Ch.75Chapter 75. The Beginning of the Incident (4)

‘…It was needless worry.’

Elaine was staring blankly at Ryu while awkwardly holding up the hem of her dress.

Ryu in his black suit was dancing with precise movements alongside none other than Yuria Phrysis.

Not just Elaine, but other students’ gazes were subtly directed toward Ryu and Yuria.

Watching Ryu dance with surprising skill, Elaine realized once again.

Worrying about Ryu, regardless of what it was about, was indeed pointless.

She had been concerned that as a commoner, he might be unfamiliar with this culture, but Ryu had surpassed even those worries.

He didn’t seem lacking at all compared to Yuria Phrysis.

And it wasn’t just limited to his dancing skills.

From his attire to the atmosphere he exuded, he didn’t look out of place among people from the Six Families.

They even looked good together.

“…Sigh.”

“Ah, Emily.”

Elaine turned to the side upon hearing a small sigh.

Emily, who hadn’t worn a dress, was standing there with a troubled expression.

Looking at the same place as herself.

“I didn’t know Mr. Ryu would be so familiar with parties like this.”

“…Right. I didn’t expect him to be comfortable at parties.”

Emily muttered without taking her eyes off Ryu and Yuria.

At that, Elaine turned her gaze back to the pair.

Yuria was smiling brightly, but Ryu wore a displeased expression.

Watching the smiling Yuria, Elaine felt a fleeting sense of envy.

Despite Ryu’s frowning face, she seemed to be doing what she wanted with a carefree smile.

‘I wonder if he would accept if I asked him to dance.’

Elaine imagined herself dancing with Ryu, holding hands and swaying together.

It felt awkward and difficult to imagine, but it didn’t seem bad either.

Though from a traditional knight family, Elaine was still part of the Six Families.

She wasn’t particularly confident in her dancing, but she could at least manage as well as others.

“They look good.”

“They do.”

Elaine agreed with Emily’s mumbled comment.

The two of them really did look good together.

*Clap clap clap clap*

Eventually, one song ended and applause erupted from all around.

Ryu and Yuria naturally let go of each other’s hands and parted ways.

*Flinch*

Elaine, seeing this, started to dash toward Ryu but stopped herself.

She wanted nothing more than to run to Ryu and ask him to dance to the next song, but…

“…Ahem.”

“I’m going now.”

“What? Oh, yes, yes.”

While she was hesitating and clearing her throat unnecessarily, Emily hurriedly bowed and left first.

Only then did Elaine look around.

They had clearly entered the party hall as a group of six, but now no one was with her.

Ryu was in the middle of the party hall, and Emily had just left.

She had no idea where Agnes, Marie, and Cynthia had gone.

‘Is this my chance, when no one else is around?’

Elaine thought this as she shifted her gaze back to Ryu.

But Ryu, who had been in the middle of the party hall just moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.

It was truly just a fleeting moment when she’d looked away, but in that time, he had disappeared somewhere.

Elaine was squinting her eyes, searching every corner of the party hall for Ryu’s whereabouts when:

“Phew. That was tough.”

“Eek! M-Mr. Ryu!”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“No, weren’t you just down there…?”

“I walked up from down there?”

Elaine averted her gaze instinctively at Ryu, who tilted his head with wide eyes as if asking why she was questioning something so obvious.

How Ryu suddenly appeared beside her wasn’t really important.

What mattered was that he was beside her now.

This meant she wouldn’t need to go down to the first floor for the next song.

“This is a nice spot. You can see the entire first-floor party hall at a glance.”

“…Yes. I was enjoying the view too.”

“Ugh. Right. Places like this are more comfortable. Dancing is really not my style. It’s cringeworthy.”

“Ah.”

Elaine immediately stopped her train of thought at Ryu’s words.

It seemed asking him to dance would be too much after all.

“Didn’t you just dance with Yuria?”

“I only went along with it because she asked. Tsk.”

That was unexpected.

He seemed not to care about others’ gazes at all, but did he comply because someone from the Phrysis Family asked?

Elaine wondered if Ryu would accommodate her if she asked.

Perhaps he might.

“By the way, where did Cynthia go? And Emily?”

“Ah. Emily was with me until just now before going somewhere, and I don’t know about Cynthia.”

“Hmm. There are so many people, it’s hard to find anyone.”

Ryu frowned slightly as he looked around.

“Damn it. If only I hadn’t stayed there unnecessarily…”

Elaine watched Ryu trail off and became even more convinced.

Asking him to dance would definitely be too much.

“I suppose so. It’s difficult to look around when you’re in the middle of that chaotic party hall.”

“…”

There was no response from Ryu.

Though she hadn’t particularly expected an answer, the silence made her feel awkward.

“Oh, by the way, have you tried the food at the buffet? The financiers are really delicious.”

“…”

Again, Ryu didn’t respond.

Elaine finally tore her gaze from the party hall and looked at Ryu beside her.

Ryu was standing still, gripping the railing as if frozen.

“Mr. Ryu…?”

Ryu’s expression was rigid.

It was a completely different expression from when he had said dancing with Yuria was really unpleasant.

Elaine had seen this expression on Ryu before.

During the inter-year competition, when the undead on horseback appeared at the finish line.

Though it was a fleeting expression, he had definitely shouted for everyone to run away with this look.

‘What’s going on…?’

“Mr. Ryu, is something wrong?”

Elaine felt herself growing serious as she looked at Ryu’s frozen expression.

Whatever it was, it seemed truly serious.

“Haa, damn it.”

“Why—”

*BOOM!*

Elaine’s question of “Why are you like this?” didn’t reach Ryu’s ears.

In the middle of speaking, a thunderous sound and vibration too strong to maintain balance were felt.

Elaine barely managed to keep her balance and instinctively looked up.

The source of the sound and vibration.

A thick cloud of dust was rising from one side of the building’s outer wall.

“What is that…!”

Silence hung over the previously bustling party hall.

*CRASH*

“Kyaaaah!”

The momentary silence was broken by someone’s scream.

Elaine, without taking her eyes off the dust cloud, instinctively moved her hand to her waist.

But the familiar feel of a sword handle wasn’t there.

Eventually, something moving came into Elaine’s view.

Something made of bone, hovering in the dust with its wings spread wide.

*Whoosh*

As the undead wyvern flapped its wings, the dust blew down toward the students below.

That’s when it started.

Screams erupted from all directions as everyone began running somewhere.

“Mr. Ryu…!”

Elaine turned to the side and called for Ryu, but he was already gone.

**

‘Damn it. I didn’t expect them to come from underground.’

With the situation exploding simultaneously, Ryu first teleported to the small room he had checked out earlier with Yuria.

He tore off the formal suit he was wearing, revealing the uniform underneath.

There was no time to waste.

He had been about to go find Yuria at Erika’s call, but it seemed he shouldn’t leave now.

The undead swarming from outside were a problem, but the immediate issue was the one that had broken through the building.

“Commander!”

“Hurry!”

*Rip*

Yuria, who had somehow entered the room, also changed into her uniform, practically tearing off her dress.

“I heard undead are trying to get in from outside the building too. Take care of that side with the other professors. I’ll handle that winged skeleton.”

“It seems to be an undead wyvern. I can’t believe they summoned something like that.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

There was no time to leisurely listen to explanations about the creature’s identity or abilities.

An undead wyvern, huh.

‘It looks way cooler than our Greenie.’

Though somewhat inappropriate to think about now, the thought came unbidden.

Unlike Greenie, it didn’t breathe fire, but it definitely looked cooler.

*Whoosh*

Returning outside, the party hall had turned into chaos in just a few tens of seconds.

The undead wyvern was floating in the air, leisurely looking down, while the students below were in complete disarray.

Everyone was running toward the entrance without looking back, and professors were trying to control the situation somehow.

*Shing*

Ryu immediately drew the Black Shadow Sword from his spatial storage.

Resolving the situation as quickly as possible was more important now.

More important than being discovered by drawing the Black Shadow Sword.

‘The vice chancellor…’

As he drew his sword, he looked around for Vice Chancellor Landgar.

He had expected him to appear somewhere after such a flashy opening, but the vice chancellor was nowhere to be seen.

‘He’ll probably show up after I catch this thing.’

Ryu teleported right in front of the wyvern as it flapped its wings, seemingly about to swoop down.

*Whoosh* *Screech*

He immediately swung his sword at one of its wings.

An unpleasant sound rang out as the black blade of the Black Shadow Sword collided with the gray bone.

He had expected it to at least stagger from the impact, if not have its bone cut through in one go.

‘The bones are tough.’

A sword strike using only strength without infusing mana was completely ineffective.

“I have a lot to do, so let’s end this quickly, shall we?”

*Whoosh*

The Black Shadow Sword began to vibrate slightly, enveloping itself in black mana.

First, he needed to deal with whoever was riding on top of the wyvern.