Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: The Silent Academy
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In the pitch-black room.
The Perrist Princess suddenly opened her eyes.
“......”
Unlike her dyed black hair, her deliberately exposed crimson eyes gleamed with sharp intensity, reminiscent of a beast with gleaming fangs.
She had kept her eyes closed for a long time, but she hadn't been sleeping.
It had been quite a while since the princess last truly slept. Even so, her mind always remained in peak condition.
The same held true now.
“…I never expected Kazita to fall.”
A faint note of delight flickered in her casually uttered words, carrying even a hint of childlike innocence.
The princess stroked the head of the doll cradled in her arms.
“Just as we predicted, Desberry. I told you the transfers would bring a wind of change. Things are definitely going to get much more interesting from here.”
The princess rose from her seat with a chuckle and headed to the window, flinging it wide open.
The light from the blood-red moon illuminated the room. It was filled with dolls.
Dolls of every kind and appearance filled the vast space without a single gap.
Whoooosh—.
A hot gust of wind blew in at that moment.
As the translucent curtains swayed gently, the princess stepped back, bathing her entire body in the blood moon's glow.
Her movements were graceful, like a dancer performing.
The princess lay back softly in her designated spot.
Poof. The dolls filling the room cushioned her fall. Buried among them, Perrist lifted Desberry.
She met the doll's ominous eyes and smiled.
“Ruan Bednicker. What an entertaining guy. …Oh? You like him too? Ahaha. So do I.”
Clutching Desberry tightly, the princess whispered in a low voice.
“…The atmosphere is ripe enough. Time to move to the next phase.”
* * *
Right after leaving the research building...
Evan Helvin sprinted through the academy grounds without looking back.
The blazing sunlight, the still-chilly breeze, the chirping birds, the cadets just waking up—.
The newly risen sun bathed the academy in brilliant light. A peaceful scene.
But Evan's face was twisted in horror, in stark contrast.
‘…I owe him a debt.’
What if he had stayed there instead of Ruan?
The princess was surrounded by unmistakably clear malice relics. That was irrefutable proof that she was the mastermind behind this entire mess.
Followers of Hadenaihar were generally deranged. They didn't respond to reason.
The awakened [Memories of Evil] told him as much.
‘Lunatic.’
Hadenaihar, the Demon King of the Blood Moon, was also the god of madness.
Some even called his faction the [Assassination Cult].
They treated it as a derivative cult.
Separately, the Blood Moon's High Priests obeyed the Dark Cult's commands without question... but clashes with other factions were frequent, in every era.
Revealing himself as a sub-cult leader wouldn't grant protection. They'd probably react with mild surprise—"Ah, is that so?"—before killing or capturing him on the spot.
That would only make things worse.
Sub-cult leaders had plenty of uses.
They made excellent offerings to the Calamity God, or you could half-kill them and extract the malice relic.
Fleeing that place had been the right call for Evan.
Though it didn't seem like Ruan Bednicker had considered all that.
‘This feels bad.’
Of course, the Demon King's descent alone made the situation disastrous...
Somehow, it felt like even that was merely the harbinger of some colossal catastrophe.
“Ha.”
The thought drew a cold, bitter laugh from him.
The Demon King's descent as a mere precursor?
Then what horrors would follow?
And more importantly—
‘What do I even want?’
Evan suddenly stopped running.
He was in front of the academy's main building.
Cadets passing by shot curious glances at the abruptly halted Evan. He ignored them.
The Demon King had already descended, and something even worse was coming—that much was instinct.
Staying here would mean getting swept up and dying, or suffering something worse than death.
‘Run?’
Evan seriously considered his escape options.
Of course, with the chancellor's puppet around, normal escape methods wouldn't work. Dodging that surveillance was nearly impossible.
But wasn't attempting escape better than sitting idly, waiting for death?
‘Yeah, that's right. Just run.’
The moment his inner voice whispered that...
‘Shut up.’
Evan snapped back irritably.
He'd known that from the start.
Ever since awakening as a sub-cult leader, just before Ruan Bednicker caught on.
But Evan hadn't done it.
He hadn't run.
If he left, what about the cadets here?
Knowing disaster was coming, was he supposed to abandon them all to die?
‘What does it matter? Whether a few hundred or a few thousand unbelievers die, it won't hinder our spread of the doctrine.’
A mocking voice.
He ignored the [Memories of Evil]'s whisper, laced with sinister intent.
He hadn't told anyone, but Evan's mind was in utter turmoil.
Thanks to an absurdly hollow death, the [Memories of Evil] hadn't fully integrated with his personality.
While he acknowledged the Dark Cult's doctrines, the pride of the hero-worshipping cadet remained intact.
As a result, two identities coexisted within him: sub-cult leader Evan and cadet Evan.
Split personality? That might have been preferable. It would have been far more stable emotionally.
No, it was different.
Even the inner voice was part of Evan's true self.
‘Enough.’
He shook his head.
Dwelling deeper on a problem without an immediate answer was dangerous. One misstep, and madness could shatter his mind entirely.
Evan forcibly shifted his thoughts.
Ruan wouldn't return easily.
Given the circumstances, he was likely dragged into the underworld.
What next, then?
Would the princess trot out a proxy puppet for Ruan?
‘Impossible.’
Creating a proxy puppet wasn't easy.
Bednicker's cadet had arrived for training camp only a few weeks ago—nowhere near enough time to craft one.
‘She'll make her move today.’
After all, she'd let him slip away right under her nose.
Sharing the situation took priority.
In hindsight, Ruan briefing the cadets had been a smart move.
Even the thick-headed ones should have grasped it by now.
‘To the yellow dorm first.’
The moment Evan decided his next course—
Thud.
Without any warning, his body collapsed on the spot.
He lost consciousness.
Someone collapsing in the middle of the main building square would normally draw attention... but not a single cadet spared Evan a glance.
Because it wasn't happening to Evan alone.
Thud, thud...
Cadets and staff passing nearby toppled like sleepwalkers in succession.
Nor was it confined there.
Professors inside the main building, groups of cadets chattering on the train, students just opening their eyes after oversleeping, merchants opening their doors with their children—
Every human in the academy lost consciousness and fell.
“......”
“......”
“......”
Cloudless skies, blazing sun.
At what should have been the busiest, noisiest hour, the academy was shrouded in unprecedented silence.
* * *
“Dad, save me!”
I bolted upright, muttering as I scanned my surroundings.
“…What the hell. Damn, what kind of crazy dream was that.”
I scratched my head vigorously.
For some reason, the moments before blacking out weren't clear.
I closed my eyes and thought back.
I'd heard some shocking story and passed out cold.
“......”
The moment I looked at the Yin-Yang Sword in my hand, it all came rushing back.
“…M-Me, a High Priest?”
My head spun at the insane development. Doubting if it was real, I looked around to question it...
But Leone was gone. Only Chancellor Alderson lay rigidly behind me.
“Leone?”
No response to my low call.
Had he stepped away briefly? The thought was immediately dismissed.
He'd appeared abruptly, so vanishing just as suddenly wasn't odd.
Of course, it left me in a bind.
Leone must have arranged the Yin-Yang Sword's sudden appearance.
Even if I was acquainted with the colorless Demon King—my Eldest Martial Brother—its emergence mid-fight was suspicious.
‘Did Leone make me a High Priest?’
Or had Eldest Martial Brother set something up during our last meeting?
Or maybe...
Leone might have been joking.
I cautiously scanned my body's interior, but soon let out a groan.
‘…There's a malice relic.’
Negligible compared to my internal energy... but a small amount had gathered in my dantian.
‘This is really bad.’
I'm not one to fluster easily, but my expression hardened this time.
Only then did I recall the dream I'd had while unconscious.
In it, I met the Iron-Blooded Duke.
The dream Duke pointed his sword at me and said:
—A High Priest of the Dark Cult from my bloodline? Unbelievable. I'm truly disappointed in you.
—No, Father. It's all a misunderstanding.
—Shut your mouth, Ruan... No, even saying your name disgusts me. Shut up and die, stain on the Bednicker name.
—Argh!
“......”
The problem was, if my identity were truly exposed, the odds of something like that happening were very, really, blatantly high.
I'd have to be grateful if he killed me that cleanly.
Professor Ainzbern's fate was still vivid.
The Iron-Blooded Duke hadn't even swiftly executed an outsider collaborator, instead inflicting prolonged, excruciating torment.
‘And if he learns a Bednicker like me is a High Priest, not just a collaborator?’
My crude mind couldn't even imagine the fallout.
Anyway, I needed to find Leone again and demand an explanation...
“…Hm?”
That's when I noticed something clutched in my right fist.
Opening my palm revealed a note.
[Meet at Setitus.]
[P.S. I'm tired of playing puppet.]
Setitus?
It sounded familiar.
“Ah.”
—The kingdom destroyed by the colorless Demon King was called Setitus.
—Few records remain today, but some texts describe it as the [Empire of Evil].
Chancellor Alderson.
More precisely, his puppet, but anyway—from our conversation.
The nation Eldest Martial Brother had destroyed.
Going there would reveal the cause of this damned mess?
“......”
No good. This is bad.
Too much stray information.
‘Deal with the Blood Moon Demon King first.’
I crumpled the note into my pocket and stood.
Chancellor Alderson lay beside me.
Not dead—his complexion was fine.
His bound areas were slightly swollen, but no threat to his life.
Most miraculous was his chest, where the dagger had been—now gone, with no piercing wound.
Some magic tool?
I'd heard of devices that disrupt mana flow.
As I examined Chancellor Alderson closely—
Rumble...
“...!”
The entire building shook violently, like an earthquake.
‘Something's wrong.’
The vagueness made the ominous premonition worse.
Carrying Chancellor Alderson on my back, I climbed the basement stairs to the first floor...
And soon witnessed an unbelievable sight through the window.
“…What the—.”
The [adult puppets] patrolling outside.
The horde Arin had mentioned screeched as they charged the building.