Volume 2, Chapter 5 – I Want to Retake the Exam!

Behind the mountain-like pile of documents, Stella once again saw Principal Gehenna.

As always…

Miserable.

Her nightcap was crooked to one side, her long purple hair was as messy as a ball of yarn that had been clawed apart by a cat, and the quill in her hand was still tirelessly poking at the documents.

“…Awake?” Gehenna did not even open her eyes. “Hmph. You slept for three whole days. Stella Darkfallen, I’ve taught so many generations of students, but I’ve never seen a succubus who can sleep as much as you.”

“Um… Principal, I was, after all, just a tiny bit tired…”

Stella shifted her feet somewhat guiltily.

Fortunately, she had not been injured in the Blasphemous Forbidden Forest. Otherwise, Gehenna would definitely have come to examine her condition, then seen through her human identity at a glance.

Though at present, even Stella herself no longer understood her own body very well.

First there had been the Holy Light Eruption, then the bloodflame eruption, and finally the Pale Power that had seized the Eye of the Black Mass.

At this point, she was like an illegal structure forcibly stitched together from Sanctity, the Abyss, the Valentine bloodline, and Pale Power. The fact that she had not simply dropped dead on the spot already counted as the Lord’s blessing. Heaven knew what would happen if anyone actually examined her.

“A tiny bit tired? Heh.”

Gehenna abruptly opened her eyes.

“While you were having sweet dreams… I didn’t sleep for even a single second…”

It seemed Stella had accidentally opened the floodgates, because Gehenna immediately began muttering with an utterly hopeless expression.

“Mara Nightsong wanted revenge on me, so before leaving, she dug an enormous pit for me. She used her authority as Vice Principal to take every backlogged, unresolved, disputed bad account and conflict the school has accumulated over the past several hundred years… and submitted all of them through the approval system straight onto my desk at once.”

“A full thirty thousand documents. Thirty thousand farewell gifts.”

Gehenna ground her little canine teeth, looking as though she wanted to eat someone alive.

“When she ran off, not only did she take all the precious secret treasures with her and drain all the power from the Eye of the Black Mass, she even used a secret spell-lock to encrypt my private coffee machine on her way out!”

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Cold sweat poured down Stella’s back as she listened.

Mara clearly could not have understood Principal Gehenna any better. Every single move had been specifically aimed at killing her in both body and spirit.

As for the Eye of the Black Mass…

That had been Stella’s doing.

But Principal Gehenna did not seem to have noticed?

“P-Principal?” Stella carefully stepped around the obstacles scattered across the floor, not daring to respond to any of that. “You called me here… because there was something urgent?”

“Of course.”

Gehenna took a deep breath and finally recovered some of a principal’s dignity from the brink of collapse.

“A little later, I’ll need to make a special trip to the Nexus Council to give a report regarding Mara’s situation. In other words, I temporarily won’t have time to teach you myself. But that’s not a major problem. I’ve entrusted you to the other professors. I hope you’re prepared for that. There may be… a tiny little surprise.”

“What a nuisance. My deputy of so many years actually turned out to be an Ash Drinker who had been enduring humiliation while secretly plotting revenge. Those old foxes at the Nexus Council definitely won’t miss the chance to wrangle over this. They’ll absolutely use it as an excuse to send an investigation team.”

“In other words, you’d better keep your head down and behave like a proper demon. Don’t go making any more of those speeches about making demonkind great again. Did you hear me?”

“This is for your own good, Pale Daughter,” Gehenna said gloomily. “I’ll help conceal part of what happened, but that doesn’t mean everyone else will.”

“…Yes. I shall obey my Mentor’s instructions.”

Stella obediently nodded.

She had already made up her mind. The moment the Lionheart Society’s banquet was over, she would immediately disband it.

“Also,” Gehenna continued, “the school board will be holding a meeting soon to formally appoint Professor Katerina as Vice Principal. In the past, only special envoys would attend the routine meetings as representatives. Busy Family Heads generally wouldn’t come in person. But considering how the Valentine family recently caused such a huge stir over an SSS+ illegitimate daughter, no one can say for certain whether they might stop by for a look while they’re at it.”

Gehenna deliberately put extra emphasis on the words illegitimate daughter.

Stella was momentarily speechless.

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‘Hmm…’

‘Did that mean my bargain-bin mother was coming?’

She was completely screwed now.

“By the way…” Gehenna gave Stella a strange look, pulled out an extremely long and narrow bill, and lightly flicked it. “Your human slave managed to eat through the entire balance on your meal card by herself in just three days, then even advanced next month’s allowance. She’s practically made the cafeteria her home. By which I mean we detained her to wash dishes. At the very least, you won’t be getting her back anytime soon.”

‘…Lainia?’

She really could eat.

“Then… is there anything else?” Stella asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.

“Mm, one more thing.” Gehenna drained an entire cup of coffee. “About that ghost student investigation task I gave you last time.”

Stella remembered that.

Last time, Gehenna had specifically ordered her to capture the ghost student. The problem was that this so-called ghost student she kept talking about was clearly Stella herself.

How was she supposed to complete that?

Step forward and turn herself in?

Stella thought about it.

As expected, she could not avoid this forever.

Rather than wait until someone discovered the truth later, perhaps she should take advantage of their mentor-disciple relationship and confess now in exchange for leniency?

After all, she was Gehenna’s disciple now. If she had made a small mistake, surely…

She could be forgiven, right?

“Um, Principal…” Stella took a deep breath, preparing to turn herself in. “Actually, about that ghost student, there’s something I need to say… I actually have a lead…”

“Oh? You already found a lead during your earlier investigation? Very good.” Gehenna did not even raise her head as her quill heavily circled something on a document. “I was just about to tell you about this. The threat level of that ghost has increased. I originally thought it merely enjoyed damaging public property in the middle of the night. I didn’t expect it to have already started hunting students.”

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“…Huh?”

Stella forcibly swallowed the rest of what she had been about to say.

‘Hunting… students?’

For the past few days, she had either been fighting monsters in the Blasphemous Forbidden Forest or lying unconscious in bed. Who had she hunted?

What impostor was out there leeching off her reputation?!

“During the previous Bathory Sixth Watch, while you were still unconscious,” Gehenna raised her eyes. “Two succubi were attacked in the washroom of the House of Domination. Their skin was covered in marks resembling burns, and on the mirror at the scene, someone had carved a line of words using charred fingerprints.”

“A new King has been born. The heretics shall be purged.”

“I had other professors participate in the investigation, but none of them found anything. If the Nexus Council hadn’t summoned me, I was planning to handle this personally.”

Stella felt her scalp go numb.

‘A new King?’

‘Heretics?’

‘Why did that sound strangely similar to the Lionheart Society’s propaganda slogans?’

‘Or could there be a second member of the clergy in this school besides me?’

‘And an extremely conservative radical at that?’

She would have to ask the Inquisitor about this later.

“Stella.” Gehenna’s voice interrupted her wild thoughts. “Since you just said you already have a lead on this matter, I can only leave it to you. Before I return, make sure you take care of this troublesome matter for me.”

“I believe in your abilities, Stella.”

Gehenna stood on tiptoe and patted Stella on the shoulder.

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“This is the initiation trial I’ve given you, and also your first step toward becoming Queen.”

“…”

Stella fell silent.

How had she somehow managed to saddle herself with such an enormous job?

And this whole thing had the overwhelmingly familiar air of someone dangling a grand promise in front of her.

“Very good.” Gehenna sat back down behind her desk and waved a hand. “You can go now. Don’t forget Defense Against Holy Magic this afternoon. Professor Katerina may be harsh, but there really is something worth learning in her classes.”

“Go.”

“Oh, and before you leave,” Gehenna found a comfortable position and sprawled across the desk, “I’m out of coffee. Make me another cup. Three sugar cubes, and extra milk.”

“Understood… Principal.”

Stella left the office.

The wind outside the door was cold, but Stella’s heart was even colder.

This afternoon, she had to face the harsh new Vice Principal. Tonight, she had to figure out how to disband the Lionheart Society. After that, she still had to catch some impostor ghost running around the school under her banner. And while she was at it, she also had to go to the cafeteria and redeem her gluttonous nun…

‘Lord, could I apply to retake the Saintess exam?’

Translator Note

If it’s not from her club, then that would be a good scapegoat for her, right? xD