“How flamboyantly they’ve done it.”

Luca, having had his sleep disturbed, frowned as he gazed out the window.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Explosions continued to ring from somewhere.

Even though it was quite far away, the rumble made his lower abdomen ache.

And he could faintly hear screams.

‘Do they really intend to shut down the academy?’

He hadn’t thought things would go that far.

But seeing them take it this far, he couldn’t guess their real intentions.

While Luca was twisting his lips, someone entered the hospital room.

“What do you think about this situation, Luca?”

“……”

The Blue Witch, Herote.

She had come to visit.

“I intended to leave everything to you, but now that things have progressed this far, I can’t just sit by. Eltima asked me to take care of the festival.”

“I thought you were clever, but it seems not.”

“I know what you mean. But after this, I can’t show my face before Eltima.”

Looking at her curt manner, Luca spoke indifferently.

“So, what are you planning to do?”

“I have to catch the culprit. And interrogate them to find out who set them up to do this.”

“Unfortunately, that’s impossible. The person who committed this probably doesn’t even know who was behind it.”

Herote sneered.

“That depends on how you go about it.”

“I admit you’re an outstanding mage, but you’re not all-knowing. And even the headmaster you admire so much wasn’t able to stop the darkness within the academy.”

Luca looked Herote straight in the eye.

“We’ve come to the point where the academy may have to shut down. After such a huge sacrifice, all you want to do is catch the rat in front of your nose?”

“…… Then on the flip side, what can you do? Judging from the situation, it doesn’t seem like the Demons’ crew will move according to your plan, will they?”

Luca’s plan had been to use himself as bait to capture the essence of the darkness.

But the darkness was skilled at creating greater chaos to hide itself even further.

“There’s still one left. A bait they can never give up on.”

“…… That’s true.”

Plan D.

That was something the darkness would never be able to abandon.

Herote, too, frowned, seemingly unable to deny that point.

“Why not just hand it over to me? That would be a lot more promising.”

“If you step up, they’ll give up as well. The only reason they’re holding out is because it’s me they’re facing.”

“That does seem likely……”

Herote’s expression was troubled.

But before long, she reached a decision.

“Fine. I’ve decided to trust you, so I’ll see it through to the end.”

“Since things have turned out this way, give me a little help.”

“Huh? I thought I wasn’t supposed to step in?”

Tilting her head at his seemingly contradictory words, Herote questioned him.

Luca shook his head.

“It’s nothing complicated. I just need you to secretly transfer someone to a certain place with me.”

“Ah~ A covert move, huh? That much I can do.”

Herote, nodding, asked,

“So who is it?”

“You probably have an idea. You know who among this academy’s guests has noble blood.”

“…… Oh? You know about them too?”

Herote looked a bit surprised.

It was, after all, likely a very secret matter.

“In any case, I’m counting on you.”

“Alright. So where am I to send them?”

To her question, Luca twisted his lips.

“The dormitory. To the second son of the Gress family’s room.”

* * *

Once more, on the roof of a building in the Department of Magic.

There, a boy and a brawny man were overlooking the entire academy.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Hmm… It’s even more effective than I thought.”

Watching Latik’s rampage, Miros tilted his head.

“Y-Young lord, isn’t this getting out of hand?”

“Yeah. When I used it on a student, it wasn’t this wild. Why is it like this on a teacher? Is it because teachers are harder for me to control?”

Next to him, Donovan looked uneasy.

“A-Aren’t you going to get scolded by the family head over this?”

“If anyone gets scolded, it’ll be you, not me!”

“Young lord?!”

Miros giggled at Donovan’s flustered expression, then scratched his brow.

“Well… It is getting a bit out of hand. Still, this will surely get Eltima Cross kicked out of the academy, right?”

“That’s true… If something like this happens and the headmaster doesn’t take responsibility, that’s a problem of its own……”

Donovan looked troubled.

“At this rate, it’s not just about Eltima Cross being expelled—the academy itself may get shut down……”

“…… Right?”

Even the always-easygoing Miros seemed to find the situation a bit excessive this time.

“Hmm……”

After thinking for a moment, Miros clapped as something came to him.

“Yes! What if we get back to basics?”

“What do you mean, young lord……?”

Donovan looked puzzled at the mention of ‘basics’.

Miros pointed a finger upwards.

“There was a reason I went through all this trouble. Martin’s demonic eye!”

“…… Ah. Yes, right.”

There were two reasons for starting the terror pranks.

One: to turn the festival finale into a mess and threaten Eltima Cross’s position as headmaster.

Two: to play treasure hunt with Luca Traverse, so that the frustrated Luca Traverse would use the power of the demonic eye to find the bombs.

“Now that things have come to this, why not just openly talk about the bomb and make Luca Traverse panic?”

Miros grinned.

“Make him feel that he’s the only one who can resolve this! Put that pressure on him—then he’ll end up using Martin’s demonic eye!”

“Oh… If we can recover the demonic eye, this kind of trouble can be overlooked. Is that what you mean?”

“Exactly! Even my father seems to have his eyes on Martin’s demonic eye!”

At that, Donovan was impressed.

“You really are sharp, young lord! So what should we do?”

“First, call Latik. And then……”

Miros grinned slyly.

“We need to make an even bigger event.”

* * *

A chaotic night passed and morning arrived.

Luca headed to the dining hall with Ottbo, who came to visit him in the hospital room.

“Yaaaawn……”

“Sorry for waking you.”

“N-no… Luca, you must be even more tired……”

Sitting at the table, Ottbo let out a long yawn.

He looked thoroughly exhausted.

Despite that, he worried more for Luca.

“Even if I’m hurt, I have more stamina than you, so don’t worry.”

“That… is true.”

Ottbo couldn’t bring himself to deny it.

Luca smirked at his response.

The truth was, Luca was not in a normal state either.

He had consumed too much life force and felt depleted, but he had things to do, so he pushed on.

“Still, the academy is quite something. They aren’t canceling the festival even in a situation like this.”

“Some students only come to the academy for this festival.”

At Ottbo’s reply, Luca tilted his head.

“Is it that important?”

“You’re from the Swordsmanship Department, so you might not know, but for the Alchemy and Arcane Science Departments, it’s a matter of survival.”

The Founding Festival is open to outsiders from the third day onward.

Outsiders usually attend the exhibitions of the Magic, Alchemy, and Arcane Science Departments.

If they catch the eyes of big investors there, they might receive astronomical investments.

“The Magic Department tends to have lots of investment to begin with, and the focus is more on learning existing magic rather than new research, so they’re fine, but for the Alchemy or Arcane Science Departments, so much is at stake on this festival.”

“I see.”

Though it had been touched on in the original story, since the protagonist was from the Swordsmanship Department, it hadn’t been a particularly resonant issue.

The heroines from the other departments were all from such prestigious families that they didn’t need to stake everything on the festival to stand out.

‘So that’s why Pasmo said her schedule didn’t work.’

As Luca nodded, Ottbo yawned again and spoke.

“Yaaawn… This isn’t really something that affects first-years like us.”

“If you’re tired, you should have slept more.”

“Hmm? No! I just have to get through today!”

Ottbo forced a smile.

Seeing that, Luca twisted his lips, feeling mixed emotions.

“… Yeah. We need to put an end to this tasteless game as soon as possible.”

“Ugh… But what if those guys just keep hiding and don’t come out? Is there even a way to find them?”

Ottbo looked troubled.

To that, Luca spoke nonchalantly.

“There’s no need to worry so deeply. If my guess is right, they also plan to end things today.”

“You think so?”

“If not, there would have been no reason to act out so flashily yesterday.”

Luca took a spoonful of soup.

“I don’t know the exact reason, but their plan must have gone awry somehow. Otherwise, yesterday’s outburst by Kirius Blavon and the terror attack makes no sense.”

“That’s true. It was so sudden.”

“They played that prank on me, and now they suddenly act like this? There must be some issue on their side too.”

Ottbo nodded.

“They’ll show themselves soon. Until then, we should just pretend to look for the bombs.”

BZZZZZZZT!

Suddenly, an ear-piercing noise rang out.

Everyone in the dining hall covered their ears, and Luca frowned.

“What’s that?”

“S-seems like a broadcast?”

Holding his temples as if he had a headache, Ottbo spoke.

—Ahem, everyone, please look at the public notice magic stone panel!

At those words, everyone’s eyes turned toward the public notice magic stone panel in the dining hall.

The public notice panel usually just displayed text, but for special announcements, it could also show video—a thin, rectangular plate.

Right now, a video was playing on it.

“Is that… a person?”

“Looks familiar……”

While the students in the dining hall had puzzled expressions, Ottbo grabbed Luca’s arm in shock.

“Luca! That’s…”

“… There’s no need to bother searching anymore.”

The person in the video was Latik.

But something was off.

Only his face was shown, and his eyes seemed unfocused.

‘Is this even the same person as yesterday?’

He’d looked energetic yesterday, but now his face was haggard.

—Now, professor Latik. Please say a few words.

When someone off-screen prompted him, Latik spoke in a trembling voice.

—I-I am currently… my, my life is in danger……

“W-what is he saying?”

“What the heck… This is scaring me……”

“Be quiet! I can’t hear!”

The dining hall grew noisy.

In fact, anywhere with a public notice panel became loud and chaotic.

—R-right now, in my body… a m-magic stone bomb… has been placed……

“!”

With those words, everything fell silent.

“Did he just… say…?”

“A, a magic stone bomb… in his body…?”

Everyone’s faces went blank from shock at Latik’s statement.

—If you… if you don’t find me… before sunset today… I… will d-die……

—M-my location is… the place where… the festival’s final event… should have exploded……

—Please… please, save me……

*static*

The video ended.

“Luca. That was……”

“… Tsk.”

Luca’s eyes twitched.

“They’re crazier than I thought.”

He hadn’t even imagined they’d use Latik as a hostage.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep