Ch.67Chapter 67. Unexpected Events (4)

“That’s how it happened.”

“…”

After hearing my brief explanation that covered only the essentials, Cynthia was at a loss for words.

Her reaction now that her curiosity was satisfied had changed 180 degrees from when she first met me.

“So… are you working with Phrysis, Lady Yuria Phrysis?”

“…That’s right.”

Cynthia awkwardly asked after hearing everything I had to say.

Well, she couldn’t help it.

The scale was bigger than expected.

Not only was it connected to one of the Six Families, but even the Vice Chancellor of the Academy was involved.

It wasn’t something a first-year Academy student could casually nod about.

“Uh… umm.”

“What?”

“I didn’t realize… it was this serious…”

I could see Cynthia barely managing to answer while trailing off.

This is exactly why I didn’t want to be discovered by these kids.

It was obvious that how they treated me would change.

“Nothing really has to change. Hmm.”

“I… guess so.”

“You can just treat me the same as before.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Just make sure other people don’t find out.”

Though many people had already found out.

At the very least, I needed to keep Elaine and Emily from discovering it.

“No one else knows…?”

“Yeah. Among the students, you’re the only one.”

“I see.”

Cynthia carefully nodded at my words.

“No wonder you seemed too strong to be a student…”

I pretended not to hear Cynthia’s mumbling.

“Anyway, keep pretending you don’t know. This stays between us.”

“…Okay.”

“…”

I was a bit worried about Cynthia’s reaction, but what could I do?

“Wow, this is amazing…”

Cynthia continued to mutter to herself.

I’m concerned since I’ll have to see everyone together tomorrow.

**

“This year, our class has decided not to do anything for the festival.”

Professor Amillion spoke in a rather serious voice.

It was somewhat funny how solemnly she announced they would do nothing, but there was sincerity in her voice.

“Normally, each year’s S Class substitutes festival participation with the inter-year competition, but since we finished the competition early this year…”

‘So that’s how it works.’

The festival was now right around the corner.

There hadn’t been much progress in the meantime.

The hostage still hadn’t confessed, and the Vice Chancellor hadn’t made any moves.

The only achievement was sharing our plan with Professor Amillion.

“So this year, S Class just needs to enjoy the festival. Though it might be difficult to enjoy it comfortably given the various incidents.”

As Professor Amillion said this, she glanced briefly at the empty seat at the very back of the classroom.

Cain Hover, who still hadn’t regained consciousness, had ultimately left the Academy.

He hadn’t completely quit the Academy, but had left for treatment.

Sadly, even if he regained consciousness, the chances of him returning to the Academy were almost zero.

His body was already too damaged to use mana.

Since everyone knew what had happened to Cain, as Professor Amillion said, it might be difficult to enjoy the festival with a heavy heart.

Glance-

Feeling a gaze from beside me, I looked over to see Cynthia staring at me.

As soon as our eyes met, she startled and quickly looked away.

‘Sigh, she’s still acting like that.’

Ever since Cynthia unexpectedly discovered my identity, she had been overly conscious of me.

The day after learning about me, she acted normal, but she’s been getting stranger with each passing day.

“Other classes will be opening their own unique booths, so make sure to visit them.”

“Yes.”

“And regarding the party on the second day…”

Professor Amillion looked at me as she mentioned the party.

First Cynthia, now Professor Amillion—why are they being so obvious?

“S Class attendance is mandatory unless you have a truly special reason. Some graduates might attend as well. Ah, this is something I’m only telling you all.”

Professor Amillion paused for a moment and looked around the classroom.

“One of the Six Families, Lady Yuria Phrysis, will be attending the party following her graduate lecture. I hope you all make good connections during this opportunity.”

“…What?”

The person showing the most surprised reaction to the news of Yuria’s attendance was an unexpected individual.

The usually quiet Emily asked in shock.

As a result, all eyes in the classroom turned to her.

Normally in this situation, Emily would become embarrassed and look away, but today was different.

“Yu-Yuria Phrysis?”

“…Yes. Lady Yuria Phrysis will be coming.”

“Oh my…”

Emily was staring with wide eyes as if she couldn’t believe Professor Amillion’s words.

“What’s wrong, Emily?”

“N-Nothing!”

“…Hmm.”

Emily finally seemed to realize that all eyes in the classroom were on her and lowered her head, stopping her questions.

“Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the festival.”

With those final words, Professor Amillion checked the time and left the classroom.

“L-Lady Yuria Phrysis…!”

As soon as Professor Amillion left, Cynthia approached me with an obviously awkward voice.

‘Geez.’

I told her not to be obvious, but she’s being way too obvious.

“I’ve heard of Yuria Phrysis too. They say she never missed being top of her class from enrollment to graduation.”

“Really? She sounds impressive.”

I think I heard that directly from Yuria at some point.

Emily, who had been startled earlier at the mention of Yuria’s attendance, was still sitting in a daze.

“Emily, do you know Yuria Phrysis?”

“Uh, what?”

“You seemed really surprised, so I wondered if you knew her?”

“…”

Emily hesitated to answer my question.

Well, it doesn’t matter.

If Emily won’t tell me, I can just ask Yuria later.

Come to think of it, Yuria once mentioned knowing a student at the Academy.

Could that be Emily?

“So S Class has mandatory party attendance. Sigh.”

Elaine broke the awkward silence.

She doesn’t seem pleased about the mandatory party attendance that Professor Amillion just mentioned.

“A party, huh.”

“Ryu, you might not be familiar with these social gatherings.”

“*cough*”

When Elaine spoke with concern, Cynthia suddenly coughed beside me.

Now I feel unnecessarily guilty.

“I’m not very familiar with them.”

“I don’t like such party settings either, but this time we have to go together…”

“B-But she said you could skip it if you had special circumstances!”

Cynthia urgently cut in between me and Elaine.

She was looking at me with a strange expression, her eyes gleaming.

“Right…?”

“Ryu, if you talk to Professor Amillion, don’t you think she’d excuse you?”

“…”

I clearly asked her not to be obvious, yet she keeps doing things that make it obvious.

‘Well, I didn’t tell Cynthia about the incident that’s going to happen during the festival.’

From Cynthia’s perspective, she’s probably trying to be considerate in her own way.

As if saying: don’t waste time at parties, focus on your secret mission.

“No, I don’t have any ‘special’ circumstances. I should go too.”

“I… see!”

“By the way, does the party gather all students in one place?”

“…That varies each year, but usually it’s held in one building. That makes it easier to interact with graduates and students from other years.”

“Hmm. So with all students in one space, security personnel would be concentrated there too.”

“I suppose… that would be the case?”

Elaine tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand the intent behind my question.

I felt the same way as Elaine.

The second day of the festival with the student party.

With students gathered in one place, security forces would obviously be concentrated there, so why choose that day for the plan?

‘I need to know what they’re planning to do.’

Seeing the note about “staining the festival with blood,” there would clearly be casualties like with the undead incident.

“Well, let’s all go together that day. Emily, you’re coming too, right?”

“M-Me?”

“Yeah. Let’s go together.”

Emily was still in a daze.

When I asked again, she nodded and agreed.

‘Okay. I’ll feel better if we stick together.’

As Cynthia suggested, I could talk to Professor Amillion and skip it, but there was a reason I wanted to attend the party.

I needed to be in the same space as the kids so I could protect them if anything happened.

I hope nothing does happen, but I always need to be prepared for the worst.

“Then we’ll all go together…”

“Um, excuse me!”

“Yes?”

Just as I was about to neatly wrap up our plan for the four of us to go together, an urgent voice came from behind.

It was Agnes and Marie.

“If it’s okay, c-could we go with you too?”

“Uh…”

The look in their eyes seemed quite desperate.

After Cain’s rampage and hospitalization, the two of them were in a somewhat awkward position.

They usually hung out with Cain, but with him suddenly gone, they seemed a bit lost.

Instead of answering right away, I looked at Elaine, Cynthia, and Emily in turn.

I couldn’t decide alone, so I was asking for their opinions with my gaze.

‘Hmm.’

Elaine nodded as if it was obviously fine, and Cynthia nodded as if she was okay with anything I decided.

Emily didn’t seem to have any particular opinion.

‘Well, whether it’s three or five people.’

It’s not like I’m going from protecting 3 people to 30 people—I should be able to manage 5 somehow.

“Sure. Let’s go together.”

“Ah…! Thank you!”

Agnes smiled brightly with relief and thanked me.

I awkwardly smiled back at Agnes.

There was about a week left until the festival where the incident would occur.

‘I need to resolve this cleanly.’

I felt uneasy about how smoothly everything seemed to be going, but anyway.