75. Witch Hunt (6)
75. Witch Hunt (6)
Knock, knock, knock.
"Captain. Reporting in."
The neatly dressed woman entered the Guard Captain's office, adjusted her glasses, and approached the man seated behind the desk. He looked up with exhaustion written all over his face—or, more precisely, he looked at the documents cradled in her arms.
"That was fast."
"I mobilized all of Squad 1 and Squad 2."
"How did it go? Tell me."
"They had already fled, almost as if someone had tipped them off."
"Heh."
Guard Captain Gilbert shook his head, a sigh escaping him.
"A mere gang caught wind of a surprise Guard raid and ran before we arrived?"
"It's the Leech Gang. They're the largest gang in the city."
"They're still just a gang. They aren't capable enough to sniff out a Guard raid and escape."
Deep lines carved themselves across Gilbert's forehead. The world had been going mad since the end of last year. A ship carrying the Saintess had been wrecked; monsters had suddenly turned savage and were attacking indiscriminately; even cultists who'd been quiet for decades had started surfacing—for a Guard force that wasn't especially large, it was pure misery.
They had to maintain order in both the city and the academy with barely three hundred personnel. The special investigations unit was so overworked that even leave requests were denied. The Squad 3 Captain was uncooperative, while Squad 2 Captain Serina handled all the urban patrol duties and returned from each one wearing an openly dissatisfied expression.
Squad 1 and Squad 4, packed with elites, were also close to boiling over with discontent.
"This is driving me insane. But I can't accept recruits indiscriminately either."
"...Even so, perhaps a few more would be—"
"I can't accept people who are blatantly spies."
"...Well, that's true."
"Are there no promising talents among the students?"
"A new student named Elina showed great promise. But..."
The secretary trailed off. The Guard Captain knew the name too. The girl who carried the blood of the Knight Department's first dean at Kalon Academy had been famous for her exceptional swordsmanship and diligent nature. He couldn't help but lament the tragic accident that had killed a talent he'd privately had his eye on.
"Other students?"
"Catherine from the Magic Department, Viola from the Alchemy Department, and Leon from the Knight Department are all promising. I've already spoken to them, though I don't yet know whether they'll accept the offer."
"Three, then. What about outside?"
"Given the situation outside, recruiting external personnel seems difficult."
"...Why did I agree to be Guard Captain?"
To the sigh-laden voice that filled the room, the secretary replied in a dry tone.
"Wasn't it because you said, 'I'm going to tear apart this rotten Guard and rebuild it!'?"
"Isn't there a time-reversing spell somewhere? I'd love to plant a fist in my own face from five years ago."
"If someone with that ability existed, I'd bow my head and beg them to join us."
"...My head hurts. Let's drop this and move on to the other problem. I heard traces of ominous magic were found in a lecture hall near the cafeteria. Has the investigation begun?"
"The Squad 3 Captain claimed it."
"...That bastard?"
Squad 3 Leader. Kain.
He was the Guard Captain's greatest headache. Kain, the second son of the renowned Leibniz family of the Empire, served as Squad 3 Captain. Kain had lost the Guard Captain's post to Gilbert, leaving their relationship extremely poor. Most guards supported Gilbert, but the Leibniz family's enormous donations made it difficult to remove Kain.
As someone from a modest house, merely keeping the Squad 3 Leader—backed by his family's influence—in check was a struggle.
"Ha. What's that bastard kicking up a fuss for now? He should just keep stealing his wages in some corner..."
"There was also reportedly a clash with the Saintess's Escort Knight."
"The Mad Dog? Or that... menacing one?"
"The latter."
The Guard Captain recalled the knight he'd seen from a distance. A large frame. A muscular body. A face covered in scars and burn marks. If his face had been intact, he might have been fairly decent-looking, but that was purely hypothetical.
"I'd heard he was unusual."
"Rumor has it he acquired over twenty licenses in just a few days. The guilds were apparently in an uproar, scrambling to scout him."
"...Does that make any sense?"
"Aren't rumors always wildly exaggerated?"
No one believed the rumors about the man who had become the Saintess's new Escort Knight. A man who had earned licenses from all sorts of guilds in only a few days? That could not possibly be true.
"Hmm... It isn't our jurisdiction, so leave it alone for now. It's troublesome to antagonize the Saintess's people, so tell the troublemakers to avoid clashing with them whenever possible."
"...The Squad 3 Leader already clashed with them."
"What? That stupid bastard caused another incident... Ugh. Why did they clash?"
"That's..."
-----------------------
"Where does this lead?"
"That lecture hall from earlier."
Having already scoped out the main building's layout and confirmed there was no basement, I began the operation immediately.
Shoveling. An underground passage from Dawn Hall to the main building. The academy grounds were larger than most villages, so opening a route through this kind of brute labor was insane. But still...
"How do you know the lecture hall's position from here?"
"Instinct."
I hadn't spent only a day or two digging tunnels. There had even been a period when I dug so many that I seriously wondered whether I was a human or a mole. At least neither bear bastards nor snake bastards could follow me underground. No one could possibly have imagined that I'd dig a tunnel from Dawn Hall's garden to the academy and infiltrate in secret.
"Craft."
I used the Skill to compact the ground and form the passage. Doing this insane work alone was madness, but I had the Skill and Millia.
...Though Millia was on lighting duty.
Still, having Millia there behind me, chattering away and shining the light, was a considerable help. At least I wasn't lonely. Once we arrived, it would be Millia's turn anyway. For now, I just had to keep working while enjoying the relatively relaxed atmosphere.
"I never thought even you'd do something like this, Yohan! Heehee..."
"Having fun?"
"Yeah! My heart's pounding. So this is why people play pranks?"
"...Well, something like that."
Pranks were fun. They were even better when they let you thoroughly screw over someone you hated.
No one could stop me!
"Nobody can schtop me!"
...Had I said that out loud?
I glanced back at Millia, who was mimicking me playfully, sighed, and started shoveling again.
A hundred times? A thousand?
My shoveling ended only after a countless number more strokes. I looked at the passage I'd dug with my shovel—so clean you wouldn't believe it was done by hand—and felt a swell of pride.
My ten years on an uninhabited island had not gone to waste.
"Is it over?"
"Yeah. The main building is above us."
"Really?"
Millia's eyes widened as she stared at the ceiling. Her face, lit by the lamp, looked adorable and puppy-like. I carefully stroked her head when she approached, then placed my other hand against the wall.
I closed my eyes.
The more complex the structure, the clearer the image needed to be.
What I needed was a staircase.
Secret passage.
I gauged an appropriate size. Not too big, not too small. Just wide enough for one person to pass through.
It took five minutes to form a clear image.
A mistake would put me in serious trouble.
"...Craft."
A secret passage of the sort seen only in movies slowly took shape. Its large, complex structure meant I couldn't build it as quickly as the pillars I'd made thousands of times. Even that would have been unthinkable without my experience building a shelter.
"Amazing!"
"Shh."
"Oops."
Millia swiftly covered her mouth with her palm, glanced at me for my reaction, then smiled with her eyes. Trying to smooth things over with a smile—cheeky, really. I lightly flicked Millia's forehead and spoke.
"We quietly search the lecture hall. There'll be guards on night patrol, so keep the light dim, and if we hear sounds, we come straight back into the secret passage. Nod if you understand."
Millia nodded.
"Then let's move out."
I silently stepped onto the stairs.
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"...I can barely see..."
Just as Millia said, the lecture hall was too dark. I'd turned on my own lamp too, but it was just as dark. Still, if the light was too bright, the guards might spot us, so it couldn't be helped.
We spent thirty minutes searching every corner of the lecture hall in a crouching duck walk.
To make matters worse, the lecture hall sloped upward toward the back rows, so my calves ached as though they would burst. Still, since I'd decided to do this, I had to endure at least that much. I examined the lecture hall floor as if I were licking it, searching for clues.
...There was nothing.
The answer at times like this was to recall whatever I could from the original game.
A few questions had come to mind.
First, why had an ominous object been left in this classroom?
In the original it was for showing off, but was it for showing off here too? And why had the missing persons come here?
I should recall the original story.
All the missing persons were from the Magic Department or Theology Department.
The places they were last seen were mostly lecture halls or other out-of-the-way spots.
They wouldn't have gone alone to deserted places as if asking to be kidnapped. Someone had probably lured them there.
Lured... huh.
What was the best way to lure a student?
"...Millia."
"Huh? What?"
"If it were you, how would you get someone to come somewhere?"
"Uh... I don't know. Couldn't you ask a friend to tell them? Or maybe send a letter?"
Word of mouth could leave a trail, so I could rule that out...
A letter... huh.
A love letter?
That possibility seemed plausible.
I should keep it in mind.
"Millia. First..."
That was when it happened.
"Yohan..."
Footsteps.
Regular footsteps. Judging by the overlapping sounds, two people.
Were those guards?
I quietly pulled Millia under one of the lecture hall desks. Unfortunately, we were too far from the secret passage to reach it. At least I'd closed the entrance beforehand.
We turned off the lights and waited for the sounds to pass. The place was marked off-limits, so they wouldn't bother patrolling it...
Creeeak—
"Why are we going in here? The Squad 3 Captain..."
"Hey, hey. Think about it. A lecture hall the Squad 3 Leader personally sealed off? Doesn't it reek of something fishy?"
"Tom, if we get caught, this won't end with a pay cut."
The footsteps drew closer. A yellow light illuminated the area near the desk where we were hiding.
"Still, isn't it a bit creepy?"
"Hey, man, what kind of guard gets scared on a simple night patrol? We're the Kalon Academy Guard—we bust ghosts too."
If they were only going to spout useless chatter, couldn't they just piss off?
"Look around carefully. See if anything turns up."
"It's not as if the Squad 3 Captain would leave anything incriminating behind. We should just leave—"
Thud.
Millia?
"Who's there?! Come out right now!"
I looked at Millia. She was miserably brushing a bug off her lap, her face on the verge of tears.
What rotten luck.
"A g-ghost, maybe?"
"There's no such thing as ghosts in this world, you idiot!"
The footsteps drew closer. There was no time. Millia aside, I'd be in serious trouble if I was caught.
I looked at the trembling Millia.
Was there a way to draw their attention away...?
Ah.
I tapped Millia's knee to draw her attention, then tapped my own neck several times. She probably did not understand exactly what I meant, but surely that much communication got through.
I popped Millia's head right off.
"Yohan...?"
Millia whispered in a tiny voice barely audible to my ears. I put my mouth just as close to Millia's ear and whispered back.
"Let's make a ghost story."
I promptly rolled Millia's head over to the stairs beside the desk.
Not long afterward, a man's undignified scream shook the lecture hall.
