Eternal Undying Chronicles

It went without saying, Malefica was the most feared professor in the university. No one knew how long she had been there; the only accepted fact was she had been present for quite a while.

Oddly enough, no one seemed to question it.

She commanded significant influence within the university and had successfully gotten quite a few troublemakers expelled.

Alicarde was quite the troublemaker himself, though in his case, he wasn't scared of her—though even then, he was a bit apprehensive.

He pushed the door to her office with a sigh. He had been coming here more often than he would have liked.
Explore hidden tales at empire

Malefica, as usual, sat behind her desk, her glasses perched on her exquisite face. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and Alicarde couldn't help but momentarily stare.

'How is someone this hot still single?'

He wordlessly sat down, ready to hear another lecture from her. By now, it had become routine for him to get scolded by her.

It was commonplace, especially when he was up to his grim reaper shenanigans. She always put up with his teasing, sometimes bordering on harassment. Yes, she would get angry—but never so much that she wouldn't get over it almost immediately.

'Is she mad at me for real this time?'

Malefica didn't pay him much attention as she went about her activities. Naturally, he remained silent as well.

After two minutes passed, she adjusted her glasses and finally spoke.

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber, you went ahead and proved me wrong."

Alicarde sighed.

"Just go ahead and have me expelled already."

Malefica raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her voluptuous chest.

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?"

"No, it's not. When you do expel me, just know I won't be a student anymore, which means I won't have to hold back. You think I'm annoying now? I can get a lot more annoying."

"..."

Malefica didn't even know what to say.

"Are you an actual idiot, or are you just pretending to be one?"

"I'd say I'm about fifty-fifty, but I'm mostly willing to play the fool."

Her expression remained stern, and he could tell she was annoyed by the coldness in her eyes.

"Why?"

Alicarde didn't know how to respond, so he said the first thing that came to mind.

"When you actually smile sometimes, you look breathtaking. I do it to make you smile."

He regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth.

Malefica sighed, somewhat exasperated.

"Enough of your nonsense. The reason I brought you here isn't because of your little stunt earlier."

"Erm, it's not?"

"No, it's not. I had other, more important reasons."

"Like what?"

She leaned back in her chair, a faint frown crossing her face.

"It's about the Demon of Noon. While I may not know much about it, I suspect my former coven will."

"Former coven?"

"Yes, the Coven of Dawn."

"Right. I've been meaning to ask you about that."

He felt relieved that she wasn't going to make things difficult for him.

'Thank God. I actually dodged a bullet.'

Still, he had more important matters to handle; he couldn't afford to get sidetracked.

"So, where do we find this coven of yours?"

"They used to be based here until about fifty years ago, when... I… kicked them out."

Her voice almost dropped to a whisper when she said the last part.

Alicarde finally understood the dilemma. She had kicked them out, and now she needed them.

"Let me get this straight—you kicked them out of the city, and now you want us to go running back to them for help?"

Malefica frowned, leaning forward with her usual strict expression.

"I'm not running to them. I merely need information. The reason I kicked them out was that the current representative of the coven was something of an extremist."

He didn't particularly care about their backstory, but something caught his attention, and he couldn't help but ask.

"How did you kick them out if you can only cast three spells a day?"

"With only one spell. That isn't important right now. What matters is meeting them."

Alicarde was impressed. It must have been very powerful magic.

"Okay. Where are they?"

"Outside Evergreen City."

Outside Evergreen City. That was where Malefica's power diminished.

"Let me guess, you want me to come with you."

Malefica nodded.

"That's right, as my bodyguard."

"As your bodyguard?"

"Yes, I don't want to repeat myself."

"Okay, when do we leave?"

Malefica's eyes widened slightly, surprised. She locked her gaze onto Alicarde.

"Huh?"

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"No... nothing. I'm just surprised. Normally, you would make some crude remark, like making demands about my body or some offhand joke, also about—guarding my body…"

Alicarde smiled. She knew him well, despite the short duration of their partnership.

"I knew you liked my teasing."

"I do not. Now get out of my office and meet me in thirty minutes in the west wing of the parking lot."

"Thirty minutes? Don't I need to pack first?"

"No need. We're going into the woods. Meet me by my car."

Alicarde stood up with a sigh.

"Fine. Whatever. See you in thirty minutes."

With that, he left her office. He went back to find Elizalina. He considered saying goodbye to his friends but decided against it. He was meeting Elizalina to tell her about the new development so she could report it to Carrisa, and also to leave her his car.

It wasn't long before he found her sitting in the faculty library with a few stacks of books. Walking toward her, he sat in a chair facing her.

"I thought the faculty library didn't have much material, only books related to psychology."

"It does not, but over the last two hundred years, someone compiled a number of case studies on witches and other supernatural occurrences as part of psychological challenges faced by the superstitious people of this city."

Alicarde nodded at her words. If she was paying attention to these heaps of old paper, she must have found something interesting at least.

"Elly, I'm heading out of the city."

"Why?"

"Malefica is going to meet the Coven of Dawn, and I'm acting as her bodyguard."

"Understood."

He reached into his pocket and dropped his car keys—though it wasn't a traditional key, more like a small remote.

"Here, you can have my car. Just don't crash it."

Elizalina merely nodded, not paying the key any mind as it lay on the table.

"And tell Carrisa I won't be home for dinner. I'll be gone for a while. You girls try not to miss me too much."

Elizalina raised her eyes, glancing at him briefly.

"We shall not."

"Tsk." Alicarde clicked his tongue.

"That just cost you the right to drink my blood for a week."

Elizalina's eyes widened, and she smiled seductively.

"I shall miss you more, then. In fact, I already miss you."

Alicarde scowled.

"A little too late for that now."

With that, he walked away to meet Malefica.