“Identity confirmed, Miss Yuria Prisis. And Miss Erika. What an honor!”
“Thank you.”
While Yuria smiled faintly and nodded her head in thanks to the staff, Erika wore a face full of discontent.
“Erika. Let’s go.”
“…Yeah.”
“Oh my, Miss Erika. Speaking without proper honorifics is dangerous, you know.”
“…Ugh. Yes, okay, yes.”
“Hehehe.”
Erika scrunched her face in clear agitation and snapped,
As usual, Erika’s hair had been altered from its natural silver to black today, which was making her mood even darker.
It couldn’t be helped—while Erika could somewhat deal with being on a mission alone with Yuria, a person she typically didn’t get along with, this situation was genuinely hard to stomach.
Especially because… she was technically Yuria Prisis’s personal secretary.
“Still, Erika does look good with black hair. It’s kinda similar to our Leader.”
“Stop talking to me. I don’t feel like talking.”
With awareness of the students passing by, Erika squeezed out her words reluctantly.
She had thought that once inside the Academy, she wouldn’t have to pretend as much—but instead, she had to pretend even more.
Why were there so many people inside?
“Hehehe. The Academy looks so lovely decorated for the festival.”
Erika replied by lifting her head to look around at the Academy.
She could tell things had changed, having visited the Academy daily to stalk Cynthia recently.
For the festival, the Academy was gorgeously decorated. Not only were banners hanging from every tree, but symbols representing Crescent Academy were festooned all across various facilities.
“So where are we headed? Huh.”
“Hehe. We have plenty of time. Let’s take a lap first.”
“Ugh, if we had more time, we could’ve come later… right?”
Erika barely held back the urge to ditch Yuria and run away right there.
“You never know what might happen. It’s better to familiarize ourselves with the Academy’s terrain, right?”
“…”
And somehow, Yuria’s logic made sense, which made Erika even more irritated.
“Hmph.”
“But seriously, black hair looks great on you. Why not dye it permanently? It suits both the organization and you.”
“I don’t want to.”
“That’s a shame then.”
Yuria ran her fingers gently through Erika’s hair in a faux-pitying gesture before urging her along.
Finally, the day had come.
The first day of Crescent Academy’s Festival.
For the past week, no decisive evidence connecting the Vice Chancellor to anything suspicious emerged, nor did they uncover the enemy’s plans.
Thus, it was decided to proceed with the original plan—Yuria and Erika infiltrating the Academy after the Black Shadow Guild Leader Ryu Young.
Whatever the enemy was planning, Yuria and Erika were to remain inside and prepare together for the incident on the second day.
“That’s the dormitory building over there.”
“I know that too… right?”
“Oh, right. My bad.”
Yuria finally recalled that Erika had been in and out of the Academy a few times before.
She had meant to show consideration for Erika by giving her a tour of the Academy, but clearly, that wasn’t necessary.
“Then, we probably don’t need to do a full Academy tour, do we?”
“Yeah, I’ve been to most of the places students go.”
“Hehe. Impressive, as always.”
“…”
Thanks to Erika’s black hair and Yuria’s presence, they drew a lot of attention as they passed by. Yuria seemed comfortable with all the stares, but Erika? Not so much. It made her very uncomfortable.
“Let’s head somewhere less crowded, shall we?”
“Hehe. Let’s just walk around the lake first.”
“Ugh, seriously…”
Erika’s heavy sigh had no effect.
Yuria, with a bubbly and light-hearted step, headed toward the giant lake within the Academy.
“What are you waiting for, come on!”
“…Sigh.”
Even though Erika sighed deeply, she followed.
Today and tomorrow, just two more days, and her bonus would be waiting—it would all be worth it.
*
“Miss Yuria and Miss Erika have successfully entered.”
“Okay. Good start.”
“But they went in earlier than expected. Not much to do there, I guess.”
“This might be a good chance for them to get along.”
Though the probability of that happening approaches zero.
Erika would have to change her attitude for that to happen, and Erika being Erika, if something didn’t work once, she wouldn’t budge for anything.
It’ll take more than a minor incident to make her attitude change.
“When are you going in, Leader?”
“On a day with no classes, the later, the better.”
“Are you heading straight to Miss Yuria’s speech?”
“Nope, I’ve got to meet the kids beforehand. They’re supposed to go with me.”
This day came too quickly.
Wouldn’t it have been nice if we’d found something by now to confront the Vice Chancellor immediately?
Of course, not everything goes as planned, especially not when there’s a quest involved.
Since failure simply isn’t an option, I couldn’t afford to lose my cool.
For any other situation, I wouldn’t be pulling strings this tightly.
“Nothing probably much today.”
“Hopefully…”
According to what Yuria found out, the plan’s supposed to kick off on the second day, so hopefully, nothing happens today.
Probably.
“God, this is frustrating.”
This sense of being dragged around by someone else is practically new and extremely annoying.
“Did you have any contacts from them?”
“Them who?”
“The kids we handed the communicator to back in Crescent’s back alley.”
“Ahh, no. None at all. They’re probably keeping out of sight.”
“Okay. Then let’s forget about them.”
After threatening them pretty hard, I doubt they’ll screw things up. No contact in the day before the event means no major issues so far.
Now we really only need to focus on what happens inside the Academy.
“Let’s see what the Vice Chancellor’s up to. Maybe he’ll move earlier than expected?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty bright outside. Not quite likely, but still…”
“…”
Eddi’s words oddly pricked me.
Is she teasing me?
Lately, Eddi’s wit is sharpening by the day.
“In any case, I’m heading out.”
“Yes. For now, I’ll stay in the office until as late as possible in case something comes up.”
“Got it. Thank you.”
Umm-hmm—
After noticing Eddi’s polite nod, I closed my eyes and reopened them.
As if on cue, the skies greeted me bluer than ever.
Whoosh—
A cool breeze accompanied the perfect timing.
I instantly teleported to the roof of the vault building where the Vice Chancellor’s office was.
The weather seems to be cooperating, knowing it’s festival day.
‘Hopefully nothing happens.’
Just as I stood on the roof to enjoy the refreshing breeze and admired the surroundings, a voice came from the building’s entrance.
“Did you arrive?”
“It’s been a while.”
This was a new voice, one I’d never heard before apart from the usual guards’ conversations.
‘Vice Chancellor?’
One of the voices definitely belonged to Landgar, the Vice Chancellor.
I quickly lowered myself and moved more stealthily.
Lately, tailing the Vice Chancellor has become routine practice, so I’m grateful for that.
The skill of staying hidden that I learned from Erika really comes in handy.
“There’ve been quite a few incidents lately, it seems.”
“Haha, handled them all well.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Not at all. That’s the duty of a Vice Chancellor, isn’t it?”
‘Who is this?’
The Vice Chancellor’s tone was the most respectful and polite I’ve ever heard.
It was clearly a voice addressing a superior.
‘Landgar’s superior? That must mean…’
“The Chancellor has been away for far too long. My apologies.”
Bingo.
Currently standing below the building conversing with the Vice Chancellor was none other than the Chancellor himself.
Crescent Academy’s Chancellor, Binuar Christina.
‘When was the last time I saw him?’
Though it should be obvious that the Academy Chancellor is here, it still felt unfamiliar.
Binuar Chancellor is almost never present due to mysterious absences.
I think I may have only seen him briefly during the opening ceremony.
“Haha, no problem. Let’s head in. I’ll give you a summary of what’s been happening. The graduates’ lecture is coming up soon, too.”
“Let’s do that.”
With that, the two entered the building.
I was overly focused on the Vice Chancellor till now that I almost forgot—this vault building also housed the Chancellor’s office.
‘The Chancellor’s probably back because of the festival.’
It felt reassuring yet simultaneously increased my suspicions when I finally saw the Chancellor with his long silver hair.
The head of Crescent Academy, Chancellor Binuar Christina, being back is undoubtedly good news for me.
After all, if the Vice Chancellor tries anything funny, there will now be another powerhouse to intervene.
But did the Vice Chancellor not know the Chancellor would return during the festival?
‘From his reaction earlier, it seemed like he was already aware.’
Vice Chancellor Landgar’s natural bow toward Chancellor Binuar showed no signs of surprise.
On the contrary, it almost seemed like he was pleased to see the Chancellor.
Planning something even knowing that the Chancellor will be here during the festival period…
“…What is it?”
The more self-assured he seems, the greater my doubts grow. Either that or there’s another scheme at play.
No matter how strong the Vice Chancellor might be, he’s still up against the Chancellor.
And not just any Chancellor, but Binuar Christina.
Even if Binuar’s body might have aged, his dragon-element magic isn’t dependent on his physical condition in the slightest.
‘Ughhh…’
I suppressed the growing suspicions as I slowly rose from my lounging position.
For now, I had to think positively.
If things get rough, Chancellor Binuar will surely team up with us.
That’s reassuring.
Whoosh—
I shook off the uneasy feeling and teleported to the dormitory room where the kids were waiting.
It was about time to meet them.
