Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Academy Raid: Begerton Antares (7)
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—Celestia Phantasm Library.
On the vast desk located on the first floor of the library, the Doctor was staring at the screen with snacks and drinks laid out before him.
Crunch, crunch—.
In front of the Doctor as he munched on his snacks, a semitransparent screen hovered just as always.
Celestia’s wide-ranging surveillance network.
With administrative control over the massive surveillance system in hand, the Doctor was, without fail, indulging in his wicked hobby once more today.
“Heh heh heh—.”
The Doctor gazed at the screen, letting out his usual sleazy chuckle.
Rustle, rustle—.
It was only for a moment that the Doctor rummaged through his bag of snacks.
Soon enough, in the corner of his vision, a pale white hand suddenly darted out toward the snacks.
Swish—.
The Doctor’s gaze shifted silently to the girl who had appeared without a sound.
“Doctor, watching that again today?”
—Caw—!
A member of the secret society, draped in the black muffler that symbolized the Eight Swords Association.
Priella had approached the Doctor and spoken to him.
Crunch, crunch—.
Beside Priella, who had snatched and eaten the Doctor’s snacks, the raven spirit flapped its wings as if urging a response.
The Doctor watched the two intelligent beings for a brief moment.
Before long, he pointed at the screen in front of him and spoke.
“I pulled off something fun this time, you see.”
“……Something fun?”
“Didn’t we raid the academy under direct imperial control yesterday? So, I’ve been checking out the reactions to it.”
Priella furrowed her brows, her face showing clear confusion at the Doctor’s talk of searching for public opinions about himself.
Evidently, she couldn’t comprehend why he’d look into evaluations of himself.
Meeting Priella’s indifferent eyes with a chilling grin of his own, the Doctor thought to himself.
‘Well, this is a good chance to show her just how impressive I am.’
With things as they were, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to show her the public’s reactions firsthand.
Squeeze—.
As he manipulated the semitransparent screen, the Doctor turned to Priella, who was still eating his snacks, and opened his mouth.
“My sworn brother Cardos seems to have a lot of reports to give everywhere this time.”
“……You’re close with that mage?”
“We became sworn brothers just yesterday. Of course, it’d put the poor guy in a tough spot if I visited too often.”
With that, the Doctor played the footage.
On the screen appeared Cardos, the academy principal, alongside a high-ranking official brimming with fury.
The elderly man with the familiar face, looking quite troubled, stared into the crystal orb.
—“Duke Cardos. We’ll know the details once the investigation is complete, but no matter how I think about it, this incident makes no sense.”
—“…….”
—“A Forbidden-level spell engulfed the entire academy, and on top of that, a barrier sealed it off.”
—“……That’s exactly what happened. It’s true.”
Cardos faced the enraged high official, meekly listening along.
Of course, even the Doctor could easily guess the reason.
After the chaos the Doctor had wrought last night, the responsible party—Cardos—was now facing reprimands.
The Doctor smirked as he listened to the one-sided scolding echoing toward his unilateral sworn brother.
—“And as a result, a significant number of ancient texts excavated from the ruins were stolen?”
—“……Yes.”
—“One academy student was kidnapped by them, and even Sir Klein’s son ended up bedridden?”
—“……Yes.”
—“What in the world were you doing while all that was going on, Duke Cardos?”
A thunderous voice reverberated from beyond the screen.
Pfft—.
The Doctor felt like he could hardly hold back his laughter at his sworn brother’s distressed state.
Of course, Cardos himself looked like he was on the verge of death as he continued the conversation.
—“……The Doctor from the Magitech Research Society came to the academy.”
—“The Doctor? That lunatic showed up?”
—“That bastard… he’s the one behind it all. The academy’s security crumbled in a single Forbidden spell, and every single professor was helplessly subdued—.”
Cardos ground his teeth as words about the Doctor spilled from his mouth.
With bloodshot eyes, he vented his injustice as if he had faced something utterly unstoppable.
Heh heh heh—.
A lighthearted laugh burst from the Doctor as he watched Cardos.
From Cardos’s mouth flowed a continuous account of the entire incident.
—“I’ll concede some fault on the management side. But that Doctor bastard… no, their forces were beyond what the academy could handle.”
—“We all know Begerton Antares is insane, but even so, getting breached by just the Doctor… it’s simply…….”
—“I’ve never seen a mental Forbidden spell that powerful in my life. Do you really think it makes sense for the academy’s defenses to collapse from a single Forbidden?”
Bang—!
Cardos slammed his hand on the desk.
The official he was speaking with flinched at his demeanor.
With a face trembling in rage, Cardos glared at the official on the screen, recalling his encounter with the Doctor.
—“When I opened my eyes, those bastards were right in front of me. Before I even got reports of intruders, their swordsman appeared before me!”
—“Look, Duke Cardos…….”
—“It was a thoroughly prepared assault! That bastard… no, the Magitech Research Society has no need for elixirs, so there must be others involved with him—!”
Countless emotions tangled together as Cardos stared into the crystal orb with bulging veins.
Hoo—.
Heated breaths leaked from Cardos’s mouth.
—“I endured those horrific tortures and protected the academy! What more do you want from me?!”
“We didn’t torture you, though—.”
The Doctor’s casual remark rang out.
Naturally, his voice didn’t reach Cardos, who continued venting his rage toward the official.
—“Duke Alton. I’m washing my hands of academy affairs. Digging deeper will put me in danger!”
—“Duke Cardos! You can’t just shirk responsibility!”
—“They’re dangerous! They treat even the Seven Corners like a joke, kill investigators to silence them, and occupy imperial domains like it’s their own home—these criminals!”
Fear colored Cardos’s face as he spoke.
—“I… I can’t deal with those kinds of people! The Doctor is a madman! How do I know when that crazy researcher will send monsters to kill me?!”
—“…….”
—“I need to survive somehow. So, handle the rest of the investigation yourself, Duke Alton.”
—“D-D-Duke Cardos……!”
—“I wish you good luck in staying safe to the end.”
Despite the official’s attempts to dissuade him, Cardos ruthlessly cut off the crystal orb communication.
As the connection with Cardos severed, the official’s face stared blankly at the screen.
Hmm—.
Priella, who had watched the exchange alongside the raven spirit, turned to the Doctor with a question.
“Didn’t you say he was your friend?”
—Caw—!
Priella and the raven spirit fixed the Doctor with cold stares.
In response, the Doctor put on a shameless front and replied to her.
“Well, well, it seems Miss Priella doesn’t know. Friends play mean pranks on each other like this sometimes.”
“Hmm…….”
“Still, since my sworn brother seems too scared, I should hold off on visiting for a while.”
With that, the Doctor’s gaze shifted to the snack bag.
Swish—.
The bag his eyes landed on was now completely empty.
How had they managed that?
When the Doctor peered at Priella and the raven spirit through his monocle, the two intelligent beings sat side by side with snack crumbs around their mouths.
“She ate them all.”
—Caw—?
Blink, blink.
The Doctor alternated glances between the two for a moment.
Soon, he shook his head and turned his eyes back to the screen.
Even for the Doctor, such an intense reaction was a rare sight.
That said, he figured he should pull his gaze from Priella and focus on the screen again.
“Hmm, guess I’ll watch the footage one more time.”
Hiss—.
Preparing a pine needle-flavored drink, the Doctor smiled as he stared at the screen.
Fortunately—or by coincidence—his pine needle drink remained untouched.
Gulp, gulp—.
The Doctor savored the imperial officials’ reactions to him while sipping his drink.
It was an utterly beautiful and exhilarating day.
* * * * * *
Begerton Antares’s secret laboratory located in the eastern empire.
In the center of the massive underground facility known as B7 Lab according to the Doctor, a green-haired girl who had arrived just yesterday stood alone.
Avery, second-year student in the academy’s alchemy department.
The descendant of Tellerber—the once-great alchemist known as the Golden Hand—she had been captured by the atrociously wicked Doctor of the Magitech Research Society.
Sigh—.
Avery let out a deep sigh as her eyes quietly scanned the lab’s interior.
Was it because this was the lab of a notorious wanted criminal even among the empire?
Glass tanks lined the walls, each containing various body parts floating aimlessly.
‘What… what’s going to happen to me now?’
As she stared at the tanks, Avery’s complexion gradually darkened.
It was a horrific sight by anyone’s standards.
No one but an atrociously evil black mage would create a lab like this, she thought.
Moreover, the wriggling chimeras in certain tanks were more than enough to fuel nightmarish imaginings in her mind.
‘I’m definitely going to suffer something horrible. Maybe I’ll end up as grotesque as those chimeras over there!’
Shiver, shiver, shiver—.
Gazing at the utterly fiendish lab, Avery hugged her own shoulders.
Perhaps because she had been dragged to such a terrifying place.
She felt like she couldn’t calm the trembling coming from her body no matter what.
Sigh, whew—.
As Avery tried to steady her breathing with deep inhales, an image floated into her mind: her childhood friend who had desperately fought to protect her.
“Roan… I miss you…….”
Avery bowed her head, recalling memories of Roan.
She wanted to hear the rest of the story Roan had been telling her under the sunset.
But in the end, she had been dragged away by wanted criminals without hearing the continuation.
Sniff—.
Avery felt like tears would spill any moment.
Just thinking of herself caught up in cruel, gruesome experiments made her feel like even the margins of a thick book wouldn’t suffice for jotting down her feelings in tiny script.
While Avery trembled alone in fear, it was only for a moment.
Step, step—.
Before long, a white-haired researcher wearing a monocle descended from the stairs above the lab.
“You’ve been waiting a while. I had a lot to gather here and there.”
The atrocious wanted criminal from the extreme Magitech Research Society.
The mad researcher who called himself the Doctor had arrived where Avery was, hands clasped behind his back.
The moment she faced the Doctor, Avery felt a surge of fear.
Especially the sleazy smile playing on his lips—it radiated evil at a glance.
‘How can there be such a wicked and terrifying person?’
Heh heh heh—.
A strange chuckle leaked from the Doctor’s mouth.
It was behavior befitting a wanted man from an atrocious criminal syndicate.
“I had my cute assistants deliver nutrient solution, but how was your meal?”
The Doctor approached Avery from behind his back-clasped stance, but only for a moment.
Swish—.
Soon, Avery, who had been watching him, stepped back a few paces.
“Y-You… what exactly are you planning to do to me?”
The atrocious, horrific acts the Doctor intended to commit against her from now on.
She voiced the question about them.
When Avery demanded to know his wicked true intentions, the Doctor casually tossed out a single word with a straight face.
“Research—.”
—Research.
Hearing the Doctor’s one word, Avery stepped back another pace, her eyes filled with wariness.
Evidently aware it wasn’t something aboveboard, he seemed to be brushing it off with that vague term.
Sigh—.
Avery sighed and steadied her breath.
She felt like she needed to steel herself mentally.
“You’re definitely up to something shady and dangerous, right? What kind of dangerous thing is so bad you have to dodge it like that?!”
Avery glared at the Doctor with even stronger intensity than before, pressing him on his ugly motives.
Hearing her question, the Doctor replied to Avery with an even more serious expression.
“Research—.”
Sure enough, he refused to reveal his true intentions this time as well.
No one so brazen could have committed such heinous crimes, after all.
Gulp—.
Avery continued her interrogation to pierce the mask of the villain who had raided the academy.
“You… even that look on your face is evil. You’re definitely planning something so wicked you can’t say it out loud, aren’t you?”
“Research—.”
He was clearly hiding his honest motives.
Pushing up her glasses, her voice pressed the Doctor further for the truth.
“What’s the real reason you kidnapped me?!”
“Research—.”
“Be honest! Just how gruesome and atrocious is the goal you’re hiding?!”
“Twenty hours of research a day—.”
“……What?”
Avery’s dazed eyes turned to the Doctor.
She felt like she had just heard something bizarre.
However, before her doubts could spill out, the Doctor—who adjusted his monocle—continued speaking.
“You’ll need to do research for twenty hours every day from now on. That’s the time investment required to meet my deadline.”
“Twenty hours… of research……?”
“It’s a pretty tight schedule, but once the item is complete, I’ll send you straight home.”
“Ah……?”
“I don’t want much else. Well, I’ll make sure the compensation is generous once it’s done.”
That was the end of the Doctor’s explanation.
After rambling only about research, he promptly turned his back to Avery.
Step, step—.
His footsteps headed toward the stairs, but only for a moment.
Swish—.
Soon, the Doctor turned around again.
“Oh, and since we’re short on food, you’ll have to subsist on nutrient jelly and solution for a while.”
“…….”
“Bear with it a little. Well, it’s tolerable enough once you get used to it.”
Avery’s gaze fell on the green liquid and brown jelly placed before her.
Blink, blink—.
Staring at the food in front of her, Avery quickly came to a conclusion.
‘How can there be such a wicked and terrifying person?’
He really was a wicked and horrific person, it seemed.