Fortified facility. The attack bot hiding near the elevator was motionless like a carnivorous animal lying in wait, its gaze fixed solely on the elevator.
Even for an ordinary person, it would have been enough time to become distracted or grow negligent.
However, with their bodies made of steel and mechanical parts, driven by an extreme pursuit of rationality, there was no room for such unnecessary behavior in their routine.
Tick… Tock… Tick… Tock…
Time flowed quietly. Suddenly, the attack bot’s auditory sensors picked up noise coming from below.
[Identified.]
First, the sensors scanned the approaching target from below. The number had been reduced to one, but the signal coming from inside the elevator clearly indicated an ally.
Having identified it as friendly, the attack bot dropped its camouflage and moved toward the front of the elevator.
No need to keep a distance from an ally. A logical action.
And then, the elevator doors opened.
“Blood Magic – Bloody Nail.”
[?!]
Crack!
A red, needle-like object pierced through the bot’s steel body as if it were breaking apart a toy.
With a single accurate strike aimed at the core, the red light of its sensors went out, and its body slowly collapsed backward.
Bang!
A metallic sound echoed. Ryuje emerged slowly from the elevator.
“…”
After scanning the surroundings and confirming that no other enemies remained, she lifted up the attack bot, its limbs already torn off, leaving only the main body, and pierced straight through its center.
Crack!
[…]
The sensor blinked and the attack bot’s head hung limply as it broke down.
Seeing this, Ryuje tossed the attack bot aside.
Clang!
Metallic sounds rang out as the bots collided. Ryuje, feeling no other reactions from the surroundings, still activated her Gear just in case.
“Gear Liberation.”
[Your Gear will switch to combat mode, Mistress.]
“…”
Ryuje’s expression subtly darkened.
It was the highest-performing Gear she was most familiar with, yet no matter how often she used it, she could never quite get used to its stored voice.
‘No… now is not the time to be lost in trivial thoughts.’
She shook her head free of distractions.
Right now, her precious students had given their all to protect the Ark. Not a single mistake could be tolerated, not with the injured pair and the student who had died at the main gate counting on her.
“Hoo…”
Taking a deep breath, Ryuje sharpened all her senses. In the meantime, her large scythe-shaped Gear, having completed its transformation, was firmly gripped in her hands.
“Let’s go, Vlad.”
[Of course, Mistress.]
—
The next morning.
Commotion spread throughout the Academy.
This was not the type of chaos usually brought on by the start of a new semester.
The expressions of students gathered in small groups and whispering to each other were dark, filled with fear.
“Is that really true?”
“It seems so… but how…?”
The students exchanged incredulous words.
The topic spreading throughout the Academy was none other than the incident that had taken place the night before.
“I’m telling you, it was the Invaders!”
“They say even the seniors on guard duty were attacked!”
“Did new students really get brought back in blood-soaked bodies? Is that true?”
Perhaps it was because of the belief that the Ark had always been a safe haven.
The surprise attack that occurred last night, coupled with the horror of the Invaders infiltrating the Ark, was more than enough to instill fear in many of the students.
And amidst all of this, three individuals watched the Academy’s chaotic scene with obvious disgust.
“Tch, making a fuss over nothing.”
“Ahaha, don’t be so harsh. For commoners, it must have been a terrifying experience.”
“That’s right. Commoners tend to panic over the smallest things.”
Brute, Sleazy, and Disgusting.
As Edu referred to them – the Hopeless Trio.
At first glance, they appeared calm in the face of the shocking news of the Invaders’ ambush. But in truth, their nonchalant behavior merely masked their irritation at not being in the spotlight themselves.
“How is it a big deal that a few commoners died? In the end, they’re just insignificant lives anyway.”
“Ahaha, to us, this incident might have only been a minus, but to them, it’s different.”
“Hmph.”
No respect or consideration for the dead—a natural reaction for them.
This group genuinely believed that beings outside of themselves and Sunrise Street were worthless.
Thus, others were nothing but numbers to them, nothing but objects to be treated with cold indifference.
“By the way, did either of you see it?”
“Huh? See what?”
“Hehehe, he’s talking about the four-star thing.”
“The four-stars? What’s that?”
Sleazy handed over a portable terminal to the puzzled Brute.
In this era, where bio-terminals were commonplace, no one actually needed to carry portable terminals, but for those who liked to show off, even something as outdated as this was still a form of bragging.
“What is it?”
Brute looked at the screen he was handed.
The image displayed on the portable terminal showed a seemingly ordinary community forum from last night.
Yeah, just a normal, typical internet forum. In other words—
———————————-
Title – Poor little runt lololol
The newbie who did the initiation oath yesterday, they’re not really from Sunrise Street, right? Talking about tradition this, tradition that, poor little idiot lololol.
Likes 358 / Dislikes 132
┗ lololololol
┗ lololol
┗ Dislikes? Should use real names lolol
┗ Look at all the dislikes, they ganged up lolol
———————————-
Title – Tra?dition lolol
Looks like tradition is shutting down for good…
Likes 631 / Dislikes 185
┗ lolololololololol
┗ Ahh, tradition was a thing, yeah lol
┗ Screw this, if it was the same since the Academy opened, then that’s tradition. Stop arguing about useless crap.
┗ Ugh, my terminal might break.
┗ You can feel the emotion in the typing lololol
———————————-
Title – Sun Bros Take Note
(laughs in vintage meme pic.jpg)
Just in case you were wondering lololol
Likes 203 / Dislikes 71
┗ lololololololol
┗ Ohhh, take note lololol
———————————-
Frowning in irritation, Brute stared at the posts.
Everywhere he looked, it was all about the initiation oath incident—a shameful expose of sorts to them.
“These ‘Sun Bros’—”
“Hehe, probably referring to us.”
“Tch, those lowly commoners…”
Annoyed, Brute closed the forum and handed back the portable terminal to Sleazy.
Of course, not before stealthily pressing dislike on every single comment.
“Why don’t they just ban these kinds of posts?”
“Hehehe, it’s not that easy.”
“Why not?”
“It operates on an Academy security line, so it’s about half sanctioned by the Academy. And making complaints about this to the Academy is too informal.”
“Tch…”
He wasn’t wrong.
Even if they tried to block such posts, more would inevitably pop up.
Besides, internet forums were spaces filled with all kinds of noise thanks to anonymity, so blocking them wouldn’t solve the issue simply.
“I don’t like it.”
“I agree. Which is why I’ve been thinking… what if we reported last night’s incident to the government and our papas?”
Papas?
Confused at first, Brute quickly realized it referred to their parents—Sunrise Street’s financiers.
“This matter?”
“Yes, with their influence, they might make the Academy take responsibility, don’t you think?”
Holding the Academy accountable.
Brute understood all too well what that implied, and a sly smile crept across his face.
“Not bad.”
“Ahaha, I agree. If we use this opportunity to humble the Academy’s arrogance and show our strength, it might reduce the losers’ annoying remarks.”
“Indeed.”
“Good, then let’s move on it now.”
The Hopeless Trio marched off.
Their elitist mentality was already as twisted as it could get.
…
“Ugh, seriously, no loot drops are dropping!”
After farming mob after mob during his gaming session, still no drops.
“This crap game.”
He stretched with a sigh just as his friend’s voice came through the headset on the other end.
– Hey, it dropped!
“What?”
Glancing back at the monitor after his friend’s shout, he saw no item anywhere.
“What are you talking about? It’s not there.”
– No, not that!
His friend sounded urgent.
‘???’
– Your dong, idiot!!!
“What?”
Subconsciously, his hand went down, only to feel… his junior literally drop.
“Aaaah?!!!”
“Whaat!?”
His eyes snapped open.
The bedside lamp stung his eyes, and he instinctively raised his hand to shield them.
His body was drenched in sweat. As his senses slowly returned, he noticed his small, pale hands—soft like a child’s, not the rough, calloused hands of a man.
Memories rushed back quickly, filling the gaps in his thoughts.
“…”
His forehead furrowed naturally.
“…What a nightmare.”
Even so, he instinctively checked. Of course, there was nothing there.
“Haah…”
“Edu student?”
The curtains around the bed were drawn back, revealing a familiar face.
The Academy’s school nurse, Nanase Tsurugi, with her long black hair and glasses. So, he was in the infirmary.
“You’re awake, thank goodness.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“We were really worried when the student who had just recovered came back drenched in blood… it was quite a shock.”
“Haha… sorry.”
“No, you had reasons. You had some dangerous wounds, but I’ve treated them all, so there’s nothing to worry about now.”
She handed him a small mirror so he could see for himself.
In the small mirror, a petite white-haired girl with bandages on her cheeks and the back of her head. A fragile beauty turned injured maiden?
“Thank you.”
With his unusual appearance, he bowed his head in gratitude, and Nanase softly stroked his head with a faint smile.
“Taking care of students is my job, so you don’t have to thank me too much. Just be careful not to overexert yourself, okay?”
“Yes, sensei.”
“A good answer. Then—”
Nanase started to say something more but was interrupted.
Knock knock.
The sound came from the door.
“Who is it? Just a moment.”
“Yes.”
After Nanase left, a voice soon boomed from the entrance.
“Wait! That student is still recovering!”
“Step back.”
A man’s voice, firm and commanding, halted Nanase.
Soon, the sound of heels clacked a few times before the curtain around the bed was roughly pulled back.
“…You’re Edu Nimbsday?”
Cold eyes bore into him, not like they were looking at a person but at an object.
Her wrinkled skin contrasted with her flashy accessories. Her clothes appeared neat yet decorated with meticulous detail, exuding an air of luxury.
Her age seemed similar to Riesse, the boutique owner, but where Riesse carried herself with grace, this woman exuded nothing but a chilling aura.
“…Is that right?”
“Follow me. There’s important business.”
“Huh? Where are we—”
“You don’t need to know. Just follow me.”
Her voice was sharp and commanding.
Feeling a surge of irritation, Edu noticed the dark-uniformed soldiers behind her. Their presence was ominous.
“Didn’t you hear the Minister’s order? Move!”
“…”
As he hesitated, a soldier grabbed his arm.
“Hurry up and move!”
The soldier yanked Edu towards him, and as his feet left the ground—
“A.”
– Negative Trait, Clumsiness: Massive penalty to movement!
– Movement action failed.
As expected, the effect triggered. His body tilted sharply, causing the soldier to lose balance as well.
“Huh?”
Thud, Bang!
Both Edu and the soldier in black fell simultaneously.
“???”
As the soldier made a bewildered expression, the woman—called Minister—spoke in a frosty tone.
“What are you doing?”
“Sorry, Minister!”
The soldier scrambled to his feet and grabbed Edu’s arm again.
“This time! Hurry up and move—”
– Negative Trait, Clumsiness: Massive penalty to movement!
– Movement action failed.
“-What?!”
Thud, Bang!
The same result, and now the soldier’s face was slick with cold sweat.
“Hah…”
“Sorry, Minister!”
“Enough. More importantly—”
At that moment, Nanase’s voice rang out from the entrance.
“That student is weak and can barely walk!”
“…”
The woman scowled, clicking her tongue.
“Carry them in manually.”
“Yes, Minister.”
The soldier who had fallen twice approached Edu, wrapping an arm around his waist and lifting him up as though he were an object.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Minister.”
“Wait! You can’t just carry an injured student like that!”
Nanase called out, but the soldiers ignored her, dragging Edu out of the infirmary.
Outside, the men ushered Edu into a black vehicle.
Should he resist? The thought crossed his mind briefly, but the guns in the soldiers’ hands were far too threatening.
“Stop that vehicle!”
Lady Diana ran out of the Academy, but the car took off without care. Edu was now surrounded by soldiers in dark uniforms.
“Excuse me, where are we going?”
He asked the soldier who had fallen with him.
“…”
“Hello?”
“Central. That’s where we’re heading.”
The soldier let out a small sigh and answered finally.
“Central?”
The central district, home to administrative facilities and the core of the Ark’s infrastructure.
Why were they taking him there…?
“Why there?”
The soldier sneered at Edu’s question, smirking.
“Don’t you know?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I did.”
“You’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“???”
While he questioned, the vehicle continued speeding. Before long, Edu realized they had arrived at the courthouse.
“What?”
Fix pls