Ch.159159 – Enemy Event

<159 – Enemy Event>

It felt incredibly refreshing to use my full strength after such a long time.

“Ah~ That was fun!”

“…Fun? Ha. Haha. You devastate the outdoors and that’s all you have to say about it.”

“Wasn’t it fun for you, senior?”

“I don’t know about fun, but my heart was certainly racing.”

“That’s proof that it was fun!”

Senior Io turned around with a defeated expression, hands in his pockets.

“Lord Io?!”

“Aren’t you going to settle things with Oknodie?”

“She might still be possessed by an evil spirit. Look at that ominous power!”

“No, Oknodie might be the one controlling the evil spirit! As the Dark Princess, wouldn’t that be possible?”

“Shut up.”

Io glared at the students who were egging him on.

“I don’t know what class this Dark Princess is, but Oknodie certainly has dignity.”

“Dignity…sir?”

“Look at the grass around her.”

Around me?

Ah, he’s talking about how I controlled the range to avoid hurting Arcadia and Titosoga behind me?

The grass swept away in a 270-degree direction.

Craters dotted the ground everywhere.

Yet behind me, a 90-degree area remained pristine like a safe zone amid the devastation.

“S-she blocked the aftershock of her power?!”

“Such precise mana control, it’s terrifying!!”

“As expected of someone with the wicked wisdom to extract human souls…!”

Io snorted at the sight of the dumbfounded seniors and walked away.

“I’ll retreat today. But next time will be different.”

Titosoga, who briefly caught my glance, startled violently and pulled at Arcadia’s collar to hide her face.

Io looked at the rings on my and Arcadia’s hands, then gave up and left.

[You have completed the <Ghost Exorcism> event.]

[5000 points have been awarded as a successful event reward.]

[You have become enemies with Exorcist Io.]

[The advanced function of Sensory Focus, Hyper Focus, has been unlocked.]

[Electric Punch experience +10]

[Charging experience +5]

[Guard experience +5]

[Synesthesia experience +1]

[Hyper Focus experience +1]

In the end, I received rewards twice.

It became a double event!

* *

The second-year students who were dejectedly following Io felt the path was somehow familiar.

“Isn’t this the way to that place?”

“Yeah. Where the crime consultant Valocassio is.”

“I don’t want to get involved with that guy anymore.”

The members of the Red Tooth Mushroom Cultivation Management Association hesitated, slowing their pace before fleeing in the opposite direction from Io.

‘Cowards.’

Though he inwardly mocked them, Io didn’t try to stop them.

His business wasn’t with these small fry but with Valocassio, the one who had manipulated them to move him.

Academy Production Department’s exclusive grounds.

The closed old factory district.

As he entered one of the abandoned factories, a sharp weapon flew toward him.

I’m watching you.

A gaze that seemed to warn him like that.

Someone with a weak heart would turn back without even setting foot inside.

“How ridiculous.”

He already knew the identity of the killing intent’s owner.

A student who appointed himself as Valocassio’s secretary and bodyguard.

The crime consultant’s henchman.

The cruel cat beastkin, Deadcat.

Clank.

Pushing open the heavy iron door easily with one hand, the interior of the renovated factory was revealed.

Large sacks filled with contents, drums, and various materials piled up everywhere.

These were the wealth and assets Valocassio had accumulated through his contract fraud business.

“Who dares to enter Valocassio’s hideout so casually… Gasp! Exorcist Io!”

“Perfect timing. Lead the way. Tell him I’m here.”

Valocassio’s underling, who had rushed to chase away the trespasser, ran with a face as if he’d seen a ghost.

Following slowly behind, Io discovered a man sitting crookedly in a large chair with one foot up beyond the triple doors that hadn’t been closed properly.

The man, twirling a pointed staff in one hand to alleviate his boredom while wearing a strange self-moving cloak, was Valocassio.

“Go away.”

The underling fled through the opposite exit, careful not to make eye contact.

“This was your work, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I heard your capital situation isn’t good since you lost workers to the Dark Association created by the first-years recently. Do you think you can continue your villain games while having me as your enemy?”

Normally, no matter how senior the class, there would be no need to be wary of just one student.

With enough manpower and capital, it wasn’t difficult to deliberately interfere with a single student’s coursework.

What if you monopolize the materials needed for classes and control 99.9% of the goods to ensure they don’t reach a specific student?

‘I can even control the grades of anyone who interferes with my business.’

This was why Valocassio could maintain his <Contract Fraud Business> despite the presence of second-year senior class students.

However, the situation became complicated with the emergence of <Dark Association>, the joint business of Arcadia and Giselle.

‘If you can’t monopolize goods, there’s no point in collecting them. They can just buy from the Dark Association.’

As a result, the goods he had painstakingly collected using manpower and time became a burden.

Items collected to increase value through monopoly became bad merchandise that needed to be disposed of quickly.

He had been thoroughly played by mere first-years.

‘I thought it was a good opportunity that came up.’

The sudden large-scale spread of negative energy.

By linking this with rumors of a parent operating without a license ticket, he had manipulated Exorcist Io to move.

Titosoga was Oknodie’s friend.

He expected that if Io took action, Oknodie would naturally try to stop him, and a fight would break out between the two sides.

The general assessment of Oknodie suggested she was versatile and knowledgeable, but there were doubts about her overwhelming force.

Even in the entrance exam, she had passed using wit and wisdom before resorting to force!

In terms of pure combat ability, she might be below average for the first-year senior class.

If so, Io, a second-year senior class student, would have a chance.

A plan that seemed perfect in his mind.

But the words from Io who came to find him were completely different.

“What were you thinking, pitting me against that monster kid? You weren’t trying to eliminate me because I’m interfering with your ghost dealings, were you?”

“You misunderstand. I did want to take down Oknodie, but I never thought you would lose.”

Oknodie was strong.

Possessor of dark mana.

The technique to extract human souls as beads.

A child destined to become the Dark Princess.

He hadn’t taken the numerous rumors seriously.

After all, she was just an 11-year-old first-year.

He thought they were exaggerated rumors spread by the Dark Association.

Reality was different.

“Did Oknodie beat you?”

“Not exactly. I could have won if I had entered Charging Stage 2.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Her amount of dark mana was alarming.”

“…Dark mana doesn’t naturally increase in quantity, does it?”

“Considering that, it was even more alarming. If I had charged a bit longer, that child, despite her high mana control, might have self-destructed from power she couldn’t handle.”

Dark mana has similarities with the negative energy that ghosts handle, so as an exorcist, he had some knowledge about it.

In Io’s judgment, Oknodie had almost died from her mana going berserk before their confrontation.

Using more power would make control impossible.

She might die.

The person involved must have been aware of such a crisis.

Yet she continued to increase her output without stopping.

Like someone who, instead of loosening the reins to avoid an oncoming carriage, whips and spurs the horse even more.

“That child is a monster worse than a ghost. A monster who can drive herself to the brink of death without hesitation, ignoring the warnings of survival instinct.”

“…What?”

“I can catch ghosts. I can knock down people possessed by ghosts. But humans trained by those worse than ghosts are different. They can’t be fixed with violence.”

Oknodie is such a monster created by the foundation.

At his assertion, Valocassio’s secretary, who had been harboring killing intent all along, emerged from behind a shadowy pillar, wagging her tail.

“Yes, like your madwoman Deadcat.”

Deadcat was a cat beastkin who had instilled fear in many students since her first year with her cruel methods.

Valocassio realized he had turned someone who couldn’t be handled by force into an enemy by suggesting that Oknodie was no different from her.

Just from what he heard, she was at a level that combined Io’s force and Deadcat’s deviancy.

Unlike Deadcat, who remained as his henchman and hunted targets he wanted, Oknodie wasn’t a henchman of Arcadia or Giselle.

If things went wrong, she might break through the window and invade his hideout today.

“…Tell me what you want, Io.”

“Ghost artifacts should be eliminated. I have no intention of leaving ghost artifacts with a dangerous student like Oknodie. Cooperate in creating an opportunity to eliminate the ghost artifact.”

“Fine. But in return, you’ll have to do some errands for me for a while. I’ll cooperate with these conditions.”

The two shook hands. The interests of the two students who felt that the dangerous individual named Oknodie needed to be dealt with somehow aligned.

“How do you plan to create an opportunity to dispose of Oknodie’s ghost artifact?”

“Wait three weeks. The first semester midterm exams will begin soon.”

“I see. The midterm exams.”

Io understood.

Recalling last year’s midterm exams when they were first-years, he couldn’t help but understand.

“In an exam where it wouldn’t be strange if a few students died, an opportunity might arise.”

Gift Academy’s first midterm exam is much tougher than the mana verification test.

Even the top student in the first-year senior class wouldn’t be able to pass easily.

Unlike the mana verification test which was merely difficult, this time it would be a life-threatening exam.

Days remaining until D-day: 20.

The first semester enemy event, which would replace the Hestia rampage event, began to form.