plunging it into an unbearable and suffocating

Silence.

As Atlas's eyes narrowed slightly, Hollowe turned around with a grin, exaggeratedly pointing both his index fingers in Atlas's direction. He almost looked silly.

The tension in the room shattered instantly.

"So what I'm saying is, why don't you quit over here and become an Inquisitor? I'm sure

You'll make a great one~!"

***

"It sucks that I can't really tell what is going on outside."

Laying down on the ground, I stared at the empty and dark sky above me. Following the

Events that had transpired back at the Confessional Hearing, I was left in the dark. The last thing I remembered was getting knocked out unconscious by Atlas.

"...What a pain."

The fact that I didn't know what was happening outside was a pain but this was also not

Entirely bad for me.

'Yeah, but only if everything goes smoothly.'

There were a few things that I couldn't properly account for in my plan given the time

Constraints. In particular, the tattoo.

The tattoo was a real issue.

Thankfully, I knew that Atlas was also aware of this issue and found some way to cover it up.

However, for how long could he hide it?

"No, more than that. How long do I have to wait before getting the body back?"

One of the issues with what I did was that I had released Julien from the influence of the ring.

He was no longer stuck there, meaning that he now had control over the body. While I could wrestle control back if I wanted to, I knew that a Cleric was soon going to visit, potentially using some sort of method to temporarily seal Julien.

If I took over during the process, I'd be the one to get screwed over.

For that reason, I couldn't just wrestle the control back.

"You don't have to worry too much about that."

Pebble, who was sitting on top of a small rock, calmly licked its paw.

"I can do quick checkups on the situation without getting caught. You can get your body back

Now if you want to."

"I can?"

"You're currently trapped inside a small room, tied by ropes. There's no one inside."

"Wait."

I frowned.

"That doesn't sound like a good opportunity."

This felt more like my body was being prepared for the Cleric to proceed with whatever he was

Going to do with my body. If anything, this was probably the worst time for me to return back

Into my body.

"....I think I'll wait until the Cleric takes action before taking my body back."

"Suit yourself."

Pebble continued to lick its paws. The more I looked at Pebble, the more I noticed it acting

Like a cat. It felt almost creepy when I thought about it. Was this really the same creature that

Made me go into a coma for almost an entire year?

"What?"

Pebble's head flicked in my direction.

I stared at Pebble for a good minute before shifting my head away.

"Nothing." I quietly mumbled. "Nothing at all..."

What a poor excuse of a Dragon.

***

The next day.

"Oh, it looks like Julien is absent," Aoife mumbled while looking around the class.

"He is?"

Kiera turned her head and looked around the class to see if Julien was present but no matter

How much she looked, he wasn't there.

"I guess you're right."

"I don't see him as well."

Evelyn replied, dark circles forming beneath her eyes. Yesterday had been her turn to handle

Theresa and she hardly got any sleep.

'Julien is missing?'

Overhearing the conversation from the front row was Amell who sat next to Leon. He had just

Managed to find his seat when the conversation entered his ear.

Although he found the piece of news a little strange, there was something more pressing that

He had to handle.

Like...

'How should I get closer to him? This is turning out to be a lot more difficult than I expected.'

...Trying to find a way to interact with Leon.

Amell had been trying for the past few days but each time he found himself failing or the conversations never ending up going anywhere. Never before had Amell struggled so much to handle a task.

It drove him crazy.

"May I have your attention, everyone? I have an important announcement to make."

A somber voice suddenly echoed across the room, gathering the attention of all the cadets

Present. When Amell raised his head, his gaze fell on the Professor. She was a plump middle- aged lady with sharp glasses and a stern demenour.

As her deep hazel eyes scanned the classroom, she spoke,

"Julien will not be participating in the class for the next few days. A situation occurred that

Will prevent him from participating. This is as much as I've been told. I'll update you further when I get more information."

Seeing how somber her tone was, Amell understood that something serious must've happened to Julien. The silence that followed after made him understand that everyone in the

Classroom understood as well.

Or at least, that was what he thought at first.

"Is that it?"

That thought was shattered by Kiera's voice.

Blinking his eyes, Amell turned his head to see that practically the entire class didn't look

Interested at all in the piece of news.

What the...

"Oof, thank god. I really thought it was going to be a pop-up quiz."

Kiera sighed while wiping the cold sweat that had formed on top of her forehead. Her words

Were followed by subtle murmurs that went along the lines of, 'Did she say Julien won't be

Here for a while?', 'Why does it feel like I've heard this before?', 'Good thing it's not a pop-up quiz. I didn't study at all.'

The more Amell heard the words of his classmates the more he was dumbstruck.

Was Julien this hated by the entire class?

Turning his head, Amell looked at Leon who was busy writing something in his notebook.

Amell leaned closer to him.

"Are you... also not worried?"

"Hm?"

Raising his head, Leon turned to look at Amell.

"Worried about?"

"You know, the piece of news. Judging from how serious her tone was it looks li-"

"Ah, that."

Leon waved his hand, looking rather disinterested.

"You'll get used to it."

"Eh?"

"Just focus on the class. Julien tends to do this from time to time. He was gone for half a year

Or something last year."

"Half a year?"

"Mhm, right. It's nice and quiet, isn't it? Enjoy it while he's gone."

Amell's mouth opened and closed several times. Turning back, he saw everyone show the

Same looks of disinterest as Leon and found the words strip out of his mouth.

.....Just what sort of place is this?

The more Amell got to know this Academy, the more their prestigious image crumbled in his

Eyes.