The Assassination of the First Imperial Princess (7)
The principal of Reynolds Academy, Korn Ronesia, was currently frowning in deep bewilderment.
When she shattered the barriers deployed around the banquet hall and stepped inside, the first thing she felt was the metallic stench of blood mixed with the nauseating odor of burning human flesh.
"What in the world is..."
"Oh my god."
"Dear heavens."
The other professors seemed to sense it too, each wearing expressions of shock. Just what had happened here to produce a stench that belonged on a battlefield?
Korn judged the situation to be far more serious than she had anticipated. The scent of blood wafting past her nose wasn't from just one or two people. At least ten or more.
"...Damn it all."
She clenched her fist tightly and issued orders to the professors standing behind her.
"Senior Professor Lucas and Professor Aaron will assist me in sorting out the situation. The rest of you, help evacuate the students. Securing the students' safety is our top priority."
"Yes!"
With a resounding chorus, the professors scattered in every direction. Even in the midst of chaos, their calm execution of assigned duties was truly professional.
Korn gave the swiftly moving professors one last glance before turning her head again. Her gaze fixed on the source of that foul stench—the center of the banquet hall.
"Goddamn it...!"
Grinding her teeth, Korn kicked off the ground. Her long, flowing red hair whipped behind her as she crossed the devastated hall.
The next moment, as Korn entered the center of the banquet hall, she involuntarily stopped in her tracks. The scene reflected in her eyes was so horrific that it was impossible to believe this was an academy.
Korn had to doubt her own vision. The once-white tables were soaked in blood, stained a dark crimson. Severed limbs and chunks of flesh lay scattered across the carpet. The blood stench that had been assaulting her nose since earlier originated from these remains.
The sight reminded her of the battlefields she had walked in her youth, leaving her momentarily speechless.
If there was any small mercy, it was that the mangled corpses were not academy students. Every single one of them wore pitch-black robes embroidered with a butterfly pattern.
"The Seekers...?"
It was a simple characteristic, but it was enough for Korn to identify them. After all, they were the vermin she had faced to the point of exhaustion until just two years ago.
"They've been quiet for so long, only to pull something like this...!!"
Only then did Korn recall the form of the barrier that had surrounded the building. It was arcane and intricate, designed so that ordinary magic could never break through. It was a feat only the Seekers—who had achieved explosive magical advancement through countless human experiments—could accomplish.
Of course, she had torn through the domain with raw power, but there had indeed been a delay.
'So the target of the attack was the princesses after all...? Where are the two of them...?!'
As Korn scanned her surroundings with an anxious heart, Professor Lucas standing beside her shouted.
"Principal! There's a student collapsed over there...!"
"What...?!"
A student had collapsed in this field of corpses? Korn quickly turned her eyes toward where Lucas was pointing.
There, a boy truly lay sprawled amid the blood and flesh. The pale-faced youth was covered head to toe in blood, lying deathly still.
"That boy is...?"
Coincidentally, he was a student Korn knew very well.
"Raiden... student?"
A festival of blood and gore where life and death flowed freely. At its center lay the academy's worst delinquent.
. . .
A single student, breathing as if dead among the corpses.
"Raiden... student?"
Though startled by the sight, Korn moved quickly. In an instant, she reached the boy's side and carefully examined his condition.
Raiden's body was in tatters. His arms were horribly mangled. His legs were flushed red and twitching intermittently. Even his left eye had been half-gouged out by a deep wound.
Raiden was currently standing at death's door.
Korn looked back in horror.
"Lucas!!"
"Yes, Principal!"
"Get this student to the infirmary immediately! He's on the verge of death!"
"Right away!"
With an urgent expression, Lucas lifted the boy and vanished at once.
Left alone, Korn stared down for a moment at her hand, still soaked with Raiden's blood. Then she clenched her fist tightly, her eyes flashing open.
"......The Seekers."
How dare they touch my students in my domain.
"It's been a while since something made me this pissed off."
Korn released the mana she had been suppressing within her body and sent a telepathic message to the other professors.
Gather all students in stable condition and find out exactly what happened in this banquet hall.
Not a single detail is to be missed.
The identity of the attackers appears to be the Seekers.
The number who infiltrated the academy is unlikely to be limited to these.
From this moment, the faculty will mobilize at full strength to search the academy and eliminate any hidden enemies.
Since torture does not work on them, prioritize extermination over capture.
You have two hours.
Those fucking bastards.
Bring me every last one of their severed heads.
Upon receiving the grim message, the faculty immediately sprang into action, each finding their role with perfect coordination.
***
When my severed consciousness returned and I opened my closed eyes, what greeted me was a pure white ceiling devoid of any pattern.
The soft texture of the bed against my back and the entirely white atmosphere of the room told me this was a hospital. Or, to be precise, the infirmary. Since this was the academy, after all.
"......Somehow, I managed to survive."
I muttered, shaking off my hazy mind. Once my blurry vision focused and my stiff body could move, I pushed myself up into a sitting position.
"Ugh......"
Excruciating muscle pain coursed through my entire body. The wounds themselves had been healed, but the backlash from pushing my muscles to their absolute limit could not be erased.
As I groaned, my hands trembling, a voice came from the front.
"You're awake."
That characteristically fierce yet cold voice. Surprised by the unexpected tone reaching my ears, I lifted my head.
"Principal...?"
Korn Ronesia, the principal of Reynolds Academy, stood at the door of the infirmary, looking at me. Beside her, I could also see Professor Lucas letting out a sigh of relief.
'Why are these two suddenly here...?'
They were the people who should have been the busiest dealing with the attack. Why would they come all the way here for a sick visit? Had something gone wrong?
"What... happened?"
First, I needed to grasp the situation. I pressed my throbbing head and asked the two of them.
Korn stared at me for a moment before opening her mouth.
"The situation has been resolved for now."
Fortunately, the variables I had feared had not occurred. The professors had taken charge of cleaning up the banquet hall, and the enemies who had infiltrated the academy had been successfully eradicated.
"I see."
The attack had been stopped without significant casualties. No one had died or been seriously injured, and Lucy—the target of the assassination—had survived safely.
Only then did I feel the tension leave my body as I leaned back against the head of the bed.
Thank goodness. In the original story, this attack would have produced countless injured and even several deaths. It seemed I had managed it well.
As I mulled over that thought, a familiar mechanical sound rang in my ear as if in response.
The Main Quest 'For the You of the Past' has been completed.
🎁 Reward: 500 Points
A reward of 500 points. The points I had spent heavily while preparing for this attack were fully replenished. It seemed to be nearly three times my previous total.
'It was worth the effort.'
With a faint smile, I closed the status window. As the blue panels blocking my view disappeared, Korn's figure standing behind them came back into focus.
She was staring at me with a rigid expression. There was something strange about her eyes. It was a gaze filled with suspicion.
"Is something wrong?"
"......"
Korn remained silent for a moment at my question before finally answering.
"I asked the students who were in the banquet hall what happened during the attack."
I nodded quietly. That was only natural; they would need to investigate the assassination attempt.
"From what I heard, it seems Student Raiden single-handedly resolved the entire situation."
"......Yes, that's correct."
"How exactly did you do it?"
"Pardon...?"
At my reflexive question, Korn narrowed her eyes.
"They were not opponents an ordinary academy student could handle. Yet you supposedly eliminated all those assailants in just ten minutes."
"That was because I used a scroll..."
"You mean the power of the scroll 'Absolute Domain', is that it?"
Korn let out a scoff, as if asking if I took her for a fool.
"That scroll only provides the justification of 'I was able to do it thanks to this.' One could forcibly try to understand it, but it's hardly a convincing explanation."
"......"
"Would you believe a student who was at the very bottom of the academy's grades just a few months ago suddenly slaughtered numerous powerful assailants single-handedly and then claimed, 'It was all thanks to a scroll'?"
No. Of course not, damn it. I knew my explanation was shit, but what else was I supposed to say? That was the best I could come up with. I couldn't exactly reveal that I was a possessor...
"......"
"......"
I had no choice but to endure Korn's piercing glare with my mouth shut. The gaze of one of the world's strongest individuals was far more burdensome than I had imagined.
As the atmosphere grew increasingly hostile, Lucas—who had been wearing an expression that said 'this is hopeless'—poked Korn's shoulder.
"Ahem... Principal? The student seems frightened."
Korn finally came to her senses. She let out a sigh and relaxed the intensity in her eyes.
"......My apologies. Given the circumstances, I've become overly sensitive."
"No, I understand."
"You must be exhausted after suffering such severe injuries, yet I pushed too far... Please forget what I said just now."
She did realize it, after all. What kind of principal interrogates an injured student the moment they wake up? I almost said it out loud but held back after seeing Professor Lucas's face.
Whether she had read my thoughts or not, Korn gave a slightly bitter smile and turned away.
"I will come to speak with you again later. For now, please rest. Your wounds have all been healed, but the fatigue likely remains."
She seemed about to leave the infirmary when she suddenly stopped, as if something had occurred to her.
"Now that I think about it, I almost forgot."
"......?"
I looked at her with an expression that asked what it was this time. However, she paid it no mind and bowed deeply toward me with utmost respect. It was the perfectly angled bow I had only heard about.
"Thank you, Student Raiden."
"Pardon...?"
"Thanks to you, everyone survived this attack. Your courage protected the futures of countless children. I offer my deepest respect for your noble spirit of sacrifice."
A sudden, heartfelt expression of gratitude. Yet it was delivered with profound weight and sincerity.
Unable to think of anything to say, I simply stared at Korn with a dazed face. She then raised her head and offered a faint smile.
"Then, rest well."
"I will visit you once more. Raiden student."
With those words, Korn and Lucas left the infirmary.
"......"
For a while, I stared at the door through which the two had disappeared. Receiving such an unexpected thank you left me with a strange feeling. A fluttering sensation, yet somehow warm.
It had certainly been a difficult and dangerous time, but I felt it had been quite worthwhile.
"......What is this?"
Had I been that starved for other people's emotions? Hearing words of gratitude was only natural in this situation, yet actually hearing them felt awkward.
I felt my once-cold heart melting just a little as I thought,
This much... was a day worth enduring, wasn't it?