Yamiyo no Hotaru

Chapter 111

　"Hey, hey, look at that girl..."

　"Seriously, how can she show her face here?"

　"Pretending to be innocent, shameless..."

　The girl sitting in her seat completely ignored the strange gazes she was receiving. She made a conscious effort to disregard the mocking whispers. After all, she had expected this reaction from the start.

　...The real problem, however, was the lecture being conducted right in front of her.

　"Oh, so you mean... the key points required for constructing a boundary formula are..."

　The elderly professor, who seemed on the verge of his coffin, mumbled the content with uncertainty. A small sigh escaped from her lips in response. She tried not to be noticed by those around her, but she was clearly becoming bored.

　"Sigh... So boring."

　Resting her cheek on her hand, she muttered quietly. It wasn't because she didn't understand the lecture. On the contrary, she found it unbearably dull, precisely because she already knew everything being taught.

　...The Onmyouji Academy, an affiliated institution of the Omnyouji Bureau, was a national educational facility for training young exorcists.

　However, many prestigious families preferred to pass down their secret rituals and concealed techniques within their own families, making it rare for their members to attend the Onmyouji Academy.

　In fact, the establishment of the school was originally a supplementary system set up to restore the quality of the exorcists' families that had been severely weakened or even wiped out during the "Human-Youkai Great War."

　As a result, the majority of students attending the school were from newly emerging exorcist families or from second or third-rate families. Even if students from prestigious families attended, it was more for networking purposes rather than the actual lectures.

　This resulted in the low standard of lectures. Coupled with her own intelligence, the class was unproductive and even painful for her. Even though she was treated as a special student, it didn't change that fact. In fact, it sometimes felt like a burden, considering her family's position.

　"Uh...!?"

　She felt something hit her head. When she glanced, she saw a piece of rolled-up Japanese paper lying on the tatami mat. A small mocking laughter could be heard from behind...

　"..."

　She thought it was a pointless prank, a childish act. And actually, it was just that—a child's doing.

　"Stealth. Transformation. Curse reversal. ...Go."

　She whispered under her breath, directing her focus to the hidden paper. Silently, a paper rat emerged from her sleeve and rolled towards the scrap on the floor. Upon contact, the rat reconfigured itself, turning into a wrinkled paper rat.

　The paper rat dashed forward, hopping between the gaps of the desks. It jumped out on top of a desk right in front of a boy who was about to become an exorcist.

　"Huh?"

　'Squeaks!'

　In an instant, the boy was dumbfounded. The paper rat was quicker than he could react. It spat out ink, splattering the boy's face. Before the boy's cries attracted the attention of others, the paper rat retreated and escaped out of the window. It toss into the fireplace or furnace to make sure there's no evidence left

　"What are you doing? If you cause another commotion, you will be punished, you know?"

　"No, it's... it's that guy! Using a Shikigami!!"