<409 - Following the Traces>
The Seongnang-hakbu Senior regretted it.
‘Was I too harsh on a kid?’
No, it was a warranted suspicion.
Wasn’t it suspicious enough that a brat like that appeared in the Student Dormitory Zone without any badge?
However, when she realized that the supplies left outside the window hadn’t been touched, a pang of guilt struck her.
‘What if I misunderstood?’
That innocent younger student might have come here to check on her older sister out of pure concern, taking a risk.
She was gently reassured by her comrade who had also been in the same area.
“Get a grip. You lost your senses just because they’re a kid.”
“Don’t you care about that kid? No matter how blinded you are by points, you shouldn’t lose your humanity.”
“Do you think I lack empathy? If that were a proper student who has completed a year, I would have taught them how to apply for point loans and helped them advance to the second year.”
“But why treat them like that?”
“Have you forgotten the situation they popped up in? It’s mid-term. They showed up amidst the turbulent air equivalent to the worst disaster we’ve experienced.”
Only after hearing her comrade’s words did she start to imagine the reality she had overlooked.
“A competent person who can stroll through a disaster?”
“Or maybe the one who caused the disaster themselves.”
“No way. They look way too young for that.”
“Is there a rule that the age visible to the eye is true?”
“I… talked to that kid right in front of me.”
“Maybe they’re that incredible a competent person that you could easily get tricked right in front of them.”
That was truly… a terrifying thought.
A competent individual who could induce disasters appearing in the Student Dormitory Zone.
She could feel her carefully maintained composure breaking at the thought that a new mana disaster could add to the hellish situation they were already in.
This place is too dangerous.
It’s beyond what the untalented individuals can endure with just stubbornness and pride.
“Should I give up on advancing…?”
“Do as you please. I’ll stick it out for another year.”
Even though her comrade casually said that, the heavy expression as they turned away made her sense that one of their fellow members in the safe zone would soon vanish.
The shoemaker capable of safely traversing the thorny dirt piles caused by mana disasters was about to disappear.
It’ll get even harder to survive here starting next month.
As she suppressed her bitter feelings and reached out to recover the supplies she had placed outside the window, her hand swiped through empty air.
“Uh? It was definitely here.”
The supplies had vanished without a trace.
No footprints were left on the ground.
At that eerie moment, feeling a chilling sensation as if a ghost was moaning, new intruders appeared from beyond the mist.
An Eastern Swordsman, bleeding profusely from the head yet retaining a sharp aura.
A Black Knight clad in full armor, stepping heavily while not hiding their fury.
The appearance of badge-less students made her picture a grim thought.
‘There’s no way that first-years could breach such a powerful mana disaster. Could these be upperclassmen playing the part of new students without their badges?’
The place that was once filled with worry now echoed only with fear.
When her comrade departed, they all should leave together.
Today, the dreams of advancement held by two students would come to an end.
*
Jiang blatantly ‘procured’ the supplies left in the Student Dormitory Zone.
There were no signs of Velocasio’s contract scam even through his observation.
‘Seniors really are so kind.’
Thanks to that, he discovered a common point that the compass was pointing towards Oknodie.
‘Is that… a mana disaster?’
Chasing after that little halfling was truly tough, especially with a stature smaller than anyone in the academy.
He was even tougher than the robust Hestia.
‘Aren’t you an idiot? Who dares to walk straight into a mana disaster that others would do anything to avoid?’
In the space where the powerful will of magic repeatedly activates, that will becomes inscribed on the land and space.
When multiple wills collide, mana disasters can occur periodically or permanently in that area.
Jiang was aware of typical mana disaster cases.
Cheonryeong Mountain, where the great witch resided, hosts a mana disaster called [Spirit's Lament] where the souls of dead monsters roam and cause various incidents.
It’s a hostile mana disaster for living beings, causing them to lose their way and induce fatal falls.
Near the pirate’s hideout where infamous pirates hid, the colliding wills of mermaids and slave magicians birthed a mana disaster named [The Song of Nightmares].
Being enchanted by the song would ensure that anyone steering the ship would crash into a reef, necessitating the recruitment of a deaf helmsman.
‘How dangerous can that place be?’
While eyeing it intently, he activated the [Insight] he had learned in Professor Bronze’s lecture.
━━━
[Unceasing Sandstorm]
A localized anomaly limited to a 1.5 km radius.
Rapidly worsening cardiopulmonary function due to the penetrating fine dust, with a high risk of death.
━━━
He had to hold his breath.
Naturally, in the body of a mere commoner without mastery of the Mana Flow Technique, one could barely hold on for 1 to 2 minutes before running out of breath and suffocating in that fine dust.
He had no choice but to gather a massive amount of oxygen in the surrounding area using the Mana Flow Technique, then repeatedly breathe within his own isolated domain away from the fine dust.
‘Now I finally understand why students are not allowed in the Student Dormitory Zone.’
A dropout wandering carelessly in such a perilous place could easily meet their end.
‘But I’m definitely not a dropout like Oknodie.’
As he easily spread the Mana Flow Technique, the air around him was drawn in.
This wasn’t anything new to an assassin.
Whether jumping from a height to land, crashing through a window, or disappearing silently before an enemy’s eyes.
Stealing the air means depriving the medium that transmits sound, ensuring stealth.
That domain where only he could breathe was as familiar to an assassin as loneliness.
‘You’re in the same boat, right, Oknodie?’
*
After Jiang jumped into the mana disaster chasing after Oknodie, a colossal energy force forcibly expanded the closing boundary, pushing open the door toward the Student Dormitory Zone.
The students in the safe zone, startled and peering out of the window, were struck dumb as they recognized the identities of the intruders.
“They’ve all got no badges.”
“How come so many first-years have entered the Student Dormitory Zone? What on earth is going on? Are they on a field trip or something?”
“Are you an idiot? Field trips are for slowwitted lowerclassmen. Do those look like lowerclassmen to you?”
Despite being badge-less first-years, they felt like students of third year or more by their abilities.
As they surveyed the faces of those students, the students in the safe zone arrived at a shocking hypothesis.
“Wait, are they really first-years?”
“What do you mean?”
“The badge that distinguishes their year. There’s no rule against taking it off to hide one’s year, right?”
There was no such rule.
Badges were meant as a warning not to disturb the younger students.
If one had no intention of warning them, they might very well harbor the intention to deceive by not wearing a badge.
‘Did hidden fourth-years just come barging in? The professor is already opening the entrance cautiously. No way, are they here for their graduation projects in a group!?’
The very intruders who made the students tremble with fear were in fact all first-years.
“Oknodie is a student from your same cohort. Demonstrate your bonds of kinship and find him by any means necessary. As long as Professor Red Mountain’s protective charm lasts, you’ll be able to catch up within the threshold of the mana disaster.”
“Professor, won’t you come in with us?”
“My control over mana is not that high on land. I can breach the boundary through brute strength, but I won’t be able to stabilize the mana pulsating with my huge mana. You first-years need to go in and retrieve Oknodie directly to leave a trace of pursuit.”
Realizing that Oknodie, who should be present among the increased number of students, was missing, El Draco Professor immediately began tracking the mana traces, determining Oknodie was heading toward the Student Dormitory Zone.
Tracking Oknodie’s traces amidst the swirling mana disaster would be no easy feat.
He was a pirate after all.
His tracking abilities would surely be weaker on land.
That’s why he mobilized a horde of first-years.
The summoned first-years did not refuse the call.
“Do you think Oknodie knew we were fighting Dobi at the coastline?”
“Whether he knew or not, thanks to the Kraken going wild, Dobi’s magic was forcibly canceled. This time too, we’re being aided by that little rodent.”
“…That’s right. If Oknodie stepped into a dangerous area, we need to risk our lives to pull him out.”
To begin with, they wouldn’t ignore Oknodie’s disappearance when they were already planning to give Dobi a hard time for Oknodie.
Fortunately, even in the frantic area where the mana disaster was erupting, traces necessary for tracking were found.
“I found it. Here are some small-sized footprints presumed to belong to Oknodie.”
The mob shook their head at the marks pointed out by Northern Grand Duchess Irene.
“That’s wrong. Oknodie’s footprints are at least 10mm smaller than that.”
“The canister’s words are true. There’s no scent of Oknodie here.”
Seeing Sing echoing the words of the mob, Irene felt stunned.
Those guys really know Oknodie well.
For the same reason, Jezel, Isabel, and Son Ohchun found the two extremely suspicious.
Why do those guys know Oknodie so well?
