Field Trip(5)

At the point when 1 hour and 30 minutes had passed beyond the predetermined time, by then all the students had come back with one weapon each that they had chosen.

Kana brought a kitchen knife said to be made from the fang of the fire dragon Exilia.

Riana brought a bow said to be imbued with the spirit of the great sea.

Shati brought a staff said to have gathered the mysteries of the Mirage Swamp into a magic orb.

Pina brought a staff with six divine droplets attached.

All were high-priced weapons costing at least 3 million gold each and appropriate weapons perfectly matching the children’s current levels.

And since even the extra students brought weapons costing at least 2 million gold, I put them all on the counter and swiped refreshingly.

As a result, an enormous amount of money flowed out of the temple, but this was only about 5% of the temple’s total assets, and it was money that would soon be collected again through offerings anyway, so there was no problem.

“They look quite impressive now that they’ve changed their weapons.”

The weapons they had before entering Kraken weren’t bad either, but because the weapons they changed to are so good, it feels too incomparable.

Although armor needs to be custom-made separately because there’s nothing suitable, just changing the weapons would have increased the students’ combat levels by at least 5-10 right now.

Therefore, I nodded my head while looking at the students’ gleaming weapons, and just as the sightseeing at Kraken was about to end, Mu, Isolde, and Morgan returned with their duplicates, carrying the 300 swords I had bought earlier.

Looking towards Mu, the swords she had carried out earlier were already gone, so I asked the students who were intoxicated with their changed weapons to stand by while I stepped back.

“Everyone, take a break for a moment. Wait a bit as I have something to talk about.”

“Yes…”

“Ah, it still looks cool even when I look at it again…”

“To think I would have such a weapon…”

Of course, the students who were already intoxicated with the appearance of their weapons only nodded their faces while answering halfheartedly to my words, but that’s rather fortunate. In that state, they wouldn’t even think of listening to our conversation.

Judging so, I turned my eyes away from the students and approached Mu.

“Sister, I’m back…”

“Yes, Meiyel. I assume you planted them all?”

“Yes… I was a bit late because I had to kill the observing demons, but…”

Mu nods and answers to my question.

Needless to say, the 300 swords I bought earlier were not just bought for no reason. It was a move for a pre-arranged plan.

And I entrusted Mu, Isolde, and Morgan with carrying out this move, and it seemed the three had perfectly planted all those swords.

However, at the word “demon” that Mu mentioned while saying she had completed the order, I slightly furrowed my brow.

“If there were demons, I suppose we should assume Idea is here.”

“Yes… It seems so…”

The fact that demons are here means that, although we can’t be certain, there’s a very high probability that Idea has arrived here.

Judging from the in-game story, I thought we would have arrived first, but it seems that contrary to expectations, Idea had arrived in advance.

“Isolde, is there no way to locate Idea’s position?”

“It’s impossible. If I use my original weapon, it would be possible, but then sister would also know my location. Now that we’ve killed all the sentries, staying quiet is the best option.”

“That’s certainly true… There’s nothing good about revealing our location first.”

I asked Isolde, thinking that as a fellow demon and Idea’s sister, she might be able to pinpoint her location, but the answer that came back was negative.

If she uses demon magic, she could find Idea, but she would be traced back and our location would also be revealed.

And because I had no intention of taking such a risk, I gave up on trying to find out Idea’s location.

No, more precisely, just as I was about to give up, Isolde, who had been quietly silent, opened her mouth again.

“But sister will definitely be here. And if her goal is the Library of Records, she’ll probably be near there.”

“What makes you think that?”

Isolde says this while looking in the direction of the Library of Records.

I tilted my head and asked about her words with no apparent basis, and Isolde slightly closed and opened her eyes before answering briefly.

“A hunch.”

“A hunch?”

“Yes, I’ve lived with sister for a long time. Just a feeling that it would be like that. That’s all.”

“By the way, I’ve never been wrong,” she added, awkwardly tapping her staff on the ground as if she thought it wasn’t a logical answer even to herself.

But despite that, Isolde’s eyes, which said it was a hunch, were clear without wavering as if holding certainty.

“Hmm…”

And at that clear gaze, I let out a pondering sound for a moment and fell into thought.

What Isolde was saying didn’t seem like a lie. Although I don’t have abilities like mind reading or observation techniques, I could feel the characteristic voice filled with certainty that she was telling the truth from Isolde.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I could fully believe those words either.

Moreover, since this was the first quest where I was dealing with a sane demon executive after bringing Isolde and Morgan under me, there was no guarantee that Isolde wouldn’t lie.

Therefore, I only planted Isolde’s words in my thoughts and didn’t credit them.

Finishing the long deliberation, I removed my hand that was stroking my chin at the concluded decision and said:

“Even if what you say is true, there’s no need to meet Idea right now. Moreover, with the students here, protection comes first, and we have no choice but to wait for them to make a move.”

“That’s right. You’re correct.”

“Yes, so for now we’ll keep postponing the library as per the original plan until something happens. The barrier we put around the library should be fine.”

Before arriving here, I had given one order to Mu, just like with the previous Sky Island.

That was to cast a barrier covering a certain range of the Library of Records as soon as we arrived in the underwater kingdom.

And the effect of the barrier to be installed was not something grandiose, but the brainwashing of those outside the barrier.

It wouldn’t work on those already inside the barrier, but it would make those outside think they don’t want to approach the library.

Although it has no effect on people with mental strength above a certain level, it was still the best barrier for repelling unnecessary gathering of ordinary people and academy students.

Since we’ve put up such a barrier, we won’t move first. Isolde also nodded at my words, agreeing to proceed according to the original plan.

This was the best method, as the success rate of the plan would increase if we acted based on their movements rather than moving rashly ourselves.

“Alright, then let’s act as we have been until now.”

“Okay… I understand…”

“Right, I get it.”

“I don’t mind.”

And after ending the briefly opened conversation, I approached the students again whom I had asked to stand by.

After talking for about 3 minutes, the students seemed to have finished inspecting their weapons and were looking our way.

“Has everyone finished looking at their weapons?”

“Yes!”

“Thank you, Professor Aria…!”

“Where are we going next?”

As I approached leading Mu, Isolde, and Morgan, all the students looking at us expressed their gratitude.

Strictly speaking, since it’s the temple’s money, thanks should be given to Pina, the Pope candidate, rather than me, but that would only trouble Pina, so I deliberately kept my mouth shut.

And at the voice of a student curious about the next destination heard at the end, I lightly crossed my arms.

It was clear that all the students in my group would be expecting the Library of Records even if I didn’t say it, so I wanted to speak quickly before their expectations grew even bigger.

“Let me say in advance that we’ll go to the Library of Records last. Until then, we’ll go around other places, so keep that in mind. You know, it’s similar to eating the most delicious thing last.”

“What…? Is this Professor Aria’s style of joke…?”

“More than that, to go to the library last… I was looking forward to it the most.”

“Isn’t it better to go last, just as the professor said?”

I thought I had made a fairly good analogy, but it seems it sounded like a joke due to the image I’ve built up usually.

I scratched my head with an embarrassed face at the sight of Kana whispering to Arin beside her, but separately from that, I recalled the next destination I had decided on earlier at the atmosphere of students understanding my words.

A place that might be even more necessary than this weapon shop Kraken for students attending the academy.

In a way, it was a place that wouldn’t be missed on a field trip, but because it was built in the underwater kingdom, it was a special place, and I revealed that place we would go to next with considerable expectation showing on my face.

“The Magic History Museum. Let’s take a light look around there first.”

The Magic History Museum created by the underwater kingdom that has been with primordial magic.

It’s probably not just my imagination that Shati and Pina seemed to smile brightly at this.

---

The Library of Records built in the center of the underwater kingdom.

In a room inside a building with walls painted red, though it had clean exterior walls erected near there, Idea frowned at the report she heard.

“All the demons monitoring the academy personnel have lost their lives. However, it’s unlikely that ordinary humans from the academy dealt with our sentries. Although we couldn’t recover the bodies of the dead sentries, after investigating the area judged to be where the battle took place, we believe it was the work of the former demon executives Isolde and Morgan.”

“I see, so those guys did it…?”

Isolde, Morgan.

Just hearing those names made Idea feel her teeth grind involuntarily.

The memory of that day when she fell helplessly cut by a sword without being able to do anything was still vivid, making the blood vessels in her eyes stand on end.

‘If the sentries were dealt with, Isolde or Morgan must be with those four.’

As soon as she heard the report, Idea imagined the likely situation.

The swordswoman named Aria who cut her down that day on Sky Island and her siblings. Surely those two must be with them.

Upon realizing that Isolde was with those guys, Idea wanted to rush out and cause a commotion right away, but as long as she was in this building under the Demon King’s orders, Idea couldn’t move.

In the end, realizing that she couldn’t take action herself this time either, Idea bit her lip but asked in a low voice:

“Have Isolde and Morgan’s locations been identified?”

“Currently, Teardrop has arrived at the weapon shop Kraken with three elite soldiers. They are monitoring and tracking.”

“That’s good… Yes, very good.”

The demon great general Teardrop, who was on the same level as Haphras who was currently reporting to her, would surely be excellently tracking them, unlike those idiots who died.

However, even so, they were no match for Isolde and Morgan. Before that, they wouldn’t even be able to put the tip of their sword against those four who would be with them.

At best, the isolation barrier that Teardrop has might be able to separate Isolde and Morgan, but it wouldn’t work on those four.

Therefore, while coldly judging the situation contrary to her boiling head and starting to form a strategy, Idea said to Haphras kneeling beside her before even a minute had passed:

“Where is Teardrop now?”

“Currently still tracking from a civilian house, but the presumed destination appears to be the Magic History Museum.”

“Good, then Haphras. You take all the remaining seven soldiers. Join up with Teardrop and use the isolation barrier to scatter them, then kill the students first.”

“But if I take all the soldiers, there won’t be any forces left to protect you, Lady Idea…”

“Do you think I’m weaker than you lot?”

Haphras’s eyes widened and he blurted out his bewilderment at the order to take all the remaining soldiers and join Teardrop.

But at Haphras’s words expressing concern, Idea glared with venom-filled eyes, and feeling the killing intent from those eyes, Haphras closed his mouth and bowed his head deeply.

“I will follow the order and take all the remaining soldiers. Then what will Lady Idea do alone…”

“Me? I have to fulfill the Demon King’s order, of course.”

“By fulfilling the order, you mean…?”

“Why are you asking such an obvious thing? Of course I’m going to destroy the library and cause havoc, aren’t I?”

Idea boldly declares she will remain alone and destroy the library while grasping her staff that had been apart.

At those words, Haphras quietly got up and opened the door to leave without further words, and Idea, left alone, muttered to herself:

“Since they’ve spread such a barrier around the library, if I cause a flashy disturbance, those four will come, right?”

It’s a matter of course that when something happens to a barrier, a signal is transmitted to the master who spread the barrier.

To gather the four that Haphras and Teardrop can’t handle to the library and at the same time fulfill the Demon King’s order.

“Of course, since all four are coming, I might die, but…”

I might die.

Idea muttered this while looking at the library visible through the window, then soon showed a grin.

“There’s no way I’ll die.”