Wang made a face of realization, but it was already too late.

    The strength drained completely from his body. It was as if his soul had separated from his body.

    I caught the falling man with my own body.

    His weight was immense, and we ended up rolling to the floor, with Senior Noah''s body on top of mine.

    Ugh. He''s heavy.

    I tried to push him off, but it wasn’t easy. It was at that moment that his shoulder twitched.

    I froze in surprise and held my breath.

    The man on top of me slowly lifted his head. His face came into view, but the problem was that it was uncomfortably close.

    His eyes met mine—they were blue.

    A deep, intense blue, like the color of a lake.

    Now, I thought I could recognize Senior Noah just by his eyes. It was a relief to know I could still recognize him.

    "Melody."

    He called my name in a heavy voice, full of unease.

    It was definitely Senior Noah.

    He stared at me for a long time without saying a word. His face was extremely handsome, but that wasn’t the issue right now. His breath was close.

    Feeling a bit embarrassed, I cautiously opened my mouth.

    "Senior, you’re heavy."

    Ah.

    It seemed like he only just realized that he was on top of me. He quickly pushed himself up.

    "Sorry."

    He extended his hand to me.

    I grabbed his hand and stood up, brushing myself off.

    I was wearing a dress, but luckily it was a long one that reached my ankles, so it wasn’t an embarrassing sight.

    "Senior, what happened? Are you okay?"

    I recalled what Wang, or Vidar, had told me.

    "Senior, there was a king inside you. He said you’d be in a cage."

    "...."

    "Senior, are you really okay?"

    I moved a little closer, lifting my face toward his. Then, I carefully placed my hand on his forehead. Thankfully, there was no fever.

    Senior Noah just stared at my face without saying anything. I felt a little awkward and was about to pull my hand away and step back, but he grabbed my hand.

    I felt his blue eyes shift slightly as they wavered, locking on me.

    After a long pause, he finally spoke.

    "Thank you."

    "What? For what?"

    He didn’t answer my question. Instead, he spoke about something else.

    "I was really in a cage. When I opened my eyes, that’s where I was. I couldn’t find a way out, but then I heard your voice."

    Now that I thought about it, he was still holding my hand.

    He looked at my hand for a moment, then slowly let go. The warmth from his hand faded. For some reason, I felt a little sad about that.

    "''Bring Noah back.'' That’s what I heard."

    Ah. The words he had heard were probably the last thing I had said to Vidar, the command I gave him.

    I then told him everything, except for the part about Sister Gloria. I explained that Senior Noah was trapped in a cage and that the place might be in the "Other World" of Johannes Castle. I also mentioned that we would need another sacrifice to lift Raven’s curse, and that I had learned his name, which gave me control over him.

    "He’s a part of the king, but he isn’t the king himself."

    "Then, does that mean Vidar isn’t the king’s name?"

    Senior Noah nodded.

    "Vidar seems to be under a misunderstanding. The only one who knows the king''s name is the king himself, but that’s wrong information. The ? Nоvеl?g?t ? (Official version) king never had a name from the beginning. He was created by devouring evil spirits."

    The king, who devoured evil spirits, and is called the king of evil spirits. I think I read about something similar in a book on evil spirits.

    "Then, is Vidar one of the evil spirits that the king devoured?"

    "Evil spirits don’t have the logical intelligence to think like humans. The evil spirits the king devoured were all absorbed by him and no longer exist. ‘Vidar’ seems to be another persona that appeared when the king was sealed. It looks like he gave himself that name."

    What a strange being.

    Senior Noah muttered, and somehow, the way he said it felt a bit unfamiliar.

    "...Senior, how do you know all this?"

    "I learned it while I was in the cage. I still don’t know why. I just... learned it."

    He answered with a face full of confusion.

    The "vessel" he had spoken about before must have referred to the king’s vessel. Since their bodies were shared, it was possible that the information Vidar had flowed into Senior Noah.

    Ding—

    Ding—

    At that moment, the bell tower rang, signaling 10 AM. I was late for my part-time job.

    Also, I had heard that outsiders would be coming to the island at noon today.

    "Anyway, I have to go to my part-time job. Do you want to come with me? We can talk on the way."

    He nodded and quietly followed me.

    I told him about the conversation I had with Erika earlier that morning. About how the head of the academic department had given Erika candy at .

    "The candy does seem strange."

    Senior Noah answered.

    "For the 100th-anniversary opening event, the Pope and the crown prince of the Kingdom of Brendan will be attending, so the headmaster is preoccupied. The head of the academic department seems to be planning something while everyone’s distracted, but I don’t know the goal. Let’s start by investigating the candy."

    I nodded and headed out of the girls’ dormitory toward the village.

    On the way, Senior Noah gave me one piece of advice.

    "The head of the academic department can’t know his plans are failing."

    "But because of Vidar, everyone already knows you’re awake."

    "Act like you’re not in your right mind."

    "How?"

    At my question, Senior Noah let out a quiet laugh.

    "Just watch."

    If the head of the academic department’s goal is to stop Senior Noah from performing the sealing ritual, then?

    That would mean it would be pointless for me to perform the ritual as the student representative. In fact, that might be exactly what the head of the academic department wants.

    So, I decided to step in as the student representative for Senior Noah. That way, the head of the academic department would be reassured. And it would also work out better for our future plans.

    We decided to tackle the problems we could solve right now.

    First, we’d investigate the candy and make sure I’d be the student representative for this event. Then, we’d figure out the head of the academic department’s plan and stop it.

    As we entered the cafe, I spotted Father Miella waiting for me.

    It was a relief, since I wasn’t sure how to meet him and had planned to ask Mrs. Louis for help.

    It was quite unexpected for Father Miella to come looking for me first.

    "Heisting, are you okay? I heard you didn’t go to the hospital."

    Father Miella awkwardly stood up and greeted me in an uncomfortable way.

    "I’m fine. What about you, Father?"

    "Thanks to you, I’m fine."

    Father Miella seemed to have a lot to say but fumbled with his words, looking a bit uneasy.

    Just then, Mrs. Louis came out with a tray full of homemade cookies, sighed when she saw Father Miella, and looked at him as if he were a troublesome younger brother. Before, Father Miella had seemed intimidating, but thanks to Mrs. Louis, he now seemed strangely more approachable.

    "I have a lot to ask, but it’s not the right place. Let’s talk later in the disciplinary committee room. And if you need help, just ask."

    "I actually do need a favor, Father. Could you help me with something?"

    "Right now?"

    "I heard the grading for the exams is done. The rankings are out, but they haven’t been posted yet?"

    "After the 100th anniversary event, the notice will go up."

    That was too late. Today was the night of the dead festival, and everyone would be preoccupied. It was the perfect time to get things done.

    "Could you give me the list? The names of the top-ranked students by year."

    "That’s a bit difficult."

    "Isn’t it information that will be released in a few days anyway? It’s not like I’m leaking exam papers, it’s just the rankings."

    Father Miella looked visibly troubled. I knew it was a difficult request, but I pushed forward.

    I smiled at him, and he flinched.

    It seemed like Father Miella was a bit scared of me since the incident at the Night of the Dead. That worked in my favor, as I could use that to my advantage.

    "Father, you’ve probably heard the rumors, but I can see ghosts. You’ve experienced it yourself, so now you know. Ghosts are real."

    Father Miella’s face turned pale. Even though his face was half-covered with the eye patch, it was still obvious.

    "I also know how to deal with them."

    As I gestured, the ghosts watching me from near Noah’s side came closer.

    They were terrified of Noah but liked me so much that they were willing to risk their lives to approach me, showing affection in a cute way.

    When I pointed at Father Miella’s hair tie, they gleefully untied it and played with his hair, blowing air into it.

    Father Miella shrieked and fell to the ground. I felt a bit sorry, realizing I might have overdone it. sea??h thё n?vel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "I, I’m sorry. I believe in ghosts now. I believe!"

    "Then you’ll help me, right? It’s not even that difficult a request."

    "It is a difficult request, but..."

    "So, you won’t help me?"

    Father Miella had to help me, not Father Cesario.

    I’d heard that Father Cesario was already on the academic department’s blacklist because of his investigation into the ghost stories.

    Father Miella, on the other hand, openly opposed Father Cesario, so the head of the academic department wouldn’t suspect him too easily.

    That’s why I planned to use Father Miella as much as possible in this plan.

    "...I’ll help, but only this once."

    Of course, it wouldn’t end with just once, but for now, I nodded with a smile.

    Father Miella added some explanations.

    "The reason I’m helping you isn’t because of threats. It’s because I’m curious. This is a deal. If I help you, I expect you to answer my questions."

    It seemed like he was very curious about the strange events from last night.

    I nodded again. From the side, Senior Noah looked at me with a proud expression.

    "Good at negotiating."

    "Could you call it a negotiation?"

    Just then, Leonard entered the cafe, looked at me, Father Miella, and Senior Noah, and tilted his head.

    "What are you doing?"

    "Nothing."

    "Why is he late for work by himself? Really, a junior I don’t like."

    I decided to ignore Senior Noah’s muttering from beside me.