It Came From the Ceiling

Left alone with nothing to do but wait, Theodore began to examine the room for any oddities. It was not due to caution of any particular level. So long as he's in this city, he was already trapped. There was hardly a need to trap him further in this room. Perhaps there was some kind of surveillance, but he had prepared to act as if he was under surveillance for every waking moment the minute he stepped into Annaliese's carriage. He was merely looking around because he was bored.

His eyes wandering about, Theodore eventually noticed small gaps around the corners of the ceiling. Most likely, those were ventilation shafts. For a structure of this size, it was only natural to have some vents to regulate airflow. It's far too small for him to pass through, but perhaps something the size of a rat might.

"Hm?"

Just as he began to turn away, Theodore thought he saw something glistening from the ceiling. Feeling a bout of discomfort, he took a few steps away as he kept an eye on what would unfold.

From the ceiling, a clear liquid body began to drip down to the floor. Before Theodore could even make an assessment of what was going on, the liquid had pooled into one spot.

Wondering what the liquid was, Theodore extended threads of Aether from his fingertips towards the puddle only for it to suddenly start moving. In an instant, the puddle of liquid gathered together into a gelatinous blob and then proceeded to slither along the ground.

Taken aback, Theodore leaped onto one of the desks as he watched the blob slide by. He did not like creatures that were low to the ground, creatures such as snakes and the like.

(What the... No, wait, I think I know what this is.)

As the memories came to him, Theodore recalled what the creature was known as. Blobs, Slimes, Cleaners, Jellybugs, Gelrats, it came with all sorts of names. A witch he once knew called them Slimes, so that's the name that stuck with him. Still, this one seemed somewhat different from the ones in the Demon Lord's memories.

From atop the desk, Theodore watched the Slime dragging itself over to the footprints tracked in by Theodore himself. Sliding across each one, the Slime sucked up the dirt into its own body, breaking down the material, and leaving the floor spotless once more. When the floor was cleaned, it began to move towards the wall, climbing back up and sunk back into the ceiling in a process that could be described as 'reverse leaking'.

"Was that the first time you've seen one of those, or were you feigning your surprise?"

Without his notice, it seemed that someone had entered the room. It was rather strange as the doors here open automatically and had an audible hiss when they do so. As such, Theodore was quite shocked that he was ignorant of the new presence in the room.

Hastily jumping off the desk, Theodore turned towards the source of the voice, finding there an odd figure wearing white, flowing robes, a large scarf, and a pointed hat a little too big for a person of their size. As the figure moved towards him, the brim of her hat bobbed up and down as her robes flowed freely as if in water. If Theodore were to squint, the person would probably look like a large, pointy-headed jellyfish.

When he tried to see the person's face, he found that he couldn't. With the large scarf wrapped around their face and the big hat angled in a particular manner, seeing their face was not possible. Even her hands were covered in long, silken gloves. This was the second person he had met that could very well be an animated bundle of clothing. No, perhaps it could be said that this one was the first. Theodore, or rather, the Demon Lord, knew this person.

"Hello, I'm Theodore," he began with a standard greeting. "Do you know Annaliese by any chance?"

"Why of course," the pointy-headed jellyfish answered with a jovial voice. "She's a student of mine, you see. As for myself, you may call me Stellaria."

Stellaria... She was one of the five that locked the Demon Lord down in battle during the final days of the war. The remembrance of having to weave through her magical barrage made Theodore's stomach churn. He knew that he was going to meet her eventually when he came here, but he didn't think that it would be so soon.

In her hand, Theodore noticed a rather thick stack of paper, one which she placed down on a desk near him.

Noticing Theodore's curious gaze at the papers, Stellaria spoke.

"This is the first part of the exam. You have two hours."

"All these in two hours?" Theodore uttered as he stared at the stack.

"Good luck~"

With that, she left as suddenly as she arrived.

Theodore could feel the sides of his head throbbing, his blood vessels bulging violently. To think, they would have him take the exam as soon as he arrives. Perhaps they were counting on catching him off guard with his fatigue from traveling.

All of a sudden, 'they' recalled the headaches Stellaria used to cause 'them' back in the day. Arriving suddenly and disappearing just as quickly, leaving a mountain of nuisance in her wake; she hadn't changed the slightest bit. On top of that, it appeared that she had neglected to leave him something to write with.

"Two hours... I better hurry."

First things first, Theodore had to procure some writing tools.

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End of Chapter 22

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