Chapter 97

… An hour ago, amid a dark dawn.

The academic building grew very quiet thanks to Rose Rio’s [Silence]. Amid it, Epherene glanced at Allen, who accompanied her on the second floor’s conference room.

“Assistant Professor. Are you sleeping?”

Allen, covered in a blanket, repeated a faint breathing sound.

Fortunately, it was irregular, which evidenced that they hadn’t fallen victim to the monster yet.

“…”

Epherene picked up the thick backpack and cautiously stuffed it with food.

Right now, her thoughts about her future self dominated over her fear of an attack.

She knew Adult Epherene would be hungry like her.

“Oh.”

She put on high heels, which she thought would make the Kaidezite confuse her for her older version. Only then did she finally sneak out.

However…

“…!”

In the middle of the hallway, she made eye contact with Professor Relin, who claimed to be a vigilante to show off in front of Deculein.

“This… This… This…”

His presence startled her, but she inevitably noticed he repeated a certain word endlessly with a shocked expression.

“This….”

Epherene looked up at him and placed a hand on her chest.

“… Professor Relin.”

She suffered a lot from him and talked behind his back a lot, but when she saw him in such a pitiful state, she felt bad for him.

After a brief bow, she descended the stairs, finding the employee at the information desk on the first floor resting his head on his desk.

“I guess he’s sleeping.”

Utilizing that opportunity, she went straight down to the [Underground Archives].

“Epherene. Epherene!”

As soon as she reached the basement, she whispered her own name repeatedly, finding the act a little bit funny.

“Epherene! Where are you, Epherene!”

When her older version didn’t show up, she hid behind a bookshelf first to recollect her thoughts.

At that time…

“No way!”

─!

Startled, she turned around, finding the society’s president, Locralen, running away with desperation in his expression.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Epherene took out her lunch box instinctively.