episode_0093
by fnovelpiaA loud roar swept through the auditorium. It was coming from somewhere not too far away.
And I stood there blankly in the middle of the auditorium where I had come in to look for Laura. Laura’s face flashed before my eyes.
And then there’s the huge explosion that comes from that familiar roar.
Caught in the aftermath of the explosion, Laura… . My student… .
“… No.”
Torn to shreds.
Blood, bone fragments, and flesh were flying everywhere, and clumps of hair rolled through the mud.
And, I was in the trench. Watching it right in front of my nose… .
That’s Laura von Adelheid. If she’s the student I promised to protect.
“No… . Ah, no… ! No… !!”
“Your Excellency!”
“Lu, Professor Lucio!”
“Hey, let go of this…! I have to go! Damn it…! I have to go!”
“It’s still dangerous! Professor!”
I struggled, cursing the hands that were holding my body back. I struggled desperately. It felt like a struggle for survival, and in a way, it looked like a fish caught in a fisherman’s net.
I didn’t care. I had to do what I had to do, no matter what other people thought.
“Go out, I have to… !”
Eventually, I was able to move my body. I ran towards the auditorium door in a panic.
Maybe it was a mistake.
Having lost Helena in vain, I thought I would lose nothing more.
I vowed not to let the smell of blood escape the beasts that were waiting for their chance to prey on my flesh and organs.
All of it… . It may have been a mistake that arose from my ignorance. In the end, I was not a fool who deserved it.
I might have been so intoxicated by the beauty of the rose that I just looked at its petals without even realizing that they were pricked by thorns.
But, but… .
“Ah… .”
I ran out of the auditorium. I felt Deacon Sophia, Chloe, and Professor Esther following me, panting.
And then I could see.
“That direction is….”
In the direction of the academy’s main building, bright red flames were spewing out black smoke.
Surely, Laura was caught in that explosion… .
“… Woof.”
My head is spinning. The culprit that causes me pain is digging into my ears from all over.
A loud noise. An explosion. Something exploding. That sound drove me crazy.
“Ah, it’s a job… .”
Still, I took a step forward. I took a step toward the main building, where black smoke was rising.
Deacon Sophia, Professor Esther, and even Chloe clung to me and tried to stop me, but I couldn’t stop.
“… Not yet.”
I have chosen to wear the crown of thorns myself. Even though I know that the thorns attached to it will pierce my head, I must endure the pain.
Even as I watched the flames rising before me, I did not give up. I had to break the chain of hatred here.
He put his hand into his bosom. He picked up a cold, cool gun.
‘Cesar… Cesar Lee…!’
It was a tingling sensation in my hands.
* * * * *
“Carmendorff, you have to go faster!”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. This is the fastest I can go.”
“At this rate…!”
Maximilian von Adelheid barely managed to restrain himself from shouting at the poor Karmendorff. As he said, it was the belated realization that caused the trouble.
“Fuck… .”
An impatient sigh and a curse escaped Maximilian’s mouth at the same time. His eyes kept glancing at his wristwatch.
It was already close to noon. It had been about three hours since the explosion in the island.
It was too late. Too late. If he had realized that his precious daughter, Laura, was in such danger, he would have rushed to the Academy long ago.
“Damn it… . Hey, Chief Curvein. This happened in the middle of the system, why is the news so late!”
As Maximilian finally lost his temper, Chief Kerbein, who was riding in the same vehicle as him, opened his mouth with a calm expression.
“The scale of the explosion was larger than expected. It took time to quickly extinguish the fire and gather information, including eyewitness accounts from the scene and surrounding areas.”
“That’s the purpose of the counterintelligence network! The system is under attack, what on earth is the Defense Agency doing…!”
“Your Majesty. First, calm down. I have dispatched agents to the Academy, and we will secure Miss Adelheid’s identity as soon as possible.”
“… Damn it!”
As if Chief Kerbein’s answer wasn’t enough, Maximilian turned his head out the car window and swore.
‘How dare you, how dare you…!’
Maximilian suppressed his anger inside. How dare he point a knife at Adelheid? He could not understand what confidence he had to do such a thing.
It wasn’t that serious of a thing to point a knife at Maximilian himself. No matter who it was, Maximilian was confident he could snort and slap ‘it’ away.
But, what if that blade is pointed not at himself, but at his only daughter… .
– Kwak… !
Maximilian clenched his fists. He was so angry that his neck was bloodshot and his head was spinning.
Touching Laura, the most precious daughter in the world. It was something he couldn’t bear. If he had a grudge, he would have come to her directly. How could he touch his family so rudely and barbarically? And to his precious daughter, whom he would not mind putting in his eyes.
‘Who the hell are you…!’
Maximilian was eager to unleash all kinds of lethal magic on the unknown enemy force that had committed such an act.
I tried to think of someone who would do something like this, but it wasn’t easy because I couldn’t think of anyone with the guts to do something like that.
“The culprit is… Has the culprit been identified?”
In the end, the person who could ask for this information was Chief Curvein. When Maximilian asked, suppressing his anxiety and anger that were reaching their limits, Chief Curvein coughed and said.
“Ahem… . After a quick search of the explosion scene, the culprit was roughly identified based on the evidence left at the scene.”
“That bastard…. Who the hell is he?”
“That’s….”
Chief Curbane thought for a moment. Was it right to tell him this?
‘It is certain that the perpetrators of the crime were the War Soldiers’ Association that Cesar had re-established. However… .’
Why is it that at the crime scene, decisive evidence was found that they committed this crime.
The uniforms they were wearing and some of the unexploded bombs left behind had Cesar’s name written on them.
And, in the message they left behind… Maximilian’s name was written.
‘Perhaps, to summon Duke Adelheid… .’
That’s why I was reluctant to talk. Because it seemed like things were going the way Cesar wanted them to. Because it seemed like it was leading Maximilian to ruin.
“Chief Curbane.”
“… Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Tell me. Who the hell is that kid?”
However, Maximilian was headed to the Academy anyway. Telling him about Cesar’s crimes wouldn’t have much of an impact. That’s what Chief Curvein finally concluded.
“Do you remember the young man named Cesar Lee?”
“Cesar, Lee… ?”
Maximilian looked serious and lost in thought. Chief Kerbein waited silently for him to continue speaking.
“Who is that?”
Soon, she found herself frowning without realizing it.
“Three years ago, when Your Majesty was brought before the court-martial. At that time, there was a commotion in the courtroom… .”
“… No way.”
Maximilian’s pupils grew wide. Looking at Maximilian, who had finally remembered him, Chief Kerbein nodded heavily.
“Yes. One of the young men who caused a commotion in the courtroom. He is the instigator of this incident.”
“Why him…?”
Maximilian looked as if he couldn’t understand. Chief of Staff Kerbein also didn’t know the exact cause other than the friction at the court-martial.
“… Your Majesty, have you ever had a grudge against him?”
“Is it really because of what happened in the courtroom back then…? Or is it because of the operation during the Great War?”
“… … .”
Listening to Maximilian’s muttering, Chief Kerbein naturally glanced at the driver’s seat.
A man sitting in the driver’s seat and driving, Karmendorff.
Chief Curvein didn’t miss the way his face twitched.
‘… that guy.’
It looked like the expression on someone’s face when they get caught in a lie.
* * * * *
The hot wind and scorching heat caress my skin.
Caesar nodded in satisfaction, looking at the flames spewing out black smoke.
‘good.’
As the students evacuated, there probably wouldn’t have been that many casualties. However, Cesar’s plan wasn’t originally intended to harm the students.
As much effort was put into making the bomb, its firepower was indescribably powerful. Flames were rising from the main building of the academy where the bomb exploded, and black smoke covered the sky.
If Duke Adelheid, who arrived at the academy in a hurry, finds out that Laura is not in the lecture hall where the students have taken refuge. If he hears the witness account that she was last seen in the hallway leading to the main building.
If Duke Adelheid, who noticed these facts, sees the flames rising from the main building.
I wonder what kind of expression he will make.
He would have a look of utter despair. It would probably feel like the world was falling apart. Cesar knew that feeling all too well.
So, I could estimate the extent of the pain he was feeling.
“Ugh… ! Ugh… !”
As the hot wind blew up to the roof of the main building of the Academy where Cesar was standing, Laura, who was bound by her hands and feet and had a gag in her mouth, let out a choking sound.
“Ugh… !”
“… … .”
Cesar, who had been watching the scene for a while, ignored Laura, who was looking at him as if she was going to kill him, and looked at his wristwatch.
It was past noon. The Intelligence Service would have found the evidence left behind by Cesar, and would have contacted Duke Adelheid.
‘We’re almost there.’
As expected, Cesar saw several black vehicles approaching the Academy campus from afar.
Of those cars, which one is the one that Duke Adelheid is driving? The answer came quickly.
Duke Adelheid hurriedly got out of the vehicle with a bewildered expression. The vehicles following him were swarms of intelligence agents dressed in black.
Caesar narrowed his eyes as he looked at them holding guns as if it were a given. His colleagues scattered inside the main building would eventually engage in a gunfight with the agents.
‘I guess it’s good.’
Caesar was fine with it. Everyone was prepared to die and jumped into this project. They all volunteered to die, and they wanted to vent their anger at the society and the privileged class that had made fun of them.
So now was the time to let out that anger.
“Ugh… ! Ugh… !”
Cesar looked at Laura, who was about to scream. It was funny to see her immediately open her eyes and look at him as the gun pointed at her temple disappeared.
Cesar slowly approached Laura and removed the gag from her mouth. Laura, whose mouth was now free, tried to scream immediately.
“Here—!”
“Quiet.”
However, that too was simply blocked by the cold muzzle of a gun. Laura kept her mouth shut and looked at Cesar as if she was going to kill him.
“This cowardly… .”
“You think I’m a coward? Yeah, think what you want.”
“You, do you really think you’ll be okay after doing this? It’s not too late, so if you let me go… .”
“Do you think that if I let you go now… . do you think I could live?”
This time, Laura closed her mouth in return. Cesar snorted at the sight of Laura like that and took off the hat he had been wearing deeply.
His hideous appearance was revealed as it was. When Laura saw it, she gasped, and Cesar felt a surge of emotion welling up inside him.
Laura closed her eyes. Cesar grabbed her hair and lifted her head.
“Look at my face. Don’t close your eyes, look at me clearly.”
“… … .”
“Look—!!”
At Cesar’s desperate scream, Laura finally opened her eyes. The sight of her was a horrific sight, completely melted and one eye completely white.
“You, what the… .”
Laura’s eyes trembled in confusion. Cesar, who was looking at her, nodded with satisfaction and let go of her hair.
“Aren’t you curious as to why it turned out like this?”
“… … .”
A hot wind brushes Cesar’s cheek, just like a memory from that day.
Caesar bit his trembling lips. Feeling the pungent scent of blood spread through his mouth, he opened his mouth.
“What do you think of your father?”
“… … .”
“Answer me. I don’t have much patience.”
“… If you intend to insult my father, I won’t let you off easy.”
“Do you respect Duke Adelheid?”
“Ha…! Of course. My father is a great wizard, a war hero… .”
“That mouth.”
In an instant, Caesar’s eyes turned sharp.
“Shut up.”
“… … .”
“War hero… . Yeah. You guys know that… .”
After all, the world’s gaze is different. Cesar’s voice trembles without mercy.
“Let me be clear here. Your father is not a war hero or anything.”
“What the…!”
“The theology professor you know, Lucio Antonelli. What happened between that man and your father… . And what he did to me… .”
“What… .”
Laura looked at Cesar with a bewildered expression.
How does this man know Professor Antonelli?
Cesar smiled bitterly as he looked at Laura who had a puzzled expression.
“Aren’t you curious?”
In the end, yes. There was nothing left.
I felt like I was pushed to the edge of a cliff.
With the burning desire for revenge as a side fire, he has been whittling away at the core of his hatred.
“Let me tell you a funny story.”
And now, the wick had become sharp enough. Cesar, holding it in his hand, could tell.
“Your father’s ugly face… The sins he committed against me and Lucio.”
The time has come to plunge that sharp wick into the heart of the enemy who drove him to the edge of a cliff.
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