Field Trip
The prearranged time of one hour and thirty minutes had long since passed.
By then, every student had returned with a weapon of their own choosing.
Kana carried a kitchen knife said to be forged from the fang of the Fire Dragon Igcilia.
Riana held a bow said to contain the spirit of the great sea.
Shaty gripped a staff filled with the mysteries of Mirage Swamp sealed inside a mana orb.
Pina clutched a staff adorned with six divine droplets.
Each weapon cost at least three million gold—perfectly suited to the students’ current levels.
Even the extra students had brought weapons worth no less than two million gold apiece.
I lined them all up on the counter and paid without hesitation.
The temple’s funds had taken a massive hit, yet the total amounted to only about five percent of its assets.
Since the money would soon be replenished through offerings anyway, it posed no real problem.
“Changing weapons certainly makes a difference.”
The weapons they had used before entering the Kraken were decent enough, but the new ones were so superior that the contrast was striking.
Their armor still left something to be desired and would require custom orders, but simply upgrading their weapons should raise the students’ combat effectiveness by at least five to ten levels.
I nodded in satisfaction at the gleaming weapons in their hands.
Around the time the Kraken tour was likely ending, Mu, Isolde, and Morgan returned with their clones, the three hundred swords I had purchased earlier now gone.
I asked the students, still entranced by their new weapons, to wait while I stepped away with the three.
“Everyone, take a short rest. I have something to discuss, so wait here for a moment.”
“Yeees……”
“Ah, it still looks so cool……”
“I can’t believe I actually own something like this……”
The students answered half-heartedly, their eyes never leaving their weapons.
That was fine.
In that state, they wouldn’t pay any attention to our conversation.
I turned away from them and approached Mu.
“Sister, I’m back……”
“Good work, Meiel. You planted all of them, right?”
“Yeah…… I was a little late because I had to kill the demons that were watching us……”
Mu nodded at my question.
The three hundred swords had never been ordinary purchases.
They were the first step in a plan I had already laid out.
I had entrusted Mu, Isolde, and Morgan with planting them, and they had carried out the task flawlessly.
Still, the word “demons” made me frown slightly.
“If there were demons here, then Idea must have arrived as well.”
“Yeah…… probably……”
The presence of demons didn’t guarantee Idea’s arrival, but the probability was extremely high.
According to the game’s story, I had assumed we would reach this place first, yet it seemed Idea had already been here ahead of us.
“Isolde, is there any way to locate Idea?”
“Impossible. I could do it with my original weapon, but then she’d sense my location too. Right now, with all the watchers dead, staying quiet is our best option.”
“You’re right…… There’s nothing to gain by revealing our position first.”
I had asked because, as Idea’s sister and a fellow demon, Isolde might be able to pinpoint her location.
The answer was negative.
Using demonic energy would let her find Idea, but it would also expose us in return.
I had no intention of taking that risk, so I gave up on locating Idea.
Or rather, I was about to give up when Isolde, who had been silent until now, spoke again.
“But Idea is definitely here. And if the Record Library is her target, she’ll be somewhere near it.”
“What makes you think that?”
Isolde gazed in the direction of the Record Library as she spoke.
I tilted my head at the baseless claim and asked.
Isolde closed her eyes briefly, then opened them and answered shortly.
“Instinct.”
“Instinct?”
“Yeah. I lived with her for a long time. It’s just a feeling. That’s all.”
She added that she had never been wrong before.
Perhaps realizing how illogical her answer sounded, Isolde awkwardly dragged her staff across the floor.
Even so, her eyes remained steady and unwavering, filled with certainty.
“Hmm……”
Faced with that clear gaze, I fell into thought for a moment.
Isolde didn’t seem to be lying.
I didn’t possess mind-reading or any similar ability, but I could sense the conviction in her voice when she spoke the truth.
That said, I couldn’t fully trust her words either.
After all, this was the first time I was properly interacting with demon executives after taking in Isolde and Morgan.
There was no guarantee Isolde wouldn’t lie.
So I filed her words away in my mind without placing full trust in them.
After finishing my lengthy deliberation, I removed my hand from my chin and spoke.
“Even if what you say is true, there’s no need to meet Idea right now. With the students here, our priority is protecting them. We’ll have to wait and see what she does.”
“That’s true. You’re right.”
“Then we’ll proceed as planned. We’ll delay visiting the library until something happens. I’ve already set up a barrier around it, so it should be fine.”
Before arriving here, I had given Mu one additional order, just like back at Sky Island.
The moment we reached the Undersea Kingdom, she was to erect a barrier covering a certain radius around the Record Library.
The barrier’s effect was simple: it made anyone outside it feel unwilling to approach the library.
It wouldn’t work on those already inside, but it was perfect for keeping ordinary citizens and academy students from gathering unnecessarily.
Since the barrier was already in place, we wouldn’t make the first move.
Isolde nodded in agreement with the plan.
If we waited for the other side to act first, our chances of success would be higher.
This was the best approach.
“All right. We’ll continue acting as we have been.”
“Yeah…… got it……”
“Understood.”
“I don’t mind either way.”
With that, our brief discussion ended.
I returned to the students who had been waiting.
After roughly three minutes of conversation, they had all finished admiring their weapons and were now looking our way.
“Have you all finished looking at your weapons?”
“Yes!”
“Thank you, Professor Aria……!”
“Where are we going next?”
When I approached with Mu, Isolde, and Morgan, the students all offered their thanks.
Strictly speaking, the money had come from the temple, so the gratitude should have gone to Pina, the papal candidate.
But that would only trouble her, so I kept my mouth shut.
At the question about our next destination, I crossed my arms lightly.
The students in my group were clearly all looking forward to the Record Library.
I wanted to speak before their expectations grew any higher.
“Just so you know, the Record Library will be the very last place we visit. Until then, we’ll be touring other locations. Think of it like saving the best for last.”
“What……? Is that Professor Aria’s idea of a joke……?”
“More importantly, we’re going to the library last…… I was really looking forward to it.”
“Isn’t that exactly why it’s better to go last, like the professor said?”
I thought it was a decent analogy, but my usual image apparently made it sound like a joke.
Seeing Kana whispering to Arin beside her, I scratched my head awkwardly.
Still, the students seemed to accept my words, so I recalled the next destination I had already decided on.
It was a place that might be even more necessary for academy students than the weapon shop Kraken.
In a way, it was an essential stop for any field trip, yet because it was located in the Undersea Kingdom, it was something special.
I let a hint of anticipation show on my face as I named our next stop.
“The Magic History Museum. Let’s go take a quick look around there first.”
The Magic History Museum, built in the Undersea Kingdom alongside the origins of magic itself.
Shaty and Pina’s faces seemed to light up with bright smiles.
Perhaps it wasn’t just my imagination.
* * *
Inside a room within a building near the Record Library at the center of the Undersea Kingdom, Idea frowned at the report she had just received.
The building’s interior was splattered with red.
“All the demons monitoring the academy personnel have been killed. However, ordinary humans from the academy couldn’t have taken out our watchers. We couldn’t recover the bodies, but after investigating the presumed battle site, we’ve determined it was likely the work of the former demon executives Isolde and Morgan.”
“So those two did it, huh……?”
Just hearing the names Isolde and Morgan made Idea’s teeth grind.
The memory of that day—powerless, cut down by a blade without accomplishing anything—rose vividly in her mind, and the blood vessels in her eyes bulged.
‘If the watchers were taken out, then Isolde and Morgan must be with those four.’
Idea immediately pictured the situation from the report.
The swordsman Aria who had cut her down at Sky Island, along with her sisters.
Those two were almost certainly with them.
Realizing that Isolde was with those people, Idea felt an urge to rush out and cause a scene right away.
But bound by the Demon King’s orders to remain in this building, she couldn’t move.
Unable to take action herself once again, Idea bit her lip and asked in a low voice.
“Have you located Isolde and Morgan?”
“Tidrop has arrived at the weapon shop Kraken with three elite soldiers and is currently monitoring and tracking them.”
“Good…… Yeah, that’s very good.”
Tidrop, a demon general on the same level as Hafras who was reporting to her now, would track them far better than those dead fools.
Even so, Tidrop was no match for Isolde and Morgan.
Before that, the four people traveling with them wouldn’t even let a blade tip get close.
Tidrop’s severance barrier might be able to separate Isolde and Morgan, but it wouldn’t work on those four.
So, suppressing her boiling anger, Idea calmly assessed the situation and began formulating a plan.
In less than a minute, she spoke to Hafras, who was kneeling beside her.
“Where is Tidrop right now?”
“Currently tracking from a residential area, but the presumed destination is the Magic History Museum.”
“Good. Then, Hafras, take the remaining seven soldiers with you. Join up with Tidrop, scatter them with the severance barrier, and kill the students first.”
“But if I take all the soldiers with me, then the forces protecting Lady Idea……”
At the order to take all remaining soldiers and join Tidrop, Hafras’s eyes widened in alarm.
But when Idea glared at him with venomous eyes, Hafras fell silent and bowed his head deeply under the killing intent radiating from her gaze.
“I will follow orders and take all remaining soldiers. Then, what will Lady Idea do alone……”
“Me? I’ll carry out the Demon King’s orders, of course.”
“Carry out the orders……?”
“Why are you asking something so obvious? I’m going to destroy the library and cause an uproar, obviously.”
Declaring that she would remain alone and destroy the library, Idea grabbed the staff that had been set aside.
Without another word, Hafras quietly stood and left the room.
Once alone, Idea muttered to herself.
“They’ve set up a barrier around the library, so if I make a flashy scene, those four will come running.”
It was only natural that the one who erected a barrier would receive a signal if something went wrong with it.
She would lure those four, whom Hafras and Tidrop couldn’t handle, to the library while simultaneously carrying out the Demon King’s orders.
“Of course, since all four might come, I could end up dead……”
She might die.
Idea gazed at the library visible through the window and muttered, then broke into a wide grin.
“There’s no way I’m going to die.”