Slightly shorter chapter this time. (Is 5k considered short though? yes)
I finally got my hands on Vol 11 of RoM this week! (after 8 months of waiting yesss). Gonna read it after posting this. Enjoy!
Originally posted on RBKTR Translations.
Author: Lan Qi Zuo Ren (藍旗左衽).
Translated by: Yujuan
Five minutes before cla.s.s ended, Feng Ping Lan finished his piece.
"I"m done!" Feng Ping Lan put down his pencil, pleased with himself, and appreciated his own work.
The Zong Yu in his portrait had a rounded body, a rounded face, with a large smile plastered on his face, almost like a cartoon character from a kid"s channel.
He turned his head to look at his other group members, only to see Morris staring at Su Li Wan"s chest with rapt attention, sketching as he looked on.
"Morris, you naughty boy!" Feng Ping Lan hit Morris" head hard.
"What is it, are you cracked in the head?!" Morris was perplexed, turning around to reprimand him.
Feng Ping Lan looked at Morris" drawing. Only the neck and left breast were featured on it, with a cell phone peeking out of the left breast-pocket. The cat dust plug at the top had been drawn into great detail by awkward pencil marks on the paper.
The emphasis wasn"t on the human, nor was it on her chest, but the cell phone accessory in front of it.
"Why did you draw it like this?"
"You said yourself that we could just draw the best features!"
Igor had finished an incredibly normal draft, the drawing at the level of a high school student"s. The person Su Li Wan had drawn was very much like herself, with a graceful air and a feel of a shoujo manga.
Zong Yu still had his head lowered, obsessed in his own drawing.
"How are you doing?" Feng Ping Lan moved closer to take a look.
In Zong Yu"s drawing, Feng Ping Lan was fully naked, both hands spread out like a specimen, his intestines exposed and stomach slashed open like a tragic corpse. The internal organs, veins of his flesh, and the depth of the bloodstains were all meticulously drawn. The shading and brushwork were all nimble, making the entire drawing incredibly vivid and lifelike.
It was the realism that made it so frightening and creepy.
"Wow, this…" Feng Ping Lan widened his eyes, looking incredibly surprised.
"Xixixi…" Zong Yu observed Feng Ping Lan"s reaction and sn.i.g.g.e.red, proud of himself.
Morris saw that drawing, letting out a disgusted growl.
This guy was sick in the head…
He didn"t like him.
Just as Zong Yu joyfully awaited the tongue-lashing, the belittlement, and the words filled with terror, a praise of amazement came out of Feng Ping Lan"s mouth.
"So cool! You"re so good at drawing! You"re just too amazing! You"re probably better than any artist out there!" Feng Ping Lan looked at the drawing excitedly, "It"s so realistic! So this is what my internal organs look like! They"re so evenly-distributed!"
Zong Yu froze, his smile vanishing, staring at Feng Ping Lan.
He thought that the other boy was being sarcastic, but, there was just simple appreciation and novelty written as clear as paper on his face.
This kind of reaction was too foreign to him. He lowered his head resentfully, continuing with his drawing.
Really… not fun at all…
The hand that gripped the pencil paused for a moment, and Zong Yu glanced at Feng Ping Lan.
But, this was the first time he had been praised…
"Ahah, can you change it a bit?" Feng Ping Lan pointed at the drawing, "Over here, can you enlarge the muscles here? Make me more muscular."
Zong Yu hesitated for a second, then picked up his pencil. He muttered unhappily, yet his hand obediently amended it.
He didn"t understand why he was doing it, probably because he couldn"t find an appropriate reason to say no.
"Yesyesyes! Nice!" Feng Ping Lan continued to instruct, "And then and then, I want this part over here bigger, that"s right, make it bigger, make it big and st.u.r.dy… That"s right that"s right! So cool! I look like an American man! Hahahahahahaha! Morris, look! I win! Humph humph humph!"
"Why the f.u.c.k are you comparing for! Disgusting!"
"Hey, can you help me draw something else?"
Zong Yu paused a few seconds, "What do you want me to draw…"
Feng Ping Lan lowered his head, whispering a few words by Zong Yu"s ear. Zong Yu frowned slightly after hearing it, but still reluctantly nodded.
"Thanks! Awesome! Hahahahaha!"
Zong Yu stared at Feng Ping Lan"s excited face, muttering, "…Freak."
Byriel and Bai Li Rui could only sketch each other due to the departure of their other two group members. Byriel didn"t have much patience, simply drawing a circle on the paper, adding the basic features and a few lines of hair before calling it a day.
Bai Li Rui drew seriously in comparison, and the Byriel that he sketched was as realistic as the actual one, with handsome features and a demonic smile on his face.
"Hey, I didn"t think that you were quite good at it after all." Byriel praised with a faint smile.
"The person I used to like loved drawing, so I learned it for a while. I was going to draw her a portrait as a birthday present, but she got taken before I could finish it." Bai Li Rui said absent-mindedly.
"Is your only purpose in life chasing after women?" Byriel was curious, "To be honest, are you actually being serious? Do you really think that those clumsy techniques are really effective? Haven"t you ever thought of using more realistic methods?"
"…If I cheated at it, I would already be more popular than you are." Bai Li Rui humphed disapprovingly, "But there"s no fun in doing that."
Byriel was curious, and just as he was about question further, Feng Ping Lan ran over joyfully with a piece of drawing in his hands, cutting the conversation short.
"Li Rui Li Rui! Look at this!"
Feng Ping Lan placed the drawing before Bai Li Rui, a hand covering the upper half of the paper, exposing about two-thirds of the picture. The drawing showcased an exquisite and delicate body, long hair spread over the shoulders in an alluring curve and wore a pair of thin swimwear that exposed a wide stretch of skin.
"Look! Large b.r.e.a.s.t.s! Hahahahaha!"
Bai Li Rui"s eyes sparkled, "This is really a masterpiece! Who drew it? Who"s in the drawing? I only want to know the latter."
"Zong Yu was the one who drew it." Feng Ping Lan said happily, "And! The most marvelous part is! Look at this!"
He removed his hand, revealing the person"s face.
"It looks a little familiar." Bai Li Rui scrutinized it carefully. "Like I"ve seen this face somewhere before…"
"Oh, yeah." Feng Ping Lan admitted truthfully, "That"s my face."
Bai Li Rui trembled severely, throwing the drawing back onto the table as if he had touched something dirty.
"What are you doing! I almost put "her" on the fantasizing list before going to bed! Ugh…" Bai Li Rui shook his head, almost as if he was shaking the memories out of his head.
"I didn"t know whose face to draw, and it"s probably be reported as s.e.xual hara.s.sment if I use our female cla.s.smates, so I told him to draw my face in. Isn"t it awesome! Student Zong Yu is really amazing, he can draw anything!"
Zong Yu who was cleaning up on the other side of the room paused in his moments, turning to look at Feng Ping Lan once, muttering a few words before continuing with his movements.
Conglong drew his piece with full concentration, finishing just a minute before the bell rang. The male student could only obediently act as the model, waiting for him to finish in his seat.
Conglong looked his finished work in satisfaction, nodding his head continuously. The male student walked behind the easel to take a look, full of antic.i.p.ation, curious on how he had been drawn. But as he saw the drawing, his look of antic.i.p.ation instantly fell off.
"What is this…"
There was a train in the sketch, where every compartment of the train had been drawn in perfect detail. But the front of the train had his face with a weird smile fixed on it.
"I wanted to draw a train, but I couldn"t not draw you. So I fused the two of you together." Conglong said, looking very pleased with himself, "I"ve seen this kind of human-faced trains on the TV. I don"t know how that kind of train operates, but it really fits my needs for this cla.s.s!"
"Human-faced trains? Are you talking about "Thomas and Friends"…" The male student gave a long sigh, shaking his head and leaving sadly.
The bell rang, and the students stood up one after another to return to their cla.s.sroom.
Gemi stood by the only exit of the art room, holding a book. She reminded the students, "This is the registration book, you can only leave after signing your name."
The students obeyed, leaving their names on that thin book.
Conglong and the others hadn"t originally planned on doing so as well, but Gemi was standing right next to the exit. They could only cooperate, signing their names on it.
As the dark ink left their marks on the paper, a long-lasting smile curled up Gemi"s lips.
The noise of chatter and lessons replaced the sound of the school bell throughout the entire school building. As for the sickbay in the distance, it was still from start to finish.
Almost noon, in the corner of the administrative area of the sickbay, an office with no name indicated on it.
The office was empty, with a simple desk and chair, a shelf and diagnosis bed in it. A radio was placed on the bed.
The shadow by the window moved slightly, although there was no wind. The muddled shadow by the door flowed like dense black water down the floor to acc.u.mulate into a large shadow, then rose up to transform into a tall and long figure.
Quetzal turned to face out the window. The afternoon sun pointed its rays directly onto the ground, and the shadows in the school compound shrunk back, its movements restricted, so he had retreated to the sick bay to rest.
He had arrived to the school compound early to investigate, and he had also come once last night. But he hadn"t discovered a thing, as if the attack he had received the night before had been just a dream.
Quetzal turned the radio on, sitting down as the melodious piece rang out.
He could feel that the shadows present among the school weren"t simple, and had been protected behind a powerful spell barrier, but the spell"s fluctuations were incredibly subtle and faint. He had tried to force the spell that was hidden under it to reveal itself, but that had been to no avail, as pointless as. .h.i.tting water.
He didn"t know who had set up the barrier, what the purpose of putting up the barrier was, but he was certain that this had nothing to do with the Royal Clan"s soldiers in the underworld. There were traces of a human"s spell on the wards, and the royalty treated Summoners as their enemies.
This caused his constant guard to lower, just by a bit.
The musical composition turned resentful.
Quetzal closed his eyes. He had heard this song before, a few hundred years ago, when he had come to the human world with Prince Shuekan to explore. He had heard it in a concert hall in the Western Continent.
Prince Shuekan had been really interested in human works, especially music. He thought that music was the best piece of evidence that testified the fact that G.o.d loved the humans above all.
There was also music in the underworld, but it wasn"t used for appreciation, but as a weapon. Just like Simo, who had an exceptional voice, a perfect singing tone that intoxicated people, but it was used to bewitch her enemies, a weapon to destroy.
He hadn"t been very interested in music, but he had always accompanied the prince to sneak into the human world just to see the humans" performances.
He didn"t know when it had started, but he had developed an interest and yearning for these musical compositions. He couldn"t tell if that yearning was caused by Prince Shuekan, or because of himself.
Quetzal placed a hand on his chest subconsciously, the place where Prince Shuekan had left his mark. He could feel the little fluctuations of the prince"s existence coming through it. This little fluctuation comforted him.
His Highness…
There was another fluctuation coming from his palm, a powerful fluctuation with a distinct existence. Quetzal opened his eyes, glancing at his right hand.
The contract they had made the night before flashed with the mark that only he could see.
Quetzal couldn"t help but frown.
Feng Ping Lan…
This human had made a contract with no conditions attached. It was in reality like a protective charm that allowed him to exist in this world, and let him hide from a Summoner"s attacks and pursuit.
It was just a harmless and extremely advantageous thing, but as he looked at the mark, he subconsciously had a bout of jitteriness.
He hated humans, but owed Feng Ping Lan.
He couldn"t accept Feng Ping Lan, but still refused to agree blindly with himself.
This caused him to be ensnared in a tangled mess of agitation.
d.a.m.n human…
Knock knock knock.
A knock sounded from the door, cutting through Quetzal"s line of thought.
He immediately entered his guarded state, glaring at the door suspiciously, two blade-shaped shadows emerging from the ground to attach to both hands in the shadows. The swords hidden in the shadows could be pulled out at any time to attack.
It was silent outside for a moment, and the sound of the k.n.o.b twisting came through. The door opened into the room, where an enchanting face peeked in.
"Doctor, sorry for interrupting you during your break." The woman entered the office gracefully, speaking delicately, "I am the art teacher, Gemi. I just attended two periods and felt a little under the weather, so I came here. I hope you can help with my problem, Doctor."
It was a female teacher who felt unwell. But…
"There is an Evasion and a Concealment Spell on the door," Quetzal spoke coldly, not planning to go in circles with her.
There was a spell that would expel anyone that came close, and any normal person would ignore this room straightaway, avoiding this place on reflex, so there would definitely be no intruders here, even more so no sick patients that would visit this place.
"Aiyaya, you"re really no fun. At least play along with me for a bit." Gemi replied smilingly, "You should ask me, does it feel wrong anywhere? Are there any problems? And then I will reply: What feels wrong, is that—"
She walked slowly towards Quetzal"s desk, her charming eyes gazing at Quetzal.
"—Since when was there a demon staffed as the doctor at our school?"
As the words came down, the two sharp blades swept across violently towards the woman behind the desk, swinging towards her neck, so rapid that it couldn"t be detected where it had come from.
The swords halted on both sides of Gemi"s neck.
"Aiya aiya, how frightening." She patted the magnificent b.r.e.a.s.t.s covered by a low knitted V-cut garment, pouting, "I thought I was going to die." Although she said this, there wasn"t a trace of fear on her face, a charming smile plastered on her face.
"Even if I hadn"t stopped, your companion wouldn"t have done nothing." Quetzal lowered his sword, speaking haughtily.
"You"ve been discovered, Seno." Gemi said snappily, "Probably because of that stink on your body!"
A figure leaped in from Quetzal"s window.
"I showered."
"Oh, really? Where? In the pond at the park?" Gemi shook her head.
A male holding a huge antique Western sword scratched his head.
He had a head of disheveled brown hair that grew to his shoulders, a bit of stubble on his chin, indolent blue eyes and looked like a tramp, but there was a something unruly that exuded from his decadent temperament.
Quetzal could recognize that that sword was similar to the word that had attacked him a few nights ago.
A Summoner? And not just one?
Quetzal spoke guardedly, "I am not without a master. I have already contracted with a human…" At this moment and time, he couldn"t act recklessly.
"We know. That is exactly why you and your companions are still living freely on these grounds." Seno yawned impatiently, using his sword into a cane to lean on it, "Point is… tsk, whatever, Gemi, you explain." With that said, he walked towards the bed, sitting down on it.
Seno looked negligent, but did not let go of his sword from start to finish, still gripping his sword in a battle-ready state.
Gemi sighed helplessly, glancing at Quetzal.
"We know everything that"s happened to you and your companions in these past few days, including your contract. Congrats." Gemi let out a bell-like laugh, "If you hadn"t made a contract in the end, or hadn"t taken care of the disturbance, we would have interfered instead. Of course, we would have taken care of not only those demons, but you guys as well."
"What do you want?"
"Don"t be so anxious." Gemi waved her hand, comforting him, "Since you"ve made a contract with one of our students, you"re considered one of us. We have no need to fight against each other."
Quetzal stared at Gemi, feeling perplexed and at a loss with the current situation as well as her ident.i.ty.
She seemed to be a Summoner, but her intent wasn"t to eliminate them…
What he cared the most about was, why did she say that they were considered one of them?
"You should have a lot of questions to ask, don"t you?" Gemi placed both hands on the table, gazing s.e.xily at Quetzal, "If you want to know, come meet us at the conference room on the highest floor of the administrative building."
Finished saying this, she took out a piece of paper from the pocket of her coat, placing it on the desk.
It was a standard sheet of doc.u.ment.
Interim Conference Notice
Reciever: School Doctor, Quetzalcoatl
Time: 5:30
Location: Third Conference Room
Note: Please arrive punctually. Inform personnel if incapable of attending.
Quetzal frowned even more.
This was obviously a normal piece of school doc.u.ment, but his name was written on it. He felt that this was incredibly absurd and deceitful.
Quetzal frowned harder. He didn"t like this feeling, he didn"t like secrets.
Twisting his blade, engaging in battle.
He had decided to unearth the answers directly.
"Hey hey hey, calm down!" Gemi jumped back handily, avoiding the range of the attack, "Your companions and contractor are all still within the school, you know."
Quetzal"s attack halted in mid-air.
"Who are you guys?"
"If you want to know, come to the conference room in the afternoon." Gemi smiled, glancing towards the male with a cigarette in his mouth, planning to smoke, "Restrain yourself, before the parents file a complaint again."
Seno shrugged, sticking the cigarette back into the cigarette box in his breast pocket, standing up.
Quetzal saw that he was preparing to leave, once again launching his attack, not planning on letting him leave.
Seno raised his sword instead, blocking Quetzal"s attack with one hand.
Quetzal froze. He hadn"t expected his attack to be dissolved by a human so easily.
Looking at the shocked Quetzal, Seno scratched his chin, reminding him kindly, "This is our territory."
With that, he and Gemi retreated out of the room, closing the door.
Quetzal wanted to chase after them, but realized that the door was locked. He wasn"t able to open it no matter how hard he tried.
This was…
He turned to gaze out the window, realizing that the scenery outside had been caged by a layer of gray-green glimmer.
He had been trapped inside a barrier.
d.a.m.n it!
He gathered demonic power into both his swords, leaping and cutting violently down on the door.
The wards on the door received the attack, surging with demonic power as the electrical sparkle collided with it, countless electric currents traveling from the ceiling down to the floor, letting out an ear-piercing cry.
But the wards were still completely stable, sealing both worlds away from each other into isolation.
Quetzal stopped his attacks, and the boundary on the walls quaked for a while before returning to normal.
It looked like he was unable to leave before the spell was deactivated…
He condemned his own helplessness in his heart.
Putting the sword back into his shadow, he turned.
The doc.u.ment displayed its own offending existence on the desk.
Quetzal glared at that piece of white paper, and couldn"t help but ponder in his heart.
What was with this school…
After attending two periods of art cla.s.s, it was now break time.
There was a two-hour break in Zephaniah Academy, and during this time frame, the students were free to do what they wanted.
Feng Ping Lan and the others went to the dining hall of the school dorms due to habit. The dorms were a little distant from the school compound so there weren"t as many students in the afternoon, and the demons" eating habits weren"t as easily discoverable.
Bai Li Rui would accompany them sometimes, but that guy would only notice the female gender, having absolutely no interest in the same s.e.x. Even if Byriel took out an entire jar of Star Candy to crunch on abruptly, he would only say something like: "Where did you buy that? I feel like the girls would like a snack as cute as that."
So the demons did not object to Bai Li Rui"s presence, and only Simo was slightly troubled.
"Simo, do you have any plans for the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
Simo stalled for a moment. She didn"t know what Mid-Autumn Festival was, nor did she know how to respond, so she could only glance at Conglong for help.
"Mid-Autumn Festival?" Conglong was curious, "Is that the day when there"s a bonfire on a full moon, and they build an altar, where they throw animal corpses into the fire to celebrate a woman who took drugs a thousand years ago and sacrificed herself as livestock on the moon?"
Bai Li Rui grimaced.
"How could you twist such a nice Mid-Autumn barbeque fest into an occultic ceremony…" He glanced at Simo, "So, are you interested in coming to my summer house for a moon-viewing? That place is near a lakeside, and the scenery is amazing. Although I feel that you are more delightful than the moon…"
"Uh, I, I…" Simo glanced at Feng Ping Lan, once again pleading for help.
"Li Rui, why did you have time to come with us to the dining hall today?" Feng Ping Lan cut in, "I thought you were going to visit the swimming club"s practice."
"That"s the afternoon on Tuesday. I heard that the woodwind club"s having a meeting here." Bai Li Rui took out a blue rubber flute seemed like something that would stick out of a primary student"s bag, "I think, I can go over to there and perform a song by chance to let those girls know of my astonishing mouth skills."
"Hehehe…" Byriel laughed lightly.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I heard that the football teams coming over for a meeting too." Byriel raised a piece of candy, throwing it into his mouth, "I think, once they know of your exquisite and skillful mouth, it might raise their interest of you and hire you to blow—"
"Bah! What the heck are you saying!" Bai Li Rui reprimanded.
"Join their club to blow the whistle." Byriel licked the remnants of the candy from his fingers, "Why are you being so angry for? Hehehe…"
Bai Li Rui glared at Byriel, lowering his head resentfully to eat his lunch.
Dongya ate his ice-cream while flipping through the marketplace catalog. Morris had been silently munching on his biscuits, but after realizing that there were cats that had run over to the kitchen to beg for food, he vanished entirely.
There were sounds of chatter and laughter coming from the surroundings, and the sound of the air-conditioner running, as well as the sound of the sports club"s afternoon practice coming from the outside.
Byriel propped up his head, crunching one candy after another in his mouth.
Compared to the underworld, the human world was incredibly peaceful, even more so in this school compound. He was unaccustomed to this kind of carefree life.
It was so tranquil that it made him uneasy, almost discontented. Although he did not hate it.
He felt, like he was missing out on some kind of fun…
After the afternoon break ended, Feng Ping Lan ran to the sick bay by himself. Although Quetzal had warned him not to simply disturb him, he couldn"t help but want to know what Quetzal was doing, wanted to take a look at Quetzal in a white doctor"s coat.
As he arrived at the furthermost corner of the sick bay, he knocked on the door in courtesy, before twisting the k.n.o.b.
The door was locked, which made Feng Ping Lan feel a little astonished.
Quetzal had never locked the door before this. If he didn"t want to meet someone, he would directly hide somewhere n.o.body could track him and leave.
Feng Ping Lan tilted his head to the side to think for a while, then knocked the door again.
n.o.body replied.
He wondered what Quetzal was doing in there… Could he possibly be plucking his armpit hair?
"What are you doing here?"
A gentle voice sounded from his back, and Feng Ping Lan turned his head to see Gemi full of smiles glancing at him.
"Are you feeling unwell?" Gemi glanced at the door, "But there isn"t a nameplate on this room, so there shouldn"t be anyone in here."
"Oh oh! I just was just pa.s.sing by! I"m not feeling unwell! I feel good everywhere! Hahahahaha!" Feng Ping Lan laughed foolishly to get by, and then left hurriedly.
When Feng Ping Lan returned to the cla.s.sroom, he realized that a notice letter was placed on his seat.
High school department, general studies, Year 1 Cla.s.s 2 Feng Ping Lan, please come to the Third Conference Room, School Affairs Division.
"What"s this?" Feng Ping Lan stared at the notice in astonishment, "Why do I have this?"
"That was what I was going to ask you." Conglong waved his hand, which held a similar doc.u.ment.
"You have it too?"
"Simo, Byriel, Morris, and Dongya as well," Conglong replied. "We got it when we came back. Who knows who put it here."
"Oh…" Feng Ping Lan shook his head.
Getting summoned to the School Affairs Division didn"t sound good…
But, why had the demons received one too?
"What did you do this time?" Bai Li Rui asked curiously. "You got kicked out of the dorms before this, don"t tell me you"re going to get kicked out of school this time around? School"s only started for two days, brother."
"Nothing? I"ve been pretty well-behaved!" Feng Ping Lan defended himself against the injustice, "Did they find out about me taking food from the auntie in the dining hall?"
Conglong immediately rebuked this statement, "We"re not as hungry as you to do that."
"Then why…" Feng Ping Lan thought for a minute, "Could it be because I moved into your residence, so the school wants to understand our relationship?"
"Sort of makes sense."
"But, how did the people from school notice us?" Byriel lowered his voice.
"Have you guys… already registered yourselves?" With Bai Li Rui present, Feng Ping Lan asked tactfully.
The demons had fabricated the data and changed the student registry to create a legitimate school roll. This was more effective than using a spell to conceal themselves and decreased the chances of being seen through.
"Troublesome." Conglong frowned.
"Just ignore it, who cares." Morris rolled the notice into a ball, throwing it into the rubbish bin.
The group of people did not take it seriously, as this was just a small matter. If anyone from the school came knocking on their door, a small spell would be enough to send them away.
By the time afternoon cla.s.ses ended, it was already dusk.
The students walked in pairs and trios towards the dorms and out the school under the evening sun.
Feng Ping Lan went to the bicycle shed as usual. As he led his bicycle out, he suddenly realized five familiar figures standing before the school gates.
"Hi hi, are you guys waiting for me?" Feng Ping Lan ran happily towards them, "Did you guys stay behind on purpose so that we can go back together? Wow wow, I"m so touched!"
They all ignored him. All five of them looked at the opened school gates with grave expressions, not one of them taking a step out.
"Uh, what"s wrong?" Feng Ping Lan realized that something was not right, "Why aren"t you guys going out, who"re you waiting for?"
"We can"t go out." Byriel extended a hand to reach out, and as he came to a certain point in the air, a purple electrical current surged up in the atmosphere.
Byriel looked at his slightly swelling finger, "There are wards around this place."