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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Was there such a person in the original work?
I frantically searched through my confused mind.
Memory, memory, memory…
The Security.
A group with little presence in the early stages, but gradually gaining prominence from the middle part of the game.
There was a heroine, but she didn’t have much presence either.
Because her personality was a bit… difficult.
Renny was strict too, but given my appearance and her occupational habits, it was understandable that she was cautious.
But that woman would have likely tried to stab my face right away.
If Renny was a mad dog wagging its tail only for its master, that woman was just a bitch.
Honestly, I didn’t understand why there was such a heroine.
Even for a tsundere, if it was just tsun-tsun-tsun-tsun-tsun-tsun-tsundere, she was nothing more or less than a rude woman.
No wonder her heroine ending achievement rate was at the bottom even a year after release.
That woman was really…
“Hey, you. Can’t you hear me?”
…It wasn’t the time for such thoughts.
I looked back at the middle-aged man in front of me.
“What, so you’re saying we shouldn’t investigate?”
“An escort knight should just do an escort knight’s job well. What happens in the Academy is our jurisdiction. Don’t interfere.”
His voice was quite irritable.
He didn’t seem to welcome us investigating this classroom.
“I heard there was a shortage of personnel.”
“How many people do you need for an investigation? If anything, aren’t you the ones who are short-handed? This isn’t a playground. I’ll assign a few subordinates from my 3rd platoon to investigate, so why don’t you go back and take care of the Saint, Sir Knight?”
…If this were the deserted island, I would have cracked his head open immediately.
Why is this annoying old fart being such a pain?
I pushed my anger down my throat.
Getting angry here would only make things difficult for us.
I had to endure for now, if only for Renny’s sake.
“Mister… mmph.”
I covered Millia’s mouth with my palm as she was about to get angry at the old fart who was clearly trying to obstruct us.
Millia moved her head as if displeased, but I kept her mouth covered while asking the self-proclaimed leader of Security’s 3rd platoon.
“Didn’t Renny… my senior talk to you?”
“You think we’d give permission just because she talked to us? What happens in the Academy is our jurisdiction, kid. Don’t concern yourself with unnecessary things and just guard the Saint.”
…Let’s retreat for now.
We wouldn’t be able to enter as long as that man was guarding the place anyway.
“Then, good… work.”
“Get lost already.”
The unpleasant-eyed old man glared at us with his arms folded.
More precisely, he was glancing at Elisa.
Do they know each other?
The meaning behind that gloomy gaze bothered me, but he probably wouldn’t answer if I asked.
“We’ll be leaving.”
I led the two out of the main building.
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“Johann! Why are you listening to a guy like that!”
“Millia. We have our positions too, so we can’t openly defy him.”
“I, I think that’s right…”
At Elisa’s agreement, I looked at her.
When our eyes met, Elisa turned her head away, having a fit.
I had something to ask her.
“Do you know that man?”
“Well, he’s someone called Cain… I’ve heard other students gossiping about him. They say he has a really bad personality…”
That was obvious just from looking at him.
Someone with such a gloomy face couldn’t have a good personality.
Even though I couldn’t read faces, he was a person whose face and personality matched 100%.
It seemed certain that his personality was actually nasty.
“Johann, what do we do now? Are we giving up like this?”
“Um, but the Security said… they would investigate… so I think… it’s okay if you don’t…”
That wouldn’t do.
The reason I was getting involved in this incident was to find the witch and befriend her.
I also needed to stop her before she became a monster.
…In the end, we’d have to do it secretly.
Since that old fart Cain or whatever would prevent me from investigating officially, we couldn’t conduct an official investigation.
Seeing how he reacted even after Renny talked to him, he might be trying to destroy evidence before exposing clues that could be troublesome if a third party got involved.
It might be an overinterpretation, but the mission clearly indicated the existence of a ‘witch’, and while I might not remember the detailed story, I did remember the general outline.
Find the witch. Build up affection, and then uncover the truth by investigating this incident.
If we couldn’t solve the problem right in front of us, we wouldn’t even be able to touch the next one.
So, the first thing I needed to do was…
“Elisa.”
“Hii, hiik…”
“I’m not your enemy. Don’t be scared.”
“B-but…”
“Let me ask you one thing. Why are you so afraid of me?”
“Th-that’s…”
I stared intently at Elisa.
Elisa’s face was slightly different from usual.
She wore a face of fear.
Similar but subtly different.
If her fear until now had been pure, now it was a face afraid of saying something.
I could distinguish it now after seeing it a few times.
“W-well… if I say it… everyone will… hate me…”
“Don’t cry. I’m confident I won’t be surprised no matter what you say.”
I smiled as gently as I could.
It was to reassure Elisa.
But I had to drop my smile due to the ridiculous tackle from the side saying “Scary!”
“That’s too harsh.”
“Johann, your smile is too scary! It’s like you’re smiling after burying someone!”
…Is it that bad?
“Do you think so too?”
“I, I think… it’s… okay…”
No, you have a fit when you see me.
“W-well… it’s not the face, but the spi…”
“Spirit?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing!”
Oh, whatever.
Let’s move on.
It’s not that important anyway.
I’ll just accept that she shows inexplicable PTSD symptoms when she sees me.
It’s a bit sad, but that’s that.
“Let’s drop this. Anyway, now is the time to find a way to investigate the incident.”
“Huh? Really? But the Security said they would do it?”
“Isn’t it suspicious? Why is that guy who claims to be the 3rd platoon captain guarding the place alone? Wouldn’t he usually order his subordinates to do it?”
“Oh… now that you mention it, that’s true. Shouldn’t a captain be able to order his subordinates?”
Millia nodded, tilting her head.
Elisa also seemed to find my words a bit strange, as she opened her mouth without meeting my gaze.
“Come to think of it, Professor Lennon… really disliked him…”
“That’s good information. Thank you, Elisa.”
“Johann, me too, me too!”
“Right… thank you, Millia.”
“Hehe.”
Just like a praise-hungry puppy.
I gently patted Millia’s head and looked towards the direction of Professor Lennon’s lab.
Elisa’s words had determined our next destination.
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“Cain? That guy… Hmm. I don’t think anyone likes him except his own subordinates.”
That was what Professor Lennon, who was leisurely sipping coffee in his chair, said in response to my question.
As expected, it seemed he wasn’t very well-liked, just as his appearance suggested.
“Is that so?”
“I don’t know the details, but he’s infamous for his violent temper and arrogance. If his family background wasn’t good, he would have been kicked out of the Security long ago.”
So he was surviving on family connections, was that it?
“He has a knack for finding and solving easy tasks that can boost his performance, so his records are high, but hmm. Because of that, there’s quite a bit of gossip about him. I’ve heard rumors that he deals with gangs in the back alleys of the city, but… there’s no evidence, so take it with a grain of salt.”
“You seem to know quite a lot.”
“A friend of mine holds an important position in the Security. It’s what I’ve picked up while drinking with him.”
As expected, having worked at the Academy for a long time, he’s heard various things.
“Are there any other rumors?”
“I don’t know much beyond that. By the way, didn’t you say you found an object with an ominous aura? Let me see it.”
I immediately took the box out of my pocket and handed it to Professor Lennon.
He placed the box on the workbench and opened the lid.
Then, putting on gloves with something like a magic circle drawn on them, he carefully picked up the contents of the box.
“It feels closer to summoning magic… than a curse.”
“Summoning… you say?”
“The aura isn’t inherent to this object itself. It’s just slightly tainted with it. At any rate, it seems certain that whoever dropped this object is planning something.”
Well, that was as expected.
After all, the episode name was demon summoning.
The missing people were probably sacrificed for the demon summoning.
…We needed to stop this before anything else happened.
“I understand. Then we’ll be going now.”
“Goodbye!”
“Take care.”
Professor Lennon’s lips curved into a smile at Millia’s cheerful farewell, which didn’t match the gloomy atmosphere.
As expected, Millia’s cuteness worked everywhere.
“Um… goodbye…”
Elisa waved her hand slowly while avoiding eye contact.
It might seem strange, but it was probably her best effort.
I walked down the corridor with Millia after leaving the lab.
I deliberately didn’t say anything until we left the building.
Millia seemed to read the atmosphere and just walked beside me, holding my hand.
We walked like that until we reached a corner of the garden where there were no people.
This should be fine.
“Millia.”
At my call, Millia responded with a mischievous smile.
As if she knew what I was going to say.
I quietly whispered the plan I had come up with into Millia’s ear.
After hearing my plan, Millia playfully raised her hand to her forehead in a slanted salute, and with a grin, she answered.
“Hehe, leave it to me! Captain!”
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