Robert Broheim's Righteous Spirit Endures / Dark Dimon Spreads Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

By the time he had nearly finished reading the newspaper, breakfast was over.

Usually, he just put the dishes in the basket and had DemiDevimon take them back.

But that wasn't really ideal.

Today, at last, he had an automatic dishwasher.

Trash Slime-chan quickly sucked away the leftover food and milk stains, leaving the entire set of dishes refreshed.

When DemiDevimon brought the basket back, the Halfling chefs looked rather surprised. They all thought the Son of the Valkyrie had grown up a little more.

It was about 7:15.

On his way to the Dueling Class classroom, Dark ran into Victor, who was hurrying around as if searching for something.

He was a little confused.

But Victor was moving too quickly, and he didn't go after him.

It was about 7:20.

A scream suddenly rang out from a corner of the Castle.

"Ah—!"

A new day began amid excitement.

Robert Broheim's Righteous Spirit Lives On

Dark had caught the scent of juicy gossip, like a cat catching the scent of fish.

He reacted almost at once, stopping just as he was about to enter the Dueling Class classroom. He turned and headed toward the source of the scream.

He didn't run down the corridor. Instead, he drew Magic Beast: Eevee from his Card Case.

The Academy didn't allow students to summon Familiars freely in the corridors, but, strangely enough, there were no restrictions on Magic Spirits.

Of course, even if someone really did summon a Familiar, not many people would bother to stop them.

It was just that DemiDevimon wasn't with Dark at the moment.

"Magic Guidance Summon!"

White light shimmered across the Magitech Card. Little Eevee leaped out and landed as a solid creature.

"Eevee?"

"Go check over there. Come back if there's any danger."

Dark pointed toward where the noise had come from.

Eevee understood at once and dashed off.

By this time, quite a few students were already in the corridors leading to the various classrooms.

Those who had noticed the scream quickly gathered around.

Though St. Marian appeared to have only four houses, with four classes per year, it actually had six year groups. That made a total of twenty-four classes!

With forty or fifty students in each class, the Castle held nearly a thousand students—a considerable number.

Usually, the many branching corridors kept everyone spread out, so it wasn't very noticeable.

But when something happened, so many people rushed to one spot that the corridors quickly became crowded.

Dark wasn't the fastest to arrive at the scene; several students who were closer had already reached it.

Little Eevee peeked around for a while, then was suddenly picked up!

"Eevee!"

Before it could turn around, something strange had it squeezed tight.

"A Familiar I've never seen before... Huh? It's a Magic Spirit?"

Eevee-chan was about to fight back when it suddenly felt a terrifying presence and immediately cowered.

A high IQ came with the ability to read the situation.

So when Dark finally arrived, he saw his own Magic Spirit being held against Senior Pandora's chest. [watermark removed]

He wiped away a bead of nervous sweat and raised his Magitech Card.

"Eevee—!"

Eevee-chan, thoroughly manhandled, hurriedly called for help.

Dark ignored Senior Pandora's look and recalled Eevee into the Magitech Card.

Then he pretended nothing was amiss and asked, "What happened, Senior?"

Only then did Pandora glance over and say, "It's nothing serious."

It really wasn't anything serious.

A first-year student had simply been tied to a pillar with a Tortoise Shell Binding.

The prankster had clearly shown some restraint and hadn't taken off her clothes.

They'd only written the character for "righteousness" on her forehead.

Perhaps it was meant to signify that righteousness would endure!

They soon found the student who had screamed.

It was a young Noble House girl standing nearby, surrounded by other students. She had clearly been frightened.

It was probably the first time this sheltered young lady had ever seen such an indecent sight!

Dark only needed one look for his expression to change. Then he pushed through the crowd and strode forward.

There were almost no first-years around, so no one recognized the ugly girl tied to the pillar and sleeping like a dead pig as Robert Broheim!

Though he had no idea why Robert had turned into a girl, the features of Robert's face were still unmistakable.

And, considering Victor had been in the corridor early that morning, he must have been searching for the missing Robert.

Dark didn't particularly dislike Robert.

They had at least attended class together, so he was willing to help where he could.

While no one recognized Robert's face, Dark quickly took off his coat and covered her head with it.

Robert was still asleep. She had clearly been given a sleeping potion or hit with some similar skill.

The rope had been tied in a tight knot, so it took Dark quite a while to undo it.

By then, a few first-years had joined the crowd, though they all hung back and watched.

The upper-year students seemed to think pranks of this sort were commonplace.

The first-years, meanwhile, were somewhat timid.

Besides, someone was already dealing with it, weren't they?

"Want me to help?" Senior Pandora asked, gesturing toward Robert's head.

Dark was rolling up the rope. At her words, he immediately replied, "No need."

If Robert woke up now, who knew what kind of trouble she might cause?

Some people really couldn't be counted on to think straight.

It was safer to take her to the Hospital Wing just like this.

Fortunately, the Hospital Wing wasn't far away.

After Senior Pandora helped clear the crowd, Dark reached it without any trouble.

St. Marian's school doctor was a nun. Supposedly, she had once been a senior nun directly affiliated with the Holy Church, but had been expelled for breaking her vows and then taken a position at St. Marian.

As for exactly which vow she had broken—

There were all sorts of rumors.

"Is Sister Callian here?"

Dark pushed the door open while supporting Robert.

The door wasn't locked, but there didn't seem to be anyone inside.

Dark had no choice but to move Robert to a bed first.

The Hospital Wing didn't have the medicinal smell of an ordinary hospital, and it was well ventilated. That was a relief.

But for some reason, a Snake Kiss Whip hung on the snow-white wall. Its body looked like a row of tightly packed scales, which made him rather uncomfortable.

"Morning."

The white curtain around the neighboring bed suddenly lifted, and Sister Callian poked out her head, her hair a little disheveled.

Dark jumped in fright and instinctively asked, "May I ask who you are?"

"I'm the school doctor you're looking for."

Sister Callian slowly pulled back the curtain and stepped out.

She seemed to have just woken up and kept yawning. Only one button was fastened on her white coat, leaving her leather underwear exposed.

Dark quickly looked away and mentally marked the Hospital Wing as a dangerous place.

This school doctor wasn't right!

Not right at all!

With class about to start, Dark got straight to the point. "This is my classmate, Robert Broheim, a first-year student in Knight Academy. When I found him, he was tied to a pillar..."

"Mm, it's a Goodnight Potion." Sister Callian merely sniffed and said, "Nothing's wrong. Let him sleep for another two hours or so, and he'll probably wake up."

Dark asked in confusion, "The Goodnight Potion? Is that the kind that helps you sleep?"

Sister Callian brushed the silver-white hair hanging by her eye aside and smiled. "That's right. Every year, a few unfortunate souls who sleep in get brought here. Some of them are even happy when they wake up."

Dark asked, "Why?"

Sister Callian said, "They don't have to go to class, and they don't lose any points. Isn't that something to be happy about?"

Dark fell silent.

No wonder you were expelled!

Dark pointed at Robert and said helplessly, "That would be fine if that were all, but there's another problem."

Sister Callian asked, "What problem?"

Dark said, "He's a man."

The general background is probably covered in the "About the Work" section. I'll add to it gradually as the story progresses.

Also, once more Magitech Cards have appeared, I'll put together a Pokédex.

(:3っ)

Hiahia...

Dark Demon Promotes Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

Sister Callian coughed three times to express her shock. [watermark removed]

She lowered her head and took a closer look.