Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

At last, the promised day had come, the culprit of the collapsing mines had yet to be found by the instant the time limit set by Rosemary was reached, meaning that the students would soon be venturing into the areas where the mines had been targeted, trying to discover clues and such for the betterment of their grades.

Although the time was here, none expected to get directly into it, the academy was far from the area touched by demolition, but they guessed wrong, a large magic circle had been drawn into the ground outside, their teacher was not a fan of wasting time.

As such, she had marked the location ahead of time with another of such circles, there was no downtime for the younger generation, the entirety of both of her classes were swiftly put into the circle, Rosemary standing in the middle of it, as well as Gelter obviously.

Less expectedly, Osworth was not going to be of the party, he was standing outside the reach of the magical construction, right next to the headmaster, who couldn't help but throw glances in his direction.

"Do be careful Antieeld, the dangers that could lurk within are untold, spare of the fragile masses you have grown accustomed to" he spoke words of warning to his lady, waving his arm at Rosemary.

Without another word, bright flames engulfed the group, burning away the circle and leaving nothing apart from a dark spot on the ground.

"Very impressive is it not? To master one's element so much that you can make up for a lack in other affinities"

"Why are you still here?" the headmaster wasn't too keen on conversing with him, he might have been struck by Osworth's words last time but he had not forgotten his suspicions, and now, the fact that he was remaining at the academy instead of following his master was beyond strange.

"I am but wishing to catch the intruder, or intruders, from last time, Gelter can abide alone for a while, with Mary aiding him, there is simply no way that something could happen to Antieeld, why do you ask, headmaster?"

The old man did not appreciate him acting dumb, there was no way he had not picked up on even a sliver of the fact that he was being suspected of something by now.

"In any case, have you noticed the odd presence from last time again?" the masked bodyguard switched the topic of the discussion, turning his entire body toward the headmaster now, his hands still held behind his back.

"I have not, if that really was a work of the Fin-Limiers, then the fact that they got spotted very well could have meant the abortion of the mission entirely, they are a careful bunch, only one could possibly forsake the veil of stealth…" he shook his head.

"...But that's impossible, she should have accords with the king, which extend to the academy" he rubbed his beard, deep in thought, only shifting his attention when Osworth spoke again.

"Well then, there should be nothing to worry about then" he slightly bent forward, bidding his goodbyes before walking away, wandering to gods knows where, this man had somehow managed to read every single book available in the library already, so lately, he spent his time just hanging around, walking through every single hallways the academy had to offer, always placing himself right in the middle of them.

'God damned freak, there is definitely something wrong with you' with the absence of both Rosemary and Antieeld, there really was nothing preventing him from acting on his suspicions.

Yet, he still felt reluctant, the possibility of being wrong about something like this couldn't be ignored, just because he was the headmaster did not mean he could do as he wished, in the end, he was supposed to represent the authority of the king here, and if he tarnished what he had been entrusted with, who knew what would happen.

He certainly would flog himself for such a transgression, but it would not stop here.

'Still, if my instincts are right and I do nothing…'

He stared at the back of Osworth, his face scrunching up into a grimace of impressive nastiness.

'Tonight, once night has fallen' he spoke to himself, repeating it like a mantra, over and over.

'Tonight'

'Tonight'

And unfortunately, tonight did end up coming, it was time for him to finally get done with this endless charade.

Standing in his desolate office, he stretched his arms, preparing for the confrontation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Well, he is coming on his own?" he muttered with slight surprise, it wasn't like last time, there was no particular reason for Osworth to come find him, convincing himself that it was further proof of bad intentions, well, first proof really.

To start, he simply sat down behind his desk, taking up the most nonchalant pose he could think of, simply waiting for the bodyguard to arrive on his own, this office was the best place for anything to happen, if something needed to happen.

The elder was real quick in his actions, but with the pace Osworth was walking, it would take a few more minutes until he got there.

Coughing a little bit, he dropped his attempt at nonchalance, shaking his head and feeling the unmistakable coldness of a blade brushing up against his neck.

He ceased all movement, frowning as there was no doubt in his mind who it was that had managed to sneak up on him, in his academy, in his own office, a closed room with only a single door leading inside, which was right in front of his eyes, and could only be opened by himself.

"Well, to what do I owe the visit of such a pretty lady, so late at night? Not that I am not flattered, but I don't think you are into decrepit old men" he spoke, a bead of sweat trickling down his wrinkled forehead.

A smile forming on his face, feeling like laughing aloud at his own words.

One hand grabbed onto the shoulder on the opposite side of where the blade was softly touching his jugular.

Squeezing it without much force, almost friendly.

"Oh, old man, whatever your name is, are you not wise enough to know on your own?" words dripped into his ears, making him shudder, feeling as though a tongue had just licked his earlobes.

"I was hoping that you would contradict my own conclusion" he responded with a small sigh, his shape turning dark, like a shadow, he darted to the other side of the room, a small cut gushing with blood on his neck.

"Don't you dare think that I am an easy target, Death Dealer"