151. Butterfly Effect (2)
151. Butterfly Effect (2)
"Over the past few days, we discovered sixteen kidnapping cases. Fifteen of them were connected to the Demonized Humans."
"Fifteen connected to Demonized Humans......?"
Baek Seol-hee nodded calmly.
"Yes. Fortunately, all the victims were unharmed. The bastards likely need living sacrifices."
At her words, my face hardened seriously.
'Was there ever a kidnapping incident at this point in the story?'
No. There wasn't.
No matter how much I rifled through the main story and each character's personal story in my head, there was no such grim incident at this point in the timeline.
In a pretty-girl game, what kind of story could possibly show up during the academy summer break?
Obviously, the highlight of any pretty-girl game!
The Swimsuit Event!
And even that wasn't supposed to happen now, but a whole week later.
But now my Master said she'd already searched and dealt with fifteen Demonized Human kidnapping cases alone.
'Looking at the story alone, this is definitely not something we can just brush off lightly.'
And this was only what they'd found in a short investigation period. There was a high probability they were still moving beneath the surface even now.
I wondered for a moment if this might be some hidden behind-the-scenes plot of the Swimsuit Event, but I soon had to shake my head.
'That has nothing to do with Demonized Humans. The Swimsuit Event is mainly about monster subjugation.'
In that case, only one thing came to mind.
The Butterfly Effect.
Just as the tiny flap of a butterfly's wings can cause a typhoon on the other side of the globe—minute changes, small differences, creating unforeseen variables.
The most plausible judgment was that the things I had changed since falling into this world of 《Velvet School Life!》 had created our current situation.
'Among everything I've done so far, there are a few things that were absolutely unchangeable in the game....... And if I sift through just the ones likely to have a major impact on the main story.......'
I stroked my lips, sinking deep into thought.
Two major things came to mind.
First was the Hunter Management Bureau.
In the early game, they appear as antagonists, an organization butting heads with Velvet Academy at every turn.
Right after the tutorial.
Kim Ji-won, the moderate originally in charge as Director, gets taken down by a corruption scandal, and the hardliner Ryu Jin-ju takes her place.
But, just before the Demonized Humans could tamper with the fabricated evidence, the Instructor and I eliminated Ryu Jin-ju,
and we exposed the Hunter Management Bureau's real corruption one step ahead of everyone else.
That triggered a massive purge inside the Hunter Management Bureau, and while their status dropped far below what it was in the game,
the trash that had been eating away at them from within was largely swept clean.
So the current Hunter Management Bureau wasn't an annoying villain faction, but rather—even if they were groveling a bit—a supporter faction now.
The second was the Midterm Evaluation we took not long ago.
In the Midterm Evaluation where casualties should have been guaranteed, every single cadet survived thanks to the efforts of me and my party members.
After that, with the media and public opinion play added on top, the prestige of Velvet Hunter Academy and Rina—which should have been chipped away long ago—became far more solid than before.
In this situation, how must the Demonized Human bastards feel?
Heh—
'......Their stomachs must be churning.'
Their long-prepared plan to overthrow the Hunter Management Bureau ruined from the very start.
And even the Midterm Evaluation, which they'd considered a golden opportunity, ended up helping us instead.
It was no surprise their patience was wearing thin.
"Yes, they made a reckless move."
"......A reckless move?"
"What does that mean?"
Im Ga-eul and Sofia asked with bewildered expressions,
but Baek Seol-hee nodded as if in agreement.
"Yes, as you say, they've made a reckless move. Right now, they're doing things they would never normally do."
"Yes. Normally, they wouldn't risk causing trouble when the Magic Emperor has her eyes burning with vigilance like this."
"Hmm, but perhaps knowing that, they've put considerable effort into moving covertly. Enough that even I was slow to notice."
'Well, look at that—we stumbled onto the Demonized Humans by sheer luck.'
We'd lightly requested an investigation at Lee Yu-ri's suggestion, and instead, thanks to that, we caught a lead on the butterfly effect.
"Well done. Jin Yu-ha."
Baek Seol-hee reached her hand toward my head.
Probably intending to pat my head again.
'Umm....... It's nice, sure, but, well, right now my party members are watching from the side, so I wish she'd hold back a little.......'
Ahem—
Before she could pat my head, I quickly opened my mouth.
"Um, Instructor. Can we dig into this a little more?"
At that, Baek Seol-hee's hand, which had been approaching my head, halted in midair.
She wore a sulky expression again. Then she spoke in a chilly voice.
"......That is precisely why I called for you. And you must have guessed as much, which is why you brought those two along, isn't it."
No, not really.
They just followed me on their own.
At the Instructor's words, Im Ga-eul and Sofia wore startled expressions, then their eyes sparkled with an almost burdensome enthusiasm.
"Hoo, hoobae. You, you knew it would turn out like this all along? That I wouldn't be able to just leave things as they were, that I'd follow you out......? No wonder you let me tag along so easily! You were giving me a chance!"
"Wow, Jin Yu-ha....... Did you notice me hiding up ahead and deliberately walk right in front of me!? I thought I hadn't been caught, but it was all in the palm of your hand....... But, is this proof that you permitted it? I actually like that."
Im Ga-eul and Sofia had started jumping to their own conclusions.
Baek Seol-hee stared blankly at the two girls making a fuss before her.
Then she spat out in a curt voice.
"Since we must move covertly, bringing the others along is out of the question....... However, this case involves kidnappings. Those two could be of 'very' 'marginal,' 'meager' help."
"Ah, then what about the senior Extermination Squad members......."
"They're not coming."
"Pardon?"
"Originally, I wanted to wrap this up at the Extermination Squad level, but the day before, a dispatch support request came in from Japan, so that's impossible."
"......Then, you as well, Instructor?"
"No, the Magic Emperor also went there, so I remained here."
'Hmm, so they stirred things up right when Rina was out of the country?'
Even so, the fact that this blew up so suddenly hadn't changed.
Honestly, a sudden butterfly effect like this had me at a loss for what to do, but—
my Master was with us from the start.
Could anything be more reassuring than this?
"Then we begin the operation now."
Baek Seol-hee spoke, her eyes lowering darkly.
Im Ga-eul and Sofia, who had just tagged along and suddenly found themselves part of an operation,
"......I knew it! Sticking by my hoobae's side was the right call. Even while I was sitting in the massage chair, the opportunity just dropped into my lap!"
"I-I'll do my best!"
Well, it didn't seem like I needed to worry about them.
And I clenched my fist tightly as well, steeling my resolve.
'A surprise event like this....... I'll finish it as fast as possible! The swimsu— no! Because the kidnapped people are in danger!'
It definitely wasn't because I was worried it might interfere with the upcoming Swimsuit Event.
Really.
* * *
The moment Baek Seol-hee kicked off.
Boom—!
A fierce sonic boom erupted behind her.
She and the three cadets were running across the rooftops.
Traveling in a straight line like this was far faster than going by car, so they had no choice.
Baek Seol-hee glanced back.
'......They're keeping up better than I expected.'
Jin Yu-ha she could understand, since she had trained him herself, but the two girls were quite surprising.
"Hahk, hahk— I won't be invisible anymore!"
"Hyeok, hyeok— I can't lose sight of Jin Yu-ha!!"
The two cadets were drenched in sweat and breathing roughly, yet somehow still chasing after her.
'I know Cadet Im Ga-eul is a Support, and Cadet Sofia is a Healer.......'
Even if they were aiding their bodies with speed-enhancing abilities,
for Support roles to dash across rooftops like this was no easy feat without considerable guts and training as a foundation.
And Sofia, despite having joined Utopia only recently, showed not the slightest hint of fear.
'Fundamentally strong nerve, and her natural physique is remarkable....... This kid is a genius too.'
She didn't show it outwardly, but in truth, Baek Seol-hee held a great deal of interest in the Utopia Party.
She had even gone so far as to have a squad member create a YouTube ID for her—the first time in her life—and subscribed to the Utopia Channel.
Checking what kind of people her disciple was with, and what kind of activities he was doing, was naturally something a master ought to do.
Still, she knew relatively little about these two cadets.
In Im Ga-eul's case, her exploits were suspiciously well-hidden.
And in Sofia's case, she was a Healer who had only just joined.
But if she were to piece together what she did know.
'Im Ga-eul uses Acceleration and Slow; Sofia can heal from a distance.'
With those two, they would undoubtedly be of immense help in rescuing survivors.
To be honest, they were the type of talent that didn't even exist in the Demonized Human Extermination Squad.
It was almost astonishing how he managed to gather only these peculiar individuals.
'The fact that Jin Yu-ha brought them means he's taking this matter extremely seriously.'
When Jin Yu-ha first brought those two, Baek Seol-hee had honestly felt a little disappointed.
After all, she had thought this was a chance to spend time alone with her disciple and deepen the bond between master and student, but an uninvited guest had suddenly barged in.
Glance.
Baek Seol-hee took in the sight of Jin Yu-ha's face, hot on her heels just behind her.
"Faster, even faster—!"
Jin Yu-ha, chasing desperately with a hardened face.
There was no room for idle thoughts on that face.
She could see only his grim determination to defeat the Demonized Humans as soon as possible and rescue the kidnapped people.
Just from the fact that he'd brought exactly these two to this place, she could sense just how seriously Jin Yu-ha was taking this incident.
'......Truly, the disciple puts the master to shame.'
How shameful she was, to have been pleased at the prospect of more time alone together.
On top of that, Jin Yu-ha had felt apologetic for troubling his master with his request and had even given her a gift.
Feeling the weight of the sword maintenance kit against her chest, Baek Seol-hee let out a small laugh.
'Hmm, though in truth, I already have an identical one.......'
It was the sword maintenance kit that Chairwoman Rina had once given her as a present.
She had handed it over saying, "I don't even use a sword, but this came to me as a gift."
In fact, that kit was the best among those Baek Seol-hee had ever used.
But that didn't mean she couldn't be happy about receiving the same thing.
After all, this was a gift her disciple had prepared with her in mind.
The weight she felt was different.
He was probably the one who wanted to use it more than anyone, yet must have saved up on a tight budget, thinking of his master, to acquire it with great difficulty.
Since the gifts Chairwoman Rina received were always rare luxury items that couldn't be obtained easily.
As Baek Seol-hee basked briefly in the warm feeling of her disciple's gift, a thought suddenly struck her.
'Hmm, an exchange would be nice too.'
If she gave him the one she had been using, wouldn't that also become a meaningful gift for her disciple?
While her thoughts continued along that line,
the target building came into view.
"We've arrived. Entering immediately."