Having driven Raven off, we reached the dorms without trouble. Two buildings like high-noble castles faced each other across a wall between them. The men's dormitory and the women's dormitory.
Thanks to his male disguise, Andy could split off from Evangeline. Having shaken her, Andy was beaming like a man just released from prison. By the look of him, Andy would never drop the disguise. Do that, and he'd be stuck with Evangeline even in the dorms.
"Boss, for this I'll have to charge five gold coins a month."
Andy demanded, dead serious.
Five gold coins a month. A fairly radical demand, for Andy. But for me, it was actually welcome. Andy was a card with a guaranteed future as an Archmage. The more I invested, the more I stood to gain. Investment had been blocked by his petty ambitions, and now Andy was the one asking first.
'So Evangeline's reject-power had this effect.'
I nodded readily. At that, Andy's face went pale.
"Really? No, I said five gold coins?"
"Got it."
"'Got it'? Five gold coins as a friendship fee? Maybe just cancel—"
"If you'd like, I'll raise it further."
Andy let out a long sigh and shook his head.
"Forget it. What kind of friendship fee is that."
He hasn't suffered enough yet. I chuckled.
"I have a favor to ask."
"No way! I can't take any more today! Do you know how much I've been put through today—"
"Not Evangeline."
"Ah, then give me any order at all, Boss!"
Andy beamed brightly.
In the original game, Andy caused quite a lot of trouble. Thanks to his genius talent combined with his particular mischief.
"I'd like you to spread a rumor."
"Ooh, what kind of rumor?"
Andy's eyes, dull as a frozen fish's, sparkled.
"A rumor about how outstanding the new professor Leon is. I'd like every freshman curious about him."
"How far can I take the rumor?"
"Doesn't matter."
Ooh—. Andy let out a sound of admiration and squirmed. The reaction of a puppy catching the scent of meat.
"Heh heh, just leave it to me."
Andy's hollow eyes sparkled fiercely. Most reassuring.
After dropping off Andy and Evangeline, we returned to the main gate, loaded up more freshmen, and hauled them to the dorms.
"Your eyes are really pretty."
"Yours aren't bad either."
I checked inside the carriage out of the corner of my eye. A man and woman quietly holding hands. They'd only just boarded the carriage into the academy, and already they were exchanging heated glances. I frowned.
They were nobodies whose names I didn't even know. I didn't care whether they dated, but pile up enough of that and a dating mood takes hold across the academy. Once a romance mood set in, gullible Evangeline could get swept up in it.
So—
"Milo, do you know the number-one reason for expulsion from Elysium Academy?"
"Fighting?"
"No. Romance."
"Damn, I almost had it!"
Ignoring Milo's genuine disappointment, I went on.
"Elysium Academy bans romance, but a lot of students treat it as a mere warning. Get caught and it's expulsion."
In truth, actual expulsions were rare. Elysium Academy hardly ever expelled anyone to begin with. That said, it wasn't a lie. Romance really was the number-one cause of expulsion.
"Get expelled partway and you can't get into any other academy — it's as good as your whole life ringing the closing bell. To ruin your life over mere romance—. Pathetic."
I quietly checked inside the carriage. The two who'd been holding hands a moment ago were now sitting far apart. Success.
'If you're a student, just study.'
I clicked my tongue and turned my gaze front.
Just then, Milo asked me gravely.
"What rank's fighting?"
I lightly ignored it, of course.
After a few more carriage runs, the shift ended.
"Ahh, clocking off—."
Milo said, stretching. The corners of his mouth quivered.
"Already?"
"'Already'? We did a whole six hours."
Clocking off after a mere six hours — a needlessly good work-life balance. No wonder the academy gets breached day in and day out.
"I'd like to do more."
"......You want to do more?"
Milo asked with a disgusted face.
I nodded lightly. Tomorrow was the entrance ceremony. There was still work left to handle.
"Scarlett's going to put you on night shift anyway. She torments newcomers with the duty schedule. So you never get to rest."
"Oh, good."
"......Good?"
"Yes. What kinds of shifts are there?"
"Like asking for a menu at a restaurant—. Well, it'd be auditorium support."
The auditorium was where the entrance ceremony was held. Auditorium support — very good indeed.
"But they'll probably take you off tomorrow's morning shift."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, do a night shift and you're usually exempt from the morning one—"
Tomorrow morning was the entrance ceremony. The single most important event — and I'd have to miss it?
"I'm doing tomorrow's morning shift."
"Why you bitchin' even when they're giving you a break?"
"I said I'll do it."
"Insisting won't make it happen—"
"I'm doing it."
"Motherf—. Goddammit. What kind of lunatic is this......"
Milo dragged a hand down his face.
***
Scarlett said with a soft smile.
"You'll do the night shift too, won't you? Work's so busy."
Scarlett seemed set on saddling Grave with night duty too. The usual hazing she pulled every time. Even those who'd survived Milo's hazing couldn't survive Scarlett's.
That was certainly true, and yet—.
"Sounds good."
Grave nodded at once.
"Glad you're pleased."
Scarlett's smile deepened. She seemed to think it was Grave's bluster. It was a natural assumption, really. Who would be happy pulling a morning shift and a night shift back to back?
Just then, Grave fixed his eyes on Milo. Those eyes were urging him on.
'A real lunatic.'
Milo gave a short shudder and opened his mouth.
"Tomorrow's the entrance ceremony — shouldn't we do the morning shift too?"
"The morning shift as well—?"
Scarlett's eyes widened slightly.
"The vice-leader won't sit still for that."
"Well, what can you do. We really are short-handed."
"True enough. Hmm, I see you in a new light, Milo."
Scarlett smiled softly. Glancing aside, Milo found Grave holding up a thumb.
'This guy is a real crazy bastard.'
Milo gave a small shudder.
***
The auditorium looked just like a temple. Round columns of solid marble stood in a long row, the spaces between them filled in with more marble.
It was familiar to me. The auditorium was the game's opening scene and a place that kept showing up throughout.
Around the auditorium, guards swarmed like ants. Ceremony preparations seemed in full swing. A familiar figure caught my eye. The goatee — Bedrick.
'At this point it's bad karma.'
Spotting me, Bedrick twisted one corner of his mouth. He still seemed to be sulking. A truly petty bastard.
"Good timing — we happened to be short. There, on the material-hauling crew, pull the 14th Squad and put these two in."
"That'll leave us quite short, though."
"It's fine. These two are very strong. Aren't you?"
Pull a whole squad and put just the two of us in. He was openly dumping the dregs-work on us. The usual Milo would've challenged him to a fight on the spot, but surprisingly he nodded along.
"Tomorrow's the entrance ceremony. No slacking; do it properly. I'll be checking."
Bedrick warned and turned away.
"Motherf—, dumping grunt-work right in the open, banking on the Inspection Squad."
Milo jerked his chin at the woman beside Bedrick. An expressionless woman in a security uniform, with a blue epaulet on her shoulder. That seemed to be the Inspection Squad's mark.
"The Inspection Squad?"
"Yeah, cross them and you're finished. Damn Bedrick. Going around with the Inspection Squad in his pocket. Dirty bastard."
Seeing even Milo recoil, the Inspection Squad seemed to wield quite some power.
"Damn it, we'll be busting our fucking asses. When are we supposed to haul all this."
Milo scratched his head irritably at the heaped-up materials.
'So we're to haul these materials to the basement storeroom.'
The entrance ceremony is Yeonjol's opening scene, and two problems arise there.
The first was the Republic's mana-stone terror attack targeting the Crown Prince. They secretly plant mana stones in the auditorium and detonate them — hidden so stealthily that even the Archmage Chairman couldn't find them. Well, to be precise, she saw and pretended not to.
The second problem branches off from that.
'Evangeline's disappearance.'
Evangeline goes missing at the entrance ceremony. It wasn't a kidnapping or assassination. She'd just frozen stiff in the crowd, and when the explosion went off, she bolted. The problem was that the place she fled to was the Central Library.
Despite its name, the Central Library was a very dangerous place. Because it held a 'Forbidden' tied directly to the Rifts. But stopping Evangeline from going to the Central Library here was the wrong answer. She had to enter the Central Library to become a 'Librarian.'
So, the Republic's terror attack had to succeed.
'They'd hidden the mana-stone bomb in the basement storeroom.'
Normally you couldn't freely access the auditorium's basement storeroom. The guards managed it strictly. Since this was a chance to get into that basement, there was no reason to refuse the hauling work. I almost felt grateful to Bedrick.
I gathered up a reasonable load and followed Milo to the basement storeroom. Guards kept stern watch in front of it. They had a better bearing than the other guards.
"The lower the squad number, the better the skill. Key areas are managed by squads below the 10th. From the 10th down, three squads are assigned to each."
"So, the platoon-and-company concept."
"The what now?"
"Never mind. But the lower the squad number, the better the skill? How many squads does the Elite Corps go up to?"
"The 42nd Squad."
"So we really are the reject squad."
"Hey—"
In any case, we got into the basement without a hitch.
The basement was quite vast. Wide enough that you couldn't see the end, piled with all manner of supplies so it looked like a maze. You couldn't even properly tell who was where.
Still, no real problem. I knew the terrorists' target.
'The Crown Prince's seat is—'
The place I arrived at held a mountain of tangled uniforms, so old there was no telling when they'd last been worn. A perfect spot to hide something.
"You're not supposed to slack off, I told you."
Milo warned in a low voice.
"It's not slacking; it's standing guard. The Republic might hide a mana-stone bomb in the basement, after all."
"What the fuck does that—. No, we really have to go."
Milo kept pressing, but I lightly ignored him.
With the ceremony just ahead, countless guards came and went in the basement. I quietly waited for the moment.
After some wait, two men in security uniforms approached. In their hands was an ordinary-looking cabinet. Thunk — the two Republic men quietly set it down. Without so much as a glance, they chattered ordinarily about how grueling the work was and left.
I waited even after the two were gone.
"We really have to go!! Motherf—!"
Unable to hold out any longer, Milo shouted. Only then did I rise and head for the cabinet.
The cabinet was greasy in spots and even cobwebbed, made to look like the last thing you'd want to touch. On the surface it seemed in no way suspicious.
I sketched the sign of the cross. The moment I brought the pure white light near, there was a reaction.
'A detonation magic circle.'
Ordinarily, refinement is a magic circle's virtue and the measure of skill, but the circle carved into this cabinet was violent and destructive. Very Republic, indeed. Not a refined security device, but more like a thousand-pound bar crudely barring the way. Made to be a pain to dismantle.
Well, it didn't matter. I had no intention of dismantling it.
The Republic's terror attack had to succeed. Only then would Evangeline panic and flee to the Central Library. And it had its uses besides.
"We have to go, I said—. We're seriously gonna be fucked!"
"Move this for me and we'll go."
"Really?!"
"Yeah."
When I pointed at the cabinet, Milo moved at once. Heavy as it must have been, he lifted it easily.
"This way."
"Why on earth are we moving this hunk of junk?"
"Because right above here is the headmaster's seat."
"......What nonsense."
Milo grumbled as he moved the cabinet. He probably took my words for a joke. It wasn't a joke, but I didn't bother to tell him.
Because it was a surprise.