98. The First Move Assures Victory
98. The First Move Assures Victory
Out of nowhere, Atlas came to find her.
His uncharacteristically serious attitude made Amy's heart flutter despite herself.
"Amy, there's something I need to discuss with you privately."
"Huh? M-me?"
"Yes. It's extremely important."
With that, the two of them found an empty lecture hall in a secluded corner of the academy.
'What... is this about?'
Since he'd said it was important, it really would be important.
In the brief silence as Amy waited to hear what he had to say, all sorts of wild possibilities ran rampant through her mind.
The most obvious guess was something demon-related.
If he had singled out Amy, of all people, that was the most likely topic.
Amy had been consistently hunting demons, and even now spent every spare moment tracking demonic traces. That made her the person within the academy who possessed the most information on them.
It was almost certainly demons he wanted to discuss.
Still, deep down, she left the door just barely cracked for other possibilities.
She'd never said it to Atlas outright, but ever since she realized he was a Shadow of the Empire, she often wondered if he might be her benefactor.
That day, a Shadow of the Empire had saved Amy from the Demon Church's ritual.
She knew nothing—face, build, gender, voice—nothing. But she could confirm one thing: the benefactor who'd rescued her had worn black armor and held a pure-white glowing Aura Blade.
It was nearly identical to the outfit Atlas had worn during the demon-touched terrorists' attack.
The Shadows weren't that numerous, so she'd thought... maybe.
She'd indulged in fantasies like that—that Atlas remembered, and would one day tell her himself.
-I do not understand. If you are curious, why not simply ask him directly...
'Because it'd be so embarrassing if I asked and he said he didn't remember...!'
So it was just something she kept to herself.
Atlas's gaze, his eyes just slightly below her own eye level, turned toward her.
Looking at Atlas, who tilted up his deep blue eyes with their sapphire-like luster, Amy felt her heart pound for no reason.
Sometimes, when Atlas stared at her silently, she would startle over nothing.
Because he so often said terrifying things, she didn't usually notice—but when he kept his mouth shut, Atlas was an unbelievably beautiful boy.
His flowing blonde hair, his marble-white skin, his jewel-like eyes, his well-proportioned frame—he was like a prince straight out of a picture book.
She remembered how startled she'd been when he approached her with a smile on the very first day.
There was a bit of a height gap, but not so large that the difference between them was extreme. Their eye levels were similar.
No problem at all.
"Amy..."
Atlas strode right up to her.
Amy wasn't toweringly tall like Lucia, so when Atlas came closer, their faces drew near enough to feel his breath.
'Uh... no way... is it that...?'
Even though she knew better, a rosy delusion surfaced.
She felt like she was going to misunderstand Atlas, who simply closed the distance without a word.
'There's no way...'
Atlas appeared to be in a lover's... relationship with Liber.
The two had always been close, but at some point the distance between them had shrunk dramatically.
Was it that day when the two of them had stepped out first...?
No matter how clueless she was, when it kept happening like that, she couldn't help but notice.
On the days the two of them went out together, Liber didn't come back to the dormitory.
Just in case, she'd gotten up far earlier than usual and checked everything.
Liber was nowhere to be found—not in the clearing, not in the dormitory.
Then where was Liber emerging from...? She didn't need to think any further; the answer came immediately.
She didn't overreact or anything to that fact.
Though her heart fluttered at seeing something she'd only ever read about in romance novels play out before her eyes, she thought it was a perfectly natural thing between a man and a woman.
Atlas had stormed all the way to the Clover Kingdom to save Liber, and had even fought the Sword Saint.
Amy also remembered how fiercely her heart had pounded when Atlas had come down to the underground to save her.
'Then I owe him at least half that feeling back...'
But that was one thing, and this was another.
"Ah... Atlas, no..."
She had to draw a clear line.
Amy considered that fluttering feeling from back then to be friendship.
A pointless misunderstanding would only shatter their current relationship.
The moment she resolved to push him away, Atlas opened his mouth.
"Have you, by any chance, seen any traces of demons lately?"
"Why are you asking that from so close...!!"
Of course it was that.
Her excitement deflated with a pop.
When she inadvertently shouted in frustration, Atlas spoke with an expression that said he genuinely didn't understand.
"Well... this isn't exactly a topic to shout about."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
After she heard the whole story, it turned out Atlas suspected Professor Buckingham.
-This works out well. Professor Buckingham is a small-minded, petty human with a dirty vindictive streak... Best to tidy him up first.
'After you said that, the first time I investigated, there weren't any traces at all...!'
Even the Companion was seriously entertaining Atlas's absurd opinion.
Professor Buckingham was the person the Companion had been keeping the closest eye on among the professors.
She'd heard he had a personality susceptible to a demon's temptation, so she needed to be especially careful.
"He's a demonic person, but he isn't connected to demons. Did something happen...?"
"It seems he's been plotting something lately. I was wondering if your separate investigation had turned anything up."
"What will you do if he actually is connected to demons...?"
"Take care of it."
Take care of it... what exactly did that mean? She wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"Um... Professor Buckingham is, for now, a professor employed by the academy. You do realize that, right?"
"As long as I secure proof that he's connected to demons, summary execution poses no problem."
"He's a perpetually discontented professor, but he isn't involved with demons or anything like that. Atlas, you know there hasn't been any sign of that."
"There wasn't until now, but that may have changed. Since this morning, I've heard he's been going around making strange noises."
"...Is that so?"
-Indeed a Master. Such swift judgment... Amy, do you see? That kind of decisive judgment is precisely what is required. You must learn from it.
The Companion was thoroughly pleased with Atlas, who was hatching a plan to kill a man.
Even though, before the dungeon practical training, the Companion had insisted all of that was only because he was possessed by a demon.
As she'd clearly felt back then, the Companion felt less like a transcendental existence and more like simply a ghost-like presence.
With both inside and outside speaking terrifying words, her head throbbed.
"I wouldn't want to wrong an innocent person and regret it later, so I suppose we should start investigating again today. We just need to find traces of demons, right?"
"I see... So there were none until now..."
"Atlas, I think you're having some really bad thoughts..."
"No, it's because the tricks he's pulling aren't necessarily just the work of demons."
Atlas thought hard, then spoke in a low voice.
"I'll have to try approaching this from a slightly different angle."
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After all classes ended, Buckingham Houston returned to his private office.
At present, every one of his nerves was fixed on the Hunting Festival.
Buckingham was satisfied that the meeting held the previous night had ultimately produced a very meaningful result for him.
To think there was such a method to crush Atlas, whose successes he'd been forced to do nothing but watch until now...!
Indeed, listening to other people's opinions yielded good results.
The Hunting Festival would become a fine source of vitality for the endangered academy.
It would mark a turning point—a chance to carve out the rotting parts and make a fresh start.
"Heh heh, now that the opportunity has arisen, it wouldn't be bad to deal with several people at once..."
The announcement of the Hunting Festival had drawn a positive reaction, so all that remained was to lay out a concrete plan.
Excited about what to prepare, Buckingham opened his office door.
"Are you Buckingham Houston?"
Standing there was a black knight.
From the dark, matte armor that reflected no light, black smoke hissed as it unfurled.
It was under an exceptionally powerful cognition-hindering magic, so no information whatsoever could be obtained about the person inside.
Voice, gender, height—every detail shredded, appearing completely different moment to moment.
But the very fact that he couldn't identify who it was provided the clearest indication of what he had to do.
"....!!"
The ring flashed, and magic fired before any words could form.
He might be said to have grown lax after becoming an officer, but Buckingham was a soldier who'd roamed battlefields.
The swiftly and precisely manifested spell, though far weaker than at full power, was more than enough to target a single person.
'An assassin...? Daring to target me and walk right in here...?!'
The magic he'd used was the 'Paralytic Spiderweb,' far more effective at incapacitating an opponent than any clumsy elemental attack.
It was an extremely powerful spell: a bright yellow flash that, upon touching its target, paralyzed the body and rendered them completely immobile.
Used properly, one yellow flash would spread in all directions like a spiderweb and could paralyze over a dozen people simultaneously—but having stripped away many components for rapid manifestation, its power had been halved.
Even so, it was more than sufficient to paralyze a single person.
Watching the extending flash, the black knight didn't even think of dodging. Instead, the figure walked straight toward the Paralytic Spiderweb.
Did they not know the magic's effect? Or did the armor possess some treatment to block magic?
It wouldn't be the latter.
Defensive magic that nullified spells below a certain level did exist, but if something like that were active, there was no way that armor would be emitting such powerful cognition-hindering magic.
It was all a bluff.
'What do you take me for?!'
The very moment thoughts of how to deal with the paralyzed black knight reached his mind, the black knight swung the sword held in his right hand.
A useless act.
Even an Aura Blade couldn't stop it. The Paralytic Spiderweb triggered on contact.
If they tried to cut it instead of dodging, they'd be caught instantly by the spell.
The magic and the sword made contact.
Now the black knight would be caught in the spell and collapse, convulsing like a rat being electrocuted.
He had won.
-Crash, bang, boom!!
"Keuhuck?!!"
The instant he was certain of that, impact flared against the back of his head.
When he came to his senses, the black knight was gripping his face firmly with a gauntleted hand.
Apparently, he'd been slammed into the wall.
"When you come in, you should close the door behind you."
The black knight spoke in a crackling voice whose gender he couldn't even discern, then casually shut the open door.
With a hopeful heart, Buckingham flicked his eyes toward the closing door, but no one noticed his predicament at all.
"Uuugh... you... what are you planning to do with me..."
Somehow forcing out words as quietly as he could through his crumpled mouth, he watched the pitch-black helmet turn its head toward him.
"I'll be judging that from here on out. So from this point forward, speak only the truth in answer to the questions I ask."