Ch.107107. The Prodigal Son Returns (3)

“I think it would be good to compare the trends summarized in the report after the 4th observation in three days.”

After briefly making a face like she’d bitten into a bug, Nella continued her report to Edwin in a calm, professional voice. Edwin nodded as he flipped through the pages of the report Nella had handed him.

“The ‘comet’ is not an ordinary celestial body. It should be considered a magical phenomenon that could cause unexpected changes at any time. Unfortunately, with our current magic, we cannot track the comet in real-time… We’ll need to closely monitor reports coming in from other magic towers as well.”

Nella’s expression grew increasingly composed. She seemed determined to keep me out of her line of sight entirely. Meanwhile, Edwin, who appeared to have decided to overlook her sour expression, directed a gentle smile toward her.

“I understand. You’ve worked hard, Vice President. I look forward to your contributions during the next observation as well.”

“We cannot afford to let our guard down. Well, I’m sure you know what you’re doing, Professor. But just because a collision is certain doesn’t mean we can stop our observations.”

Nella didn’t seem particularly pleased by Edwin’s praise. She simply added her opinion with a matter-of-fact expression. I let out a brief sigh as I watched Nella participate in the calamity observation with unexpected enthusiasm. She had already forgotten my existence and was engaged in a heated discussion with Edwin. I turned my gaze away from her and looked around the terrace.

“Astrologers before the term ‘astronomy’ was coined preferred to observe the sky with the naked eye. It made it easier to see the celestial energy on a grand scale.”

Edwin suddenly addressed me. I glanced at Nella, who was glaring intensely at me but hadn’t left her position.

“Well, this is roughly what we do here. I’ll give you an opportunity to directly observe the comet later. Since the weather is expected to be poor tonight…”

Edwin shuffled through the report. He found what appeared to be an illustration and held it out to me. It showed planets marked as dots, with an arrow indicating the comet’s position.

“At this speed and trajectory, the comet will collide within a few months. The continent’s finest magicians are gathering for strategy meetings, but… at this point, I can only think of relying on you, Hero.”

At Edwin’s words, Nella’s expression soured. I suspect her pride was hurt by the suggestion that they had no choice but to rely on me.

“I’m still not sure how to stop the comet. Even if you, Hero, were to slice through it, the falling debris would still cause damage. Destruction as a method seems only viable as an absolute last resort.”

At that moment, Nella stepped forward and spoke up.

“It’s not that we have no options at all. If magicians put their heads together, we can somehow find a solution, Professor.”

Nella whipped her head toward me. Her eyes held something akin to fighting spirit. A fiery combativeness fueled by pride.

“I believe we can resolve this calamity without necessarily relying on the Hero… sir. We’ve put in so much effort. If all that ends up being redirected toward depending on the Hero, I simply cannot accept that.”

Nella spoke deliberately, as if making sure I heard every word. Beside me, Daphne stared at Nella with a cold expression, but Nella didn’t seem to care.

“So, President, please cooperate with us. If we manage to defeat this calamity on our own, not only will we gain all sorts of honors, but the position of the next Magic Tower Master would be practically guaranteed.”

Edwin smiled awkwardly as Nella spoke so boldly in front of Laura. Had Nella grown, or had she become an evil god worshipper?

“As entertaining as this might become if we continue listening, I think we shouldn’t stay in the research room too long. Edwin must have work to do as well.”

Laura stepped forward and spoke.

“Now, I’ll introduce you to other departments. Thank you for your hard work tracking the comet.”

“Wait, Hero—no, Ilroy.”

As I was about to leave the terrace, Nella’s voice held me back. I deliberately turned around with an indifferent expression, which made her frown again when she saw my face.

“Make time. We need to talk later. You and that magician with you.”

Her tone was still as self-centered as ever. When I didn’t respond and just stared at her, Nella stammered and added:

“I-I won’t talk about how you arbitrarily kicked me out of the party. It doesn’t matter anymore anyway.”

Then she brushed past me and Daphne, who were about to leave the room, and stormed off the terrace. Daphne gazed with curiosity at the spot where Nella had disappeared, while I sighed with complicated feelings. If she had indeed become an evil god worshipper, I couldn’t say I bore no responsibility for it.

“What are you thinking about so deeply, Hero?”

Laura approached and asked. The Holy Sword might be right. An old fox indeed. Laura, getting back on the elevator, wore an unreadable expression.

“I didn’t create that list to trouble you, Hero.”

Laura turned to me and smiled brightly.

“But there’s something enjoyable about seeing you troubled.”

“At this point, you seem more like an evil god worshipper. Tell me the truth.”

Laura giggled at my joke and shook her head.

“If I were an evil god worshipper, stopping the fifth calamity would have been extremely difficult.”

“I know that. I’m saying you’re worse than you appear.”

I sighed as I watched the flickering light of the 11th floor. Somehow, dealing with these evil god worshippers seems to create more complications than facing the calamities themselves.

“The comet will likely collide around the end of this spring semester. And there will be many forces trying to interfere.”

Laura turned around abruptly and smiled.

“The evil god worshippers are quite dissatisfied with how ineffectively the calamities have ended so far. They’ll be desperate to ensure the sixth calamity activates properly.”

With a meaningful smile, Laura got off at the next floor. I wondered if her ability to smile in such situations spoke to her years of experience. When the sixth calamity approaches, the evil god worshippers’ first target will likely be killing the Tower Master.

“Now, this is the next floor. This is the research wing…”

I looked at Laura, who casually began her tour.

“I’ll assign personal rooms for Daphne and you here. You’ll be doing three things at once: teaching, tracking the comet, and crucially, weeding out the rats who will try to interfere.”

How long has it been since my vacation started?

“This new semester will be interesting. Not because of the freshmen, but because of the instructor.”

Laura walked on with that witch-like smile.

==

“I wonder how far these bastards intend to go.”

Bishop Andre spoke in a cold voice. The pursuit continued, nearly breaking off but never quite ending. It was as if they were leaving subtle traces, daring them to follow. The bishop sighed as he stomped on the head of a fallen “implantee.” Transparent grasshopper blood trickled down.

“It seems to be getting worse the further we go. I can’t even tell what these creatures’ true purpose is. What are they creating these implantees for?”

Black-clad inquisitors walked up beside the bishop. Their priestly garments were wet, glistening in the purple light of the underground chamber. The bishop looked around at the surrounding lights with a cold gaze and ordered:

“Light the lanterns and extinguish all those purple torches. Report to me if you find anything noteworthy while searching the basement.”

As the inquisitors moved in unison to the bishop’s command, replacing the purple lights with yellow and white lanterns, the basement door opened and someone rushed in.

“You damned Blue Orthodox Church dogs-! How dare you ransack this place!”

An evil god worshipper stood at the top of the stairs with a distorted expression, shouting for all to hear. Bishop Andre glared at the worshipper through narrowed eyes.

“All the fallen brothers and sisters outside were your doing too! Today I’ll burn my life away to die with you and appease their spirits!!”

Bishop Andre stopped the inquisitors who were about to lunge at the worshipper. The worshipper, barely glancing at Bishop Andre, began tearing at his skin and transforming into a monster.

“The evil god is truly frightening. To remove all hesitation about sacrificing one’s life like that.”

The bishop shook his head. Tentacles extended from the worshipper’s body. Among the implantees, those with Kraken fragments were the most common. Probably because it was the easiest calamity for the evil god worshippers to approach and salvage.

“■■■■!!”

The worshipper, now completely transformed into a monster, let out an incomprehensible roar. Tentacles extending from the monster knocked down the inquisitors’ torches hanging on the walls, plunging the basement back into darkness. The inquisitors began lighting their holy instruments, but Bishop Andre, who had already lit his cigarette, maintained a relaxed expression.

“You’re late.”

With the bishop’s words, the tentacles reaching toward the inquisitors were sliced apart. Literally dozens of sword strikes in the blink of an eye. The inquisitors stiffened in surprise as they stared at the bright red lines drawn across the space.

“Late? You would have handled everything yourself even if I couldn’t get in.”

With the sound of a sword returning to its sheath, the monster collapsed. There had been no presence from the draw to the strike. The mercenary Aryen, emanating an even sharper aura, descended the stairs.

“No. There weren’t that many evil god worshippers positioned outside, but it seems to have taken some time to clean them up.”

“I caught one suspicious circumstance. I interrogated them before they died on the spot. Did you find anything on your end?”

Aryen kicked aside the corpse blocking the stairs and entered the basement. The bishop lit a lantern with his holy instrument, illuminating the entire basement.

“Here, there are traces of something they were trying to create. What does this look like to you?”

Bishop Andre sent a sphere of light to the corner of the basement, and Aryen frowned as he observed the scene that appeared.

“What is that? Is that slime covering the floor?”

Aryen approached the bishop and looked at the green mucus soaking the floor. The bishop poked at the mucus with his toe and shook his head.

“No. It’s not acidic, and unlike its appearance, it doesn’t seem to be a particularly harmful substance. And if you look over there, you can probably guess what they were trying to do.”

At the end of where the bishop gestured was a shattered glass tube. When they had raided the basement, someone had hurriedly broken the tube and removed “something” from inside. Aryen clicked his tongue with a distorted expression.

“Tch. So all that was just a diversion? No wonder they seemed a bit more cautious than usual.”

“Yes. It seems this raid has ended in failure.”

The bishop looked around and exhaled cigarette smoke with a sigh.

“We struggled for weeks to catch this one, and it’s all been for nothing.”

“Not entirely for nothing.”

At Aryen’s words, the bishop raised an eyebrow. Aryen rummaged through his pocket and produced a blood-soaked piece of paper. The bishop received the paper Aryen held out and his face hardened.

“Why… is this here?”

“I interrogated them, but as usual, they just laughed. Along with saying we’d have quite a struggle this time.”

Bishop Andre let out a hollow laugh, glanced at the broken glass tube, and then looked back at the paper.

“This, it seems we need to report this to the kingdom simultaneously.”

“That’s up to you.”

Aryen spoke lightly as he accepted the cigarette the bishop offered. As Aryen took the cigarette, the bishop held the paper with both hands and let out a long sigh.

“…Are these bastards finally starting to bare their teeth?”

Most of the letters on the blood-stained paper were obscured, but the bishop could immediately recognize what kind of document it was.

Kingdom of Kairos Academy Admission Notice.

Bishop Andre couldn’t even begin to guess what the evil god worshippers were planning this time.