<474 - A Well-Prepared Event>
The Thief Guild’s middle manager carefully visited the Destroyer’s Private Room.
Clank! Clank!
“Those traps are just as deadly as ever.”
High-grade traps layered underneath crude, conspicuous traps that illegal intruders could easily spot. Clumsy students would trigger the low-level traps and end up with a few scratches, but competent individuals attempting to dismantle them would end up tangled in much deadlier traps.
If they attempted to disarm these, the final trap was something even the middle manager could only barely detect, the level of skill needed to dismantle it was beyond imagination.
“Only the Professor Class could possibly handle it.”
Knock. Knock. Knock-knock!
After knocking in a regular pattern and waiting, the door opened.
“Come in.”
The large tactical table in the Destroyer’s Private Room displayed the Volcano Four along with the city of Pompeii. The map already outlined the infiltration routes and targets for subjugation and removal that the Destroyer and the Thief Guild needed to follow to prevent a volcanic eruption.
“Is there any additional information collected by the third-year dropout informant assigned to Oknodie?”
“A report has come in stating there are no anomalies.”
“…That’s strange. A report saying there’s nothing wrong with that Oknodie?”
“There were no signs of him being co-opted into the Foundation. However, his behavior changed around the Midterm Exam for the Picnic Healing event, suggesting something unusual happened during the test. We are currently gathering information by recruiting other instructors within the exam venue.”
“I see. It seems the director of the Foundation, who is also the chief scholarship student, hasn’t abandoned her daughter after all. Don’t rush the information gathering. Prioritize safety first and foremost.”
“Yes.”
The Destroyer made one last instruction.
“Next week, I announced a break. The ambush will start this coming Monday… No, it starts today.”
“Understood.”
“All subpar senior informants should prepare to leave and get ready to deploy to the volcanic region. We brought them in under the pretense of using the instructor, so let’s make sure they earn their keep.”
If only they had collected even half the information Hitler did, they might have remained at the Academy, but instead, they were being dragged into a war zone.
The middle manager felt pity for their incompetence as he left the private room.
He had to deliver news as grim as a death sentence.
The Destroyer didn’t even glance at him as he exited. He was far too busy pouring over the final checks for the large operation that hadn’t happened in a while.
Given the severity of the situation, it was way more critical than the closure orders from the Sebiche Ducal House in the Kingdom of Florence in the first semester.
Bang!
Thus, the middle manager, who had left on foot, returned hastily.
“Did you forget something?”
“Hitler has relayed a significant report.”
“If it’s a report about Oknodie eating rocks, tell them not to make a fuss.”
“That’s not the issue at hand!”
“If it’s about slashing classmates with a Dark Blade, that’s merely part of training that boosts regenerative abilities by dispelling Dark Mana.”
“Someone died!”
This was no mistake; this was genuinely serious.
For the first time, the Destroyer’s gaze left the tactical map and turned to the middle manager.
“Did he accidentally stab too deep with the Dark Blade and kill a classmate?”
“No. He reportedly extracted the soul of a Blood Band executive, trapping it in an instrument and playing it with the Soul’s Scream.”
“……Am I hearing this right?”
Even considering Oknodie’s peculiar behavior, it was shocking news that couldn’t be ignored.
“Report exactly what happened and the details of the conversation that Hitler had.”
The Thief Guild’s middle manager relayed Hitler’s report without missing a single detail.
– “How is it? Isn’t this background music amazing? My heart is racing!”
– “What on earth is the reason behind wanting to play such a horrifying song using people’s souls? Isn’t that just cruel?”
– “Without my intervention, the Blood Band would have hastily pulled off regional events left and right.”
– “…!”
– “If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to be used as a tool for my father instead? Hehe.”
Oknodie, who shyly laughed like a child who played a trivial prank while obeying their parents, asked Instructor Hitler with a smile.
– “So, what do you think? This background music. One is nice but isn’t one a bit lacking? If we ever go out later, I should gather a ton of violins. If we enhance them, we can increase the amount we can contain, and gather plenty of skilled executives and members playing other instruments!”
A human soul.
The shocking confession of wanting to collect the souls of the infamous Blood Band members and trap them in instruments!
“Oknodie, who named this soul-capturing technique as [Background Music], clearly targets the Blood Band, and the members have swiftly gone into hiding after noticing the missing executive Elettrico.”
“That’s good.”
“Good…?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot? Our aim in thwarting the matter in the volcanic region is just as much to stop the plan of the director of the Foundation as it is to empower Oknodie.”
“…I remember that the operation stemmed from such intentions.”
“This is all just a natural extension. Oknodie is merely acting as a Dark Princess, capturing her father’s, the director’s, limbs, and subjugating souls to solidify her footing. If our princess is this eager to protect herself, it should give us peace of mind.”
Even so, extracting human souls and trapping them in instruments was too frightening.
Despite his astonishment, the Destroyer had no intention of comforting the middle manager.
“Convey to Instructor Hitler that he should remain at the Academy as Oknodie’s dedicated monitor from here on out.”
“Well, the superior informant Hitler said it was an excessively burdensome task for him, and that he wished to resign, not needing any compensation…”
“Do you really think it’s possible to withdraw after coming this far? Tell him to quit his foolish thoughts and stay at the Academy.”
This is why if you stand out by working too effectively in any organization, you dig your own grave.
The middle manager repeated the life lesson: ‘If you stay still, you can make it halfway,’ while wishing for Hitler’s peace.
“Don’t think too harshly of Oknodie.”
“…After hearing about the incident, that’s hard to do.”
“One might view the child’s actions as just as brutal as the director of the Foundation. However, there exists a crucial difference between Oknodie and the director, and that difference is leading us to execute a significant operation to separate Oknodie from the director’s influence.”
“What difference is that?”
“The director of the Foundation’s orders do not spare the innocent from the guilty, the good from the bad. But Oknodie’s cruelty has only sacrificed evil.”
Only after hearing the Destroyer Professor’s words did the middle manager’s eyes, clouded by the fearsome reputation of the child, clear up as faint truth began to shine through.
“The line between good and evil is so blurred that cruel measures can be easily taken, but depending on the relationships and teachings around, that power could also be used for the world’s peace!”
“Exactly. Thus, we must not easily give up and release our grip just by looking only at the darkness of that child, but rather hold onto the faint light we see.”
That was why the retired Previous Hero chose the heir of the Three Great Evils as his apprentice.
The middle manager felt deeply moved and respected the Destroyer Professor’s grand plan.
“The rumor that the professor is a child lover was also meant to mislead the Three Great Evils so that they would not classify the professor, who stays beside him, as a threatening enemy.”
If that’s the case, it’ll be necessary to obstruct the eyes of the Three Great Evils enough for the Destroyer Professor to get ample time to guide Oknodie towards the path of virtue.
The more actively the rumor spread that the Destroyer Professor is a child lover and holds a grudge against Oknodie, the more time he could buy.
“Let’s take this chance and show the Thief Guild’s strength.”
After being overly moved, the manager acted with excessive loyalty!
Bam!
Forgetting the life lesson of not forgetting that one alone can go halfway was foolishness.
*
━━━
[Deck Battle ①]
– Saturday 9 AM – 1 PM
– Professor: El Draco
– Adventure Department, General Studies
━━━
━━━
[Mana Refinement Technique Training]
– Saturday 2 PM – 5 PM
– Professor: Jonnas Wahyhiemhai
– Adventure Department, General Studies
━━━
After the Picnic Healing event, only two lectures remained.
However, both lectures had no midterm exams.
The Deck Battle was substituted with practical training, while Jonnas stated that continuous effort is the real test, so only lectures would be held.
The midterm schedule effectively concluded.
Thus, I could finally use the authority I’d been eagerly waiting to utilize.
“Oknodie, are you all ready?”
“Of course, Jiang!”
━━━
[Student Council officer Velvet offers the opportunity for [Student Council Tour].]
[24 hours remain before expiration.]
━━━
Today, on Sunday, my task is the Student Council tour!
Finally, the day has come to heed Senior Velvet’s invitation.
“Who’s taking the bomb?”
“What do you mean by that, Jiang…?”
“If we go in that cave known as the Student Council without fear and without bringing any bombs, how will we ever escape if the situation arises that we might have to self-destruct?”
Smirk!
Oh dear.
This is why novices are troubled.
“I already stuffed a bunch of paper airplanes filled with bomb spells into my bag!”
“Really? Then what about the bomb?”
“Let’s plant it at the escape point before we go in. If we get tracked while escaping, we’ll have to detonate it!”
Admiration lit up in Jiang’s eyes.
