After a short wait, their professor walked in the auditorium.
For the next few hours, the students listened to a lecture about demons.
Unlike usual, they did so with a particular fervor. Even those who were disinterested in the past now appeared fully focused.
"-so fleshworms are most dangerous when you are unaware of them. On the coming Spellmaking lessons, Professor Richard should teach you suitable spells to locate and reveal them."
The beautiful professor observed the students busily writing down her words, nodded with satisfaction, then glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
"We still have some time. I would like to call forward those who took part in the Tower tour a few days ago."
"...?"
Cyril, Myra, Rose, Cedric, and four other students got up and slowly walked in front of their classmates.
"A few of you were able to encounter demons ahead of time. I would like you to share your impressions."
The students all had their eyes lit up, now paying even more attention.
After a slight hesitation, those 8 students began speaking, starting with the group that stayed in the storeroom.
Some simply relayed how scared they were, some tried to keep a brave front, and some actually tried to give some sound advice from personal experience.
Whoever was done returned to their seat, their classmates saying some form of support or just joked about.
Overall the mood was pleasant.
Once Cyril, Rose, and Myra remained, the students' eyes gained even more enthusiasm.
The professor walked in front of Cyril, throwing a knowing glance at those seated.
"These three met an archdemon while in the Tower. More than that, they survived... Please share your experience with your classmates."
Rose touched her hand with a frown, but said nothing for now.
Myra was about to say something, but changed her mind in the last second.
In the end she looked at Cyril with expectation.
I'll talk, I guess.
He stepped forward, catching everyone's attention.
"We met Cosmas-"
He briefly retold what happened.
Even with his somewhat dry rendition, the students were completely absorbed, in their eyes not so much fear as excitement.
After him, Rose stepped forward, offering her insights from the conversation they had with the demon.
All in all, this was a somewhat unusual demonology lesson.
...
After the lesson was over, Cyril walked in the castle corridor, with Myra and Rose walking with him.
"That was tiresome. Next time I'll decline if something like this happens." Rose sighed as she massaged her temple.
"Yeah." Myra absentmindedly nodded, then mumbled with frustration, "Did you see their reaction? They are not taking demons seriously at all. It's like they were listening to a book retelling!"
"They think it has nothing to do with them. You can't expect a bunch of 18-year-olds to act their age and focus."
"Maybe..."
Cyril didn't participate in their conversation, focused on Rhamn, who was busily making plans nearby.
"They looked at you without any fear when you were talking, notice that? Maybe the Tower incident worked in our favor? Maybe an interesting story can make people braver?"
She nodded up and down, pinching her chin in contemplation.
"Anyways, I feel like our plans are looking bright. We could try going around the academy grounds to look for opportunities. Even something like helping a clumsy idiot off the ground would work."
We'll see.
Having finished the finer strokes of his public relations plan, Cyril walked into the auditorium of their next class.
It was Spellmaking, this time taking place within the castle.
Their professor, Richard, was already seated inside, reading some book with a tired face.
They settled in their seats, a bit of time remaining before the bell.
Rose fiddled with her bag, alternating between Cyril and Myra.
Finally she sighed and turned towards Myra.
"How have you been these last few days? Did you practice Spellmaking?"
Myra flinched, giving Cyril a sidelong glance before sheepishly replying.
"Well, no..."
"Did you do something else? Ah, probably practicing combat, right? Although I don't know how you can grow even stronger than this..."
She said it with a slight chuckle, however, Myra's reaction was outside of her expectation.
The auburn-haired girl flinched, her shoulders slumping just a little bit.
"...I didn't train at all. I just visited my family."
Silence settled after her slightly melancholic voice.
Rose froze. Her eyes started wandering about, a bit of panic within them.
Cyril observed the two of them and sighed.
"I was with her. We found a bandit camp near Myra's village and rescued the people held there. Maybe the recent newspaper will cover this."
Rose widened her eyes in surprise.
"Really? ...You are indeed far beyond the other students of this academy. I am a bit jealous."
Myra sat up straight, the tension leaving her shoulders.
"Are we? Thank you..."
We need to get off this topic.
"What did you do in the last few days?" Cyril turned to Rose, trying to make his voice sound interested.
Rose looked at him and slowly nodded, appreciation in her eyes.
"...Actually, I've been researching magic creatures with my parents lately, we even planned on going to the new zoo that's about to open."
"New zoo?" Cyril leaned a little closer.
Rose nodded, her blue eyes turning somewhat brighter.
"Yes. Close to the city center, a new zoo is going to open this weekend. We bought three tickets, but, unfortunately, they can't go. Do you two want to go with me instead?"
Cyril contemplated for a few seconds.
That seems interesting.
"We must go! Morpho and Tigris would love this too, I bet!"
"Sure."
Myra's voice came next.
"I'll go too!"
Rose breathed out in relief, a smile now appearing on her face.
"It's settled. A pity that Edmund can't go with us, but I only have three tickets."
Ah.
"I think you can try asking him. He might be able to go anyways."
He is a noble at the end of the day.
"...I'll try it then."
At this moment the auditorium was full, and the bell soon rang.
Their professor finally put down the book and stood up.
He stretched and yawned tiredly before walking in front of the whiteboard.
"Welcome back. I hope you used these few days to rest up, because our curriculum has had a few changes."
"From today on, your study load will increase. That means more homework, of course."
The students, still somewhat excited from the demonology lesson, froze.
Voices of discontent quickly followed. Complaining and angry, confused mumbling filled the auditorium.
Richard raised his hand, forming a magic circle.
In a moment the room was quiet once more, the students finding themselves incapable of speaking.
"You are class I students of Ailanthus, so behave accordingly."
The Empire must have been shaken after the Tower incident. I wonder if the other academies will experience a change too?
"And if Cosmas is saying the truth, demons will not attack again. That's somewhat funny, all this suffering is for nothing."
I think it's a good thing. You yourself said the lessons were too easy before.
"True, we should thank the demons then."
"..."
As Cyril was having a discussion with no real human, Professor Richard continued explaining the main differences.
With each word he said, the students' eyes gained more and more despair.
Some even lay flat on their desks, all enthusiasm for the future leaving them.
"-Well, I personally couldn't care less if you decide not to do your homework. Just be ready."
"Now, I am not done yet with the news."
"The academy will prepare a special lesson for you soon. It will be experimental, so depending on how it goes, we might change our curriculum even further."
"Don't ask me what it is. We were told to keep it strictly confidential, 'keep the element of surprise,' as she put it."
Richard took a deep breath and sighed, his eyes becoming infinitely more tired.
"...?"
"What is this about?"
True to his word, Richard refused to mention any more on this topic, moving on with the lesson.
"Today we'll focus on speeding up your creation of a magic circle. Sometimes that's the most important thing..."
Cyril was surprised to discover today's lecture to be quite useful.
It's Elvira's lecture from back then, only more in-depth.
With this, Cyril fully integrated into the learning atmosphere, and any stray thoughts slowly left his head.
Even Rhamn, sitting on his table, behaved much quieter now, focused on the lesson.