“Huh.”
Raban scratched his head. He was beginning to wonder whether this school was in its right mind.
“So you’re saying my duties have changed?”
“That’s about right. The truth is, our school already has enough cleaning staff.”
The head of administration, who had summoned Raban, informed him that he no longer needed to clean around the school. Instead, he was to remain in the counseling room until one hour after classes ended, then go home.
‘What on earth are they thinking?’
It was a truly abrupt change. A proper school would never make such a reckless personnel assignment. Especially—
“Uh… You do know I have amnesia, right?”
It wasn’t as if this was some romantic age ruled by slapdash administration. They were entrusting student counseling to an unqualified, amnesiac incompetent with not a single certificate?
The danger sensor in Raban’s head began ringing alarm bells.
‘This is one hundred percent the mascots’ doing.’
The moment he showed even the slightest sign of trying anything suspicious with the students, they would summon a magical girl and begin a merciless purge. Raban could not help but be appalled by those wicked mascot bastards using students as bait.
“Yes.”
The head of administration, dressed entirely in a black suit, responded calmly.
“To be honest, we are not expecting actual counseling from you. What matters is the very presence of an ‘adult.’”
There were things one found hard to tell an adult but could tell a peer. Sometimes, that alone was enough to resolve a problem. But there were also problems that could not be solved merely by “talking it out,” and to operate on such problems, an adult was necessary.
“Simple concerns like not being able to study today, or not knowing which club to join—children can resolve those among themselves. But once complicated matters like school violence or family issues become involved, adult assistance is essential.”
All sorts of matters that required the police to be called, or outside intervention from places such as local counseling centers.
And, in the very unlikely event that a student seeking counseling suddenly went berserk, the physical strength to subdue them. That was why an “adult” was needed.
“Since the previous counseling teacher went on leave, we have not received any counseling requests serious enough to go that far. However, when a matter comes in that the children cannot resolve on their own, we need a channel through which it can be received.”
In other words, in a situation like the present, with no one in charge, they could not even move on to the next step of the problem-solving procedure.
“So counseling itself isn’t what matters. It’s closer to being an emergency contact point.”
“Precisely. If the children ask for help, Mr. Raban, you need only summarize the case and inform me.”
A few perfunctory questions went back and forth. The sort of questions an ordinary adult would ask when unexpectedly offered an unforeseen role.
“Why don’t you do it yourself, Head of Administration?” “Because I have work that prevents me from sitting in the counseling room.”
“Why me, of all people?” “You are the most recent hire, so your duties are not fixed. Assigning you different work now will not disrupt the schedule.”
This was about enough. Raban put on a reluctant expression and nodded.
“Well… The counseling room should be warm in winter and cool in summer. Sounds fine to me.”
***
[He has accepted, mohu.]
[Keep a close watch, mohu. If he truly reaches out to the students who come for counseling, report it immediately, mohu.]
***
‘…They’re probably having a conversation like that.’
Raban smiled as he imagined the sinister conversation of the mascots in his head—white animals that, for some reason, resembled cats.
Winning over the students who came for counseling was the footwork of an amateur.
Until just a day ago, he had been striving to follow that amateur’s footwork, but that was no longer important.
Right now, he had discovered a blue-chip stock that could yield a far greater harvest in one blow than poking around at dozens of faceless students, so why would he care?
Na Ihyeon alone was enough as the target to sink his straw into.
An abundance of loneliness and surging resentment. If he could somehow turn that into his own power, wouldn’t he be able to fill about a third of the magic power needed for dimensional travel?
The chance of drawing the mascots’ attention was also remarkably low. Dozens versus one. The sheer number of attempts was drastically different.
‘It would be one thing if I were extracting people’s souls, but harvesting negative thoughts barely leaves a trace.’
Originally, it was supposed to leave a trace. From the sediment accumulated in an ordinary human soul, one could not extract only the “negative” parts.
More than anything, extracting only the negativity was inefficient. If one offered up a person’s entire soul as a burnt offering, the magic power that filled up would be multiplied, so why bother filtering out only negative thoughts?
But Raban was an experienced dark mage in two senses.
First, he was skilled enough at controlling negative thoughts that he could extract even the rage boiling within himself into a single strand of hair.
Second, he had learned the truth that if a dark mage wanted to survive, he had to live with his eyes cast as low as possible.
In truth, he had known that even before becoming a dark mage. In the other world where he had been stranded, humans were boundlessly weak.
Even after he grew somewhat stronger, being branded a public enemy had been sheer agony. He should never have robbed the Demon Realm Archduke’s vault.
Based on his many experiences, Raban’s first principle of action was “live as quietly as possible.” He would not have done something like kill a Behemoth and rip out its heart if he had not been certain he would be saying farewell to the other world forever.
‘What kind of hardship is this?’
A sudden sense of emptiness washed over him. Raban shook his head and steadied himself. He would just gather magic power and leave.
Once he returned to his original world, even stories of this terrifying world ruled by a shadow-mascot government would surely become jokes he could laugh off.
Having gathered his thoughts, Raban opened the counseling room door.
***
The scene inside the counseling room was unexpected.
“Ah-ha.”
First of all, Na Ihyeon was waving. Behind him, Raban could see three or four more students.
“What? You’re not going to ask what it means?”
“It means ‘hi, mister,’ doesn’t it. Ihyeon, who are those friends?”
“Yeah. The peer counselor kids. It’s temporary, but you’re going to be the counselor teacher, right? So we all came to at least say hello.”
Along with Ihyeon’s brief introduction, the students began chattering. Raban could feel his mental strength rapidly being shaved away.
By nature, dark mages were the sort to shut themselves in a cramped room, let out suspicious laughs, and boil up pots of entrails.
Their interpersonal management skills were so poor that sometimes a master stabbed his disciple—or a disciple stabbed his master—because they felt burdened, and that was that.
Among those shut-in dark mages, Raban was a super shut-in dark mage who had taught himself without even a proper master to call the real deal.
The shining youth of high school students in their prime was an absolute counter to a dark mage!
***
“That was brutal…”
Raban finally managed to catch his breath. Throughout the entire lunch period, the peer counselor kids’ countless demands for conversation had not stopped.
Only after the warning bell rang to announce the end of lunch did the kids finally leave. Raban already felt completely drained.
‘Maybe people aren’t coming because those kids are too lively?’
Introverts naturally shrank back before extreme extroversion. Raban admired his own insightful deduction.
‘Still, it wasn’t like I got nothing out of it and only chatted.’
The students he had met today were grouped under the category of peer counselors, so they were likely close to Na Ihyeon. But even among them, Na Ihyeon felt somewhat detached.
He was like a complete encyclopedia set tucked away in a corner of the library. As a thick hardcover set, its presence alone was grand, but few people paid it any attention.
‘Let’s keep it just like this!’
He would take the position of an acquaintance who might be visited when someone became moderately bored and lonely!
***
One week after that.
‘Ah.’
Raban wanted to let out a sigh.
“Teacher, you have counseling after school!”
“I don’t even have a counseling certificate, so I’m not a teacher…”
I’m just someone sitting here to fill the seat. Raban muttered weakly to himself.
Not all the students who stayed behind claiming they wanted counseling had truly “serious” reasons. Sometimes, it looked like plenty of them came just because they wanted to talk.
“The kid who got counseling last time left a teddy bear as a present!”
“No, why would— Please put it on the counseling room desk.”
Rubbing his eyelids, Raban rose from his seat. The air in this counseling room was too pleasant. A dark mage needed a cave, or at least the musty smell of a cramped room.
‘Why are people flocking to the counseling room?’
It had clearly started with the class president from Na Ihyeon’s class, who was his friend.
***
“I am Syune Heidel.”
A student with pale violet hair fluttering around them. No matter how many times he saw the full spectrum of hair colors prevalent in Hikarious, he never got used to it. Raban nodded.
“Student Syune. What brings you here?”
“…There is something I would like to consult you about, teacher.”
Since this was an unfamiliar student, he spoke politely for the time being. Raban was about to look through the documents to check when the peer counselors were stationed there, but then he sensed something strange and asked back.
“With me?”
“Yes.”
“Uh, student. I am only here temporarily to fill the seat. It would be much better for you to talk with the peer counselor kids.”
“I have a concern about a friendship.”
Raban closed his eyes. No, why on earth would someone leave good friends aside and seek out an amnesiac (as an act) old man?
“It concerns one of my friends, a student named Na Ihyeon.”
Ah. Raban nodded.
Just as there were counseling matters that drove one to seek out friends because they were hard for adults to understand, there were also counseling matters that drove one to seek out adults because one did not want friends to know.
This was clearly the latter. Raban briefly assessed the situation.
He had no confidence in doing counseling well. Even in the other world, he had practically lived alone, so what advice could he possibly give to others?
But there was far too much magic power here to refuse with an excuse like that.
The magic power residing in the student called Syune was exceptional. Enough to rival Na Ihyeon’s. If he could extract negative thoughts from them, it would be no small help.
“What I can tell you would only be general advice at best, but if that is fine with you, I can at least listen.”
Raban cast his business smile!