Chapter 175: When Selling a Grave, Exclude My Own 8
by Afuhfuihgs
When Selling a Grave, Exclude My Own 8
The dormitory housing complex of Ruincrest Academy.
Normally, it was standard for children from high-ranking families to commute from near the Academy, but since the Ruincrest layer had seen housing and land prices skyrocket, Academy students who lived some distance away or were from commoner backgrounds typically resided in the dormitories provided by the Academy.
So, Fira Dunhill was also staying in the dormitory, spending enjoyable school days (?) with Alice.
“Haa, haa, haa…”
“Ohoho, you’ve worked hard~”
Fira stroked the cheek of the child next to the bed and smiled.
Fira was basically the type to live as she pleased.
When she lived as an independent First-Class Overseer, she had to maintain a minimum of dignity and decorum, so she restrained her personal desires and tastes as much as possible, but now she was not Fira Dunhill, the First-Class Overseer, but ‘Pyon Dunhill,’ who had transferred to Ruincrest on a special admission.
So, here, no one would say anything even if she played around with someone or shared skin like a fleeting dream.
“P-Pyon, you’re more skilled than I thought… I never expected to be so helplessly defeated…”
“Oh my, I was on the edge myself? Let’s just say it was a subtle difference. Rather, I was more captivated by Titania’s beauty.”
“Oh my. Your manner of speaking and gestures are on par with or even surpass those of our group. Are you really from a commoner background, Pyon?”
“I’m from a humble background~ I don’t have the qualifications to be called a noble.”
The young lady called Titania looked at Fira with eyes glazed with ecstasy.
In those eyes, a hint of desire and possessiveness began to bloom.
“Don’t be like this, Pyon. Be with me. If I ask, my father will take you in.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why? We would value you highly, and I would cherish you as well…”
At Titania’s words, Fira clicked her tongue beneath her smile.
“Pyon, this is an opportunity. Our family enjoys wealth that commoners in the Ark can’t even imagine. If you wish, you can live your whole life without lifting a finger. Just stay by my side.”
‘Your mom is Desuwa.’
Ah, another troublesome one has latched on.
I treated her well because her face is to my liking, and now she’s climbing all over me again.
It’s only been a month since I infiltrated Ruincrest Academy, and already more than six people want to take me home, saying they’ll take me in directly.
Fira currently boasts a pure love(?), voluntarily belonging to Rilstia, the administrator, and wanting to stay by Alice’s side, but before that, as an independent First-Class Overseer, she had overwhelmingly more wealth than even the upper nobles of the Ark.
Fira has a lot, and she has all the power and strength, so there’s no way she’d be tempted by a noble young lady offering her money.
What Titania is offering or sponsoring is, in Fira’s eyes, nothing more than pocket change, and the fact that she’s trying to buy her with her parents’ money, not her own, is truly ridiculous.
These ones are different from Alice.
For Fira, Alice is a true love worthy of cherishing and embracing with all her heart, so there’s no reason to put her on the same level as these ones who end up as one-night stands.
“I have a patron, so I can’t transfer my body recklessly until I repay that debt.”
“Then…! Then I’ll ask my father to pay off your patron’s debt…!”
“Hmm?”
At that moment, Fira’s ears perked up.
Even though she lowered her physical abilities and mana to the level of an Academy student, her senses as an Overseer and her innate ability to sense danger were still fully operational.
‘Something’s coming.’
“Fira! Are you listening to me? I’m the eldest daughter and future successor of the Whisper family! If I want, I can keep someone like you for life…!”
“Get down.”
“Huh?”
Fira grabbed Titania’s hair as if she didn’t want to hear the answer and slammed her head into the bed.
The noble young lady, Titania, gritted her teeth at the sudden, rough touch that forcibly pulled her hair.
How dare, how dare, how dare!
To treat me, the eldest daughter of the Whisper family, like this…!
-BANG!!!!
“Eh?”
Titania’s eyes widened as numerous steel fragments passed through the spot where her head had been just moments before.
“Kyaaaa! What is this?!”
Fragments from a bomb.
Not just any bomb, but fragments enhanced with magic formula to kill Awakened or monsters.
If even one of these fragments were to pierce the body of a fledgling Academy student who had never experienced real combat, they would immediately be on the verge of death.
“H-Hic…! What on earth is going on?! Terrorism? War?! What is this… Hiiiik!”
Unlike Titania, who was in a state of panic, Fira was naturally fine.
Even if she lowered her mana to the level of an Academy student, she knew best how to use it efficiently.
She reinforces her skin with mana only at the moment the fragments are about to touch it.
A normal Academy student would quickly tire or run out of mana from constantly reinforcing their entire skin, but for Fira, deflecting hundreds of fragments with a handful of mana is nothing.
As the fragments subsided, Fira looked down at Titania, who was trembling.
“H-Hic. Hiiik… F-Father, Father, Father… sob…!”
She’s half in a panic.
Good.
This is perfect.
I was annoyed by her constantly clinging to me, but now I have an excuse.
“Titania.”
Fira put a minor reinforcement on the tattered blanket.
Since she directly injected her mana, it should still be able to maintain enough strength to deflect the fragments.
“Cover yourself with this and stay here quietly.”
“B-But, Pyon…!”
“Shhh.”
Fira smiled as she put her finger to Titania’s lips.
“If our lovely Miss Titania gets hurt, it’s the same as damaging a national treasure.”
“…”
“So don’t get hurt, and don’t go anywhere.”
For a moment, Fira’s smiling face seemed to twist grotesquely, as if a maggot was writhing, but it was only a fleeting moment, like a film reel breaking.
In the end, Titania, overwhelmed by the atmosphere, could only nod with a dazed expression. Fira then threw herself towards the hole in the destroyed dormitory housing.
Well, then.
Let’s go see who’s pulling what kind of crap today.
★
★
★
— Launch all projectiles!
No matter how cowardly,
No matter how corrupt they were, all the anti-rebellion faction members were nobles of the Ark.
Belonging to the top 1 percent of the Ark, even families that were not involved in mercenaries or military supplies naturally raised a tremendous number of private soldiers to protect and maintain their own wealth.
Ruincrest Academy is an academy for nobles, but a considerable number of commoners also enroll, and commoners who succeed in graduating from here are hired as private soldiers or mercenaries by Ruincrest noble families, offering their martial prowess and loyalty in exchange for enormous wealth.
And Coffee Tree was a group of dozens of such noble families united, and even if they lacked courage, they were not going to be helplessly attacked by a tiger coming to bite their necks.
“Ugh!”
“The bombs and fragments are enchanted with anti-mana nullification formula!”
“—Cough!”
Perdain never really intended to kill or subdue his opponents in Coffee Tree.
The reason he brought his private soldiers and family retainers was merely to intimidate them and gain a favorable position in the negotiations.
Of course, there might be minor battles or conflicts in the process, but he was confident that Arbentaine, the meritorious family and the owner of the layer, would ultimately prevail.
But what is this?
Instead of cowering or being intimidated, weren’t they deliberately preparing for battle?
As soon as Perdain and his soldiers arrived on the scene, what they saw was not a welcoming party or high-ranking Coffee Tree officials cowering in fear, but the fierce gazes of numerous Awakened private soldier legions and a considerable number of mass weapon artillery formations used to hunt monsters.
In a fleeting moment.
Due to the emotion of bewilderment, Perdain missed the opportunity to issue orders for a moment. That gap was a very important and decisive opportunity for Coffee Tree.
“Attack! Attack!”
“Don’t give them an opening!”
“The formation is already set! Deploy the capture barrier!”
-Kwaaaang!!!
“Cough!”
Bombs that would instantly disrupt the arrangement and flow of mana if even a single fragment entered the body were divided into hundreds and thousands of pieces and scattered in all directions.
In the moment when Perdain was bewildered and unable to issue orders, 379 members of the Arbentaine combat mercenary corps at the front line died immediately. Only a few who had some experience in battle immediately deployed barriers and survived.
-Bang!
-Kwaaaang!
The peaceful Victorian-style night of the Ruincrest layer instantly became as bright as day.
Artillery fire and flames.
Numerous magic formula unfolding in the night sky.
Formula to trap the opponent, formula to guide artillery fire, formula to amplify damage, and even formula to fix the opponent’s coordinates to prevent them from leaving their positions and cast instant-death curses.
The battle itself was quite advantageous for Coffee Tree.
Because they knew the opponent was coming.
Most of the Awakened are those who use magic, curses, and spells. Naturally, if these people know the time and place where the enemies are coming in advance, they will cast countless overlapping large-scale formula accordingly.
As a result, Perdain’s private soldier corps had their bodies blown apart before they could even put up a proper resistance.
“Kuaaagh!?”
“Don’t panic! Deploy defensive formula!”
“They’ve cast a dispel curse on this area! They knew we were coming in advance!”
“What?!”
Perdain gritted his teeth.
They knew we were coming.
So they were clearly trying to kill him and his private soldier corps by preparing such a large-scale formula in advance.
“You bastards! I showed you mercy and spared your lives even though I knew your rotten intentions! How dare you insult me like this!?”
-Thud!
As Perdain unleashed an esoteric wave with his anger, the mana wave in the area was distorted.
“…!”
“The artillery formula has been deactivated!”
“The spell guidance device has been destroyed!”
“Damn it! It’s a wide-range anti-barrier!”
The Arbentaine family’s esoteric, a power of Perdain that utilized the inheritance and overlap of talent through bloodlines, was as powerful as a First-Class Overseer, and as Perdain’s mana twisted the surroundings, the various curse formula and large-scale magic that Coffee Tree had prepared in advance were destroyed all at once.
As the magic formula prepared in advance by Coffee Tree were destroyed all at once, the Arbentaine private soldier corps began to counterattack.
“You bastards!”
“You cowardly bastards—!”
“Kill them all!!!”
“Block them all!”
“If we don’t kill them, we’ll die!”
As hundreds and thousands of Awakened legions collided all at once, the streets instantly began to burn.
Fortunately, the innocent people had already evacuated, so the entire street was empty, but the streets of Ruincrest, which boasted the beautiful scenery of the city during the day, began to turn into ruins due to the collision of the Awakened.
Alice thought.
‘Oh, it burns well. It burns as well as the Irung Forest~’
The burning Ruincrest layer~
It’s quite a sight to see the layer of those great nobles and wealthy people, the Victorian-style cyberpunk mega-city, start a conflict that eats away at itself.
Of course, Alice didn’t intend this either.
It just happened to turn out this way.
“…No, honestly, I didn’t know they would actually prepare for battle.”
Alice sent the video of Perdain attacking to the Coffee Tree officials only to send a ‘warning.’
However, the Coffee Tree officials thought that they would lose their lives if they didn’t kill Perdain, so they gathered all their private soldiers, artillery weapons, and magic weapons in a desperate attempt to repel Perdain.
On the other hand, Perdain gathered his private soldiers not to really annihilate Coffee Tree, but to intimidate them and take the initiative in the conversation.
Naturally, he didn’t make proper preparations for battle, and he didn’t bring anti-mana barriers or mega corp strategic weapons.
He literally came with only his private soldier forces and Perdain’s body.
Of course, even considering that, Perdain and his combat troops were a considerable number of Awakened, and the number was large, so the power strangely became equal to that of Coffee Tree.
‘Damn it. We can’t retreat. The cowards of Coffee Tree have deployed a wide-range barrier! They’re planning to kill me outright…!’
‘To destroy so many magic formula…! Perdain, you monstrous bastard! Even his subordinate soldiers are a formidable force! The number is also a number, but the basic average Awakened rank is higher than our soldiers!’
In that way, the time of a desperate battle in which Coffee Tree and Perdain had to kill each other had come.
Although no one intended or planned it.
—And at that moment, Alice was in a very big dilemma.
Whose side should I take?
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