Volume 2, Chapter 31-1 – Twin Towers

With Professor Katerina and the other professors looking thoroughly baffled yet deeply shaken, the whole absurd affair somehow came to an end just like that.

Remedios had started things off with a mixture of truth and lies, Cheryl had confidently filled in the gaps, and Dorothy had simply gone along with the flow and admitted to everything.

And so, on the Nth day of Stella von Einzbern, candidate Saintess of the Holy See, being in the Abyss, she was forcibly saddled with a succubus daughter half a head taller than herself.

Everything had been arranged nice and neatly.

There was absolutely no room for her to argue.

Only Stella was left standing there alone in the wind, utterly disheveled.

Fine.

When you’ve got enough lice, you stop itching. When you’ve got enough debts, you stop worrying.

At a school where even a thousand-year-old shorty could become principal, acknowledging a daughter didn’t seem like that big of a deal.

Oh…

Sorry.

Her habit of talking shit about the principal whenever she was unhappy had kicked in again.

“Since this is your family business… forget it. We’ll just say that’s what happened…”

Professor Katerina rubbed her head and reluctantly accepted their explanation.

She turned around, sweeping her gaze over the lecture hall that had now been completely wrecked beyond repair.

Normally, according to established practice, she should have written out an astronomical compensation bill on the spot, enough to bankrupt any ordinary student.

After all, this was an antique classroom with a century of history.

Katerina had already been preparing to pull out her penalty book and continue the fine supervision plan from last time.

But from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Cheryl standing nearby.

Facing the proudly upright Miss Cheryl, her hand silently withdrew.

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The eldest daughter of the Valentine family would definitely pay for Stella.

For the Valentine family, who scattered gold coins around like water, forget compensating for a single classroom. Even buying the entire teaching building and turning it into an amusement park would amount to nothing more than signing a check.

A fine wasn’t punishment to people like them at all.

At most, it counted as spending money.

“Hmph.” Katerina gave a cold snort. “I’ll turn this entire matter into a report and submit it directly to Principal Gehenna.”

“I’m sure Principal Gehenna will be delighted to learn how her good student has been expanding the family line at school while tearing down a building on the side.”

The corner of Stella’s mouth twitched.

She would rather be fined.

“Now then, the lot of you. Come with me.”

Katerina turned around, her black robes snapping loudly in the wind.

“Eh?” Stella froze for a moment. “Where are we going? Hasn’t the problem already been resolved, Professor?”

They had explained the commotion and admitted responsibility for demolishing the classroom, so what else was there to do?

“Resolved?” Katerina stopped and deliberately looked back, her tone distinctly unfriendly. “That’s right. The matter of damaging school property has been resolved.”

“But Student Stella, haven’t you forgotten something?”

Katerina raised a finger and lightly tapped the face of the watch on her wrist.

“If I’m remembering correctly… at this particular time, you should be sitting in a classroom attending class, not putting on some family melodrama here.”

“You skipped class, didn’t you?”

Katerina instinctively looked toward Remedios and Cheryl beside her.

Admittedly, those two had skipped class as well. One after another, no less, and both of them were completely brazen about it, acting as though they couldn’t care less. But the Book Demon family was one of Lilith School’s partners, and as long as their grades were good, whether they came to class was entirely up to their mood.

Cheryl was the daughter of a school trustee.

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She couldn’t afford to offend her.

One after another, they all had someone backing them.

Only her.

Stella Dark… Valentine.

The Pale Daughter, the problem student personally entrusted to her by Principal Gehenna, the troublemaker who skipped class and demolished school property.

At long last, she finally had someone she could actually discipline.

“…”

Stella went rigid.

‘Crap.’

She had been so busy catching a ghost, saving people, and acknowledging a daughter that she had completely forgotten about class.

“Skipping class, were you?”

Katerina walked up to Stella, a kindly smile appearing on her face.

The next second.

Smack!

A precise and crisp chop came down mercilessly on the top of Stella’s head.

“Ow!”

Stella clutched her head.

Katerina watched as her cute, aggrieved little face scrunched into a knot.

“Skipping class, skipping class, I’ll teach you to skip class.” Katerina did her best not to laugh as she withdrew her hand. “Now, immediately, this instant, get back to class.”

“But Professor… shouldn’t this class be almost over already?”

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Stella tried to struggle.

“Then go attend the next class.”

Katerina gave her absolutely no room to bargain.

“As it happens, the next class is Divination. And…”

She stepped aside, clearing the doorway.

“Professor Shanoti just happens to be here as well. The lot of you can simply go with her.”

As Katerina finished speaking, an extremely thin demon walked over.

She wore an elaborate long dress embroidered all over with patterns of stars and eyes. Yet all that fabric did nothing to make her look any fuller. Instead, it looked as though it had been draped over a skeleton.

Stella’s first impression of her was of a butterfly specimen inside a glass display case.

“I am the professor for Divination.” The woman’s voice was somewhat hoarse. “My name is Shanoti.”

She slowly approached, every step accompanied by a crisp jingling sound.

Stella saw that her arms and wrists were covered in all kinds of bracelets, gold, silver, and bone, all knocking against one another.

Apart from those, countless strings of beaded necklaces also hung from her.

“You may never have seen me before.”

Shanoti stared directly at Stella with her eyes wide open. The solid little gold pendants hanging from her ears resembled a pair of brass nails pinning her to the doorway.

“Because I seldom go outside. Entering the noisy, bustling main tower of the school clouds my mind’s eye.”

“Things that are destined to happen, things that are longed for and repeated day after day, are all silent.”

“Only accidental coincidences speak. People attempt to read meaning from them, just as in days gone by, we made prophecies from the shapes left by coffee grounds at the bottom of a glass cup.”

Shanoti’s gaze lingered on Stella for a moment.

“I can see into your past, foretell your future, and uncover the crises that await you. Believe me, child, you can learn a great deal.”

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She turned around, the hem of her dress dragging across the floor littered with broken glass.

“Come along, children.”

Stella thought it over.

Foretell her future?

See into her past?

Uncover her crises?

The latter two weren’t really the problem.

The problem was…

‘Mm… if this Professor Shanoti really knew what I was doing.

‘If she truly could see into the past…’

‘Would she see through my current succubus disguise and glimpse the Saintess who had once prayed within the Holy Sanctuary?’

‘Would she see the soul that was supposed to be irreconcilably opposed to demons?’

‘Is she about to expose my entire identity?’

‘…That’s terrifying.’

Translator Note

Stella just got a daughter and now she has to face another casual, yet deadly situation for her again TvT