Chapter 37
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Aftermath and Alliances
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“Good work.”
The ship that arrived at the island belonged to the Golden Turtle Merchant Guild. Hyde, who was personally commanding the vessel, greeted Pernyan.
“It seems your business went well.”
“Yes. I caught the spy.”
“A Vile Breed?”
“A Vile Breed, yes.”
“To think a Vile Breed had infiltrated the guild. We narrowly avoided a disaster.”
“What about the other students?”
They had killed the Sea Serpent, but there was no stopping the sundered ship from sinking.
The vessel quickly sank beneath the waves, and the students were scattered by the currents.
And in that chaos, Pernyan, Ruina, and Bella had pursued Aint.
“Fortunately, we've recovered everyone safely.”
But Pernyan had been preparing for this day for some time.
Seven ships, prepared in advance and positioned just out of sight of the yacht.
The ships had formed a perimeter around the yacht, like a dragnet, and conducted a search operation, rescuing everyone who had fallen overboard.
To be precise, it was Hyde's doing.
“Good work.”
“It was nothing.”
It wasn't an empty compliment.
The students of the Yacht Club were either children of influential families or talents who could hold their own anywhere in the empire.
If even one of them had come to harm, no matter if the cause was a natural disaster, it could have become a major problem.
Because when things go wrong, people always look for someone to blame.
The ship carrying Pernyan and his group soon rendezvoused with the other vessels that had rescued the students.
“Pernyan.”
“Ludger, are you all right?”
“I'm fine. Thanks to you, I'm alive. How long did you have those ships on standby?”
“Always.”
“Always?”
“I always keep an escort ship nearby, just in case. I'm glad I did.”
Ludger accepted the prepared excuse without question.
“This was completely unexpected. To think a large group of monsters would attack the ship…”
“Same here. I've never heard of anything like this happening since the academy was founded.”
Which made it all the more certain. Proof that the demons had begun to stir.
“…We'll need to determine the cause. Oh, and I'll pay for the sunken ship.”
“You will?”
Pernyan barely managed to keep his expression neutral at the unexpected offer.
“Yes. I was the one who suggested changing this to a yacht club. The boat was just a rental, wasn't it?”
“I believe I was the one who brought up the idea of a yacht club.”
“But I was the one who made the decision.”
That was true. Even among the Elector families, everyone had given more weight to the words of Ludger, the prince.
“…Well, if you're offering, I won't refuse.”
It was a loss he could more than cover with future profits, but avoiding the loss altogether was the best-case scenario.
‘He's definitely not a bad person at his core.’
His conflict with Aint must be a matter of destiny.
There cannot be two suns in one sky.
Of course, his intentions probably weren't entirely pure, but from Pernyan's perspective, the one paying was king.
“…I want to get back to the dorms quickly. I'm sick of the sea now.”
Ludger muttered under his breath, pulling the blanket wrapped around him tighter.
* * *
The next day, news of what happened to the Yacht Club spread throughout the academy in an instant.
Pernyan and a few other members of the Yacht Club were summoned by their supervising professor.
“It's been a while, Student Pernyan.”
For any club to be established, a professor's approval was required.
The professor who granted the approval would become the club's supervisor, a system designed to manage the students.
“Yes, Professor.”
Dominique Kolsner, a professor of 'Illusions and Phantasms' in the Magic Department, was the Yacht Club's supervising professor.
“I try not to get involved unless necessary, but this time, I couldn't stay out of it.”
“I understand.”
A club composed of the children of renowned noble families.
Normally, his role as supervisor was merely a formality, but he couldn't stand by idly after such a major incident.
“I'm conducting interviews with some of the students to hear their stories. It's a relief that everything was resolved well, but I must get a clear picture of what happened.”
“Yes.”
Professor Dominique adjusted his monocle. Behind the lens, his gray pupils always seemed to carry a gloomy air.
“It happened so suddenly. They were…”
“A large swarm of Sea Worms and a Sea Serpent. This is unprecedented. It's fortunate no students died. Were the standby ships a regular precaution?”
“Yes.”
It wasn't a lie.
While bringing seven ships was a special case, he normally kept a single escort vessel hidden nearby, just in case.
“Very well. Was there anything else unusual or noteworthy?”
“Nothing.”
“That's a relief. Oh, by the way, I heard you recently accepted Ruina Bercefe and Aint Armian as new members.”
“I brought Ruina in, but I'm not sure about Aint.”
“I see. You may go.”
After the brief interview, Pernyan headed straight for the merchant guild.
Hyde was waiting and greeted him.
“Are you finished?”
“Have you found any leads on how those bastards infiltrated the guild staff?”
“Right here.”
“Interesting. No one knew they were even there…”
And yet, everyone naturally treated them as fellow employees.
Despite them being strangers who shouldn't have been there.
“Magic?”
“We suspect it's a type of mental magic.”
“Mental magic is a specialty of those demon bastards.”
The texts also mentioned that manipulating souls was another of the demons' specialties.
This brought another question to mind.
‘The soul that tried to possess me. I can't imagine that was the demons' doing.’
They wouldn't do something so obviously disadvantageous to themselves.
But if not a demon, what kind of mage in this world could cast a spell to forcibly possess someone with a soul?
With no clues, he had no choice but to set the thought aside again.
Pernyan decided to focus on the task at hand.
“What about the one we captured?”
“Confession magic didn't work, so we've put him in the guild's basement.”
“Torture him if you have to. Make him spill everything.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And send this to my father.”
Pernyan placed the reports he had prepared into an envelope and sealed it with his signet.
“What time did you go to bed last night?”
“Time and information are money. The faster this is reported, the more money we can make.”
“I'll send it express.”
“Of course.”
“By the way, may I ask one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Regarding the priority rights for the shipbuilding business within the academy. Did you have this incident in mind?”
Pernyan shook his head.
“Don't be absurd. How could I have known this would happen?”
“Right, of course.”
Hyde looked unconvinced, but he accepted the answer.
Seeing the future was impossible, and the only other possibility was that he had planned the incident himself...
Which would mean he was a Vile Breed.
Hyde, who had served his master for many years, knew better than anyone that he could not be a Vile Breed.
“Then I'll take my leave. Please call if you need anything.”
“Alright.”
Hyde left. Pernyan habitually took out his schematics and began to sketch.
He didn't know when the next future would appear, but now that he had put out the urgent fire, it was time to focus all his efforts on the golem designs again.
* * *
“…This is driving me crazy.”
Bella Hohen mumbled, her mouth full of a sweet parfait.
“I feel like I've stepped into a swamp I can never escape. It's seriously unsettling.”
“Bella, you look really happy right now.”
“It's the sugar. The sugar.”
But it wasn't a lie that she was unsettled.
Honestly, when Ruina had asked for help, she'd been half in doubt. But seeing a Vile Breed with her own two eyes was a different story.
“Aren't you bothered at all?”
“It's not my first time.”
“Right, I forgot. No, that's not it. How can you be so calm just because it's not your first time?”
It's a Vile Breed.
Bella swallowed the rest of her words, mindful of their surroundings.
“And why isn't Pernyan reporting this to the academy right away? Shouldn't they be taking action?”
“He said it's because he doesn't know for sure who's an enemy and who's an ally.”
“That makes… sense.”
She had been infected with demonic energy just by going about her daily life.
That couldn't have happened unless there was a Vile Breed inside the academy.
“So, what's the plan?”
“For now, I'm trusting Pernyan.”
What he'd shown so far was enough to earn her trust. He had handled Verian's problem and this incident perfectly.
“So when did you start working with Pernyan? Was it when you became partners?”
“That's right.”
“I thought something was a little strange, but this explains everything.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Well, to be honest, I was never completely convinced by your explanation.”
The idea of Ruina, who could never get along with a Fallenberg, partnering with Pernyan.
You said you ignored personal feelings and focused on his grades, and while it's true you were hiding your skills, it was hard to believe at face value.
I just went along with it because you said so, but my doubts never completely vanished.
“But if it's about the Vile Breed, that's a different story. I know what kind of person you are.”
The very model of a knight with a strong sense of justice.
It makes perfect sense if you joined forces to fight the Vile Breed together.
“…It's not.”
That's not it.
But Ruina didn't have the courage to shatter her friend's illusion by telling her the truth—that she was doing it for money.
“…You're right. That's what it is.”
“I knew it! All those people spouting nonsense about you being bought off need to learn the truth.”
“…R-Right.”
In the end, Ruina had no choice but to tell a white lie.
* * *
To Aint Armian, everything felt like a dream.
“A sudden attack by a swarm of sea monsters, a Vile Breed appearing to kill me, deciding to cooperate with Pernyan…”
Everything had happened in a flash, like a tidal wave. All he had done was get swept along by the current.
- But in the end, it was for the best.
That was true.
Thanks to Pernyan, Aint had not only escaped a near-death crisis but had also obtained the First Emperor's blessing and found someone with whom he could openly discuss the demons.
“And Ruina, too…”
- Tsk, that's not what's important right now.
But setting that aside, Ruina Bercefe's abilities were objectively beyond imagination.
If she became a reliable ally, she would undoubtedly be an immense asset.
“But is it really true? That quite a few people have already been corrupted by the Vile Breed.”
- Probably. That human named Bella certainly showed signs of having been corrupted by demonic energy and then recovering.
That was the clearest proof of all.
- We have to stop them. No matter what.
In the past, there were humans corrupted by demonic energy.
They showed no signs of abnormality in their daily lives, but once they encountered a catalyst, they would go berserk.
“A catalyst?”
- A demonic ritual. When the ritual is activated, they go on a rampage, attacking everyone around them indiscriminately.
- Back then, we couldn't even respond properly. They were just humans being used.
“So if something happens, is there nothing we can do?”
- That's how it was when we first encountered it. Afterward, it was surprisingly easy. Because the previous emperor took care of them all.
- You can do it too, Aint.
The Armian family's swordsmanship was the antithesis of demonic power. It could even purify the demonic energy corrupting others' bodies.
“Then I should go around the city right now and purify the corrupted demonic energy…”
- Have you forgotten what that upstart said? Moving rashly when you don't know who the Vile Breed are is a problem.
That was why Pernyan had urged him to lie low for the time being.
- For now, I think you should go find the person that upstart introduced you to. There's only so much you can do alone.
- Since there's nothing you can do immediately, it's best to prepare for the future.
“Yes.”
Before parting ways with Pernyan, Aint had been introduced to a student in the same year.
“First, as a show of trust, I'll introduce you to a reliable ally. It would be good to have a comrade in your own year when dealing with the Vile Breed, wouldn't it?”
A rather capable one, at that.
Aint got ready to leave and went to the La Vie Douce Dormitory.
He used the token Pernyan had given him to request a meeting and waited. Soon, someone arrived.
“…Aint Armian?”
The face of the man who would soon be his ally, Verian Calburden, contorted.
“…Why are you here? Where's Pernyan?”
Honestly, he hadn't believed it at first. He knew how much Verian hated him.
But Pernyan had confidently declared.
“Don't worry. In the end, he'll have no choice but to become your ally.”
“How can you be sure? I'll tell you the magic words to make him follow you.”
“Verian.”
Aint called his name softly.
“I'm the one who called you. Not Pernyan.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? How did you get that token…”
“You.”
Aint took a step closer to Verian and whispered in his ear.
“You were a Vile Breed, weren't you?”
“…Huh?”
The color drained from Verian's face.