Volume 1, Chapter 27 – Homesick

Stella stood there in the wind, completely frazzled, clutching the heavy chain in her hand.

This thing was practically more scalding to hold than a red-hot branding iron.

Admittedly, for an outstanding succubus student who had taken first place in Human Interrogation Studies, receiving a human slave she could dispose of however she wished was undoubtedly the highest possible reward.

It was also the perfect trophy for showing off her strength and talent.

But the problem was, she wasn’t a succubus!

She was a perfectly proper Saintess, and a Saintess currently working as a spy at that.

Stella looked at the human nun curled into a ball at her feet from sheer terror, already “played broken” by her, and felt like her head was about to explode.

How was she supposed to deal with this hot potato?

Treat her kindly?

Tell her the truth about the mission?

The moment those two ideas surfaced, Stella ruthlessly crushed them.

Inquisitor Itheria had specifically warned her in her letter.

—Other than Holy Light, keep your mouth shut around everyone.

In other words, even in front of this nun, Stella had to keep up the act to the very end.

Leaving aside whether the other party would truly keep her secret, if Stella accidentally let something slip, her academy life, which was already like walking a tightrope, would completely collapse.

Not only that, if she showed even the slightest hint of pity or gave the nun any preferential treatment she shouldn’t have, then in an academy filled with shrewd professors and bizarre succubi, someone would definitely notice that something was off.

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Then she would be buried beneath endless scrutiny and investigations.

Stella could already imagine their interrogations.

“Oh my, Darkfallen, why doesn’t your slave have a single fresh wound on her? Could it be that you’re actually such a weakling you can’t even swing a whip?”

“How disappointing, Darkfallen. Why can’t I smell even the faintest trace of despair on her? Or could it be… you simply can’t bring yourself to do it?”

“Don’t tell me… you actually harbor some unspeakable sympathy toward humans?”

“You… wouldn’t happen to actually be a spy who infiltrated the academy, would you?”

In short, if she wanted to stay alive, she had to, and could only, present herself before the nun as an absolutely evil, brutal, temperamental succubus genius.

‘…Isn’t this asking way too much of me?!’

This strange new pressure filling Stella’s entire chest terrified her. She felt as though she were walking across thin ice that had already begun to melt, trembling with fear and taking every step with the utmost caution.

Just as Stella was wondering what to do with the trouble she’d only just acquired, a shadow fell over her.

Professor Katerina had silently appeared beside Stella. Her sharp, hawklike eyes, sunken deep within their sockets, locked onto her once again.

“It seems… a reputation isn’t always mere bluff.”

Katerina looked down at her from above, her black eyes utterly unfathomable. Her voice was quiet, hoarse, and low, yet every word entered Stella’s ears with perfect clarity.

“Stella Darkfallen.” She drew out the name as she spoke it. “That… unique talent of yours left quite an impression on me.”

Stella didn’t dare speak.

She didn’t dare move either.

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“However, don’t think a little cleverness will let you run rampant here.” Katerina abruptly lowered her voice. “I’ve seen far too many self-important geniuses like you… and every last one eventually became fertilizer in the Forbidden Forest.”

“To prevent something like that from happening…”

Katerina leaned down slightly, her black hair falling around her as her face moved almost beside Stella’s ear.

“I’ve decided to take over the upcoming Defense Against Holy Magic course.”

“Since you possess such remarkable anti-holy talent, I imagine you must also have some unique insight into how to defend against attacks from those hypocritical Holy Arts, don’t you?”

“So, you’ll serve as my teaching assistant and teach everyone how to defend against holy magic. That will also give the others a proper example to follow.”

Stella’s pupils practically trembled.

Katerina straightened up, her gaze sweeping playfully across Stella’s long silver hair.

“Darkfallen. A surname I’ve never heard before. I’m becoming more and more curious about what the Principal’s bloodline examination will reveal once she returns.”

With that, her black robe billowed, stirring up a cold gust of wind.

Professor Katerina left the classroom in satisfaction, leaving behind a room filled with dead silence and a group of succubus students still furiously scribbling away, recording the genius’ exploits.

Stella stood frozen in place, feeling as though her soul had already left her body.

‘Defense Against Holy Magic…?’

‘They wanted me, a Saintess, to teach a group of succubi how to defend against holy magic?’

‘What kind of hellish joke was this?’

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‘Am I supposed to spend future classes pretending to abuse this nun in front of me while simultaneously demonstrating how to block the Holy Light spells cast by her own colleague?’

“Oh, right. I’ll have the guards deliver her to your private dorm room.”

Professor Katerina’s final words drifted faintly from the far end of the corridor.

“Until then, think carefully about how you want to enjoy your reward. How you play with her is your own private affair.”

“…”

Stella sat back down in her seat in a daze.

‘It’s over.’

‘Everything is over.’

Ahead of her was the weekend’s hand-to-hand deathmatch. Behind that was the betrayal of having to teach Defense Against Holy Magic. Sandwiched between them was a human slave who would be delivered straight to her door tonight, and further in the future awaited a bloodline examination with life-or-death consequences she couldn’t even predict.

What kind of school life was she even living?

This was clearly an execution ground with multiple death sentences running in parallel.

“Stella?”

Stella heard a slightly concerned voice beside her. Remedios leaned closer, closing the observation journal in her hands as her blue eyes carefully examined Stella’s paper-pale profile.

“You look terrible.” Remedios asked softly, “Is it because you exhausted too much stamina just now? Or… did receiving this slave excite you so much that you lost your composure a little?”

Stella slowly turned her head and looked at this accomplice of hers who was almost too good to her. She couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or amused, and in the end, chose to laugh.

“No, it’s nothing.” Stella lowered her eyes. “I just… suddenly miss home.”

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Remedios paused, then revealed a look of understanding.

“I see. Is it because this class was too boring for you?”

She nodded thoughtfully.

“That’s understandable. In an ivory tower like this, it’s only natural to occasionally miss the life of pure darkness back in your homeland.”

“Do you miss the days when you led your household servants into the Human Realm to hunt slaves?”

“Or perhaps your morning baths warmed with the blood of ninety-nine pure maidens?”

Stella: “…”

‘No.’

‘I missed the stewed potatoes from the rural convent.’

‘Really.’

Translator Note

HAHAHAH even the matter as simple as miss home become a misunderstanding XD