Chapter 794
"I will go."
Exclamations of Oh—! flowed out from all directions.
The first person to volunteer was Simon.
"As expected."
"Well, he was the Student Council President, after all."
Thanks to his recent change in image, the reactions of his peers were also positive. Even Hector’s gang refrained from picking a fight with Simon in such an atmosphere.
Grerion also broke into a broad smile.
"Hahahaha! With you stepping forward, we can feel secure! Excellent."
Simon rose from his seat and signed his name on the defense squad list. If it was something he could do for Aron, he wanted to do it.
Just then, there seemed to be a rustling sound nearby, and another person stood up right beside Simon.
This time, even Simon was startled.
"I will go as well."
Loraine Arkbold.
She raised her hand. The students murmured in surprise.
"Hmm, you are in a rather special position."
Grerion narrowed his eyes and scratched his head.
"Have you received combat permission?"
He used the word “combat permission”, but in truth he was asking whether she had received her mother Neftis’ approval.
She nodded.
"I was told that in an emergency, I may use my strength. Moreover, this is for the sake of my fellow classmates."
The teaching assistants immediately surrounded Grerion, whispering urgently, "No, you can’t!", "You must not allow it!" If anything happened to Neftis’ daughter, getting expelled from the school would be the least of it.
But Grerion grinned.
"How could I turn a blind eye to such admirable determination and resolve! Welcome to the defense squad!"
"Thank you."
Loraine bowed deeply.
The head assistant let out a weary sigh.
"Then we shall select just one more volunteer!"
Since Simon had already stepped forward, everyone naturally expected Hector to rise.
"I will go as we—"
"I will be going."
But someone cut off Hector’s words as they rose from their seat.
Not only Hector, but everyone present was stunned.
No matter what class was being held, she always sat in the back, quietly observing. With her lustrous platinum hair flowing, she arrogantly raised her hand. It was none other than the future Master of the Ivory Tower, Serne Eindark.
"Do not interfere."
Hector growled, baring his teeth. But Serne did not change expression, only flashing a sly, fox-like smile.
"You remember the debts you owe me, don’t you?"
"......."
"And don’t you think it would be a problem if even the department representative joined the defense squad? In an emergency, someone has to look after the students."
Hector glared, his eyes burning, then finally let out a long sigh and sat back down.
To stop Hector in his tracks like that. The surrounding students looked at Serne with quiet admiration.
"Me. I volunteer~"
Having brushed aside the competition with ease, Serne waved her hand lightly.
Grerion skimmed through the papers.
"Your grades in Defense Against Holiness and in this training aren’t particularly good, but......."
Trailing off, Grerion then gave a short laugh and closed the documents.
"It won’t be a problem."
She might be a teenage student in uniform, but in truth her power was that of a monstrous being beyond the realm of students. She would surpass most active necromancer agents.
"Welcome to the defense squad, Serne Eindark."
With fluttering steps, Serne came over to Simon’s side. She then clung to his arm with a smile.
"Now we’re on the same team, Simon?"
As the gazes of those around them fell on him, Simon flustered, while Loraine glared fiercely and tore Serne away.
"What are you scheming."
"I’m not scheming anything. If I’m going, it seems more fun to be on Simon’s side."
Simon Follentia.
Loraine Arkbold.
Serne Eindark.
Even just listing their names was overwhelming. Whatever priest might come, a defense squad with these three could stop them all.
"I look forward to working with you! As defense squad members, you will now receive more detailed information about the mission."
Grerion turned his head.
"Now then, everyone, prepare to depart!"
"Huh?"
"Having heard even a little about this confidential mission, you will be moved to an isolated location to await the operation!"
Rumble—!
As if on cue, Keyzen’s subordinates poured out from all around the cave, leading the students away one by one.
Teleportation magic circles spread out in every corner. Blindfolds were placed on the students so they could not see the coordinates of the teleportation formulas.
"For security reasons, bear with the inconvenience and cooperate! The mission will commence the morning after tomorrow!"
Grerion clenched his fist.
"We will cross the border!"
* * *
Moving to the waiting area immediately after the mission announcement,
It was a typically bold move from Grerion.
The students were transported somewhere unknown through the teleportation circles.
Fortunately, they were able to remove their blindfolds as soon as they arrived. When Simon opened his eyes, he saw Loraine and Serne clinging to his arm and clothes on either side.
"......Girls?"
Simon stammered in bewilderment. Two passing male students glared at him with envy sharp enough to kill.
At least with their vision restored, a large stone building could be seen ahead. Beyond it, nothing but fields and grassy hills stretched out.
The sound of the wind, the trickling of a stream.
It felt as though a lone house and the students had been dropped into the middle of a vast plain.
"This must be near the border."
Loraine muttered after removing her blindfold. Serne lifted hers with a fingertip, humming lightly.
"Hahahaha! Everyone made it safely!"
Grerion and the assistants also arrived. He snorted proudly.
"The first and second floors will be for male students, the third and fourth floors for female students! Unpack your things and rest for a while. Assistants will hand out forms, where you will list what items, undergarments, and spare clothes you need. Subordinates will fetch them from your dorm rooms! Any form of outside communication is strictly forbidden, and you are not to leave this barrier!"
He pushed up his sunglasses with a sniff and scanned the details.
"Rest inside for three hours, then regroup here for simulation and mission training! Now go in and relax!"
"Yes!"
They had come to class as usual with easy hearts, yet suddenly they were thrown into a camp-like atmosphere.
Still, Keyzen students were quick to adapt to such things, gathering in groups.
Just then, Toto brought Fitzgerald along, suggesting they share the same room.
Simon gladly agreed and was about to head that way when—
"Wait!"
Grerion stretched out his hand.
"From now on, the defense squad will use a separate lodging! It is as if the mission has already begun. You must protect your fellow students!"
"Huh?"
Simon was bewildered, while Serne approached him in delight.
"Oh my, again with this. Isn’t this nice, nice?"
Just thinking of how she would tease him already made the coming day feel exhausting.
Anyway, the defense squad’s quarters were a small annex beside the main building. A position from which they could run out immediately if anything happened.
Simon, Loraine, and Serne followed the assistant into the separate quarters.
‘The room is nice.’
Since it was a lone building standing in an empty field, he hadn’t expected much, but the room was larger and cleaner than he thought. Each had their own bed.
The assistant handed out forms where they could list the items they needed, then left. While Simon unpacked, Serne scribbled on her form with a quill pen.
"Snacks, cosmetics, pajamas, pillows. And underwear. Simon, what design do you like?"
Simon decided to pretend he hadn’t heard. Loraine, with a deeply focused expression, was busily writing on her own form.
Two hours later.
"......."
Loraine’s bed had turned pink. It was piled high with dolls and cushions.
It seemed she had brought all the bedding from her dormitory.
"At most we’ll be here a day or two. Isn’t this a little much?"
Simon asked carefully.
"...I can’t sleep well unless I have my own things."
Loraine shyly twisted her hair as she answered.
"Fufufu."
Serne, meanwhile, tried to flaunt her bizarre clothing near her bed, but Loraine forcefully confiscated them and stuffed them into the drawer.
Since there was still time before training, the three of them chatted.
"During vacation, I sometimes followed my mother to the border."
Loraine said, closing her eyes.
"The border between the Alliance and the Federation is always full of battles big and small, but the atmosphere was definitely different than usual."
"The Dark Alliance has grown too complacent in peace."
Serne sat on her bed, crossing her legs.
"They say on the Holy Federation’s side, fear of war has risen so high that hoarding has become frequent, while here, people just act as if it were normal, even holding festivals. Don’t you think people should be aware?"
"It’s true there’s a lack of a sense of crisis."
For once, the two agreed. Serne spoke again.
"A war may break out in the near future, you know? Even the Ivory Tower has activated its information network in preparation for war. The atmosphere is ominous."
Simon laced his fingers together.
"The relationship between the two nations wasn’t that bad, so why suddenly......."
"Many say it’s simply time. Enough time has passed since the last war, so it’s about to burst. There’s no full-scale war yet, but there have always been plenty of local and mission battles. Above all."
Loraine’s expression hardened.
"There are simply too many warmongers in the world."
* * *
A basement with not a single ray of light.
Drop.
Drop.
The sound of drops hitting the floor quietly echoed.
More precisely, drops of blood.
A man sat slumped on a creaking wooden chair, blood dripping from his entire body. Nearby, all manner of torture devices lay scattered, and the floor was littered with fingernails, toenails, and teeth.
"You’re tenacious."
Fwooo—
Another man bit down on a cigar and lit it.
Smoke wafted out, following the bloody stains across the damp wall, slipping through the narrow vent of the basement.
"There’s one thing I envy about you Dark Alliance people."
The man pinched the cigar between his fingers, chuckling darkly in the shadows.
"You’ve got such a variety of torture methods. Curses, blood arts, toxins. It’s fun for the torturer, and the tortured never grow bored."
He shrugged his shoulders and let out a sinister laugh.
"But in our Federation, the methods are primitive and simple. Plucking, ripping, cutting, things like that. Still, there is one thing."
He stood and gave a hand signal.
"There is one thing we can boast about."
Rumble—!
Priests in white robes rushed in from outside, laying their hands on the man’s body.
<Healing>
Wooooong—!
His body slowly began to recover. The man who had been near death from shock and massive blood loss gradually regained his strength.
"Amazing, isn’t it? If you carve out the Core while alive, strip away every bit of Darkness from the body, and then use healing magic, it recovers. Slowly, but it does."
The tortured man’s eyes slowly regained focus. Life returned to his body.
"You all say the same thing to me. ‘Just kill me instead.’ But those who are captured have no right to die. Death is a right."
He chuckled darkly.
"Life is suffering, and death is peace. Do heretics dare long for peace?"
The man’s eyes finally focused.
His mind cleared, and he suddenly raised his head. He realized where he was, realized what had been done to him.
And finally,
He looked at the white demon before him.
"No! No!"
He convulsed, thrashing wildly.
"Stop! Stop it! Don’t heal me! Just leave me!"
To still have a body meant only one thing: to the man before him, there was still something left to torture.
But the priests prayed to the Goddess for this poor, wounded man’s recovery, placing his nails and teeth back into place as they healed him.
"Stop! Pleeeaase!"
His body was recovering, but the man shook in agony, suffering more than under any torture.
The white demon laughed.
"Without permission, even death is denied. Welcome, to the realm of life."
He left the basement, stretching his stiff body as he climbed the stairs.
A man waiting outside at attention bowed his head.
"Reporting, Chief."
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