Chapter 107: Graduation Ceremony (3)

Chapter 107: Graduation
Ceremony (3)

Teaching
assistant Gelsia listened to Ellie’s speech from the corner of the
auditorium.

Ellie
Ordia, the daughter of Diana Ordia, the leader of the party that once
came closest to reaching the very heart of the Labyrinth, a party
that is almost a legend among explorers.

Though
the details of this story are not known to the outside world, Gelsia,
who often hears about it among the professors, was even more
interested in Ellie.

So
when she entered the Labyrinth, she volunteered to be an assistant to
Ellie’s group.

‘Yeah.
Come to think of it, it was from then.’

She
and Ellie had been escorted by the man’s party.

She
turned her head to the second floor and saw a man looking down at
Ellie with a smirk on his face.

Balkan,
a man who had just killed a mutated minotaur with a skill beyond that
of a novice explorer.

At
the same time, he was strangely wary of her.

‘I’ve
been spotted⋯?’

Gelsia
thought for a moment and shook her head. There was no way he would
have noticed.

Right
now, she was being blackmailed.

Or,
more accurately, her mother was being threatened, not Gelsia.

Like
many Academy graduates, Gelsia’s family was well-off.

Her
mother was a typical merchant but a few years ago, her mother’s
business began to go downhill.

The
business went from bad to worse, and Gelsia’s mother borrowed money
here and there to make ends meet but it didn’t make up for the
losses.

Her
mother eventually reached out for help where she shouldn’t have and
accepted black money from outlaws.

Still,
the business spiraled out of control, and the helpers who didn’t get
their money back turned around and started showing malice.

-Hey.
Your daughter is an academy assistant. You raised your children well.
You may not know business, but you are good at raising children.

Gelsia
still remembers clearly the moment when the outlaw named Vesta
slapped her mother across the cheek and looked down at her.

-I’ll
pay you back, I’ll pay you back slowly, I’ll graduate in just a few
years⋯

-Ha.
Fuck. When are you going to pay back all that money, asshole.

Pfft!!!

With
a single fist deeply embedded in her temple, Gelsia gave up all
resistance.

-You
know what’s more valuable than money? People and information.
Speaking of which, do you have any disgruntled teaching assistants or
students? Introduce me to them. Preferably ones with a knack for
manipulating magic.

Vesta
was more interested in other things than money.

She
seemed to have a strong preference for those who worked with magic.

Teaching
assistants who were skeptical of the academy and life, tempted to pay
off their debts by divulging information about their students.

TA
Gelsia shook her head, understandably.

As
a TA, she loved the Academy but her mother grabbed her leg.

-Daughter,
it’s not too much to ask, is it? Just once, just once, with your eyes
closed. Do you think your mother will come to her senses if she
becomes a slave to these outlaws, eh?!!!

-Ha,
but⋯

-Daughter.
My proud daughter. Please, just once, for mommy’s sake, please⋯⋯

–
⋯⋯

For
the first time in her life, Gelsia closed her eyes in silence as she
watched her mother kneel before her and beg.

The
first person she passed information about was a special slave named
Reichem, who was widely known even within the academy.

A
month after she gave Vesta the information, she was passing by
Professor Arpo’s lab and overheard that Reichem had disappeared.

-I
heard that Reichem disappeared, where is she?

-Ah,
her? She’s doing fine, don’t worry too much.

–
⋯⋯

After
several weeks of not being able to sleep due to the increasing
anxiety and guilt, Vesta came back with a grim face.

-I
want to get into the academy.

-Ha,
but on this day⋯

It
was the long-awaited graduation day.

-You
don’t like it? Your mother has been getting thinner and thinner
lately. Do you miss seeing her for the rest of your life? Oh, if your
mother dies, it’s your father next. If you’re unlucky, you might see
your father in a brothel.

Gelsia
couldn’t refuse Vesta.

She
ended up sneaking them into the academy in a large oak barrel under
the guise of purchasing alcohol for a dinner party.

She
hoped they’d be caught, but the guards didn’t seem to suspect
anything, since they saw teaching assistants doing odd jobs for
years.

-Uh-oh.

Gelsia
nervously picked at her thumb nails.

“Nothing’s
going to happen, nothing’s going to happen⋯”

Repeating
herself wouldn’t change anything. She’d already let the outlaws in.
She’d already made herself an accomplice to them.

She
didn’t know what they were up to at the academy, but she hoped it
would end with nothing more than theft of documents and no
casualties.

However
in the back of her mind, though, Gelsia knew that was not it.

If
they were going to do something like that, they could have just made
her do it.

The
outlaws had obviously come to the Academy for human business and it
was, most likely, a kidnapping, because that’s how Reichem
disappeared.

Feeling
as though she was suffocating from the guilt that was weighing down
her lungs, Assistant Gelsia lifted her head to let out a sigh.

“Hmph!”

And
then she swallowed hard.

Balkan
had been looking at Ellie, and now he was glaring at her over his
helmet.

No,
that wasn’t it; she had been looking at him first, unconsciously.

Gelsia
looked away from him, and for a moment, she felt a speculation
flicker through her mind.

Ellie
had dared to leave the safety of Barrier to help Balkan during the
attack by the mutated minotaur.

Ellie
and Balkan, who had seemed friendly since they left the labyrinth.

Balkan
shouting at Ellie to be brave before her speech, and Ellie responding
in kind.

And,
crucially, Balkan nodded his head when asked if he was a parent.

“⋯What?”

It
was a small suspicion, but when you put it in context, everything
that had happened between them fits together neatly.

“Father
and daughter?”

If
they are, it means they have Diana Ordia by their side.

Assistant
Gelsia began to formulate a hypothesis in her head.

‘What
if we could catch those outlaws… even now?’

If
they were imprisoned by the Guards, the debt owed to them would
naturally be lessened, and this terrible guilt would be relieved.

Any
harm that might have been done would be eliminated.

-If
you’re suffering from anything, feel free to let me know. I’m an
explorer myself, so I’m open to non-lethal requests.

Balkan’s
words echoed in her head as she ascended to the second floor.

After
a moment’s hesitation, Gelsia made her decision.

***

After
Ellie’s speech, Diana and I hurried down from the second floor.

“Is
Ellie Ordia his daughter, by any chance?”

“No
way. Then is the person next to him⋯?”

“No,
but that’s not quite right, how could that sleazy, lascivious, fleshy
body be Diana Ordia, she looks like a total dud?”

“Hmm,
is that so? No, she’s retired, so maybe her body shape has changed
over the years⋯”

“In
the first place, Ellie called that guy mister. Isn’t he just an
acquaintance?”

“Even
if it’s just an acquaintance, it’s worth it because they seem so
intimate.”

“Hmph,
I’m the guy over there in the Explorers’ District who owns a small
crafting business-”

The
parents who had seen Ellie and me chatting on the second floor rolled
their eyes and tried to make conversation.

I
was here to make connections, but I didn’t need connections that were
trying to poke straws into Diana’s and my relationship.

In
this respect, I vaguely understood Ellie’s feelings.

I
needed someone who would see Balkan as an explorer and invest in me.

That
being said, I’m going to have to make the best of this situation
until I’ve established some kind of a foothold.

I
quickly left the great hall and entered the carriage, and only then
did the surroundings fall silent.

“Fleshy
body⋯”

A
frowning Diana muttered to herself as she looked down at her body.

Apparently,
what she had heard earlier had bothered her quite a bit.

“Balkan.
Am I really fat?”

“No,
you’re not. Don’t you remember the bodies of the people who said that
earlier? They were just jealous, and you’re looking your best right
now.”

There
was not a hint of insincerity in my voice.

I
honestly couldn’t imagine Diana without her MILF body.

“⋯Hoo-hoo.
So⋯?”

She
suppressed the corners of her mouth that were about to curl up, but I
could tell she was amused by my words.

After
a while, Ellie, her face covered by a large wizard’s hat, entered the
carriage.

I
had motioned for her to follow me to the carriage after her speech.

Ellie
took off her hat and casually plopped down next to me.

“Fuuuu⋯
They were more talkative than usual, so it was hard to get rid of
them⋯”

“Hoo
hoo. Good job. Ellie.”

Diana,
sitting across from Ellie, grinned and hugged her tightly as soon as
she saw her.

“That
was a great speech, you’ve been working so hard.”

“Uhhhh.”

Ellie
squirmed in Diana’s arms for a moment, then bowed her head, holding
her breath at the word “hard”.

Perhaps
overwhelmed with emotion, Ellie quietly lifted her hand and wrapped
it around Diana’s back.

For
a few seconds, I watched as the mother-daughter bond grew stronger.

Embarrassed,
Ellie pulled away from Diana’s embrace and glared at me.

“But
mister, what the hell was that?! I was so embarrassed!”

Was
it because she was feeling shy that she called me oppa?

However
now the title reverted back to mister.

“Why?
It was nice, wasn’t it? People just yelling your name. It’s so
encouraging. I don’t get many opportunities like this.”

“But,
yeah, it was embarrassing.”

Ellie’s
voice got smaller and smaller.

It
seemed that she was used to other people’s comparisons and
devaluation, but not to genuine support.

“⋯Well,
it was still nice of you, though,
hahaha-”

I
put my hand on the redhead’s head and stroked it, and Ellie let out
an odd groan and laughed.

“Your
bangs are all messed up. There’s a dinner party coming up soon.
Shouldn’t you wear a dress?”

“Oh.
I left my clothes at my old dorm in a hurry⋯I
don’t think I can put them on by myself.”

“Hee
hee, I’ll help you. I’ll get you a new haircut.”

Diana
and Ellie’s conversation flowed well together.

‘Ellie
was a bit of a wreck before she went to the royal palace.’

They
met up a few days ago to go dress shopping and talk, and it seemed to
work.

“I
think we have some free time, so why don’t we go to the dormitory
together, Balkan?”

I
paused to consider Diana’s suggestion, but then Ellie jumped in
with a wave of her hand.

“Hey,
an old man coming into my room?! T, that’s a bit⋯!”

“What’s
wrong with that? I’m here, so it’s not a problem.”

“Well,
it’s just that. I’ve been at the academy for a few days⋯it’s
not a total mess⋯just
a little unorganized⋯”

“Oh⋯”

Deanna
heard Ellie’s whisper and let out a short gasp.

Ellie’s
dorm room was a mess.

The
thought of a room where she’d obviously thrown away her bra and other
clothes, but had at least had the decency to keep her panties in
order piqued my interest but for now, I was more concerned with the
familiar figures milling around the carriage.

“I
don’t mind, there’s a lot of interesting stuff in the Academy, I’ll
just look around a bit and then we’ll make it to the ballroom in
time.”

“Sure,
sure.”

The
ballroom was close to the Auditorium, but the dormitories were a bit
farther away.

Diana
and Ellie took the carriage and headed for the dormitories, and I got
out of the carriage and started walking aimlessly through the Academy
grounds.

I
could feel a human figure following me.

I
took a leisurely pace and headed for the least populated area I could
find.

“⋯You
noticed.”

As
soon as I was out of sight, the figure behind me spoke up.

I
didn’t bother to answer, turned around and saw Professor
Mankostil assistant, Gelsia.

I
had sensed something was amiss with her behavior, but it was a hunch,
a gut feeling without any evidence.

It
was only when I felt Gelsia’s gaze on me, even during Ellie’s speech,
that my suspicions turned into doubts and now, here, the suspicion
had turned to certainty.

-If
you are so sure that there will be an attack by outlaws, there may be
an informant ⋯

I
remembered the conversation I had with Diana in the carriage, sharing
information.

An
informant…someone who would have let the outlaws into the Academy
and given them the opportunity to attack.

Why
would such a person seek me out?

The
reason was clear from the look on Gelsia’s face.

‘I
see. All of you assistants think alike.’

That’s
the same face I saw when Reichem betrayed the Blues Clan and leaked
the information.