I Raised the Demon Queen (Now She Won't Leave Me Alone)-Chapter 72 : Theo’s Theory

Revantra wasn't technically sneaking.

She was just... walking very quietly, with her hood pulled low, avoiding eye contact, and stepping only in the shadows cast by the arches along the academy's east wing corridor.

Which was very different from sneaking. Sneaking implied guilt. This was simply... prudent navigation. For educational purposes.

"Psst!"

She froze mid-step, one hand half-raised to part the curtain to the old archives hall.

"Pssst! Hey!"

She turned her head slowly, like a cat who'd just heard someone trying to imitate a mouse and was deeply unimpressed by the effort.

From behind a statue of a disappointingly shirtless historical hero, a tuft of brown hair popped out.

It was him.

Theo.

The weird, overly enthusiastic classmate with three ink stains on every sleeve, glasses permanently slipping down his nose, and an unhealthy obsession with ancient runes and lunchbox architecture.

He stepped out fully, clutching a stack of crumpled parchment and a bag of dried apple slices like he'd just cracked a forbidden spell and wanted to share it with exactly the wrong person.

"I knew you were up to something," he said proudly.

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Goodbye, Theo."

She turned to go, and he scrambled after her.

"No, wait! I mean—don't worry, I'm not gonna tell anyone. I just—look, you've been, uh... sketching symbols lately, right?"

She froze again, this time more genuinely.

"What did you say?"

Theo flushed. "Not on purpose! I wasn't spying or anything. I just saw you in the library two days ago. You left your sketchbook open on the desk when you got up, and I might have... glanced. Briefly. Casually. In a deeply respectful and purely academic way."

"...How much did you see?"

"Enough to notice that."

He shoved one of his crumpled pages into her hands.

It was an old charcoal rubbing, maybe a year old by the way the edges had yellowed. The symbol was faint but recognizable—spirals, shattered rays, the broken sun motif.

Revantra's spine stiffened.

"Where did you find this?"

"North maintenance tunnels," he said, lowering his voice. "Behind the secondary furnace shaft. I was looking for—uh—fire beetles."

"...Why?"

"They glow!" he said, as if that explained everything.

She sighed and handed the parchment back. "So you've seen it too."

Theo's eyes gleamed. "You do know something! I knew it! You've got that look—like someone who stares too long into the abyss and then throws it into detention."

"That's... not even a saying."

"Not yet."

He trotted alongside her as she resumed walking, this time not bothering to be subtle. If someone asked, she'd claim she was mentoring a troubled youth. Or dragging a goblin impersonating a student.

"Okay," he said breathlessly, still clutching his apple slices, "so here's what I think. That symbol—it's not just a decoration. It's a marker. Like, a breadcrumb trail."

Revantra raised a brow. "A trail to what?"

"Don't know yet," he admitted, beaming as if this were somehow great news. "But I've been cataloging sightings all over the city. My working theory is that it's cult-related."

"Oh really?" she said dryly.

"Yes! A fire cult, maybe. Or something worse." He looked excited. "You've heard the old rumors about the Ashen Choir, right?"

She stiffened. "...Maybe."

"They were wiped out decades ago. But you know what they say about secret societies—if they don't die screaming, they just go underground."

"No one says that."

"I say that."

"Of course you do."

Theo stopped suddenly and rifled through his bag, producing another sheet of notes covered in diagrams, squiggles, and what appeared to be a drawing of a stick figure getting incinerated.

"Look, I connected the sightings. There's a pattern."

She looked at the page. It was upside down.

When she rotated it, the dots formed a loose crescent shape circling the capital.

"And what's in the middle?" she asked.

"City Academy."

She narrowed her eyes.

"That's convenient."

"Or deeply sinister."

He offered her an apple slice. She refused it with the disdain of someone who believed food should not crinkle.

"Alright," she said, crossing her arms. "Let's say I believe you. Why tell me?"

Theo scratched the back of his neck. "You were drawing the same symbol. And you're... different. Like, obviously super advanced. You melted a training dummy from thirty paces. Also, you mutter to yourself in a language I can't translate and once made a quill explode by looking at it too hard."

"I wasn't muttering," she said defensively. "I was thinking loudly."

"Sure. But you're smart. And—don't take this the wrong way—you look like someone who's fought a shadow demon and won."

She blinked.

That might've been the most accurate compliment she'd ever received.

"...Thanks," she said awkwardly.

"You're welcome. So—want to investigate together?"

"No."

"Great. I already printed out our field maps!"

"...Wait—what?"

Theo was already digging through his satchel again, pulling out small scrolls, charcoal sticks, and something that looked suspiciously like a compass that had been taped back together with magical adhesive.

Revantra sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

She should've walked away.

She should've.

But instead, she leaned over, took the map, and pointed at a mark near the academy's lower atrium.

"There's another one here." freeweɓnovel.cøm

Theo beamed.

An hour later, they were in the lower atrium's garden courtyard, which doubled as a rest area and occasional duel pit. Theo was scribbling in his notebook, cross-referencing rune symbols with reckless abandon. Revantra sat on a bench with her arms folded, keeping an eye on the nearby statues, the floor tiles, and any student who lingered too long.

She didn't know why she was helping him.

Maybe because he reminded her of the old scholars in her demon court. Not the powerful ones—the ones who tripped over their own robes and spilled ink on ancient scrolls. The harmless ones who somehow still uncovered truths the rest missed.

Or maybe because... he didn't look at her like everyone else.

Not like a mystery. Not like a threat.

Just a classmate.

One who was too smart for his own good.

"I think," he said suddenly, "this whole area used to be part of something older. Like, pre-foundation architecture. The symbol was probably carved into the base structure before the school was even here."

"You think someone planned this?"

He nodded. "Or it's a very weird coincidence involving cultists and budget renovations."

Revantra cracked a smile despite herself.

"Can I ask you something?" Theo said, hesitating. "Why do you care?"

"About what?"

"This," he said, gesturing to the courtyard. "You always look like you're above it all. Like you're just passing through. But now you're investigating a decades-old mystery with the class eccentric. Why?"

She didn't answer at first.

Then, softly: "Because I thought I left this behind."

Theo blinked.

"You know the cult, don't you?"

She didn't meet his gaze.

"I know enough."

Theo grew quiet. Then, surprising her, he said, "You're not the only one who's been hiding something."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"My family's from the outer districts. My mom used to be a magic historian before she... passed. She taught me about all this. Symbols, forbidden texts, cult theories. She used to say, 'Theo, the past whispers. It's up to you whether to listen or pretend it isn't speaking.'"

Revantra looked at him for a long moment.

Maybe he did understand more than he let on.

"...Your mother was wise," she said.

"Also terrible at cooking."

"She would've gotten along with Elias."

That caught Theo off guard. "Wait—is he your brother?"

Revantra blinked. Then burst out laughing.

It startled her.

She hadn't laughed like that in days.

"No," she said, still chuckling. "Not my brother. Just... someone I live with."

Theo nodded solemnly. "So, a not-brother with mysterious healing powers and great hair. Got it."

"You're not subtle."

"I try."

They sat together in companionable silence, the late afternoon sun casting golden streaks across the courtyard.

Revantra looked down at the sketch again. At the broken sun. The spiral.

She still didn't trust many people.

But maybe, just maybe... Theo was someone she could start trusting.

A little.

Maybe.

If he stopped calling her mysterious.

Or offering apple slices.

But she could live with the apple slices.

That night, in the dorm room she refused to personalize, she pinned Theo's rubbing next to her own drawing.

Two pieces of the puzzle.

The whisper in the walls was getting louder.

But now... she wasn't entirely alone.

And that made all the difference.

To be continued...