Chapter VI: The 100 Angels' Slaying Assignment – You Shall Become my Student and Slave – Part I

"Oh my. Awake, aren't you?"

The door opened and a tall woman with long white hair and tanned skin entered the room. It was Nya, Shogo's 'master'. When she heard the young woman, Shogo dropped the spoon and ran to her.

"Welcome back, master. I prepared diner." Shogo said, bowing. 

Nya's eyes narrowed as looked at the room. She saw the bottle of poison, the rotten floor, and most importantly, her patient's reassured face as she got in. With that, she easily constructed a scenario. 

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Sorry, I guess you had a hard time with miss parasite here?"

"(Parasite? Is she talking about that doll?) Yes… Uh no. I mean no, it wasn't really difficult."

Alexandra didn't want it to look as if she was pushed to her limits by a simple doll. If this woman really was a high level bibliomancer, what would she look like in front of her if she admitted such a thing? She had to hide it. She had to, but…

"She was uneasy until you came." Shogo said.

She forgot about said doll. Alexandra glared at Shogo who only peeked back as if to mock her.

"You look happy, parasite," Nya commented. "Girl, what exactly did she do to you?"

Alexandra lowered her head. Shogo would say everything anyway, she didn't have to invest herself in this discussion.

Seeing that the girl didn't answer, Nya poked at Shogo's eye with a finger. The latter only made a step back without a word while covering her eye with her hand.

"Excuse me for today, master. I am going back to my room."

"You don't have room here though. And I am not your master. Why don't you go away?"

The girl didn't answer. She only went toward the stairs, still covering her eye. Nya sighed again and sat in front of Alexandra. 

"Let me cut to the chase… you are a bibliomancer, aren't you?" Nya asked.

Alexandra raised her head.

"That… is also your case, right?" she asked back.

Nya closed her eyes. "Well, I—"

A big thud was heard. 

Because she was covering her eye, Shogo fell from the stairs all the way down to the first floor. At first, it looked like she was dead since she didn't move at all, but she suddenly got up, her forehead bleeding, and her only eye still covered by her hand. She then took the stairs again, watched by an exasperated Nya, and a bewildered Alexandra.

"..."

"..."

Alexandra suddenly turned to Nya.

"Um, my name is Alexandra B.B. Wolf – 9th of the name. I am a bibliomancer of the prestigious Wolf household and my specialty is bibliokinesis. I am from the 493th promotion of the Berattelse Academy of Bibliomancy. I don't have my definitive diploma though, but I have an accreditation to read and use a grimoire outside of school's grounds. Oh, and I am 15 years old, and—"

"You talk too much, girl."

"Is… Is that so? Sorry, I got a bit… excited here…"

"By the way, I found that," Nya said, putting a black book on the table. It had an illustration of a wolf blowing and was closed by belts. "Is this yours?" she then asked.

"My, My grimoire!!" Alexandra exclaimed, taking the book. "Where? Where did you find it?!!"

"By the sewers. Where you were found this morning."

"Is… Is that so…" Alexandra said, barely above a whisper. 

With a big smile, Alexandra hugged her grimoire. All her anxiety disappeared, she was now overjoyed. 

"You… You are the person that doll calls her 'master', aren't you? The one that healed me." she then asked, still hugging her grimoire.

Nya sighed. "I did heal you, but I'm not the parasite's master."

"Um… it might sound a bit sudden, but I think I admire you. The way you healed me, the curse you put on that thing… it is so impressive! I never saw a bibliomancer as skilled as you even at the academy!"

Nya shrugged. "Why, thank you… but the most skilled bibliomancers usually don't have the time to teach anyway so it's not surprising."

"I know that, but I wasn't expecting to meet one as skilled as you in the lower ring! Are you on a mission? Wait, is that fire angel your prey?"

"Fire angel?"

"You don't know about it?"

"I only guessed there must be one in the sewers, but I didn't expect it to be a fire one."

"Wait… does that mean…"

"Yes?"

Alexandra got up from her seat, with stars in her eyes. "Does that mean even an angel of that rank is a negligible target to you?"

Nya eyes narrowed. "Well, the angel in the sewers isn't much of a treat to me, but that isn't why—"

"Ah! I knew it! So, what rank is your true target? It must at least be a rank 7, right? Is it necessary to use death's codes on it? Is it affected? Do you use something else? I heard that starting at rank 7, angels become ridiculous monsters akin to gods, is that true?"

"Um…"

"The one in the sewers is only rank 2 or so, and I never saw something higher than rank 3. However, I still lost against it. I am a bit ashamed of myself. I even forced you to heal me even though you probably have better things to do…"

Alexandra sat down and lowered her head again. This time however, she smiled a bit.

"Um, I am sorry. For taking so much of your time. To… To be honest, I thought that when I would go in the lower ring, I would always have to deal with mediocre people with no education and no morality. It made me a bit uneasy, but now that I met a fellow bibliomancer, I am reassured. That is why… please excuse me if I talk a bit too much…"

"No education and no morality, huh?"

Alexandra slightly nodded. "Yes. I don't know how long you lived in the lower ring for your mission, but even this morning, I had to deal with those uneducated people. A girl with blonde hair and red eyes took all the money I had and I couldn't even afford a meal. Then, I found that angel while pursuing her into the sewers. I tried to take it down, but… it kind of backfired? Then, I woke up here, and that puppet killed me twice. Honestly, I am a bit tired."

Nya pursed her lips and put her hand on her cheek.

"Oh-ho? Why not go back to the higher rings then?" she asked. "You can put in standby whatever you have to do here, can't you?"

"I… I can't do that…"

Nya squinted her eyes. "Why?"

"W-Well, I need to do a few things beforehand…"

"Oh, I see. You have been exiled, haven't you?"

"It… It isn't like that! I will be able to go back once I finish my task!"

"That's being exiled."

Alexandra suddenly took a pouty expression which she hid behind her book.

"So you can't go home until you accomplish a certain task, correct?" Nya asked, crossing her arms. 

"Yes."

"Can I know what task you have to do exactly?"

"I have to kill 100 angels."