Dim Dim picked up the high-grade magic crystal on the ground and tossed it inside its dimensional storage for safekeeping.
Latifa still clung tightly to Alex. By the looks of it, she would take a few more minutes to calm down.
Alex didn’t mind that one bit. In fact, he was secretly pleased that the young lady trusted him enough that holding his arm made her feel safer. He calmly waited until she regained her composure.
Ten minutes later, the young lady suddenly pulled back and dropped his arm like a hot potato when she finally realized what she’d been doing.
"I’m sorry," Latifa said, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. As Alex was not one of those dense isekai protagonists, he didn’t point it out.
"For some reason," the fox lady continued, "I felt real danger from that monster. If it had succeeded in mimicking my abilities, there’s a chance it might have been able to leave the Chrono Maze and harm our schoolmates."
’That would have been disastrous,’ Alex thought as he listened to the young lady’s concern.
He could already see countless students collapsed on the ground, looking into space with soulless eyes.
If that had really happened, Latifa would have been so burdened with guilt and remorse.
"Latifa, I think you should go back to the academy," Alex said gently, so he wouldn’t hurt the young lady’s feelings. "You don’t have to worry about Lucius. I’ll make sure to take him out of this dungeon."
"I’m sorry," Latifa replied, aware of Alex’s concern about her safety. "I’m so useless."
"No." Alex shook his head. "You’re one of the kindest and gentlest people that I have met in my life. Also, there is something important that you should do for me in the outside world."
Latifa steeled herself as she waited for Alex to tell her what he needed her to do.
"That copycat demon worshiper is still at large," Alex stated. "Since Lucius is no longer in danger, you must follow the demon worshiper’s movements and ensure that they will not hurt our peers.
"Lastly, you should look for Professor Gareth and tell him everything. If he doesn’t believe you, tell him ’Alex made a promise to keep the identity of the suspect a secret to you earlier.’ As long as you do that, the Professor will have no choice but to listen to you."
Latifa nodded. "Understood. Be careful. If you’re not out of this dungeon when the Headmaster returns, I’ll make sure to inform him so that he can get you out of here."
"Good." Alex smiled. "Now, go. We mustn’t let the evildoers have their way inside our school. Also, ask the person you trust the most to help you. During times like this, it is better to have people you rely on helping you out."
Latifa gave Alex one last worried look before turning into particles of light.
Truth be told, the young man felt a little regret because the young lady was no longer around to keep him company.
He tried to comfort himself. ’I still have Dim Dim and the spirits to talk to while I wait for Lucius to wake up from his slumber.’
————
Somewhere in Frieden Academy...
Professor Gareth watched his "son" calmly drink a cup of tea in his dormitory room.
"What’s wrong, Father?" Lucius asked. "You look like you’re out to kill someone."
"Why did you do it?" Professor Gareth demanded, cutting straight to the chase.
"What are you talking about, Father?" Lucius frowned. "What did I do?"
"Don’t play games with me, you rascal," Professor Gareth growled. "I was talking about the survival game for my students. Why did you have to do that to Grumpy?"
The frown on Lucius’ face deepened. For some reason, Professor Gareth seemed confident that he was the one who had forced the Red Ape to go berserk, almost killing a student in the process.
Still, he decided to play dumb, for that was the only thing he could do at the moment.
"Father, I don’t understand what you mean," Lucius insisted. "What survival game? What did I do to Grumpy?"
His current appearance was something he had worked hard to achieve.
Not only was Lucius a member of the student council, but he was also the son of Professor Gareth, whom the organization had recognized as one of the pillars of Frieden Academy.
He had planned to use Lucius’ authority and connections to expand his network among the students and cause enough chaos to make the students fear for their lives.
"I see, so you want to play that game, huh?" Professor Gareth narrowed his eyes before he unleashed his Aura, locking the young man before him in place.
The Professor then raised his right hand, which was already coated with Aura, before slapping his adopted son with enough force that it sent the latter’s glasses flying off his face.
Blood dripped from Lucius’ lips as he looked at the Professor in disbelief.
He hadn’t expected that Professor Gareth would really slap him.
Although the middle-aged man had held back his power at the last second, the slap had almost broken the demon worshiper’s transformation.
"We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way," Professor Gareth declared. "So, are you going to cooperate or not?"
"F-Father, why are you doing this to me?" Lucius pleaded. "I really don’t know anything!"
Another resounding slap echoed inside the room.
But this time, Lucius’ body crashed against the wall. He barely had time to groan in pain before falling flat on the floor.
Luckily or unluckily for Lucius, the walls of the dormitories were magically enhanced with several layers of protection. If not, he might have ploughed through them, leaving human-shaped holes in his wake.
"Wrong answer," Professor Gareth said coldly as he walked toward his son who had just coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Knowing that another hit would surely end his transformation, the demon worshiper became desperate.
"Father, please, let’s talk properly," Lucius begged. "Make me understand what is happening. It really hurts. Even if you want to kill me, at least let me know what I’ve done wrong!"
The demon worshiper still had no clue how the Professor had been able to figure out that he had been the one responsible for the Red Ape’s rampage.
Not only had he employed magical artifacts of stealth, but he had also used other artifacts to erase his smell, footsteps, and any other traces he might have left behind.
Since his ability was to copy people, he had made a lot of arrangements to prevent anyone from following his trail.
Even now, he was hopeful that Professor Gareth was only fishing for answers.
Maybe it just so happened that he thought that his son was involved.
Unfortunately, the demon worshiper had no idea that even if he could remove his traces, he couldn’t remove his existence.
The Memory Dial had shown Professor Gareth all that he needed to know.
This was why he wanted to know the truth from his son before the Headmaster returned.
If Rowan were to handle this matter, the chances of Lucius getting expelled were extremely high.
To prevent that from happening, Professor Gareth wanted to find the real reason why Lucius had done such a thing so that he could find a solution for this predicament.
He didn’t care if he needed to resort to violence to achieve his goal.
Pain loosened the tongue, and he was an expert in making people talk.
Also, Professor Gareth felt that there was something off in the way Lucius acted.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on what tipped him off, but he trusted his gut instincts. Much as he didn’t want to believe it, the person in front of him only looked like his son.
His presence and aura were very different from Lucius, whom he had raised with love and care. Blood ties or not, how could a parent not recognise their own child?