Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Fake Knowledge, Fake Sage☆ (5)
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A late-night road cutting through the wilderness, heading toward the Golden District.
The road was empty of vehicles, filled only with silence.
I was driving a large truck from Svart Industrial High School, one that Lotha had brought for us.
‘I thought it would be like driving a manual transmission car from my past life, but this is… easier than an automatic.’
Just turn it on and press the accelerator.
The vehicle glided forward smoothly.
With the road this empty, driving was even easier.
The most surprising thing about this world was that high school girls drove so casually. Of course, it was sometimes depicted in the game, but I’d always written it off as a narrative convenience for moving characters around.
‘I just assumed there was some backstory about them getting a driver's license...’
But now that I was driving one myself…
The vehicles in this world were about as difficult to operate as racing karts, just a matter of controlling the power from the ether engine. Plus, thanks to the nature of ether engines, even minor maintenance and repairs were simple.
Ether truly was an all-purpose energy. Thanks to it, I could drive with ease in place of Lotha and Freyja, even without a commercial driver's license.
Vrooooom—
The only sound on the quiet road was the hum of our vehicle's ether engine.
Even when I heightened my senses while driving, just in case, I didn't detect any presence nearby. It seemed even the wild animals had fled, likely due to the endless din of magitech weaponry exploding in the distance.
‘It's unusually quiet.’
This was the road that connected to the Academy City's largest industrial complex.
Normally, the route to Mimir Industrial High School and Svart Industrial High School was bustling. It would be so packed with vehicles carrying countless dwarves and students that riding a bicycle was faster than driving.
It was a road that was always crowded, even at night.
But now, it was as if we had rented the entire road for ourselves.
‘An Academy City this quiet feels incredibly strange...’
I sighed inwardly, recalling the encirclement we had just broken through.
‘Is it because of all the bad news breaking out around here?’
The appearance of Ratatoskr, the movements of the Eastern Federation, the Corrosion incident... In the span of just three months, a series of disasters had struck one after another. For ordinary students and dwarves, it must have been deeply unsettling.
‘It's only going to get harder for the regular students. Events far greater than anything that's happened in Academy City Yggd so far are about to unfold...’
The ordinary students.
Those who loved peace more than fighting.
People like Frida.
"..."
Frida's relaxed smile suddenly flashed through my mind. From late April, when the sun grew stronger, she would wander the school grounds under a worn parasol, sketching.
It took only five minutes to walk the entire perimeter of Central Prism Academy's small campus, even on Clara's short legs. But Frida would observe every flowerbed with such delicate care that a "walk around the school" could take her over four hours.
*Clara, have you seen Frida?*
*She's always late for meals...*
Whenever it was time for us to eat together.
Nina or Selma would go looking for Frida.
And when I, the fastest on my feet, finally found her.
*Clara—!*
Her yellow hair would sway as she turned her head, a gentle smile on her face...
"...!"
*Squeeze—!*
My hands tightened instinctively.
My fingers dug into the smooth texture of the steering wheel.
"..."
I must have been too lost in my memories.
For a moment, I even forgot I was driving.
I shook away the countless stray thoughts crowding my mind.
‘Maybe it's because this truck is so easy to drive that it's hard to focus.’
I should have Maya or Alvitt drive from now on.
All I need is my red bicycle, my Red Hare.
With that thought, I collected myself, gripped the wheel tightly, and focused on the road ahead.
"Hoo...☆"
The first thing to come into view was a giant white tree.
And surrounding it, a sturdy white wall.
I could catch glimpses of massive, magnificent stone buildings.
We were on the road to the distant Golden District. Thankfully, nothing unusual had happened yet; we were just cruising along at a more leisurely pace than the cars of my past life.
It seemed to be growing infinitesimally larger, so we must have been getting closer. But its sheer size, visible from hundreds of kilometers away, made it impossible to properly gauge the distance no matter how much we approached.
‘The checkpoints at the junctions are all empty... and the grounds of the smaller nearby schools are completely barricaded. I can't even see the Golden District because of the wall.’
A wall built to strictly control the entry of ordinary students.
The wall built to protect the World Tree and the prestigious high schools was also massive.
And it was now completely obstructing my view.
‘I haven't been this way often, so I'm not sure where to go from here...’
Ironically.
In the game, this was the place I clicked on most frequently for high-end gear and character quests. But now that it was real, it had become a place I couldn't even enter.
In times like these... you need a local guide.
*Glance...*
I looked at the back seat through the rearview mirror.
I could see a purple cat and an orange cat, their ears perked up side by side.
Both were gazing out the window, their respective purple and orange eyes shining.
*Twitch.*
*Twitch.*
"...?"
"...?"
The two pairs of cat ears moved, catching my gaze.
‘Such loyal cats... not even sleeping soundly and leaving me to drive all alone.’
Actually, I could hear them murmuring to each other about magic earlier. But I couldn't understand a word of it, so I'd tuned them out.
I looked toward the ugly purple cat ears and spoke.
"Sooo~☆ I haven't been to the Golden District much♪ How much farther do you think we are~☆"
Freyja leaned forward from the back seat, poking her head through. She answered me in a tone that sounded somewhat unsure.
"Um... I-I don't see any people... a-and there are usually signs at each checkpoint... but they're strangely hard to see... I-It feels like we're almost there..."
"Wow~♪ What... truly... helpful... advice...☆"
Unbelievable...!
I guess asking a stay-at-home stray cat who always travels on foot for road conditions was too much to ask.
‘So Freyja wasn't some master strategist, just a homebody who was only strong on her own turf...’
To my lifeless response.
Freyja flinched and answered in a grumpy tone.
"W-What do you expect...?! W-When I go on dungeon expeditions in the wilderness... for my personal research, I just take the ether train... and, and when I go out for joint research with the other research faction kids... s-someone always gives me a ride..."
"Ah, yes~☆ So you're a precious housecat who gets chauffeured everywhere...☆"
"Ugh...?!"
Freyja was flustered by my words.
A light sweat broke out on her prim face.
Her tongue, usually so quick with insults, was tied.
It seemed she was truly embarrassed to reveal her own ignorance.
Freyja began to mumble in a voice that grew quieter and quieter.
"B-Besides... do we even need to ask for directions? We just have to go straight...! E-Either way we go... it's the s-same center...!"
"And that's why♪ we need to enter precisely between the grounds of Public Vana Boarding School and Aesir Girls' High School to meet up with the others~☆"
"Ugh... w-well... uhh..."
The purple stray cat, searching for an excuse.
Suddenly, she pointed frantically out the window.
"Ah! O-Over there—!"
An information board, the only thing lit up outside the window.
In its faint light, a massive barricade was also visible.
*[Warning: From this point on is the private property of Public Vana Boarding School. Unauthorized personnel must turn back.]*
The corner of the road where the huge barricade stood.
A rudely worded sign, just as you'd expect from a bunch of beasts.
Freyja's face lit up as she saw it.
"Th-That's right! It's just as I remembered! This is the exact border of the school! S-See! Just like I said, we went straight and... we arrived in no time...!"
"Ahaha...☆ I see, I see♪"
"W-What is it, you ruffian!"
"It's nothing...♪"
But just as the sign said.
The path ahead was blocked by a heavy barricade, so we couldn't go any further by vehicle. We decided to park the truck we'd been driving on the side of the road.
We got out of the truck.
And stood side by side before the giant white wall, sleeping silently in the darkness. A battle was surely raging beyond it, yet the massive wall concealed even the roar of the fight.
"..."
"..."
Lotha broke the silence, looking at Freyja and speaking cautiously.
"So... we go through the main gate under that wall over there, enter the grounds of Public Vana Boarding School... and while the aristocrat faction's main forces are engaged in an all-out battle, we rescue the research faction students who will be hiding in the library... is that... the plan?"
"W-Well... they're all good at hiding, like me... so I doubt the aristocrat faction has managed to do anything to them, but..."
Freyja's eyes suddenly turned cold as she spoke.
"If by some chance... that stupid idiot Frau has laid a hand on the first grimoire left by the [Golden Witch] or our research faction students for her own selfish greed..."
*Creeak—*
She didn't continue.
But the sound of her gripping her wand tightly said everything that needed to be said.
"..."
"..."
Watching her, I hoped Alvitt's group had also arrived safely.
Even though they had taken a less dangerous route than us.
Their mission was just as important.
‘Our job is to rescue the detained research faction students and rendezvous. Their job is to circle around to the United Student Council and rendezvous... It's ironic that the longer route is the safer one.’
Just as we were about to cross the barricade.
I felt a murderous intent from the distance.
"...!"
"...!"
I quickly scooped up Lotha and dashed into the checkpoint booth next to the barricade.
And Freyja, too, prepared to activate a skill with all possible speed and hid nearby.
*Tat-tat-tat—!*
"[Eternal Spindle], localized area, precision strike, launch delay!!"
Startled by our sudden movements, Lotha cried out.
"W-What?! What's happening?!"
"Stay hidden~☆"
"...?!"
Inside the checkpoint booth, I gave the panicked, wide-eyed Lotha a tight hug. Tucked securely in my arms, she finally seemed to realize something was wrong and crouched low to the ground, bracing for impact.
And in that instant...
*KRA-BOOOOM—!*
Huge flames of black ether came flying toward us.
I counted at least five of them. They slammed into the truck we had just been in and exploded. The truck was blown to smithereens, leaving behind a shower of debris.
Before the explosion had even subsided, I stepped out of the checkpoint booth and said.
"I'm serious, truly, girlishly serious~☆ Don't you dare come out~♪"
"S-Senior!!"
Lotha's thin, scream-like voice echoed behind me. I forced myself to ignore it and ran to Freyja's side.
We now stood on the flame-licked roadside, facing the approaching enemies.
"Heeh~☆ To think they'd be here..."
"A-Are those... the so-called I've only heard rumors about... Th-They're just a bunch of rabble."
"Yup♪ That's them."
Even as we spoke, the hulking figures arrived one by one.
They created great tremors with each step, swiftly surrounding the final approach to the Golden District.
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
The dragon horns sprouting from their huge, three-meter-tall silhouettes were impressive. Every one of them was scattering black ether, finished with their preparations to transform.
"..."
I scanned the area for any Priest-level executives, but thankfully—or perhaps not—I couldn't sense any presence of that rank or higher.
‘Just who... managed to bring the power of [The Serpent of Wisdom and Cycle] here?’
It was a high-difficulty boss event created for hardcore players who were bored after the main story's ending. I was curious how they had managed to bring traces of beings on par with [The Dragon Crouching in the Abyss], beings that should have only existed in lore.
But it didn't seem like the Ratatoskr Apostles in front of me were about to give me any answers.
The dozen or so Apostles surrounding us.
One of them spoke in a heavy voice.
"You go no further, inferior species."
"Wow~☆ Such a classic line♪ And from a nobody, too~☆"
"..."
Freyja, surprised by my words, whispered to me.
"A-Are they really that pathetic?"
"Yup♪ About as strong as an adult chaos insect...☆"
"B-But there are so many of them... and we have so much to do..."
"Then there's a way~☆"
"W-What is it?"
I spoke toward Freyja's ugly cat ears.
"Lend me a weapon~☆"
"Wh-Whaaat...?"