Ch.68Chapter 68. First Day of the Festival (1)

“You have been verified, Ms. Yuria Phrysis. And, Ms. Erika. It’s an honor!”

“Thank you.”

While Yuria nodded to the staff member with a gentle smile, Erika’s face was filled with discontent.

“Erika. Let’s go.”

“…Yeah.”

“Oh my, Erika. I told you being disrespectful is dangerous.”

“…Ugh. Yes, fine, yes.”

“Hehehe.”

Erika scrunched her face in irritation before responding snappishly.

With her hair changed from its usual silver to black, Erika had been in a bad mood since earlier.

She couldn’t help it.

She somehow understood having to go on a mission alone with Yuria, whom she didn’t particularly like.

But this kind of relationship was truly unbearable.

Of all things, to be Yuria Phrysis’s personal secretary.

“By the way, black hair suits you well, Erika. It gives you a similar vibe to the captain.”

“Would you please stop talking to me? I don’t want to speak.”

Conscious of the students passing by, Erika forced out her words reluctantly.

She had thought she wouldn’t have to keep up this act once they entered the Academy, but it was actually worse.

Why were there so many people inside?

“Hehehe. The Academy is decorated so beautifully for the festival.”

Instead of answering Yuria, Erika lifted her head to scan the Academy.

Having frequented the Academy recently while tailing Cynthia, she could notice the changes.

The Academy was gorgeously decorated for the festival.

Banners hung from every tree, and emblems representing Crescen Academy were displayed on various facilities throughout.

“How far do we have to go… ma’am?”

“Hehe. We have plenty of time. Let’s take a look around first.”

“Ugh, if we had so much time, we could have come later… ma’am.”

Erika desperately suppressed her urge to abandon Yuria and run away.

“We never know what might happen, so it’s good to familiarize ourselves with the Academy’s layout, don’t you think?”

“…”

Even in this situation, Yuria’s words made sense.

That made it even more annoying.

“Sigh.”

“But really, black hair suits you well. Why don’t you dye it permanently instead of temporarily like now? I think it would match our organization well too.”

“I don’t want to.”

“That’s a shame then.”

Yuria gently stroked Erika’s hair with a look of disappointment before quickening her pace again.

Finally, today was the day.

The first day of the Academy festival.

During the week leading up to the festival, unfortunately, the situation hadn’t changed.

They hadn’t found decisive evidence to implicate the Vice Chancellor, nor had they discovered what they were planning to do.

So they decided to proceed with their original plan.

Following Black Shadow Corps Captain Ryuyeong, Yuria and Erika would also infiltrate the Academy.

Though they didn’t know what the enemies were planning, they would prepare from within for whatever might happen on the second day.

“That’s the dormitory building over there.”

“I already know that… ma’am.”

“Ah, right. Of course you do.”

Yuria just remembered that Erika had been in and out of the Academy several times.

She had been trying to be considerate by introducing the Academy’s interior, but it seemed unnecessary.

“Then I suppose we don’t need to tour the entire Academy.”

“Right. I’ve already been to most places where students go.”

“Hehe. You’re so competent indeed.”

“…”

Whether it was due to Erika’s black hair or Yuria’s aura, people’s gazes followed them wherever they went.

Yuria seemed accustomed to such attention, but Erika was not.

It was extremely uncomfortable.

“Let’s go somewhere less crowded, shall we?”

“Hehe. Let’s just walk around the lake first.”

“…Haa, really.”

Erika’s deep sigh had no effect whatsoever.

Yuria moved toward the huge lake within the Academy with excited, light steps.

“What are you doing? Hurry up!”

“…Sigh.”

Erika followed despite her deep sigh.

She consoled herself that if she could just endure today and tomorrow, her bonus would be deposited right away.

**

“Ms. Yuria and Ms. Erika have entered successfully.”

“Okay. That’s a good start.”

“But they went in quite early. They won’t have much to do there yet.”

“It would be nice if they became friends during this opportunity.”

Though the probability of that happening was close to 0%.

For them to become friends, Erika would need to change her attitude, but Erika was the type who, once she decided something was wrong, it remained wrong forever.

Unless something truly significant happened, Erika’s attitude was unlikely to change.

“When will you be going, Captain?”

“Since there are no classes today, I’ll go as late as possible.”

“Are you planning to go straight to Yuria’s lecture?”

“No, I need to meet the kids at the lecture hall first. We agreed to go together.”

So the day had finally come.

It would have been great if they had discovered something in the meantime and dealt with the Vice Chancellor immediately.

But things in life don’t always go as planned.

Especially in this case, I couldn’t just throw a tantrum because things weren’t going my way.

With a quest at stake, I couldn’t afford to think, “Well, it can’t be helped if we fail.”

If it had been any other matter, I wouldn’t have handled it so frustratingly.

“Nothing much should happen today anyway.”

“I hope so…”

According to what Yuria had found out, their plan was set to begin on the second day, so today should be uneventful.

Probably.

‘Ugh, this is frustrating.’

Being dragged along one-sidedly like this was almost a first for me, and it was quite frustrating.

“No contact from them either?”

“By ‘them,’ you mean?”

“Those kids who handed over the communication device last time. The ones making a living in Crescen’s back alleys.”

“Ah. No, nothing. It seems they’re not moving from outside.”

“Okay. Then let’s stop worrying about that.”

Having thoroughly intimidated them, they wouldn’t slack off, and since there had been no contact even a day before, there probably wasn’t anything unusual.

Now I just needed to focus on what was happening inside the Academy.

“I should go see what the Vice Chancellor is up to. He might suddenly make a move a day early.”

“Well, I doubt he’d do anything in broad daylight like this, but you never know.”

“…”

Addy’s words strangely provoked me.

Was she teasing me or not?

Her way with words seemed to be improving day by day.

“Anyway, I’m going.”

“Yes. Just in case, I’ll stay at the office as late as possible today.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

*Woong-*

After confirming Addy’s slight bow, I closed my eyes and opened them again.

A sky bluer than usual greeted me.

*Wheeee-*

Along with a refreshing breeze that came at just the right moment.

I teleported directly to the roof of the vault building where the Vice Chancellor’s office was located.

Even the weather seemed to know it was the festival day; it was perfect.

‘I hope nothing goes wrong.’

As I was enjoying the cool breeze and taking in the surroundings from the roof, I heard voices.

“You’ve arrived?”

“It’s been a while.”

The voices came from near the building entrance.

The only voices I’d heard here before were the guards changing shifts, so this was fresh.

‘The Vice Chancellor?’

And one of the voices belonged to Vice Chancellor Landgar.

I quickly lowered my posture and concealed my presence more meticulously.

Fortunately, I had made a habit of hiding my presence while following the Vice Chancellor recently.

This skill I learned from Erika was truly convenient.

“There have been quite a few incidents lately.”

“Haha. I handled them all well.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Not at all. That’s the role of a Vice Chancellor, isn’t it?”

‘Who could it be?’

The Vice Chancellor’s tone was the most polite and respectful I’d ever heard from him.

A voice clearly addressing a superior.

‘If it’s the Vice Chancellor’s superior…?’

“The Chancellor has been away for too long. I apologize.”

My guess was correct.

The person conversing with the Vice Chancellor below was the Chancellor.

Crescen Academy’s Chancellor, Binuar Christia.

‘When did I last see him?’

While it was perfectly normal for the Academy Chancellor to be at the Academy, his face seemed quite unfamiliar.

Chancellor Binuar had been absent from his post for some reason almost all the time.

I think I only caught a glimpse of him at the entrance ceremony.

“Haha. It’s fine. Let’s go inside. I’ll briefly report what’s happened in the meantime. There’s also a graduate lecture soon.”

“Let’s do that.”

With those words, the two entered the building.

I had been so focused on the Vice Chancellor that I’d forgotten the Chancellor’s office was also in this vault building.

‘The Chancellor must have returned for the festival.’

Seeing the Chancellor with his long white hair in person brought both relief and increased suspicion.

The return of Crescen Academy’s head, Chancellor Binuar, was clearly good news for me.

If the Vice Chancellor tried anything foolish, there would be another powerful figure to stop him.

But did the Vice Chancellor not know the Chancellor would return to the Academy for the festival?

‘Judging by his reaction earlier, he seemed to know already.’

Vice Chancellor Landgar greeted Chancellor Binuar naturally, without showing any surprise.

His attitude suggested he knew the Chancellor would be coming.

In fact, he even seemed pleased to see the Chancellor.

To plan something during the festival while knowing Chancellor Binuar would be at the Academy…

“…What’s going on?”

My suspicions grew stronger. Either he was that confident, or he had some other plan.

No matter how strong the Vice Chancellor was, the Academy Chancellor was still the Chancellor.

And not just any Chancellor, but Binuar Christia.

Even if he had aged, Binuar’s Earth Dragon was completely independent of Binuar’s physical limitations.

‘Hmm.’

Trying to suppress my growing suspicion, I slowly got up from my lying position.

For now, I had to think positively.

If necessary, Chancellor Binuar would become our ally and fight alongside us.

How reassuring.

*Woong-*

Shaking off my uneasy feelings, I teleported to my room in the dormitory.

It was almost time to meet the kids.