At one end of the long stone-stepped bridge before Purgatory Academy.
Baron Sanchez recalled that according to the Inspectorate, the original headmaster was supposed to have already been reassigned elsewhere.
Now, this demon who had suddenly appeared and could command the Vice Headmaster alongside a host of senior professors was presumably the new interim headmaster.
To command the deference of so many high-ranking demons of the Demon Academy, Sanchez wondered what kind of background she had.
"May I ask how I should address your esteemed self, Miss Headmaster?" Baron Sanchez inquired.
"You may call me Lanfu," the Poet of Great Love replied with a radiant smile.
It was an alias Lanqi had pulled out of thin air on the spot.
Yet she did not mind it in the least.
Her voice was like sweet, crisp red wine, carrying an inexplicable provocation yet brimming with allure. It seemed capable of melting the minds of all present. Even the demon soldiers of the guard corps gradually drifted into a daze, unconsciously fixing their gazes upon her.
"Miss Lanfu, could I ask you to tone down your voice a little? It is far too dangerous," Sanchez, the Blood Clan envoy, said with a shake of his head.
Although he could sense that this Acting Headmaster's tier was quite low, Sanchez dared not underestimate her in the slightest.
This female demon possessed a terrifying talent for melody magic. A bewitching voice capable of tugging at heartstrings at will could hardly be summarized as Tier 1.
The Poet of Great Love chuckled lightly and covered her mouth with her fingertips, then cast a backward glance at the Vice Headmaster.
The Vice Headmaster gave a nod, naturally catching her drift.
"Baron Sanchez, in order to cooperate with your inspection, we have already instructed all students in advance to gather within the teaching area and forbidden them from leaving their classrooms until your inspection concludes. Furthermore, a substantial number of teachers will patrol the corridors. Any student found leaving a classroom without authorization will be executed on the spot."
Stepping forward from behind the Poet of Great Love, the Vice Headmaster spoke solemnly to the Blood Clan envoy, Baron Sanchez.
"Very good."
Baron Sanchez's expression remained unchanged, though internally he had not expected the academy to be so accommodating to his work.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Headmaster. If you have no objection, I shall have the members of the Inspectorate take over the patrolling duties from your academy's faculty."
Baron Sanchez asked.
Preventing students from sneaking out of their classrooms was naturally a task best handled by the Inspectorate. Regardless of the academy's sincerity, he could not grant them an opportunity to pull a switcheroo under his nose.
"Of course," the Poet of Great Love replied, inclining her head elegantly.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
In a spacious office on the school's top floor, a distinct high ceiling exuded a rich sense of history, and the chandelier cast a gentle glow across the dark-brown wooden floor.
Across from the marble fireplace sat a comfortable armchair and a wide desk, upon which lay a grimoire with slightly curled edges and a cover washed weathered by time.
It had been brought to him by a teacher from the Magic Department—a tome recording magic capable of "grooming magical beast fur."
Lanqi was relaxing in the Headmaster's Office, leaning back comfortably against the dark leather cushion.
The demon students brought here were quietly waiting on the far side of the office, guarded by a cohort of Tier 5 demon teachers, none of them daring to make a peep.
*Poet of Great Love, I'll leave the rest to you.*
Lanqi closed his eyes, concentrating as he communicated with the Poet of Great Love through their shared bond.
*You certainly know how to put me to work, but leave it to me with peace of mind.*
The Poet of Great Love's cheerful thoughts echoed back into Lanqi's mind.
While it would be utterly impossible for Lanqi to ask her to wash clothes or cook meals, when it came to errands that aligned so perfectly with her tastes, she was even keener than Lanqi himself.
*I hope you can provide the Blood Clan envoy with a delightful healing journey,*
Lanqi wished silently in his heart.
With that, he stopped disturbing her.
If he nagged too much, she would only grow annoyed.
For a task suited right down to her specialties, all he needed to do after relaying the plan was wait for her to outdo herself.
The Poet of Great Love was a pureblood demon. With her serving as his stand-in, he had no fear whatsoever that the Blood Clan envoy would detect any racial discrepancy.
Back when crafting the card, Talia had slipped in some of her own blood while Lanqi wasn't looking to break the seal and unseal [Hymn of Compassion].
Talia thought Lanqi was completely in the dark, but Lanqi was well aware—[Hymn of Compassion] bore an extraordinarily intricate demon sealing formula.
It was as though this ancient relic had originally been left behind by a great demon, destined by the flow of time and the guidance of fate to find Talia, and only Talia could unseal it.
As a result, having obtained a portion of Talia's blood, the Poet of Great Love possessed an incomparably noble demon bloodline, just like Talia herself.
Even the Vice Headmaster had been stunned for a moment upon first seeing the Poet of Great Love, astonished that Lanqi had formed a summoning contract with a demon of such caliber.
Though considering he was dealing with the Lord Special Commissioner, the Vice Headmaster soon found nothing odd about it.
Lanqi sat up and flipped through the academy's official documents, jotting down notes and approvals from time to time.
After a while, as if remembering something, he raised his head to look toward the spacious front hall of the Headmaster's Office.
"Students, wait just a little longer, and you'll be able to return to your classes."
Lanqi spoke gently as he looked at the students standing restlessly like recruits undergoing military drill.
He was certain the other four challengers were among these students, even if he did not know specifically which four they were.
Earlier, when he led the teachers to inspect classroom by classroom, the exploration rate had surged at breathtaking speed.
And if entering a classroom resulted in no change to the exploration rate on the Shadow World status panel the moment they stepped inside, it pointed to only two possibilities:
Either the classroom had already been cleared,
or challengers had already entered and were currently undertaking the challenge!
Therefore, by gathering all the students from such classrooms into the Headmaster's Office, the Blood Clan envoy would naturally be unable to find any human challengers disguised as demons in ordinary classrooms.
Yet no student in the office dared to answer Lanqi.
This was their first time ever in the Headmaster's Office, standing so close to the academy's headmaster.
"Relax, relax. If something like this ever happens again, I won't leave you here in the Headmaster's Office feeling so bored."
Lanqi felt he should be considerate of the other four challengers' emotional state.
As he spoke, he glanced at the demon teacher standing nearby on guard.
"What do you think about building a swimming pool in the Headmaster's Office? There's so much space here; letting it sit empty is a waste. We might as well renovate it and host pool parties for the students in the future."
Standing there like a mere lackey with sweat beading on his forehead, the demon teacher could not tell if the Headmaster was being serious or joking, and he dared not reply.
Setting everything else aside, to take it to an extreme, what lunatic student would have the death wish to come swim in the Headmaster's Office?!
Lanqi gave a helpless smile and resumed reviewing the documents before him.
On the Shadow World status panel, after his campus-wide inspection, the exploration rate had already become: [Mission Objective 1: Academy exploration rate exceeds 60%; current progress: 1,200%].
Over eleven hundred percent of that had been farmed while making his rounds as the Headmaster.
Lanqi could not help feeling pleased. His rating and rewards for this Shadow World were bound to be quite splendid.
Chapter 75