108. Catching Rats
108. Catching Rats
On a night with no regularly scheduled Golden Apple meeting, candles were lit in the conference room in the dead of night.
The first to enter was Professor Buckingham, followed by several other professors filing in one after another.
"Is everyone assembled?"
"Yes, these are the professors participating in this operation, myself included."
"Hello, I teach Imperial History."
"Hello, I teach Jousting Theory."
These were faces not seen at the last meeting.
Though one could tell they were properly dressed in formal attire and wore faint smiles, they shared the same murky impression as the professor at the front.
Yet it did not strike anyone as strange.
Unlike Cognition Hindrance Magic that sows confusion in the observer, one could clearly perceive the subjects.
It felt incredibly natural, yet left only the vague memory of a person with a hazy impression that was somehow hard to recall.
The professor who had mentioned general education courses turned around and spoke.
"The reason we've gathered is that Professor Buckingham, the originator of this operation, had something to discuss regarding the Hunting Festival."
"I see... so everyone is assembled.... In that case, let us begin the meeting regarding the Hunting Festival."
Confirming that everyone was present, Buckingham took his seat and proceeded with the meeting.
His attitude was extremely arrogant, completely unlike his demeanor during the Golden Apple meetings.
"The first agenda item. Now that the first week has passed... most students have decided where they will be participating. Perhaps because only two weeks remain, the pace has been remarkable."
"But I heard that the student you desired will not be participating in the Hunting Festival."
"Indeed... does anyone have an opinion on this?"
That student... it was about Atlas.
The original plan was this.
During the Hunting Festival, artifacts capable of monitoring students' conditions are attached to their arms for safety.
The artifact given to Atlas would be marked with a 'Monster-Summoning Talisman,' making him the target of Orthos, a two-headed demon hound dwelling in the deepest part of the Black Forest.
It would be best if Atlas died to Orthos, but even if he defeated it, the plan was to hold him responsible for the chaos caused to his surroundings due to his use of the forbidden 'Monster-Summoning Talisman' during the festival.
However, this plan ran aground from the start.
The target, Atlas, had declared he would not participate in the Hunting Festival.
Since he wouldn't be participating, there was no way for him to encounter monsters in the first place, nor any method to plant a Monster-Summoning Talisman on him.
Considering his bellicose personality, they had naturally assumed he would participate, but an utterly unexpected outcome had emerged.
One by one, the other professors began offering their opinions on the matter.
"Class 5 is definitely doing a tea house, isn't that right? We lure the monsters to their class."
"That's too simplistic... the academy buildings aren't so shoddy that monsters can break through just by attacking. The moment a monster leaves the Black Forest, the instructors and professors will be the first to respond."
The distance from the Black Forest to the academy was also considerable.
Unless the monsters used spatial movement, the professors would notice before then.
"I have a proposal."
"Speak."
When the first opinion was rejected, the man beside him spoke.
"Then how about luring him into the forest?"
"Luring him into the forest?"
"Yes, that's right. I've heard that student cherishes his people dearly.... If we 'mark' one of them and inform him of that fact, wouldn't he rush into the forest?"
"Ohh, that is a very good idea."
The method suggested by the next person was to use a hostage.
If Atlas refused to enter the Black Forest on his own, they would take one of his friends hostage and threaten that the friend would be killed by monsters if he did not come to the forest.
Buckingham's face turned pale, but he endured it with effort.
"As expected of someone who teaches history. Then how about this? We mark the class... but momentarily shut down the academy's defensive magic for a short while."
"No matter how out of his right mind the Headmaster is said to be, do not forget that his entire attention is focused on proving the academy's safety. The defensive magic is most closely linked to the Headmaster, a Grand Mage... if it were to go down even for a moment, he would be the first to notice."
"We simply create a situation in which he cannot respond even if he notices it going down. We wreak havoc in the Black Forest where his concern is greatest, force him to expend all his energy on damage control there, and then deactivate it."
"Ohh, that is also a remarkably good method."
"No, the collateral damage to ordinary students would be too great."
Faced with a concrete plan, Buckingham rejected this next opinion as well.
Even so, the very idea of sacrificing countless students was dizzying just to hear.
"Yes, I expected you would say that. This is, after all, just one possible method. We too find it burdensome, as preparing something of that scale is difficult. Haha."
The man who had suggested sacrificing countless students was simply smiling, as if he had known Buckingham would refuse.
Utterly unaware that someone was watching them from above their heads.
"I've heard quite enough of your disgusting ideas."
Suddenly, all the candles went out simultaneously.
As pitch-black darkness surged in, the sound of chairs scraping backward echoed from all around.
The flustered professors had risen from their seats.
And then, a scream rang out.
"Kuaaagh!!!"
"Ack!!"
Along with the human screams, the sound of something breaking could be heard as well.
Sounds of bursting, breaking, shattering, tearing. It did not take very long, but within the darkness where one could not see an inch ahead, someone was vigorously pounding something with force.
"Ughh...!! You betrayed us, Buckingham...!!!!"
"Betrayal is an act that only occurs between parties who have established trust. Have we ever built such a thing?"
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From the moment the meeting started, I had been quietly listening to their story from above the ceiling.
I had not even informed Buckingham.
I simply told him to conduct the meeting as usual.
I subdued three professors... no, people disguised as professors.
Naturally, even in the darkness where not a single ray of light was visible, they moved skillfully, but wherever they blocked my attacks, the body parts they used to block broke, leaving them helplessly beaten down.
When the candles were lit again, they were all sprawled on the floor like caterpillars, their arms and legs completely broken.
"Uhhh...."
Seeing three perfectly fine people instantly turned into caterpillars writhing on the floor, Buckingham trembled violently as well.
I could not understand how a man who was supposedly a military officer could shake so much.
I stopped my hand just as I was about to lift the man disguised as a professor.
The reason was simple.
Clearly, only three had fallen, but I sensed more presences than that.
"You concealed additional troops when you entered."
"?!"
When I stated what I sensed aloud, cracks appeared in their expressions.
Without hesitation, I raised my foot high and brought it down.
-Boom!!!
I did not simply stomp with force; I imbued it with Aura, sending ripples of Aura throughout the entire floor.
The room shook as if an earthquake had struck, and their pitch-black shadows, illuminated by the candlelight, wavered violently.
"Uwaaaagh!!!"
"How did he notice this??"
As the shadows wavered and scattered, they transformed into people wearing black clothes.
I recognized that technique.
It was a sorcery called the Shadow Camouflage Technique, which every assassin in this world learns upon reaching the level of an Expert in swordsmanship.
It seemed assassins were tangled up in this incident.
"Since you've noticed... die!!"
Two per person, a total of six men in black swiftly drew hidden weapons from their bosoms and charged at me.
Their quick situational judgment could earn them bonus points.
"No!! They aren't opponents you can handle!!"
"...Two should be enough to talk."
However, the fact that it was not the correct judgment was a deduction.
The assassin running at the very front leaped high into the air, brandishing a short dagger.
It was a flashy thrust that looked incredibly impractical, but that was merely a feint.
The other assassin behind him hurled six hidden weapons over the shoulder of the dagger-wielding assassin.
The spread of the hidden weapons was quite wide.
If I dodged the dagger-wielding assassin by stepping back, the hidden weapons would hit me; if I moved forward to avoid them, the dagger would stab me.
Even if I dodged the dagger to stab or cut the assassin dead, dodging the subsequent attacks from the following assassins would prove difficult.
For an ordinary person, that was.
Unfortunately, I was no ordinary swordsman.
I swung Squete, which still maintained its pitch-black blade as it was not sheathed in Aura, in a wide horizontal arc.
-Buuung!!
To the naked eye, it was just a simple swing.
A mere swing executed with a sword not even sheathed in Aura.
But that single strike contained the subtle principle of cutting the Gordian knot—solving all problems with one stroke of the blade.
-Clang!
-Splat!!
The hidden weapons that had been tearing through the air were caught in the sword wind and fell to the floor, and simultaneously, a sound like a sliced tomato hitting the ground echoed.
They were similar to tomatoes in the sense of being wet and red, but what fell was not tomatoes.
What fell were the assassins, their bodies cut cleanly in half at the waist.
The assassins, now reduced to limp lumps of flesh, gushed bright red blood from their bisected torsos like burst water pouches.
"Ugh..."
Three were butchered with a single stroke of the blade.
The one who had charged forward, the one who had thrown hidden weapons from behind, the one who had been preparing to rush in right after them—three lives were turned to garbage in an instant.
"!!!!"
Witnessing their comrades turned into burst blood pouches right before their eyes, two assassins flew into a frenzy and charged.
By nature, an assassin should not lose their cool even in a situation where their own body was being ground down, but these were worthless scum.
Two emerged from each of the original three shadows, making nine, and with three dead, six remained.
That was a bit too many for interrogation, so trimming a few more would be fine.
Squete, not stained by a single drop of blood even after cutting down three, flashed.
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"You... bastard...."
A moment later, the conference room was filled with the thick, coppery scent of blood.
From nine there were now two, and the blood flowing from the seven lumps of flesh that used to be people soaked deeply into the carpet.
The two survivors, with broken arms and legs, had their faces planted on the blood-soaked carpet and were trying to grit their teeth.
'Gritting their teeth?'
I grabbed both their faces and yanked their heads up with one hand.
"Cough...!!"
"I won't let you die easily."
"Kgh... ughhh..."
-Udeuk!
I forced their mouths open with brute jaw strength and extracted the two poison capsules hidden inside.
I'd thought breaking their arms and legs would be enough, but they were trying to pull other tricks.
After questioning them a bit, I should ensure they cannot move on their own accord, either.
"Hiiieek??"
Seeing me pluck the poison capsules from the assassins' mouths as if I were pulling teeth, Professor Buckingham stepped backward.
The sight of people being butchered before his eyes was terrifying enough, but now that I'd ripped their teeth out, he looked ready to faint at any moment.
"Good work. It's going to get a bit brutal from here on, so get out. You can stay if you want to watch."
"N.. No, sir!!"
Buckingham bolted out of the room at once.
Now only three of us remained.
From the tips of both hands clenching their faces with enough force to crush them, I felt a strange sensation.
A sensation like a husk peeling off with a pop.
When I focused on my fingertips, the facial skin of the two men wobbled like cheap rubber Halloween masks sold on the street.
"Face-changing Human Skin Masks, sorcery to obscure presence, sorcery to hide within shadows.... I already know which organization you belong to. Who hired you?"
"Do you think we'd tell you that...?"
One of them said, grinning.
It seemed he did not understand the situation he was in.
"!!!"
I set one down and pressed the back of the other's neck, causing his face to stiffen and stop completely, like an electronic device that had been powered off.
The assassin whose face was buried in the blood-soaked carpet watched the scene, horrified.
"You... did you kill him..."
"No, I just stabbed his central nervous system with Aura so he can't move. Simple, isn't it?"
"Aura into the nerves...?? One mistake and he could be paralyzed forever...!"
He seemed to have never imagined someone would be crazy enough to stab such a sensitive and delicate nerve system with Aura.
As I said, it was an incredibly dangerous technique that could ruin one's daily life forever with even the slightest error.
But there was no chance I would make a mistake.
"Even if he becomes a cripple for life, that's not my business, is it?"
"You... lunatic..!!"
"Hearing that from a terrorist almost sounds like a compliment. Anyway, I've put that guy to sleep, so..."
-Kkuk
I placed my hand on the remaining one's waist and pressed his pain switch.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!"
"From now on, you're just going to tell me everything you know. Got it?"
"Huph... huph... huuuph...."
The assassin panted heavily, half his face smeared with blood.
I had stimulated his nerves so that his body had no choice but to let out a scream.
"How does it feel, a scream exploding from your dantian?"
"What did you do to my body...!!"
"I'm the one asking questions."
I pressed the pain switch once more.
The sight of my little finger sinking between the sturdy vertebrae was a spine-chilling scene.
"Kgh... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!"
Once again, the assassin let out a scream.
"It must have been troublesome and expensive to breach the academy's security and infiltrate. Just who hired you?"
"Huph... huph... Don't think you can subdue me with such simple pain..!!"
An ordinary person would have pissed and shit themselves begging for mercy by the first blow, but he was holding out quite well.
But this was not simple pain.
What I was stimulating was something humans cannot resist... the essential functions that keep a human moving.
"Quit your third-rate villain talk... Just don't die before you speak, alright?"
While speaking, another piece of information came to mind.
"No, if I had a necromancer do it, would extracting information from these bastards be faster after they die? Then seven rolling heads here would be plenty...?"
Hearing my words, the assassin's complexion slowly turned pale blue.