Chapter 62
Chapter 62
After causing an accident, she’ll try to pin it on me, the one in charge. I know exactly what she’s planning.
I had a pretty good idea of what Julia was up to.
The kind of accident she would cause in the waterway was obvious.
She’s planning to damage the Purification Stone that cleans the water in the waterway. Any accident that happens during the gathering will ultimately be my responsibility, as the one in charge.
The reason she had deliberately brought Wilhelm along was probably so she could pin all the blame on him.
Not a chance. I’ve already prepared for everything.
It was a fact known only to city officials, but the depths of the Underground Waterway were divided into three sections.
The Upper Depths, the Central Depths, and, at the very heart of it all, the Maze.
The truly Inaccessible dungeon began at the Central Depths. The Upper Depths, where we were now, were comparatively safe.
Even so, the Upper Depths are also off-limits, since people could easily take a wrong turn and end up in the Central Depths.
The city’s “cleaners” periodically cleared out the Monsters in the Upper Depths and maintained the facilities there.
I’d received information in advance from Mariam, the mayor.
The Purification Stone near here is already broken. It’s scheduled to be replaced next month.
In other words, even if Julia strained herself trying to damage the Purification Stone, it would all be for nothing.
She’ll just exhaust herself. This area is teeming with all kinds of troublesome Monsters.
The city had mapped the Underground Waterway and recorded the Monsters that appeared there.
According to the records, there weren’t any Monsters around here that threatened people’s lives. If there had been, I never would have allowed the two of them to go off on their own.
But there were plenty of Monsters, like rock slimes, that took a tremendous amount of effort to deal with.
Julia might try to take down a mid-level Monster to make a name for herself, but she’ll be knocked out before she even gets halfway there.
And, just in case something went wrong, I’d secretly ordered Hans and Linden to follow the two of them.
It’ll be a good taste of the extreme. All I have to do is sit back and wait.
“From here on, we’ll wait.”
“What is this place?”
Katrinne, Libel, and the Third Prince stared in astonishment.
There was a huge tent set up inside the waterway!
How are we supposed to last two nights and three days in this filthy place? We should be as comfortable as possible.
For the record, I’d borrowed this tent from Amanda, a member of an assassin clan. It had a perfect concealment effect against Monsters up to the mid-level.
It also kept the interior in peak condition, and cozy air enveloped us.
“…Don’t tell me this was your plan from the very beginning?”
“When did I ever say we were going to hunt Monsters? It’s a gathering, so naturally we should be doing a survival-bonding activity. Libel, open the luggage I gave you.”
A set of barbecue tools appeared from inside the magic backpack!
It even contained fresh beef, bought with the funds allocated for the gathering.
“Kyuu! Kyuu! Meat! Meat!!”
“…I never thought I’d live to see the day when I felt sorry for Julia.”
“If it bothers you, you’re welcome to go suffer alongside her.”
“Are you crazy? Let’s hurry up and eat her share, too.”
Inside the tent, we cheerfully lit a campfire and started grilling the meat.
It really did look as though we’d come on a camping trip for a gathering.
Ah, this is nice. Julia and Wilhelm must be having a hard time out there. I feel a little bad for them. You’ve got this, both of you! Hang in there!
As I leisurely waited for the meat to cook, the tent flap rustled open.
“!!”
I flinched and turned around, but there was no one there.
It was just the wind.
That startled me.
I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to calm down.
Then I looked back at the meat sizzling away—
“……”
“Is… something wrong, Professor?”
Libel, the most perceptive of us, studied my expression.
Mari tilted her head, too.
“Kyuu? Papa?”
“…It’s nothing.”
There wasn’t anything particularly wrong.
Just in case, I contacted Linden and Hans and asked them, but nothing was amiss.
Even the intuition I’d always had before trouble broke out was silent.
It’s fine. I deliberately chose the safest area. If anything dangerous happens, Hans and Linden will step in.
This was a secret, but—
I also had a plan in case something happened that even Hans and Linden would have trouble handling.
So there was nothing to worry about, and yet—
…Why do I feel so uneasy?
Then I realized that Katrinne, Libel, and the Third Prince were looking at me with strange expressions.
“…What is it?”
“You really have changed.”
The Third Prince spoke playfully, but there was admiration in his voice.
“Aren’t you worried about the two students outside?”
“No, that’s…”
I started to deny it, then abruptly closed my mouth.
I’d realized what I was feeling.
I was worried about the two of them.
“I-Is this really okay?”
“It’s fine. Professor Ban will take responsibility for everything anyway, since he’s the one in charge.”
“B-But…”
“What’s the problem? You wanted Professor Ban to get expelled, too, didn’t you? Now, hurry up!”
Wilhelm gritted his teeth and swung his sword.
Crackle!
The Purification Stone went dark.
…In truth, just as Ban had mentioned earlier, the Purification Stone had already stopped working, despite looking perfectly fine on the outside. But the two of them weren’t skilled enough in magic to realize that.
“You can go back now.”
“G-Go back?”
“You’re done here, so get lost. I’m sick of having you tag along.”
“!!”
Julia clicked her tongue and tossed him a Magic Tool as though she were tossing alms to a beggar.
“It’s a protective and concealment Magic Tool, so wear it if you don’t want the Monsters to get you. You can make your own way back to Professor Ban, right? If you really can’t, you got a communicator. Use it to call Professor Ban.”
“W-wait! We were supposed to hunt a mid-level Monster together…!!”
That had been the plan the two of them had come up with.
Blame Ban for the broken Purification Stone.
Of course, the two of them were the ones at fault, but they were only students, after all.
Still, even students couldn’t get off without any punishment at all. So instead, they would hunt a mid-level Monster together and use that achievement to avoid taking responsibility.
“Together? Someone as pathetic as you dares to come with me? You don’t even have the courage to swing a sword.”
“……”
“Just make sure you put on the Stealth Magic Tool properly! If you get hurt for no reason, you’ll only become a nuisance to me.”
In the end, Wilhelm lowered his head and disappeared along the path they had come by.
‘I’ll hunt the Tarantula.’
It was a Level 4 Monster, no less.
For reference, Julia was currently at Level 2, and at the upper stage of it.
That was an incredible achievement for someone her age, but the Tarantula was still beyond her.
But Julia was confident.
‘With my talent, I can do it.’
Julia had sometimes won even in sparring matches against formal knights whose achievements surpassed hers.
She would be able to defeat as many inferior Monsters as she pleased.
‘I’m someone destined to reach the pinnacle. I’m not like those other lowly commoners.’
Flash!
She cut down the Monster blocking her way.
They were nothing special.
As she excitedly cut down Monsters, she felt the stress she’d been under lately because of Ban start to melt away.
But it wasn’t long before—
Julia’s expression hardened.
‘Why are there so many?’
It was only natural for there to be a lot of Monsters.
But every last one of them took a great deal of effort to deal with, steadily draining her stamina.
“Hah! You lowly Monsters!”
Gritting her teeth, she swung her sword.
She was getting out of breath.
As she watched the number of Monsters continue to grow, her heart sank.
‘…Should I go back now, while I still can?’
Just then, a voice suddenly came back to her.
—You lowborn thing.
Though she was the Mad Dragon’s adopted daughter and her one and only prized disciple, Julia was, in truth, the daughter of a prostitute.
No one knew, thanks to the Mad Dragon keeping it a secret.
‘If I show that I’m pathetic, I’ll be abandoned.’
The Mad Dragon had taken her in as both an adopted daughter and a disciple for one reason only: her talent for swordsmanship.
Even now, Julia dreamed every night of being cast back out into the filthy back alleys of the night.
Her fear had become an inferiority complex, and that inferiority complex had twisted into arrogant conceit, making her look down on other people.
She had to become the best.
No matter what it took.
‘I won’t lose!’
Flash!
How much time had passed like that?
Something unbelievable happened.
Rumble.
A gigantic spider collapsed in front of her.
Contrary to Ban’s prediction that she would never manage it, she had actually defeated a Level 4 Monster—the Tarantula!
But Julia’s expression was not a happy one.
‘…I used poison again.’
An unexpected revelation.
It meant that she hadn’t defeated the Tarantula through skill. She had used a Poison Magic Tool she’d brought and hidden beforehand.
In truth, there was absolutely nothing wrong with using poison against Monsters.
The problem was that Julia had been presenting all her achievements up until now as if she’d accomplished them with pure swordsmanship alone.
—A candidate for the next Sword Empress of the future.
That was the reputation she had gained through such deception.
She had never used poison against a person—not yet. But, honestly, she couldn’t be certain she never would.
What if she came up against an opponent she couldn’t handle?
What if the heir of the Prestigious Swordsmanship Family, her rival, grew stronger?
And if she could no longer be the best, what would she do then?
“Haa.”
But then, at that very moment—
An unexpected voice reached her.
“J-Julia….”
“?!”
It was Wilhelm!
“What are you doing? Why haven’t you gone back to Professor Ban yet?”
The moment she scowled fiercely, something even more incomprehensible happened.
Flash! Clash!!
Wilhelm swung his sword at her!
“What the hell? Have you lost your mind?”
She shouted angrily, but something was strange.
His sword was stronger than she’d expected.
Strong enough to make her hand go numb.
There was something strange about Wilhelm’s eyes, too.
They were empty.
As if he were a puppet.
‘…A puppet?’
The moment a chill of foreboding ran down her spine—
“Ugh!!”
Clang!
Julia’s sword was knocked from her hand, and Wilhelm’s hand clamped around her throat.
—Hello. Nice to meet you.
“!!”
Wilhelm—or rather, some other being—tore his lips into a grotesque smile as he looked at her.
—My name’s Puppet. Have you heard of me?
Julia’s pupils trembled.
“Y-you’re from the Abyss…! Let go! You demon!!”
—Heh heh. I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I’m going to turn you into my puppet.
“!!”
—But, oh? You’re exactly my type! I like twisted little girls like you.
Wilhelm—or rather, Puppet—raised a hand and patted her cheek.
—I’m tired of tormenting good kids. These days, bad kids are so much more lovable. I’m going to spoil you rotten. For a long, long time, until you’re completely broken. Until you can’t even beg me to kill you.
The moment she heard that horrible voice—
Julia’s vision turned black.
Squeak. Squeak. Scritch.
A chilling sound brushed past her ears, and Julia startled awake.
“Where am I?!”
Clang!
Her arms and legs were bound in chains.
When she looked to the side, Wilhelm was there, bound as well, with a gag in his mouth.
In front of them, a strange little boy grinned. His eyes, entirely blood-red with no whites at all, gleamed with a chilling light.
“Are you awake?”
“…You’re the Puppet?”
“That’s right. This is my temporary workshop. I set one up in the Underground Waterway for this job.”
Magic lights were arranged all over the place.
It was so bright and clean that it was hard to imagine this was the Underground Waterway.