Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill-Chapter 338: Caught?

William slipped out of sight just as Brian passed by, but a nagging thought refused to leave him alone.

"Isn’t this a good time to kill him?"

The mission was clear enough: kill Brian. Now, with only the two of them in this underground chamber, the Lich chained and silent, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

As far as William could tell, nobody had seen them come down here. There was no one nearby to witness anything that might happen.

But William hesitated. He had started to move, intent on finishing the job, when the Lich reached out to him again.

It wasn’t speech, not exactly. The Lich sent a pulse of energy, as it had before, and William understood the message clearly enough: now was not the time.

"Maybe it knows something I don’t?" wondered William.

There could be magical traps in the room, or worse. If William stepped in, he might end up caught himself, or ambushed by someone Brian had hidden away. There were too many unknowns.

If the Lich thought it was better to wait, William was inclined to trust its judgment.

So, William slipped away, retracing his steps back toward the dorms. There was nothing to gain by lingering here, watching Brian torment the Lich. He doubted he would learn anything new.

William made his way back in less time than before, no longer needing to keep his distance from Brian. With only the guards to consider, and those hardly presenting a real obstacle, the return trip was almost uneventful.

Back in his quarters, tucked away in the same building as the other instructors, William settled onto his bed and let his thoughts drift over the events of the day.

He clenched his fists, "This Brian bastard will be tough to kill... There are just too many things I don’t know about him."

The thought of divine magic unsettled him. William had grown more comfortable with necromancy and the darker energies, but he couldn’t help but wonder if that sort of power would be particularly effective against someone like him.

It wasn’t an unreasonable concern, and it only reinforced William’s decision to approach Brian with greater caution and to spend more time preparing.

"Maybe I should return to speak with Lich..."

Brian wouldn’t be there forever, and judging by what William overheard, he went there weekly to torture the Lich for answers. That added up with what Nina said about him appearing in the academy from time to time.

That left William with a narrow window to speak with the Lich alone. If anyone could offer insight—or perhaps a method—to deal with Brian, it would be the ancient creature locked away beneath the academy.

Exhaustion finally caught up with William, and he barely made it to his bed before sleep claimed him. He didn’t stir again until the first light of morning crept through the window.

He started his morning with a quick shower, letting the warm water chase away the last traces of sleep, before heading down to the main hall for breakfast.

The students barely spared him a second glance this morning, a sure sign that his presence at the academy was becoming just another part of the daily routine. Even the teachers seemed content to leave him be, which was a welcome change.

The only real change at breakfast was Brian, who had claimed a quiet corner of the hall for himself, quietly working through his meal.

Brian blended into the background so well that he might as well have been part of the furniture. If William hadn’t known better, he would have assumed the man was just another staff member, not a teacher at all. To the students, Brian was little more than a rumor.

A quick glance at Brian’s expression told William everything he needed to know. The man had come up empty-handed with the Lich once again.

"What type of treasure is he after?" thought William, "Maybe the necromancer cult is after the same treasure? Or this Lich was once part of the cult?"

There were still too many gaps in what the cult had told him. Either he wasn’t meant to know those details yet, or they were simply waiting to see if he could piece things together on his own.

William made a point of not looking in Brian’s direction too often. Drawing attention to himself was the last thing he needed. Once breakfast was finished, he slipped outside and began searching for the guard who had passed him the note the day before—the one who doubled as a spy.

No matter where he searched, there was no sign of the guard. It was as if the man had simply disappeared.

William approached another guard, who smiled when he saw William.

"Professor William," he said, "do you need any help?"

Within the academy walls, teachers outranked the guards by a wide margin, so William was always treated with a certain level of respect. Not that it mattered much—most of the guards were decent enough, regardless of titles.

"I was wondering if you could help me locate a guard? We drank the other night, and the man needs to pay for his beers..." William said with a light chuckle.

"Haha," the guard laughed at it, "what guard? I think we all like to drink beer from time to time... Well, maybe too often."

"Could you tell me the name of this guard?"

William scratched the back of his head, "The thing is, we were too drunk to remember, and that was the first time that guard drank with me. But I can give you his description..."

William did his best to describe the guard, though he was still a bit fuzzy on the details. It turned out he didn’t need to be too precise; the other guard seemed to recognize who he meant almost immediately.

"You mean Zen? Well, I think you might have to wait to get your money back... He left the academy on some sort of mission. I don’t know the details, though. You could ask the principal."

"Well, thank you for sharing what you know," William said, "that bastard robbed me at the right time, didn’t he?"

The guard laughed at it again, "You bet. He knew he would leave soon; that’s why he asked you to pay. The man is clever."

With the guard’s information in hand, William made his way out, mind already turning over the next step. The principal would need to hear about this, and if anyone could make sense of the situation, it would be him.

There was a chance this would stir up trouble, but William needed to be sure the cult’s spy was still in one piece. For all intents and purposes, the man had been an ally during the mission, even if their partnership was more necessity than trust.

William made his way up to the top floor of the academy’s main building, weaving through clusters of students who barely glanced his way. At the end of the hall, he paused for a moment before knocking on the principal’s office door.

When the principal saw William’s face, he smiled.

"I needed to talk to you," the principal said, "Come in, come in."

William nodded, settling into the chair across from the principal. He tried to read the man’s expression, but came up empty. Whatever this was about, it wasn’t something he’d seen coming.

"What do you want to talk about?" the principal asked.

"You talk first," William said, "mine is not that urgent."

"If you say so. Look, this is actually a really important business, and you are the best teacher out of everyone."

A subtle tension crept into the room, and William found himself bracing for whatever was about to land in his lap.

"There are spies inside the academy," the principal said, his eyes lingered on William a moment too long.

Hearing those words from the principal was enough to send a chill down William’s spine.