Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Manners in the Cafeteria
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The moment I looked down at the sniffling academy cadet, the door behind him suddenly swung open.
Dr-r-ruck...!
I immediately dropped into a combat stance, but the cadet's reaction was different.
"W-We survived...!"
The guy who'd been sobbing just a moment ago lit up with relief, then threw himself into the room like he was diving for safety.
"Y-You! You too, hurry over here!"
"..."
He waved me over with a bright expression.
It felt a bit suspicious, but it didn't seem like a trap, so I followed him in.
The door shut right after I stepped inside.
"Huuuuh..."
The cadet let out a deep sigh of relief from the bottom of his chest.
"We're good now... We should be safe for a while."
"Safe?"
I looked down at the cadet.
It seemed like there was a lot of explaining to do.
* * *
Arin Ohandel.
Seventeen years old. A third-year academy cadet in the Magic Department.
I'd never heard of the Ohandel family. That meant they weren't particularly prominent.
"It should be around here somewhere..."
As soon as Arin entered the room, he started rummaging through drawers and shelves. Meanwhile, I surveyed the space.
It looked like some kind of research lab, but it wasn't very big.
About half the size of my dorm room?
There was a window in the room, and through it, I could still see the blood-red moon hanging in the sky.
Earlier, my attention had been fixed on the sky.
This time, I lowered my gaze to the ground below.
"..."
The land bathed in red light looked saturated with blood. I had to wonder if this was really the same path I'd just walked.
It wasn't just the darkness causing the change.
The garden and trees were withered and twisted. Old streetlamps stood amid cracked roads, and demons...
'Demons?'
I narrowed my eyes.
Even from this distance, in a distant building, a monster stood out clearly.
On closer inspection, it was shaped like a doll, but it was far too large.
By eye, it had to be at least three meters tall.
"Those are 'Adult Dolls.'"
Arin had crept up and whispered in my ear.
"Adult Dolls?"
"Yeah. The one you took down earlier was a 'Child Doll.' Child Dolls only stay inside buildings. The ones patrolling outside like that are all Adult Dolls."
"Hmm..."
"That's why we can't even dream of leaving the building."
Arin sighed deeply, shook his head, then switched to a brighter tone to lighten the mood.
"Check this out."
Before I knew it, he was holding two bottles of water and some long sticks.
I'd seen the latter before.
"...Energy bars?"
"Ah, you know them. Yeah. They're hidden around the room like this. Lucky—there are two here."
Arin handed me an energy bar.
"Eat this...!"
"Huh?"
"Oh, no. Since you saved me, you can have both if you want..."
Gurgle-gurgle.
The sound cut Arin off. His face flushed bright red in an instant.
"I ate a full meal outside, so Senior, take both."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks!"
The moment the word left his mouth, an energy bar was already in it.
Crunch. He started gnawing on the hard bar.
It was made of compressed grains.
I'd eaten them during training camp, handed out by the junior priest. They kept well and packed calories, but they tasted awful.
I wouldn't touch them unless it was dire, but...
Arin seemed thrilled just to have something to fill his stomach.
'Not surprising.'
His gaunt frame suggested he'd been starving for at least a week.
After chugging an entire bottle of water, Arin sighed with a blissful expression.
"Haa... I'm alive."
"Senior."
Now that he seemed ready to talk, I pulled my eyes from the outside view and asked.
"How long have you been holed up here?"
"Who knows? The sun doesn't rise here... But it feels like a few months."
"..."
Hard to take that at face value.
Unless you're a survival expert, a regular cadet like this can't accurately track time in extreme conditions.
Arin glanced at me cautiously and asked.
"But who the heck are you? Taking down that vicious doll in one hit..."
"Name's Ruan. Status is elite cadet."
"Elite!?"
Arin stared at me in shock.
"Ah! You're a transfer, right... Yeah, I remember hearing elite cadets would arrive about a month from now. So you're from a Great Family? I mean, you are, right...?"
Lowborn noble, probably.
His sudden switch to polite speech and wary eyes made me chuckle.
"Just speak casually. I'm a transfer here anyway."
"R-Really? Uh, anyway... First time seeing an elite cadet. You're amazing... I heard you guys are super calm. Are all elite cadets like that?"
Arin seemed the chatty type.
Stick him next to Pam, and they'd chatter all day.
The elite cadet title was helpful, at least.
Like with Glenn, kids this age generally admired young heroes from elite backgrounds.
Arin's trusting gaze was a tad burdensome, but...
This attitude meant he'd follow orders in a pinch, so it wasn't a bad thing.
'Top priority: Secure civilian safety.'
Safety wasn't just physical protection.
I had to provide mental stability as much as possible.
I looked at Arin and said.
"Don't worry anymore, Senior. I'll protect you."
"Huh?! Y-Yeah...!"
Arin's face turned pink as he nodded vigorously.
'Not quite what I meant?'
Truth be told, I wasn't great with words.
No time to choose them carefully anyway, so I asked again.
"Do you know where the building exits are?"
"I do, but..."
Arin's voice grew heavy.
"It's impossible to leave."
"Because of the Adult Dolls outside?"
"That's part of it... But let me explain the building first. This research wing is freakishly huge. As you've seen, the hallways are dozens of times longer than in a normal building."
I nodded.
Not just length—the width could fit a carriage.
Arin continued.
"We're on the first floor, but... to get outside, we have to go up."
"Why?"
"No doors on the first floor. The only way out is to climb to the roof and jump."
His tone was odd.
Not speculation—certainty.
"Did you try it?"
"...Not me, but seniors from Crimson Hall. Seven of them total."
Arin's voice turned mournful.
"Even this building gets nastier the higher you go. The dolls on the first floor are tough for me, so imagine the roof. Better to leave the weaklings behind."
"..."
"But those seniors were insanely strong. They took down building dolls as easily as you. But..."
Arin stared out the window with dead eyes.
"One Adult Doll wiped them all out."
"Ah."
"Not even a fight. Those outside... they're real monsters."
That serious?
I'd only glimpsed them, and sizing them up visually was tricky.
If they were alive, I could've gauged their power through aura, but dolls—no such luck.
I sorted my thoughts.
Priorities.
Killing the princess somewhere in this world—urgent, but still time until the full moon.
So immediate priority...
"Let's head out first."
"Where to?"
"Find more people."
Others might still be alive.
They could have info Arin didn't.
Maybe someone saw the princess.
"Uh..."
Arin hesitated at my words.
He looked scared to step into the hallway.
"If you're afraid, you can stay here, Senior."
"N-No! I'll come! I-I'm no dead weight. Yeah!"
Arin spoke hurriedly.
Seemed he hated being left alone more than death.
I nodded and stepped out of the room.
Back into the blood-lit hallway.
I glanced toward a window and said.
"By the way."
"Yeah?"
"Can't we just break a window and go out?"
"Ah."
Arin smiled bitterly.
"Tried that, of course. Smashed it with a metal chair as hard as I could—no give."
"Oh-ho..."
No scratches from normal hits?
That stirred my rebellious side.
As I eyed the ordinary-looking window, ready to ignite the Flame Arts of the Greatest—
"Uh..."
Arin gasped and pointed ahead.
"..."
A doll stood there blankly.
A stuffed toy reaching my ankle, clutching a kitchen knife smeared with blood.
Ki-ki-ki.
"Eek..."
The doll snickered, and Arin backed away, hugging his shoulders.
Like facing a nightmare made real.
I thrust out my right fist.
A roughly formed Flame Wheel shot toward the doll. Less a palm strike, more a clustered fireball.
Intentional.
No point wasting inner force or spirit energy on trash like this.
Whoosh!
The Flame Wheel engulfed the doll entirely.
Being stuffed, it burned fiercely.
"Uh...?"
By the time Arin muttered dumbly, my gaze had already moved on.
"Senior, can you run?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Then let's hurry. Know where the stairs are?"
"I do, but..."
Arin hesitated, then said.
"Before we go up, can you save my friends?"
"Save them?"
I tilted my head at the odd request.
Implying they were alive, but crises here killed in seconds.
Against slaughter dolls, no less.
Untrained cadets? Even more so.
"Yeah... They've been captured."
"By who?"
"Other cadets."
Arin ground his teeth, resentment in his eyes.
"Indigo Hall guys. They've taken over the first-floor cafeteria."
"Indigo Hall?"
"Yeah. Ever heard? Academy dumps all the delinquents there. Like a prison camp."
First I'd heard.
Indigo Hall.
Lowest-ranked dorm, sure, but a delinquent containment zone?
'Not decent folk, then.'
Extreme situations reveal true nature.
Limited food, space, death everywhere... How would rotten cadets handle that?
Didn't want to dwell.
"Where's the cafeteria?"
"Hold on."
Arin pressed against the window.
The 'D'-shaped building resembled a long body with wings on both sides.
He eyed the opposite wing, gauging our position.
"Keep going this way. It'll bend left once, then straight to a huge door. That's the cafeteria."
"Got it. Let's go."
I quickened my pace a bit.
Ran into a few more dolls along the way.
They came one by one—not troublesome.
Terrain favored me.
Open hallway, nowhere to hide.
Small bodies like theirs would've been sneakier in tight rooms.
"Even a Swordsmanship Department senior couldn't kill one of those dolls..."
Arin eyed the felled doll with mixed feelings. At least his fear had faded—good.
The path bent left once, then straight ahead.
We'd entered what I'd call the 'body'—hallway much wider here.
Passed stairs leading up, didn't climb...
"...Here."
Finally, the oversized door.
* * *
Russo Mozalan thought.
It had to be over a month in this insane hell.
Two months? Hard to say.
At first, despair, fear. Even considered death.
No need.
Stay out of hallways, stay safe... This cafeteria produced food daily based on occupants.
Reason for locking useless cadets in rooms.
"Senior Russo, please..."
Then a cadet approached.
Sallow face, dull eyes, protruding cheekbones.
"Four days without food now... Please... Anything..."
"Lying's fun, huh? No food? Gave you water yesterday."
"J-Just a sip..."
"Right."
Russo grinned.
"Know what? Humans can last a month on water alone. So what? Call it a diet."
"..."
"Or go find food yourself. Like that Arin kid?"
The cadet clamped his mouth shut.
Russo knew better—it was suicide.
That's why he said it.
Knowing they couldn't leave.
Then—
Dr-r-ruck. Door opened.
Cafeteria cadets didn't flinch. Dolls didn't open doors. Hallways were their domain.
Door meant people...
Two figures entered.
Front: cocky-looking platinum blond boy.
"Senior, this the place?"
"Y-Yeah..."
Tiny mosquito buzz from behind.
Russo's gaze landed there. Familiar face.
"Arin Ohandel. Still kicking."
"..."
"Miss the outside? Welcome back. Penalty: week of fasting."
"Ah."
Not Arin—the boy replied.
"Control via food, huh. Sneaky, but nothing beats it for leverage."
A cadet by the entrance spoke up.
"Who're you?"
Rough-looking guy—muscles visible under uniform.
"Obviously a underclassman, no manners. Think professors or rules still exist here?"
"..."
"Want to live long? Mind your etiquette."
The boy's expression shifted oddly.
Unignorable word.
"...Etiquette?"