Episode 23. So It Was You? (4)

The city built around the Reynaldo Hero School, Valhalla.

A city located in the ‘neutral zone’ along with the school, where the cultures of three nations came together to create a splendid civilization.

According to the gossips, Valhalla is more luxurious than the capital of the Empire, more majestic than the capital of the Holy Kingdom, and more developed than the capital of the Republic.

But the brighter the city’s light shines, the darker the shadows beneath it become.

In Valhalla, there existed a slum more ominous and vast than anywhere else on the continent.

In Valhalla’s slum, a gloomy street known as the ‘Ant Hill,’ a group of men cloaked in black robes were moving.

Even the residents of the Ant Hill, who were so drunk on drugs and alcohol that they feared nothing, would flinch and turn away upon seeing these men emitting a sinister aura.

“Open it.”

“Yes, Priest!”

Calyx’s subordinates entered the maze-like alleys of the Ant Hill and placed their palms on a seemingly empty wall.

-Uuuung!

As black light flowed from three directions into the wall, a circular entrance appeared where there had been nothing.

“Phew.”

Returning to the hideout, Calyx threw off his robe and let out a low sigh.

‘Now, what do I do next?’

There was much to be done to make the dead candidate’s disappearance look like a simple case of going missing.

‘First, I need to find someone who looks as similar as possible to that candidate.’

The plan was this.

A candidate, unable to bear the stress of academics and the professor’s oppression, ran away from school and fled to his hometown.

To create this scenario, they needed to find someone who looked as similar as possible to the candidate and create an alibi that he had fled to his hometown.

‘First, I need to find out where he’s from.’

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be from the Republic.

But unlike 500 years ago when the people of the Republic had just crossed over from a world called ‘Korea,’ their race had mixed with the continent’s people over time, making it impossible to judge solely by appearance.

‘I need to finish this as quickly as possible before He finds out.’

Calyx nervously bit his lip.

“Welcome, Priest Calyx!”

“I heard that Husk’s contact has been cut off…”

As he entered the hideout, his subordinates who had been waiting inside rushed out.

The number of Mynes gathered was thirty.

They were the Mynes of the Devil God Church, performing tasks necessary for the plan under Calyx’s orders.

“Everyone, quiet.”

Calyx gave a stern command to his restless subordinates and sat down on a chair.

“Priest Calyx, this candidate’s corpse…”

“Put it over there in the corner. Cut Husk’s corpse into pieces and feed it to the stray dogs.”

“Y-yes, I will obey!”

Even for Mynes serving the Devil God, the cruel order to cut up a dead comrade’s body and feed it to stray dogs left them stuttering.

“By the way.”

Calyx’s eyes gleamed ominously.

“Who was supposed to go with Husk today to plant the ‘nails’?”

“Uh…”

The Mynes’ gazes focused on one person.

“Was it you?”

“Uh, well… Priest Calyx.”

A pale-faced Myne stepped back and bowed his head at Calyx’s feet.

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll make sure this never happens again!”

“There won’t be a next time.”

Calyx reached out his hand toward the bowing Myne, a smirk on his lips.

“I don’t trust the living.”

“H-hik!”

“The only ones I can trust…”

Are the dead.

“P-Priest Calyx! Please!”

Black light gathered in front of the outstretched palm.

The condensed malice in the form of sharp thorns shot like an arrow, piercing the Myne’s head.

“Cut this one’s body into pieces and feed it to the dogs too.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The Mynes, who had been watching in terror, dragged the corpse of the Myne with the pierced head into the room.

“Phew.”

Calyx, who had just taken a subordinate’s life in an instant, leaned back in his chair with a calm expression.

“How is the work on the other ley lines progressing?”

“I-it’s going smoothly.”

“There’s no one stupid enough to wander around alone doing the work like that guy, right?”

“N-no, sir!”

The subordinates answered with tense expressions.

“Tsk.”

Calyx clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

There were probably those among them who broke the rules without his knowledge.

As much as he wanted to find and kill all the rule-breaking subordinates, doing so would leave him short on manpower.

“Um… Priest.”

“What is it?”

“Should we pause the work on the ley lines until we create the alibi for that candidate?”

At the very least, the professor who issued the permit to the candidate would know by tomorrow that one candidate had disappeared.

Until they created fake evidence that the candidate had run away on his own rather than disappearing during outdoor training, the risk to the operation was too great.

“Hmm.”

Calyx, who had been pondering the subordinate’s words, shook his head with a heavy expression.

“No, continue the work as planned.”

“B-but!”

“The professor who sent the candidate to the outdoor training ground won’t report it to the school just because he lost contact for a day or two.”

In that case, the professor who issued the permit would also have to cover his own responsibility.

‘At most, he’ll probably try to find the candidate himself.’

Of course, no matter what, the risk to the operation would definitely increase.

“If the work is delayed, the plan will be delayed.”

“But there’s still a year left before the full execution of the plan, right?”

“Idiot! Why do you think we’ve been preparing for this operation for years?”

Calyx clicked his tongue in disdain.

“Pouring ‘curses’ into the ley lines to create a large-scale ritual is a complex task that even He had to prepare for a long time.”

And most importantly.

‘The moment it’s known that the plan has hit a snag, I’m dead.’

No matter what, this incident had to be kept hidden.

“Understood? Then quickly find someone who looks as similar as possible to that candidate.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The Myne bowed his head and approached the corner where the candidate’s corpse was placed.

“Let’s see… what did this guy’s face look like?”

Earlier, the situation had been so urgent that there was no time to examine the candidate’s face.

As he walked toward the candidate’s corpse placed in the corner.

“…Huh?”

Gray ash fluttering in the corner.

“What’s this?”

The Myne frowned and brushed away the gray ash scattered on the floor with his foot.

And then.

Swoosh!

“…Huh?”

With a flash of blue light, the Myne’s head rolled on the floor.

“So… that’s how it was.”

The gray-haired candidate, who had been thought dead with a pierced heart, rose from his spot.

“W-what?”

“What the…!”

The Mynes around, including Calyx, stared in disbelief at the candidate rising to his feet.

“He was… alive?”

No.

That couldn’t be.

‘I definitely pierced his heart.’

Calyx hurriedly got up from his chair to examine the candidate, only to find that the chest, which had been pierced by the malice’s thorn, had completely regenerated.

“W-what the hell is this…?”

Even Calyx, who rarely showed emotion, was so shocked that he stuttered.

“Didn’t you say earlier that you don’t trust the living?”

The gray-haired candidate, Dale, who had risen from the corner, looked at Calyx and smirked.

“From now on, don’t trust the dead either.”

“……”

Calyx’s expression twisted fiercely.

“I don’t know what trick you used… but did you think you could get out of here alive?”

This place was the Devil God Church’s hideout, where thirty Mynes were gathered.

And he was a Myne holding the position of ‘Priest.’

Even if it were an active Hero, a half-baked one wouldn’t stand a chance against a Priest-level Myne, let alone a mere candidate.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

“…Misunderstanding?”

Dale smirked and tapped the floor with the sword in his hand.

“The one who needs to worry about getting out alive isn’t me.”

The ones who need to worry are.

“You guys.”

“…What?”

Calyx’s expression twisted in disbelief.

Dale, as if uninterested in Calyx, leisurely turned his head to survey the inside of the hideout.

The black nails the size of fists placed throughout the hideout.

‘They said they’re pouring curses into the ley lines, right?’

And the full execution of the plan starts next year.

“…Ha.”

With clues like this, if he couldn’t figure out what their ‘plan’ was or who ‘He’ was, he’d be unworthy of being a regressor.

-It was a curse.

-…A curse? By whom?

Suddenly.

A past conversation with Iris flashed through his mind.

The one who unleashed a curse on the entire school, took away her eyes, took away the title of ‘Saint,’ and took away the life of a precious friend.

The one who made it so that she could no longer smile like a mischievous child.

-The Grand Archbishop of Dreaming, Ashtaroth.

“Ha, haha.”

They say when you’re too angry, you end up laughing.

“So…”

He took out a glass bottle filled with blue liquid from his pocket and poured it into his mouth.

“It was you guys?”

Clink.

The sound of the empty glass bottle shattering as it hit the floor.

Sun Sword.

Sixth Form, White Light.

A pure white light filled the room.