Chap 105-Different Memories

 

“How pathetic.”

Serena muttered, gazing at the scene before her.

The academy buildings were half-destroyed by the magical beast attack.

The sight seemed to trample on old memories mercilessly.

It was the academy where she had spent her school days until just a few years ago.

The lecture halls and campus, once filled with laughter and activity, were now tragically ruined, reduced to ashes.

“Was it Elaha? The transcendent who came down as the academy’s headmaster this time. What did she do instead of stopping the magical beasts?”

“Keep it down! What if someone hears you…”

“I’ve heard she did her best to protect the academy in her own way… but the higher-ups don’t seem to believe it much.”

“But what can we do? We can’t exactly argue with a transcendent…”

“Still, it’s amazing. That there hasn’t been a single death in this state.”

The audit team members murmured from behind.

Serena silently let their conversation flow past her.

Surprisingly, it was true.

Among the students and professors being carried out covered in blood from the still-burning buildings, there wasn’t a single fatality.

Attacks had continued twice a day since the midterm exams.

The only one who had lost her life during that time was Cassandra Medici, the head of the Medici Family.

Did only weak magical beasts come?

Serena immediately shook her head.

No.

According to reports, even Lagriel of Wrath, a Calamity-Class Monster, had appeared, and it was said that it was barely repelled after a fierce battle with the Medici duke.

Moreover, a considerable number of High-ranking Monsters were mixed in as well.

Despite that, there wasn’t a single death.

This wasn’t just a coincidence; it could only be described as a miracle.

“I found her! Team leader!”

At the team member’s shout, Serena nodded, looking at him as he ran over.

“Lead the way.”

The place they arrived at was a familiar place even in Serena’s memories.

The academy’s abandoned old dormitory.

It was a place that mischievous classmates used as a site for courage tests in the past.

And…

Serena could now understand why there was so little damage despite the academy being attacked by that level of force.

In front of the collapsed building, there was a single knight.

She was kneeling with her sword stuck in the ground.

She had already lost consciousness, but she was enduring without collapsing until the very end.

The hundreds of magical beast corpses surrounding her proved how fierce a battle she had fought.

“…Bella Staren.”

The name from her memory flowed from Serena’s lips.

A junior one year below her.

A student who was always polite to her seniors and had a good reputation among her juniors.

It was only natural that she graduated from the academy with excellent grades and made a name for herself on the battlefield.

She was saddened when she heard the news that she had been injured and moved to the rear.

Now, she was fulfilling her duty to the very end as a proper academy professor.

‘Perhaps… she might be stronger than I am now…’

Counting the number of magical beasts that had fallen one by one, Serena admired her without realizing it.

“What are you doing? Treat the injured quickly.”

Serena urged the team members who were lost in the traces of the fierce battle.

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand their feelings.

Even though she was an academy professor, the fact that she had stood alone in front of hundreds of magical beasts for students who had nothing to do with her was something that was both overwhelming and unbelievable.

“Here! Lady Camilla Medici is here!”

At the shout of a team member searching through the collapsed debris, Serena hurriedly moved her feet.

“Camilla…”

She wasn’t particularly close to her, but she had met her a few times at social gatherings.

She remembered the girl who, despite being from a hostile family, shamelessly called her ‘sister’ and followed her around.

Of course, her inner thoughts weren’t purely out of goodwill.

Serena looked down at Camilla, who had lost consciousness and collapsed, with a pitiful gaze.

How deep would that child fall into despair if she found out about her mother’s death?

After hesitating for a moment, Serena gently reached out and brushed back her disheveled hair.

“Perhaps… it might be better for you to be collapsed here, not knowing anything right now.”

“Here! Saintess Candidate Lina is here!”

The shouts of the audit team members, who continued to search through the debris, echoed.

Serena narrowed her eyes coldly and watched the scene.

And…

The moment one of the team members cleared away a huge piece of debris.

“Don’t come any closer!”

A trembling voice echoed.

A brown-haired girl was standing in front of the team members, clutching a dagger.

Judging from her attire, she seemed to be an academy student.

“Calm… calm down, child. It’s safe here.”

The team members reached out to soothe her, but the girl’s fingertips, clutching the dagger tightly, were still trembling.

Behind her, someone was collapsed, covered in an academy uniform.

The girl’s gaze was clinging to it as if to protect it.

“Here, Yeon Bennet… no, the villainess Yeon is here!”

One of the team members glanced at Serena and changed his words to report.

“Don’t come any closer!”

The girl cried out, tearfully.

Serena’s gaze slowly sank.

“The one behind you, is that Yeon, right?”

“Th, that’s… Lady Bennet is…!”

The moment the girl hesitated and tried to make excuses, a sharp presence quickly dug in.

“Who’s Lady Bennet?”

Without anyone knowing when she had approached, Serena was already standing right in front of the girl.

Her face was frozen.

That sharp gaze was staring at the girl and the being she was trying to protect as if to kill them.

“Th, that’s not it! It’s not because of Lady Bennet…! She actually… she saved us!”

Lea desperately cried out, blocking Serena and the audit team members surrounding her.

“Move.”

“No… please…”

“Team leader, could she be… brainwashed?”

“Hmm…”

Serena lowered her head slightly and fell into thought.

It was a possible story.

Otherwise, there would be no reason to protect a woman like Yeon Bennet so desperately, nor would there be any reason to say nonsense that she had saved someone.

“Knock her unconscious and take her to the people from the Order for now. She’ll need a thorough examination.”

Tears burst from Lea’s eyes.

“No… please, just believe me once…!”

But before her cry could end.

Thud-

As Serena’s hand blade struck the back of her neck, Lea’s small body collapsed limply like a scarecrow.

“Take her away.”

Serena didn’t even glance at the fallen Lea.

She slowly approached Yeon and slightly lifted the academy uniform coat that was covering her.

‘…So that’s why.’

Serena could now vaguely guess why that student had bothered to cover her with her own uniform.

Underneath the coat, the exposed Yeon Bennet was completely naked.

Serena twitched her lips as if troubled and covered her with the hem of the coat again.

She didn’t care what humiliation Yeon Bennet suffered.

No, she wanted to drag her naked through the streets and inflict humiliation on her.

But…

Serena turned her gaze to the side.

Most of the subordinates in this place were men.

The fact that she would be seeing the naked body of a woman like herself with them was unpleasant to Serena.

“Someone bring something to cover her!”

At the rough command, someone hurriedly handed over a blanket.

Serena roughly wrapped her body with it and then lifted her up herself.

Serena was momentarily flustered by the surprisingly light weight, but she quickly regained her composure.

“Let’s go. I’ll take care of this woman myself.”

‘No matter what you do this time, you won’t be able to escape, Yeon.’

…

Richard silently looked down at Lagriel’s corpse, which had been split in half.

In the wreckage scattering into red ashes, his senses, honed from years of traversing the battlefield, sounded an alarm.

‘Strange… too easy.’

Three Calamity-Class Monsters that had plagued humanity for hundreds of years had fallen in just a few months.

Envia, Narcission, and Lagriel just now.

The Evil God’s attitude was also ominous.

If he really wanted to destroy humanity, he should have led a definite force.

But he always threw out only precarious forces, and he was consuming his own subordinates as if intentionally staging a defeat.

This time too, he gained nothing.

The academy was still standing strong.

Although it had caused some damage to the front lines, it was a drop in the bucket compared to what the Evil God had lost in this attack.

“Perhaps… do you have any guesses?”

Richard asked Anaide, the pure white cat licking its front paws leisurely next to him.

“Hmm…”

Anaide seemed to be pondering for a moment, then nonchalantly licked her front paws.

“I don’t know.”

At her irresponsible answer, Anaide flinched briefly at Richard’s gaze.

“Why, why are you looking at me like that! It’s not like I know everything!”

Anaide shouted, flaring up.

“Then why did you follow me instead of staying by her side?”

Richard’s eyes narrowed.

“I didn’t know you would follow her words to leave so obediently.”

Anaide’s ears twitched.

“If you were really going to follow her words so well…”

“Why did you pretend not to know at that time? That was when it was much more desperate than now.”

At Richard’s cynical words, Anaide made a pitiful expression as always and drooped to the floor.

“That doesn’t work on me.”

Richard said firmly, cutting her off.

“…Sorry.”

Anaide made an even more pitiful expression and stretched out on the floor as if melting into a liquid.

At that immature appearance, Richard eventually sighed and shook his head.

But soon, he returned to a solemn expression and asked the main point.

“How is… her condition?”

At Richard’s question, the playfulness from just now was nowhere to be found, and her expression instantly hardened.

“……”

After hesitating for a moment, she asked back with an unreadable expression.

“Even if they’re the same soul, if their memories are different… can you call them the same person?”

Author’s words (Author’s afterword)

It’s hard to keep up with the update schedule because I don’t have any stockpiles…

It seems like it will be every other day until I have a stockpile…

I’m sorry…