How To Survive A Calamity-Chapter 262: Vice-Headmaster [3]

"So which one are you, Vic?"

Arslan stood directly over me as his voice reached my ears.

"Nevertheless, the implications of being either are quite severe."

Gripping my left arm as it spasmed like it was having a seizure, I struggled to turn around and look up at the same terrifying visage that presented itself before me last night.

"Well, Vic..."

Arslan's pouring red hair parted over his face as a rough protruding bump rose into a horn that curved to the side of his head. Familiar eerie dark-red patterns and symbols, like occult markings, glowed faintly over the skin of his visible neck and the side of his face.

His orange-red eyes were deep and ominous, accentuating a calm, devilish grin that made my soul shudder. What was worse were his words.

"Do you still think you can hide your secret from me? Even if you strongly deny your involvement in Nicodemus's death and all facts do indeed point away from you, how would you defend being marked by a Karma if word got out?"

I shuddered, but it wasn't from the pain and agony. It was something much worse and more terrifying as my mind thundered at the implications of Arslan's words.

Suddenly, I felt weak — a weakness not bred from exhaustion or toil, but something more inevitable and hapless.

It was right at that moment that I came to a sobering realization.

This was it. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Everything... all of it was over.

But before I could give in to the inevitable despair, my eyes flickered dangerously toward the door just ahead of me, and a nonsensical clarity for survival sharpened my mind beneath the pain.

However, Arslan's next set of words quickly offset my fight-or-flight mode with a breath.

"Just kidding~"

—Fwoom!

The next moment, the searing pain coming from my left arm eased until it vanished, leaving behind only the faint smell of burnt skin and numbing confusion.

The mysterious red-haired man spoke again in the same frivolous tone.

"Of course I have no intentions of ratting you out to the Academy; we're friends, Vic. Plus, what good would come out of doing that?" Saying so in such a manner, Arslan strolled back to his desk, nearly skipping, in fact.

I stared at his figure incredulously, full of mixed emotion and confusion.

"What?" I grunted. My voice came out rough without realizing it.

My shoulders were still tensed, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, but I still calculated my chances of survivability and tried to buy time.

In the meantime, the red-haired Vice Headmaster leaned against the very edge of his desk, crossed his arms leisurely, and stared at me. His features and appearance had reverted back to normal without a single trace of the same sinister feeling or look on his stupidly handsome face.

"I told you, Vic. I have questions for you, and I'm sure so do you. I'm no snitch, y'know, so you don't have to worry too much about me telling the Academy. What would I gain from doing that?" he chortled from his position.

Arslan's words twisted my face into a bitter frown as I managed to rise to my feet with a dark look in my eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked in a low voice.

Arslan's smile split intentionally.

"How you did it," he said with interest. "I want to know how you did it. How did 'you' manage to kill Nicodemus? I'll have you know you've done something rather troublesome without realizing it, though."

Arslan's curiosity was piqued; I thought I could hear it in his flowery voice and see it in the way he tilted his head to the side to gaze at me.

I thought carefully about my answer for more than a second, letting the silence breathe in my place. Eventually, I determined Arslan was in a position where he needed something from me, since he was keeping me alive and not reporting to the Academy straight away.

But since the gig was up, I couldn't continue to deny my involvement with a Demon, even if I claimed I had nothing to do with Nicodemus.

"Maybe I'm just a bit stronger than I realize?" I said vaguely.

Arslan laughed, amused. But the sound of his voice made every muscle in my body tense without needing to try.

"Wow. Seeing you so up close right now, you really are stupidly daring and blindly arrogant. You really think you're as valuable as you believe yourself to be, right now?" He chuckled, and I felt my throat dry up again at his words.

I barely squeezed out my next words. "I always like to bet on myself."

"You're wagering on something beyond you," Arslan said. His gaze shifted down to my left arm. "But it's clear by that ring on your finger you're accustomed to secrets of your own."

I froze instantly, the breath stifling in my throat again. Arslan's slippery smile at my reaction twisted.

"A cursed artifact... Emperor—no, Mythic Rank of the Emperor Class? Now where does an average First Year cadet go around getting one of such a priceless artifact like that one, hmm?"

In a single sweep of a glance, Arslan had completely recognized the nature and secret of the Ring of Solomon. He was the first and only person to have ever done so until now, and the realization was startling, to say the very least.

I thought my mind was a mess, but now I couldn't even think! Even my expression was completely slack, like the dilemma and shock of my thoughts couldn't be contained.

Under Arslan's mysterious and playful gaze, it felt like all my secrets were laid bare — even through the Crown Veil's enchantment of the Ring of Solomon somehow.

"There's a lot that's interesting about you, Victor. Layers I want to take my time peeling off freshly," Arslan continued slowly, letting his voice seep coolly into my very marrow.

Then he sighed almost heavily, full of mock lamentation. "But there's no time, unfortunately, no thanks to you. While I'm still very much curious about how you succeeded in killing Nicodemus and Zets, you must be ready to take responsibility for your actions."

"...Responsibility?" I managed to find my voice. Arslan nodded and laughed, sounding as amused as he always had. He nudged himself off the desk and strolled casually toward me, reaching a hand for my face.

My first instinct was to pull back immediately, but for some reason I could only take half a step backward. My body, still recovering from the jet lag of all the shock and revelations, refused to obey me, and Arslan's long, slender fingers coolly grasped my face and tilted up my chin like it was something delicate.

His orange-red eyes stared intently into mine as I felt my body freeze. The word "responsibility" from a second ago almost caused my blood to run cold in my veins. My fingers twitched under his touch.

And Arslan's smile split again, even more slowly, as he whispered uncomfortably close to my face:

"Become my student."