novelraw Chapter 170 : Chapter 170
Chapter 170 : Chapter 170
Chapter 170 - Cannot Go Back (1)
“By the way, have you heard that rumor?”
The occasion for Yuna to learn about the ominous rumor circulating in the academy recently was from Shasha's casual chatter.
“A rumor?”
Yuna tilted her head. As a girl who wasn't particularly well-connected, she rarely came across unusual rumors.
What kind of rumor now that the semester is over? That meaning was probably there as well.
“Yeah. The rumor that… people have been going missing at the academy recently. Especially students!”
“Eh?”
At Shasha's words, Yuna's eyes widened into circles.
It was because she had expected another topic like the love gossip that Shasha, who was usually interested in things that were a bit uncomfortable for Yuna, would bring up.
But a sinister rumor about students going missing.
After hearing that story, one thought came to Yuna's mind.
The thought of what if that rumor about people going missing was actually true.
“That, if it’s true, isn't it super dangerous…?”
That's why Yuna, breaking out in a cold sweat, spoke with a rather serious expression.
And the reply that came back to that straightforward reaction from Shasha was.
“Ahaha! Don't worry, don't worry! Rumors are just sensational and are rarely true~.”
“Is… that so?”
“Of course~ And would something like this ever happen at the academy? If it were real, even with it being vacation, there would be a huge uproar with everyone saying their kid has disappeared from home.”
Shasha smiled and waved her hand. Yuna's serious reaction every time she introduced a rumor was quite enjoyable for her.
“I guess so….”
At Shasha's words, Yuna nodded. It was certainly a nonsensical rumor that made you think ‘Does that even make sense?’ as soon as you heard it.
How could a disappearance case like that brazenly occur at the continent's best knight training institution, which was self-proclaimed and recognized by others? It was an impossible thing.
Even more so since the students of this academy had powerful figures in their backgrounds.
However, after hearing about the rumor from Shasha, Yuna's mood was not good at all.
And the reason was very simple.
‘Somehow, my premonition…’
It was because Yuna's unique premonition was telling her.
Something is ominous, it said.
Since it was just a simple premonition, she couldn't take any action on her own.
And above all.
‘When a rumor like this goes around, it feels like some meddlesome person is going to interfere.’
Someone who, at first glance, seems cold and only interested in their own training and grades, but at the end of the day, is an undeniably good person.
“Ugh.”
Yuna thought. It's just a groundless fear, right?
It has to be.
It's probably a groundless fear.
The topic that had briefly troubled Yuna's mind was thus concluded.
While such internal conflicts were taking place, someone was moving busily to respond to that incident.
***
I'll get straight to the point.
The rumor about the student disappearance case currently circulating within the academy is a stark fact.
The mastermind behind the case is kidnapping students and academy staff to use as research material, and behind it all is 『Ad Astra』.
This was the full story of the incident.
A question might arise. Why go through the trouble of kidnapping students, who are troublesome to deal with, for experiments?
Wouldn't it be easier to target someone easier? A question like that.
‘I also had that question while playing the game.’
Well, according to the original
It was part of a sabotage to throw Archenia Academy, which played a rather important role in the knight society, into chaos, and to rapidly tarnish the trust of the noble society in the knight society.
That was the enemy, 『Ad Astra』’s, objective.
As the enemy's objective was clear, the task I had to do was also very simple.
What could it be?
To deal with the kidnapper.
And since that culprit was one of the individuals supplying information to the ‘Knight Executioner’ Grændal, to also obtain information about Grændal's hideout.
Actually, the latter was the main objective.
‘Giovanni Rava.’
I repeated the culprit's name in my head.
It wasn't a very unfamiliar name to recall. The fact that I had seen the name often since the days when
‘That guy is a professor at this Archenia Academy.’
Since I had taken one of his liberal arts lectures, I was also somewhat familiar with the name.
It felt strange to be taking a lecture from the guy who would become a kidnapper.
Anyway, his position was what enabled him to commit the crime.
To select students who were in a position where their disappearance wouldn't cause a big commotion, and to be in a position to easily interfere with them, that was about the extent of it.
Come to think of it, it might be difficult to think of a suspect other than the academic staff of Archenia Academy.
In any case, once the direction was set, there was no reason to hesitate.
All that was left was to go to his hideout, wait, and rush in the moment he brought a victim to the hideout.
…But, there was one minor problem.
A really minor problem.
After the Exchange Meeting incident, I could feel certain gazes on me in my daily life.
And they were very persistent.
Actually, it was true that there hadn't been a single moment since I fell into this world as Rain Enlight that I hadn't felt gazes, but this time, the nature was a bit different.
They weren't the gazes of contempt I had felt from right after falling into this world until the beginning of the semester.
Nor were they the gazes filled with killing intent that I had felt so many times until now.
It wasn't a poking sensation like the former, nor was it a sense that stimulated a sense of crisis like the latter.
‘It feels like they’re watching without any emotion.’
The fact that such sensations were felt just from gazes was a rather strange thing to think about now, but considering the things I had been through, the answer was that it wasn't that strange.
Anyway, when I consulted Regina about this problem, I got the answer quickly.
“Ah, the owners of those gazes must be the observers. My dear brother probably assigned them, right?”
“Ah. I see.”
It was an answer I could understand immediately.
Since I was already marked as a person of interest, it wouldn't be unreasonable for the intensity of the surveillance to become even tighter.
‘No, maybe I just noticed it now.’
Perhaps the eyes of surveillance had been following me since before the Exchange Meeting.
It's just that I had grown to the point where I could feel their presence only after overcoming more than a thousand deaths.
These gazes of surveillance were not only annoying me, but also restricting my actions.
‘As long as I can't shake off these gazes, acting covertly is out of the question.’
But even that, as I said before, was not a big deal.
Just as I had found a way to solve things somehow until now, I would do so this time as well.
***
23:00 on January 27th was painting a rather cozy scene.
Heavy snow was falling from the sky, and the wind was not strong, creating a moderately atmospheric mood.
Perhaps thanks to the somewhat romantic atmosphere, when I looked down from my room in the dormitory, I could see a few students enjoying the atmosphere outside despite the late hour.
Seeing that, I couldn't help but feel that they looked happy.
Was this what people commonly called youth?
I couldn't deny that the word youth had little to do with me right now.
“……Alright.”
If you were to ask what I was doing in that situation… I was just slowly preparing to go to sleep.
The routines of finishing late-night training and self-study as always, then returning to my room in the dormitory to wash up, things like that.
This was truly a moment of daily life, and I had to let this moment pass and welcome tomorrow.
My usual routine was complete, and all that was left was to go to sleep.
‘That is, if it were the usual me.’
Yes. As the words implied, I couldn't go to sleep yet.
I still had something I had to do, and there was still a long time before the curtain of night would lift.
“Well then.”
As I always did, I headed back to the window to draw the curtains in my room before going to sleep.
I stood by the window for a while, staring outside, and I could feel something.
‘Is it in the direction of the bell tower across the way?’
That something was a gaze.
The gaze of surveillance that had now become a complete part of my daily life, but whose strangeness I could not erase.
The intention of that gaze was clear. To watch and see if I was up to no good, something like that.
It was also clear who had assigned that surveillance.
But I had no intention of meekly playing along with Claudio's sly intentions.
Deureureuk.
The sound of the curtains being drawn rang cheerfully in the silent room.
Come to think of it, I didn't have a habit of drawing the curtains before going to bed until before the last semester.
Was it about half a year ago that I started the habit of drawing the curtains before I slept?
And that new habit was for this very moment.
“…….”
After drawing the curtains, I moved silently across the room.
My destination was the blind spot in my private room, unreachable from the two windows.
More precisely, it was the magic circle drawn there.
‘There were no problems in the final calculation. The marking on the destination is still valid.’
I carefully went through the final review process to activate the magic circle.
It was only natural, as it hadn't been long since I had learned the magic inscribed in this magic circle.
“……Hoo.”
I took a slow, deep breath and placed my hand on the magic circle.
Among the Origin Magic passed down from Arien, the mid-tier space series magic, 『Teleport』.
I was about to use this magic to head to a certain place.
And that destination was none other than… the base of the culprit in the kidnapping case happening at this academy.