Chapter 72: Chapter 70: Remember
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༺ Remember ༻
"Professor Isolet, what the hell are you doing?"
Around the time the assassination squad broke into the mansion, Clana quietly stared at Isolet in a dark room and asked a question.
"…I'm just supervising the exam."
Isolet responded to Clana with a calm expression and remained still.
"Fine, I understand. But why only our team?"
"It is entirely up to the professor to decide which team to focus on during the exam."
"Then, can you give me some insight on why you decided to exercise such discretion?"
"Is that a question as a student, or is it a command given as the Third Imperial Princess?"
Clana, who was tired of Isolet dodging her every question, finally closed her eyes and said so.
"Let's say both."
Isolet's expression instantly turned cold as she looked down at Clana before she started speaking.
"In conclusion, I'm suspecting Your Highness."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm suspicious of your 'intent' during this special exam."
Hearing those words, Clana picked up the cup of tea from her desk without answering. Isolet, who kept observing her, continued speaking.
"Even though there's a lot of corruption surrounding this final exam, the decision of the Imperial Family is very unusual. The Princess must be well aware of that, right?"
"…Yes."
"I was curious about the origin of such an unusual order, so I did some research… and found some pretty interesting results."
Isolet pointed to the moon that was floating in the sky outside the window.
"You mean the Moonlight Family is behind it?"
"Princess, do you know how the moon is able to shine?"
When Clana responded with a clueless look, Isolet smirked and asked a question in return.
"…The moon shines because it reflects the light of the sun."
When Clana didn't answer the question, Isolet uttered the answer herself as she settled down across Clana before muttering in a low voice.
"It's been a while since the Moonlight Family has received light from the Imperial Family, but considering the circumstances—"
"So, what are you trying to say?"
Clana stared at Isolet in silence before eventually cutting her off mid-sentence. Isolet, who was tapping the desk with her finger, asked a question in a calm voice.
"…What are you trying to do to Frey?"
"Pfft."
Hearing that, Clana responded with a mocking laugh.
"Is that the reason for all the risky background investigation of the Imperial Family's decision, the changing of commanders, and the fact that you're monitoring me under the guise of supervising the exam?"
"…What do you mean?"
As Isolet shrugged her shoulders with a puzzled look on her face, Clana asked another question in an icy voice.
"He's terrible, evil, cruel, and vile… Are you doing all this to protect Frey, the cancer of the Empire?"
"Who knows…"
In response to Clana's fury, Isolet responded in a calm tone.
"…Because he's also my student."
"Ridiculous."
Clana looked at Isolet as if she was an idiot before speaking again with a frown on her face.
"Don't you hate him?"
"I would like to kill him."
"Then why!"
But as Isolet answered once again with a serene expression, Clana jumped up from her seat and began to yell.
"Why are you stopping me!?"
"I don't know either."
"Huh?"
But after hearing Isolet's reply, Clana was stupefied.
"What…?"
Looking at Clana quietly, Isolet asked a question in a low voice.
"Do you know why I chose the Sunrise Academy over the Imperial Knights?"
"…Isn't it because you were sick of the corrupted Imperial Family?"
When Clana answered tentatively, Isolet quietly shook her head and answered.
"It was because the happiest and most enjoyable experience of my life was when I taught my first student, a boy with beautiful silver hair."
"....."
"So, I don't know what to do with the boy who taught me the joy of teaching. How can I fix him? And do I have the right to do that in the first place?"
After saying that, Isolet heaved a deep sigh and immediately got up from her seat and said.
"But, there is one thing I'm certain of."
"…And what's that?"
"Your methods are wrong."
After finishing her words, Isolet crossed her arms and started observing Clana again.
"Siiigh…"
Clana stared blankly at Isolet, then lowered her head as she let out a deep sigh. But suddenly, an owl flew through the window, startling her.
"Hoot!"
"W-Why did you come here now! I'm sure…"
"Hoooot!!"
"Ouch, ouch!"
Clana, who was panicking while trying to send the owl back, had her forehead pecked constantly and was forced to accept the letter, glancing at Isolet all the while.
"…..!!!"
Clana had a sullen look as she opened the letter, but soon blood drained from her face as she hurriedly started heading towards the exit of the room.
"Where are you going?"
"Get out of the way! I don't have time!!"
Clana pushed a confused-looking Isolet to the side and began sprinting with a pale face.
Cracks began to form in her plan that she thought was perfect..
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– Whoosh…
"Cough! Cough!!"
When I opened the door, lunar mana began to spill out. As such, I was forced to take a step back as I broke out coughing.
"Shit…"
Fortunately, the mana wasn't life-threatening. However, most people can't last long and will faint after enough exposure. Seeing that the students in the yard had already passed out, I moved as quickly as possible.
"Ugh…!"
I took a deep breath and began to concentrate stellar mana in my body. The fact that I was straining my body didn't really matter. The important thing was that the mana creates a state where I could endure the lunar poison for an extended period of time.
"Fuha… ha ha…"
After concentrating stellar mana for a while, I realized that I was running out of time and quickly took a step forward.
– Spark, Spark!
Then the lunar mana, which had engulfed the mansion, began to penetrate my body.
"Ugh!"
However, as I radiated the stellar mana that I had accumulated in my body in all directions, the lunar mana that was attacking me began to slowly be pushed back.
"They're all over the place."
The bodies of the collapsed commoners who had lost consciousness were everywhere.
– Spark!
"Ugh!!"
Of course, assassins searching the mansion also appeared everywhere.
'…I'm glad they didn't touch the students.'
Pulling out my sword, I quickly slaughtered the assassins who found me and approached the commoners. After checking their condition, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"I can't see the target! What should we do?"
"He's here somewhere. Today, we will destroy the darkest star of the Empire."
After concentrating stellar mana on my ears, I overheard the conversation from upstairs, and I muttered with a frown on my face.
"…Damn it, our plan was leaked."
For the past six days, I had been trying to discover the identity of the spy hiding in my house.
The true identity of the spy was Alice, the representative of the commoners, who behaved rudely towards me in every way.
And according to the letter Serena gave to me, there were several other students besides Alice who were spies, so I had to come up with a trick.
I used a powerful sleeping pill at dinner to put everyone to sleep, and then checked the students and their rooms for clues.
Of course, for Ferloche, who had high mental strength, sleeping pills weren't enough, so Kania had to continually make her doze off with black magic.
Of course, the holy power that Ferloche wielded was still superior, so it must have been difficult to keep her in deep slumber.
However, seeing that Ferloche didn't wake up until the next day, it seems that Kania did her job very well.
Anyway, after finding all the hidden spies and assassins, Kania, Irina, and I were planning to neutralize them.
However, the day after finding all the spies, the mansion was ambushed. It can't be a coincidence.
"I heard a sound from below."
"I'll go."
As I was thinking, I started hearing noises from up the stairs.
– Bam!
After one assassin landed on the first floor, he scanned the surroundings vigilantly and began to slowly head deeper into the mansion.
"Keugh? Ugh…"
I quietly followed him and snapped his neck, before beginning to strip him off his clothes.
"I think I was mistaken. There's nobody on the first floor."
"…What a waste of time."
I had stolen his clothes and quietly snuck back up to the second floor, before imitating his voice using stellar mana. The man who seemed to be the captain only muttered dismissively.
'Alright, I tricked him.'
I mocked him inwardly.
Now that the mansion is filled with smoke made from lunar mana, it's quite difficult for even skilled assassins to distinguish people properly.
So the captain couldn't tell I stole the clothes of an assassin with a similar build to mine.
"Wait, stop. I feel a strange aura from somewhere."
I thought that I had successfully infiltrated, but the captain raised his hand and stopped me from moving and started looking around.
'…Damn, is it because of my stellar mana?'
Since the entire area was shrouded in lunar mana, I thought even my stellar mana would be hidden, but the captain of the assassination squad seems to be quite capable.
If so, there is nothing I can do.
I have no choice but to endure with only my mental strength, without the aid of any mana.
"…Prepare yourself. Something's strange."
As I stopped using the stellar mana, I watched as the captain tilted his head and began staring down the assassins around him one by one.
"Ugh…"
On the other hand, I was standing still, but had to clench my teeth and endure the power of the lunar mana through sheer force of will.
I wanted to take out my sword and slaughter the assassins, but it would be a big problem if the commoners scattered around were taken hostage.
And, since I have to find out the power backing the assassins… It's painful, but I think I'll have to endure for a while longer.
"Move stealthily. Be vigilant. Even if our opponent is the incompetent Frey, we must always do our best."
After I endured the pain for a long time, the captain finally gave the order to proceed.
Thanks to that, I began to head towards the dining room while glancing at the assassins who were starting to disperse.
There were quite a few of them.
– Creeeaak…
When I arrived at the restaurant and opened the door, the relatively fresh air greeted me.
"Whew…"
I settled down for a while to catch my breath, but I heard breathing noises from somewhere.
It was so quiet that a normal person wouldn't be able to hear it, but since I had heightened my sense of hearing with stellar mana, I was able to hear it clearly.
"…Ho."
When I looked under the table to the source of the breathing, I saw that female students were crouching under it.
Apparently, they had used their own mana to block the lunar mana surrounding the rest of the mansion.
Not just here, but seeing traces of mana all over the mansion, it seems that many of them succeeded in resisting. A strength befitting of Class A students.
""…Heuup!""
When the students, who had been crouching under the table with shocked expressions, found out I was wearing the outfit of the assassins, they began to shudder in fear.
"Shhh…!"
I quietly put my finger to my lips, and beckoned them to crawl out from under the table.
""Who are you…?""
The girls, who dazedly looked at me, whispered in hushed voices when I desperately started gesturing them to crawl out.
"You! Did you find something?"
But just then, an assassin barged through the door on the opposite direction of the dining room and started walking towards me.
"Oh, yes! Look at what I found!"
"Did you find any unconscious bastards? That's—"
"It's a secret passage! A secret passage!"
"…A secret passage?"
Upon hearing the words I made up on the spot, the assassin, who had been walking with a bored look on his face up to that point, raised his brows.
"Yes! It's a great discovery! We must report it to the captain!"
"Hmm…"
When I exclaimed as such, the man who was staring at me for a while soon turned around and said.
"Stay here. I will report it myself—"
– Beam!
"Hak…"
After hitting the man with a silver laser while he had his back turned, I whispered to the female students, who were watching the scene with pale faces.
"Hurry up and follow me."
I think I need to rescue the students who can move first.
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– There are changes to the operation. Once again, there are changes to the operation.
"…What?"
I killed the assassins who were walking around alone, and the students who were able to resist the lunar mana had snuck out of the mansion.
– Some of our personnel have disappeared. And other movements were also detected. It seems that students who have not been fully neutralized are resisting.
"…I need to hurry."
Hearing the contents of the radio, I sent one of the trembling girls out the window and hastened my steps.
– And I just got an urgent call from headquarters. I can't be sure, but I think the elders have been attacked.
"Hey, isn't that a bummer."
I began to smile when I realized that the assault operation on the Moonlight Family Elders, which I had been planning with the executives of the Demon King's Army, had come to fruition.
– Therefore, this operation is canceled. And, from now on, the backup plan…
With a smile, I headed to the place where the next students were gathered, but tilted my head in confusion when the radio suddenly cut off.
'…What? Did they get attacked by students?'
Surprisingly, the students were also fighting back quite a bit, so I guessed that might have happened. However, soon I started hearing more noises from upstairs.
"This way! Hurry up!"
"Cough! Cough!!"
I looked up, wondering what was going on, and noticed Irina and Arianne subdue an assassin and lead other students to the exit.
"You! Help catch the kids running away over there!"
After watching them struggle for a while, I tried to sneak off somewhere else, but the assassin running next to me yelled for help, and Irina and Arianne spotted me.
"Irina, get ready! The enemy is…!"
– Schwiing!
"…What?"
I never wanted to fight Arianne and Irina, so reflexively, I pulled out my sword and cut off the head of the assassin next to me.
"Who… are you?"
Then Arianne, who was the blocking lunar mana with her barrier magic, frowned and asked me a question.
"…You don't need to know."
I responded briefly by changing my voice using stellar mana, then pulled out a dagger from the limp assassin's arms and threw it.
"Kuk!"
Arianne deployed her barrier in confusion, but the dagger passed through it and pierced the head of an assassin sneaking up behind her.
"I'm not your enemy."
Having said that, I passed by Irina and Arianne with a casual gait.
"…Let's follow him, Irina."
"Huh? But shouldn't we save the students first?"
"Oh, yes."
Due to her incredible mana sensitivity, Irina noticed the stellar mana I was radiating and quickly took Arianne to another place; I sighed and started looking around.
'There are wounded people… but no fatalities. Most of the commoners escaped. Now I only have to rescue some of the commoners who are on the second floor.'
Having made that decision, I carefully started heading upstairs.
"I definitely saw it right! He massacred our comrades who were wearing the same outfits—AH!"
Eventually, I climbed up to the second floor, and took out the assassin who was urgently trying to warn his colleagues about me, and then I started heading to the place where I detected a presence of life.
"For me, for me… Because of me…!"
"… um excuse me."
"Heuk…! I made a mistake! I'll never be loved by anyone again! Forgive me!"
"Sigh…"
Soon after smacking the panic stricken Lulu's back of the head, I began to walk down the hallway while carrying her.
"Y-You! Who are you!"
However, Arianne suddenly appeared and stopped me.
"Behind you!!"
"….Eh!"
At the same time I heard her voice, I warned her about an assassin lurking behind her. However, I expected her to be a little late in deploying her barrier, so I quickly wrapped my arms around her and tackled her out of the way.
– Spaark!
After that, I had no choice but to use stellar mana to shoot at the assassin. I then held Lulu's unconscious self out to Arianne, who had a blank expression on her face.
"…Get her out of here."
"B-But there's still someone left… And you, the blood…"
"I'm going to bring out the two people in the next room. So, hurry and get out."
"…I don't know who you are, but thank you."
After hesitating for a moment, Arianne nodded as if to thank me before grabbing Lulu and walking out of the mansion.
"You are our savior."
Having heard that, I felt a bitter pain as I headed to the next room.
"This…"
"Sp-Spare me! I'm sorry!"
A commoner girl in the room screamed as a look of terror flickered across her face.
"I don't know who you are, but please, can you spare my life? Please."
I was about to knock her out and take her outside, but Alice, who was next to her, hurriedly jumped in front of her.
"Kill me. I'm a useless person. It's better if I die."
"Sigh…"
"If you don't want to kill me, you can use me as you please. So please, just let this child go."
After finishing her words, Alice prostrated herself on the floor.
"…Please."
I briefly looked at Alice, and then heaved a sigh and lifted her up. I then opened my mouth.
"I'm here to save you."
"Huh?"
"I don't have time for this. Let's get out of here quickly."
Having said that, I grabbed Alice and the other schoolgirl by the arms and quickly went outside.
"Cough! Cough!!"
"…Hold your breath. We're almost at the entrance."
I was running towards the entrance, pushing away the poisonous gas with stellar mana, when suddenly a dagger flew at me from the side.
"AH!?"
"Run. Don't you dare look back."
After realizing that the guy who threw the dagger was the captain of the assassins, I pushed the girls forward and blocked the hallway.
"Is it you…? The one who ruined the mission?"
"… Who's the one behind this?"
I asked the captain a question in return as he approached me with an enraged look. He then replied coldly.
"I'm just following orders."
"…A shame."
Feeling the lunar mana getting more and more intense, I charged at him while suppressing the pain.
At least for today, I earnestly pray that the Demon King's Army will win.
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"Gasp… huh…"
I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall.
"Cough! Cough!"
I had used too much power.
In the end, all the remaining assassins rushed in, so I had to overexert myself.
"Ugh… you damn assassins."
I sighed and looked down at my marred body.
"…Frey!! Frey!!"
"Irina."
I didn't want to see any more blood, so I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Irina, who suddenly appeared next to me, hugged me and began shaking me.
"Don't die! Frey!! I'm sorry, so please!"
"…I'm not gonna die, you idiot."
Despite hearing the truth of my ordeal and me constantly pushing her away, Irina still ran to support me in such a dangerous moment. I staggered up while feeling deeply grateful to her for coming to get me.
"Frey… I'll support you. Come on…"
"…Wait for a moment."
Something was strange.
I thought I had rescued all the children, but I could sense another presence of life.
"Who's in the cellar?"
"The cellar?"
Having said that, I staggered towards the cellar, as Irina supported me with a guilty look on her face.
"Frey, is there any way I can give you life force?"
"There is no such way. Besides, as a Hero, I will never dream of doing such a thing."
"Then… my organs…"
"Irina, I don't know why you're doing this… You know it's soon going to be pointless anyway."
I smiled bitterly and said that to Irina, who was overly concerned about me, but she only shook her head helplessly.
"Fine… some smart students must have been hiding here."
While stroking her head, I opened the door to the basement and discovered an unexpected person lying there on the floor.
"…Ferloche?"
The Saintess was lying on the cellar floor.
I rushed to her in panic, but found that she was only unconscious.
"There are quite a few other students here, too. Did Ferloche hide them all?"
"It seems so…"
While looking at the considerable number of children by her side, I suddenly picked up the diary that was lying next to Ferloche.
"…Sigh, it's typical of Ferloche to keep something like this."
After looking through the contents of the diary for a moment, I burst into laughter and was about to put the diary down, but…
Remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember
"…Huh?"
Soon after seeing numerous repeated words written on the last page of the diary, I began inspecting the contents with a strange look on my face.
First word of first sentence of each diary entry.
"…What's this?"
After reading the contents written at the end of the diary, I carefully checked the first sentence of each diary entry…
"Hello, this is Ferloche — Alas, there's no one more selfish than a shameless person — Finally.. I really don't care…."
I was soon horrified.
"Demonic curse… did someone put a curse on me… God, why are you giving me this ordeal…"
I think I need to have a chat with Ferloche.
You can read 505 episodes for $10. p.*atreon.com/Astrid02
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