Chapter 802
“It is the command of Saint Dana, step back.”
At those words, Leight’s expression twisted grotesquely, the woman in priest’s robes spoke.
“It is the Saint’s message, do not ruin the great cause for a trivial matter, return at once, if an incident occurs here then beyond that—”
She lifted her eyes.
“She said, not even I could protect you.”
“.......”
Leight let out a low, derisive chuckle.
“Has that woman caught the disease of cowardice too.”
Thud!
He lifted the Cross Blade in his hand and struck it against the ground, its size began to shrink.
“Well, if you’ve reserved a big pie, you have to endure.”
His eyes rolled back toward the rear.
“Let’s kill and be killed on a greater battlefield, heretics.”
Leight and the priest turned their backs and left. Where they walked away, a holiness magic reminiscent of a Gate unfolded.
One necromancer approached Aron and whispered.
“Sir, are you really going to let them go, when Leight is right before our eyes?”
Aron shook his head with a weary look.
“There is no need to fight wagering the lives of the wounded and the students, moreover it’s not us letting him go, it’s that bastard letting us go.”
Aron turned his back and shouted.
“Cease attack, the battle is over, focus on the recovery of the wounded.”
Only then did the necromancers stop chanting their black magic and scatter quickly. The students, who had been anxiously watching from a distance, also let out a sigh of relief.
Aron turned fully, looking toward Lin and Rune, the twin Ancient Undead.
“Thank you both for coming to aid us in such urgency.”
“Oh well~ we didn’t even properly fight, right Lin?”
“That’s right, Rune!”
Originally Lin and Rune, the two Ancient Undead, should have been on a different battlefield, but this time their appearance was due to Neftis’ arrangement.
The presence of the two, with their troublesome abilities, had undeniably played a part in making Leight withdraw his hand and turn back.
“Professor Aron!”
“Professor Lin! Professor Rune!”
Once the situation settled, the students of the Summonology Department who had withdrawn rushed over.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, is everyone safe.”
Aron smiled faintly as he looked at his disciples. Lin and Rune also chatted with the students they had not seen for a while.
Meanwhile, the teaching assistants of the Materials Science class who had been commanding the students came running in a hurry. Aron looked at them.
“Casualties?”
“Fortunately, all students are unharmed, but……”
The chief assistant of Materials Science lowered his head.
“Professor Grerion and two assistants were seriously injured, especially the professor, by Leight…….”
“I see.”
Aron closed his eyes tightly, then opened them.
“I will go see him.”
“He is receiving emergency treatment in the infirmary, this way.”
Aron and the chief assistant walked quickly. Then Aron suddenly stopped as if remembering something and turned back to the students.
“Even the slightest injury must be reported and treated, the entire Summonology Department will return to Roke Island.”
“Yes!”
* * *
The students all returned safely to Keyzen.
No one had expected Leight’s appearance, and there had been a chance of being captured or left behind in the Federation, but if looking only at the result, Aron’s mission was successful.
All the students were safe, and they had obtained the Paladin’s remains, the key material for the Corrupted-type Death Knight.
The official wounded were Professor Grerion and two assistants. In particular, Grerion, a battle-hardened veteran, brushed it off, saying he had gone through worse in his youth and got back on his feet.
It seemed the recovery would take about two weeks. The two assistants who had been crucified along with him were granted several months of paid leave.
In fact, Simon had also sustained a slight injury while fighting Leight, but he thought it would not be good for Aron if rumors spread that a student had been hurt during the mission, so he did not go to the infirmary, and instead was treated by Professor Farahan of Defense Against Holiness once they returned to Roke Island.
Thus, after the incident, Simon, Loraine, and Serne, who had been on the defensive line and directly faced Leight, were questioned by headquarters in Keyzen.
There, they told the staff what had happened, and whom they had fought.
“They say Efnelle’s Torture Museum has been completely destroyed.”
The headquarters staff adjusted his glasses and laid out photos.
Traces of a pitch-black explosion, and shattered buildings could be seen.
“The explosion bore not the mark of holiness, but of Darkness. At the time, Professor Grerion was unconscious and recalls nothing, if you know anything, please state it here.”
Simon wore a nervous expression.
That had been because Prince failed to control the firepower of his Corpse Explosion.
‘What should I do?’
Should he say the Traitor Legion’s Commander fought Leight, and he had witnessed that battle?
No, there was no need. The very fact that the Traitor Legion’s Commander had come here was enough to draw suspicion.
As Simon pondered what to do—
“It was me.”
Loraine raised her hand. Simon stared at her in shock.
“During the fight with Leight, I lost control of my firepower, I’m sorry.”
“Miss Loraine…… no, student.”
The staff member raised his sunglasses.
“For a student’s ability to cause such destruction……”
“Me too.”
Serne added.
“While fighting near the museum, some of my fire magic spread, I think that collapsed part of the facility, is that a problem?”
‘Even Serne…….’
The staff member alternated glances at the two over his glasses, then sighed faintly, wrote a few words in his notebook, and nodded.
“Then we will record it as such, next question.”
Thanks to their testimony, it seemed the matter had been smoothed over.
Simon let out a deep sigh of relief inwardly and sent them silent gratitude.
The questioning proceeded without incident, and soon the investigation was concluded.
“So tedious.”
On the way out of the building, Serne stretched.
Simon again gave thanks.
“Thank you both.”
Loraine smiled gently.
“No, it was me who received help from you on site, Simon.”
Serne curved her eyes.
“For our precarious Legion Commander, I’d do anything~”
The two walked together across campus, exchanging this and that.
Simon in particular asked the questions he had been curious about.
“How is it on the Holy Federation’s side?”
He was worried this destruction of the museum might ignite war or conflict.
“Strangely enough, no word at all.”
Loraine replied calmly.
“It seems Efnelle wants to bury this matter completely, even the museum explosion they are covering up themselves.”
“That is unexpected.”
Serne moved her lips.
“Normally when something like this happens, the Holy Federation would use it to sharpen hostility against external enemies, and to strengthen unity within.”
“True, or perhaps they judged it troublesome if the fact that their border defenses were so easily breached became known—”
Loraine folded her arms and continued.
“Or maybe, that museum held something important, like a holy relic.”
“I don’t think so.”
Serne shook her head.
“That museum, from what the Ivory Tower’s intelligence network confirmed, even among Holy Federation residents the public opinion was quite negative. They said the grotesque displays damaged the image of both the Federation and Efnelle. There’s no way a place like that would hold something as important as a holy relic.”
Simon quietly nodded as he listened alternately to Keyzen and the Ivory Tower’s reports.
At that moment Loraine asked.
“Simon, did you secure the Paladin’s remains?”
“Ah, yeah.”
It really is a proper Paladin, right?
Simon scratched the side of his head with a forced smile.
“Probably.”
The truth, that the remains he brought back were exactly the reason the Holy Federation had suppressed information—Simon still did not know.
The situation was safely wrapped up.
Though everyone was restraining themselves since Grerion was injured, in fact, within the Summonology Department the morale had risen considerably.
They had crossed the border safely, and even evaded pursuit from the infamous Leight. As rumors spread, students of other departments spoke of the incident.
Simon’s exploits of course, and the actions of the Summonology Department itself, had become a clear focus of attention within the academy.
And then.
“Damn it.”
There was one man who hated the entire flow.
Sixth overall, representative of Spiritology.
Now risen to fifth overall, Keyzen’s vice president, Sota Psyche. He sat in an empty cafe in Rochest, waiting for someone.
“Why does it bother me so much, why does every little thing get under my skin.”
To Sota, everything was irritating.
The path of Simon Follentia.
Every situation, craftily evading his schemes.
In particular, he had recently moved Farahan’s assistant to destroy Simon’s Dragonian, but instead, before countless witnesses, it had only elevated Simon’s name and fame.
He had moved Will Douglas to crush Simon’s spirit, but that too had failed when Summonology’s representative Leonard shielded Simon.
On top of that, Claudia, who led the protests of first and second years, was a considerable nuisance. Even the professors of the third year who fed him information were too wary of her to act decisively.
‘Why the hell are they all helping that bastard? We’re the ones who hold power!’
Whenever Simon fell into difficulty, someone new would come out to help him. In competition-driven Keyzen, such things were rarely seen.
“Let’s go back already, Sota, how long are you going to wait?”
A fellow third-year, who had come with him to the cafe, yawned as he spoke.
“We’ve waited over two hours, if she hasn’t come then it’s over. From the start, she’s not someone who’d be swayed by a letter saying ‘I’ll wait here until you come’.”
“......Tch.”
Sota groaned, closing his eyes.
This meeting was to draw the ‘second overall of the third year’ toward the Ballack student council faction. But she had not shown up.
He had tried to move before Leonard and Simon could reach her, but the result was failure.
“You’re acting unlike yourself lately, too hasty, Sota.”
His companion spun a crystal orb in his hand as he spoke.
“Don’t you trust Ballack? Is there really such a need to press Simon Follentia so hard?”
“Of course there is!”
Sota gnashed his teeth.
“You know it too! In the Student Council President duel, Simon Follentia fought Ballack evenly for a while, didn’t he?
“That was because Ballack had exhausted himself catching Aizel. Plus, he had to watch out for the Grerion family and Leonard who were present.”
“Still, it’s unsettling.”
Sota bit his nails.
“Unsettling! Damnably unsettling! I must graduate as Keyzen’s third-year vice president, no matter what! I’ve already set up all the stories outside for it, I won’t allow even the slightest variable to appear in my goal!”
“You’re making trouble for yourself.”
His companion shook his head, but Sota kept biting his nails with a paranoid face.
Variables are hateful. Since his first year, he had steadily built a plan centered on ‘Aizel’.
Aizel, strong in skill but fragile inside, was made to depend on him, manipulated by him. Looking back, it was a perfect plan.
But one by one, trivial variables arose, and that perfect plan began to warp.
He had set up a long-term mission, but burdened by the presidency, Aizel delayed his return. Phantasus then whimsically placed Simon as president, and upon meeting his duel opponent, Aizel’s personality began to shift.
Variables, variables, variables.
Of course, if Ballack and Simon fought, Ballack would win with very high probability, but there was a reason Sota sought to block all variables with paranoia.
Especially Simon, who held the challenge right against Ballack, could never be left alone.
“So, what’s your next plan?”
His companion suddenly asked.
“Recruiting the Summonology dorm supervisor was blocked by Leonard, the third-year professors are too busy stopping Claudia’s mobilized parents, your underlings are tied up by that second-year Dick or whoever, and headquarters is hard to move because Loraine Arkbold is there, right?”
Sota sighed deeply, then spoke.
“What about that ‘repeater’ informant, did you recruit him? If we failed with second overall, at least grab that guy. Even if he’s a second year, he’s still our junior….”
“You mean Kajan, the repeater? He’s close to Simon.”
“What?”
“They were roommates in the same dorm last year.”
Bang!
Sota slammed the table.
“This is insane!”
It felt as if the world itself was cutting him down.
How could Simon possibly have such a wide web of connections?
The moment Simon Follentia was made an enemy, the ties he had built became frightening.
“He sure made good use of school life, that bastard.”
His companion chuckled. Sota glared once, then opened his mouth.
“Now there’s only one way left.”
“What is it?”
“The upcoming second-year group exam.”
Sota ground his teeth.
“There, I’ll drive Simon Follentia out of Keyzen.”
* * *
That weekend, an empty classroom.
Class A’s regular study session.
Simon’s group entered the empty classroom to hold their study meeting.
“Hey guys, did you hear?”
Barely ten minutes after studying began, Dick grinned as he spoke.
“They say the second-year group exam is about to start.”
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