The Inquisition's Raid
Runes and I had come down to the first floor. The lobby was already crowded with people. The key players who would lead the academy's golden age. The twenty students from the top-tier class. They were mingling in the lobby lounge, sizing each other up, or standing apart like solitary beasts.
Among them, my eyes met Elise's exactly. She had been looking my way, it seemed. Her eyes widened slightly, but that was all. She haughtily turned her gaze away from me. Surprisingly, that was quite an emotional display by Elise's standards.
Nearby was one such solitary beast. Skala, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, wearing a meaningful smile. She even had her monocle on. She probably thought she was striking a pose, but with her childlike build, it didn't quite land.
Ah, then her eyes met mine. Skala's expression smoothed out in an instant, and she started toddling over toward me briskly. It was like seeing a familiar face in a newly assigned class.
"Everyone's here. Line up in two rows."
But her movement was halted. A stern-faced teaching assistant, who happened to be nearby, had started lining everyone up with Skala as the marker.
She pouted and turned around. Yet I still felt eyes on me. Sure enough, it was Kane Swara. She was in the front row, glaring at me with a terrifying intensity.
Hmm. Better steer clear for now.
"We'll head to the cafeteria together for the guided tour, so please bear with us. Let's move out."
The cafeteria wasn't far from the dormitory. As soon as we opened the door, a spacious, comfortable hall unfolded before us. And it was still completely empty. This was the perk of the top-tier class.
"Ooh, the menu looks seriously fancy," Runes said, her eyes sparkling as she scanned the inside. It was a buffet-style spread with countless dishes lined up. Since it was the entrance ceremony day, they'd gone all out—the quality was enough to make even noble-born kids' eyes light up.
"After the meal, return on your own, and gather back in the lobby by 9. We have the entrance ceremony."
No sooner had the assistant finished speaking than the students' feet moved like the wind. Runes hurriedly started piling food onto her plate.
"Harné, you need to eat more. Otherwise, you won't grow."
"I know, Runes. So stop piling on the meat."
This body couldn't handle large portions, so such consideration was more trouble than it was worth. And with the appearance fixed, there was no growing taller anyway. It was truly pitiful.
I filled my plate first and claimed a seat by the window. A moment later, Runes plopped down across from me with two heaping plates.
"Alright, light breakfast today."
"Hmm. That looks like three times my portion already?"
"You're the weird one, Harné. For a close-range fighter."
Drag. That was when it happened. The chair next to me was pulled back. It was Skala.
"It's been two days. Hope you've been well?"
"Of course. But you're hard to spot. I thought maybe you didn't make the top twenty after all the points I racked up for the team battle?"
"I did arrive at the academy late yesterday. Oh? Were you actually keeping tabs on me?"
"Hah, as if. I was just analyzing the other students' levels based on your ranking."
It hit just right. Skala started to bristle but cleared her throat and calmed down, exchanging greetings with Runes. Since they'd clashed once in the team battle, the mood lightened quickly.
Ah, perfect timing—there was something I wanted to mention now that they were both here. Back in the infirmary, Skala had bragged about cornering Runes and Elise.
"Runes. There's something I wanted to ask. During the team battle, when Skala was fighting you..."
"Ah, before the wall collapsed? Everyone was too frantic then; you probably won't remember even if I describe it."
Skala flinched and hurriedly cut me off. Quick on the uptake.
"Huh? I might if you say it. Go on."
"Ah, well, that was..."
Runes asked again, but attempt number two sank too. A fork with a piece of meat stabbed right into my mouth. Physical gag order. It was delicious.
As I obediently chewed the meat, the topic naturally shifted elsewhere. By the time the upper dorm residents arrived at the cafeteria, we'd finished our plates clean and stood up.
We had plenty of time left. To aid digestion, we wandered wherever our feet took us. Strolling around the dormitory grounds. Checking out the lounge and study on the first floor. We spent the time like proper freshmen, and before we knew it, the appointed hour arrived.
The entrance ceremony stage was the auditorium where we'd first gathered in our exam uniforms.
The auditorium was already filled with countless students seated. As we entered, every gaze in the packed hall turned toward us at once. Like protagonists, the top-tier students arrived dead last.
We took our seats in the center front row amid all the stares. Skala and Runes naturally flanked me on either side.
"Everyone's here. For a smooth ceremony, please remain quiet."
A kindly old professor with a gentle face stepped up to the podium just then. His words boomed through the amplifier across the auditorium, quickly silencing the murmurs.
The professor swept his gaze over the crowd below with a soft smile, then continued slowly.
"Welcome, new students... We now commence the 19th Entrance Ceremony of Kalsea Academy."
Applause erupted. I started to clap too but hurriedly covered my mouth. A yawn had nearly escaped.
Sorry to that professor, but his voice seemed laced with potent sleep-inducing properties. And I'd heard that line countless times in the game. At this rate, I'd doze off at least once before it ended...
"First, the dean's address... However, the dean is currently absent, so the vice dean will deliver it in her stead."
...What?
The drowsiness vanished without a trace. The dean's absence. Something that had never happened even once in the original story.
After ten years of butterfly effects, harping on the original might seem trite. But this wasn't something to take lightly. She was someone who poured her heart into every school event; she wouldn't skip the entrance ceremony willingly.
Regardless of my swirling thoughts, the ceremony proceeded smoothly.
"Greetings. I am Vice Dean Cherpin Ardo."
She adjusted her glasses and began her speech with a calm gaze.
"The world we humans inhabit is a massive floating island adrift on the seas. As such, oceanic monsters pose a grave threat to us."
The dean would've wrapped it in a minute, but this was clearly a five-minute-plus opener.
Instead of a bland impression, I glanced toward one side of the auditorium. Toward the far right end where the professors and staff were gathered. I scanned their faces one by one.
"The region that suffered the most from those monsters was right here, the Kalsea region. At that time, the dean..."
Sure enough. Listening to the speech with one ear while observing, I couldn't shake the unease. Some of the prominent professors had dark expressions.
It could just be my imagination. But my instincts kept warning me. Don't ignore it.
And at that moment.
Bzzz—bzzz—
An ominous signal buzzed in my ear. I subtly touched my ear and channeled mana into the communication stone.
Crackle— The informant's urgent message cut off midway. Communication in the area must have been jammed.
But it was enough to grasp the situation. So that's how you're playing it.
Meanwhile, the vice dean finished her speech amid applause and stepped down. She pulled a communication orb from her pocket and hurried off somewhere.
The professor returned to the podium and spoke into the microphone.
"Thank you for the address... Next, we have a ceremony to honor the students with outstanding entrance exam scores..."
But those words didn't finish either.
Boom!
The auditorium doors burst open as if shattering. Looking back, a group in pure white robes poured in through the gap.
Clack-clack-clack—
Mechanical, uniform footsteps filled the auditorium. The growing rhythm crushed the atmosphere of the entire space.
"Kyaaah!"
"What? Those clothes... no way?"
Uninvited guests at the entrance ceremony. For the students, they were the last people they'd ever imagine encountering here.
In an instant, they surrounded the edges of the auditorium. They were the Goddess Church's shadow. The Goddess Church's blade. The Inquisition interrogators.
"Uwaaak! Inquisitors!"
"Why are inquisitors here? P-please spare me!"
Murmurs and screams filled the space. The assistants tried to calm them a beat too late, but the chaos had already spread.
At this rate, any mishap could erupt. Then, a massive mana wave emanated from the podium.
"Everyone... please calm down!"
Pop!
The old professor on stage swung his staff. A pale white mana swept through the auditorium like a wave, instantly silencing the screams and uproar. A wide-area silence spell variant. Potent effect.
The professor, breathing heavily, pocketed his wand. With a grim expression, he approached the microphone again.
That was when it happened.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Weakening and modifying a silence spell for wide-area deployment. Impressive magic skill."
A tall, androgynous woman in a gray suit and fedora. She had appeared on stage out of nowhere, clapping dryly and indifferently.
Hah. I hadn't sensed her presence at all until the applause. Runes and Skala seemed the same; their faces stiffened.
No need to gauge her. Just looking made goosebumps rise all over. That woman in the dark gray suit was a predator on a different level from the students here.
The professor approached her with terrifying momentum.
"You... When proper procedure through channels isn't enough, what is this outrage! Get out!"
His gentle face twisted like a demon's. Grinding his teeth, speaking rapidly without honorifics—it showed his fury.
The woman, meanwhile, casually toyed with her bobbed hair and smiled.
"The covenant doesn't regulate interrogation timing. We simply chose the optimal moment."
"...You think that excuse will fly?!"
The professor emanated deep mana. Blue haze and sparks erupted on stage, scorching the floor.
"You've disrupted information without disclosure and harmed students. Cross the line further, and the academy won't stand idle."
The academy professors blocked the inquisitors' path. As if declaring this was as far as they'd go, they turned their backs to the students and exuded menace.
A powder-keg standoff unfolded.
But the woman showed no tension, lightly raising both hands and nodding.
"Quite right. But with the deed done, retreating now would give heretics an opening, no?"
She pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket and waved it.
"Investigation proceeds alongside the academy. Fair compensation for students. All per the covenant—rest assured."
"...The covenant. Yes, we must honor it."
The professor sighed deeply. But his simmering rage hadn't cooled.
"Yet the autonomous region has its own laws."
Thud!
Weapon-bearing professors slammed theirs into the floor. Magic users gathered refined mana in weapons or hands. Average 5th Hierarchy powerhouses, renowned nationwide. Their killing intent locked onto her.
"Harm a single student, and prepare to lose your head."
"...Noted. We shall avoid 'illegal' acts."
Even under that pressure, her expression didn't change. She even politely nodded and gestured for the professor to step down.
...No wonder the Inquisition sent her. With her political warfare expertise and calculated deference, the academy couldn't push harder. Initiative lay with the Inquisition.
Sure enough, things weren't resolving smoothly.
Thus, the woman stood alone on stage. She slowly stepped to the center.
Step. Step.
Men's dress shoes matched her men's suit, filling the quiet space. Heads turned to follow her steps under the lights.
Reaching the center, she adjusted her fedora and smiled softly. As if she'd practiced smiling her whole life. Her androgynous smile held a magnetic pull.
"Good morning, Kalsea Academy freshmen."
No reply in the silence. She continued lightly.
"Many of you seem tense. A natural reaction—I understand. No need to worry."
She gestured far beyond the stage. The held-back inquisitors finally entered fully.
"I'm a romanticist at heart. We can all keep a pleasant mood going."
The woman spouted incomprehensible pleasantries. As the inquisitors filled in, her lip curled faintly.
"Of course, if a heretic is among you, that changes things."
Black Star Officer #4, Lesian.
She removed her fedora and bowed elegantly.
"Let the interrogation begin."