Chapter 149
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Hawa and Lulu-chan Have Realized It!
"Ian..."
Magic Tower tour, day two. In the middle of navigating the maze.
Hisenna called out to Ian in a timid voice.
"What is it, Hisenna? Let's go this way!"
Ian was completely absorbed in solving the maze.
Screams from other cadets echoed throughout the maze.
Various traps were hidden all over it.
'Ugh... the mood isn't great...'
Hisenna clutched the hem of her skirt and pouted.
She had something she wanted to say to Ian, but the atmosphere was all wrong.
Still, she couldn't interrupt his maze-solving, so she followed along for now.
She didn't want to be the reason Ian lost to Elrim.
Fortunately, Ian was great at finding the path. Hisenna didn't even need to help.
She quietly trailed behind him, lost in memories of an event from about a month ago.
The day the subjugation festival ended. The afterparty.
Hisenna had been downing drinks under Nahu's encouragement.
Elrim had passed out from the booze, but Hisenna hadn't actually gotten drunk.
To be precise, not drunk enough to lose consciousness.
So she'd been aware of everything going on.
Including Chayuri dragging Ian off.
'Where the hell did those two go that night...!'
One thing was clear: Chayuri hadn't returned to the dorm that night.
Hisenna hated to think it, but she could vaguely imagine what happened.
Yet she hadn't asked them what they'd done.
Because of that slim "what if."
What if, that drunken night, they'd really been together.
"Tch... not this way... CantDoThisEither was right, these guys suck..."
Hisenna muttered to herself as she watched Ian navigate the maze.
Their first meeting had been weird, but now she couldn't imagine life without him.
Lately, his magic skills had grown ridiculously fast.
And above all, if something really had happened between Ian and Chayuri that night...
The thought made her chest ache, though she didn't know why.
She wanted to be the one there instead.
Imagining that made her ears burn red.
'Tonight, I have to ask him!'
She absolutely had to ask tonight.
This rare chance to share a room alone with Ian.
Last night, Elrim and Chayuri had ruined it.
Not that she was imagining anything weird.
Still, this was best asked in private.
The maze was too chaotic right now.
"Um... Ian."
"Ugh, seriously, stop whining about your tummy ache and just find the path..."
"Ian?"
"God, that Yas fixation again..."
"Ian!"
"Huh? Oh? Sorry, Hisenna. This is definitely the right way this time."
"That's not it!"
"Huh?"
Hisenna finally snapped Ian out of his pathfinding focus.
Ian turned his head toward empty air.
"Um... don't you kinda want to just rest tonight? Hanging with Elrim and Chayuri is fun, but I feel like sleeping early..."
"Yeah, same here. Those two were a nightmare all night~"
"So, how about we tell them that?"
"Think they'll listen?"
"Well..."
Hisenna hesitated.
Opportunities like this wouldn't come again.
It was a bad thing to do, but...
"H-How about this?"
"What?"
"Tonight, us girls from the class are hanging out together."
"Girls' night or whatever? What's that got to do with anything?"
"I'll go with Elrim and Chayuri, then sneak out."
"Works for me... you sure that's okay?"
"Anyway, you're fine with it, right Ian?"
"Sure, whatever..."
"It's settled then!"
This was definitely a bad thing.
A deviation Hisenna had never done in her life. Lying to friends.
But Chayuri had lied to her too, so that made it even. Hisenna planned her nighttime scheme.
"Anyway, let's hurry and get out. Elrim's crew might beat us at this rate."
"Y-Yeah!"
And the maze-solving resumed.
Feeling better, Hisenna energetically helped Ian.
"It's quieter than before, huh?"
"Yeah. No way everyone's already out, right?"
"Doesn't seem like it..."
By the time she noticed, the once-noisy maze had grown quite quiet.
Quiet enough to cautiously bring up that topic.
Hisenna considered gently asking about the last night of the subjugation festival.
"Ian... um, during the subjugation festival, did I..."
But at that moment, a mysterious mana wave rippled through.
Ian shouted simultaneously.
"-Hisenna!"
Hisenna's world spun.
Ian had suddenly grabbed her and tackled her down.
"Ian?"
When she came to, Ian was frantically calculating a spell.
Why can't these supposed archmages even solve this!! (Whipping Meryung meme)
This isn't even magic, it's a maze. How the hell are we supposed to solve it? At least give a hint ffs
If there were rules or a code, maybe, but solving from a few pics inside the maze? ; All we can do is remember paths taken.
Full maze map? Solved instantly. But how? Where's Redhead btw?
Helping this dude makes us think we're bored lol
Just bring the busty Yas addict fixation already ffs!
Hawa and Lulu-chan have realized it!
Too clueless you guys!!
Won't help cuz pissed off bb
"Ugh..."
Trying to solve the maze using the gallery didn't work well.
Of course, it was normal that it wouldn't.
No full map, just pics at forks asking which way.
Even archmages couldn't crack it like that.
Guess I'd have to do it the hard way.
Tonight, like Hisenna said, I could rest easy without Elrim and Chayuri bothering us.
Maybe cast an acceleration spell and sprint.
"It's quieter than before, huh?"
At some point, the noisy maze had gone silent.
Too soon for everyone to have escaped.
We used to run into other cadets all the time, but now? Barely any.
"Ian... um, during the subjugation festival, did I..."
Just as Hisenna started talking.
A chilling mana flow brushed my neck.
Something's coming.
No time to think—I calculated a spell and dove.
No spare calculations for two spells, so pull Hisenna into mine's range.
"[Body-Centered Cubic Lattice Structure]"
"-Hisenna!"
I calculated the spell and lunged toward Hisenna.
The moment she entered the cube's range, an impact hammered it.
"Ian? What the—"
This wasn't some basic maze trap.
Someone had calculated it with clear malice.
-...Blocked it?!
A voice echoed from beyond the maze wall.
Then, someone rounded the corner and fled.
"There!"
"Chase 'em!"
Hisenna and I chased with acceleration spells.
The twisting maze corridors.
Corners whipped by.
We had no idea where we were headed amid the complexity.
Just pursuing the fleeing cadet.
One thing clear: we were going deeper.
"Huh? Ian, over there..."
Mid-run, Hisenna pointed somewhere.
Two cadets lay collapsed there.
"Is that guy ambushing cadets?"
"Seems like it. Targeting them maliciously."
Not just them.
The deeper we chased, the more knocked-out cadets we saw.
Not dead—stunned by knockout spells, probably.
That explained the growing silence.
"But from that glimpse of his back, it looked like Godwin..."
"Godwin?"
I hadn't seen clearly, but Hisenna had caught a look at our attacker.
Godwin was an A-Class cadet.
Some minor noble house, I recalled. Top ranks in class.
Notable for being in Hera's clique, which I'd clashed with a lot.
"Hisenna, keep the acceleration going."
"Got it!"
I left accel to her and calculated another spell.
No need to chase endlessly—cut him off.
"[The Time It Takes for Sedimentary Rock to Form]"
A grinding kwagagak—a sedimentary rock wall erupted before Godwin.
He tried blasting it, but the thick barrier didn't shatter at once.
Cornered, he panicked and we caught him.
"U-Ugh..."
"Godwin, you the one attacking other cadets?"
"Urk..."
Godwin didn't answer—instead, he calculated a spell.
A clumsy 4th-circle attack. Easily blocked.
"Not talking, huh."
Didn't know the goal, but malice was obvious.
Best to restrain him before more chaos.
"[Cage Aquaculture]"
"Guh...! Ack—Stop! Krgh!"
5th-circle capture spell [Cage Aquaculture].
His level couldn't breach it.
"Gotta get out fast."
"Why would Godwin attack cadets?"
"Dunno..."
At first, I thought he was controlled by something.
Or like the taboo mage, someone disguised as him.
But Godwin's skill was standard A-Class.
Top of 1st-years, but no match for me.
This tour was 1st-years only.
Maze-solving usually had no PvP motive.
Most cadets would've dropped instantly to his ambushes.
But he couldn't beat me and Hisenna.
Thought a surprise KO would work? Even 2v1...
"Wait. Where's his partner?"
"Huh? Right, Godwin was paired with James..."
James, another Hera clique A-Class.
We dragged the stunned Godwin as we headed out.
Then, unexpectedly, we ran into familiar faces.
"Losers?"
"Ian."
"Chayuri. Elrim?"
Chayuri and Elrim.
Dragging a cadet just like us.
"James?"
"Yeah. He ambushed us outta nowhere, so we caught him. Looks like he hit others too."
Godwin's partner, James.
And he'd attacked others.
"These punks KO'd everyone! What the hell are they doing?!"
Elrim kicked the unconscious James irritably.
He groaned weakly, probably thrashed by them.
James was Godwin's level.
No match for us, but could've taken lower classes.
"Let's get outta the maze. Gotta tell Milio."
"Yeah. But finding the exit'll take time."
We moved together to escape.
Without a map, it'd be slow.
Maybe smash walls? Then our savior appeared.
"Visitors!"
Milio.
He was frantically dashing through the maze.
"Everyone okay? We detected ambushes inside and deployed chief researchers to resolve it quickly."
Good—they were already on it.
Other chief researchers trailed him.
Rescuing lines of stunned cadets.
Way more victims than expected.
Hard to believe just Godwin and James did all this.
"These guys seem to be the attackers. Probably more culprits. Any way to evac all cadets at once?"
Running around rescuing one by one was inefficient.
Manipulate the whole floor? Easy fix.
But Milio said no.
"Regrettably, impossible. We can't alter the tower's structure itself. But we have the maze map—we'll deploy all chiefs to prioritize evac."
Figured they couldn't move their own tower.
Remembering even the Tower Lord wasn't the true owner, it made sense.
Using someone else's creation—best they could do.
"Report to the Tower Lord and contact the Sub-Tower Lord."
"Understood."
Milio instructed the others.
Situation seemed handled.
"Hera's clique behind this?"
"Caught ones are all her gang, but..."
Besides Godwin and James, the chiefs' captures were all Hera crew.
"Strange. We thoroughly screened all entrants."
"What do you mean?"
"Tower Lord approves all access. Only Merhen cadets permitted this time. We inspected everyone beforehand—for disguised intruders."
"So they were all legit cadets."
No puppets or disguises, per Milio.
Meant Hera's gang planned it themselves.
But why ambush cadets here?
Too sloppy for real attacks.
Even A-Class couldn't beat everyone.
Hera still not over that grand prostration?
"Please exit. Thank you for the help."
We handed Godwin and James to the chiefs and escaped.
Chiefs and Sub-Tower Lord evacuated cadets.
I watched, then opened the gallery.
The unease lingered.
Title: Ambushed outta nowhere during maze
Author: Kim Muggle
(Rough situation rundown)
Looks like that bully bitch crew's doing, but too sloppy for real attacks
Not like taboo mage body-snatching
Archmage duke already targeting me? Nah, they hit everyone
What do you think? Too weird for just pranks
Aw shit title made me think busty one jumped you
One busty deed and you're doomed lol
Obviously got a goal tho
KO other cadets = gain for bully crew?
Just eliminating rivals for 1st in maze?
Nah. Bullies weren't even with partners, scattered solo. Means goal was spreading out to hit cadets.
Too sloppy if attacks were the goal
If hurting cadets, they'd preload mana stones with strong spells
So damn clumsy, can't be the goal. Looks like diversion to me
What else could they be after?
No solid answers from the gallery.
Too sudden—truth wouldn't come quick.
Leave it to the chiefs? Then, an unexpected commenter shouted Eureka.
Hawa and Lulu-chan have realized it!