episode_0163

A few days later, Astro Headquarters.

I was attending a meeting with my close associates.

Every individual summoned was a key figure within the organization.

However, Irene alone was not seated in her prepared chair.

This was due to my request for her to remain at the academy.

“I’ll be waiting.” “Though I hope you can return as soon as possible.”

It was a time that required stability.

Moreover, now that she had been reborn as a professor-level powerhouse, it would be reassuring if she stayed at the academy.

Even if it was just for a short while, an academy where I was absent felt unstable in many ways.

In moments like these, I realized how much stronger the fox had become.

Anyway.

‘That’s not what’s important.’

I shook off the pointless thoughts.

Turning my gaze back to the opposite side, my eyes met with the silver-haired person who was giving the briefing.

Eyes covered in burn scars were calmly looking this way.

It was the Vice-Captain.

“The part we were worried about has become a reality.”

I had asked Neria to investigate the Veniti Ducal family.

Since I had just received a significant warning from Ruthka, I thought I should discuss it with my close associates at least once.

Various documents were neatly arranged on the round table.

They were the results submitted as a report.

I scanned the contents listed.

“Captain-nim, it seems the alliance between the Veniti family and the heretics has been confirmed.”

“Treachery… It seems they are plotting treason.”

“With this, the enemy forces—Baob, Veniti, and the businessmen—have gathered, forming three major axes.”

“So this is how it ends up.”

I sighed softly.

Well… the Veniti family’s downfall was predicted even in the original story, so it wasn’t particularly shocking, but I couldn’t help but feel concerned.

Because it was Emilia’s family.

With a heavy heart, I flipped through the documents one by one.

*Rustle, rustle.*

“…”

As I furrowed my brows, someone suddenly posed a question.

It was a middle-aged man with red hair and a shaggy beard.

The Red Sword Saint, Kyle.

“Unbelievable.”

“Chef.”

“What happened to Veniti? I remember them as loyal.”

“Come to think of it… Sir Kyle, you mentioned you knew the previous family heads, didn’t you?”

“We shared the battlefield. They were the best ice mages I had ever seen.”

“Remarkable. To be acknowledged by the stars.”

“Their frost was truly on par with the stars.”

His voice sank softly.

Was he reminiscing about the past?

Kyle’s pupils were calmer than ever.

I tapped the documents I had been flipping through.

“Malice and conspiracy often erase even the most brilliant seasons.”

“Captain-nim… do you know what happened to them?”

“Roughly. Of course, I’ll have to investigate the detailed circumstances myself.”

“I see…”

Kyle, with a rare serious expression.

In response, I added a single statement of reality.

“Soon, a storm will fall upon the world.”

“That will truly be a great war.”

Kyle smiled bitterly.

He was someone who understood the sorrow of war better than anyone.

For he was a killer who always commanded the front lines.

The lion with the red mane muttered as if resigned.

“Perhaps a bloodier storm will blow than six years ago…”

“I assure you, such a tragedy will not happen. We will stop it.”

“Are you saying we will strike them first?”

“Is there any reason to be afraid?”

“But… what are you planning to do about the Veniti family?”

The star asked quietly.

The light in her pupils was less doubt and more pure inquiry.

It had been a troubling concern for a while now.

Though it was neatly resolved now.

“They are one of the Empire’s three great ducal families, aren’t they?”

“Indeed.”

“If Astro intervenes, eradicating their family wouldn’t be difficult… but it would turn the entire Empire into an enemy.”

“You can put your worries aside concerning that. The Emperor of the Empire will take our side. If we just finish the minimum preparations to convince them of the situation, we can brand a great family like that as traitors.”

“If the situation allows, we could even secure support from the imperial family.”

“Because the Empire is already in my grasp.”

“I will trust you, Captain-nim.”

“Those are pleasant words to hear.”

Kyle, convinced, stepped back.

The meeting topic naturally moved to the next item.

It was none other than the agenda concerning the security of Gallimard Academy.

For a while, it had been a targeted location for the heretics and Veniti.

My gaze turned to the Vice-Captain across from me.

“Gallimard… We need someone to guard its fences.”

The academy was not safe.

As for the danger of the underground labyrinth, I was also aware of it.

The intricately twisted labyrinth would surely be used as an invasion route by the heretics.

However, it was impossible to close down the symbol of peace, which had come to hold great meaning for the imperial citizens.

This was a battle of wills from the Empire’s perspective, against abominable seeds of evil.

Therefore, instead of closing it, I had to seek a way to seal off the labyrinth.

The right person, chosen after long deliberation.

“Neria-yang.”

It was none other than the Vice-Captain.

I asked softly.

“Will you go to the academy with me?”

The role I desired for her was singular.

The guardian of Gallimard’s labyrinth.

Although the faculty currently kept watch, the enemies they would face later would undoubtedly be stronger than them.

Since the final chapter was approaching, core executives from the other side would appear.

Especially when the top forces, such as the Commander, the Dreamer, and the Gravedigger, began to move, it would be overwhelming for the faculty.

For in battle, the defenders are always at a disadvantage.

‘I need someone trustworthy.’

Neria is strong.

Chosen by the stars since birth, she held unprecedented radiance within her vessel.

Among Astro’s members, she was the strongest after Kyle.

Although most of her starlight was currently sealed, it was more than enough to entrust her with the academy’s protection.

I made my request to the young girl.

“If your star illuminates hardship, there would be no greater joy.”

“Everything as you wish.”

The young girl added no further words.

She merely expressed her obedience.

I responded with a faint smile.

“Thank you.”

The agenda concluded.

The meeting, which was unusually long today, thus concluded.

I shook off my fatigue with a faint sigh.

Until then, I had not anticipated it at all.

That the day’s problems were only just beginning.

“Captain-nim!”

*Bang!*

Immediately after the urgent voice, the meeting room door burst open.

Beyond it, one of the members was calling out to me.

It was none other than Lena.

“Lena-yang…?”

The Spacemancer.

An executive who always aided the members’ movement with her [Portal] ability during operations.

The black-haired woman wore a rarely seen panicked expression.

She spoke, even pulling down the mask that covered her lower jaw.

“Captain-nim! An attack at the academy…!”

The news was delivered urgently.

I sprang to my feet before the sentence was even finished.

It was the only day I had been absent from the academy in the past fortnight.

Of all times, it had to be today, when I was absent.

‘Damn it.’

It seemed trouble had erupted.

***

Approximately 30 minutes earlier.

The cloaked figures in blood-red robes walked down a dark alleyway.

The Gravedigger, who was leading the group, shook his hand.

*Plop, plop.*

Dark red spots splattered onto the ground.

Soaked blood dripped from the man’s sleeve.

Every one of the cloaked figures appeared to be cloaked in malice.

“Hmm.”

The Gravedigger hummed briefly.

Several corpses lay rolling at his feet.

As if something had torn into them, the bodies were gruesomely mutilated.

Only by the insignia on their collars could one tell they were Gallimard faculty.

Four skulls lay scattered on the ground.

“Pitiful. Little. Lambs.”

They were the professors on guard duty.

The exit leading to the academy.

Seeing that they were blocking that area, it seemed the faculty was also wary of the labyrinth.

Four faculty members were stationed at that particular spot.

The Gravedigger toyed with the gooey fragments.

“Fleeting. Life. Revert. To. Primal. Form.”

Though they were educators renowned as the best on the continent, life crumbled fleetingly before the dirge.

The cloaked figures, who hadn’t stopped walking for a while, soon reached a dead end.

To be precise, the labyrinth’s exit awaited them.

The Gravedigger quietly extended his hand.

*Rumble, rumble.*

Responding to the signal, the exit opened.

The lingering darkness was lifted.

“…”

The scene visible outside was the academy district.

The Gravedigger cast a barrier around them, suppressing his party’s presence as much as possible.

Slowly, as he stepped into the academy, he muttered.

These were words addressed to the subordinates supporting him from behind.

“All. Of. You. Fulfill. Your. Mission.”