The Diary Left Behind
"Kajan……!"
Simon's eyes welled up with emotion. Driven to the very edge of despair, the simple fact that someone knew the truth and believed him without question felt like a lifeline.
"Let me confirm one thing first," Kajan said. "The Priest is Professor Francesca, right?"
Simon quickly gathered himself and nodded. "Yes."
"Understood. Sharing what I've learned, then: her barrier is currently active across the entire first-year campus."
Kajan pulled several detection devices of some kind from his subspace. "I attempted to contact Lady Nephthys through the communication crystal, but it was blocked, as expected. Once the barrier fully deploys, we'll be cut off from the outside entirely—not just our communications."
His eyes turned back to Simon. "We're dealing with a professor-level opponent who has spent at least several years preparing this barrier. Even if the other professors come, it won't be something they can tear down easily."
Simon nodded. "What's the range?"
"At minimum, it wraps the entire first-year campus of Kizen. Her plan must be to completely annihilate the nine hundred–plus first-years."
It was horrific even to imagine. A terror attack meant to kill every first-year student at the academy. It carried a meaning far beyond the mere arithmetic blow of losing the young talents destined to lead the Dark League someday. Kizen's reputation would crumble into the dirt, and its absolute authority would come under question. The nobles of the League who lost their children so senselessly would rage in fury, the anti-Kizen factions would gain the upper hand, and the League itself would be torn apart at the seams. The neutral factions currently watching from the sidelines would defect to Efnel, and Nephthys—blinded by fury—would likely plunge into an all-out war with the Holy Federation without hesitation. It could escalate into full-scale war.
Simon felt his shoulders grow heavy.
"Let me explain," he began—
"Simon!"
Camibarez was hurrying down the stairs, with Meilin and Dick close behind her.
"Cami! Why haven't you left yet?" Simon asked, flustered.
Hands clasped tightly together, she strode up to him with fierce determination in her eyes. "The morning after we met the Priest in the Forbidden Forest—what I told you then. You remember, right?"
Simon flinched.
"I promised to help you too, Simon! Please, let me help."
"But this is far too dangerous……!" Simon said, his face rigid.
"Oh, shut it! You really know how to hurt someone's feelings, you know that?"
Meilin came striding over, her sky-blue hair whipping around. "Why did you hide something this important even from us?"
"Yeah, yeah. Gotta admit, this one does sting a little," Dick added, hands laced behind his head as he sauntered up.
"Dick……!"
"You didn't want to drag us into it. Sure, I get the logic there."
Dick grinned. "But here's the thing—Cami already told us everything, and now we're dying to get dragged into it. What can you do?"
"Shut up and talk fast, Simon."
Meilin stepped right up and thrust her face in close. "Who the Priest is, and what they're plotting at Kizen right now—spill it!"
"……"
Simon looked back at Kajan with a hesitant expression. Kajan nodded. "We were short-handed anyway. Now that the Priest's monsters have spread through Kizen, everyone here is a stakeholder. Having allies who believe what you say is nothing short of luck."
"Exactly!"
Simon let out a small sigh and rapidly laid out the whole story. He was speaking so fast that he wasn't sure anyone was following along properly, but he focused every ounce of effort on getting the information across.
"Professor Francesca……!"
Camibarez went blank with shock. Meilin clicked her tongue. "Called it. No wonder something about that woman always seemed off to me. Slick."
"And who was it sobbing her eyes out during that speech a few hours ago?"
"SHUT UP!"
Did they really believe all of this? Simon felt a warmth rise in his chest. Setting everything else aside, it made him think that his life at Kizen hadn't been a waste at all.
"Allow me to supplement with my own knowledge," Kajan said. "I've been chasing the Priest since long ago, and I've operated while keeping every professor and TA under suspicion. Naturally, I'd prepared contingencies for the possibility that Francesca was the Priest as well."
"Ah……!"
"And considering Simon's description of the explosions, there's no doubt in my mind: they were curse bombs called Desolators."
"Curse bombs?"
"That's right. Deathland—the place you all visited recently."
Kajan's eyes gleamed. "The same kind of weapon that made Deathland what it is."
Everyone's mouths fell open in horror. Then the Priest had been planning to detonate those deadly curse bombs in the very heart of Kizen? If she succeeded, not only would the students be blown to pieces—anyone lucky enough to survive the blast would turn into a zombie.
Dick cut back in. "How on earth did Francesca get her hands on a weapon that dangerous?"
"The Desolators are stored in the underground level of this building, in the Secret Hazardous Material Storage. Only Kizen's Toxicology professor and Lady Nephthys can enter. My guess is that killing Ran was also part of becoming the Toxicology professor herself."
It matched Simon's own suspicion exactly. The three of them shuddered at the bitter truth. Every moment where she had seemed to cherish and care for Ran—it had all been an act. All hypocrisy.
"Simon. Do you remember clearly which locations the explosions occurred at, and how many there were?"
"Yes, Kajan."
Simon's eyes shone with sharp clarity. "In the order they went off: the Magic Bullet Shooting Training Hall, the Magic Technology Hall, the 1st Year Boys Dormitory, and the Lecture Hall."
"Spread out nice and evenly. Clever work."
Kajan turned to the three of them. "You're going to stop the bombs. This is a matter of life and death—if your resolve is half-baked, then just run before the barrier deploys……"
"I'll take the boys' dormitory."
Dick answered before Kajan even finished. "The Magic Technology Hall should be me too. The club members are all over there."
Meilin said. "Th-the Magic Bullet Shooting Training Hall is mine, then!"
Camibarez declared, and Kajan nodded. "Glad to see no hesitation. Disarming a Desolator's magic circle is beyond your level, so use a simpler method: put the Desolator into your subspace."
"Sorry—what?"
"I've confirmed that Kizen's Desolators operate off an ignition magic circle. If they're stored in a personal subspace, the ignition command is completely neutralized."
Dick stared blankly at Simon, pointing at Kajan. The unspoken question hung in the air: who is this guy?
Kajan gave an awkward cough. "Thieves' Guild, originally."
"……Whoa, that explains it!"
So that was why he'd given off such a familiar vibe all this time—a student from the same information-focused background.
Just then, Meilin smirked. "Turns out the superior version was right here~"
"Wh-what's that supposed to mean! Hey, the merchant wins in the end, alright? Information guilds end up selling their info for money."
"Chatter's over. Take these."
Kajan handed out to each of them the very same kind of glasses Simon had used, pulled from his subspace. "If the explosions are going off within two hours, she's most likely already planted the Desolators. She'll certainly have hidden them behind some kind of perception-blocking magic. Wearing these glasses disables the concealment and lets you see them."
Meilin accepted hers, put them on, and grumbled. "Like I said before—what's with the ugly design?"
"Meilin, Kajan is a repeating student."
"They're so stylish, senior Kajan!"
She pivoted at lightning speed.
"Enough. Just call me Kajan. We're short on time—move fast."
"Yes, sir!"
It was decided: the three would each take one location, and whoever cleared theirs first would head to the Lecture Hall. Simon and Kajan descended the underground stairs together.
Tap. Thud.
With every light in the building extinguished for the Night of Erebos, the underground corridors kept throwing off an oppressive, gloomy air. The two moved in silence.
"Under no circumstances engage Francesca until every Desolator is neutralized," Kajan said, passing Simon a pair of mana-powered night-vision goggles. "If she ignites those bombs, it's a catastrophe. Until your friends get them into their subspaces, stick to tailing her as much as possible."
"Understood."
The two made it through the underground level without incident and arrived at their destination: a massive, tightly sealed door. Less a room than a bunker, it brought an air-raid shelter to mind.
"She's already inside," Kajan said, spraying something onto the floor like aerosol to read the footprints. "We don't have much time." Simon bit his lip. "The two of us sitting here waiting for Francesca to come out would be a waste of it."
"Agreed. I'll hold position here and tail her when she emerges. You head up to Ran's laboratory on the top floor of this building, gather whatever information you can, then rendezvous with Pier."
"Yes, sir."
As long as Simon couldn't use the Legion's power, he'd be of little help even if a fight with Francesca broke out. Just as Kajan said, linking up with Pier was the priority.
Decision made, Simon raced up the stairs.
First, he stopped at Ran's laboratory on the fourth floor of the building. The door was locked, so he opened the corridor-side window, raised Overlord against the wall, and used it as a makeshift railing to walk along before smashing the window and climbing inside.
Crash!
Simon landed lightly and looked around. There was nothing remarkable about it, as far as a Kizen professor's laboratories went—just documents, books, and a bed. It felt less like a research lab than a study or a lounge. Apparently Ran had lived and eaten here right up until her death.
Simon tore through the laboratory's drawers in a frenzy.
Professor Ran was most likely being controlled by Francesca.
Three years ago, Ran's health had reportedly been fine. But her condition had deteriorated catastrophically over the past two years, which meant Francesca must have done something to her in that window.
If there's any trace left behind……
Simon, still rifling through the drawers, suddenly froze. Then he whipped his head around.
Squish. Squelch.
A green slime bounced out from behind a picture frame. Simon tensed slightly and backed away, watching it warily. The slime, as if it were being shy, refused to come out from behind the frame for the longest time.
Then a hole opened in the middle of the slime, reshaping itself into the form of a tongue and mouth.
[Prêtre]
It had spoken! The pronunciation was maddeningly difficult to parse, but it seemed to have said Priest. There was even a hint of the far-eastern Baldwin Kingdom accent to it.
Simon cleared his throat and answered in the same accent.
[Francêsca.]
At that, the slime's mouth stretched wide open and spat out two objects. One was a notebook. The other was Ran's professor ID.
"……!"
Simon pocketed the professor ID and hurriedly opened the notebook.
You left something like this behind for me?
It was Ran's diary.