Chapter 85
Boom—
As the gigantic Undead Wyvern set its foot down, the ground quivered faintly.
Whoosh—
Not to be outdone, the Skeletal Horse, engulfed in green flames, pawed the ground and spewed fire.
‘Hmm. They don’t seem to get along as well as I thought.’
Following Greenie, the newly acquired pet, Yongyongi.
Since they were both Undead, I thought they’d get along if kept in the same space, but that wasn’t the case.
Yongyongi and Greenie growled at each other, watching each other warily.
At least with me in between them, they didn’t outright charge at one another.
“Greenie.”
Clop—
Greenie now obeyed my commands very well.
Even amidst my busy schedule, I made sure to drop by and play with it, which seemed to have paid off.
When I called its name, Greenie approached me slowly and lowered its head obediently when I reached out my hand.
Despite being an Undead with only bones remaining, its behavior was exactly like a real horse.
‘Well, it used to be a real horse before it turned into just bones.’
As I stroked the cold bones, I turned my gaze to Yongyongi.
Yongyongi growled in displeasure, stomping its foot as if it couldn’t understand Greenie.
Even so, it had calmed down significantly compared to before.
When I first brought it here, it would charge at me at every opportunity, which was quite troublesome.
After some discipline, which involved a bit of punishment, it no longer charged at me recklessly.
Someday, it’ll listen to me as well as Greenie does.
‘And one day, I’ll fly on their backs, won’t I?’
I didn’t know when that day would come, but imagining myself soaring through the skies on Greenie made me stroke it even more vigorously.
“Are you two getting along?”
Whoosh—
Greenie seemed to respond by emitting a strong burst of green flames and stomping its foot.
Humm—
Finding Greenie’s reaction rather adorable, I headed back to my office.
It had already been three days since I captured Yongyongi.
In other words, three days had passed since the battle with Randgar Bayel.
In just three days, the continent had been thrown into chaos.
What happened at Crescent Academy wasn’t that significant, honestly.
Randgar went on a rampage, and Vinuar Christia, the Principal, got injured, but there were no casualties.
Even the appearance of the Undead Wyvern, which drew some attention, lost its momentum since its body was no longer around.
After all, I had taken Yongyongi.
Instead, a slew of other events had occurred across the continent.
The Church’s highest-ranking knight was murdered.
The strongest knight order of the O’Neill Kingdom was annihilated.
A war broke out overnight among minor kingdoms in the western part of the continent.
These major incidents happening simultaneously overshadowed the relatively minor issue of Crescent Academy’s Vice Principal committing treason.
“Commander.”
“Yes? Is there any news?”
“For now, nothing on Randgar. Even though Lady Yuria is interrogating him, he’s not opening his mouth easily.”
“I see.”
I hadn’t expected Randgar to talk so easily in the first place.
Still, with Yuria personally handling the interrogation, I held a sliver of hope.
“And the others?”
“It seems your suspicions were correct, Commander.”
“…Really?”
From the moment Addy entered my office, her expression had been unusual, and now I understood why.
Addy, with a grave look, continued speaking.
“First, regarding the murder of the Church’s highest-ranking knight, there are no traces of evidence.”
“None at all?”
“Yes. While there are signs of battle, there’s no information to identify the assailant.”
“Hmm.”
“And about the annihilation of the O’Neill Kingdom’s Luna Knight Order.”
“Yes. They’re pretty strong. How did an entire knight order get wiped out?”
“The O’Neill Kingdom is keeping it under wraps, but it seems to be related to black magic.”
“Black magic?”
Hearing about black magic brought to mind the battle with Randgar.
The unpleasant sensation of the black mana tendrils.
It was indeed a type of mana that was hard to counter.
Without my gauntlets, I probably would’ve struggled for a while.
It was the kind of mana that would catch anyone off guard on their first encounter.
If black magic was involved, it made sense why the Luna Knight Order of the O’Neill Kingdom was wiped out.
“Although it’s hard to get information, rumors about black magic are circulating. However, there are no mentions of Undead.”
“Yeah, I thought so. It’s all connected, isn’t it?”
“Yes. When we consider the war in the western part of the continent, it seems plausible. Information suggests that black magic was used in the assassination that triggered the war.”
As expected, my prediction was correct.
Four major events that shook the continent in a single night.
Even if the murder of the Church’s knight isn’t connected, the remaining three incidents share one undeniable commonality.
Black magic.
“It seems the black mages have indeed returned.”
Addy’s voice dropped to a grave tone.
***
“Alright, let’s proceed with the vote.”
With both the Principal and the vice Principal absent from Crescent Academy, the decision-making authority fell to Camilla, the most senior professor at the academy.
Camilla addressed the gathered professors with a tone of finality as she raised her hand.
A small pouch materialized and floated toward the center of the professors.
“Write your opinions on a slip and submit it into that pouch. Only ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ will be accepted.”
Murmur, murmur—
As Camilla finished speaking, murmurs rippled through the gathered professors.
“Professor Amilion, what will you do?”
“I…”
After a brief moment of contemplation, Amilion responded to Cassis’s question.
In truth, Amilion’s deliberation was already over.
“I’ll vote in favor. The incident that night was resolved smoothly, there were no casualties, and nothing else has happened since. As long as we conclude with the closing ceremony, everything should be fine.”
“Hmmm.”
Cassis let out a low hum, seemingly surprised by Amilion’s response.
The Principal was absent due to injuries, and the vice Principal had been apprehended for treason.
The matter being put to a vote by Camilla, who had gathered all the professors, concerned the continuation of the academy festival.
Though the festival had already been disrupted, the debate centered on whether to ‘suspend’ it or to officially ‘conclude’ it.
While it might seem like semantics, the professors knew how crucial this decision was.
For now, it was simply a festival interrupted by an external attack.
But years, even decades later, the historical record would paint a different picture.
If marked as ‘suspended,’ the event would be remembered as, “The academy festival was suspended due to an attack.”
However, if they completed the closing ceremony and marked it as ‘concluded,’ history would record, “Despite an external attack, the academy festival concluded successfully with the closing ceremony.”
“Even so, isn’t it dangerous to gather the students again after such an incident?”
“I think so too, but additional security measures will be in place to account for that. Plus, three of the Six Great Houses have volunteered to assist with security.”
“Hmmm.”
Considering that point, it did seem reassuring.
With the Sinclair, Bernstein, and Prisis families gathered to reinforce security, it was unlikely that even the most formidable enemies would dare launch an attack.
“Understood.”
Watching Amilion submit her vote slip without hesitation, Cassis nodded.
Judging by the atmosphere, most professors seemed inclined to vote in favor of concluding the festival.
Everyone likely had similar thoughts.
No one wanted to acknowledge that, during their time, an event within the academy had been ‘suspended’ due to an external attack.
‘That makes sense.’
After a brief moment of consideration, Cassis filled out his vote slip and sent it into the floating pouch.
Seeing this, Amilion shook her head slightly with an uncertain expression.
Ordinarily, Amilion would have voted for ‘suspension’ without hesitation.
Even though the incident hadn’t caused significant damage, it wasn’t without consequences.
Two buildings had been damaged, and the Principal was injured.
To gather the students again for a mere ceremonial closing didn’t align with Amilion’s principles.
Despite this, Amilion voted in favor for one reason alone.
Because Yuria and Ryu Yeong had asked her to.
For some reason, both of them wanted the academy festival to conclude peacefully.
In fact, this entire voting process likely came about because Yuria had pulled strings behind the scenes.
‘It should be fine, right?’
Amilion placed her trust in the Prisis family, particularly Yuria Prisis.
The colossal ice wall she had seen that day.
Even now, recalling it brought a sense of reassurance.
‘Yes, and we’ve captured Vice Principal Randgar.’
According to Yuria, Randgar Bayel had been the mastermind behind an organization she had been tracking for a very long time.
With the mastermind captured, they shouldn’t be able to cause further trouble.
Convincing herself of this, Amilion nodded to herself.
“Then, the voting is now complete.”
The professors’ votes were tallied faster than expected.
Observing the atmosphere, Amilion was half-certain of the outcome.
As Yuria and Ryu Yeong had requested, the festival would conclude peacefully.
—
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