novelraw Chapter 171 : Chapter 171
Chapter 171 : Chapter 171
Chapter 171 - Cannot Go Back (2)
Although the second semester of Archenia Academy had ended, marking the end of an eventful year for the school, Professor Giovanni Rava of the Magic Department still had work to do.
And that work was to select a few students and offer them to the great ‘One.’
That he, who had followed the elite course to become a professor in the Magic Department of Archenia Academy at a young age, was the actual culprit of the ‘Serial Student Disappearance Case,’ a rumor currently circulating in the academy.
The very same Giovanni Rava, who enjoyed high popularity among the students for his handsome looks and gentle personality.
Who could have ever imagined it?
‘No, in the first place, who would imagine that this rumor is actually happening?’
So far, Giovanni had kidnapped three students, and rumors about it were circulating, but it was nothing more than an interesting piece of gossip.
A ghost story with no direct evidence of the victims and no appeals of harm, just a rumor.
That was the position of the serial student disappearance case within the academy.
One might ask how it was possible that the damage existed, yet it remained so. But as Giovanni carried out this task, he could feel that people were too vulnerable to the word ‘surely.’
Surely something like that wouldn't be happening at the academy, surely a ghost story like that wouldn't be true?
That kind of complacency was a tailwind that would soon bring him to his destination.
Even aside from that, it couldn't be denied that Giovanni's work was meticulous.
He used his position as a professor within the school to select students. Students who would not immediately cause a fuss even if they disappeared from reality for a while.
Students who had contacted their families and decided to spend this vacation at the academy, students who had been disowned by their families, or students who had no family at all.
It wasn't a common case, so there were only about five or six students who met the conditions, but that was enough.
The crack that Giovanni had created could not be hidden forever, and it would eventually be revealed, but that was fine too.
The purpose of the order he had been given from the beginning was to create discord within the academy.
Moreover, behind him was the powerful successor to the Empire, so what was there to be afraid of?
Tuk.
The sound of something rolling echoed in the basement of an unused warehouse, built during the time of the old school building, located on the outskirts of the Magic Department.
If one were to ask what sound it resembled, would it be possible to guess if I said it was the sound of an object the weight of a mid-teenage girl falling lightly?
“It doesn't even feel like anything anymore.”
Giovanni muttered so. It was an undeniable fact that the thrill and depravity of kidnapping had drastically decreased compared to the beginning.
The kidnapping of a student from Nova Hall, where only students with relatively mediocre grades lived, by the renowned professor of the Magic Department.
It was an easier task than he had thought. To the point where it was laughable.
What remained was the depravity that accompanied the commission of such an immoral act, but for some reason. That too was quickly dulled by a sense of mission filled with the conviction that it was an order from the ‘great One.’
But despite that sense of mission, the professor craved depravity. Perhaps it was a desire that stemmed from his own human nature.
“…….”
The professor slowly looked down at the student he had ‘brought’ today.
In that spot was Shasha Cristy, a student of the Magic Department whom he had seen occasionally for two semesters.
The professor’s eyes caught sight of the student, no, the girl, sleeping soundly.
The girl was defenseless, and he knew she would not wake up.
The difference in their level as mages was so great that the sleep magic the professor had cast was as good as absolute.
Gulp.
Giovanni swallowed dryly. His eyes were filled with the girl’s defenseless appearance and the desire he had hidden deep inside.
Desire paralyzes reason and makes one focus all their nerves on the outlet for its release.
For that reason, the professor could not notice it at all. The gaze of someone hiding in the darkness of the warehouse, watching him with cold murderous intent.
Sueuk.
And just as Giovanni, having made his decision, bent down and reached for the girl.
Peo-eok-!
It was a natural consequence that the sound of a dull impact echoed in the silent warehouse.
***
“…….”
Giovanni’s closed eyes slowly opened. It was the moment when his consciousness, which had been submerged in darkness, rose to the surface again.
‘Why?’
In that moment, the only thing that came to Giovanni's mind was a single question.
Why were my eyes closed?
Why had I lost consciousness?
For what reason?
The question after waking up could be immediately understood after regaining his senses.
The throbbing pain at the back of his head, and the sensation of a hot liquid flowing.
It would have been stranger if he couldn't guess the reason for his fainting with these elements.
‘But, why?’
After reaching that conclusion, the speculation moved to the next stage.
He had been attacked and fainted. But why? By whom? How?
That was not a problem that could be answered without additional clues, so Giovanni had no choice but to fall into confusion.
But should I call it misfortune or fortune. The answer was surprisingly not far away.
“Are you awake?”
Along with his blurry vision, a voice with that content rang in his ears.
A voice filled with a frighteningly cold contempt.
“Ugh…….”
Giovanni slowly raised his head and shifted his gaze towards the owner of the voice.
And what was there was a boy.
Jet-black hair, a dark impression that hinted at a haggard and exhausted life, and the deep shadows cast on his face that supported it.
Among those characteristic external features, the most impressive thing would have been his dark, black eyes, which were indistinguishable from the darkness behind him.
“……The Failure, Sir Confucius……?”
Having identified the person who had knocked him out, Giovanni could only mutter so, as if he were out of his mind.
It was only natural, as someone who had no justification to be in this place was present before his eyes.
“Giovanni Rava.”
Despite the fact that Giovanni had just called him by a name close to a derogatory term, the Failure—Rain Enlight—recited Giovanni’s name softly, as if showing no agitation at all.
At first glance, his voice was unemotional and unwavering in its pitch, but for some reason, Giovanni could glimpse a cold anger directed at him within that calm voice.
“You have kidnapped a number of students and held them here in an unconscious state, and you have planned to offer these students to someone. Is that correct?”
“……!”
The content recited in that calm voice pierced Giovanni’s lungs.
No matter how much he was under the protection of the princess recently, no matter how his skills were evaluated to surpass those of a Senior Knight. How could he know about this fact?
The cover-up should have been perfect. As perfect as the work of the Crown Prince’s informants, whose influence was so high.
But the boy who harbored that deep darkness saw through everything, and even had conviction. Without a shadow of a doubt.
However, Giovanni was not an easy person either, and he spun his brain in that short moment.
‘Making excuses here won’t work. The time to bluff my way out has passed. In that case…….’
At the same time, the professor checked the condition of his body.
Seuk.
Fortunately, his body was still free. It wasn’t bound by anything, and there was no hindrance to his use of magic.
“What… what are you talking about, student Rain……?”
Giovanni muttered so and at the same time took on an air of continuing to talk, and at the same time secretly raised his magic power and prepared to attack.
And he was about to swing his arm in an instant to pour a wave of magic power at the boy in front of him-
Kwajik-!
“Kkeuaaak!!”
What echoed in the dark warehouse was not the sound of that magic exploding, but a tearing scream and the sound of a cold blade piercing flesh.
“Ah, aaak……!”
Giovanni, feeling the tearing pain, looked at his right hand that he was about to swing, and he could see that the blade extended by Rain had pierced through his precious right hand.
“It would be best not to try any tricks.”
But the boy’s voice still showed no hint of agitation.
He was just maintaining the same sharp momentum as the blade he had thrust out.
Even though it should have been a completely unexpected situation.
“Ha…… haa…… yes, yes.”
Giovanni, accepting the situation, quickly changed his course.
“I, I did it. Just as you said……!”
Admitting the charges and being taken away quietly. That too could be described as a wise choice.
Wasn't the purpose of a student who had chased down the culprit of a kidnapping case just that much?
“I’m… I’m really sorry. I will pay for my sins……!”
If he admitted the charges and was taken away, he could at least expect help from the Crown Prince or the 『Ad Astra』 he belonged to.
‘No matter what, I’m a Second Astro. If I spill everything I know, His Highness the Crown Prince will be in trouble too……!’
It was a judgment that showed he knew too little about the Crown Prince and Ad Astra, but it might have been the most plausible decision he could make.
“……It seems you are misunderstanding something.”
But what he overlooked was that the scene the boy was looking at was beyond him.
“Revealing your sins is not a priority for me. I have many things to ask you first,”
“……Yes?”
At the same time as Giovanni's thoughts stopped, a chill ran down his spine.
The feeling that something was very wrong, or the feeling that the situation was already out of his hands.
Unconcerned by Giovanni's bewildered reaction, the boy continued to speak with a terrifyingly expressionless face.
“It's fine if you don't answer. It's also fine if you lie.”
Ssuk-
As the emotionless story progressed, the boy pulled out the sword that was stuck in Giovanni's hand.
“Kkeu…… eok…….”
“You will tell me all the information you have.”
Then he would have finished his story to Giovanni, who was in pain as a result of that act.
“This is neither an ambition nor a resolve. Know that it is a conviction and an experience.”
“Eu, euu……!”
Giovanni let out a groan and looked at the boy's eyes.
He could now see that in the boy’s eyes, which had seemed just dark, there was a darkness so deep it was unfathomable.