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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Come now, don’t be scared. Tell us what brought you here.”
Renny asked Elisa in a gentle voice, as if soothing a child.
Elisa, perhaps relieved that I had deliberately moved far away out of sight, slowly began to state her business.
“W-well… th-this…”
Elisa took out a small box from her bosom and held it out to Renny.
Renny carefully received the box from Elisa and opened the lid.
I couldn’t see the contents from where I was due to the lid, but judging by Renny’s changed expression, it seemed to be a dangerous item.
Renny closed the lid with a snap and looked at Elisa, asking.
“Where did this come from? Or rather, where did you find it?”
“It, it was found in a classroom near the cafeteria…”
Magic department? The magic department?
“Renny, show that to me too.”
“What?”
“Quickly!”
There was no time to waste.
I immediately walked up to Renny and checked the contents of the box.
It looked like a model of a dagger with an impressively curved blade.
The blade, about the size of a keychain, was visibly emitting an ominous light.
They left it quite blatantly.
Huh.
So they’re not completely without conscience?
To give hints like this.
Whoever sent me here, it seemed they didn’t intend to abandon me in a completely barren field.
What Elisa brought was a small model knife that had been placed at the last known location of the missing persons during the demon summoning incident.
According to the veterans who had analyzed every bit of text in the game, it was a kind of boast.
A self-aggrandizement saying, “Even if I do this, you can’t catch me.”
But they really couldn’t stop it in the game’s story.
So it was also very unsettling.
In the end, the witch caught by the player was just cleaning up after everything was over.
Could we solve here what couldn’t be properly resolved even in the game?
Without save and load?
“Where exactly did you find this?”
Where was the first discovery site?
If my memory was correct, the first missing person was from the magic department-
“I, I felt an ominous presence in a classroom near the cafeteria, so I went to check, and it was lying in a corner… hic… hic…”
“Are you alright? Here, take a deep breath. One, two, one, two…”
…Or was it?
No, it definitely wasn’t near the cafeteria.
That area had classrooms used by the liberal arts departments.
I take back what I said about conscience.
Whoever made the true ending seems to have thrown their conscience out with yesterday’s dinner.
Making me subtly activate my happy circuits and then snatching it away.
Was this hope torture?
Bastard.
“Johann. Why are you acting so unlike yourself? Stay 10 meters away again, Elisa is scared.”
“Understood.”
“Johann seems to be getting punished!”
Don’t say such sad things.
I gently turned the head of Millia, who was standing next to me leaning against me, and listened to their conversation.
“I understand that you found such an ominous object. But why did you bring it to us? Couldn’t you report it to the Academy Security?”
Renny’s words were logical.
The Security was responsible for maintaining order not just in Kalon Academy but in the entire city of Kalon.
Why come to us when there was an elite security force known throughout the continent?
If we left it to them, wouldn’t they have solved it easily?
…No, that wasn’t right.
In the original work, whether the Security neglected their duties or were simply incompetent, they couldn’t catch the one who created the witch.
“W-well… I did tell the Security, but they said they’re short on personnel due to an incident on the outskirts of Kalon, so it might be pushed back… I, I also asked the professor, and he… he told me to try talking to Miss Renny…”
An incident on the outskirts of the city?
Was there an incident at this time?
My memory was hazy.
It was almost a miracle that I remembered this much in the first place, so I might not remember minor details at all.
Still, if it had been a major incident, I should have had some vague recollection.
Perhaps the butterfly effect from the complications during the Hell Hound incident was changing the course of events.
“So you came to us… I see.”
Renny tapped her fingers on the desk and lowered her head.
She seemed to be deep in thought.
She was probably considering how to handle this situation.
It was too unsettling to simply refuse, but accepting it was awkward since it wasn’t originally our jurisdiction.
But I had to get involved in this incident somehow.
Because I needed to befriend the witch.
Though I didn’t understand why I needed to befriend her.
Was it telling me not to kill her while saying “Is it too late…?” like in the original, but to uncover the mastermind instead?
Was that mastermind related to the true ending?
No. Let’s stop these thoughts for now.
It was more important to persuade Renny right now.
“Renny. Let’s try to solve this incident ourselves.”
“Us? Suddenly? We need to take care of Lady Karina. We’re Lady Karina’s escort knights.”
“She hasn’t woken up yet, so we have some time to spare. And in my opinion… isn’t it strange that this is happening at such a coincidental timing?”
At my words, Renny folded her arms, closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and agreed with me.
“Now that you mention it, it is strange. Coincidentally, such a bizarre object is dropped at the exact timing when the Security is away from the Academy? An object that seems to have a curse attached to it at first glance?”
“S-so, I, I also thought it was strange…”
“Then you investigate with Elisa. I’ll just inform the Security and continue with my duties.”
Fortunately, Renny seemed to have been persuaded by my words.
If Renny hadn’t allowed it, things could have become very complicated.
Millia, who had been listening from the side, suddenly exclaimed as if she couldn’t just stand by.
“I’ll help too!”
“…How do you plan to help?”
“Um… I’m good at finding things!”
“It could be dangerous.”
“It’s okay! I’ll run away right away if it’s dangerous!”
Can you run away…?
Millia wasn’t very associated with combat, so I wasn’t sure if she could escape well in an emergency.
Perhaps I made a skeptical expression, because
“I won’t make you worry. I want to help too…”
Millia grabbed my sleeve and looked up at me with teary eyes.
Ah, don’t look at me like that.
It makes my heart weak.
“…Run away immediately if I tell you to run.”
“Okay! Got it! Thank you! Johann is the best!”
Don’t hug me, I said.
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“I’ll go to the Security office and explain the situation, so you guys investigate where that dagger was found.”
“Understood.”
I saw Renny off at the front gate of Yeomyeong-gwan and started walking towards where the classroom should be.
Of course, Millia who was sticking close to me, and Elisa who was following at a distance, unsure if she was part of the group or a stalker, were with me.
No, was it right to think of this as being together?
She was following almost 10 meters behind.
Even passersby’s were looking at Elisa as if she was really suspicious.
Wouldn’t she get reported to the Security at this rate?
…But if I approached her, she’d have a fit, so that was troublesome in its own way.
Sigh.
Why was she acting like this towards me?
I should ask her why when we got a bit closer.
If it was just because of my face, I’d really cry.
I may not be popular with women… well, that was not quite right, but I was not that ugly.
“Johann, did she get caught?”
“N-no! I’m, I’m with them…”
“Then why are you 10 meters away from your companions?”
At the question from someone who looked like a guard, Elisa hesitated, then looked at me, flinched in surprise and looked away, repeating this process twice.
To anyone watching, it might look like she was caught stalking me and was secretly hoping for my help but was too embarrassed to ask, like some kind of yandere.
The gloomy atmosphere made it seem even more so.
“That person is indeed my… companion.”
Polite speech really didn’t stick in my mouth.
“Is that true?”
“It is true.”
“It’s true! We were on our way to the classroom together!”
With Millia’s supporting fire, the guard made a doubtful expression, then sighed and said.
“Well, it seems you’re not lying, so I’ll leave it at that. But since I’ve never seen you before… which department are you from?”
“Yeomyeong-gwan. I’m Lady Karina’s escort knight.”
What. Why. What.
Why are you looking at me with eyes of disbelief?
Do you want your head split open with a shovel?
Why is everyone giving me dirty looks?
It’s irritating.
“Do you have an identification badge?”
I took out my identification badge from my chest and showed it to the guard.
The guard looked at the badge, then said to me with an apologetic face.
“Ah… You must be the newly appointed knight I’ve heard about. I’m sorry for not recognizing you.”
“…It’s… fine. Don’t worry about it.”
After the apology show between two working adults passed, the guard disappeared to continue his patrol.
Really now.
“Elisa. Walk a bit closer to us.”
“Um, well, that’s…”
“Can’t you just not look at my face?”
“Uh, it’s not the face…”
Not the face?
At those words, I looked at Elisa.
If it was not the face, then what was making her wet herself?
I really didn’t understand.
I sent a gaze demanding an answer, but Elisa didn’t respond, avoiding eye contact.
Or rather, she couldn’t respond.
…Sigh.
We should hurry and investigate.
We hurriedly walked and arrived in front of the classroom.
But what greeted us was a door with a paper saying “No Entry” attached to it.
“No Entry?”
Did an incident occur in the meantime?
“Can’t we go in?”
“It should be fine to enter for investigation purposes.”
“You can’t.”
At the sudden interjection, I turned my body to look at the owner of the voice.
…Security?
A middle-aged man with a sturdy build wearing a Security uniform, exuding a cynical impression, glared at me as if I were a criminal and spat out words.
“Go back. No one except the Security can enter. Even if it’s the Saint’s escort knight. This is… our territory.”
…What’s with this guy?
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