episode_0069

What is the most important thing in a fight?

Some might talk about good weapons. Others would emphasize training and skill. Some would say willpower and determination are important, and others might mention supplies to support all of that.

However, implementing all of this required a plan. Unplanned actions are akin to diving into a jungle without a map or compass, or cooking a meal without a recipe.

So, on the day I created two incredible incendiary devices, I immediately sought out Irene and introduced my grand plan.

“Violet, so what’s this plan you’ve thought of?”

“Let’s blow up the school!”

“What?”

With an excited expression, I explained Plan B.

The gist of Plan B was simple: once enough explosives were prepared, blow up the entire school, collapsing it.

Preferably, *boom!* let’s detonate it when all the student council and board members are gathered in one place. And we’ll bury the underground facilities too.

Her reaction was immediate.

“You’re not sick, are you…?”

At my friend’s words, dismissing my creative and grand plan as the product of madness, I ended up disappointed.

“…So the declaration ‘Let’s destroy the school!’ was meant literally.”

“Then what else could it have meant?”

“I thought it meant eliminating the board and abnormal elements, exposing and punishing all the unethical situations and conspiracies happening at the school…! Destroying the school itself, what kind of talk is that?”

Hm, her thoughts were a little different from mine.

Indeed, when I first revealed the truth, I glossed over the phrase ‘destroy the school’ as roughly meaning to punish the bad guys.

It seems difficult to convince Irene right now about the idea of killing everyone and burning everything down. It’s the fastest way, but objectively speaking, my idea is something a terrorist would do.

“Ah, this is just an alternative. We’ll definitely never use it.”

I said that, but in fact, explosions and arson are Plan A for me. They’re the fastest and most convenient methods.

Even on Earth, simply exposing the truth and bringing down the bad guys didn’t solve everything. There were tedious court rulings, media manipulation, public opinion battles, smear campaigns…

Such things would last from a few months to several years, and the truth and justice one sought to establish would somehow disappear, leaving only sensational stories.

I believe there’s only one way to prevent messy backstories from emerging.

Just eliminate all the sources of the problem. I had no attachment to this school whatsoever.

How many academies are there in Academy City? One or two disappearing should be fine.

“Right…it’s a bit of a mess, but at least you’re not acting unilaterally like before, so that’s a relief. If you think of anything else next time, tell me. Don’t act rashly. Got it?”

“Got it!”

Besides that, after some small talk, I parted ways with Irene.

***

For the first time in a while, we held an impromptu meeting.

There were several points to consider in the plan to bring down the school.

This was because we had to consider all scenarios, both when the plan succeeded and when it failed.

“If we charge in without rhyme or reason like last time, we’ll be in big trouble.”

“So, did you find anything?”

“Yes! I found a professional smuggling broker. Though I’m not sure if they’re legitimate.”

Violet 90, who had been wandering through shadowy alleys and red-light districts, achieved an interesting result.

She didn’t know how hard it was, going back and forth between robbers, perverts, and gangs.

“Is it a ship? Or an airship?”

“Both! Airships are a bit more expensive, though.”

Interesting. I’m not sure if it’s real, but perhaps later, we could use this route to smuggle weapons or supplies from the continent outside Academy City Island?

“They looked down on us because of our appearance, but their explanation was reasonably logical and detailed.”

Apparently, teenagers Violet’s age or their parents often secretly cross over to Academy City, dreaming of success.

That’s unavoidable; Academy City is the most technologically advanced region, where the most powerful clans and corporations gather. Most importantly, public order is stable.

Occasionally, gates open and monsters rush out when things get boring, but compared to the situation outside the Rust Room, it was relatively mild.

“If we could get military equipment, that would be amazing…”

“We don’t have much money. For now, just focus on finding sellers.”

Detailed matters would be decided in a later meeting, but since we’d decided to hatch a grand conspiracy, bombs alone wouldn’t be enough.

“Bazookas! Machine guns!”

In the world of *Crimson Scholar*, firearms and the military weren’t treated badly. This was evident from the fact that even the thick hides of monsters or magic-based defenses could be pierced by deploying large numbers of cannons.

It wasn’t uncommon for close-combat-specialized Awakened to carry submachine guns for ranged deterrence.

So, firearms and explosives work even against the strong in this world. If they don’t work? Just pour out more, larger bullets.

More weapons were needed to better utilize numerical superiority.

“How’s the school situation these days?”

“There are two things we need to hear. First, it’s late September now, right? They’re holding exams in early October. It’s a kind of diagnostic test.”

Exams, huh. Is there really a need to do well?

“Maybe we’ll need our grades if we transfer schools? It’d be better than messing up.”

“But we haven’t studied at all.”

“What’s the problem with that?”

As our minds briefly became agitated by the issue of studying and exams, Violet 64 answered nonchalantly.

“Just copy it.”

“Aha!”

Right, we could just open calculators, books, and computers and refer to them. For the Violets, every exam was an open-book test.

One worry solved.

“And another unexpected variable has emerged from the school’s side. Check the memories.”

After checking the memories of the Violets at the school, we tilted our heads.

“What? Martina ran away?”

“To be precise, she’s missing. We went to the Disciplinary Committee about the duel, but the person in question hasn’t shown up at school at all since the day of the duel.”

“She definitely fled!”

That’s strange. Did she hide because she didn’t want to fulfill the duel conditions?

Regardless of the person’s intentions, the organization called the Freshman Management Committee had disappeared. The problem was that the condition of making them work like slaves couldn’t be used. What a shame.

“She’s not the only one who disappeared. We managed to find the hospital where her younger brother was hospitalized, but he also disappeared right after recovering a bit.”

“Why did *that guy* run away too?”

Hearing this much, I couldn’t understand. Something smells suspicious.

Could those delinquent siblings be plotting an evil scheme to get revenge on us?

If so, we should sell them to a monster-hunting fishing boat or dump them in a dungeon.

“First, search as much as you can.”

“Understood. I’ll track them as much as possible.”

Was being crushed by a first-year student that humiliating?

Now that I think about it, the way he acted was really strange.

Right after the duel ended and the barrier was lifted, he saw me, collapsed as if he’d seen a ghost, wet himself, and then fainted.

Was the Violets’ human wave tactics that terrifying?

After that, other students’ gazes did change a bit.

Those who didn’t know me didn’t care much, but those who had even a slight acquaintance with me, or first-year students taking the same classes, and some senior students, would look at me with awe or a watchful gaze mixed with a little fear.

“Our performance was just that great.”

“For now, I should live quietly without duels or anything like that.”

The report on school matters was concluded. Besides that, we continued to discuss various other issues.

“What happened to that graduate student we caught last time?”

“He tried to escape a few times, but we quietly apprehended him. He’s behaving himself now.”

“Isn’t he a doctor? Not a graduate student…”

Yurik, the person we caught last time, saw our faces, so it was awkward to let him go, so we confined him to a room in our dormitory.

He was an innocent person. It was also true that we were doing quite a bit wrong right now.

So, we were trying to provide Yurik with the maximum welfare possible, excluding the freedom of movement.

“Excuse me… Miss? Student? Ugh… you all look the same, so I don’t know what to call you. Anyway, I really won’t tell anyone. Please let me go!”

“Sorry! That’s not possible… I’m here to give you your lunch menu for today. Pick one.”

“Sigh… Okay then, I’ll have a cream pasta with bacon. For the drink, sparkling water.”

“Confirmed! I’ll be back in 30 minutes.”

The discussion about welfare led to a brief talk about Yurik’s treatment.

“Can’t we bring that person into our plan? He’s an intellectual! A doctor, no less!”

“Hmm… I’ll have to think about that.”

There were advantages, but I wasn’t sure if it was right to involve an ordinary person in the school-destruction plan. Bringing my friends into this plan was already dangerous enough.

Aside from this, we discussed various plans in detail. Much was said about dungeon hunting, fundraising, training, and leveling up methods, all of which had been suspended. Some points were concluded, and some were deferred.

After the discussion ended, we firmly resolved to live diligently. From tomorrow, we would have to live even busier than today.

Ahead of us lay 25 hours of non-stop training.