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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Knock knock knock.
“Captain of the Security. I have a report.”
A neatly dressed woman who entered the office assigned to the Security captain adjusted her glasses and approached the man sitting at the desk.
He looked up at the woman with a face covered in fatigue.
More precisely, he was looking at the documents in her arms.
“That was quick.”
“We mobilized the entire 1st and 2nd platoons.”
“How did it go? Tell me.”
“They escaped as if someone had tipped them off.”
“Huh.”
Gilbert, the Security captain, sighed and shook his head.
“A mere gang knew about the Security’s surprise raid and escaped first?”
“It’s the Leech Gang, isn’t it? The gang boasting the largest influence in the city.”
“Still, they’re just a gang. They’re not capable enough to notice and escape the Security’s raid.”
Deep wrinkles formed on Gilbert’s forehead.
The world had been going crazy since the end of last year.
The ship carrying the Saint was shipwrecked, monsters suddenly became violent and attacked indiscriminately, and even cultists who had been quiet for decades started popping up.
It was a nightmare for the Security, which didn’t have many members.
They had to maintain order in the city and the Academy with just over 300 personnel.
Even then, the special investigation unit members were so overworked that their vacation requests were being rejected.
The 3rd platoon captain was uncooperative, and the 2nd platoon captain Serina was returning with a face full of complaints from constantly handling city patrol duties.
Even the elite 1st and 4th platoons might soon be overwhelmed with complaints.
“This is maddening. But we can’t just blindly recruit people either.”
“…But perhaps we should recruit a few.”
“We can’t accept someone who’s obviously a spy.”
“…That’s true, but.”
“Aren’t there any promising students?”
“Among the new students, a girl named Elena seemed promising. But…”
The secretary trailed off.
It was a name the Security captain knew as well.
The girl who inherited the blood of the first dean of Kalon Academy’s Knight Department was famous for her excellent swordsmanship and diligent personality.
The Security captain couldn’t help but feel regret that a talent he had his eye on had died in an unfortunate accident.
“Any other students?”
“Catherine from the Magic Department, Viola from the Alchemy Department, and Leon from the Knight Department seem to be quite good talents. I’ve talked to them. I’m not sure if the students will accept or not yet.”
“Three of them, huh. What about from outside?”
“Given the outside situation, it seems difficult to recruit external personnel.”
“…Why did I agree to become the Security captain again?”
The secretary answered in a dry voice to the captain’s sigh-filled question.
“Wasn’t it because you said, ‘I’ll fix this rotten Security!’?”
“Is there no magic to turn back time? I’d like to punch my face from 5 years ago.”
“If there was someone with such ability, I would have brought them in even if I had to grovel.”
“…This is giving me a headache. Let’s stop this talk and move on to another issue. I heard that traces of ominous magic were found in a classroom near the cafeteria. Has the investigation into that incident begun?”
“The 3rd platoon captain took it.”
“…That guy?”
The 3rd platoon captain. Cain.
He was the biggest troublemaker for the Security captain.
The second son of the imperial noble house Leibniz, serving as the 3rd platoon captain.
Their relationship was very poor due to him taking the Security captain position.
While the security officers generally supported the captain, the massive sponsorship from the Leibniz family made it difficult to dismiss the 3rd platoon captain.
For someone from a humble family like him, it was already challenging enough just to keep the 3rd platoon captain in check, who had overcome his family background.
“Ha. What’s that bastard up to now? He should just keep stealing wages in some corner…”
“And there was a conflict with the Saint’s escort knight.”
“The mad dog? Or that… brutal one?”
“The latter.”
The Security captain recalled the knight he had seen from afar.
Large build. Muscular body. Face covered in scars and burn marks.
If his face had been intact, it might have been considered fairly handsome, but that was just speculation.
“I heard he was an unusual fellow.”
“There’s a rumor that he earned over twenty certifications in just a few days. They say the guilds were in an uproar trying to scout him.”
“…Is that even possible?”
“You know how exaggerated rumors can be.”
No one believed the rumors about the man who had newly become the Saint’s escort knight.
A man who earned certifications from all sorts of guilds in just a few days?
That couldn’t be possible.
“Hmm… Well, it’s not our jurisdiction, so let’s move on. Tell those troublemakers to avoid conflicts as much as possible, since it’s awkward to mess with the Saint’s people.”
“…The 3rd platoon captain has already had a conflict.”
“What? That idiot caused trouble again… Sigh. Why did they clash?”
“Well…”
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“Where does this lead to?”
“To that classroom from earlier.”
After previously understanding the structure of the main building and confirming there was no basement, I immediately began my action.
Digging, an underground passage connecting from Yeomyeong-gwan to the main building.
The Academy grounds were wider than a typical village, so creating a path through such manual labor was insane, but still…
“How do you know where that classroom is from here?”
“Intuition.”
It wasn’t like I had only dug tunnels for a day or two.
There was a time when I seriously wondered if I was human or a mole, digging so many tunnels.
At least bear cubs and snake brats didn’t come into the tunnels.
And no one would have imagined that I would dig a tunnel from Yeomyeong-gwan’s garden to the Academy for a secret infiltration.
“Crafting.”
I reinforced the ground with my skill and created a passage.
It was crazy to do this insane work alone, but I had my skill and Millia.
…Though Millia was just in charge of lighting.
Still, Millia’s presence, constantly chattering behind me while shining the light, was quite helpful.
At least I wasn’t lonely.
Once we arrived, it would be Millia’s turn anyway.
For now, I had to continue working while enjoying the relatively relaxed atmosphere.
“I didn’t know even Johann would do something like this! Hehe…”
“Is it fun?”
“Yes! It’s thrilling. So this is why people play pranks?”
“…Well, I guess so.”
Pranks were fun.
Especially pranks that could thoroughly mess with someone you dislike.
No one can stop me!
“No one can stob me!”
…Did I say that out loud?
I looked back at Millia, who was playfully imitating me, sighed, and resumed digging.
A hundred times? A thousand times?
My digging ended after an uncountable number of shovelfuls.
I felt proud looking at the neat passage that was hard to believe was made by digging with a shovel.
My 10 years of experience on the deserted island weren’t for nothing.
“Is it over?”
“Yes. The main building is above us.”
“Really?”
Millia looked up at the ceiling with wide eyes.
Her face lit by the lamp looked cute like a puppy.
I gently patted Millia’s head as she carefully approached me, and placed my other hand on the wall.
I closed my eyes.
The more complex the structure, the clearer the image needed to be.
What I needed was stairs.
A secret passage.
I gauged an appropriate size.
Not too big, not too small.
A width that would allow one person to pass through.
It took 5 minutes to form the image.
A mistake would be very troublesome.
“…Crafting.”
A secret passage like something out of a movie slowly formed.
Because of its large and complex structure, I couldn’t create it as quickly as the pillars I had made thousands of times.
Even that would have been unthinkable if I hadn’t had experience making shelters.
“Amazing!”
“Shh.”
“Ah.”
Millia quickly covered her mouth with her palm, looked at me, and smiled with her eyes.
Trying to smooth things over with a smile, how brazen.
I lightly flicked Millia’s forehead and said.
“We’ll quietly search the classroom. There will be night patrol guards, so keep the light dim, and if you hear any sound, come back to the secret passage. Nod if you understand.”
Nod.
“Then let’s go.”
I quietly stepped onto the stairs.
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“…It’s hard to see…”
As Millia said, the classroom was too dark.
I had turned on my share of the lamp too, but it was still dark.
But if the light was too bright, the guards might discover us, so it couldn’t be helped.
So we searched every corner of the classroom for 30 minutes, walking like ducks.
My calves were aching terribly due to the sloping structure of the classroom that got higher towards the back seats, but this much had to be endured since we decided to do this.
I scrutinized the classroom floor as if licking it, trying to find clues.
…There was nothing.
At times like this, it was best to try to recall even a bit of knowledge from the original work.
There were a few questions that came to mind.
First, why did the ominous object fall in this classroom?
In the original work it was for showing off, but would it be the same here?
And why did the missing person come here?
Let’s recall the original story.
The missing persons were all from the Magic Department or Theology Department.
The places they were last seen were mostly classrooms and places out of people’s sight.
They probably wouldn’t have gone alone to a deserted place saying “come catch me”, so it was likely someone lured them.
Luring… huh.
What would be the best way to lure a student?
“…Millia.”
“Hm? What?”
“If you were to call someone, how would you do it?”
“Um… I don’t know. Friends? Wouldn’t you just talk to them? Or maybe a letter?”
Passing messages by word of mouth risks being traced, so excluding that…
A letter… huh.
A love letter?
That might be a possibility.
Let’s keep that possibility open for now.
“Millia. For now…”
That was when it happened.
“Johann…”
Footsteps.
Regular footsteps.
Judging by the overlapping sounds, it was two people.
The guards?
I quietly hid with Millia under a classroom desk.
Unfortunately, we were far from the secret passage, so we couldn’t enter it.
Luckily, I had closed it earlier.
We turned off the lights and waited for the sound to pass.
There was a “No Entry” sign, so they shouldn’t patrol inside…
Creak-
“Why are we going in here? The 3rd platoon captain…”
“Hey, hey. Think about it. A classroom the 3rd platoon captain personally guarded? Doesn’t it smell fishy?”
“Senior Tom. If we get caught, it won’t end with just a pay cut.”
The footsteps drew closer.
A yellow light shone near the desk where we were hiding.
“But isn’t it a bit creepy?”
“Come on, man. How can a Security officer be scared of a night patrol? We’re Kalon Academy’s Security who can even beat up ghosts.”
If you’re going to talk nonsense, could you please leave?
“Look carefully for anything suspicious.”
“The 3rd platoon captain wouldn’t have left anything incriminating, why don’t we just leave…”
Thump.
Millia?
“Who’s there! Come out right now!”
I looked at Millia.
She was making a tearful face while brushing off a bug that had landed on her knee.
Just our luck.
“C-could it be a ghost, senior?”
“There are no such things as ghosts, you idiot!”
The footsteps drew closer.
There was no time.
It would be very troublesome if I got caught, though Millia might be okay.
I looked at the trembling Millia.
Is there a way to divert their attention…
Ah.
I tapped Millia’s knee to get her attention, then tapped my neck.
She probably wouldn’t understand what I meant, but at least there was minimal communication.
I pulled off Millia’s head.
“Johann…?”
Millia whispered in a voice barely audible.
I whispered back into Millia’s ear.
“Let’s create a ghost story.”
I immediately rolled Millia’s head down the stairs next to the desk.
Not long after, an unsightly man’s scream shook the classroom.
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