Chapter 206 - Host (3)

The next morning, I waited in the Art Club greenhouse.

Those confirmed to participate, including myself, Lilith, Zenia, Haley, and others, along with a few students selected as alternates, gathered for a meeting.

Under the guidance of the officers, the meeting proceeded smoothly.

"This is the mission for the lower grades."

Haley unrolled a scroll and placed it on the table.

Lilith and I checked the mission.

[Location: Sintagma region, northwest of Eternia territory]

[Mission Details: Uncover the truth behind the disappearance of Sintagma region residents and retrieve evidence.]

Zenia added an explanation, "We call this free volunteer work. The upper grades have monster subjugation missions, while yours has much lower risk. Eternia occasionally accepts external requests like this and sends students to provide free support."

"Who will be the leader?"

Haley pointed at me and said, "You're the leader of the first and second-year group, First-year."

"That's not possible. There are seniors with more experience than me."

Haley cut me off sharply, "This is something our entire Art Club agreed on. You're skilled enough to beat even second-year seniors, right? We all saw it. You successfully completed the duchess escort mission too. Actually, the others can do their roles too. The problem is they're too much like model students. These kids have never stepped out of the given framework in their lives. That's not what we're expecting. I think you roughly understand what I mean."

"..."

"Also, Fabella is one of our important assets, but... I'm not sure if she'll participate or not. She hasn't been coming to the Art Club much lately."

"Where is Senior Fabella now?"

"...She hasn't come yet."

I checked the personnel again.

I see. Now that I look, she wasn't present at this Art Club meeting either.

Perhaps the sparring evaluation had some kind of impact on her.

Maybe we wouldn’t encounter each other again in the future.

Just then, the greenhouse door suddenly opened.

Everyone's gaze turned to the entrance at the sudden visit.

There stood Fabella, hands clasped, looking demure.

This was the first time we'd properly faced each other since the sparring evaluation.

Zenia greeted her with a sour expression.

"It's been a while, Fabella. I thought you'd quit the Art Club."

"I'm sorry... for being late."

***

Eternia started the competition immediately without giving us time to prepare.

Originally, the principle was to announce it a week in advance, but a few years ago, cheating was detected where people used servants to solve the requests, so the rule was changed to announce the mission on the day the competition starts.

Thanks to that, we had to leave in a hurry without time for preliminary investigation.

The time limit given for the mission was four days. It would take half a day to travel to the Sintagma region, so subtracting the round-trip time, we only had about two days to properly investigate. The schedule was quite tight.

For the remaining first-year member of the Art Club, Metz, who specialized in alchemy and semiotics, was selected after several meetings.

For the second-years, Fabella and Sierra from the Magic Department, and Tami from the Magic Engineering Department stepped up. In fact, I only knew most of them by face; they weren't chosen by me. They were all decided by Haley and Zenia.

Without even having a chance to test our teamwork, the Art Club group waited for the carriage we had called at Eternia's main gate.

In the meantime, we made plans for the future.

"Does anyone know about the Sintagma region?"

All group members just looked at each other without saying anything.

Lilith belatedly spread out a map of the Eternia territory and said, "It's no wonder we don't know. Sintagma isn't just a small village. It's a vast region comparable in area to an administrative district of the Empire."

Fabella added, "If we investigate each place directly... it would probably take months. We should treat locating the place as part of the mission."

The announcement didn't specify the details about where the incident occurred.

We hit a problem right from the start.

Sierra, a second-year in our group, provided an answer to this, "There's one way. I found out while visiting the Magic Academy that most requests occurring near Eternia's territory go to the Rigved branch of the Magic Academy. And only a select few among numerous requests are transferred to Eternia."

"Then at the Magic Academy..."

"Yes, of course, the original request forms are kept there, and naturally, there should be plenty of reports including the location where the incident occurred."

Carriages started arriving near Eternia's main gate. Other club students who were waiting like us began to depart one after another. Seeing this made me feel rushed.

"Let's head to Rigved first."

Everyone had no objections.

Soon after, the carriage I had called began to enter the main gate.

Seeing the black carriage with Eternia's seal, the group members and other nearby students were startled.

Sierra said in a trembling voice, "Isn't that... Professor Silveryn's carriage?"

"Yes, let's get in for now."

"So... the rumor about being her disciple was true..."

I helped everyone board the carriage one by one. Fabella was the last one left before I got on.

She just stood in front of the door, looking at the carriage with lifeless eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Lost in other thoughts, she finally came to her senses and said, "Ah... nothing, let's go quickly."

***

We parked the carriage in Rigved Square and waited in our seats for a moment to assess the situation.

In front of the Magic Academy branch in Rigved, there was a group that had arrived before us. It seemed many others had the same idea as us.

But they were turning back, unable to get past the entrance of the Magic Academy.

"It seems even Eternia students can't enter the Magic Academy. Is it impossible even if you belong to the Magic Department?"

Lilith said, "Only registered members have free access. You need a certified academy degree to become a member. The entry requirements for outsiders are extremely strict."

Just then, a carriage stopped behind us.

Soon after, a group of students got off and started moving towards the main building of the Magic Academy.

Sierra recognized them and said, "It's those Dance Club guys."

I saw familiar faces too. Victor, my classmate from the Combat Department, and Ridiger, who was mocking the Art Club yesterday, caught my eye. But there were only five people in total; Gale was nowhere to be seen.

Ridiger took the lead and stood in front of the Magic Academy entrance. Then he handed something to the academy official guarding the gate.

I hurriedly got off the carriage and hid behind a fountain to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I've come on behalf of Hampton Mayhem, a temporary member of the Magic Academy."

"And?"

"With this authority, I wish to access the records in Archive 23 of the Magic Academy."

The official sighed deeply as if bored.

"Several students have already come and tried similar tricks before leaving. This isn't a place for doing homework. Please leave."

Ridiger repeated what he had said, "I'm acting on behalf of Hampton Mayhem. I have membership qualifications. Can you treat me like this without even checking? How will you handle the consequences?"

"Temporary members don't have proxy authority like that."

"Think about the aftermath..."

Then the academy official stepped forward and grabbed Ridiger's collar.

"And I remember Hampton Mayhem clearly without needing to check. I know well that he's an idiot with no influence even if I treat him like this. Get lost."

Ridiger's face turned pale.

When the official shoved him, he tumbled down the entrance stairs.

His colleagues, including Victor, supported him and retreated.

Entry was not easy at all.

I immediately returned to the carriage. Then I opened the door and said to our members,

"Is anyone proficient in Magic Academy document formats or specialized magical terms?"

Surprised by the sudden question, everyone just stared at me blankly.

When I looked at Sierra, who had experience visiting the Magic Academy, she showed reluctance.

"I, I only visited at a tour level, I don't know that much."

After a moment of silence, Fabella hesitated before speaking.

"It's not perfect, but... I can understand to some extent."

That was good enough.

"Then, only Senior Fabella follow me, the rest of you wait here."

Lilith opened her eyes wide as if she didn't understand and said, "Do you have a plan other than the Magic Academy?"

"No, we're going into the Magic Academy."

"...?"

Everyone looked confused.

I confidently headed towards the Magic Academy building with Fabella. On the way, we crossed paths with the Dance Club group heading to their carriage.

Realizing us just now, the Dance Club gang stopped and fixed their gaze on me.

"Hey, you..."

"Victor, quiet."

Victor opened his mouth to warn me, but Ridiger immediately stopped him.

I climbed the entrance stairs and stood in front of the academy official who had grabbed Ridiger's collar.

Deep wrinkles formed between his brows as he looked at me.

"Are you a student from Eternia?"

"Yes, I am."

"I won't say much. Please leave."

"I've come for an important errand."

"Yeah, sure. Come back with a more plausible plan, or go back and beg your orphanage teacher to lower the homework difficulty."

I nodded as if agreeing, with my hands behind my back, and said, "...I'll convey that to Teacher Silveryn."

"...?"

As I turned around without hesitation, he grabbed me.

"Wait. What did you just say?"

"It seems you heard correctly."

The official stared at me blankly with wide eyes, as if his brain was overloaded with calculations.

"Did you say Lady Silveryn?"

"It's an errand for my teacher."

I raised my palm demonstratively and tapped Silveryn's ring.

The official's expression showed clear bewilderment as he belatedly grasped the situation. He had just referred to Silveryn as an orphanage teacher, hadn't he?

It went exactly as I wanted.

"Uh, um, Lady Silveryn is one of the most influential mages in the Magic Academy."

"You just said orphana—“

"I'll allow your friend who came with you to enter the academy as well. If you keep one promise."

I nodded.

"I'll tell my teacher that the Magic Academy welcomed me kindly."

Seeming to understand, he stepped aside.

"Well... come in."

As the official clapped his hands, the thick steel doors of the Magic Academy slowly opened.

The Dance Club group watching from afar couldn't take their eyes off us. It was somewhat satisfying to see Ridiger's face turning red and pale.

I gestured to Fabella to come in quickly.

***

The interior of the Magic Academy was made of dark gray stone similar in texture to marble. It looked like mana stone, known to contain mana. I knew it was quite expensive, and seeing it used to decorate the entire interior space, it was clear that the Magic Academy was a group that didn't worry about money.

There were over fifty archives in the Magic Academy. It seemed we wouldn't even be able to start if we searched through the materials here without a plan.

"Let's go to Archive 23."

That was exactly where Ridiger had wanted to go. It seemed he had found out something through preliminary investigation, but thankfully, I got to access that information first.

As we walked through the corridor of the Magic Academy, Fabella casually said, "Haley's judgment was right... There was a reason she chose you as the leader."

"The selection of seniors was also the club president’s judgment. I hope that judgment was right too."

"I'll do my best too."

"..."

An awkward silence flowed for a moment. Fabella spoke again, "Is... the place you were injured before okay?"

I wanted to avoid it, but she ended up bringing it up first. If we were to carry out the mission together, we needed to wrap up that matter.

"If it wasn't okay, I wouldn't be here."

"...I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. If I had any lingering resentment, I would have come to you with a bill long ago."

We stopped in front of the reading room with the number 23 sign in the middle of the second-floor corridor.

When we opened the door, the musty smell of old parchment hit our noses.

Someone had arrived earlier than us and was reviewing materials in the center of the reading room.

Slender shoulders. Long blonde hair. I could tell who it was just by that back view looking through a book.

She sensed our presence and turned around. And our eyes met.

"Da… mian?"

"...Luna."

"How did Damian end up here... Oh, it's for the mission."

"Yeah, I came to check the records of the Sintagma incident. You were one step ahead. So... where are your teammates?"

"The Drama Club members are waiting outside..."

Luna's voice sounded somewhat nervous.

Yes, hearing it directly like this really woke me up. The Drama Club would be fools to exclude Luna from such an important task. We were friends until yesterday, but now we were strictly competitors. We might have to fight if we encounter each other in Sintagma. I really didn’t want to accept it, but that was how it was.

"I see, so you're participating in this mission too. The identity check was strict, how did you get in?"

"The Reilis family can come anytime. We've been outstanding members since the founding of the Magic Academy… Damian, who... did you come with?"

Belatedly, Fabella walked up beside me and silently looked at Luna.

Luna noticed her and suddenly closed her mouth tightly.

The two didn't exchange greetings. They just exchanged glances with calm, settled expressions.

It became as quiet as if ice water had been poured over us.