Ch.92Chapter 92: Another Problem

The guards handled the aftermath, allowing Valt and his friends to safely return to the academy.

Judging by the faint brightening of the sky, Valt’s group had spent the entire night battling the criminal organization.

Of course, none of them complained about being tired after staying up for just one night, but there were certainly some who had lost energy from fighting all night long.

“Let’s rest for now and meet again around noon to report,” Valt said.

Everyone nodded in agreement and returned to their dormitories. Valt finally set Riman down on the ground, who had already received more than enough healing from Arias.

“Being carried on the back of a grown man isn’t exactly a pleasant experience,” Riman remarked.

Having rested sufficiently on Valt’s back, Riman appeared to have recovered some of his strength.

Although his injuries had been severe, he had received proper treatment, and since reaching the Master level, his self-healing ability had increased exponentially.

He couldn’t be considered completely back to normal, but his aura was entirely different from before.

Sensing this, Valt felt the urge to spar with Riman.

“Hey, give me a break. I just reached a new level, and even I need time to process what I’ve realized through this breakthrough.”

“Understood. Rest for now, and I’ll ask you later.”

Riman trudged toward the duty office where Professor Marcel was stationed, while Valt headed to the dormitory.

***

Creak—

The door to the duty office opened, and Riman appeared before Professor Marcel.

Flopping down on the sofa, Riman was met with Professor Marcel’s surprised gaze.

“You really crossed the threshold. Impressive.”

Recognizing it immediately, Riman tilted his head back nonchalantly and replied to Professor Marcel.

“Thanks to that, I thought I was going to die. Would it be alright if I visit the training grounds for a moment?”

He wanted to organize the insights he had mentioned to Valt earlier.

“Of course. You should have gone straight there.”

As someone who walks the same path of martial arts, Marcel wasn’t stingy about allowing time to process the insights that led to reaching the Master level.

“I’ll tell you about my insights later.”

“Please do.”

What Riman had realized to become a Master was that his sword wasn’t meant for swift attacks.

Riman, who excelled at analyzing opponents, had always thought that striking first was the most efficient means of attack.

He had believed that a sword was meant to quickly dispatch opponents, but in his battle with Sikel, he realized he had been completely wrong.

Riman’s sword was, so to speak, a sword of counterattack.

He analyzes the enemy and delivers counters to their attacks.

That was the insight that allowed Riman to reach the Master level.

Feeling like he had transformed from wearing ill-fitting clothes to a perfectly tailored suit, Riman was able to cross the threshold to becoming a Master.

As he walked toward the training grounds, Riman suddenly chuckled.

“A sword of counterattack. Not bad at all. I should treat Valt to something nice.”

It wouldn’t take long before Riman’s epithet “Drowsy Sword” would change to “Counter Sword.”

***

The next day.

Valt and Elias visited Professor Marcel’s office to report on last night’s events.

Most administrative decisions for first-year students were made by Marcel, the head teacher for their year.

“I already heard the gist of it from Riman, but you really captured all the organization’s leaders. Impressive.”

Despite Professor Marcel’s praise, Elias didn’t look particularly happy.

It had become an established fact that there was a spy within the Empire.

Naturally, there’s a difference between suspecting there might be a spy and hearing it directly from the enemy’s mouth.

Of course, the dying Sikel could have been lying, but it was unlikely that falsehoods would come from his lips in such a situation.

Moreover, having a spy meant they could no longer completely trust those around them. There was no way to know when something they said might reach the spy’s ears.

The spy was certainly someone in a high position within the Empire, and it was inconceivable that such a person wouldn’t have subordinates.

This is why spies in high places are so dangerous.

Their subordinates, unaware that their master serves the Dark Society, would report everything to their master.

“We may have captured them all, but criminal organizations won’t completely disappear. That’s just how they are.”

They might be set back, but it’s difficult to eradicate all criminal organizations.

Some of their operations are covertly protected by nobles, and others are relatively legitimate businesses like entertainment establishments.

Where there’s food, insects gather; where there’s profit, criminal organizations can never be completely uprooted.

“I suppose so. But I hear there’s an even bigger problem?”

At Professor Marcel’s question, Elias began to hesitate slightly. The number of people Elias could trust right now was extremely small.

It was frustrating that non-humans like Valt were more trustworthy than those belonging to the Empire.

But those affiliated with the academy were somewhat reliable.

They were people skilled enough to hold important positions in the Empire, yet gathered here solely for the purpose of training the next generation.

In a way, their lack of great ambition for power also helped Elias open up.

And Professor Marcel might have already heard something from Professor Riman anyway.

Additionally, Marcel was a famous commander and knight known as the “Spear Ghost” on the eastern front.

Consulting with someone who had served as a soldier could be helpful regarding the spy situation.

Having decided to discuss it, Elias began speaking to Professor Marcel.

“You may already know this, but there’s a Dark Society spy within the Empire.”

Though he had suspected it, hearing the princess speak with such certainty made Professor Marcel take the matter more seriously.

“I ask not as a student but as the Imperial Princess. Do you have any suspicions about who it might be?”

The moment the conversation turned to matters of national security, Professor Marcel began using honorifics with the princess, which Elias seemed to accept as natural.

“No, none at all. I can’t even begin to guess. Without knowing the exact purpose of this Dark Society… it’s difficult to definitively label someone as a spy…”

As Elias spoke, Valt interjected.

“Chaos.”

At Valt’s brief remark, both turned to look at him.

“The Dark Society’s goal is chaos. They said peace on the continent has lasted too long.”

For the two who weren’t fully aware of the vampire incident, hearing that the Dark Society’s purpose was chaos was new information from Valt.

“Chaos? So the act itself is the goal… chaos… chaos…”

As Professor Marcel stroked his chin in thought, Valt provided more information.

“They’re also collecting artifacts. The criminal organization leaders were gathering artifacts at the Dark Society’s request, so there’s no doubt about it.”

“Artifacts and chaos…”

In Valt’s opinion, neither of them seemed likely to be spies.

Elias had no reason or motive, and Professor Marcel, whom Valt had met and sparred with a few times, didn’t seem the type either.

Besides, even if Marcel were a spy, the information Valt had shared wouldn’t be problematic.

Since they had let Prok escape earlier, Valt’s information would have already been somewhat disseminated among the Dark Society’s spies.

After thinking for a moment, Elias raised her head as if she had realized something and let out a soft sigh.

“No, it can’t be…?”

Curious about what Elias had thought of, Valt asked, “Did you think of something?”

But Elias shook her head, denying her own thoughts.

“No, that’s impossible. If they’re human, such actions would…”

“What is it? We need to discuss whatever it might be.”

At Valt’s urging, Elias reluctantly spoke.

“The Gate to the Demon Realm…”

“Demon Realm?”

Thousands of years ago, demons invaded the continent. The Demon Realm and the Human Realm exist in completely different dimensions, making travel between them impossible.

Of course, the continent had once been overturned by demons summoned through the rituals of extremely powerful black mages, but after a major purge of black mages, demons eventually disappeared from the human realm.

“It’s a stretch, but… if they want chaos and are collecting artifacts, that’s all I can think of. With human power stronger than ever before, the only events that could plunge the human world into chaos would be a Monster Wave or the opening of the Gate to the Demon Realm.”

“What’s a Monster Wave?”

Though Valt had enjoyed this game quite a bit when he was on Earth, he had been solely focused on magic and hadn’t paid much attention to such lore.

Thinking that Valt was unfamiliar with it because he was from the southern corner, Elias kindly began explaining about Monster Waves.

“You know that the Caldrian family guards the north, right?”

“Yes, I know that much.”

“I don’t know the exact reason, but once every few decades or centuries, a massive horde of monsters pours down from the north—that’s called a Monster Wave. Though we say ‘north,’ it essentially covers the entire upper part of the continent. Even monsters rarely seen normally appear during that time.”

Adding to Elias’s explanation, Professor Marcel elaborated.

“Different from the Gate to the Demon Realm, a Monster Wave occurs when a gate connecting to another dimension opens, releasing monsters. The most recent one happened about 400 years ago, if I recall correctly.”

Upon hearing this, Valt was convinced.

This had been mentioned before, but with the Monster Wave in the picture, things were different. The Caldrian family would definitely be a target for the Dark Society.

And soon.

With that premonition, Valt decided on his next destination.