15 Reflection

"Five! She killed five of my 'A' ranked adventurers. Lily, stop your sniveling this instant," bellowed Endyrion as he paced through his office.

The room was wider than I expected. The walls were infused with mana, preventing any sounds from leaking. There were bookshelves lining every inch of free space, and a book was on every inch of bookshelf. Several magical beast skulls were displayed, the most prominent of which was a large skull labeled 'Dragon Baer', belonging to a rank 4 beast.

Endyrion continued his rambling and raging as he walked. He wasn't saying anything of value, though. He was mostly venting. I didn't really know the value of five ranked 'A' adventurers, but it must have been quite high for this old man to show such a display to his guests.

It took us awhile, but both Lily and I have managed to dry our tears. I wasn't really in the mood to listen to this pathetic guild master talk for much longer, though.

"Enough," I said. "We all know what I've done can't be undone, and we know you're trying to think up a way to make me 'pay' for my actions." I tried to make myself sound stronger than I felt.

Endyrion looked flustered for a moment, like he was going to lash out again, but he stopped himself.

"Hmph, I could have your head for this, girl. You know that, right?"

"The executioner's blade would shatter on my skin," I replied.

"I'm serious. This isn't the time for jokes! Right now I'm going to need a damned good reason not to pursue capital punishment!"

This was getting irritating, and Lily was oddly quiet.

"Old man, do you have any of those Reading Stones that evaluate a person's levels and skills?" I asked.

"Old—Old man!" he said. "You little shit… This isn't the time to be worrying about the academy's entrance exam!"

"You said you need a damned good reason. Give me a Reading Stone and I'll give you one."

Endyrion looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped. He walked to the back of his office and opened a drawer. From inside he pulled out a silver stone and what looked to be a miniature monkey's skull.

"You better have a damned good reason for getting me off track, demon."

"My name's Calliope," I said as I took the silver stone from him and began pouring mana into it. "And from now on you'd better start calling me by it."

[User Level: 941. Skill Total: 22.]

Endyrion stopped pacing. He looked like an ice sculpture.

"What. That can't be right. It must be…"

"It's correct," I interrupted.

Lily, who had been sitting quietly in the chair next to me, started choking on her own saliva.

"Jack said you were an abandoned child. He said his [Intuition] confirmed the truth."

"Jack's level is far too low for his [Intuition] to work on me," I said. "It's the same reason Lily's [Analysis] failed, too. Though I'm a bit shocked by the number 22. Last time I checked it was only 21."

I think Lily fainted. Endyrion started laughing like a maniac.

"This is a pretty damn good reason not to execute you. We'd be just be slipping the noose around our own necks," said Endyrion in a giggle filled tone. "What are you, Calliope?"

"I'm trying to find the answer to that very question myself. Now please, can I go?"

"Can you? Bwahahahahahaha. I thought it strange when my [Mana Sensor] started going wild about a month ago, but it all makes sense now. You're one of the Fae!" cried Endyrion as his hysterics grew wilder.

I immediately focused on his last word. A member of the 'Fae' is what RED had called Nox. Were they the gods of this world?

...

Oh. I forgot. I'd have to get used to him not responding.

Without another word, I stood up and wrapped Lily's arm over my shoulders. I walked out of Endyrion's office into the main building half-carrying her. Everyone there stopped moving. All the eyes turned to me. There were three guards in the room, all with terrible mustaches, but I wasn't in the mood to make fun of them right now. I walked, still supporting Lily, to the exit. The crowd receded, backing away with caution in their eyes. None of them even tried to stop us. With the door to his office open, everyone could hear Endyrion's cacophonous laughter echoing throughout the building.

I didn't hide my face as I walked through the city. I could hear whispers everywhere I went. I could feel eyes staring at me, but no one confronted me. I wondered how fast the news traveled. I wondered what these people were thinking. A little girl killed five top tier adventurers in an instant. Perhaps they were wondering why I was still walking the streets free.

After a bit, Lily woke up and started walking on her own. She didn't say a word. She didn't look at me, either.

Without a sound between us, we arrived at the Academy's front gate. There, leaning against a metal fence, was James. I met his gaze, but he didn't shy away like the rest of the people I met since.

"Aren't you afraid of me? I'm the demon who killed five men today," I asked.

"No. I'm not afraid," he said. "I've known how strong you were for a while now. Yet whenever I look at you, I don't see a murderer demon. I just see an abandoned and scared little girl. I can tell, just by looking at your eyes, that you hate yourself right now, and I think you're immature. I think you need to grow the fuck up. You were attacked! Your actions were completely justified. Everyone dies eventually, Calliope. Some people just deserve to die sooner than others."

With that said, James walked through the gate towards the dorms. He didn't even give me a chance to say anything.

Lily finally gave me a long look. She seemed to have regained her composure. She didn't look pale anymore.

"If I had your power," she said, "I'd use it for the people of this country. That includes killing bad men when necessary. I don't know if you're one of the Fae or not… But I still consider you my friend. Those men you killed weren't good people."

With that said, she too left me.

I walked to my room alone. It didn't take me long to find it. I walked inside and shut the door. I needed time. I needed some time to think. The official entrance exam for the Academy was in two days. That gave me 48 hours to just reflect.

Was it wrong for me to feel this way? Every time I thought about it, it just seemed so strange. Endyrion never once questioned the morality of me murdering those men, only the consequences for such actions. Just because I was powerful, did that really put me above such consequences?

My head was starting to hurt. I needed sleep. My eyes were getting heavy. I laid down on the bed drifted into the darkness.

-

A sudden pain in my throat caused me to wake up from my slumber. Standing above me was a man in a black suit. His face was covered with a white devil mask. His right hand was holding a dagger which was currently embedded in my neck.

"It's nothing personal, demon," said the man as he turned around to leave.

I guessed Endyrion didn't publicise my level.

I grabbed the hilt of the blade with my right hand and pulled it free from my neck. The bloody dagger was a top quality item. It was probably of the Expert Class at least. It had to be in order to hurt me. I almost stopped to admire it and wondered why the man was willing to leave something so expensive behind.

The man, upon hearing me move, turned around. He was wearing a mask, but I could feel the shock on his face as the wound on my neck closed up on its own.

"My constitution," I stopped to cough briefly, "is high enough that a critical wound like this couldn't even manage a tenth of my health."

Without another word, I quickly struck the man with my finger, knocking him out cold. I took his mask off. He looked like a teenage boy with ruddy red hair coiled in tight curls. His face was freckled and his nose was wide. I'd have called him an ugly child, but I guessed he was fairly common.

The man woke up quickly and his eyes were bulging with fear. It looked like he was going to start crying.

"P-please don't kill me."

The terror in his voice really felt weird to hear. Compared to the cold-blooded assassin voice he used earlier, it almost sounded like a joke. I started ripping strips of his shirt off and used it to tie his hands behind his back. It was amazing how easy I moved him against his will. He felt like a doll in my hands.

With a quick heave, I lifted the boy onto my shoulders. I had my Heaven's Demon Garb transform into a long cloak as I jumped out the window of my room. The ginger assassin was getting annoying with the noises he was making, so I knocked him out again.

After searching for a while, I finally found the nearest guard station. I left the tied up assassin on their doorstep along with his bloody dagger.

I was still a bit uneasy, but having to deal with this seemed to help my mind clear up a bit.

If I thought about it, I guessed I was a criminal too in some way. I owed a debt to this society now, and I intended to pay it. People died. That was how James worded it, but I still felt an ache deep in my heart. I could work these feelings out with a little time.

For now, I needed to learn to control my power. I couldn't afford to waste time in this endeavor. I needed to keep moving forward.