episode_0079

“But why is the drug here?”

“””………………..”””

Thanks to Alicia, the special class students, who had regained their senses, all looked at Baron Ashro after hearing Loki’s words.

Cardinal’s words, left before he departed, flashed through the students’ minds.

‘It’s the opposite. This time, I didn’t come to steal; I came to return what was stolen.’

‘By the way, I’m surprised. I never thought an Imperial noble would possess drugs.’

When Cardinal first mentioned ‘drugs,’ they didn’t believe him. After all, drugs had disappeared from the Empire long ago and had never reappeared.

However, Alicia, who arrived late, also saw the bottle and said it was drugs.

Then, was it really true, as Cardinal said, that Baron Ashro originally possessed those drugs?

Baron Ashro, seeing the students staring at him, loudly denied it.

“That thief clearly said that on purpose to frame me!”

If the special class students had caught Cardinal, he would have somehow tried to smuggle the drugs away.

When Cardinal suddenly appeared, he was surprised, but thought it was actually a good thing.

But Cardinal had toyed with everyone with his overwhelming skill.

If Cardinal had left, he would have feigned pity to the special class students to get their support.

That is, until Cardinal left the drugs behind.

“He must have gotten even one bottle of drugs from somewhere to corner me!”

Baron Ashro truly believed that.

The drugs Cardinal had stolen were not just one bottle.

It was clear that he had taken all the remaining drugs and was trying to frame him with just one bottle.

“That’s true.”

“Yes, that’s right. We can’t just take Cardinal’s word as truth.”

Baron Ashro, observing the students’ reactions, inwardly cheered.

That is, until Loki opened his mouth.

“I took a quick look, and that wasn’t an ordinary bottle. It definitely has a special spell on it, so there must be much more drug inside.”

Of course, this was a lie.

Baron Ashro might not believe the words of a mere student like him, but…

“Professor-nim Alicia, right?”

Alicia nodded.

There was no one here who would disbelieve Alicia’s words.

“…… But why would Cardinal specifically come back to return the drugs just to frame the Baron?”

Sepia, deep in thought, spoke.

“Perhaps… he knew we were looking for him and did that to keep us from finding him?”

Frederic timidly offered his opinion, but…

“Even so, that doesn’t erase Cardinal’s crime, does it? If Cardinal hadn’t appeared in the first place, we wouldn’t have even met him.”

As Sepia said, the special class students had tried to catch Cardinal all day but found not even a small clue.

After that, the students brought up various theories about Cardinal’s purpose and the drugs.

The students were certain of only two things.

One was that what Cardinal left behind was real drugs.

The other was that Cardinal could have killed everyone present but chose not to, and left.

The students also considered the possibility that Cardinal’s words were true.

That Cardinal had stolen the drugs from Baron Ashro.

Baron Ashro worried, “What if the students get closer to the truth by talking like this?”

*Clap!*

Just then, Loki clapped once, drew their attention, and opened his mouth.

“Now, now, it might be Cardinal’s goal to make us think this way. Let’s calm down for now.”

Baron Ashro, hearing Loki’s words, inwardly cheered.

‘Still, thanks to that idiot, I’ll live!’

He thought so. That is, until he heard what came next.

“Since we won’t get an answer by discussing it like this, let’s just contact His Majesty the Emperor now and hand it over.”

‘What is that crazy guy saying?’

Regardless, Loki spread both his hands wide and said,

“And we’ll investigate this entire place!”

Of course, he had tried his best to remove any traces of the drugs.

If the Emperor started investigating directly, there was a high possibility that the drugs’ presence would be discovered.

“Then we can also prove your innocence, Baron. It’s a really good idea, isn’t it?”

The crazy guy grabbed his hand and spoke as if it was truly a good thing.

“Well, that…”

Baron Ashro couldn’t say anything.

Because if the Emperor came here, he could be exposed, and if he showed any displeasure, wouldn’t it be as good as immediately confessing he had the drugs?!

Just then, a good idea flashed through Baron Ashro’s mind.

It was late at night, close to dawn.

It was impossible to contact the Emperor at this hour.

“Common sense dictates how can we contact His Majesty at th—”

“I’ll handle that.”

The words Baron Ashro had just managed to think of…

…were cut off by someone walking over and speaking.

Lucas, who had been attacked by Cardinal earlier and knocked out after hitting the wall, staggered over.

Someone who could contact the Emperor, even late at night.

‘That’s right, there was the Crown Prince!’

Baron Ashro was so flustered at that moment that he had completely forgotten Lucas was even there.

“Lucas-ssi, what have you been doing all this time? Why are you just showing up now? Oh, you have wounds. Did you fall on your way here?”

Everyone stared at Loki with chillingly disgusted eyes.

Among the special class students, Lucas was the only one who could be said to have put up some fight against Cardinal.

And the one who stared at Loki with the most chillingly disgusted eyes was Alicia.

She was the only one among them who knew Loki was the one who had done that to Lucas.

‘Don’t you have to feel a crisis to become stronger?’

That was Loki, who had said that and deliberately instilled fear in the students.

“Ha, ha.”

Lucas let out a hollow laugh, looking at Loki, who was teasing him while handing him a potion.

Lucas drank the potion straight away and then spoke.

“I’ll contact His Majesty.”

“How do you plan to contact him?”

“Naturally, with a communication orb…”

Lucas rummaged through his pockets, trying to take out the communication orb that was supposed to be there.

The communication orb that should have been there was nowhere to be found.

Since he couldn’t create a communication orb on the spot, Lucas truthfully said that his communication orb had disappeared.

“Then perhaps it would be best to rest today and go to the capital early tomorrow to make contact.”

* * *

In the dead of night, when everyone was asleep.

Baron Ashro couldn’t sleep. He clutched his head.

‘If things go on like this, everything will be exposed!’

The drugs were currently with that strange guy, Loki.

If the Emperor found out about those drugs, it would only be a matter of time before he discovered that he had possessed them.

‘Wait, what if the drugs don’t reach the Emperor?’

To find traces of the drugs in the mansion, the drugs that guy possessed were absolutely necessary.

“It seems I’ll have to kill that guy.”

“What? He’s an Academy student.”

The butler tried to dissuade him, but the Baron thought it was an even better opportunity.

“Perhaps it’s a good thing that he has it. He’s just a commoner anyway. No one will care much about the death of a mere commoner.”

He hadn’t liked him from the very beginning.

Falling in front of him on purpose from the wyvern,

And constantly interrupting whenever he spoke to Princess Adelian or the Crown Prince – none of it pleased him.

“Kill that guy quickly before morning. If you fail, I’ll kill you first.”

“Yes, yes!”

At Baron Ashro’s words, the butler trembled as he replied.

* * * *

Baron Ashro had a servant quietly call Loki out.

Because if Loki died inside his mansion, there was a high possibility that he would be suspected.

Deceiving him by saying he had something important to tell him, Baron Ashro quietly led Loki to the mansion’s basement.

This was a secret place, known to very few people even within the mansion.

It was deep underground, so no sounds would carry outside.

“Just how much further do we have to go down?”

At the innocent question, completely devoid of suspicion, Baron Ashro smirked.

“This should be enough.”

“So, what exactly is it you wanted to tell me?”

“Nothing much, just that you’re going to die now.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Just then, several more people appeared from behind Baron Ashro.

All of them were armed with armor and swords.

“What in the world is this?!”

Baron Ashro sneered at Loki, who was trembling as if in fear.

“You died this dawn, killed by Cardinal, who suddenly appeared. And I was wounded trying to save you.”

If that happened, his honor would rise.

A noble who risked his life fighting for a student. It was a sweet descriptor.

“What a boring scenario.”

It was a voice so calm, one couldn’t have imagined it was a voice of fear just moments before.

Baron Ashro, thinking it was mere bluff, found his body and mind paralyzed by what followed.

“Don’t you think so, Your Majesty the Emperor?”

[Indeed.]

Loki held a communication orb in his hand.

It wasn’t something he received from Johanna or Yerika; he’d snatched it when Cardinal attacked Lucas.

“Your Majesty?”

Baron Ashro couldn’t grasp the situation for a moment.

‘Since when was the communication orb there? It wasn’t there before?’

“This is, I mean, it’s some kind of misunderstanding…”

It was a situation where he couldn’t even make excuses. As Baron Ashro stammered,

*Tsk.*

A tongue-clicking sound was heard.

Not from Loki in front of him, nor from the communication orb in Loki’s hand.

But from behind him.

Before he could comprehend the situation, he felt something pierce his back.

*Squish!*

“Ugh…”

Baron Ashro lowered his head and checked his body.

A blade, having pierced through his back, protruded from his chest.

– *Thud.*

Loki looked at the butler, who had stabbed Baron Ashro, and the people who showed not even a hint of disturbance at the sight.

‘To think the Necromancer’s subordinates weren’t just one person.’

“Kill that guy and retrieve the drugs.”

At the words of the butler—no, the Necromancer’s subordinate—the people armed with armor and swords simultaneously rushed at me.

‘Wow~ scary, scary.’