Black (4)
"Wow, what a terrifying coordinated assault. Their teamwork's so perfectly in sync that if they beat the ever-loving crap out of those demonic beasts with that kind of momentum, it'd be a goddamn work of art."
At Eastern Army Corps Commander Dietrich von Draug's crude assessment, his adjutant Bargal Odina let out a deep sigh. It wasn't just that his superior was cackling like he'd traded every ounce of military commander dignity and grace for a handful of beans at the market. No, the real problem was that Bargal couldn't make sense of the incident the commander had caused.
"Even so, sir, is it really fine to dump that kind of information on the students? How exactly do you plan to handle the consequences?"
To Bargal's worried question, Dietrich answered in a bored drawl, as if the concern itself was ridiculous.
"Consequences my ass. Everyone already knows it's all just for show anyway. You think Istar or that chancellor old man wouldn't notice something like that? They let it slide because they know."
"Even if that's the case, there's a world of difference between pretending to hide it and not pretending at all, isn't there?"
Dietrich himself had such overwhelming social status and family backing that it wouldn't be an issue, but for a young man who was still essentially just a student despite his recent elevation to nobility, it could become a serious burden.
"You don't need to worry about that guy."
"Why not?"
"There's no way they'd throw out someone who works this well over something like that. Hell, even if he caused an accident and begged them to kick him out, they'd cling to him like glue and work him to the bone."
Uh... was that really something that should be phrased as "no need to worry"?
"Besides, I could see the stress slowly building up between the kids. Had to let them vent somehow. Their skills aren't bad, but mentality's a whole different story."
"That is certainly an important matter."
Even from Bargal's perspective, the students' performance had been truly dazzling. It wasn't just their individual abilities. Enduring an environment where danger rushed in from every direction, continuously holding their ground and carrying out their roles—that wasn't easy. Plenty of veterans in the Eastern Army would turn pale at the thought of doing the same, yet these students with relatively little real combat experience were screaming their lungs out while somehow enduring. It was nothing short of admirable.
Just what kind of hellish training produced such tenacious monsters? He was curious, yet strangely didn't really want to know.
It was unfair. So unfair I felt like I was going to die.
"It's not that I didn't want to come! The professor wouldn't let me come, so what was I supposed to do?!"
"I think what people are angry about isn't whether Brother came along or not, but why you created this whole situation and made everyone suffer. So that part probably isn't irrelevant, is it?"
I pretended not to hear Fiore's words, delivered with a bright, sunny smile. Just stay quiet. For now, let's pin the blame on the professor so the aggro shifts somewhere else.
"Is your body alright, Chrome? You didn't encounter any trouble in the Star Land, did you?"
"I didn't suffer much in the Star Land, but it feels like I got plenty after arriving, Lady Lyla."
"I'm so glad nothing happened."
But I just said something did happen?! My whole body is in tatters here?! And you were watching me get beaten and didn't help!
I stared at Lyla with an expression of profound grievance, but the imperial princess—unusually—subtly avoided my gaze.
What the...?
This time I turned to Ligret.
"What? Why?"
"I was wondering what your impressions were after watching your charge get pummeled and doing nothing about it."
"Your feet were slow. Haven't you been exercising enough lately?"
At least this side was operating as normal. But why was only the princess...?
The answer came from someone else's mouth.
"─The person who must lead others failed to fulfill their role after falling for cheap provocation. Naturally, the students who suffered even more because of it would feel some guilt. That's probably why she couldn't stop them."
A voice that seemed to echo throughout the entire space rang out, accompanied by a swarm of black butterflies that filled my entire field of vision. There were so many that I wondered when they'd even gotten this close. They formed the shape of an enormous cocoon, then gradually shrank and transformed into a human silhouette.
Wet-looking, deep black hair and skin so pale it was almost translucent in contrast. Facial features arranged with flawless precision. Despite her relatively few appearances compared to her grand abilities, this was the fourth professor who had overwhelmed most of the main cast in the original work through visuals alone.
When she directed a clearly reproachful gaze, Princess Lyla's face flushed with embarrassment in a rare display of bashfulness.
The professor stared at her for a moment before letting out a small sigh and turning her eyes toward me.
"The fact that you've come here means you brought the token. Will you hand it over?"
The hand she extended was incredibly white and looked impossibly soft. No, no—before we even get to white or soft—
"...Um, excuse me, but who are you?"
The black-haired beauty—no, the girl who looked more like she was in her early teens than a beauty—twitched her eyebrows, then answered in a slightly pouty tone.
"Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've shown my face. I am Psyche, professor in charge of Black Light and the supervisor for this request."
No. No no no. What was this? Why was she so small? Of course the difference between seeing her on a screen and in reality would be there, but this was an entirely different age bracket. Was this also DLC? Had the production team decided to milk the original for more money by releasing different version skins? I'd seen the warning signs the moment they added obvious gacha elements, and now these bastards had finally—!
"Chrome Midas student? I asked to see the token."
"Ah, yes. Here it is."
The unmistakably low-pressure voice instantly cooled my brain, which had been running off in a strange direction. Whew. Yes, calm down. Her appearance has nothing to do with me.
The black kid—no, Professor Psyche—accepted the token and put it away without even properly examining it. What if I'd forged it? It's not like she'd seen me obtain it herself. ...Right?
"Confirmed. Regardless of the process, the fact remains that you brought the item. Therefore, I acknowledge your participation in this request."
Professor Psyche added in a small voice.
"I will also apologize for calling your abilities lacking. The result is the result, after all. I'm sorry."
She gave me a polite bow. However, while she was bowing, her dissatisfaction remained obvious. It was like an aura that said, I'll keep my promise, but that doesn't mean I'm not annoyed.
Her appearance had changed, but that dirty-yet-secretly-diligent personality seemed exactly the same as I remembered.
"Please raise your head, Professor. That's too much."
"I was about to anyway."
Hmm. After meeting all sorts of maniacs, a little grumpiness didn't even register anymore.
Fortunately, unlike Group 1 led by Princess Lyla, the members of Group 2 led by Alphonse didn't immediately raise their spears at me the moment they saw me. The people in that group weren't particularly close to me to begin with, and they had relatively calm personalities.
However, there was one exception.
"Oh! If it isn't the friend whose individual abilities are lacking! The friend who had to take an extra test because he kept relying on others!"
The Eastern Army Commander was having the time of his life teasing me.
If we're pointing fingers, aren't you the root cause of all this?!
"No, seriously, what kind of man has a mouth like that? There's a limit to stabbing someone in the back! Because of you, I almost got killed by my own friends!"
"At the point where there are so many people willing to string you up just for hearing a few words, instead of blaming only me, wouldn't it be better to reflect on your usual behavior?"
"I only have the sin of devoting this one body for the children's sake... is not the case."
I felt a murderous glare from the side and quickly shut my mouth. For the sake of my mental health, I decided not to count exactly how many there were. At least five, though.
Originally I'd planned to explain about meeting Alcor and give the full context, but since Dietrich had suddenly called all our kids together, I decided to put that on hold.
"Ahem. Let's stop the jokes there, Commander. Everyone is waiting."
At his adjutant Bargal Odina's deliberate cough, Dietrich wiped the sly expression from his face and spread a map across the table.
"While you were taking your sweet time, we carried out subjugation operations inside the mountain range. We killed every demonic beast we saw, and for places where the environment itself was completely fucked, we just bombarded the entire surrounding area and blew it to hell. We produced clean results. The problem is that the new types we were actually targeting haven't shown hide nor hair since some point."
"You didn't find all of them? It's not like playing hide-and-seek in a neighborhood. Searching the entire mountain range means it's not strange if you missed some."
"We received cooperation from the hunters of the Black Mountains, so that won't be an issue. Those guys who previously wouldn't listen no matter what we said—your little sister negotiated with them beautifully."
When I glanced sideways, Fiore gave me a bright smile and a wink with one eye. It seemed she'd failed to mediate between Ligret and the princess, but she'd done well in other areas. I'd have to reconsider scolding her.
"By combining their cooperation with our Eastern Army's investigation, we were able to determine that the new types avoided our subjugation operations and fled to a specific region."
So saying, Dietrich pointed to a spot on the map. The edge of the mountain range—a place that was half into the territory of the Ivestan Empire.
"This is our next objective."