Chapter 57: The Tri-Headed Source of All Evils

After tidying up his luggage in the living room, Roland began to study the school regulations with great seriousness.

"Though I might not necessarily run into these creepy things in the future, it's always best to be prepared."

After reading for a while, Roland breathed a sigh of relief: "Phew, thank goodness. There aren't that many mystical entities among the school staff anymore. Most of them are demons and the like, and White Chess wizards are hunting them down everywhere."

In the past, demons were the absolute last things Roland wanted to encounter, but now he was starting to find them rather endearing.

After briefly scanning through the introduction of the school staff, Roland discovered three particularly "interesting" staff members.

They were: the Ballet Ghost, Lilith, and the Ophidian Beauty.

What made the Ballet Ghost and Lilith "interesting" was that they were members of the "Academy Song and Dance Troupe."

As for the Ophidian Beauty... it had a fondness for performing comedic sketches.

Upon spotting a freshman, Lilith and the Ballet Ghost would immediately burst into song and dance.

While the Ophidian Beauty... would drag you along to watch and listen to its sketches.

Every year at the start of term and during finals, these three fellows would roam wildly all over the academy!

Back in the old days of the academy, the apprentices' first few months of every academic year felt just like undergoing a deadly celestial tribulation!

These three could well be considered the Big Three among the staff of the Black Abyss Academy!

And they were known among the Black Abyss apprentices as the Three Heads of Ultimate Evil!

If you happened to run into Lilith, things might not necessarily turn out too badly, because she was a demon who could be communicated and bargained with. If she was in a good mood, she might just play a few pranks on you and let you go.

However, she loved robbery, kidnapping, and extortion, so encountering her meant all your equipment would be gone! Plus, you'd end up owing a massive ransom!

Still, bumping into Lilith at least guaranteed you would keep your life.

But if you ran into the Ballet Ghost or the Ophidian Beauty... then you were in deep trouble.

To this day, many apprentices who had advanced to official wizards still suffered from severe psychological trauma caused by them—to the extent that the mere sight of puppets, statues, or similar objects would make their legs turn to jelly and cause them to lose control of their bowels.

Roland felt immensely fortunate—fortunate to have entered the academy during the "New Black Abyss Era," sparing him from having to deal with these monsters on a daily basis.

Otherwise, he would have to survive a trial by fire just by enrolling tomorrow!

A strange sound suddenly echoed from the direction of the stairs. Roland looked over sharply, subconsciously tightening his grip on his magic wand, and only relaxed a little after confirming it was "Natasha."

The older sister Natasha walked upstairs carrying a glass of wine. As she passed Roland, she said, "Oh, it seems father didn't even prepare any bedding for you... Just wait a moment, little sweetie; there are clean blankets in the storeroom."

The elder sister offered Roland a gentle smile and carried the glass of wine into her father's room.

Every Black Abyss wizard had certain peculiar habits when returning to their "safe house." Wallace's habit was to sip a small glass of wine right before going to sleep after coming home to rest. If he didn't drink this glass of wine, he wouldn't be able to get a peaceful night's rest.

Roland went to use the restroom. When he came out, he saw Natasha making up the bed for him in front of the sofa. "Thank you, Sister Natasha. I'll take care of it myself."

The elder sister smiled gently, looked up, and said, "You don't need to be so polite, my little cupcake."

She finished smoothing out the sheets for Roland, then took a look at his dusty appearance and asked, "Will you be needing the bathroom? There's a shower in my room—with hot water, you know."

"This..." Roland looked at the dirt on his forearms, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I think I'll pass."

"It's no trouble at all." Natasha reached out to straighten the collar of Roland's shirt and said, "I still need to go down to the basement to sort some cargo. You can use whatever you like in my room. Besides, how are you going to sleep tonight otherwise? And you certainly can't enroll looking this filthy tomorrow, can you? It wouldn't be presentable at all."

Without leaving room for argument, Natasha took Roland downstairs to grab some new toiletry items. Then she led him to her room and explained various novel things like the shower.

The mundane world was still stuck in the middle ages, mostly relying on public bathhouses styled after ancient Rome.

Over on the wizard side, however, it seemed to have already entered the steam age, with fully developed and sophisticated facilities for pipes, drainage, hot water, and heating.

Natasha treated Roland like a little muggle who had never laid eyes on such wondrous novelties. After introducing the bathroom, she smilingly proceeded to tell Roland about the items in her bedroom.

However, she seemed to have forgotten to put away certain massage devices on her bed that operated on magic stones.

Sister Natasha's face flushed slightly, and she smiled amiably, saying, "Oh, that's a facial massager... Never mind, you wouldn't understand. In any case, it's something witches commonly use."

After a pause, Natasha deliberately added: "It's something married witches commonly use. Don't go using this kind of thing as a welcoming gift to hand out randomly to senior female students in the future."

Roland nodded with a blushing face, pretending he knew absolutely nothing.

'I'd certainly never give such a thing to a senior sister; she'd kill me... Still, I never expected the world of wizards to be so advanced, even having things like this.'

Both Natasha's room and bathroom were quite spacious, with the bathroom divided into a washing area and a bathing area.

After explaining how to operate the various amenities, Natasha specifically introduced Roland to a novel item called "soap."

Roland thought to himself: 'This really is remarkably advanced; it feels kind of like returning to the 19th century... Well, though the 19th century is still ancient history.'

After Natasha left, Roland took a sniff of the soap and suddenly discovered that its scent was very similar to Catherine's fragrance.

'So senior sister uses this brand of soap too.'

A wave of heat surged through his body, and he stripped off his clothes to take a bath in the bathing area.

Before long, Roland finished his bath and entered the changing room.

To his utter astonishment, the dirty clothes in his wooden basin were gone.

Neatly folded on the vanity counter was a clean set of garments.

It seemed that while Roland was bathing, Sister Natasha had come in to collect his clothes and conveniently washed his dirty ones.

Roland felt extremely awkward.

The folded garments on the counter were Wallace's old clothes from his youth.

A shirt, a pair of suspender trousers, and a sleeveless vest—an outfit very similar to the style seen in Peaky Blinders.

The old man currently looked very thin and scrawny, but in his youth, he must have been tall and robust, likely standing around one meter eighty-five.

In this era, that height was already considered very tall. Compared to wearing wizard robes to lecture others, he looked far better suited to donning armor and heading onto the battlefield.

Wallace's old clothes were large sizes, but when worn by Roland, they still turned out slightly tight.

After changing into the clothes, Roland looked at himself in the mirror. Gazing at the tall, formidable, handsome, and striking young man reflected back, he evaluated his current height.

He realized with a shock that ever since he had cultivated the Valerian swordsmanship to its current level, he had unconsciously grown taller, already reaching one meter ninety.

Returning to the living room, Roland picked up his study of the book of demons.

The "Old School Regulations of the Black Abyss Academy" had instilled a sense of crisis in him.

As Wallace had mentioned earlier, the current school staff were primarily demons.

This book not only recorded knowledge about demons but also contained a wealth of information regarding banishment and sealing techniques.

If he encountered the Ballet Ghost, the Ophidian Beauty, or similar horrors in the academy later on, he would likely have to rely on professors or instructors to save his life. But if he ran into a demon... he might actually have a fighting chance by using this book.

Of course, it was still best to avoid them whenever possible.

....

Author's Note: That's all for today. Updating too much during the new book period causes it to drop off the new release rankings. Give it a few days, and I'll unleash a massive update wave once it goes official.
Please support me, everyone! Your support is my only driving force; otherwise, it really dampens my mood.