The Academy's Assault (1)
The sting of Dante's gaze bored into me. Those eyes held a clear, unmistakable disappointment, and I didn't have the courage to meet them. I had no choice but to turn my head away.
Don't look at me like that. I'm the victim here. Who could have predicted that I'd wake up with a woman clinging to me in her sleep? And completely naked, at that.
"Say something, would you?" I snapped at Kafka, who was sitting beside me.
Kafka flattened her ears and spoke in a tone that practically screamed I'm being wronged here.
"But we always sleep like this. The inside of the shadows isn't comfortable to lie down in."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"What do you mean, what? When you were lying in the infirmary, I slept like this the whole time?"
……?
Wait a second. I couldn't follow this conversation at all. Her bombshell statement nearly made me lose my mind, and the disappointment in Dante's eyes only grew stronger.
"I don't have any memory of that…?"
So that's it. My body had already been thoroughly defiled. God damn it. This really was responsibility without any pleasure.
"We've already seen everything there is to see. What's the big deal?"
Kafka looked at me with an expression that said she genuinely didn't understand what the problem was. Ma'am, this is only the second time I've seen you naked… And I haven't shown you anything in return?
"Then why were you sleeping naked?"
"Because the uniform feels so stuffy."
To emphasize how constricting it felt, Kafka wrapped both arms around her chest. Her forearms sank deep into those two generous, bronze-toned mounds. I decided that continuing to stare at that sight would be extremely dangerous for my sanity, so I turned to look at Dante instead.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Dante stared back with clear distaste. Yeah, well. I can't exactly keep staring at that exhibitionist, can I? I'm really glad you're my friend right now.
"Anyway, put some clothes on."
"No. It's uncomfortable."
Kafka rejected me with razor-sharp decisiveness. Fuck. I let out a long sigh and pulled a set of casual clothes from my wardrobe. Since conversation was impossible while she remained naked, I tossed the outfit at her.
"Then at least wear this."
My clothes shouldn't be too tight on her. There was the issue of her chest, but that should be fine. Mine's pretty big too.
Kafka grumbled but eventually put on my clothes. Once she was wearing them, she looked somewhat presentable. Thankfully, the loose fit meant I didn't have to worry about catching a second glimpse of anything I shouldn't see.
Wait a minute. When she was outside, she wasn't walking around without a bra, was she?
Seeing her make that blank, innocent face like she had no idea what I was thinking, I could only sigh again. Ah, well. The headmistress probably took care of that much, right? She must have. I couldn't exactly ask Donnesia for one.
"So this is what Ian wears."
"I washed them properly, so they shouldn't smell."
"…Really?"
Then Kafka brought her nose to the sleeve and started sniffing my clothes. I grimaced at the sight. Where the hell did she learn to do something like that? Or was this just natural behavior for her? Either way, any lingering sleepiness had been completely driven away.
Kafka probably wouldn't try slipping back into the shadows. I sighed once more and got up from the bed. Since I was wide awake now, I'd let her have the bed for the rest of the night.
"For now, you sleep there tonight."
I'd take the chair. Kafka gave a small nod at my words, but her face was clouded with confusion. What now?
"Then where will you sleep?"
"I've already slept for three whole days, and thanks to you I'm not tired at all, so I'll just stay up."
To be precise, the screaming had chased away any chance of sleep. Still, I had no interest in becoming a dakimakura.
"I found something pretty interesting. Want to hear about it?"
I had just tucked Kafka into bed and was about to sit in the chair to examine the Dreamland ticket when Dante spoke up, apparently deciding to keep me company during my vigil.
"Aren't you tired?"
"Not really. I just can't fall asleep. Maybe it's because that scene earlier was too shocking?"
Dante answered with a slightly sarcastic tone. Come on, that's so unfair. How was any of that my fault? How could I have predicted that Kafka would sleep clinging to me completely naked?
"Don't you think it would be really fun to tell Lady Donnesia or Lady Isabella about this?"
Dante wore a wicked grin. Does this guy have no heart?
"Those two would definitely break my joints if they found out."
I wasn't sure why, but I had a very strong feeling that would happen. After all, they'd interrogated me mercilessly just for giving Iris a single ring. Those two got incredibly angry whenever I got involved with another woman.
If I assumed it was because they liked me, that didn't seem right at all. In this romance fantasy world full of handsome men, why would they choose someone with a face as rough as mine?
I wasn't a narcissist like Isabella. I knew my place. Isabella, the villainess, was probably just afraid of losing her toy, while Donnesia's reaction likely stemmed from some kind of familial jealousy. I wasn't sure.
"I'm joking."
"So, what's this interesting thing?"
"It's related to Kafka as well."
Kafka? Dante glanced at the sleeping Kafka once before continuing.
"I looked into it in my own way. There were quite a few traces. Both near the academy and in the empire's underworld."
……?
Huh? But Professor Kahn had said he'd searched everywhere with his spirits and found nothing. And Dante found something?
"How did you…?"
"I used what little influence I have. I am a prince, after all."
Was this because we were in reality rather than the game? Or had Dante gotten involved in that event differently than in the original story? This was a pattern I'd never seen in the game.
"Have you heard of the Katai Kingdom?"
The Katai Kingdom. A nation that had been destroyed three hundred years ago after losing a war against the Karl Kingdom and becoming their vassal state.
"Wasn't that a country that fell three hundred years ago?"
"Exactly. And there's a group called the Liberation Army that's running wild, claiming they'll restore it."
Of course, Dante hadn't brought up the name of a kingdom destroyed three centuries ago for no reason. According to the academy's repertoire, there existed a so-called liberation force formed specifically to revive that fallen nation.
They appeared as random enemies during the train terrorist incident and served as mere cannon fodder alongside the Twilight Sect during the upcoming academy assault event.
It was an organization with three hundred years of deep-rooted tradition. In terms of villain credentials, most main villains couldn't even compare to them.
One might wonder, Why would they commit terrorism in a country with no connection to the Karl Kingdom? But there were reasons. Prince Charles, the prince of their enemy nation, had enrolled at the academy.
More importantly, the Liberation Army itself had devolved into nothing but a group of chaos-loving troublemakers. What began with the noble goal of restoring their homeland had transformed into a gathering of people who simply hated the entire world.
"Traces of that Liberation Army were discovered near the academy."
"I see."
"And that's not all. It seems someone deeply connected to the Liberation Army belongs to a certain organization. That organization's name is—"
"The Twilight Sect."
"You already knew?"
Dante looked at me with surprised eyes. I answered in a nonchalant tone.
"The headmistress told me."
"The headmistress?"
"She said the Twilight Sect is deeply involved in that dungeon incident."
"That's right. The information I received said the same thing."
Dante rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, then looked at me and continued.
"You know that person Kafka mentioned—Dottore? Apparently he's affiliated with the Twilight Sect."
"So what you're saying is… there are traces of the Liberation Army around the academy. Someone connected to the Liberation Army belongs to the Twilight Sect. And conveniently, the mastermind behind the dungeon incident is also from the Twilight Sect?"
"Don't you think it's too perfect to be a coincidence?"
A secret society whose secrets were completely exposed in just three days! Whether that spoke to the empire's intelligence capabilities or the Twilight Sect's incompetence was up for debate.
To be precise, while the empire's intelligence was indeed exceptional, the Twilight Sect was also unusually conspicuous compared to other organizations.
These bastards genuinely didn't give a damn whether their information spread or not. If you dug even a little in the underworld, their details poured out like a waterfall. In that sense, they were hardly a secret society at all.
A group that wore masks, used codenames, and valued their privacy so highly was simultaneously broadcasting their own information to the outside world. It was truly a bizarre organization. But if all their information was this exposed…
"Couldn't the empire just wipe them out?"
It was a natural question. No matter how powerful the organization was, if the empire moved against them, they wouldn't stand a chance. There was also the justification of them kidnapping imperial citizens for human experimentation.
And that was all true. As one of the main villain factions, it was true that they had several members who had reached the realm of superhumans. But even they couldn't face the entire empire.
Even considering that their goal wasn't to overthrow the state, if they were strong enough to confront the empire head-on, they wouldn't need to resort to the cheap trick of attacking the academy.
However, Dante shook his head.
"We did discuss that, but apparently it's difficult."
They had the information and sufficient justification, yet there were strong reasons they couldn't simply eradicate them. There was also the narrative necessity of a romance fantasy story that needed to progress.
But the real reason was that their main base remained hidden while they outsourced nearly all their operations. They hide this part so well. I had no idea what rhythm I was supposed to follow with these people.
At this point, they were such a strange group that it was impossible to tell whether they were trying to stay hidden or deliberately exposing themselves.
"Still, since we found traces, we've taken measures to prepare. We can't afford to be humiliated by the Karl Kingdom, after all."
Dante nodded with a smile. Well… I don't think that can be stopped no matter how much you prepare. Even if you try to prepare, even if you try to block it, it will break through. That was the nature of romance fantasy academy stories.
But why was he telling me all this high-level information? It seemed far too valuable to share so casually.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Just because. I thought you might be bored."
"Isn't this too heavy a topic to bring up just to cure boredom?"
At my words, Dante let out an awkward laugh.
"……For some reason, I felt like you needed to know."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Just a gut feeling, I guess."
He brushed it off like that, then said he'd said everything he needed to say and immediately lay down on the bed. I could only stare blankly at his sudden behavior as he burrowed under the covers. When he finally settled, I let out a hollow laugh, then opened my inventory and took out the ticket inside.
The academy assault was a sudden event that occurred before midterms. Unlike the Kafka incident that had happened without warning, there was still some time left. Since I had nothing better to do, I figured I might as well tear the ticket and grind some experience in Dreamland.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tear the ticket.
And then a notification window appeared before my eyes.
The ticket cannot be used at this time.
In other words, I'd been cockblocked. I had to stand guard without anyone to talk to until dawn, and even though I wanted to sleep, I couldn't. If I lay down in my own bed, there was no telling what Kafka might do.
I pressed a hand to my throbbing forehead and let out another long sigh.