Chapter 128
Translator: uly
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Graduation Class Hunting Season (5)
— Unity!! Unity!! Unity!! Unity!!
— It's Comrade Adella's order!! Catch every last grad student!!
— Burn the chairman's statue at the front gate too! Any knowledge beyond undergrad is useless!!
— Unity!! Unity!! Unity!! Unity!!
I briefly lost consciousness and woke to find the academy ablaze in an entirely different sense.
Students wearing red armbands, chanting familiar slogans.
They had crawled up from underground and begun hunting the grad students who were hunting the graduating class in reverse.
— Catch them! A grad student over there!!
— String them up on the guillotine!
— Y-You crazy bastards...!
— Run!!
In a one-on-one fight, their skills wouldn't stand a chance, of course.
But with the academy's suppression squad—made up of guards and professors—patrolling, time was on the side of the followers.
And on top of that, their bizarre frenzy that overwhelmed any sense of reason.
On the surface, the grad students were gradually losing ground and being pushed back underground.
I spotted Adella directing the followers from afar, but ignoring her for now, I headed for the lord's castle first.
To hear the full story about Darling's disappearance from Bill.
Pharenchia's forces as a commercial city weren't all that impressive, but it was odd to leave the entire search to the academy when the lord herself had vanished.
There had to be some reason for it.
"You've arrived, Sir Louis."
Bill seemed a bit anxious but bowed lightly, as if he'd known I was coming.
He didn't even offer tea this time, so it didn't look like he planned to keep me long at the lord's castle.
In other words, Darling had definitely been kidnapped.
I lit a cigarette and asked.
"Explain what happened while I was in Skandal. Why aren't you moving the soldiers?"
"It was the lord's orders."
"Really?"
At my skepticism, Bill handed me a small business card.
It was from Vox Workshop.
"She told me to pass this to you when you came. Shortly after the training session began, a representative from the workshop visited the lord's castle. I don't know the details, but after he left, the viscount ordered us to tail him, and we've been investigating since."
"Did you get the doll?"
"Yes, but it was just a worthless stuffed toy. So the family head started digging into the merchant company operating the carriage he rode in on, rather than the doll itself."
Florence Baron Family.
A house that ran a business escorting nobles by carriage across cities in the capital region.
Since the passengers were nobles and not cargo wagons, inspections were rarely thorough.
Above all, those using such services preferred covert travel without revealing destinations, making tracking even harder.
"But the merchant company's ledgers must record passenger info."
"That's what we were after. But why the hell did she go into the sewers?"
"Well..."
Bill shrugged helplessly and said.
"The Florence family's sole heir hasn't graduated from the academy in five years. With no external contact possible, she used the graduating class hunt as an excuse."
— The family head is probably safe. The grad students won't attack graduating class, and above all, she's wearing over ten artifacts.
Bill's opinion made sense, but that assumed they hadn't dabbled in black magic.
Who knew if those depths of the sewers held lectures on linear string theory or arrangements for contracts with demons starting from scratch.
The goal was to find Darling and her target, the Florence baron, as quickly as possible and get back to the surface.
She had a tendency to disregard her own safety when it came to the western forest and demon statues.
And I had no right to scold her for it.
"Teacheeer—!!"
Returning to the academy, Adella spotted me and charged over with heavy thuds.
A shrill voice utterly at odds with her massive footsteps.
Startled, I turned, and there she was, riding an even larger ice goose than before.
With her followers behind her, she looked like a triumphant general.
"Are you all better now?"
"Yeah. Those people behind you..."
"In exchange for helping catch the grad students, I guaranteed them freedom of thought in the academy! They all say I'm amazing!"
That was impressive, alright.
I worried a massive cancer cell had taken root in Pharenchia.
Erzebet approached too, watching them warily with the same expression as me.
"Louis? What brings you here?"
"Planning to go into the sewers? What about the chairman?"
"She said she has to guard her own statue and stepped back from the front lines. Thanks to that, I'm the only one called in—what a hassle... Oh, speaking of, that story from the marquis's mansion last time..."
With all the grad students pushed underground, the suppression team was preparing to apprehend them.
Professors and guards, priestesses led by Caroline, and Adella's followers.
Erzebet was asking about the ironclads, but there was something more urgent.
"Found the base?"
"We knew the location from the start. The problem was the path there, but these students filled in the rest of the map."
The grad students' base that Erzebet pointed to was right in the academy's center—directly under my canteen.
"The plan?"
"We know the way, but there are too many escape routes to the outside. We'll seal the sewer building entrances and advance from eight directions, securing waypoints. Should take about three days if no issues."
"Too slow."
"No choice. Otherwise, wiping them out completely gets even harder. If they use black magic and casualties mount, it'll be trouble."
Even accounting for that, it was too sluggish.
I needed another way.
A way to swiftly deal with those who'd holed up underground before Darling was in danger.
"Piy~."
Then, the vibrant parrot on Erzebet's shoulder caught my eye.
And Adella leading her followers on her ice goose.
Now that I knew the path to the sewers' center, there was no need to retreat like last time.
"Princess. Lend me this one for a bit."
"Huh? Ah, no! Piy is mine!"
"Who'll soothe him? Just borrowing for a moment."
"S-Still no! Piy! Come here! Ah, where are you going!"
"Piy~!"
Despite Erzebet's desperate cry, Piy brazenly hopped onto my shoulder.
Vibrant parrots were highly intelligent and prideful, quickly discerning the better master.
As she was about to unleash her fury at me for stealing her familiar, I took her hand and said.
"I'll end this operation by tonight."
"Pardon...?"
"This is the first chaos in the academy since the election. End it quickly, and those who criticized your failure will shut up."
"That's..."
Aside from the canteen incident during the magic counterwar—which got them a scolding—Erzebet had two sore spots.
One was the disastrously low field training final grade.
The other was nearly losing the student council president election to her rival before a forfeit victory.
Coincidentally, both disasters involved Adella.
Her goal with the ironclads was to solidify her position before probing my identity, ensuring safe succession to the throne.
As expected, Erzebet calmed and asked.
"What do you need?"
I smiled, pointing to her golden eyes, now ready for talk.
"Just assign three."
"Three...?"
Yes, just three would do.
A guide to lead through the complex paths straight to their lair under my canteen.
A mage to block escapes through the remaining passages.
And a saintess to heal wounds once sorted.
Four would be better, but no one here wielded a sword well enough to guard my side.
"Yes, one being the princess herself."
Inside the dark sewers.
A small light flickered amid the damp air and nose-stinging stench.
Beneath the bright yellow torchlight sat a blackboard, with countless students bound to chairs.
Kkiiigiiik—!
As the lecture on the 4,000Hz frequency band began, the students screamed in agony.
A few grad students passed around graduation deferral forms in front, forcing signatures.
"Kyaaah!! Save me!!"
"Sign quickly if you don't want to hear more!"
"Soundproof magic only for those who sign!"
Their leader, Alfred Florence, watched them briefly before heading deeper in.
One grad student followed, reporting the outside situation.
"The sewers are too quiet. They're definitely up to something."
"Hmph! Doesn't matter. It's impossible to fully surround this place. Anyway, how many have committed?"
"About ten. The ones opting for black magic are at least third-years."
"Not enough. Need double that."
"Hey, Florence. For real? If they really come charging in, we can escape, right? You know we can't handle the professors."
"Shut up!!!"
Alfred yelled at his comrade, who kept anxiously asking about escape routes from the sewers.
Seeing him flinch in shock, he calmed himself.
Emotions were hard to control since learning black magic.
But even one life was too precious to sacrifice, so he forced a casual smirk.
"Once we're out, our family's carriage will be ready to go. Plenty of time, you know. The graduating class... that one, whoever..."
"Luhillen Viscount?"
"Yeah! Heard she got caught!"
Alfred had lived in the sewers for five whole years.
He'd only heard she was short and didn't know her face, so he assumed she was among the captives.
"They won't attack anyway. Even if they do, it'll take them ages to get here. So gather more volunteers quick! By force if needed!"
"O-Okay! But Alfred."
"What now!?"
"Where are we heading once we're in the carriage?"
"Well..."
Kuung—!
Suddenly, a small rumble echoed from afar.
Vibrations slowly crept from the darkness, crawling up his feet, legs, and shaking his whole body.
The iron pipes throughout wailed grotesquely.
The terrified grad student teared up and shouted.
"Where are we going!! It's safe, right!?"
Regaining his wits, Alfred grabbed his research notes and demon statue from the table, moving hurriedly.
"Alfred!!!"
"It's safe, I said! Pack up now! What do you need to know the destination for...!"
At that moment.
"Why, to uproot them completely, of course."
Chinggrang!
He first thought it was a beaker stolen from the lab breaking.
But the suddenly altered voice came from lower than expected, and conversely, the shattering sound—from too high up—created two dissonances that made Alfred turn.
There stood a petite woman in a red uniform before his eyes.
"D-Disguise magic!? You...!"
She said calmly, eyes filled with killing intent.
"Time is short, Alfred. You were too late, and I too early. Yet the prices we pay differ greatly."
"What are you talking about...?"
"I'll pay for not waiting for the man arriving now with cheeks pinched till they sting with tears, but if you're caught here, a clean death will be hard, no?"
The kingdom's penalty for black magic was no light matter.
They'd investigate thoroughly, expose backers, extract info.
Darling picked up the demon statue he'd dropped and placed it back on the table.
"Luhillen... Viscount?"
"You can still turn back now. Nothing's officially reported to the kingdom yet. Just one thing required: reveal the maker of this demon statue and their whereabouts."
"No way... You got caught on purpose?"
"Can't enter a wolf's den as a rabbit. Anyway, I have no intention of handing this case to the kingdom's investigative team. Only this hand can catch those who set Pharenchia ablaze."
Tok.
A white glove fell.
Duel etiquette.
But first, he was shocked by the burn scars on her revealed palm.
Kuung—!
Seeing the approaching rumbles and the brilliant glow from artifacts covering Darling's body.
"Damn...!"
Alfred drew his staff.