Misaligned Bonds, The Truth (4)
The effect of the debuff vanishing was unmistakable.
When I flexed my arms and legs experimentally, my body felt so light I almost wondered whether it was even mine anymore. Looking back, it was almost strange that I had never noticed my stats were being restricted at all. With a difference this massive, how had I missed it?
Then again, my strength hadn't vanished all at once. The drug's effects had simply worn off little by little, so failing to notice wasn't all that surprising. Plenty had demanded my attention after the duel ended, and on top of that came the whole mess of Novena abandoning me — leaving me with no room left to think.
Heh.
All of that was in the past now. None of it mattered anymore. The Novena who had saved me couldn't possibly hate me, right?
A strange sense of déjà vu prickled at the edge of my mind, but it was time to gather my thoughts and get moving.
My stats had nearly doubled compared to usual. At this level, I might not be able to beat that hitman outright — but I wouldn't die easily, either.
Still, the last few attempts had taught me something. This world was a merciless reality. No matter how favorable the situation looked, some unexpected problem could always crop up and get me killed. With that in mind — thinking ahead to the fourth and fifth saves that might follow — I decided to take out a little insurance.
"Professor."
"Hm? Did you need something?"
Professor Enut was staring at the empty syringe with a complicated expression. She had no reason to feel guilty, but the scars of war carved deep into her heart seemed to make even this weigh on her.
"Do you trust me?"
It was a wound I would heal for her someday. So just wait a little longer. Not only Novena and Hino — all of them. No matter what it took, I would save them.
"…What exactly do you mean by that?"
Sensing something off in my question, Professor Enut reacted differently from usual.
Hmm. How was I supposed to explain this without raising the wrong suspicions?
I glanced around as if checking for eavesdroppers, then continued in a quieter voice.
"Where were we originally supposed to arrive?"
"…The alley across from where Alpha Team will land. The plan was for Omega Team to strike first and draw the cartel's attention."
Matching my seriousness, she answered with far more gravity than before. That was a relief, at least. The fact that she was telling me this meant she trusted me to some degree.
No need to keep dancing around it.
"But something's wrong with that launch pad. The destination coordinates look like they're fluctuating strangely."
"And how would you know that?"
"That doesn't matter. Whether the machine is broken or someone deliberately tampered with the coordinates, it means we could be in danger."
That was enough. Even if I pushed harder and shouted that there was a spy among us, no one would believe me. Simply planting the possibility was more than enough to raise Professor Enut's guard.
Even a woman that beautiful had been a veteran medical officer who had crawled through battlefields. I knew just how thoroughly the need to keep her soldiers alive had shaped her nature.
I simply trusted her.
"Well then — I'll head out first!"
As if exchanging an ordinary farewell, I clasped both of Professor Enut's hands and shook them vigorously up and down. Then, just as in the three previous failed attempts, I took the first spot and stepped up onto the launch pad.
"Haa…"
"You don't need to be so nervous. Nothing will go wrong — just don't move during the transfer."
"Yes."
It wasn't the launch pad that had me tense… but yeah, getting this worked up wouldn't help. Whatever came next, the situation was already far better than when I'd been dragging that penalty around.
Relax. Handle this properly.
"Initiating transfer."
I nodded without answering.
—Wiiiiiiing!
Just as before, the teleportation launch pad roared to life with excessive vibration and no other irregularities. Whatever happened here after I left was now the professor's responsibility.
"You there — come over here for a moment."
After Adel vanished in a swirl of light, Enut found she could not simply ignore the warning the girl had so casually dropped. She called over one of the launch pad technicians bustling about the area.
If it had been any other student, staff member, or professor, she would have dismissed it as more political nonsense and let it slide. The problem was that the one who had brought it up was Adel.
The first person through a spatial transfer always faced the unknown risks head-on. After hearing that there might be a traitor, Enut had tried to stop her — telling her she didn't need to go first.
But Adel had simply said, like some battle-worn veteran mercenary or officer, "If I don't go, you'll take the lead yourself, won't you, Professor Enu? Then I'd rather be the one who gets hurt. If it's you, you could reattach my arm even if it got cut off."
And then, without a shred of hesitation: "I'd better leave before it's too late!"
She had simply gone.
Enut knew the Academy's students were not children who needed constant protection — and yet the unease refused to leave her. They might one day become officers and soldiers she would meet on the battlefield, but for now they were still green recruits taking their first steps into the world.
Just what had Adel seen and lived through to act with such unflinching resolve?
Could Professor Lutera have been telling the truth after all…?
If Lutera's — no. If her story had been true, then everything about the way Adel threw herself forward without regard for her own body suddenly made sense. And it forced Enut to take seriously the possibility that a traitor really did exist.
"Professor, is something the matter…?"
Enut steeled herself. This might create problems for her comfortable teaching position — but the safety of Adel and the other students came first. Better to clear the scene quickly and follow after Adel to regroup.
If Omega Team failed to join them, Alpha Team would be left facing the cartel at full strength alone. A dangerous situation. There was no more room for hesitation.
—Tap.
"What is your position here?"
"Ah, forgive the late introduction. I'm the team leader."
—Tap.
Enut kept the conversation flowing naturally while pressing her fingertips against various points on the man's body, channeling mana into him.
"Just the person I needed."
"Haha, I'm honored."
—Tap.
The team leader, mistaking her actions for some kind of flirtation, wore a lecherous smile — right up until the moment everything changed.
"By the way… what exactly is the meaning of this?"
—Fwoosh!
As the team leader started to cross the line and step closer, the blood vessels throughout his body swelled and turned an unnatural, vivid blue — so pronounced that anyone looking would have known something was terribly wrong.
"…Urgh, ghk?!"
The polite hostess smile vanished from Enut's face. The moment her work was done, she put distance between them, wiped her fingers clean on a towel, and delivered her warning.
"So the rumor that the Military State's magic engineers can't use magic was true after all. How convenient."
The students had no interest in the two of them anyway. Even if they had, the subtle perception-dampening magic Enut had cast would have kept anyone from overhearing or watching.
"From this moment on, you will tell me only the truth. If you lie or cause trouble, the blood vessels in all four of your limbs will rupture."
Wearing an expression colder than any she had shown before, Enut tilted her chin toward the launch pad.
"First, shall we check the arrival coordinates?"
"…Ghk — d-do you really think you'll walk away from this unscathed…?"
"Mm. I think I'll be fine even if I don't. I was a little worried at first, I'll admit — but now that I've actually done it, I feel nothing but relief."
She had hated this operation from the start.
"Let's go. You know better than to scream, I trust?"
Because of the political infighting among the four powers, they had formed that absurd joint investigation body called the "Inquiry Committee." Thanks to Adel's help, they had captured and interrogated one of the collaborators who had infiltrated the Academy — and then, out of nowhere, a directive had come down: Conduct a joint suppression operation.
And instead of sending veteran soldiers — too busy keeping each other in check — the four powers had shoved undertrained students into the meat grinder to solve the problem for them.
Their true intentions were transparent. None of them could openly kill another faction's students with their own hands, so they were using reckless operations like this to slowly whittle down each other's strength. That alone was nauseating enough — and now someone had gone so far as to set a trap?
Whether this was the Military State's doing or some other faction's scheme, she still couldn't say. But if they could dig this incident up properly, it was the kind of scandal that could shatter the balance among the four powers in an instant.
Just try getting caught. You disgusting warmongers.
The team leader seemed to know something as well. Even as he took the lead in operating the launch pad, he ground his teeth the entire time.
Adel's hunch had been right. These people were hiding something.
"Why so slow? If you're not feeling well, shall I inject you with a few stimulants?"
"Ghk… I-it's all here! These are the transfer device's coordinates! The location is…? W-why is this…"
What finally confirmed Enut's suspicions was the moment she checked the exact coordinates entered into the transfer device the team leader brought her.
Even he hadn't expected this — he couldn't hide his panic. Only then did Enut realize that Adel's warning had not been aimed at the four powers at all.
"…How many staff members are capable of modifying the coordinates?"
"D-damn it all…! Any of the technicians who maintain and repair the equipment could make a change like this! That means there are dozens of potential suspects at minimum, and figuring out what happened will take hours at the very least!"
"…"
The transfer device's coordinates hadn't changed by much. Ironically, at first glance both of them had been ready to dismiss it as a minor calibration error, a glitch, or insufficient precision.
But belatedly, the team leader and Enut both realized the coordinates had been adjusted to a specific point inside a building.
In other words: under the original plan, they should have been transferred to the roof of a particular building at the rear of the cartel's stronghold — a spot where security was relatively light. Instead, the destination had been set for the middle of the building's interior, where cartel criminals might be swarming.
It was effectively an invitation to commit suicide. A blatant trap.
Who the hell would do something like this…?!
And that wasn't even the worst of it.
"…A-Adel is in danger!"
If Adel's warning had been true, there was no telling what had become of the girl who had gone ahead alone.
She had been far too complacent. She should never have let her go. She had done something unforgivably stupid — something that left her with no right to criticize the other professors.
"Activate the device immediately! If there are any casualties, every last one of you had better be prepared for the consequences."
"W-we'll do our utmost! We have nothing to do with this incident either — we'll prove that somehow! Damn it, damn it!"
Belatedly, under Enut's command, the teaching assistants still remaining at the Academy gathered and began securing the area.
"I-I don't want to get shot!!"
"Then if you don't want to die, hurry up and activate it!!"
With the team leader's face flushed scarlet as he personally oversaw the process, the staff — trembling uncontrollably — scrambled to start the launcher.
"I'll transfer first and assess the situation. Teaching assistants, maintain control of the launch pad. Do not allow any contact with the outside. Students are to wait at this location. Further instructions will be relayed through the emergency communication network."
With that, Enut strode forward without hesitation, tore off her lab coat, and stepped onto the launch pad.
—Woooooom!!
She endured the crushing pressure of the transfer in grim silence.
Only a few minutes had passed since Adel had gone through first. They had prepared this quickly — if luck was even slightly on their side, they might still save her life.
Please… just hold on…
Blue streams of light flashed and flowed past her eyes. The transfer lasted only a few seconds, but Enut could not suppress her anxiety.
She had been far too complacent. On a real battlefield, a mistake like this would never have been forgiven.
I let my guard down because this was the Academy…
She clenched her teeth. Only seconds passed, yet it felt as though she had wasted entire minutes forcing her way through the mana corridor.
"Adel…!!"
And then—
"Adel!"
The warehouse interior she arrived in too late was littered with the aftermath of a battle so fierce she couldn't even guess who had fought it. And in one corner of the warehouse, a thick, ominous pool of blood had gathered.
In the middle of it—
"…Adel!!"
—lay the pink hair of the girl whose name she had cried out again and again, spilled lifelessly across the floor.