After the Dean rushed outside in a flustered state to check the saved files, we were left momentarily waiting in silence with nothing to do.
“……”
Ares kept his mouth shut and glared at me, while Rin lowered her head, looking rather displeased between us.
With the atmosphere among the three of us being tense, Hayun, who was typically quiet, had her eyes closed in meditation.
‘This feels uneasy.’
Both my body and mind felt uneasy.
I was still bothered by the fact that I hadn’t bathed yesterday before crashing. I sniffed around but couldn’t quite tell if I smelled bad because I had gotten used to it.
‘If I had known this would happen, I should have bathed the moment I got here.’
Letting out a sigh, I moved away on purpose to check if there was any odor, when Rin suddenly surprised me by coming closer.
“What’s wrong?”
She asked with worry, thinking I moved because something was wrong, and I reassured her that it was nothing.
‘Right now, it feels slightly better.’
Even though my chest was throbbing painfully, Rin’s eyes had the kindness of the countryside girl I remembered.
I could say I was somewhat adapting, I guess.
‘From Rin’s perspective, I must look like trash.’
Knowing the incident, Rin could have scolded me for not rescuing her sooner.
If it were Rin instead of Ares saying such things, I might have accepted it.
In the uncomfortable silence where Ares kept glaring, I sighed and asked Rin.
“Are you okay?”
“Uh?”
“I just let you die.”
“Oh, that. It’s because I knew I wouldn’t die, right?”
“……That’s true.”
I tried to mumble a response, but Rin smiled and continued.
“Remember the time we all raised that feral dog together?”
“That one that came with skinny bones? You and Ares stole some meat from home to feed it.”
It was a significant memory, so I remembered.
Because…
“You said back then that we had to kill the feral dog. We cried and begged you not to.”
That was the first time I got hit by Ares. Still, I desperately pushed the two away and tried to stab it with a knife, but ended up getting bitten by the dog.
“It turned out it had rabies. I suffered for weeks because of that.”
It was a memory where I almost died.
The kids apologized to me while crying, but I was too out of it lying on the bed to remember it well and just heard about it afterward.
“Yeah, I think that’s when I realized your actions have your reasons.”
Rin smiled and continued.
“Like the time we secretly played at the windmill, or the tavern orc barrel incident. You acted strangely, but you always had your reasons.”
“……”
“It was the same this time, right?”
Even though I must have felt the pain of teeth sinking into my whole body, the girl smiled at me without a hint of resentment.
“You can’t say it, so you’re not saying anything, right?”
I had nothing to say.
The infinite trust an 18-year-old girl was sending me made my entire body tingle.
“It’s okay, I will always be on your side.”
Rin’s face slowly nestled into my chest, slightly flushed. As her gentle touch swept over my heart, the pain gradually began to fade.
Clunk!
Sniff sniff.
“I got them all!”
I thought it was the Dean back through the suddenly opening reception room door, but it was Heini Rosales and her knights.
Without weapons, the knights subdued Ares and Hayun and approached Rin and me.
Sniff sniff.
I pulled Rin back who was in my arms and leaned her against the wall while stepping in front.
“What’s going on? I heard the detention was postponed until tomorrow.”
Heini sneered at me and replied.
“It’s strange to look for evidence when you’re caught in the act.”
Sniff sniff.
This person.
It was obvious they were coming in like this because they couldn’t find proper evidence at the scene.
“Think calmly. We were caught in the act, where’s that treasure you keep talking about? It should have been with us, right? But it’s missing, hence this situation.”
“……”
“Someone cast a spell over the entire school, causing confusion in people’s memories. To lift this…”
“I—”
Sniff sniff.
Heini cut me off abruptly, finding my words ridiculous and lightly tapping her rapier on my shoulder.
“It sounds more plausible that you guys used magic to hide the treasure than your far-fetched nonsense. Don’t you think?”
“Shit, then call a mage who can verify it!”
I couldn’t help but shout angrily, causing Heini’s expression to harden as she pointed her rapier at me.
“Watch your words, kid. You’re a criminal right now.”
“Watch yourself. It’s obvious you’re making up stories to solve this incident quickly.”
Sniff sniff.
If I get dragged away as a prisoner here, it would be all over. There was no doubt we’d get executed without a chance to protest. Not just any royal treasure, but the treasure of the late king.
I had nothing to say if we were put to death.
‘When the Dean arrives, for crying out loud.’
I just had to hold on until the Dean came.
Sniff sniff, pop.
“Ow.”
As I clenched my fists, thinking about how to break through this encirclement, I turned my head slightly at the pain in my back, only to find Rin had accidentally bitten me while nibbling on my shirt.
“……”
“……”
Rin was burying her nose in and mumbling, slowly meeting my gaze, her face flushed as if she was in a daze.
“Is it… tasty?”
“Ue?”
What was I supposed to say in this situation?
Having lived a decade in the Forest of the Demon Realm, I had no idea, so I asked honestly, and Rin suddenly snapped back to reality and shook her head.
“No, that’s not it! Smelling your sweat just made me feel hazy like I was drugged…”
After hearing the answer, I immediately regretted asking that question. The memory of nearly being eaten by a magical beast overlapped, and I gently pulled away from Rin.
“Ah…”
For a moment, a look of disappointment flickered across her face, but I ignored it.
“I’ll protect you, so use magic to support me. If we can hold out until the Dean arrives, we’ll be successful. Got it?”
“Okay! Got it!”
With that, Rin and I began to confront the charging knights.
*
In the corridor heading to the Dean’s office.
Sadly for Daniel and Rin waiting there, the Dean was barely standing against the wall of the corridor.
The Dean’s office was on the 5th floor.
There was nothing but the Dean’s office on the 5th floor, so coming here was no different from heading to the Dean’s office.
In that corridor, a strange powder had been sprinkled.
‘What on earth is this?’
Even with blurry vision, the Dean was trying to cast a spell, but he was the type who literally just studied and sat down.
He was an excellent mage, but his academic prowess overshadowed his combat ability, making him ineffective in unexpected situations like this.
“Pfft, this is funny.”
A male student’s voice echoed dully from afar. As if he were retracing the path walked, he slowly recognized that it was the voice of the 4th-year delinquent Fenil Leiros.
“Why… why?”
Fenil looked clueless as to why they would set such a trap at this timing, staring at him as Fenil’s crew rushed up the stairs in droves.
“Wow, look at the Dean stumbling around.”
“Looks like a bug.”
“Hah! A bug!”
“Seriously, you should have been more careful. Hey, do anything you want to that girl.”
At Fenil Leiros’s words, the students cheered and each pulled out whatever they wanted to use.
Bludgeons, pens for doodling, and even lit cigarettes.
It seemed they were harboring resentments from the month-long suspension the Dean had given them.
From below the stairs, more footsteps were heard.
This time there was a far larger number, causing the Dean to despair, but Fenil’s expression wasn’t good either.
“Hey, you bastards!”
With a bat slung over his shoulder, there stood Meih, the Dean’s cousin, with a stick of candy in his mouth, at the center of the numerous ill-fated students.
Beside him stood the B-class troublemakers from the 3rd year, starting with Vermount, forming a strong stance.
In just three days, Meih had managed to rally all the 3rd-year delinquents under his banner.
“You’re messing with my family, you morally bankrupt bastards!”
Laughing heartily, Meih charged forward, followed closely by the 3rd-year students.
Suddenly, a fistfight erupted on the 5th floor.
The 3rd years had the numerical advantage, but the variable was the strange powder scattered in the corridor.
The 4th years had the wind magic protection up in advance, but the hastily arriving 3rd years didn’t know about the powder, falling one after another, helplessly.
“Break the window!”
At Meih’s shout, the 3rd years near the window immediately swung their weapons and broke the window.
As the wind blew through and the scent of the powder dissipated, the numerically superior 3rd years began to gain the upper hand.
‘Are they really going to use this much effort just to take down the Dean? Are these guys really insane?’
Where in the world would they have procured a powder capable of incapacitating an excellent mage, and what was their motive?
Meih’s mind was flooded with questions, but he couldn’t fall back.
Though the 4th years were down, Fenil Leiros were crazily swinging his fists, taking down the remaining 3rd years.
“You crazy bastard! You actually doped up!?”
His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging, and his breath uneven. That madman had degraded himself with drugs just to capture the Dean.
The situation was getting increasingly bizarre.
To orchestrate such a calculated and bold plan for just a month’s suspension seemed off.
Crack.
Before long, Meih collapsed as Fenil grabbed him by the neck. Fenil mounted him and began to choke Meih, seemingly intent on truly killing him, perhaps due to the awakening state.
“Guh, guh!”
Spitting and flailing, Meih struggled, but Fenil’s grip was as hard as steel, not budging even slightly. Just then—
Bang!
With a satisfying clash of metal, Fenil was sent flying to the side.
“Whew!”
With her hair flying, Tana Krista trembled, holding a thick book like a shield and asking Meih if she was okay.
“You, you guys?”
The girls who were with Daniel.
Tana was someone Meih had previously harassed, which made her presence puzzling.
“Daniel told us. If Meih drags people somewhere, we should follow and report back to him.”
“……What?”
“For now, Daniel got captured, so I came with Tana. Did we help a bit?”
Getting an awkward smile from Eve, Meih could only nod blankly.
“Head! Head! Head!”
With whatever she had picked up, Tana started to thump Fenil’s head with the handle of a shovel, before lifting her leg to kick him in the groin.
“Nutcracker! Nutcracker! Nutcracker!”
Seeing Fenil foaming at the mouth and collapsing, Tana wiped the sweat off her brow, satisfied.
“Thank goodness the Daniel-style vital area attack technique worked.”
“……”
“Recently, he taught me while exercising at dawn.”
Eve, who was looking at Tana with an embarrassed expression, chimed in with an excuse for her friend.
“Th-thanks…”
Just as Meih was awkwardly trying to express gratitude, they could hear the Dean mumbling through the fog of the drug.
“Tell, tell Daniel…”
“Dean?”
“Y-yes, speak!”
The three of them rushed over to listen to the Dean’s murmurs.
“Behind the bookshelf, the records I asked for. To Daniel…”
“Get the record Daniel asked for from behind the bookshelf? Got it!”
Suddenly working together, the three rushed to the Dean’s office to check the records.
Their expressions gradually twisted into a cold atmosphere that resembled looking at trash.
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