Chapter 96
Chapter 96
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: End Time Scenario (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The atmosphere in the Cradle was somewhat unsettled.
This was only natural, given the unfortunate series of attacks on the freshmen who had gone out for their descent training.
Yet, the cadets' faces weren't particularly grim.
This was because all those who were attacked had returned safely, and the missing cadet had also been rescued unharmed within a single day.
And in the process, the story of a freshman who had thrown his life on the line to save a classmate he admired had come to light.
“I hope to one day meet someone for whom I would gladly give my life, just as he did.”
“It’s just like a bard’s song. To risk one’s life for the woman he loves.”
“Oh my. When those two stood facing each other earlier, my own heart fluttered.”
The cadets gathered in small groups, chattering about the recent incident.
“First the Mage Slayer, and now the Wyvern Slayer. For a freshman, he’s got quite the impressive resume.”
“What’s all this about romance? When you get down to it, isn’t he just a guy who’s crazy about a girl?”
“It’s pathetic, watching someone who hasn't even taken a Vow mimic the knights of old.”
Among them were those who openly disparaged the freshman’s actions, claiming he was merely imitating the Vow of a Fair Lady, a trend that was once popular among the knights of old.
Of course, only a small minority sympathized with such slander.
“As one who reveres chivalry, his actions are truly exemplary.”
“Whether his motive was affection or nostalgia for a dusty old custom, it’s clear he is of a different caliber than those who only pay lip service to chivalry.”
The majority of the cadets were busy praising the freshman’s noble spirit of sacrifice.
“The Mage Slayer…”
“The freshman…”
The entire Cradle was filled with talk of the freshman’s heroic deeds.
In truth, it was a natural development.
The majority of the Cradle’s cadets were the type to go wild for heroic tales.
They were also youths in their prime, with a keen interest in the relationships between men and women.
This incident was a particularly juicy one, satisfying two of their greatest passions at once.
It would have been more unnatural if it hadn’t become a hot topic.
For the Cradle's leadership, who needed to divert the cadets' attention by any means necessary, it was a truly fortunate situation.
While it was crucial to capture all those involved in this incident and eliminate the source of the trouble, it was even more important to soothe the cadets.
Nothing good would come from the spread of anxiety and fear.
They did not want the cadets to become timid and approach their practical training with a passive attitude.
It was to prevent such a situation that they had, in an unprecedented move, widely publicized the cadet’s heroic actions.
Of course, the leadership knew.
The Cradle’s cadets were no fools.
Once the current excitement subsided, they would begin to have questions.
Is the Cradle currently facing a threat?
Such questions were bound to grow into anxiety and fear of an unknown enemy.
Trying to hide the truth was a futile effort; it was only a matter of time before the cadets’ unrest could no longer be contained.
Furthermore, they didn’t know when the cadets’ safety might be threatened again.
The Cradle’s leadership was not naive enough to believe that they would be lucky enough to have all cadets return safely next time as well.
Their plan was to eliminate the source of the problem while the cadets’ attention was focused elsewhere.
Fortunately, the Cradle had several seasoned experts in such matters.
The unexpected support from the Gaznae family was also a factor that led the leadership to view the resolution of the incident in a positive light.
They were confident they could resolve everything before the mood in the Cradle turned.
But things in life rarely go as planned.
The next day.
“What’s with this atmosphere?”
The Cradle’s leaders frowned as they watched the cadets head to their early morning classes.
Overnight, the cadets' mood had completely changed.
Just the day before, they had been ecstatic about the new heroic tale, but now, as if that had never happened, they were all keeping to themselves.
Every one of them looked as though they hadn't slept well.
As if they had all had a terrible nightmare.
It was not until late in the afternoon, long after the morning classes had ended, that the leadership learned the nature of the nightmare the cadets had experienced.
* * *
“Director!”
The Knight of the Tempest frowned at the Vice Director’s fuss.
He had been plagued by this troublesome incident, and the Vice Director’s alarm was unwelcome.
He was even suddenly afraid that something else might have happened.
“The bulletin board! Look at the bulletin board!”
As always, the Vice Director paid no mind to his inner thoughts.
“Ah, hurry!”
Unable to resist the urging of the pale-faced Vice Director, the Knight of the Tempest took out his terminal.
“What is it? Did someone post something strange about the last incident?”
“It’s not that! Just, hurry up and open it.”
Relieved that it wasn’t the situation he had feared, he operated the terminal with a somewhat more relaxed attitude.
“Hurry! You’ve had that terminal for ages, why are you still fumbling with it! Why are you pressing the wargame button, you fool! Here, give it to me. This one here!”
The terminal screen that the Vice Director handed back to him showed the anonymous bulletin board.
It was originally a space for cadets to encourage one another by anonymously sharing unspoken grievances, but it had now degenerated into a place for spouting all sorts of nonsense and posting slander about others.
And the subjects of that slander were mostly the faculty members.
Naturally, the faculty disliked the anonymous bulletin board and never visited it.
Looking at it would only upset them.
The Knight of the Tempest was no different.
Ever since he saw a post calling him the weakest of the Zodiac Knights, he had completely ignored it.
“I said look at the post! Why aren’t you looking!”
As he was half-heartedly glancing at the board, lost in that memory, the Vice Director snatched the terminal and thrust it in front of his face.
“What in the world is all this fuss about…? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
He swore as he checked the screen, his face contorted in a deep frown.
[Why the Empire is Doomed to Fall Within 5 Years]
Even if it was an anonymous space, this was too much.
A post that openly insulted the Imperial Family.
“No, it’s not the title that’s the problem. Well, the title is a problem, but the content is an even bigger problem. Read it, quickly.”
He no longer felt the Vice Director’s fuss was an overreaction.
The post had crossed the line that much.
But the real issue was the content.
“The Crown Prince will be assassinated, and the Empire will fall into chaos… Mmph.”
“You crazy bastard! Why are you reading that out loud! If you want to die, die alone! Don’t drag an innocent person down with you! Read it to yourself!”
In his bewilderment, he had started reading the post aloud, and the Vice Director, pale as a sheet, rushed over to stop him.
But the Knight of the Tempest was so shocked he barely felt the Vice Director’s hand clamped over his mouth.
The content of the post was that staggering.
He quickly read through the text.
“Pfft.”
They say people laugh when they are too surprised, and it was true.
The Knight of the Tempest laughed like a man who had lost his mind.
But even that soon died down.
“…”
He stared silently at the terminal.
“Who has seen this so far?”
“As you can see from the view count below, it’s safe to say that most cadets, except for the senior class currently undergoing their final evaluation on the border, have read it.”
“Ha. Then keeping this under wraps is…”
“Do you think it’s possible?”
“…Unlikely.”
The Vice Director was right.
Although there was a security vow, the exception clause was the problem.
It roughly stated that if a matter was deemed to be against the Empire or of great harm to the world, events within the Cradle could be made public for the common good.
And in his view, this matter clearly fell under the exception clause.
“Can’t we delete it?”
“It’s not impossible if we reset the entire bulletin board and all its data, but it would be a huge undertaking.”
“Centuries of the Cradle’s history would be wiped out. Then…”
“If you’re thinking of confiscating the terminals to find the author, give up. The anonymous board doesn’t leave a trace on the terminals either.”
He couldn't do this, and he couldn't do that. It was a true dilemma.
“This is driving me crazy.”
Sighing, the Knight of the Tempest scanned the contents of the post once more.
“Five years for the Empire to fall. Another five for half of the prominent families and knight orders scattered across the Empire to disappear. The neat, round numbers are a nice touch.”
His tone was light, as if he were joking.
“Chivalry falls to the ground, and the common sense that a knight can only be faced by another knight is shattered. An era of endless war caused by knights consumed by madness. They’ve written a complete novel.”
But contrary to his tone, his own face was set like stone.
“It’s not interesting. Even the decadent nobles of the capital, mad for stimulation, wouldn’t buy this.”
It was utter nonsense.
The right thing to do was to read it and forget it.
But he couldn’t.
“I’m not sure if I’m seeing this right, but this…”
“…What you are thinking is correct.”
The Knight of the Tempest squeezed his eyes shut.
“We’ll have to properly cross-reference it later, but a significant number of the situations of the families mentioned here match up. Just from what I've confirmed, all of it is classified information, stories that few within the Empire know.”
This post, which at first glance seemed like the wild imaginings of a madman obsessed with doomsday theories, surprisingly contained a significant amount of truth.
“It is my judgment that this was not written by some clueless fool.”
The Knight of the Tempest fully agreed.
There was too much high-level intelligence for it to be dismissed as someone’s prank.
Yet, he couldn’t fully trust this post either.
“If this post is to be believed, then in ten years, no, even in just five years, this world will face hell.”
Countless stars falling from the sky, bodies piling up like mountains on the ground.
A hell forged from layers upon layers of every disaster and misfortune.
The future described in the post was so bleak it felt unreal.
“While the trigger for every incident is based on extreme assumptions, the subsequent flow of events is quite plausible.”
But the post had a coherence that more than made up for its unrealistic aspects.
“Especially here, it’s not detailed, but the predictions on the changing aspects of combat and the development of anti-knight tactics are honestly chilling.”
If he could, he would find the author and demand to hear the details immediately.
The Vice Director shuddered.
“Do you know what’s even more surprising? If we take the contents written here as a basis, the movements of several families that we had reserved judgment on fit perfectly.”
The Knight of the Tempest stared at the Vice Director and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha. So you’re saying you think this apocalypse this lunatic is claiming could actually happen?”
“To be honest, it’s a bit too unsettling to just ignore. It is my judgment that we need to take the time to verify it.”
After saying that, the Vice Director hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“And one more thing, there is no mention of the Cradle anywhere in that post. It’s as if its existence has been erased. That’s what bothers me.”
“Are you saying that prophet-from-hell might have also figured out the problem with the satellite city?”
“Most organizations above a certain size are mentioned, but the Cradle is not.”
It was one thing after another. This was exactly that kind of situation.
His head aching, the Knight of the Tempest pressed his temples.
“And the anti-knight tactics and other strategies mentioned there should be reviewed and refined at a minimum, then incorporated into the curriculum as quickly as possible, in my opinion.”
“You mean to prepare them in advance.”
“I guarantee you, if the tactics mentioned there are actually implemented, knights of 3-stars or lower will no longer have a place on the battlefield. Given the growth rate the cadets have shown so far, the majority of graduates in ten years will not surpass the level of 3-stars.”
The Vice Director’s face looked urgent, as if he were being chased by something, as he asked if they shouldn't at least prevent their cadets from being senselessly wiped out on the battlefield.
“That’s something to think about later. For now, what’s the mood among the cadets?”
“Not good, of course. They all look like they’ve had a nightmare.”
“The post is just that gruesome.”
“That’s part of it, but doesn’t the writing feel a little too vivid?”
As if the author had experienced it all firsthand.
At the Vice Director’s words, he unconsciously nodded in agreement.
There was no better way to describe it.
Regardless of its authenticity, the post had a strange power, like the memoir of someone who had lived through hell.
Just thinking about it made one feel as if they were standing in the middle of that horrifying world.
“Hoo.”
After shuddering for a moment, he gave an order to the Vice Director.
“Tell the professors to get the cadets under control, and if necessary, conduct individual counseling. And if they can, try to keep a lid on this.”
“I doubt we can keep a lid on it, but we should be able to at least calm the cadets down.”
“And copy this entire post.”
“By copy, you mean…”
The Knight of the Tempest nodded.
“Wipe the entire bulletin board.”
“There will be a huge backlash. The data accumulated over hundreds of years is the Cradle’s history and property in itself.”
“That’s true, but I have a feeling something terrible will happen if we leave this up.”
The wrath of the Imperial Palace wasn't the issue.
The bigger problem was the fact that the contents written here could be exploited.
The anti-knight tactics, written in a vague manner, whether intentional or not.
If someone with malicious intent were to exploit this, not only the Cradle’s cadets but all the lower-ranking knights of the Empire would face a tremendous threat.
In the worst-case scenario, it could even fall into the hands of the mages who were constantly looking for an opportunity to overthrow the Empire.
There could be no greater disaster than that.
“And report the contents to the Imperial Palace. But you edit it appropriately. If we send it as is, we’ll have to change course and return to the capital immediately. If we get dragged away like that, none of us will be in for a good time.”
“If a cadet has already copied the contents, we could be charged with deceiving the Imperial Palace later.”
“That’s why we’re wiping the bulletin board. Deny it. As long as there’s no evidence, we can hold out. This is our Cradle. We’re not just anybody.”
“Still, if the Imperial Palace gets involved, I think they’ll be able to identify the author.”
The Vice Director had a point.
“Don’t be foolish. Our kids will all be dead before that happens.”
But that was not the direction he wanted to go.
“And this might sound vague, but I don’t think the author posted this with malicious intent. I just have a feeling.”
“Actually, I felt the same way.”
It was like,
“A warning.”
It felt like a warning thrown to the world by an unknown person in the face of an impending disaster.
“Well, as for their intentions, we can just ask the person directly.”
The Knight of the Tempest made a vow.
He would find the author of this post.
No matter what it took.