The Lecture Hall Bomb

Deep in the night, faint moonlight spilled into a narrow alley. A man walked quietly down the alley and entered a small shop at the end. Contrary to its shabby exterior, the inside revealed the neat scene ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a bar. The man sat before the bartender in a suit and spoke.

"One glass of milk."

"Sir, we don't operate the café at night."

"I know."

"······."

After exchanging a brief code phrase, the two men met each other's eyes.

"Kahaha! You're the same as ever. There's no one here but us, so why bother with the code phrase like some stickler?"

"I was merely following protocol."

Eric burst into laughter, unable to hold it in. Hurtlocker crossed his arms and glared at him with clear displeasure. No one else was in the bar. Moreover, the space was protected by a high-output barrier. Whatever they said wouldn't leak outside.

"How's the job going?"

"What job are you referring to?"

"What else could it be? Infiltrating the Crows."

"It's not going well."

Hurtlocker sighed. Throughout the Empire were errand runners who carried out all sorts of requests; they were called Crows. Crows would undertake any request as long as they were paid, without asking questions. Naturally, such work was never legal, so the Crows hid their identities and lived in the shadows. Hurtlocker was currently trying to approach them in order to become a member of the Crows.

"Their information network seems quite formidable. I think I need to proceed with extreme caution."

"Is that so. Ah, right. Emilia came by today."

"Emilia did? Isn't she on a mission right now? Why?"

The moment Emilia's name came up, Hurtlocker's tone shifted completely. Typical of a doting brother. Eric shook his head in exasperation.

"She came as part of her mission."

"That means—"

"Yeah. Schluss Heinkel. She was with that guy."

"······."

Hurtlocker's expression soured.

"Seems this café suits Schluss's taste. I was planning to pull out, but I guess I'll have to stick around a bit longer. No reason to refuse when the surveillance target is offering to come regularly on his own, right?"

"That aside······. What did Emilia say?"

"Huh? About what."

"I mean, isn't it hard for her? Schluss isn't doing anything awful to her, is he?"

"Aigoo. Worrywart. Do you think Emilia would just sit still if something awful happened to her? We'd be lucky if she didn't pay him back double."

"Still······ Huh?"

Just then, a sheet of paper began emerging from the artifact resting on the bar. It was printed with a cipher made of dots and lines.

"Emilia's regular report."

"From Emilia? What does it say?"

"Uh······ Hmm······."

Eric, having decoded the cipher while holding the long strip of paper, wore a troubled expression. This was something he probably shouldn't relay to Hurtlocker.

"Director?"

"Schluss Heinkel seems like a good person. That's what it says."

"······?"

Hurtlocker's face twisted into a grotesque grimace. A good person? What on earth did that mean? For an intelligence agency operative, the only criterion for judging someone was whether they were useful to the mission or not. There was no concept of good and evil there. Emilia wasn't someone who didn't understand that, so why use the expression "good person"? Then, could this be some kind of code as well? In truth, Schluss was a tyrant who laid hands on his attendants······ and Emilia, to request help without other agents noticing······

"Hey. Stop. Calm down first, you idiot."

"What do you mean."

"You were having another ridiculous delusion again, weren't you? Cut it out."

"······."

He'd hit the mark. Hurtlocker had a habit of always thinking the worst whenever Emilia was involved.

"Just interpret it as is. It says he's a good person. Probably means he's a well-mannered young man."

"Th-that can't be. I've never seen Emilia praise any man besides me until now······. What on earth happened······?"

"Aigoo. This is severe."

Eric sighed even as he fell into thought. There was some merit to Hurtlocker's overthinking. The usual Emilia would never have discussed the character of a surveillance target. Yet she'd sent this information during a regular report when she couldn't even send a few words······ It almost seemed like she was appealing. Don't kill Schluss.

'Nah, no way.'

Emilia, famous for being cold, would never do that. Eric quickly dismissed the thought.

The first day of classes had arrived. It felt like only a few days had passed since the entrance ceremony, yet already······. The magic I'd learned so far was only gravity magic and barrier magic. And even those I could only activate weakly. If my magical abilities were exposed, everything would be over. Truly, completely over.

'Today it's mana, then.'

Yesterday, after sword training in the training room, I'd used Selection and Concentration on stamina. That left two stats until the shop opened: mana and strength. But today, there was no need to agonize over which stat to raise. Because something requiring an enormous amount ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of mana was definitely going to happen today.

"Huu······."

Could I pull it off? Worry began to creep in. People probably thought of me as some superhuman who'd endured the terror barrier, but in reality, I was nothing special. If anyone seriously came at me, my true capabilities would be exposed in an instant.

"Heinkel."

"Yes?"

"Your tie is crooked."

"······."

Just as I was sinking into gloom, Emilia approached and straightened my clothes. After fixing my collar and retying my tie, a smile appeared on Emilia's face.

"There, all done."

"······."

"Heinkel, do your best today."

"Thank you."

Emilia smiled and offered words of encouragement. Even though this was just an act and not her true feelings, it still gave me strength. I was the author who wrote this novel. In other words, the creator of this world. Thinking that, confidence began to well up inside me.

"I'll be going now."

"Take care."

Leaving Emilia bowing behind me, I took a step forward. Toward the classroom that would soon become a scene of chaos.

*

Ignoring the murmuring crowd, I entered the classroom. A massive lecture hall three stories high. This was where elemental magic lectures were held. And it was also where disaster would soon strike.

'There it is.'

On the podium sat a cart piled high with stones. At first glance, they looked like nothing more than mana stones to be used as teaching materials, but hidden among them was something foreign. An explosive-type artifact. A bomb that absorbed all the mana from the surrounding mana stones and converted it into explosive force. That explosive power was enough to reduce not just the classroom but the entire building to dust. In the original story, the protagonist used his overwhelming mana capacity to contain the explosion.

······But since Hurtlocker wasn't here, I had no choice but to do it myself.

A quest had appeared right on cue. Now all that remained was to wait for the explosive artifact to activate. I sat still, clasping my sweaty hands together. Looking around, everyone was chattering noisily. A few were pointing at me and whispering. Naturally, I was the only one in this lecture hall who knew there was a bomb.

"Huh?"

······Except for that woman.

Without realizing it, I shot to my feet.

"Hmm?"

"······."

The woman descending the stairs turned around, having felt my gaze. A silver cross hanging on her chest. And a black nun's habit with a veil. There was no doubt. Iris von dem Flechette. The Saint of Flechette.

······And the one who possessed future sight stood there.

"Why did you come?"

"Huh? Pardon?"

"······."

Only after coming to my senses did I realize I was interrogating Iris, whom I'd never met before. Even though you'd seen the future, why did you come here? Even though you knew the classroom would be engulfed in flames, why did you come? Only after seeing Iris's dumbfounded reaction did I realize that silence had fallen over the lecture hall. Every gaze in the room was directed at us. I hadn't intended to draw attention like this.

How had the original story explained why Iris came to the lecture hall? ······Come to think of it, there hadn't been any particular explanation. This was a setting error, wasn't it? Why had no one pointed it out in the comments until now? Maybe because the setting that Iris possessed future sight was revealed later.

"Why did you come, you ask?"

"······No, it's nothing. Excuse me."

I quickly sat back down, wanting to smooth things over for now. Iris tilted her head, then climbed the stairs again and stood beside me. Damn it. I thought she'd just leave.

"Schluss Heinkel. You're the top-ranked incoming student, correct?"

"Yes."

"I'm Iris von dem Flechette. Nice to meet you."

Iris smiled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and extended her hand to me. At a glance, it looked like nothing more than a benevolent smile, but I knew the emotion hidden beneath. Pessimism toward all things. Iris had peered into the future countless times and confirmed that the continent's only future was destruction. That was why she was currently pessimistic about the world and drowning in despair. The one who would heal that despair by showing her a hopeful future was the protagonist, Hurtlocker······ But since he wasn't here, let's leave that story for another time.

I stared blankly at the hand Iris offered. She had her hand turned palm-down, making her intention quite clear.

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Saintess."

"······Oh my."

I took her hand, turned it sideways, and shook it. She had probably expected a kiss on the back of the hand, but since I didn't know how to do that, I just let it pass. Doing it clumsily would only make me a laughingstock. I should learn noble etiquette from Emilia later.

"How dare you!"

"To greet the Saintess as an equal!"

"······."

Hearing shouts from around me, it seemed I'd made a mistake. Was the meaning of a handshake that different from kissing the back of the hand? I really needed to study.

"Don't mind them. I'm here as a student, so in this place, I'm neither a Saintess nor anything else."

"Then let's drop the formalities. Since we're classmates."

"······Huh? Yes?"

Iris's expression became dumbfounded again. I mean, if we're classmates, using casual speech should be fine, right? Or not? Now that I thought about it, everyone had always spoken formally to Iris. I couldn't quite remember the detailed parts.

"How dare you speak to the Saintess as an equal!"

"Saintess! Please get away from that man immediately!"

Seemed this was the wrong answer too. Was I going to end up on bad terms with Iris at this rate? That would really be the end for me.

"Heinkel. At the very least, we should maintain basic courtesy—"

Kugung······!

Iris's words were drowned out by a loud noise. Everyone's heads turned toward the podium. There, a spherical object was slowly rising from the pile of mana stones and floating into the air. It had already begun.

"What is that?"

"D-don't tell me!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Damn it! Everyone run! It's an explosive artifact!"

The flow was exactly the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same as in the original story. Someone recognized the artifact's identity, and the classroom instantly descended into chaos. As the artifact glowed an increasingly bright red, the students' screams grew louder as well. Students rushed toward the entrance in an instant, and it was soon packed with people.

"Wh-what! Why won't it open!"

But the door would be locked. And that wasn't all. It was protected by magic as well, so first-years wouldn't be able to open it no matter what they did.

"Aaaah! I don't want to die!"

"Aah?!"

A panicked student bumped hard into Iris's shoulder as they passed. As she lost her balance and began to fall, I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Th-thank you."

"······It's nothing."

If I hadn't stopped her while passing by, she wouldn't have fallen in the first place. I'd only caught her because she was about to trip because of me, so hearing thanks felt rather awkward.

"Why did you really come?"

"······."

Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked once more, but Iris said nothing. Well, since she'd never told anyone about her ability to see the future, it would be difficult for her to answer.

"It's done. Step back."

"Pardon? What are you trying to do······"

I pushed Iris behind me and stared straight at the podium. The explosive artifact's color was gradually shifting to yellow. It looked like it would explode any moment now. Now it was time to use the gravity magic I'd practiced all night. I would cast a spell that sucked in everything within a ten-meter radius, centered on the explosive artifact. And now, the ability Selection and Concentration······

"Hwaaaah!"

"What the— that crazy—"

I was supposed to use it. Why the hell was Erika climbing onto the podium again?