The end of the corridor, of a familiar dormitory building was now crowded by several professors, guards and curious children who were being pushed away from the dormitory room F-520 by the guards.
“What’s happening here?” Minato asked, his voice filled with anxiety as the entire atmosphere was thick with tension and he was called in here on immediate notice.
The guards only gestured him to go inside inside the small room which was already cramped with several other elite professors.
Minato hurried inside the room and as other parted the way for him his gaze fell on Shinazu who stood quietly near the wall, inside his room, keeping his hands joined together as he tried his absolute best to appear uninvolved.
“Minato immediately rushed to him and held him by shoulders, leaning forward.
“Shinazu-kun, Did you do something?”
Shinazu nearly choked on his own breath shaking his head as fast as he can.
Minato didn’t look convinced.
“I explicitly told you not to get into any trouble.
Yet not even the first night has passed successfully, and somehow half the academy is standing inside your room.”
“…That’s not my fault,” Shinazu defended himself.
“Minato.”
Before Minato could question him any further, a deep, resonant voice interrupted the chatter.
Minato turned on his heel, his posture straightening.
Standing near the center of the room was a tall, imposing man dressed in immaculate, flowing white robes embroidered with intricate golden patterns.
Long, dark-violet hair rested over his shoulders, framing a deeply composed face adorned with a neatly kept beard.
His gentle, yet sharp amber eyes seemed completely capable of peering through every single lie before it could even be formed in a person’s mind.
“Headmaster,” Minato called out, bowing his head slightly.
It was the Headmaster of Himetsu Royal Academy.
His mere presence radiated a heavy aura that made people instinctively lower their voices and hold their breath unlike any other professor in the room.
Before Minato could say anything further, the Headmaster gestured him to look beside with his sharp gaze.
Minato’s eyes landed on an overturned bed, its frame and headboard split apart.
And the joint where the headboard attached, there rested a heavy, black-silver stone block meticulously placed inside the frame which was earlier concealed behind the now taken apart headboard.
The cuboidal stone block was covered in complex, blood-red markings and wisps of dark miasma visibly leaked from its surface.
Looking at it Minato’s eyes widened behind his appraisal spectacles and his body temperature had plummeted down as he muttered.
“A cursed seal…”
The room was already very quiet as the professors stared at the stone as they already knew what was it.
“How did something like this end up inside the academy dorms?” one of them asked.
Slowly, the collective gaze of the room shifted back toward Shinazu.
Feeling the weight of their suspicion, Shinazu spoke up, explaining calmly, “It’s not my fault.
When I came back to my room after eating at the Dining Hall, I tried to rest.” His gaze shifted back toward the broken bed.
“But something felt wrong.
I got this eerie feeling from the bed.”
The room listened intently, no one interrupting.
“I couldn’t sleep at all,” Shinazu hesitated, carefully ensuring he didn’t accidentally mention his Star Sight.
“So I decided to check everywhere and then beneath the bed frame…”
Several professors exchanged dark looks.
“And?”
“I found this hidden inside the bed,” Shinazu shrugged, keeping his expression neutral.
“I didn’t know what it was, but it felt incredibly dangerous.
So, I locked the door and went to look for you, Minato-sensei.
But you weren’t anywhere to be found, so I reported it to the first teacher I saw.” his gaze shifted from Minato to the Headmaster as he was the first teacher he saw in the night whom he had already explained everything to but he had to explain again as other’s demanded.
I wouldn’t have called it out if it was something harmless, but that thing is a 6th-grade summoning circle.
I can’t just ignore it and pray I don’t die in my sleep one night.
Besides, even if I looked the other way and someone else found it in my room later, there would be a massive investigation.
And what if they somehow discovered my Dark Magic, they would blame me without a second thought.
Reporting it right now felt the most logical decision to him.
The Headmaster studied the boy silently while Shinazu was buried in his thoughts.
The Headmaster had expected a child of his age to show panic, fear, or crying confusion.
Yet, the fourteen-year-old remained surprisingly calm and collected.
Interesting, the Headmaster thought.
“Don’t worry, child,” Headmaster spoke, his deep voice cutting through the silence.
“You did the right thing.”
Shinazu’s shoulders immediately relaxed.
At the very least, nobody was going to accuse him of creating the cursed object.
One of the professors spoke.
“But if not him then who put this cursed object inside this bed so meticulously?”
The Headmaster took a closer look at the crimson markings of the slab as if reading all the complex patterns and shapes.
“Judging by appearance, it wasn’t created anywhere inside the academy.” His eyes darkened.
“The entire bed was brought in from the outside, along with the other shipments of furniture during the academy renovation a month ago.”
“Someone had smuggled a cursed object inside the academy under our noses.” one of them muttered, which somehow made Minato sweating buckets.
“We will discuss the security breach later,” the Headmaster turned his head.
“Hana.”
“Yes, Headmaster.” A fine young woman stepped forward from the group, dressed in a flowing crimson gown, her waist-length silver hair bound with delicate golden ornaments and accessories.
Hana stepped closer to black slab examining the intricate blood-red markings on it.
Several quiet moments passed as she calculated the patterns.
Then, she gave a confident nod.
“It is a Third-Grade Cursed Seal,” her voice carried a professional weight.
“I can remove it cleanly.”
“Then do it!” Headmaster ordered.
Several glowing containment crystals appeared in her hand, ready to absorb the residual feedback as she approached the slab.
Mana began to gather around her fingertips, glowing with an active hum.
Don’t they know what that thing actually is?
Shinazu’s heart slammed in his chest as he watched her hand draw closer to the stone.
Damn it!
“Wait!”
Shinazu said dramatically.
Everyone in the room turned to stare at him.
Hana’s eyebrow twitched in irritation, her hand freezing inches from the slab.
“What?”
Shinazu hesitated but as his deep black eyes shimmered with countless stars, his Celestial Moon Eyes showed him some details that made his skin crawl in pure dread, though no one else could see the extraordinary.
“I…” He carefully chose his words, knowing he had to act his age.
He couldn’t let out a hint about his ocular art.
“I just have a really bad feeling about this.”
Several professors sighed, shaking their heads.
“Minato-sensei can you please take care of the scared boy.”
Minato nodded quickly.
“No, that’s not it.
I feel you shouldn’t do it, it might dangerous for you!” Shinazu urged.
Hana frowned, “Thanks for the concern kid.
We already know it’s a cursed seal and it’s dangerous but I know what I am doing!”
“But, It feels incredibly dangerous…” Shinazu argued.
Minato pulled him, “Don’t be afraid Shinazu-kun.
She is a 7th Grade Barrier Mage.
She can handle it with ease.”
“But…” Minato covered his mouth and Hana began to continue.
Shinazu’s stomach twisted into knots, Damn it.
You can die all you want but let me be at least ten thousand miles away from here.
Shinazu tried to lower Minato’s hand to speak but his grip was firm.
The headmaster examined the kid’s really horrified expression.
Before she could continue her process,
“Wait!”
“STOP DISTURBING!” Hana shouted but she instantly choked as it wasn’t from him but from the headmaster.
“I am s…” Hana tried to apologise but the Headmaster raised a single hand.
For a few silent seconds his gaze remained fixed on the slab and unlike the other professors, he wasn’t dismissing the boy’s warning because sharp intuition had saved lives in his battles before and something about this setup felt entirely wrong to him.
Finally, he spoke.
“Sasaki.”
A professor with emotionless face stepped forward immediately, “Yes, Headmaster.”
“Evacuate every single student from this entire dormitory building.”
The room froze and several professors looked utterly shocked by the extreme order.
The Headmaster’s expression turned incredibly dark as his two golden eyes suddenly shone, a red-golden halo manifesting within each pupil.
“Never underestimate those sky, dark mages,” he muttered coldly.
No one dared to argue with his logic and within minutes, many guards and professor knocked every door and the evacuation of the dormitory began, even if somebody didn’t answer, the lock was broken or melted.
Fifteen minutes later, Sasaki returned to the room, bowing slightly.
“The building is entirely clear, Headmaster.”
Sage nodded and looked toward Hana.
“Burn the bed.”
Hana blinked in surprise.
“Burn It?”
“The bed.”
Without a moment of hesitation, Hana raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
High-grade flames erupted instantly.
The wooden frame ignited, and the intense fire rapidly consumed the mattress, the wooden bed frame and the headboard.
Yet, her control over the element was so masterful that the inferno didn’t touch a single thing outside of the designated target, not even the plush red rug resting directly below.
Within three seconds, nothing remained of the furniture but a pile of fine white ash which fell on the rug.
There goes my new comfy bed, Shinazu thought, frowning slightly.