Ch.105NPCs Who Work Hard Even Without NPCs (2)

“Damn it.”

Neti Naika, the dean of Neti Academy and the head of this city, scratched her red hair vigorously as she cursed.

“Where the hell has that idiot Rotolks gone at a time like this?”

At an hour when even nocturnal insects made no sound, she was flying through the air, cursing the missing vice-dean.

Normally, she would never do something as bothersome as manipulating magical power, but this was not a normal situation. And for good reason.

“The city’s barrier is shattered, the vice-dean has disappeared, and both department heads of the Spirit Department have vanished too. What kind of mess is this?”

Repairing the shattered barrier. While she and the head of the Higher Education Spirit Department were doing that, the vice-dean and the heads of the Middle and Elementary Departments hadn’t shown their faces, and they still hadn’t appeared.

“To not show up even until we’ve found who broke it—just let me see the faces of all three of them. A pay cut won’t be the end of it.”

Not showing up even after the intruder who destroyed the barrier had been identified. This was no longer a situation that could be excused with “I was just away for a moment.”

Abandonment of duty. Dereliction of duty. Since they hadn’t returned even when security measures should have been implemented, invoking military law would mean desertion from a security zone—desertion, in other words.

It was a matter where people might complain that even severe disciplinary action would be too lenient.

-Tsk!

“The one who broke the barrier lives in such a normal house?”

She clicked her tongue as she looked at the fairly large but ordinary two-story house.

Just before sunset, a mysterious intruder had broken through the city barrier.

They had collected testimonies of someone who saw him jumping as if flying over a building, and by comparing the direction and description, they were able to deduce that it was a gray-haired man named Jack who had been living in the city for several days.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a matter for her to handle directly—the vice-dean, professors, assistants, and department heads should have moved first.

But due to the strangely unresponsive assistants and missing department heads, she was now short-handed and had no choice but to move personally.

Her temper made her want to blow up the house right away, but first she needed to confirm whether the person was really the one who broke the city barrier. So, after setting up a barrier around the house, she shouted:

“Gold-rank adventurer Jack!! I know you’re living in this house!! I have matters to investigate, so come out!! If you cooperate willingly, I might consider reducing your sentence!!!”

Reducing the sentence, my foot. If he really was the one who smashed the city barrier, whatever his reason, she would absolutely have him executed.

There was no way someone who caused such trouble for others could be a decent human being. Naika continued shouting with full irritation, hoping to burst the other party’s eardrums.

-Bang.

“What the hell is this racket in the middle of the night? The child is sleeping, so stop shouting. You could just knock on the door, you know.”

She had come looking for a gray-haired man, but a sharp voice greeted her instead.

The dean’s eyes widened at the sight of a blue-haired woman, a blonde woman, and a gray woman(?) who opened the door and came out.

*

“Huh?”

Rei, Ragni, and Gor came out in sequence and closed the door behind them.

“…Huh? A spirit? No, a golem? Strange, what is that?”

“This is ridiculous. You didn’t come here shouting in the middle of the night just to ask about Gor, did you?”

“I’ve set up a barrier around the area. Even if I shout, only you will be bothered by it. Is there a man called Jack in this house?”

“Crazy bitch.”

“Hmm? Ah, you.”

Naika remembered the blue-haired, red-eyed woman who had come as the guardian of a girl named Ira a few days ago. She didn’t remember her name since she wasn’t a student anyway, but having one familiar face was quite a good thing, she thought.

Now she wouldn’t need to prove that she was from the Academy.

“I’m from the Academy. Is there a man named Jack here?”

“Ha. Why are you looking for Jack?”

“He’s suspected of breaking the city barrier. If you hand him over willingly, you might not suffer any harm.”

“That sounds strange. ‘Might not’ means there’s a chance we might, right? And do you have any evidence that Jack broke it?”

“There are multiple testimonies. Testimonies of a gray-haired man jumping almost like flying toward this house, and of a gray light flying in from outside the city at the moment the city barrier collapsed. Now, call that man Jack.”

“Are you for real? You’re suspecting our master based on just those testimonies without any real evidence?”

“I didn’t like how you treated Ragni and Ira before, but you’re really an unpleasant woman.”

Ragni and Rei, not knowing the situation, thought this crazy woman was doing something insane without any real evidence. However.

[…Could it be. Did it break when I threw him?]

Gor, who had directly thrown Jack, knew.

When throwing him, she had calculated the minimum force needed to avoid hitting the city’s stone walls. In other words, there was a good possibility that the barrier Jack had mentioned earlier had been shattered because he flew into it.

…No. But, for a human to be perfectly fine after flying at that speed and crashing into a barrier protecting the city, our master is really…

[Ah! Could that be why?]

Perhaps the aftereffects of crashing into the city barrier were only now manifesting.

Gor, without turning the golem’s head, looked through the status window at the second-floor window.

Jack and Ira, still asleep in the same bed, with Miho keeping watch, her ears perked up listening to the situation outside.

Hmm. This seems to be the case.

“Anyway, Jack isn’t here. Get lost.”

“We should be compensated for this disturbance in the middle of the night.”

“…Ha. I’ve already secured testimonies that he entered this place today. The city barrier being broken is not something I can just walk away from because you tell me to.”

The dean, seemingly irritated by the young women who wouldn’t listen to her, began to draw up her magical power, and seeing this, Ragni and Rei wore indifferent expressions.

“What should we do?”

“What else? Since it’s come to this, we’ll handle it ourselves. We might as well finish this and let him rest peacefully. Gor.”

[Hmm. I’ll have to explain to Ragni and Rei later.]

Unlike usual, when Ragni gave instructions to Gor, Gor immediately sprang forward and swung a fist at the dean.

“What?!”

-Boom!!

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“Tch?! What are you doing…!! Where do you think you’re going?!!”

The dean, who had instantly deployed a defensive wall of magical power, emerged from the dust cloud without a scratch.

However, Gor didn’t even look back at her as she picked up Ragni and began to flee, with Rei following behind them.

“…I see. So you’re all in league with that man? Fine. I’ll engrave deep into your bones just how foolish it is to defy me in my city!!”

Seeing the three women fleeing at an incredible speed, the dean kicked off the ground and her body rose into the air.

“Stop right there!!!”

The middle-aged woman with flowing red hair disappeared into the dawn of the city, chasing after the three.

-Rustle.

“They’re gone. That woman looked incredibly strong, but as expected, not only Gor-nim, but Rei and Ragni are also very strong.”

Miho, who had momentarily sensed the woman’s magical power and felt its considerable strength, slightly lifted the curtain from the second floor to look at their disappearing figures, then lowered it again.

“Sigh, someday I too, like those people…”

She sat down beside Jack and Ira, who had been entrusted to her, and closed her eyes, focusing on her hearing.

Since the three women(?) had left Ira and Jack in her care, she needed to focus all her energy on protecting them. And so, several dozen minutes after they had left.

-Flinch!!

She felt a sensation that made all her hair stand on end—a presence even greater than the dean’s.

*

“That woman is really crazy, isn’t she?”

“Go ahead first! At this rate, she’ll wake up the whole neighborhood!”

“Will you be okay?”

“Yes! I’ll keep her occupied while leading her away! Go ahead!”

At Rei’s words, Gor kicked off the ground and ran without looking back.

The dean, chasing them through the sky.

Because she was bombarding them with elemental magic from the sky like a madwoman, Rei finally drew her sword.

‘I don’t think I can win.’

Though she had no talent for magic, Rei did possess magical power and could sense it to some degree.

And the magical power she sensed from the woman chasing them was honestly at a ridiculous level.

It made sense why Ragni had said she was paralyzed by this woman’s magical power before.

‘Will Miss Ira become this strong when she grows up? No, maybe even stronger?’

However, while Rei might feel pressured by the intimidation of magical power, she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by it.

Until now, adventurer Rei had crossed the line between life and death many times and fought against strong people. Moreover.

‘It’s similar to the level Green Doll showed me when teaching me swordsmanship, or maybe a bit stronger? Compared to Jack… definitely weaker.’

She had recently seen and sparred with several strong individuals of similar caliber. She had even received training, and the man she loved was beyond this level.

-Whoosh!!

Seeing several fireballs flying from the sky, she smoothly swung her sword and cut through all of them.

“…Huh? You cut through fireballs?”

“Is there any reason I couldn’t cut through such slow-moving fireballs with a sword? And since it’s dawn, could you use quieter magic? Aren’t you the dean of this city?”

As Rei criticized her for continuously using loud, explosive magic, the middle-aged woman raised the corners of her mouth with a vein popping on her forehead.

Ah. She’s angry.

“This wouldn’t be happening if you hadn’t run away!!!”

“No, who wouldn’t run away when someone falsely accuses them and attacks?!”

-Bang!! Whoosh!! Bang!! Whoosh!!!

“Ha. So it wasn’t just luck that you could cut through my magic?”

“Such slow attacks won’t work no matter how many times you try.”

As Rei, enveloped in a faint silver light, confidently beat her chest, the dean began to draw up even more magical power.

‘Oh, did I provoke her too much?’

“Is that so? Then how about this?”

-Rumble!!!

“Hey, this is still the downtown area of your city, you know? If you drop such a boulder…”

“Ha. I can just blame it all on you.”

“…Jack and Ragni were right. You really are crazy.”

Rei felt bewildered at the sight of a boulder the size of a building floating in the sky.

The moment she pulled out the card they had prepared, the other side would be rendered helpless, and it would all backfire on her. Why would she do such a foolish thing?

‘Well, I guess she’s doing this because she doesn’t know anything.’

And seeing no reason to block the falling boulder, she simply turned and ran.

After all, my job isn’t to fight and win against that woman, but to lead her away.

“Ha! Did you think you could just dodge it?”

-Rumble!!!

“Eek?! It, it’s following me?!!”

The fireballs didn’t follow her, so why would a much larger boulder chase after her? Magic is truly mysterious.

“Now, surrender, drop your weapon, and give yourself up. Then I won’t kill you.”

“…Ha. That’s the funniest thing you’ve said so far.”

-Click.

She sheathes the sword she was holding at her waist.

This action wasn’t because she was told to drop her weapon and surrender. Rather.

“If I were to kneel before someone like you here, I wouldn’t be able to face Jack. He wanted to properly punish you, after all.”

“What?”

-Kiing.

The ring on Rei’s left ring finger glows, and a slightly different sword from the one at her waist appears in her hand.

A magic sword bought by Jack. An expensive sword with several enchantments. And.

“Ha. A magic sword? Even if it doesn’t seem to have any high-level magic attached to it, what do you think you can do with that piece of metal?”

The dean sneers even after seeing Rei’s trump card.

Of course, how could an Academy dean not discern the magic imbued in a weapon? Moreover, that sword, while having three enchantments, all seem rather ordinary.

However.

“A sword given by Jack. With this sword in hand, I will never lose. *inhales*”

As if she couldn’t hear the dean’s voice, Rei quietly murmured and positioned herself with her legs shoulder-width apart, raising the sword above her head.

A stance clearly showing her intent to cut the house-sized boulder falling from the sky with her sword.

Seeing this, the dean clicked her tongue. Since she couldn’t kill her yet, she thought she would have to go through the trouble of canceling the magic midway.

“[Wind Riding. Second Form: Wind of Protection]”

And as if mocking the dean’s thoughts, a golden spring breeze swept through the dawn.