One Question, If I May?
The golem, Supervisor Ismael, turned around. The direction he faced was either toward this side or specifically at me. I couldn’t tell which. The one thing I knew for certain was that I might be included in whatever he was after. That could also be interpreted as me, of all two hundred and fifty people here, being the unlucky one singled out. Since that would be rather unfortunate, I tried to convince myself he was just looking at the people around me. After all, I didn’t stand out in any particular way here, nor had I done anything especially noteworthy lately. It made more sense to assume he was staring at the students dressed in somewhat unusual or shabby outfits nearby. So I relaxed a little.
Supervisor Ismael let a few seconds tick by.
A cold, almost harsh designation. If it had been directed at me, I might have felt a bit offended. The students within earshot exchanged glances, silently asking each other, Is it you or me?
But it wasn’t what I’d expected. Judging by how unpleasant it felt, this wasn’t within my predictions after all. Among those in range, the only ones with white-toned hair were me and Cheon Mari. Since hers was more platinum blonde, the silver-haired one—me—was the far more likely candidate.
“Yessir.”
Damn it. It really was me. Why the hell did he pick me, of all people? Pure bad luck? Before that question could even fully form, Supervisor Ismael took a small step closer.
This was the most nerve-wracking moment. Even though he was a golem, hundreds of eyes were watching. On top of that, I hadn’t watched the orientation video properly. I’d skimmed it before coming, but nothing had really stuck in my memory. I dredged up what little I could remember along with what Shannon had told me and gave a short, vague summary.
“Aren’t we doing practical training beyond the gate?”
“You want the exact details?”
He gave me a look that said I was expected to answer. But how the hell was I supposed to know? At least give me some information first. Even deep learning needs data to work with—how am I supposed to answer when I don’t know anything? The following silence made it seem like he’d realized the contradiction a little too late. The gaze demanding an answer withdrew.
……Hmm. As you all probably already know, the situation beyond the Arecibo Gate can be summarized as a complete mess.
The destroyed academy. The empty academy. And—
Not only has it been shattered, but it’s now crawling with monsters and dungeon gates. On top of that, there are highly unpleasant entities roaming the Shareltea campus. Do any of you know what those entities are?
This time the question wasn’t aimed at me. It was directed at everyone. Interestingly enough, unlike before, this was something I actually knew. It was a conclusion anyone with a bit of thought could reach.
“The knights, right?”
Since no one else spoke up, I just answered. Supervisor Ismael gave a slight nod as if I’d gotten it correct.
“Well, just looking at the number of knights that poured in during the last academy terror attack, it was clearly more than a simple guerrilla unit, wasn’t it?”
“There’s no way that many people marched over all at once, so there must have been staging points set up along the way.”
Also, even though the Palaestra Academy personnel and examinees had killed as many as possible, a considerable number had retreated after causing chaos. It wouldn’t make strategic sense for them to march all the way back over such a long distance. There had to be at least some intermediate bases or something we didn’t know about.
“It’s even possible those bases are connected by teleportation magic.”
It was shocking news. The students began murmuring. Not just because it was new information, but because it meant a blade was now pressed right against their throats. If that gate were ever breached, the students would be directly exposed to the threat. It was like a serial killer had just moved in within a hundred meters. There was no way they wouldn’t be emotionally and rationally shaken.
It was a remarkable psychological effect. You could see their will to fight draining away in real time.
“Not a total loss, I guess…”
No wonder they’d gone all out with the terror attack. Dragging things out like this and maintaining the status quo was advantageous for psychological warfare. Using the bases to launch another all-out battle and destroy what remained of the academy was also beneficial. Anything they did would yield strategic gains. After all, manpower was something they had in disgusting abundance.
Furthermore, the bases are still functioning normally. Naturally, not only mid-to-low rank knights but also hero candidates from the Hero Academy are estimated to still be coming and going from there.
“Hero candidates? Looks like they’re doing some shitty field training.”
That was Cheon Mari’s assessment. She immediately maintained a pessimistic outlook, saying they were probably putting on one hell of a political show.
“They’re right in front of our noses… what is the world coming to…”
That was Shannon’s assessment. She soon revealed a gaze mixed with regret for herself and the academy’s future.
Me? I was just… whatever. After we graduated from the academy, those guys were going to run even wilder anyway—what was there to be surprised about? I simply thought of it as one more annoying and threatening monster added to the list.
Whether Supervisor Ismael knew what I was thinking or not, he turned his gaze back to me.
What would we be doing on the Shareltea campus? Clearing dungeon gates, hunting monsters, and driving out the trash were the usual activities. Since those were the immediate problems the academy faced, it was the safest guess. But if you looked at it differently, it was somewhat questionable whether driving them out like that was truly urgent. Clearing dungeon gates, hunting monsters, and expelling the World Tree followers? That could create its own set of problems. Of course, the Shareltea campus would eventually be recaptured and returned to the academy’s fold. The issue was that the pro-World Tree nations, now provoked, might dispatch knights and hero aspirants on a massive scale. If we fought them on the Shareltea campus, there would essentially be nothing left. Even if we recaptured it, everything would be in ruins. So maybe maintaining the status quo like this… in terms of losses…
Wait. Huh?
“One question, if I may?”
“How will the assets remaining on the Shareltea campus be handled?”
Anyway, in the current situation the students would have to wander around over there. I was asking what would happen to the valuable items and various personal belongings there. Sending us beyond the gate without any plan would be no different from ordering us to steal those items outright. The bigger problem was that outright theft might actually be the better outcome.
“I’m asking what you plan to do with confidential documents from Palaestra Academy or core equipment. Those aren’t things that can just be left there like this.”
The knights or hero candidates probably hadn’t taken them. They wouldn’t know how to use our tools, and they hadn’t had the time anyway. In other words, unless the academy had recovered them separately between the day of the terror attack and the start of the new semester, most of the items on the Shareltea campus side were likely still there.
“……”
“If those things get arbitrarily taken or damaged, couldn’t that cause problems later?”
What exactly am I trying to say? If you put together everything I’ve said so far, it only points to one thing.
“You’re not seriously going to make us go retrieve those items, are you?”
“Hey, Kang Sian. Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?”
“Yeah… there’s no way the academy would mobilize us for something like that from the start…”
“What?”
“Huh?”
It was the correct answer. The academy intended to have us recover the scattered core and personal items across the vast area.
You are correct. This basic hunting course also includes retrieving core and personal items from within the academy. No, it’s not just included—it’s one of the main objectives.
“Why on earth…”
“I-isn’t this just like the trash-collecting quests you see in games?”
“We came to the academy to learn. We didn’t come to do this kind of thing, did we?”
“It’s still practical training, so we are learning. But no matter how you look at it…”
Questions popped up from all over. But the academy had no other choice. Given that it was an island, the manpower they could mobilize immediately was limited, and with all the additional expenses, the budget was on the verge of collapse. In this situation, mobilizing the cadets attending the academy was practically the only remaining option. One could argue there wasn’t enough justification, but there was one clear pretext: with the world situation changing so rapidly, they were preparing for real combat.
In the midst of this dark reality, Supervisor Ismael pointed at me with his finger.
“Bonus points?”
Before I could even question the sudden statement, the hunter watch wrapped around my arm emitted a short, heavy notification sound. A ding? What the hell was that? I immediately lifted my arm, and something unfamiliar appeared.