The Price of Loyalty
The stares stung.
Eating her meal in the dining hall, Olivia could feel the prickling gaze of the crowd directed entirely at her.
"Is that her...?"
The noble ladies who used to flock around her now looked down at her with cold, distant eyes.
It hadn't taken long for the news of her "false report" to spread. The young noblewomen who once kept her company knew all too well that she had been cast aside by Yurisia.
Of course, it wasn't as if those girls had ever done anything of substance for the princess. Even if they had the will, Yurisia had never wanted their help in the first place.
Still, they were fundamentally people who had followed the princess to the Academy, whether out of loyalty to the imperial family or a yearning for their power.
Yurisia was the thread that bound them together. Now that Olivia had lost the princess's trust, she was naturally cast out of their circle.
"I heard so many people are being interrogated because of that incident. How is Olivia still walking free?"
"Who knows? Maybe her family pulled some strings. Even if she was involved, she probably didn't play a major role."
Rumors bred more rumors. Those who disliked her, or those who simply wanted someone to tear down, were already treating Olivia like an attempted murderer who had colluded with terrorists.
The fact that the princess didn't actually view her that way was irrelevant.
Yurisia wasn't actively stepping forward to defend her, and even if she did, the students would have found a way to blame Olivia anyway.
The incident was simply too massive. It was a terrorist attack that had unleashed a Behemoth, of all things.
Parents who had sent their children to the Academy sent letters filled with outrage, while the students cast suspicious glances at one another and even at the professors.
If things had gone slightly differently, the princess could have died. In fact, any one of them could have perished in that catastrophe.
Yet, no one had been punished.
The culprit who brought the Behemoth remained unidentified. Naturally, suspicion fell on Katarin, but few dared to openly accuse a lady from such a powerful family without concrete evidence.
Even if there had been clearer proof, people would have hesitated to publicly denounce a dark mage.
To draw Katarin's attention was to risk becoming the target of her next scheme, or the victim of some horrific dark magic curse.
The public needed a scapegoat they could actually handle.
"Listen to this. Right before it happened, she was spotted alone, and the timing of it..."
Her past was being picked apart. Moments of her life that no one would have spared a second thought for were now the talk of the campus, twisted and reshaped at their whim.
"Come to think of it, which family does Olivia belong to again? They're Imperial, but I think their territory is close to the Margrave of Ernst's lands..."
"Close, you say?"
"Well, they don't share a direct border, so it's not like they've had any military clashes."
The rumors grew, accumulating layers of fiction to give those who despised her a righteous justification.
"Hey, remember when the Margrave of Ernst invaded the Empire? I heard their request for reinforcements was suspiciously delayed—"
She could hear it all. Her highly trained knightly senses cruelly delivered their whispers straight to her ears.
Malice piled upon malice. Rumor stacked upon rumor.
This... isn't what I wanted.
Olivia closed her eyes, reflecting once more on the choice she had made.
It was a statement she had to make. If she hadn't lied and claimed they were safe amidst that raging storm, Yurisia would have climbed the mountain without a second thought.
That was an outcome that could not be permitted. No matter the cost, Olivia had to stop her.
Both as an individual who revered the princess, and as a knight loyal to the Empire.
And her action had yielded results. Though she didn't know how Claire had become a Dark Priestess, something significant must have transpired up there.
Neither Wade nor Claire could be considered normal. Perhaps, as Katarin had initially suggested, they were individuals who harbored that dark potential all along.
She was right. She had made the correct choice. Armed with meaningful information, she had acted in accordance with her convictions.
Yet, the price she paid was a barrage of agonizingly cold, piercing glares.
Though Olivia had finished her food, she remained seated at the table for a long time.
The gazes and whispers of the crowd slowly, methodically tore her heart to pieces.
"You don't need to view a contract with a demon as something inherently terrifying."
Leila waved her wand, and rows of text began to etch themselves onto the magic blackboard.
"Imagine you're a merchant meeting an important client. You'd want to trade with someone reliable, someone who can offer you the greatest profit, wouldn't you?"
It was a rare theory lecture for a dark magic class. But unless it taught actual spells, the information was practically useless to me.
I quietly organized my plans, keeping my mind on Katarin, who was likely sitting somewhere in the back row.
She pulled quite a stunt...
Even for Katarin, summoning a Behemoth at this stage must have stretched her resources to the limit.
If she truly had the power to deploy a Behemoth near the Academy, she would have saved it for a far more critical objective than dealing with someone like me.
It must have belonged to Kazot.
According to my knowledge of the original game, a terrorist attack utilizing a Behemoth shouldn't have occurred for at least another six months.
Using a newborn Behemoth to temporarily sever magic communications...
Exploiting this loophole was a one-time strategy. The materials were incredibly difficult to acquire, and the Academy would surely implement countermeasures now.
For now, it's fine, but...
Without the Behemoth, Kazot's options were severely limited. They would have to rewrite their entire playbook for sowing chaos and executing terror attacks from scratch.
And that was precisely the problem.
No matter how dangerous an attack was, it was easy to counter and block if I had prior knowledge of it.
I could control how I built my reputation through those events, and easily ensure that key individuals who absolutely had to survive remained safe.
But now, that future knowledge was useless.
I have to make a choice.
My magical training was progressing smoothly. Even if my technique was slightly lacking, drawing out my dark mana by force would allow me to stand against most opponents.
Furthermore, I now had Claire, a priestess who served me.
Although she couldn't wield power beyond what her physical body could handle, she was already showing capabilities far exceeding those of an ordinary priest.
I don't need to get stronger right this second...
This school held many secrets. Hidden pieces, buried treasures.
But most of those hidden pieces were items designed to make the player stronger.
They were artifacts that expanded one's mana pool, increased demonic affinity to allow for more dark mana usage, or boosted physical stats.
At least, not for me.
I already possessed near-infinite power.
I could gather those hidden pieces to hand off to my allies, but even that felt pointless right now.
The cards I can play... Me, Claire, and depending on the situation, Kellin and the princess.
There was no need to worry about Yurisia. Any artifact I could dig up by wandering the campus at night wouldn't compare to the treasures of the imperial family.
Making Kellin stronger was a double-edged sword. No matter what she was thinking right now, her ultimate loyalty still lay with Katarin.
For now, I need to find a way to contact Kazot.
To ensure my safety, I needed to have at least a rough idea of what they were planning.
However, as a mere student, there weren't many members of the organization I could contact without raising suspicion.
Except for one person.
Katarin...
She was a woman capable of hijacking Kazot's plans and turning them to her own advantage. Since we shared a class, opportunities to interact with her were plentiful.
Of course, Katarin wouldn't just welcome me with open arms if I walked up to her with a smile now.
I would have to use Kellin.
My lady...
Kellin couldn't help but realize she was under suspicion.
Katarin had always enjoyed torturing others for no particular reason. It was a daily routine for her, serving as both a personal hobby and a way to vent her frustrations.
Yet, as her most loyal subordinate, Kellin had long been excluded from the targets of Katarin's sadism.
A sharp, tingling pain coursed through her entire body. Katarin's honed dark mana glared down at her with murderous intent.
Despite the agony, the dark mana failed to break Kellin's resolve. She had seen with her own eyes that there was a far more terrifying existence out there.
I...
Having served Katarin for so long, Kellin could easily deduce the motive behind this treatment.
First, Katarin intended to reassert her slipping control over Kellin through overwhelming pain and intimidation.
Second, if that failed, she hoped Kellin would break and run to the new "master" she feared.
Katarin believed that once she identified this hidden entity, she could deal with him. She assumed she could crush him using her dark magic and the authority of the House of Ernst.
That was why Kellin had no choice but to endure.
You mustn't... You cannot make an enemy of him...
Her resolve remained unshaken.
Even now, Kellin could not bring herself to abandon her loyalty to Katarin.