Reincarnated as the Weakest Shadow Queen in the Academy-Chapter 49: A Privilege that Came Too Late

Ciel arrived in the arena. Its ceiling was the sky itself, with no rooftop to enclose it. Its space stretched as wide as a football field, overlooked by windows that lined the neighbouring building.

In the centre, a lecturer with swept-back grey hair loomed over the crowd of elite class students, who stood piled up waiting for instructions.

Kruella, in their first lecture with her, started simply.

"You will have your first Nightfall expedition tonight. Congratulations."

A gasp tore through the space. Surprise flickered through every student’s expression, coupled with a reluctant acceptance.

Melisra warned them, and they in turn came prepared.

"Good," Kruella nodded, satisfied. "An Elite Class ought to be adaptable at the very least. Let’s immediately get one thing straight, first."

She folded the sleeve of her left arm, waving her wrist.

A spellbind, similar to the one used in the mimic exam, pulsed with an eager vigour.

"This is the spellbind used in the mimic hunt. Experimental, but recently approved across the nations asa breakthrough by the witches."

The implication was obvious.

Ciel and Quia, in the back rows together, immediately understood it.

Melisra’s mimic exam didn’t come simply. The Spellbind was an unofficial spell by the witches, and they needed demonstrations to approve it.

What better way, then, to use students as demonstration subjects themselves?

The witches were as ruthless as their names suggested.

"This life-saving spellbind would be officially dubbed Aetherseal." Kruella folded back her sleeve. "Due to some complications, you will only receive them right before your operations, so keep it in mind."

She then clapped her hands a few times. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

On her signal, a senior student with a haggard look dragged a blackboard behind Kruella.

Ciel’s eyes widened, recognising those rabbit ears attached to the senior, from the carriage incident from before.

Quia remained still. The rabbit-eared senior stepped aside as Kruella chalked down a few pointers.

She began her debriefing.

"Nightfall was a phenomenon illustrated by the Shadows. The sun and Nightingale Barrier prevented it, but the barrier itself required a substantial amount of mana, not to mention that the qualities differed between places."

A hint of disgust shadowed Kruella’s face, dimmer than the grey of her hair.

"Villages, hamlets, tribal camps, baronies, and towns. Some of them were too poor to sustain Nightingale Barriers forever, and required momentary clearance once all civilians were evacuated."

After finishing the drawings, she gave a sound knock. "Or, when an incident occurred, and someone was dead."

She turned her front back to the students, exposing her drawings in full.

"..."

A momentary, awkward silence permeated the area, broken only by a few chuckles from Quia and the rabbit-eared senior in the back.

The vivid drawings by the stern-looking Kruella depicted the two situations she had just described.

A bundle of stickmen running away from a literal text named ’shadebeast’.

Or a stickman with two ’x’ plastered over its eyes.

Without changing her expression, Kruella drew five more buildings.

Though they looked as if they would collapse any moment, Ciel barely made out the meaning.

Kruella instructed. "These five places will be the expedition areas. Form a group of two or three, and immediately make your choice."

Ciel didn’t hesitate.

"Quia-"

"Hold on."

The elf stretched a firm palm. Ciel’s shoulders slumped, her eyes immediately drained of life as-

"Ah! So-sorry," Quia’s waves to Ciel were immediate as she panicked. "I uh... I just want to be the one who suggested teaming up first. Makes me sound cooler, you know?"

Like breathing, life slipped back into Ciel’s eyes, glimmering with an innocent excitement. The aura it exuded was impalable, suffocating the space between her and the elf.

She tilted her head as the elf clenched her heart. Did Quia suffer a heart attack?

"An-anyways..." Quia glanced away, ears reddened. The Ciel a second ago was too cute, it physically hurt her.

"We will also grab Shire. I don’t like her, but even after I fix Stella’s wing, better one more member we can trust than nothing."

Ciel nodded without hesitation.

After a while, crowds of her classmates scattered, then clustered into a few patches of groups in the arena.

A certain black-haired catgirl and another grey-haired prince stood out, being alone with no one.

The former shadebeast watched as the professor ignored them and gestured to her drawings.

"Nightfalls were often unpredictable, with many factors. But we can briefly discern some of the difficulty."

Her knuckle found the crudely put-together square. "This manor, in particular, was a recent incident uncovered by a merchant. Its shadebeasts were fresh and untouched."

She put on a sharp smile. "So for the willing, hands up now if you feel free to help us clean it up."

In an instant, no one dared even twitch at her words.

The professor’s implication was clear. That manor meant troubles, and troubles were best left untouched.

Two hands raised sky-high, however, immediately when the professor ordered.

Selvara and Orion. Their glares were edged with eagerness, their muscles trembled with refusal to back down from a challenge.

Ciel, too, blinked when the professor’s stare ghosted on her again, with expectation.

She hung her head, thinking back to her conversation with Melisra about how her System was related to a Queen.

Dragging herself into trouble like this would mean harming her teammates, Quia and Shire.

But the spellbind on her wrist didn’t burn. Didn’t pulse. Didn’t react.

It gave Ciel the faith to make her own decision.

And so, with a firm nod from Quia as well, Ciel raised her hand too.

A panel emerged to cement her fate.

[ Questline advanced. ]

[ Quest: Manor of riches, Ghosts of Masks and Parades. ]

[ Description: The manor hid a hint of the whereabouts of a Third Generation Queen, the Queen of Theatrics.

Find it, and you will be suitably rewarded. ]

[ Reward: Level +5; 1x Fragment of <Balista>; 1x <Common Item Box> ]

[ Bonus Quest: Keep everyone, including Orion and Selvara, alive without the help of the Spellbinds. ]

[Bonus reward: <Star’s Blessing (Minor)> ]

The heftiest of rewards yet. It only sullied Ciel’s mood.

Her instinct was right. She did drag her new friends into danger.

"Very good," Kruella gave a small clap, its rhythm jagged and intentionally drawn out. "Due to its danger, you will be provided no help during the operation. A better taught experience, if you will be allowed."

Ciel gritted her teeth.

The differences in teaching philosophies between Melisra and Kruella were now more apparent than ever.

"Class dismissed," Kruella then gave a dismissive wave. "You were instructed to spar a little until lunch time. Well then, take care."

The professor walked off without a glance, as the rabbit-ear senior followed with reluctant steps.

A surge of pressure filled the arena ground. Many groups made their spaces, determined to train for the Nightfall.

Not for their grades, not for their lives either, which were protected by the trusted Spellbind.

Just that no one here enjoyed the prospect of dying, and its subsequent humiliation.

The seniors, from the classrooms, prowled against the classrooms’ windows, looking over each and every one of them.

Ciel caught their jealousy, perhaps grudge, even.

She couldn’t understand why, but after a look at her spellbind, it was not hard to understand.

After all, the thirty-one of them were born just too early to enjoy its privilege.

—----

Time passed. The duo of Quia and Ciel spent most of their time roaming the academy, convincing the lazy Shire to join them, and fixing Stella’s wing in the Academy town.

A few moments later, as the moon dangled on the horizon and the sky deepened into a dark, foreboding shade, they gathered once more in the arena.

Five portals stood hoisted between towering beacons of firm steel and crystal, their surfaces shimmering with a green, ominous glow.

Professor Kruella stood before the gathered groups of classmates again, her last order simple.

"All of you will be provided two simple roles."

She held the first piece of equipment: a small lantern containing a swarm of green Lumoni Fireflies.

"Nightcaller," she held the iron’s collar by a finger, dangling it up and down like a trinket. "Responsible for finding the shadebeasts, and calling out when the Lumoni turned red."

Then, she carried the second and most important piece of equipment of their expedition.

It was a blacksteel cube with a wooden lever affixed to the top. Enchanting, purple runes painted all over its surface, giving it a mystic vibe.

"Carrier." Kruella named the last role. "Responsible for planting this cube on a safe, suitable spot free of Shadebeasts."

She then concluded everyone’s task.

"The goal was simple. You find shadebeasts in the night, explore as much as you can, kill as many as the Nightcaller finds, then plant this cube in the safest area possible."

The unexpected happened afterwards.

Kruella bowed with a solemn respect, her hand clutching the chest where the heart lay.

"On the lives of those affected by the Nightfall, I sincerely thank you for all of your efforts."

Only confusion brewed amongst the students, Ciel herself included.

She couldn’t quite figure out the professor: whether she treated the Nightfalls, where lives were lost, as mere training exercises or whether she truly took them seriously.

"With that."

Then, as if a switch was snapped on, Kruella’s mood turned into a small, cruel, sadistic smirk.

"I wish you luck, amateurs."

Many hurried to enter the portals, determined to dodge Kruella’s unpredictable demands.

Ciel merely observed the professor’s flat, gloomy face.

She then bowed her head briefly. A flicker of surprise crossed Kruella, amused by such unnecessary mercy.

Then, Ciel strode through the portal she was instructed to, not waiting for Kruella to respond.