Chapter 129
Translator: uly
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Senior Hunting Season (6)
Dark sewer interior.
I quietly closed my eyes and knelt on the floor.
In one hand, I held a flyswatter from the canteen, and on my shoulder perched the radiant crested bird I had borrowed from Erzebet.
As I listened to the faint resonance of rippling water echoing through the pipes, Erzebet's voice came through.
—I'm ready.
All seven remaining spots?
—Yes. But are you sure you don't need backup?
It's fine. Just make sure the saintess gets here on time without letting those guys through.
—I should tell that to Adella, not me. Anyway... here we go.
Whoosh!
Piy spread its wings, brushing the narrow ceiling.
Erzebet was likely watching the situation through her familiar as well.
The radiant crested bird from the Raviel Mountains—a spirit beast—could fly at speeds rivaling a magic carriage.
She would guide me to the sewer's center in the shortest time possible while reading the map from above ground.
Piy—!
After circling the air a few times, it let out a light cry, signaling it was ready.
I opened my eyes and gripped the flyswatter.
And—
Vrooooom!!!!
Like a first-person racing game, I shot forward at tremendous speed, kicking up black sprays of water in the sewer.
Beneath the Pharenchia Academy grounds, the sewer system sprawled like a spiderweb, complete with its own strategic chokepoints.
Namely, the drainage facilities that controlled water levels.
Normally, these were places plumbers visited when pipes backed up, but now they served as bases for the graduate students.
They had set up barricades where multiple passages intersected, ready to raise water levels in emergencies to flush out intruders.
Thud—!
Hey, you hear that weird noise?
You too? Sounds like it's coming from over there...
The two graduate students guarding the spot cautiously sent light orbs toward the sound.
Seeing no enemies in sight, they soon resumed their chatter.
Listen, Cleric. I'm thinking of just quitting this gig.
You serious, Barnes? If you do, you'll never get your diploma! Not only would the last three years go to waste, but you'd have to start over from the bottom as an apprentice in some third-rate magic tower!
Cleric tried to dissuade Barnes, who was ready to throw away all his efforts so far, but it was no use.
I'm just gonna go back home and get married. My girlfriend says she's done waiting.
But...
I'm sick of this crap. Going to the lab every day, hunting graduating classers to fill spots—it's all because the academy won't properly staff up.
...
No future here. Time to... find my own life.
Having made his big decision, he carefully removed the red cape he had worn for three years since deferring graduation.
Tattered and stained, it still shone with the brilliant red that had once made him idolize his seniors when he first entered the academy—even in the dark sewer.
Barnes smiled unwittingly and let the cape drift away on the flowing water.
Then he quietly grabbed his staff and climbed over the barricade.
Barnes...
See ya, Cleric. When you graduate, come to my territory. Johanna and I'll celebrate with you.
Letting his friend go like this felt like his heart was tearing apart.
But in the end, Cleric nodded heavily.
...Take care.
Yeah.
Don't ever come back. This place doesn't suit you.
Wasn't planning to... Bye.
He stood dazedly until his friend's back, splashing through the water, vanished from sight.
A hot tear rolled down his cheek unbidden.
Just as he turned to leave—
—Kyaaack!!
—What the hell is this guy? You don't know lane discipline in primary? Wait, wrong way driving?
Piyyy. An odd cry.
Before he could hurriedly send out more light orbs, Barnes came flying through the spray from afar.
Barnes!!!!
Piyyy!
Damn it! This is sector A-13! Requesting urgent backup! There's some freak right in front of us...!
Freak, what.
The man who smashed through the barricade and kept charging.
Aaah...!
The moment Cleric saw the green flyswatter in his hand, his consciousness snapped off.
—Where to next.
Erzebet, sharing Piy's vision through the familiar link, couldn't close her mouth.
Louis sweeping away obstacles in Piy's wake—like arrows fired in sequence.
Just him advancing toward the sewer center threw everyone there into chaos.
N-Northwest, 300 meters. Turn at the third passage, and the next base will be there. A bit further, and you'll reach the center.
—Let's move. Status on the rest?
Erzebet glanced at the other communication crystal beside her and nodded.
They're holding well... Turns out they're more useful than I thought, like you said.
The underground was pure pandemonium.
Like a cat unleashed among rats, the graduate students scattered in panic the moment Louis descended into the sewers.
But something blocked their paths.
Adella's legion of ice ducks.
—Quack quack quack!
—Quack quack quack!
—Quack quack quack!
The furious ones charged, then exploded, freezing the entire area solid.
With water already up to their ankles or thighs, the pipes froze completely, leaving no retreat.
To make matters worse, it wasn't mere ice but Roshiar's unique magic, excelling in restraint.
Probably none will escape.
—Perfect. Almost there—handle the rest yourselves.
Grinning like a wolf baring teeth, he raced through the sewers unhindered.
Swatting anything moving with his flyswatter like bugs—no one could stop him.
It was a stage made for Louis.
Adella handled blocking the enemies, she herself guided the way—Erzebet now truly grasped how strong Louis was.
And the saintess, just now en route, would surely witness it too.
'I didn't want her to know...'
But Louis had no intention of hiding, so what could she do?
He chose swift rescue over a quieter method.
Enviable, really...
Last time with Darling too—she had stepped up to care for Louis amid the canteen wreckage, as if understanding everything.
What on earth was their relationship for him to go this far?
Would he make the same choice if she were in danger?
—It's not that I hate the princess—it's just a refusal.
'No lies in those words, Louis.'
Erzebet swallowed her rising irritation and guided him onward.
My slipper strap snapped, halting me briefly.
Watching it swept away in the filth reminded me of playing in the valley as a kid.
Kicking feet shod in shoes met fierce resistance—always losing one at a time downstream.
Those memories were gone forever.
Snapping back, the flyswatter in my hand had its handle broken, top half missing.
No use now—I discarded it and walked slowly.
Chairs used to bind students and a blackboard scarred with nail marks came into view.
Everyone else seemed to have fled.
Then—
—Louis! That way!
Racing in the radiant crested bird's direction, I spotted Darling clutching a black mage's hair.
Around her lay crumbled artifacts drained of power and the lingering poison of black magic.
Confirming my arrival, she calmly pointed to white gloves on the floor.
Pick those up for me, Canteen Owner?
...
Please.
I silently picked up the mud- and sewage-stained gloves and handed them over.
The burn scar on the palm was from childhood, searching for my father's remains in the western forest.
Along with her speech and mannerisms, it was a vulnerability she always hid—a shield.
Especially from others—from me.
Couldn't get solid intel. Partly her skill, but black mages aren't easy to talk to.
She slipped the filthy glove onto the hand that had just gripped his hair.
Searching the Florence family will yield evidence, but now the capital's Inspectorate will intervene. No authority for other territories in Pharenchia viscountcy.
They'd never expose the black mages' deeds—investigation would be covert.
Shadows clouded her stoic face.
Wanted the truth from him first... pity.
Why not wait for me?
Canteen Owner.
...
I'm not a child. This was something I had to do myself.
Darling glared sharply.
Behind it—the fury of a child who lost her parents blazed.
Idols summoning past remnants, driving monsters berserk, scattering them nationwide.
With Antiope surely behind it, the capital learning this might be a blessing.
But she couldn't just leave it all to them and stand by.
I roused Alfred, who muttered endlessly in a daze.
One more time possible?
From across the dark tunnel, cold-faced Caroline approached.
She frowned at my minor scratches and Alfred, then replied curtly.
Of course not. Mind manipulation magic leaves traces. Penheim's counterintelligence won't miss it.
Just interrogation?
Professors and guards rushing from behind? Five minutes out.
That'll do. Please.
Tsking, she approached Alfred and met his eyes.
Meanwhile, I went to Darling.
No injuries?
Nail broke a bit. Otherwise fine.
I'll scold her when we get out.
Can't you drop the overprotection? I explained this was mine to do.
Scolding her was my job too.
Carry me.
Pardon?
Snap! Darling extended both arms.
Need to signal you're safe over there—buy the saintess more time.
What's that got to do with carrying you?
Don't want to touch the filth. You carry me.
But I...
Thinking about it, if you hadn't come so fast, I'd have had interrogation time! Hurry, pick me up!
...
Caught in her bizarre logic, I unwittingly lifted her. Darling naturally wrapped her arms around my neck.
In the pitch-black underground, away from the lamp's feeble light atop oil, nothing was visible.
After days there, she smelled musty.
The glove at my nape, soaked in sewage moments ago, sent an unpleasant chill down my spine.
But what I focused on amid the revolting senses was the faint tremor she desperately hid.
Canteen Owner. You must break that habit of reluctantly yielding when women push relentlessly.
...
That's why weird flies keep sticking.
With pitch darkness.
A nose-numbing stench.
Not content with cold touches, she filled my last sense—wanting me not to notice the tremor.
I guarantee the saintess over there will too, soon enough.
...That won't happen.
She kept talking to me ceaselessly.
No... I-I had no choice...!
Ha, useless. Hey, answer me? Start over from the beginning?
Eek! N-No! Not that...!
Left alone, Caroline healed Alfred's wounds with holy power.
Then she lightly caressed the fresh skin, instilling fear.
You're not dying pretty anyway. Black magic, kidnapping, brainwashing, incitement... Spill it now. I'll kill you clean.
Of course, a lie.
No reason for mercy.
But whether from terror or black magic addiction, he couldn't even converse properly.
Just rationalizing himself, spilling his irrational past.
T-That was it! I had no talent for magic, s-so. To gain great power somehow, I had to learn black magic...!
Shut up and answer.
Yes! Like he said, to catch the spider, surrender to the web!
Ha, this ain't working... Huh?
Plop.
Coating peeled from a rusted pipe, falling to the floor.
Glancing up instinctively, Caroline gaped at the faint strand of holy power trickling from above.