Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Field Trip
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“-That’s all the data you requested.”
Inside the dean’s office, Shea’s voice echoed steadily.
On the desk, the magitech recording orbs he had brought were emitting light simultaneously.
They all captured one thing in common.
Every second of Carlyle Bellfast’s life inside the academy, recorded in detail.
“Satisfied, Cardinal Felix?”
The other party nodded readily up and down.
A request to verify his capabilities sufficiently.
“That’s more than enough.”
“⋯⋯.”
Dean Shea leaned back in his chair, eyeing Cardinal Felix intently.
A person who could manipulate the political balance of nations from his seat—like the continent’s greatest shadow broker—was scrutinizing every move of a single student without missing a beat.
With a smile on his lips, like a parent gazing proudly at their well-grown child.
⋯⋯No matter how you looked at it, the scene didn’t fit.
“You seem to care more about him than your own junior.”
“Hmm— I won’t deny it. Lately, he’s been more entertaining.”
At the sight of the Hero’s strongest backer admitting so straightforwardly that he cared more about someone else than the Hero herself, Shea let out a hearty laugh.
“Your junior would feel slighted if she heard that.”
“Not at all. The Chasefield Lady has always been the top priority.”
However.
“I have a feeling that he’s the key to steering her.”
At Felix’s words, Shea nodded slowly.
“Is that why you requested this ‘field trip’? And why you’re bringing others besides the Hero?”
“Hmm— pretty much?”
“Cardinal Felix.”
Shea propped his feet up on the desk with a grin.
It was arguably the top rude act one could commit in front of a cardinal of the Holy Church, but he showed no concern whatsoever.
And for good reason.
He was a Hero. The strongest of humanity’s past.
Stronger even than the current Hero wielding the holy sword.
“I like you. That’s why I cooperate without complaint, no matter what you ask.”
“Oh my.”
“The number of disasters you’ve covered up is beyond counting. You’ve even stopped wars that could engulf the entire continent, haven’t you?”
Cardinal Felix was a prime example of the coercive power an intelligent person could wield after discarding morality.
She shrugged at his words.
“Just lucky.”
“There are plenty who criticize your methods as extreme, but from my perspective—someone who’s shouldered all of humanity—I fully acknowledge their value. But.”
Felix still wore her courteous smile.
So did Shea.
Thus, the eeriness of their ensuing conversation doubled.
“Lately, I’ve received reports of devil worshippers operating in the capital. In the exact location you want to go for this ‘field trip.’”
“⋯⋯.”
“Bunch of animals. They treat murder as sport, hold worship rituals with it, make parents kill their children, then force siblings to eat the corpses. Incidents like that pour in endlessly. Freshman rookies shouldn’t get tangled up in that.”
“True.”
“Cardinal Felix. You plan to drag my students into something horrific?”
“⋯⋯.”
“I won’t say don’t do it. Not for my junior, anyway. A Hero has to face those things eventually. But.”
Shea’s smile deepened.
His voice was like frost.
“Go easy.”
“⋯⋯.”
“If any of my ordinary students get sacrificed because of your scheme, I’ll personally make you a saint.”
There was one surefire way to elevate a religious figure to sainthood.
Martyrdom.
The polite murder threat carried no emotion toward someone who could be counted among the continent’s top power holders.
If anything, the lack of emotion made the certainty all the clearer.
This former Hero.
Like all Heroes, including Gray.
Had the power to make good on his words, the guts, and the shamelessness to not care about the fallout.
“Send them back in one piece, body and mind. All of them. Got it?”
“⋯⋯I promise.”
Felix replied flatly.
“-For the ‘ordinary students,’ that is.”
Shea frowned at the nuance.
“So there are some non-ordinary ones? My line is ‘ordinary students excluding the Hero.’”
“Yes. You have it exactly right.”
Felix’s gaze remained fixed on the footage replaying on the table.
Carlyle’s footage.
“Even so, there’s one student who doesn’t look ordinary at all.”
As if.
His extraordinariness was on par with the ‘Hero.’
◆
Right after finishing the special exam before Gray arrived.
Gray had vented her frustration at Carlyle in the Eternal Forest, whining about how she’d been summoned but he wasn’t there, but otherwise, it had passed without incident.
“⋯⋯Ah, I’m tired.”
Honestly, he wanted to rest.
How many days had he been crushed by incidents lately?
So.
⋯⋯He hoped no one would casually toss another new crisis in his face.
“A field trip?”
Carlyle echoed suspiciously.
Siona, who had just informed him he could participate, was still smiling brightly.
“That’s right! Exciting, isn’t it? It’s a picnic, a picnic!”
“With the Cardinal?”
“Even better, right? Her Eminence Felix is a beauty!”
“⋯⋯.”
“The Hero, Carlyle, Vespa, and Her Highness the Princess too! Everyone together, rowdy and fun picnic time!”
⋯⋯This woman’s energy was always too high; he couldn’t get used to it.
And more suspiciously, the proposer was Felix.
[Better go.]
‘⋯⋯Really?’
Probably.
If the holy sword hadn’t persuaded him like this, he would have thought long and hard.
[At this time in the capital⋯⋯ something’s bound to happen. There’s a reason Cardinal Felix is calling me. She must have sensed signs of a horrific incident.]
‘Anything more specific?’
[The highest probability is the ‘black market massacre.’ A demon summoning ritual. I remember it being around this time.]
According to what she said.
It was the first case of slaughtering hundreds to summon a demon from hell using their corpses.
The reason Felix called Gray was likely that.
“⋯⋯.”
No way it was a picnic.
Something gruesome was about to happen, so she was calling for backup.
‘But why bring me and the others, not just the Hero?’
[⋯⋯No idea.]
The holy sword groaned.
[That’s exactly why we should go. It’s never good not knowing what that woman is plotting.]
‘Fair point.’
He had a strange faith that Felix wouldn’t harm him or Gray, but he never assumed her methods would be clean or fair.
-Specialty Info
[Trait: Cardinal’s Ideal Type]
You resemble the person who gave the Cardinal a reason to fight for the ordinary.
Perhaps more deeply connected than even the Cardinal realizes.
But even one fighting for a noble cause needs their extreme methods tempered.
Help the Cardinal find balance between ideals and methods!
▶ ‘Scheduled Trait’ unlocked.
▶ ‘Scheduled Trait’ is not yet active but will unlock unconditionally later.
▶ Leverage the Cardinal’s feelings toward you to develop the trait!
[ ♠ Regret 0% ]
[ ♠ Guilt 0% ]
[ ♠ Obsession 0% ]
⋯⋯Seeing this made it even clearer.
Needing to temper her extremism meant not knowing how she might go off the rails.
The odd part was.
How was he supposed to develop these bizarre emotions like regret, guilt, and obsession?
Did she even have reason to feel those toward Carlyle himself⋯⋯?
“⋯⋯.”
Whatever, he’d worry later.
“Professor Siona.”
“Yes!”
“Shall we go on the picnic?”
“Picnic time!”
The rowdy group picnic proceeded smoothly, if not quite as chaotically as promised.
And it was clear they weren’t skipping the picnic vibe entirely.
“-Wow-”
Upon arriving at the capital lodging, a long exclamation escaped Vespa’s lips.
A grand, luxurious hotel the likes of which he’d never seen even on his past-life Earth. Towering so high he had to crane his neck to see the ceiling.
Gorgeous lights lined the entrance, and imperial lion statues illuminated the evening sky splendidly.
“Th-this is where high officials from various nations stay— b-basically the state guesthouse—”
Just seeing the pale, stammering Princess Ilia confirmed it was no ordinary place.
⋯⋯Absolutely not somewhere students should stay. Unless you were the current-gen Hero, Gray.
As expected of the Gray Cardinal. She spared no extravagance for her personal invitees.
And that’s exactly where the problem arose.
Carlyle, Siona, Vespa, Gray, Felix, and Her Highness.
Six people was quite a crowd.
This magnificent building couldn’t accommodate such a large group.
The fatal issue stemming from that.
“You won’t⋯⋯ get single rooms.”
“⋯⋯Don’t bullshit me.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯Even swearing won’t change it, milady.”
Gray’s face twisted like an oni’s.
For this hypersensitive woman, no single room was like the world collapsing⋯⋯
“How are the rooms assigned, then?”
“The room for milady has the fewest people: a double.”
The other four would share one room entirely.
And the smallest, least inconvenient room would go to Gray.
“⋯⋯.”
Even so, Gray pressed her temples, visibly irritated.
“Then I’ll choose my roommate.”
“As you wish. Who would you prefer?”
“⋯⋯.”
Gray’s eyes lingered on Carlyle for a moment.
⋯⋯Quite a long moment. Long enough to fluster even him.
“Milady? Surely not me—”
“You snore in your sleep.”
“⋯⋯.”
“You grind your teeth too. No thanks.”
⋯⋯Ah.
So that’s why she was analyzing him so intently.
“I want the quietest, most well-behaved one.”
“Hmm— then?”
“⋯⋯.”
Gray’s gaze shifted.
Downward.
Toward someone much shorter than her.
“⋯⋯Eek-?”
Princess Ilia’s face drained of color upon meeting Gray’s eyes.
“This one seems good.”
Well, now. What’s this?
Gray volunteering to pick the kid.
“If I get pissed, I can knock her out easily.”
“⋯⋯.”
“She’s the weakest, so it’d be simple.”
Princess Ilia’s face went from blue to ghostly white.
But the speaker was Gray.
The one who’d knock you out if you questioned her decision.
‘⋯⋯Hang in there, Your Highness.’
Nothing else to say.
◆
-System Message
▶ Event triggered: ‘Variable: Holy Sword’s Suggestion – Hero’s Princess Training.’
▶ Bond may form between the two targets.
▶ High potential impact on ‘Main Event!’
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