novelraw Chapter 105 : State of the School (1)
Chapter 105 : State of the School (1)
State of the School (1)
The enormous tree that had been accelerating the demon realm transformation finally fell.
Some people feared another disaster would strike, while those with better intuition dared to hope, "Is this the end of the demonification?" and held on to hope.
Indeed, with the tree fallen, the demon realm transformation ceased.
Monsters, which had been spawned from the core of that tree, also stopped appearing.
However, that simply meant nothing new would be created—the threats generated by the tree remained ever-present.
Thus, powerless people still needed to remain sheltered within the barrier.
It was too early to feel reassured, since no one knew when this demon-infested environment would be purified.
"Kuaaaagh!!"
"It's too strong..."
The security stationed around the city were of little help.
They couldn't handle monsters from the demon realm; most were annihilated.
Even the teachers, who could be somewhat relied upon, were now too busy avoiding the monsters to put up any resistance.
In the end, there was no one at this academy capable of defeating the monsters.
Those who realized this cowered in terror, huddled inside the barrier.
"This is a calamity...!"
A priest, trembling within the barrier, muttered to himself.
"There's no way we survive this!"
With their own strength, they simply couldn't stop it.
No matter what tricks they tried, these monsters were disasters in the most literal sense.
Even trying to sneak out of the academy was pointless; the city itself had transformed into an environment that sought to kill humans.
Some paths were completely blocked, and the few routes open were cloaked in strange fogs—entering the fog would turn a person to dust in an instant.
"But we must not give up hope yet!"
There was no escape, and certainly not enough forces for a last stand; the only thing to be heard were the screams of people.
It seemed the only way this could be resolved was for the Imperial Court's elite unit to come.
Otherwise, everyone here was as good as dead.
"Surely a miracle will occur."
All the priest could do was treat the injured and pray.
Just as the great tree of the demon realm had suddenly fallen a moment ago, he desperately wished for another descent of that overwhelming light.
"Mister, I brought the other students."
At that moment, a black-haired girl led survivors into the barrier.
"You're a priest, right? That means you can heal, yes? Please take care of my friends."
"Yes, leave them to me."
This girl, whom he'd met near the barrier, was scouring the area alone for survivors.
Wasn't her name Rio?
Although still a student in uniform, she was passionately working to save people.
"I'll go look for more. Please take care of my friends while I'm gone."
"Understood."
'With even a student like her working so hard, there's no way I can just sit still!'
Inspired by Rio, the priest devoted himself even more to healing the wounded.
It made sense—after all, Rio was the one who'd evacuated people into this barrier.
"Hey! Are you a priest?"
As Rio disappeared for a moment, some people rushed to the priest in a panic.
When he confirmed his profession, their eyes lit up as they thrust a collapsed boy toward him.
"Then please, save our child!"
"Please! Name your price, we'll pay anything!"
He wore the academy's uniform, but his chest bore a severe wound—no doubt the work of a monster.
The weeping man and woman begging beside him were likely his parents.
His injury was grave.
It would be difficult to heal instantly, and even stabilizing him would take some time.
"I'll do my best to keep him alive."
"Thank you so much!"
Nonetheless, saving people was his duty, so the priest began to channel healing for the student.
That's when it happened.
"Forget that brat!"
Suddenly, a group burst in from outside and yelled at the priest.
They too bore many wounds, though none seemed as severe as the boy's.
"Don't bother with him—heal me, I nearly died just now!"
"Me first!"
"No, I'm first!"
Faced with their selfish demands, the priest was dumbfounded.
Weren't they seriously asking to be treated before the critically wounded boy?
"I'm sorry, but I'll finish treating this child first, you're next—"
"Don't be ridiculous—heal us first! Are you saying that brat is of higher status than us?"
In fact, the newcomers were clearly nobles.
Among the many guests at this academy event, it was inevitable that some would be high-ranking.
Refusing such people's requests outright was difficult.
"Excuse me, don't you see our son's in critical condition?"
"Yes, there's an order here!"
The boy's parents protested, but the nobles became even angrier.
"Who are you to argue with us? Don't you know who should be saved first?"
"Surely, the children—"
"Wrong! It's us nobles who must be saved first!"
It made no sense to the parents, but the nobles continued their reasoning.
"This situation is hopeless without the Imperial Court's strongest forces! Is there a single person here who could defeat the monsters?"
The nobles glanced around the barrier. Inside were not only ordinary citizens, but teachers and soldiers as well.
"We're so desperate even our fighters have to hide. In these circumstances, only nobles with connections to the Imperial Court hold any hope for rescue!"
"In other words, if we don't survive, you lose any chance of contacting the Imperial Court! If something happens to us and the elite troops don't come, it'll be your fault!"
They insisted on their own importance, but the parents still struggled to understand.
"Bullshit! Compared to my son, you all look perfectly fine!"
"Stop faking it already!"
"You bastards!!"
Sriing!-
One of the nobles, insulted by the persistent protests, drew his sword.
In the blink of an eye, he cut off the wrist of the boy's father.
"Kuaaagh!!"
"Dear!"
As her husband screamed, the wife was enraged.
"What have you done!"
Their child already critically wounded, now her husband suffered a grievous injury too.
The noble showed no shame.
"What do you mean? It's your fault for not moving aside fast enough."
"Can people like you even call yourselves nobles!"
The woman lunged for his collar, but a boy appeared and kicked her away.
"Lady, aren't you a bit too hot-tempered?"
This boy, who casually kicked her, was also in the academy uniform.
"Son, there are guard soldiers here; did you really have to step in?"
"I couldn't stand these low-status people, always trying to crawl up from the mud. Sorry, father."
The noble boy sneered, evidently enjoying the suffering of commoners—especially since he recognized the student currently being treated.
"And Lihan. Lying around comfortably at a time like this? Must be nice, huh?"
He called out the student's name with a smirk.
Regaining consciousness, Lihan looked up weakly at the noble.
"Lymond... You bastard...!"
"Lihan! Are you awake?"
His mother anxiously checked on her son, though he grimaced at the sight of the noble before him.
"Mother... It's him."
"What?"
"The guy I told you about..."
"No way...!"
Lihan's parents had traveled to the academy event just to see their son.
But his sour expression made it clear—he'd been mercilessly bullied.
The bully was none other than Lymond, the noble student.
"Are you the punk who bullied our boy?"
"What if I am?"
"And now you even do this?"
The husband had lost his wrist, the son his young dreams—all at the hands of these nobles.
And Lihan wasn't even the only victim.
"There are a lot of familiar faces in here. I thought you all died, but you survived better than I did, huh?"
Lymond scanned the students sheltering within the barrier.
Many of them, shuddering at his look, were past victims like Lihan.
"Father, how many nobles could we take in here right now?"
"A considerable number, but we'll run out of space if we try to house everyone in this area."
Right then, another noble stepped forward.
"Let's drive out about half. Then we'd have enough room for ourselves."
The priest was scandalized by this monstrous suggestion.
"Are you insane? How could you—"
"Don't worry, priest—you'll be spared."
"That's not the point—!"
"We're not the ones killing them. Isn't it natural for people to die while monsters still roam outside?"
We're not killing them, the monsters are.
The priest bit his tongue at such reasoning.
Then, Lymond pointed to the students as the first to be expelled.
"Sorry, but you all have to go."
"Yeah, I can't stand having you here."
Other nobles' children joined in, dragging the students out as well.
This wasn't mere bullying—it was a cruel act of vengeance.
"Rio Dexter and Louis Dexter, right? Do you have any idea how much trouble those brats have caused us? Thanks to them, you all have been living so comfortably!"
After Rio beat up Selion, all of Selion and Alio's wrongdoings were exposed.
The list of students who aided those brothers in their abuse was also revealed, including the noble students present.
"Do you know how much harder school life became for us because of them? We were dying from the stress!"
All of them put on the airs of being the real victims, prompting an outburst from another student.
"You all brought this on yourselves."
"What did you say?!"
Lymond's eyes glazed over as he kicked the student in the leg, breaking a bone.
He savored the student's pain.
"Come to think of it... Weren't you friends with that Rio girl?"
Just thinking about it made his blood boil.
There was nothing more disgusting than seeing toys get cocky just because they had a shred of hope.
"You'll definitely be thrown out."
"We need more, though—students alone aren't enough."
"Then..."
As the nobles debated, weighing who to throw out as if picking meat...
"Throw out every last one of them!"
A woman strode confidently into the barrier.
"Lady Lisele!"
She, the lady of the Refilica family, regarded the sheltered people with utter disdain and repeated herself.
"Didn't you hear me? All of them, out!"
Not just half, but everyone.
The other nobles were swayed—why hadn't they thought of such a great idea themselves?
"There'll be no evidence if we just toss them to the monsters outside. There's no reason to send out only half, is there?"
"That's true!"
"Except for those who can heal—priests and mages are to be spared."
At Lisele's side were her two sons.
Selion, one of them, had a horrific leg injury badly in need of treatment, and Lisele's narrowed glare made it clear.
"And... didn't you say there are friends of Rio Dexter here?"
She searched for Rio's friends, but neither Lizsha nor Patrick, who'd been tormented by Alio and Selion, were present.
Had they found shelter in another barrier?
Lisele looked disappointed.
"It's a shame we can't finish off those brats too."
With that, she called out to the other nobles.
"What are you all waiting for? Start throwing them out—now!"
Nobles and their guard soldiers, acting on her orders, began grabbing the refugees.
Lymond lifted the still-wounded Lihan with a laugh, and Lisele and the rest grabbed people one by one, tossing them outside the barrier.
People tried desperately to resist, but there was no way to overcome the soldiers' superior strength.
"If they resist, behead them before sending them out!"
There would be no witnesses—once the Imperial Court's elite troops arrived, they would simply claim everyone was killed by monsters.
That Rio girl would meet the same fate.
"Kill them all!"
Lisele seized one of Rio's friends among the students and drew her sword.
Unarmed, Alio and Selion started dragging other students out by force.
"Choose: do you want to go out dead, or just leave?"
Other nobles, following Lymond's lead, pressed their swords to the throats of the injured trying to seek shelter.
As the nobles' blades flashed toward their victims—
"Hey, lady."
Suddenly, Lisele's sword stopped. Silia had appeared out of nowhere, grabbing the blade barehanded.
"What do you think you're doing to these students?"
"You...!"
Seeing Silia in the guise of a teacher, Lisele was taken aback.
With a little more force, Silia snapped the sword into pieces.
Crack!-
"You people sure know how to cross the line, don't you? Acting as if this place is your personal property."
Other weapons wielded by the nobles were shattered in turn by Louis, who also appeared like a specter.
"What do you say we do, ms. Talia?"
Louis, referring to Silia by her fake name, grinned—already knowing the answer he'd hear.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Damn it, these nobles really know how to make me angry....
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】