Chapter 247: The Black Hole in the Principal's Office! Teaming up with the Grim Reaper?
"Arthur, due to your incitement of Aqua to use violence against others after school yesterday, both of you are to stand in the hallway as punishment."
Listening to Roswaal's clown-like, jocular tone, everyone in the classroom exchanged glances, their eyes involuntarily drifting towards the window.
There, Aqua, holding a bucket in each hand and comically balancing another on her head, was stomping her feet in indignation.
"Why us?! It was clearly those undead who were in the wrong… Why are we being punished?"
Arthur, looking utterly exhausted, leaned against the wall and let out a lazy yawn, comforting the goddess beside him who was on the verge of tears.
"It's just standing as punishment; no one told you to perform acrobatics. Put the buckets down. After school, I'll treat you to wagyu beef as compensation."
"Really!?"
Aqua's sadness instantly turned to joy. Without another word, she dropped the buckets with several clangs and eagerly approached Arthur, her eyes shining.
"Hey, hey ~ Arthur, I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time."
Watching Aqua, who was shaking her head and practically had "proud" written all over her face, Arthur frowned slightly.
What was this idiotic goddess secretly pleased about now?
"What do you want to ask?"
"Heh heh heh ~"
Aqua covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes narrowed into a comical emoji, and nudged Arthur with her elbow.
"Arthur, you must have offended some old fuddy-duddy in the heavens to be banished to the mortal realm, right?"
"…Hmm, your analysis is completely correct."
Arthur twitched his lips, nodding perfunctorily, while also completely suppressing the idea of trying to get information from this air-headed goddess.
Rely on her? He might as well rely on himself.
Just last night, he hadn't rested but had transformed into a streak of light, shooting straight into the sky, attempting to determine the boundaries of this space.
The result was completely beyond his expectations.
This was not a complete world at all, but an isolated island space only the size of Japan.
The entire space was enveloped by a barrier containing the power of rules, a compulsory force that Arthur had experienced more than once.
He was certain that the garrulous demon had definitely discovered this as well, but chose to stand by and watch because he found it amusing.
As for Aqua, her mind was clearly not sharp enough, and she was still being led by the nose by the sudden school life.
With that thought, Arthur no longer paid attention to Aqua, who had already started entertaining herself with "Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon" beside him, and turned to walk towards the stairwell.
He followed the empty corridor to the third floor, where a heavy, old wooden door came into view, bearing a sign that read [Principal's Office].
"Fighting on the first day of school, then sneaking into the principal's office on the second… It seems I truly have no talent for being a good student."
Arthur chuckled self-deprecatingly, his figure subtly fading, like an invisible breeze, silently seeping through the door crack.
High-end reception sofas and a coffee table, a desk and bookshelves by the window—the principal's office was unremarkable in its decor.
A gentle breeze swept across the red velvet carpet, and Arthur reappeared in front of a mural.
The painting depicted a fierce design of two black dragons with outstretched wings, back to back, identical to the emblem on Tanya's and the others' uniforms.
"Similar to an imperial flag? Speaking of which, the principal and vice-principal are Tanya's superiors."
He murmured, then reached out and moved the mural aside.
The moment the frame was moved, an irregular oval-shaped black hole was exposed.
Light distorted at the edges of the opening, and the darkness within seemed to writhe like a living thing, as if something was struggling to crawl out.
"Croak—!"
A strangely familiar croak came from inside the hole. Arthur raised an eyebrow and retreated.
The next second, four slimy giant frogs leaped out of the black hole, their dull eyes fixed on the human in front of them!
"If you four are the security system for the principal's office, then I honestly think this broken school is beyond saving."
Before he finished speaking, a foul wind rushed at him, and four long tongues, like crimson lightning, sealed off Arthur's escape routes from different angles!
But he merely shifted his feet in place, and his figure transformed into four afterimages, dashing forth!
The sword light flashed and vanished, incredibly fast!
The four giant frogs couldn't even let out a whimper before their massive bodies disintegrated in mid-air, collected into his storage bag with a wave of his hand.
Having done all this, he walked back to the dark hole and tentatively extended his palm.
Sizzle!
The moment his fingertip touched it, spatial repulsion exploded, and dense black electrical arcs bit at his palm like venomous snakes, violently pushing him away!
"A one-way teleportation channel… Is the entrance on the plains outside Axel City?"
Arthur shook his slightly numb palm, deep in thought.
His attempt proving fruitless, he rehung the mural on the wall, obscuring the ominous opening.
After confirming there were no other clues in the room, he turned and departed as a gentle breeze.
However, when he unhurriedly returned to the Class 2 classroom, he saw Aqua standing at the doorway, excitedly waving at him.
"Arthur! Hurry! Roswaal said we're electing class representatives, we can go back to the classroom!"
Arthur raised an eyebrow and followed Aqua into the classroom, where Roswaal was writing something on the blackboard.
From Aqua and Kazuma's whispered conversation, he learned that the so-called class representative election was surprisingly decided by random drawing.
And he and Aqua, due to their disciplinary violation, were stripped of their drawing rights and directly assigned to the vacant positions of Animal Care Committee members, grouped with Natsuki Subaru and Aura.
Arthur's mouth twitched, gaining a new understanding of the absurdity of this world.
The selection concluded, and Roswaal immediately announced the end of class, leaving the group members to interact on their own.
Arthur pulled Aqua along and met up with Natsuki Subaru and Aura on the other side.
Perhaps having received orders from Ainz, Aura, though wary of Arthur, didn't say much.
She completely ignored Arthur and, taking the newly acquainted Natsuki Subaru, rushed out of the classroom and headed straight for the animal care room behind the teaching building.
Aqua immediately became furious, rolling up her sleeves, ready to chase after them and argue.
"They said all elves are noble and pure, didn't they? What kind of idiotic god in what world would create an evil race like dark elves?!"
"Save your energy. Finish up early, and we can go eat wagyu beef early."
Arthur grabbed the goddess by the back of her collar and followed unhurriedly.
The originally empty animal care room now had a new resident—
A Djungarian hamster over two meters tall!
The colossal creature was squatting behind the wire mesh, its round eyes fixed on the four people who had come to feed it.
No, more precisely, its eyes were fixed on Natsuki Subaru in the group.
"This guy is called Hamusuke, he's Ainz's pet."
Aura deftly went to prepare the feed, while Aqua huddled in a corner, drawing circles, openly slacking off.
Arthur keenly caught Hamusuke's gaze. He turned to Natsuki Subaru, who looked completely out of the loop, and asked.
"Looking at your attire, you're a reincarnator like Kazuma, right?"
Natsuki Subaru was startled for a moment, then nodded and shook his head, spreading his hands in a self-mocking gesture.
"It's similar, but I'm not a reincarnator, I'm a transmigrator."
"Is that so."
Arthur nodded noncommittally and casually pulled open the iron gate of the animal care room, gesturing for Natsuki Subaru to go first.
Natsuki Subaru, unsuspecting, thanked him and quickly walked into the room.
Just as Natsuki Subaru brushed past him, Arthur subtly patted his shoulder.
Magic flowed, and he clearly sensed a heart-pounding purplish-black energy, a power, coiled in the other's heart.
It wasn't a simple curse or magic, but an authority.
Like death itself had been given a different form, exuding a subtle hysteria.
Arthur scrutinized Natsuki Subaru's unaware back, his heart stirring.
'So, Natsuki Subaru's cheat for transmigration is the authority of the God of Death?'
'But why would the power of death attract monsters?'