Inside the cooking classroom:
"Report! I've shouted it a hundred times!" Baron Bacher exclaimed energetically.
"Good, now tell me everything you know about this school," Dekan said as he stood by the window, gazing at the view outside. He had been inspecting the cooking classroom since moments ago.
He had noticed that outside the window was an abyss with no visible bottom. The entire school seemed to be a small island suspended over a hellish abyss. It appeared they couldn't escape beyond the school's boundaries.
"What kind of information are you looking for?" Baron Bacher asked hesitantly, fearing that he might anger Dekan by rambling.
Dekan walked over to Cornelia, who was still pinning Baron Bacher down. He took out the red demon pass from Cornelia's pocket and waved it in front of Baron Bacher.
"What's this for?" Dekan asked.
"It's a Demon Pass, a reward given to outstanding students by the teachers. With this, even if you encounter the headmaster in the hallway during class time, you can hand it over to him and be spared from an attack, and he won't attack you for half an hour," Baron Bacher replied.
"Do you have a Demon Pass?" Dekan inquired.
"I have one," Baron Bacher replied.
"Where is it?"
"In the pocket of my jacket."
"Alright, I see," Dekan said. He had no intention of letting go of Baron Bacher right now to retrieve the pass. Even though Dekan had already subdued him, this kind of spineless demon couldn't be trusted too much. Dekan's body was quite fragile, and given the chance, Baron Bacher could kill him. Although Dekan had already put on the Crown of Suffering, he still feared pain.
"Next, tell me about the location of every facility in this school, as well as the characteristics of the teachers you know," Dekan instructed.
Baron Bacher hesitated for a moment and then answered, "I don't know much about the other teachers because the teachers in this school change frequently."
It seemed that the teacher mortality rate in this school was quite high.
"Who is the strongest teacher in the school?" Dekan asked.
"Without a doubt, it's the headmaster, but the headmaster may not always be in the school. He only appears at the school at certain random times, so there could be cases where the teachers don't follow the rules because they know he won't catch them. The headmaster only hunts down teachers who break the rules," Baron Bacher explained.
Dekan nodded. This indicated that they could use the rules to counteract the teachers, but forcing the teachers to follow the rules might be difficult. In situations where it was a matter of life or death, they would definitely choose to fight.
However, Dekan also found it strange. The headmaster was hunting down teachers, not threatening students. This likely meant that the headmaster wasn't the boss. If the headmaster wasn't the boss, were there other dangerous teachers?
"Besides the headmaster and the principal, are there any other school staff who are particularly dangerous or above the norm?" Despite having completed Task Objective 2, Dekan was still very interested in information about the boss. If he had a chance, he would try to clear the boss room.
The rewards for clearing the Shadow World were related to the final evaluation, the enemies defeated in the Shadow World, the deeds accomplished, and the loot acquired. If he didn't clear the boss room, even if he cleared the Shadow World, the rewards would be ranked lower.
In other Shadow Worlds, Dekan wouldn't be so eager for rewards; but this was a demon-themed Shadow World. If he managed to achieve an SSS rank and clear the boss room, there was a good chance he could obtain extremely valuable demon materials or items. These might be useful for restoring his master.
Of course, his master wouldn't want him to take unnecessary risks. If it was too dangerous, Dekan would wisely give up on the boss room.
Baron Bacher thought for a moment and said, "I've heard about... Miss Olive in the Demon Laboratory. She's always conducting terrifying experiments, and there are even rumors that she often disregards the school rules. But so far, the headmaster hasn't been able to catch her breaking any rules."
Laboratory? Terrifying experiments? This was probably it! This demon named Olive was most likely the one mentioned in the mission who tortured humans. The humans to be rescued were probably in her laboratory. Without a doubt, this was the boss room.
"Go on," Dekan urged.
"That's it. The Demon Laboratory is far from the cooking classroom, and we have very little interaction with it," Baron Bacher replied.
"...Then, describe the school map, classroom information, and any information you know about the teachers," Dekan instructed.
...
Baron Bacher talked to Dekan for a good half hour, providing him with information. During this time, Dekan sat at the long table, organizing the information based on Baron Bacher's statements. He roughly drew a map, filling it with annotations.
"It's absurd, the first time I've seen a school where you have to interrogate your teachers to gain knowledge. It's exhausting."
After confirming that there was no more valuable information from Baron Bacher, Dekan put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and stretched.
Upon hearing Dekan's sigh, Cornelia hesitated to speak. Even in a demon academy, it's not common for students to learn by interrogating their teachers.
Dekan looked at Cornelia, with a slight smile on his face. "Cornelia, you've done well."
Since capturing Baron Bacher, Cornelia had been suppressing him for nearly an hour.
"Piece of cake," Cornelia replied. She didn't even feel tired as long as she didn't have to use her brain; she considered it a leisure activity.
"Lastly, I'll need you to help him forget," Dekan told Cornelia.
"How do you make a demon forget?" Cornelia asked, a bit puzzled. She had never studied mental or soul magic.
Dekan smiled without answering, and in Baron Bacher's terrified gaze, summoned the Ruined Poet.
Cornelia frowned slightly, deep in thought. She blinked, seeming to suddenly realize something.
Then, without hesitation, Cornelia gripped the handle of her hammer and swung it down on Baron Bacher's head.
"Boom!"
The entire classroom made a deafening sound, as if the ground was about to collapse. Baron Bacher's head was embedded in the ground, and cracks spread out from the impact point like a spiderweb.
This blow didn't explode Baron Bacher's head, but it did break her hammer. The entire handle bent, turning it into an unusable card.
Cornelia placed her foot on Baron Bacher and flipped him over. His eyes rolled back. He completely passed out.
"Do you think he's still alive?" Dekan asked.
"Yes, he's just unconscious," Cornelia replied. She could still feel Baron Bacher's breathing. This demon, at least Tier 5, had a sturdy body and strong vitality. However, after receiving Cornelia's full-force blow to the head, combined with twenty times the pain, even if he didn't forget, he would likely be in a daze.
"Very well, let's take a break," Dekan sighed, raising his palm with a light pat.
Baron Bacher still had his uses, so they couldn't let him go just yet.
"What's next?" Cornelia asked, not paying any more attention to Baron Bacher on the ground.
Dekan checked the time. It had been approximately two hours and four minutes since they entered the instance dungeon. There were still twenty-six minutes until the next class bell rang.
"Let's rest for half an hour, and you should eat something too," Dekan said to Cornelia.
They didn't need to go on another adventure right now, and they certainly needed some rest. After all, experiencing life still required a balance between work and relaxation.
