episode_0124

After returning home, I discussed with Irene what we should do next.

“First, I need to find Cress. And I’ll try to contact other staff members who left the clan. Understanding the internal situation of the clan is the priority.”

As soon as she sat down, Irene brought up her father’s secretary’s name. Was it because she calmed down on the way home? The wavering look she had in the car was nowhere to be seen. She seemed ready to face the problem with a calm yet resolute attitude.

“Is there anything else I can help with?”

When Violet 213 asked, Irene hesitated as if thinking something over, then opened her mouth.

“Then, could you help me with information gathering? I need to investigate Rigel Uncle and the whereabouts of those around him.”

“Mhm, I understand. But there’s someone who’s better than me at that. How about entrusting it to them?”

“That person?”

When it comes to information gathering, I couldn’t help but bring up the brokers I employ.

I slowly explained about Director Leslie and her subordinates. She would let out a short exclamation of admiration each time I continued speaking. When I finished explaining, her eyes sparkled with interest.

“That’s incredible. Although I’m a bit hesitant about her being from the underworld, her skills seem impressive. The data you showed when you gathered people to explain things last time. Was that also investigated by this Director Leslie?”

“That’s right. She’s quite useful. Since it came up, I’ll show you the data!”

Violet 489 took out some of the data and handed it over. It contained information about Polaris Academy. Golden eyes quickly scanned the documents. Her gaze fixed on one side of the data sheet. It was the part I had read impressively and underlined.

“Kroshel Torres, birthplace unknown, high probability that some address and identity are falsified. No entry records… What, this student council president fellow?”

“Isn’t it strange? He and the other fellows are similar.”

“Lelarchie Belestan, Kaim Myers… all of them are full of unknowns. What kind of fellows are they? Are they even academy students…?”

Irene’s eyes narrowed slightly. I shrugged.

“I don’t know, maybe they’re like me? They might not have parents!”

Well, I guess we can just catch them and interrogate them for details. What does it matter where the student council fellows’ parents are from or where they were born?

“I’ll help as much as I can for now. Do you want to meet them directly? Or should I give instructions?”

“If we’re going to do it, it’s better to meet them directly. I’ll leave it to you.”

Violet 213 took Irene and headed to the office. Just in time, I also had a reason to meet the Director regarding a weapon trade.

***

While I went to the human resources office with my friend, the other Violets were also busy working.

Currently, the Violets are doing various tasks. Delivery, dungeon labor, weapon research and development, and training.

The core of all these small tasks is to prepare the witch’s hammer to strike the academy and the clan from behind.

In this process, the limitations of time and space were meaningless. We are everywhere in the academy city, and if necessary, we can operate 25 hours a day, year-round, by having our clones work in two shifts.

However, even we didn’t have the ability to overcome the invisible giant called the market economy.

「That damned 5-meter distance limit! If it weren’t for this, we would have copied and sold gold bars or jewels, right? We would have printed counterfeit money too. Then, we wouldn’t have to work!」

Violet 632 grumbled. Our cloning ability couldn’t print banknotes or gold bars.

Violet 498, frowning at the noise in the Violet network, glared at 632. Violet 632 bowed her head at the fierce gaze she felt from behind her helmet.

「Shut up and carry the luggage! You’re not the only one who’s struggling.」

「But it’s too much to make us work right after being created just a few days ago.」

「I’ll let you play later. Focus on work!」

While working, I thought. Who would have known that all of this would start from trying to get a single student ID?

Looking back now, it’s quite futile. Since I have money, I was able to get a hunter’s license or a student ID that’s circulating in the market somehow.

Still, it’s a shame we can’t print banknotes.

「It’s fine. We’ve got some kids to help us now, don’t we?」

When Violet 10 mentioned the newly moved-in tenants, Violet 38 tilted her head.

「Ah, we’re doing the grunt work anyway. Strictly speaking, they’re special units. Like artillery or helicopters.」

Now that I think about it, that’s true.

The Violets’ biggest advantage is ultimately their numbers. Other than that, there’s nothing exceptional. Our strength is that we have no glaring weaknesses, but we don’t particularly excel more than others.

And the difficulty of the dungeons we’re going to in the future will be higher than before.

We needed talented individuals with better stats than me who could respond to various situations. Friends like Irene or Daphne can strengthen the Violet corps, but only to that extent.

What we need in the future is firepower. High magical attack power is required.

「It’s a world where one magic-infused arrow is equivalent to a cannon, so there’s no choice.」

The dungeons in the world of the Crimson Scholar are filled with bizarre things that insult modern military systems. Radio interference, electronic device degradation, high-speed movement blocking fields—it goes without saying.

Those are essential common knowledge even for the children of the academy city. There are even worse things in the dungeons.

First, there are magic beasts that are almost immune to pure physical attacks. Some of them regenerate, and depending on the situation, the use of firearms and explosives can be sealed off.

Wealthy hunters or mercenaries solve this problem by using electromagnetic weapons that don’t require gunpowder or rare artifact firearms, but that doesn’t apply to us.

Dungeons where such magic beasts appear are dangerous, but dangerous dungeons offer more money. Places where dangerous magic beasts or strange phenomena appear more frequently are places where the laws of physics are distorted.

Rare resources or artifacts that would normally be impossible to obtain even if one died trying appear in abundance.

Therefore, to get a lot of money, we need to take on the challenge.

Considering the weapons and equipment we’ll buy and the increasing number of Violets, there’s only one answer. Charge forward!

「Let’s have those dangerous fellows handle the dangerous ones from now on.」

The Violet corps, which was only filled with infantry, will gain a bit of tactical flexibility.

First, we need to coordinate.

As I pondered deeply how we should live from now on before entering the dungeon, an announcement spread through the network.

「Attention, attention. Daphne will arrive at our house soon. Those in the Central Barracks, start cleaning up immediately.」

「Ah, has it come to that already?」

A little later. Daphne, who had submitted her leave of absence, arrived at our house. The Violets waved their hands, smiling brightly.

“Welcome!”

“Now Daphne is living with us too!”

“Please take care of me!”

The door closed and the Violet led Daphne inside. Since her school belongings were in the multidimensional bag I gave her, they only needed to help her unpack.

After finishing organizing, they had a simple tea time in the first-floor dining room of the dormitory. Daphne lightly sipped her tea.

“So, you’re saying you’re going to a new dungeon?”

“Yes, I need war funds. And it just so happens that I have gifts to give to Daphne and our other friends.”

“Gifts?”

I scratched my head and pointed to different parts of my body, one by one.

“Necklaces, bracelets, earrings. Which one do you like?”

“Why are you suddenly…?”

“It’s nothing else, but the dungeon we’re going to this time is famous for its accessory artifacts!”

In the dungeon we’re planning to go to this time, we can obtain interesting artifacts. They’re accessories that grant various beneficial effects.

“You can generate water and even create barriers!”

“I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before. Anyway, a barrier…”

Listening to me, Daphne’s expression changed slightly as if something suddenly occurred to her.

“Speaking of barriers, do you remember the Aether Amplifier in Chloris Forest last time?”

“Yeah, didn’t you feel like you grew a bit back then?”

“Yes, at first, I thought my magical power had just increased a bit. But recently, while practicing my unique ability, I became able to do this. Do you want to see?”

Daphne deployed a barrier enclosing the teacup on the table. A light green, hemispherical shield unfolded. It was small, but a familiar sight.

“Watch carefully.”

Near the teacup, a slender, white hand moved slowly. Green magic glowed subtly. The hemispherical barrier slowly shrunk, eventually flattening into a thin disc-like shape.

“Wow. The shape changed!”

I was surprised.

“It’s just a guess for now, but I think, if I’m right, the barrier’s strength has increased compared to when it was deployed in a hemispherical shape.”

Aha, simply put, you gave up 360-degree defense and instead compressed it to increase its strength.

Seeing the disc-shaped barrier floating like an umbrella above the teacup, I remembered a scene from the main story that would happen five years later. There was a scene where Daphne blocked a witch’s attack in this manner. Probably?

“Since I can do this, I wanted to try other things too. Would you like to see?”

She lightly smiled and dispelled the disc barrier. Several small barriers appeared and disappeared on the table.

When a barrier deployed beneath a cookie, the cookie jolted and shot up. This time, a barrier appeared at one edge of a plate. The plate rattled and shook.

“This is the first time I’ve seen it applied in this way.”

Hearing my words, she smiled sweetly.

“Until now, I’ve only used my unique ability for protection, but after trying to compress the barrier, I thought I might be able to use it in this way. I always felt it wasn’t enough to only use a few auxiliary spells, so this is great.”

That’s amazing. To think she could use a shield in this way. It seems Daphne has gained some insight.

Once she gets used to it, she might be able to use her unique ability, which she previously only used for defense, more actively to support attacks.

“Amazing!”

“Thank you for the compliment! But I still need more practice.”

Suddenly, an interesting idea came to me.

“Daphneya. I’ve got an amazing idea. Using that shield for offense!”

“For offense? How?”

Daphne’s blue eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Like a demon spreading forbidden knowledge to an innocent child, I whispered my amazing idea to my friend.

“Generate a shield inside a person’s body and expand it. Suddenly, with a bang!”

“…?”

“Then, wouldn’t we be able to make anyone burst with a pop?”

Even though I said it myself, it seems like an amazing idea. Could this be an invincible instant-kill technique I’ve discovered?

The moment she heard my words, Daphne froze blankly for 3 seconds in surprise. Soon, her gaze, filled with horror, fixed on me.

“Huh? What, what did you say?”

Only then did I realize I had said something wrong.

“…That sounds really strange, hearing it now. Hey, you can’t do that.”

And the next moment, Lucian, who had entered through the dining room door, said a word.

“You can’t manipulate magic inside a person’s body. Don’t you even know that?”

“What? Why?”

When I asked, Lucian grumbled but gave a brief explanation. After the explanation, I felt a sense of regret.

“What a waste. An instant-kill spell…”

There’s a reason for everything, after all.