The Monster Rampage Event (2)
“This must be the place…”
Hestia Claudi had told me about this antique shop. According to her explanation, this was the spot where she had received the parchment inscribed with a magic circle.
From the outside it looked old and rundown, so poorly maintained that I wondered how it stayed in business at all.
Creak—
The moment I opened the door, the hinges screamed like a dying animal. Inside, a friendly-looking middle-aged woman who had been sorting merchandise greeted me with a warm smile.
“Welcome, dear. But student, we’re not open for business right now. Is something wrong…?”
“It’s the middle of the day and you’re closed?”
“Today’s inventory day. I’d really appreciate it if you could come back later.”
She was already trying to chase me off the moment I arrived. Naturally, I let her words go in one ear and out the other while my eyes swept across the entire interior.
I could feel sharp strands of mana threaded throughout the whole space. My eyes narrowed. It didn’t take long to realize the entire building was one massive bomb.
And the woman in front of me, acting so casually, was clearly a formidable fighter.
“Auntie, just one question.”
“Curious about our opening hours?”
“Do you know a Professor Temiri? She was a spy who infiltrated the academy, and she left behind quite a lot of interesting material.”
The instant I spoke the name, the woman’s expression stiffened—just a fraction. I didn’t miss it.
“An academy professor? That sounds like someone important. I’m afraid I don’t know anyone like that.”
Shing—
“Really?”
I drew my sword completely now. It was the blade I had looted from the Draugr.
‘This guy’s starting to grow on me. Maybe I should give him a proper name.’
Since it was a grey sword, I’d just call it the Grey Sword.
The moment I leveled the Grey Sword at her, the woman finally dropped her poker face.
“How much do you actually know, student?”
“Everything. That this whole place is a bomb, that you’re a spy for the kingdom—all of it.”
“That’s dangerous talk. The kingdom and the empire are on friendly terms, you know. You really shouldn’t throw around accusations like that.”
“Is it fine to plant spies behind a so-called friendly nation, then?”
“Well, as long as you don’t get caught, it’s perfectly fine. Can the empire really swear they haven’t planted a single spy of their own behind the kingdom?”
She wasn’t even pretending anymore. And true to form for spies everywhere, whatever I did was national security; whatever they did was an international crime.
If you don’t want to get caught, don’t be sloppy.
“You’re right. If you don’t get caught, illegal becomes legal. So? You’ve already been caught.”
“Student, you must still be young. If there are no witnesses, it doesn’t count as being caught, does it?”
A grin spread across my face. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.
The woman hurled a hidden dagger at me while still smiling. She’d tried to lower my guard with casual banter. Of course, I wasn’t about to fall for something so basic.
Clang—!
“Good instincts, student.”
Sizzle—
She snatched a potion from the shelf and flung it. The instant it shattered against the wall, the entire surface melted away. If that had touched me, there wouldn’t have been anything left.
“That’s nasty stuff…”
“Then why don’t you blow up along with the shop, student?”
She tried to create distance and flee. My magic was faster. The fireball that shot from my hand incinerated the door she was aiming for.
“Guess we die together, then?”
“You’re wrong about one thing. You die. I live.”
“We’ll see.”
Crackle—!
She threw another potion. Electricity erupted across the floor the moment it broke. I instinctively levitated, dodging the surge.
At the same time she deployed a water-attribute magic circle, clearly trying to extinguish the burning door. Too slow.
Slash—!
I didn’t give her time to finish. She canceled the spell instantly and raised her dagger to block my sword instead.
That was when I fired the paralysis spell.
Whirr—!
“Ugh…!”
The woman bit her lip hard, closed her eyes, and rolled sideways. She had figured out in a split second that the paralysis magic launched from my eyes.
Even Professor Lapel had noticed the Draugr’s paralysis magic immediately the first time he saw it. Strong people really were on another level.
Still, I wasn’t sure she was stronger than me.
Slash—!
Crash—!
A whole shelf collapsed. Daggers flew from the debris, but I dodged every one.
Boom—!
One of them must have struck an explosive; a blast roared behind me. I ignored it.
Slash—!
Sword scars carved into the walls. Tiles shattered. The ceiling cracked.
Yet I simply kept walking forward, step by step, toward the fleeing spy.
“You really are a monster, student.”
“Monster? Rude.”
“Then let’s die together.”
Thud—!
She pulled a dagger from her chest and drove it into the floor, then began pouring mana into it. The explosion circles hidden throughout the building were designed to detonate the moment they received an overload of power.
The only problem was—
“Do you know why I’ve been cutting the walls, ceiling, and floor instead of you?”
After the incident with Professor Temiri, I had grown again. My ability to sense mana flows had improved by another stage. I could now locate every single hidden magic circle in the building.
I had neutralized them all before engaging her. From the start, the gap between us had been that overwhelming. The game itself couldn’t even begin.
‘Kael Lotus really does have ridiculous talent.’
With the best talent in the original story plus accumulated real combat experience, I had already become a monster in battle. I still didn’t know exactly how I would use this power, but at times like this it was extremely convenient.
“Have a nice trip, dumbass.”
“Glory to the kingdom!”
Slash—!
The spy’s head flew through the air.
Damn auntie… If you’re going to die, at least do it quietly.
These twisted patriots were all the same. Blinded by love, they turned self-destructive. Some might call it noble sacrifice, but to me they were no different from any other lovesick fool.
“Haa…”
After confirming the situation was over, I sheathed the Grey Sword.
Just like with Professor Temiri, catching a spy meant there was one mandatory follow-up.
Evidence collection.
If I didn’t gather proper proof, I’d suddenly become the crazy noble who had ransacked a civilian shop. Even a troublemaker noble had lines that couldn’t be crossed.
‘First, these torn magic circles and the daggers…’
At minimum, I needed evidence that a fight had taken place here. That way I could claim self-defense. I also found a diary praising the kingdom, traces of communication with other spies, and plenty of other useful items.
The collection went quickly. When I was done, I took one last look at the devastated shop.
“Kind of a shame. There were so many things here…”
Most of the antiques had been destroyed during the fight. While searching for anything still usable, I suddenly spotted a black tome.
“Shadow magic?”
The title said shadow magic, but I knew instantly what it really was.
Black Magic.
Magic treated as lost technology and simultaneously forbidden. I had no idea why something like this was casually sitting in an antique shop, but it definitely caught my interest.
‘As long as you don’t get caught, it’s not illegal… right?’
Magic had attributes—fire, water, wind, and so on. Explaining them all would be exhausting. Among them, the most unusual were light and darkness attributes. The collective term for darkness-attribute magic was Black Magic. Unlike light magic, it was simply too dangerous for humanity to wield.
‘Were the kingdom bastards researching Black Magic to invade the empire?’
It was entirely possible. I didn’t know the empire’s full history, but thanks to Kael’s memories I understood the general flow. The reason the empire had gained the upper hand in the First Empire-Kingdom War was precisely because of Black Magic. If the kingdom was planning an invasion, they would naturally be researching it.
“Well, I’ll put it to good use.”
I slipped the Black Magic tome into my coat. Finally, I gathered all the collected evidence into a random box I found lying around and stepped outside.
“I-is it… over?”
“It seems so. Now we just wait for Kael to return…”
Thud—!
“What was that…?”
Academy Monster Breeding Grounds.
A student tied up so thoroughly he could barely move began laughing maniacally at the white-haired girl and the pink-haired girl.
At the same time, a massive roar shook the heavens.
“Hahaha! Hahaha! How stupid can you be! Did you really think the only monsters in the academy were inside the breeding grounds? Ehehehe!”
Crack—!
“Eek…”
“Don’t worry. He’s just taking a little nap.”
Professor Lapel slammed a giant rock spell down on the student’s head, knocking him unconscious. Then he quickly checked the situation outside.
Ding— Ding— Ding—
“That sound…”
“It’s the emergency bell. It means the academy has entered a state of crisis.”
The bells signaling an emergency across the entire academy were ringing without pause.