Night had fallen, and the downpour was relentless.

It was as if all the waters of the world had gathered above this city, and within just a few minutes, the scene before them had turned into something like the end of days.

Knights on tall warhorses galloped swiftly through every corner of the city, hooves splashing through the rain as they delivered His Majesty the Emperor’s supreme decree.

—The entire city was under curfew.

Tonight, whether in the Upper City or the Lower City, anyone who stepped outside without reason would be treated as an enemy of the city.

Immediate execution.

At this moment, even the rats in the Lower City huddled obediently in women’s arms and in their beds, trembling at this unknown.

And Muen stood on the empty street before the Academy, head raised, letting the rain pour down his face.

“One good piece of news, one bad piece of news. Which do you want to hear first?”

At his ear, Teacher Meladomir’s voice echoed.

“The bad news.”

“The night of the lunar eclipse came early. The moon’s influence on this city grows stronger. The deciphering of the Iso script has failed.”

“...As expected. Then the good news?”

“The moon’s in a hurry!”

“...Hm?”

“I said the moon’s in a hurry.”

Teacher Meladomir sounded strangely excited. Just from her tone, Muen could picture her rubbing her little hands together, crimson eyes shining.

What a shame he couldn’t see it. Otherwise, a white-haired loli like that looking like she was bursting with energy would definitely be cute.

“Anxious things always reveal flaws. I might be able to take this chance to grab something big!” Teacher Meladomir said, rushing her words in excitement.

“...And this counts as good news for me?”

“Uh... for you it might actually be bad news... after all, the madder the moon gets, the less anyone knows what it’ll do. Naturally I won’t be affected, but you... cough, cough, hard to say. Because some troublesome things have already crawled up from below.”

“...”

Muen was speechless. Sure enough, the joys and sorrows of this world do not interconnect. To him, this white-haired loli was just noisy.

“Teacher Meladomir, can I ask you something?”

Muen sighed, still gazing at the sky, and asked.

“Ask.”

“If I go into the Academy right now, can you protect me?”

“Of course.” 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

He didn’t even need to see her to imagine Meladomir raising an eyebrow over there.

“You are my disciple, Meladomir’s disciple. As long as you’re within the Academy’s bounds, unless an Evil God crams its true body through here to fight me to the death, no one can so much as touch a single hair on your head.”

Her loli voice was childish, yet her words were infinitely domineering.

And no one would think her incapable.

Because she was Meladomir—the world’s only Origin-tier Grand Archmage, Meladomir.

She was the one before whom every existing mage, no matter how long their beard, had to bow respectfully and call her Mentor.

“I see... having a thigh to cling to really is nice.”

Muen smiled with genuine sentiment.

Then, staring at the sky, his expression gradually turned cold.

Because above, through the heavy clouds, a ghostly blue moon was suspended.

It seemed to exist beneath the clouds, yet also beyond the endless distance of another world. Its spectral light and the fine threads of rain intertwined, painting a mysterious and eerie picture.

It was as though it were sneering directly at Muen.

Moonlight poured down, cold beyond words.

And this scene was identical to the Black Book’s prophetic dream.

In other words, if nothing went wrong, tonight would be yet another predetermined dead end for him, this blond villain.

But because of Teacher Meladomir, this existence beyond all rules, this fate could be broken easily.

All he had to do was turn around, step forward, enter the Academy, return to his dorm, take a hot bath, enjoy a meal from the Academy chefs no worse than the Duke’s estate, then sleep in his warm bed.

Tomorrow, when he woke up, he could fully enjoy the peaceful Academy life he had always dreamed of.

Compared to the first prophetic dream, where he had struggled desperately to escape, this time was laughably simple.

But—

“Isn’t this too the way fate toys with people?”

Muen’s lips curved into the faintest of smiles. He pressed his soaked hat down over his head and walked straight into the deepest darkness without looking back.

“Teacher Meladomir, I’m heading out.”

“Mm. Be careful.”

Muen walked alone, leaving behind only that ethereal blessing, shattered by the sound of rain.

...

...

“Aiya, that foolish disciple also went off to do something stupid. The moon’s madness seems to have quieted for a bit, and suddenly I’ve got nothing to do.”

Mercury Well.

Sea of Flowers.

Teacher Meladomir, wearing a pink nightdress, tossed aside the Iso manuscript that no longer needed translating and sprawled across the sea of blossoms, dazing out.

The document drifted to the ground, along with another sheet of parchment, densely filled with annotations.

Among those notes, written in an ancient tongue, there was one line that even Muen would have recognized instantly.

—“The serpent will not weep.”

Teacher Meladomir had lied to Muen. The moon might be anxious, but that only proved it had no attention to spare. Taking advantage of this moment, she had forcibly pried open its hint and successfully translated a line.

But she had no intention of telling Muen. Because from the very first glance at that sentence, she knew that curing the so-called serpentification disease had nothing to do with some supposed method.

What mattered was something else—something far more important.

Without that thing, even knowing the method would lead only to despair.

“But I think that foolish disciple might really be able to accomplish this near-impossible feat.”

Teacher Meladomir smiled mysteriously.

“After all, he has a certain ‘quality’ that very few can match.”

As she was thinking, her brow arched, and with a light wave of her hand—

The space above the flower sea warped, and a white dove flew out.

“Greetings, TriCross Merchant Guild. Your ordered goods have arrived. Please sign for them.”

The dove spoke human words, then spat out a small pouch.

“Finally here.”

Teacher Meladomir rubbed her hands together excitedly, then casually tossed a shiny coin to the bird and without mercy flung the poor thing, which had been a whole day late, away.

She impatiently opened the pouch, shook it into her palm—and out fell... a pitch-black seed.

Carefully, she planted the seed into the soil, watered it, fertilized it, and then... snapped her fingers.

Beneath the sea of flowers, the roar of colossal mechanisms rumbled to life.

The seed sprouted, grew, branched, flowered, and bore fruit in moments—until at last it yielded a large, round melon.

She clapped her hands, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ and the ripe melon split open at once, revealing bright red flesh inside.

“Aiya, to be able to eat such a fine melon in this season, now that’s a delight.”

Hugging the melon, she sat down comfortably. With another wave of her small hand, the space before her rippled, and a grand scene of battle appeared like something out of a movie blockbuster.

“Hit it!”

“Kick its ass! Poke its eye!”

“Aiya, why so cowardly? It’s just a Calamity-class monster! Where are the cannons? Blast the bastard!”

“That one called Dodge, is this what the Origin Tower teaches now? What an idiot!”

Teacher Meladomir waved her child’s spoon excitedly at the screen. When the sight angered her, she looked as though she wanted to dive in herself and fight in their stead.

“...Haa.”

But in the end, she curled up and obediently ate her melon.

Her amber eyes dimmed slightly.

Within the Academy she was invincible, but stepping even a single step beyond its walls remained difficult.