episode_0017

“Ugh… sob…!”

“Oh…? Eleisio, are you okay?”

Eleisio Gremlynna sobbed with teary eyes and clung tightly to Ropel.

This was the first time she had experienced such great fear, feeling her life threatened.

Since the situation was still not safe, she quietly held her breath and vented her feelings in Ropel’s arms.

Only after shedding so many tears that Ropel’s chest, which her face was pressed against, seemed to show through, could she calm down.

“B-But… h-how… how did you find this place…?”

“Huh…? Me?”

“U-Uh… In the end, I got caught… but I thought I was hidden pretty well…”

“Ah, about that… Honestly, I can’t explain it well myself.

I don’t know why, but it felt like someone had to be hiding in a corner like this, you know…?”

Even while answering, Ropel tilted his head, as if he thought his own words were strange.

But from Eleisio’s perspective, it at least didn’t seem like Ropel was lying right now.

It was a bit hard to believe, but the situation was serious, so she decided to overlook such minor things.

“…U-Uh… I-I see… Then, more importantly… h-how is the situation outside…?”

“Okay… First, from what I saw while escaping, the black mages in the great hall are holding other students and faculty members hostage and holding out.

Because of that, the suppression units outside are also unable to rashly enter the building.”

The academy side was panicked by the sudden act of terror, but it was still a facility that received state-level support.

They urgently requested troop support from knight orders and magic towers, and the stationed security personnel suppressed the black mages.

Furthermore, despite still being students, academy students with outstanding abilities also confronted the black mages themselves.

Thus, the black mages surrounding the great hall building were dealt with, but there were still black mages holding hostages inside the facility, resulting in a standoff centered around the great hall building.

“T-Then… should we keep hiding? Until the s-situation is sorted out…”

“Maybe, but…”

Ku-gu-gung!

Along with a loud noise, a vibration is felt as the building shakes.

“…I’m worried if this building will hold up until then.”

Due to the explosion of the magic circle the black mages initially carved and the aftermath of the battle, the great hall building seemed like it could collapse at any moment.

“W-What should we do then…? C-Can’t we escape secretly…?”

“I think that’s a good idea too. It shouldn’t be difficult in the current situation.

That’s because, from what I saw, most of the black mages are gathered in the center of the great hall with the hostages.

As long as we’re careful of the few who are patrolling, escaping itself seems like it would be easy…”

“B-But what if… what if we get caught by those few…?”

“Uh… that…”

“E-Either way seems dangerous…! It would be safer to h-hide in one place and wait for rescue…”

Thud!

A massive building remnant fell right next to her.

If she had been even one step sideways, she would have become a lump of flesh right there.

“Let’s e-escape…! Q-Quickly…!”

. . .

“How is the situation unfolding right now?”

A man of massive build wearing black iron armor opened his mouth in a heavy voice.

His name was Regulus Serrion, the head of the Serrion family, famous as a knightly noble family, and the commander of the Serrion Knights.

He was currently scouting the situation as one of the knight orders requested for support by the academy.

“Yes! Sir Regulus Serrion! Currently, groups of black mages are holding students and faculty members hostage and staging a protest!”

Another soldier in black iron armor next to him reported smartly.

“I know that, but… their movements are extremely strange right now.”

“…May I dare to ask what you mean by that?”

A woman covered in blood appeared next to him and asked in a cautious voice.

“Yes, Seraphina Serrion, as expected, you are safe.”

Regulus said expressionlessly, as if it would be troublesome if someone from the same Serrion family were not.

“It is nothing, Father, because most of them were lacking in skill.”

She quietly brushed off the blood of the black mages stuck to her sword.

Although they were black mages, even after taking the lives of several people, her face remained endlessly cold and expressionless.

“I see… As expected, they don’t seem like properly trained individuals based on appearance. They don’t seem to have experience either.

Furthermore, most of them are puppets.”

Puppets, referring to people controlled by black mages using wicked magic.

“But precisely because of that, the actions they are showing now are even more unsettling.”

“…Please explain.”

“Do you still not understand? Yes, it’s a little disappointing, but you will learn from opportunities like this too.

They are holding hostages right now, but they aren’t making any negotiation requests whatsoever.

Even though the building looks like it could collapse at any moment.

And the black mages deployed in the attack are also mediocre and puppets?

That means they are just perfect pawns to be used and discarded.”

“In that case, are they saying they have no intention of saving themselves or the hostages?”

“Yes, they likely intend to die together.”

“But isn’t that strange? If they intend to kill and die anyway, why aren’t they taking action already?”

“They are black mages. And black magic, regardless of degree, always demands a life as a price.”

“…Are they preparing something at the cost of the hostages’ lives?”

“Yes. It might be a sacrifice to summon something, or they might be preparing another black magic.

Whatever it is, they planned the attack from the beginning to use the academy’s personnel as sacrifices.

However,”

“Then shouldn’t we enter quickly?”

“That is correct. But if we charge in openly, they will kill the hostages first.

The skill of each one of them is insignificant, and the majority are puppets.

In that case, there is bound to be a leader who is commanding such individuals.

There is only one thing to do in this situation.

That is to first attack their leader, disrupt the command structure, and suppress them in the meantime.

Therefore, I will form a small elite unit to assassinate the leader and infiltrate secretly.”

“…I will participate as well.”

Seraphina Serrion knelt and requested.

“You? Well, alright. Since their skills don’t seem impressive, it would be good for you to raise your reputation with this opportunity.

I will have the equipment ready, so stand by.”

. . .

“Hah… It’s damnably boring…”

Among the black mages, all wearing black robes, there was one whose robe was uniquely marked with a special red pattern.

His name was Arise, a skilled individual and executive of the black mage organization ‘Stigma’.

Although he often ruined missions due to his characteristic cruelty, ranking lowest among executives, his skill was immense.

The mission he was currently undertaking was to inflict as much damage as possible on the academy.

And what he was doing now was creating a massive explosion magic circle using the students and faculty held hostage, as well as themselves, as sacrifices.

Of course, excluding him as a core executive, an artifact was currently embedded in his body, and he was scheduled to escape as soon as the explosion magic circle was cast.

“Haa… Boring… Boring… So boring…!”

He had become a black mage because he felt pleasure watching people die throughout his life.

Just a moment ago, he was enjoying attacking everyone he saw, but now he was tediously drawing a magic circle.

Of course, if this magic circle is completed, a great massacre will soon unfold with a massive explosion.

But when that time actually comes, the artifact embedded in him will activate, preventing him from seeing that beautiful sight, won’t it?

Right now, he was itching to create victims with his own hands immediately.

However, his robe currently had a surveillance magic placed on it.

Its purpose was to monitor him, as he often caused trouble during missions by failing to control his cruel nature and harming lives that were meant to be important sacrifices.

But that didn’t mean Arise would refuse his pleasure.

He called over one regular black mage member who was standing guard.

He was one of the few regular members in this attack, which was mostly composed of puppets.

“Hey, you, come here.”

“Yes. Me?”

“Switch robes with me.”

“Yes, understood.”

Although it was a rather bizarre request, since the black mage group followed their superior’s orders fanatically, he carried it out without raising any objections.

“And you, the magic circle is drawn up to this point, so you can handle the remaining finishing touches, right?

I’m going to go attend to something else for a moment.”

“Although the casting will be slower than when Sir Arise does it, I understand.”

Arise quietly roams the inside of the building, wearing the black robe worn by regular members.

The hostages in the great hall must absolutely not be touched, as they will soon become sacrifices for the explosion magic.

But what if there are those among them who resist and try to escape? That would be a different story.

Knowing this would happen, he had intentionally allowed a few of the hostages to escape beforehand.

And of course, he didn’t forget to place location-detection magic on each one.

He quietly licked his lips while looking at the locations of the victims appearing in his mind.