Chapter 64

Eventually, it was time for the opening ceremony.

I stepped outside wearing my black, pointed, secret-society-style mask. By the way, since Cerulia is a familiar, she didn’t have to wear one, but she decided to put one on anyway since she went through the trouble of coming.

However, hiding her face while wearing such revealing clothes… it looked incredibly suspicious in its own way. I didn’t point it out, though, because that would make me seem like a pervert.

When I knocked on the door of the next room, Mary came out already masked.

“Hey, Franz, Cerulia. Did you have ‘something’ in your room too?”

“Yeah, we did. Cerulia found it, though.”

“Thought so. That’s definitely part of the training. I bet anyone who can’t find it and has a bad experience gets scared and goes home.”

Just as she said that, a man who looked like a new recruit ran past us in the hallway, half-crying.

“A man with an axe appeared! I can’t stay in this cursed mansion another second!”

After that, a girl who also looked like a new recruit brushed past us.

“A mysterious monster that wasn’t supposed to be in the painting showed up! Something is wrong here!”

“Oh my, there wasn’t anything particularly scary about it. Everyone is such a worrywart,” Cerulia said nonchalantly. No, that’s only because you’re looking at it from a demon’s perspective…

“It looks like this training, which already had few participants, is going to be thinned out even more. Good grief.”

Mary, carrying an overwhelming aura of a veteran who was definitely not a newcomer, led the way toward the room where the opening ceremony was being held.

The venue for the ceremony was a drawing room with a piano in the adjacent room.
To be honest, it was cramped. But excluding us, there were only four other people. In total, there weren’t even ten of us.

With these numbers, the size of the drawing room wasn’t actually a problem. If we pulled out the sofas pushed to the side and provided extra chairs, everyone could fit.

However, at this rate, I had a feeling something ridiculous was going to happen during the ceremony… I just hoped they wouldn’t say something like “the remaining members must kill each other.”

After a while, a mysterious demon covered head-to-toe in white fur arrived.

I couldn’t even see its face. What kind of demon was it? I’ve researched common demons for my job, but this form didn’t ring a bell at all.

That demon stood before us.

“Ahem. I am the Chairman of the Black Magic Association, ‘Ethelred of the Stake.’ You may call me Stake for short.”

No, usually that’s where you tell people to call you Ethelred!

“By the way, I am not a demon, but a human. Because of my involvement with black magic, I stopped cutting my hair, and it grew so long that I ended up looking like this.”

If anything, he looked more like a demon than an actual demon…

“Now then, young newcomers. Since you have entered this industry, I believe you are aware that the world of black magic is severely exhausted. We are being overshadowed by White Magic, which has a good image, and Red Magic, which is easy to understand and has high destructive power.”

As expected of the Chairman, he started with a speech like this.

“As a negative side effect, we have ended up hiring people who lack any aptitude whatsoever. Therefore, I set up a little trick in the rooms to weed out those who are too much of a novice. The thirteen people who dropped out should reflect on their failure and participate in the next training session.”

Thirteen people were pranked in those rooms and ran away…? That means fewer people stayed than left. I’m glad Cerulia was with me.

“Black magic certainly has its esoteric parts. If practiced with half-baked knowledge, there are spells that call upon the ‘Progenitor of Indescribable Nightmares,’ or things that are life-threatening. Therefore, this training cannot be conducted unless the participant has a certain level of knowledge.”

I’ve already called that dangerous entity!

“Well, I doubt any of you newcomers have the knowledge required to summon such a terrifying existence yet (laughs).”

No, I’ve already summoned her. We’re actually living together.

“You all must strive to become great mages capable of summoning the ‘Progenitor of Indescribable Nightmares’ someday.”

I’m telling you, I’ve already summoned her!

I remembered President Kelkel saying the training would be fine; maybe this is what she meant.
But there were still many challenges ahead.

In situations like this, I usually end up being the “odd one out” during the final wrap-up party. Even at the magic school’s festival, I was totally out of place at the after-party. Simply taking classes seriously doesn’t grant you communication skills for those kinds of social settings.

“Now then, I shall officially declare the opening. —In this land far from human habitation, we practitioners who wrap ourselves in jet-black as a garment have gathered; let us paint this sky with pleasure and terror!”

Suddenly, the voice of the fluffy white Chairman turned heavy.

It was enough to make the lamps in the room flicker out all at once.

Forget communication skills—I wondered if I’d make it out alive…

“—Alright, the opening declaration is over, so everyone can take off those masks whenever you like. We’ll have a ten-minute break, so please use the restroom now~”

His voice switched back to a carefree tone, and the lamps relit.

What was that just now…?

I wanted to take off the mask because it was stifling, but the other trainees were still wearing theirs. I guess I’ll keep mine on for now. I didn’t want to stand out by being the only one acting differently.

“Hey, hey, Franz. I wonder if there’s actually a human who could summon the ‘Progenitor of Indescribable Nightmares’~?”

Mary whispered to me in a teasing voice.

“Mary, you’re having way too much fun with this…”

I used the break time to go to the toilet.

After all, I had no idea what we’d be doing next or for how many hours. As expected of black magic training—it was so secretive that no program had been distributed.
But President Kelkel did mention a barbecue party. Was that actually going to happen…?

I just hoped the next session wouldn’t be about resurrecting some terrifying heretical ritual.

Then, the next session began. Chairman ‘Ethelred of the Stake’ appeared again.

“The first program is a self-introduction time in pairs. Everyone, make sure to properly introduce yourselves to your partner.”

Something surprisingly normal just started!