Chapter 143: The Hour of Fate’s Clock Hand (2)

No.

I just averted my gaze and closed my ears, but for all I know, that ticking clock of death might have been moving since before.

“What’s the matter? Is there something strange in the request?”

Just then, Margo asked.

He was observing me with his reptile-like eyes.

“Or are you not satisfied with the pay?”

“……”

“Aha. I’ve received a report. They say when you are given an urgent request like this, you demand more than the set pay. Is that right, Guartes?”

At Margo’s question, Guartes flinched and trembled, then nodded his head.

“Th-that’s right, but…… it’s not like he raised the price to an unreasonable extent.”

“I’m sure. But why are you so scared? Am I going to eat you? We’re on the same side, the same side.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Tsk.”

Margo, who had clicked his tongue, turned his head back to me.

“Master. It seems you’re not satisfied with the pay, so why don’t you name your price. I’ll match it for you. Just sitting there and staring at me won’t tell me what you’re thinking.”

“……”

“I said, try speaking.”

So I asked.

“Why not Gerard?”

“……Pardon?”

“I asked, why not Gerard.”

Margo’s head tilted to the side.

“What’s that all of a sudden?”

I shook the request form.

“What the cult wants from me is to draw Ivan’s attention, isn’t it.”

“That’s right, that. Strange. You read it well.”

“But why Ivan? And not Gerard.”

The content was long and complicated, but the cult’s demand could be summarized as this.

Bait.

While they, who had infiltrated the Academy, were busy carrying out their terror, they wanted me to draw Ivan’s attention.

The reason was that Ivan was a very annoying existence who had interfered with the cult’s events several times.

Of course, getting rid of Ivan was no big deal for the cult.

They could have dispatched a few of the High Clerics who were aiming for promotion to Bishop, or just dispatched a Bishop.

The problem was that Ivan rarely left the Academy.

If they were to dispatch a Bishop-level force and that Bishop were to be caught by the professors and lost, there would be no greater loss for the cult.

What the cult wanted was to achieve the maximum result with the minimum investment of power.

So the cult was trying to attach me, who fights well and runs away well, to Ivan and to deal with the 890th class cadets, who were called the golden generation, with other forces.

The flow of ‘Heroes of Frey’ was also like this.

During the final exam, the thief Gerard, who appeared on campus, approached Ivan and provoked him.

But he was caught by the player-controlled Ivan, got into a fight, his identity was revealed and he was defeated on the spot.

This was Gerard’s death flag that occurred on the last day.

I only just found out that this was the background situation.

And that’s why a question arises.

‘In this world-line, Gerard is a more annoying existence than Ivan.’

Among the Academy cadets, the cadet that the cult had to kill and stop first was Gerard.

I’m not saying this because it’s me, but it’s a fact derived from collecting the incidents and various information so far.

‘But why are they telling me to stop Ivan and not Gerard?’

The answer came soon.

Margo, who had been lost in thought for a moment, soon opened his mouth with an unreadable smile.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter if I tell you.”

“……”

“Listen carefully. The one who will stop Gerard is. Me.”

……Ah.

I see.

It was nothing, so why did he have to act all serious?

“Anyway, take this.”

Something was thrown in front of me with a thud.

It looked like a beast pouch.

But with the invention of the Obelisk, which prevented the Mana Freeze, the beast pouch had lost much of its utility as a weapon of terror.

“It’s a beast pouch. Use it when you’re trying to shake off Ivan or when you’re in danger.”

Well, since he was giving it to me, I took it.

Though it seems I’ll have no use for it.

***

After finishing the strategy meeting with Margo.

I immediately left the Sewer District and returned to my dorm.

I took off my skull mask and leather suit and lay down on the bed.

A sigh escaped.

A feeling of emptiness washed over me.

‘I tried so hard to change the flow of the original work, but in the end, my death flag is set.’

Well, come to think of it, it’s not exactly the same.

To stop Gerard, the operational commander, Margo, is said to be moving on site.

This point was different from the original work.

“Should I have interfered more with the mainstream?”

Either way, there’s no changing it by regretting it now.

Because the death flag has already been set.

What I need to think about from now on is how to resolve the terror that will take place tonight.

“…….Hmm.”

To be honest, I don’t think it’s very serious.

And rightly so, because there’s no way I’ll lose to Ivan like in the original work anymore.

It was a given.

No, I mean, come on.

I won even when I was a cadet yesterday.

‘If I’m a thief?’

If the stage is set for me to display my full abilities, then there’s nothing more to say.

On the contrary, what I have to be careful of is not to accidentally misjudge my strength and kill Ivan.

Meaning, the Bishop-level force that the cult was hesitant to dispatch was me.

“What bait, I’ll just knock him out. Why did I even take that? I’ll have no use for it anyway.‘

I chuckled, taking off my suit and looking at the beast pouch I had placed on my desk.

And so, there were two problems I had to solve from now on.

The first was to shake off Margo, who was planning to stop me.

And the second was to minimize the damage from the terror they would carry out.

The first problem is easy.

Even easier than stopping Ivan.

“The problem is the second one……”

Since I only have one body, it was impossible for me to stop the attacks that would occur simultaneously in several places by myself.

“Should I tell the faculty and have them stop the exam?”

I shook my head, thinking it was a ridiculous thing to do even as I said it.

Today is the last day of the exam.

In the morning, there will be training for the final exam in the evening, and not long after that, the exam will begin.

“And they wouldn’t stop the exam just by believing my words.”

In the first place, there’s no justification to stop the exam.

How many people would believe me if I said I saw a future where a terror attack occurs?

It’s not like this is <Final Destination> or something.

“Would the Dean believe me?”

……Anyway.

After considering it from various angles, I came to the conclusion that I had no choice but to accept some degree of damage.

“The best I can do is probably to guide the kids to gather and take the exam.”

And so, the day broke.

As soon as ten o’clock came, we gathered at the main building.

The training for the final exam was held here.

Not long after the kids had gathered, the professors went up to the podium.

Among them, the general exam supervisor, Chaser, came forward and began to explain the final exam that would begin in the evening.

“Now that everyone’s here, I’ll start talking about the final exam. You should have a rough idea of what it’s like since you were notified beforehand, but it’s about apprehending the escaping villains. That’s the last exam of this final evaluation.”

The overall framework was this.

In the Research Wing, there is a place called the Villain Behavior Research Institute and occasionally, villains are brought here for research purposes.

And those villains escape due to some kind of accident.

In a way, it was a familiar situation for the kids.

Right.

The Ged rescue operation.

The incident I had carried out to rescue Ged was reconstructed as an exam.

The number of escaped villains was twelve, and all of them were top-ranking 4th-year cadets disguised as villains.

Of course.

They don’t tell the kids.

“One thing I want to ask of you is that these are real villains who have been imprisoned in the imperial prison for a long time.”

“……!”

It was around that time that astonishment appeared on the faces of the cadets who were listening intently.

“Wait a minute, Professor! Are they real villains?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what happens if we miss even one of them?”

“Of course, they’ll go outside the school, right? They’ll either go west and cross the mountains, or they’ll hide in Icata, I guess?”

“No. I mean, even if it’s an exam, is-is that right?”

“Just in case, the Academy guards and our faculty will be on guard.”

“But they could still get away! It seems dangerous……”

“So you have to catch them all.”

The kids couldn’t hide their bewilderment at Chaser’s completely nonchalant attitude.

Real villains.

In the unexpected development, some kids were looking forward to the upcoming exam, but most of them couldn’t overcome the pressure and burden of real villains and began to murmur.

“What. So, they’re intentionally releasing real dangerous villains just for an exam? Did I understand that correctly?”

“That’s how I understood it too…… ha.”

“Is this right……?”

“Nooo! They said they were imprisoned villains! Then they’re all dangerous guys!”

“We’re still 1st years?”

Hmm, now?

As if I had been waiting, I muttered to myself.

“In that case, it would be a good idea to form a team with friends you get along with. No, it might be more efficient for sure.”

For a muttering to myself, my voice was quite loud.

Perhaps because of that, the kids around who heard it started to glance at me one by one.

And soon they nodded.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s what senior said. Let’s move together for now.”

“Honestly, I was planning on going solo. But since they’re real villains, I think that’s the right thing to do.”

“The exam is important, but catching those bastards is also important. It’s definitely not because I’m scared.”

Just then, Chaser’s voice echoed through the auditorium again.

“The score will be given based on contribution, and the person who measures that contribution will be the people around you. That is, you guys. It doesn’t mean that catching a villain is the only way.”

“……!”

“Making a decisive opportunity to catch a villain, or making a plan that becomes the foundation, or raising teamwork with leadership, and so on. All will be ways to raise your contribution. Now! I’ll be handing out an artifact from now on, so come forward one by one and receive it from the Development Department Head.”

The kids from the front row went out and received the artifact.

When it was my turn, I also went to the Development Department Head.

“Don’t break it. It’s expensive.”

The Development Department Head says, frowning.

Tsk.

Department Head Allen’s lackey.

It was annoying to even respond, so I just turned around.

This artifact, named ‘Record’, was a kind of recording device made using a memory storage formula and a communication orb.

It was long and thin like a cigarette and it was made to be fixed on the ear.

So if you wore it on your ear and lifted your head, it would store the field of view the wearer was seeing and you could see it later through the orb.

I fidgeted with it and muttered again.

“This will make it easy to check the contribution. Hmm. How should I catch the villains to catch them quickly and effectively?”

I can feel it.

The gazes that are slowly gathering from the surroundings.

“I could hide in a place where they’re likely to escape and ambush them, and setting a trap wouldn’t be bad either. For sure, that would be better than a direct confrontation.”

“……”

“Patience is the key to victory. The main purpose of this exam is not to catch them, but to prevent their escape. That’s the point. If you prevent their escape, they’ll be caught on their own.”

If I’ve said this much, they’ll understand and be careful, right?

After being satisfied and lifting my head, an unpleasant voice hit my ear.

“What are you doing?”

Karina, who had appeared at some point, was looking up at me with her arms crossed.

“What about?”

“What are you doing? Why do you keep muttering to yourself? And about things like how to get contribution points. What, are you a helper?”

A helper?

“That’s right, a helper.”

“Ha! My goodness. Now that you’re the top student even if you do it roughly, you’re going to help us with your broad generosity? Oh my. How kind of you.”

“Alright, alright. Think whatever you want.”

Suddenly, I brought my mouth close to her ear and warned in a low voice.

“Keep this in mind. It might be dangerous, so be sure to stick together.”

And I pulled my face away.

However.

‘……What. Why is she like this all of a sudden?’

Karina’s face, which I was facing, had turned red before I knew it.

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