Chapter 44 : Terror (1)

The situation was as follows.

Monday, the day for regular reports and receiving requests from the cult.

As usual, I met Luis early in the morning, listened to his report on the guild’s reconstruction, and was being briefed on the cult’s request.

[Cleric Guartes conveyed that plans to ‘destroy the Academy’ will begin in earnest moving forward.]

Luis passed by behind me.

Rustle, the sound of something falling onto the grass reached my ears.

[I just dropped an item called a Beast Pouch.]

“…….”

[Using the Beast Pouch to directly strike key Academy facilities or persons of interest is the cult’s request this time.]

I knew.

In Heroes of Frey, the event that dominates most of Chapter 1, the beast terror, begins in the third week.

And the villain orchestrating it is none other than Gerard.

In other words, me.

[Time and place? And what’s the overall plan?]

But, I didn’t know this.

[Well.]

Luis paused his Whisper for a moment.

His uncharacteristic hesitation made me glance in his direction and ask.

[What’s wrong? Is there a problem?]

[Yes.]

His serious tone caught me off guard.

No way.

I asked casually, but he’s saying there’s an actual problem?

Still, I didn’t think much of it at the time.

I realized things were screwed when I heard Luis’s next Whisper.

[There’s a slight problem with the request. This request involves using the Beast Pouch to strike a target, and that target is a person.]

[A person? What’s that about? Don’t tell me it’s me?]

This, too, was half a joke, asked without much thought.

…But there was no response.

When I turned my head, Luis was looking at me with a strange expression.

As if wondering how I guessed it.

No way, really?

[How did you know?]

[…….]

And that’s the situation now.

Goddamn it.

No matter how you slice it, telling me to terrorize myself?

Possessing a thief leads to absurd situations like this.

[To be precise, there are two others. Ivan, Yuria.]

[The medal recipients, huh.]

[Yes. But that’s not all.]

[Oh. What else?]

[The time and place are also an issue. The time is tomorrow at ten in the morning and the place… I believe you already know without me saying more. You, Master, should know where the targets will be at that time.]

I know.

Tomorrow at ten in the morning.

That’s when the first period Herbology lecture is in full swing.

The place is the eastern outskirts forest.

Naturally, I’ll be attending the Herbology lecture at that time.

It’s definitely a good time to take out all three at once.

[So, to summarize, I need to terrorize Gerard, who’s attending the Herbology lecture in the eastern outskirts forest tomorrow at ten in the morning. That’s it?]

[Yuria and Ivan, too.]

[Whatever.]

Hmm. That’s all I could think to say.

[This is screwed.]

I scratched my head.

For the record, I don’t have two bodies.

Just one.

While pondering how to slip out of the lecture and detonate the Beast Pouch, I came up blank.

No answers.

[Got any bright ideas? If you do, speak up.]

[What’s there to think about? You obviously need to skip the lecture.]

[You know it’s not that simple.]

I’m not just a student attending classes; I’m the Herbology assistant.

A model assistant skipping class without permission?

It’s obvious what Professor Ilai would think of me.

As a cathedral cleric, she’s still a highly valuable figure to me.

I’ve experienced her influence multiple times, and considering all the effort I’ve put into gaining her favor, skipping the lecture is not an option.

[I’d rather fail the request.]

When weighing the pros and cons, that’s actually less of a loss for me.

[Why not say you’re sick?]

[……Have you forgotten who Ilai is? She’s a cathedral cleric. You think a sick excuse will work? She’ll probably insist on healing me herself and drag me to class.]

[What about stepping out briefly for an errand? Leave for a moment, then detonate the Beast Pouch.]

[Wouldn’t that make it obvious I triggered the Beast Pouch? Rejected.]

[Then what do we do?]

[That’s why I’m asking you. Got any good ideas?]

The sound of Luis’s broom grew rougher.

[Oh! How about this, Luis? Just this once, you take my place and handle the Beast Pouch…]

[No. We cannot yet bear the risk if things go wrong.]

I smacked my lips at Luis’s flat refusal.

He’s right.

Before being the intermediary with the Beltus Cult, Luis is the butler managing all of Shadow’s internal affairs.

He’s also my mental anchor.

In short, he’s indispensable.

If Luis gets caught by the guards because something goes wrong?

That’s another way to get screwed.

I forcibly swallowed the sigh that slipped out.

[No choice then. I’ll figure something out.]

[Then I’ll trust in you, Master.]

[?]

Luis had already turned and was disappearing.

As if he’d been waiting for that answer.

“……Goddamn lonely.”

I gave a bitter smile and turned around.

Behind the bench, nestled in the bushes, was the brown sack Luis had dropped.

I stored it in my Subspace and immediately returned to the dormitory.

“Hmm. How do I solve this problem?”

I sat at my desk, lost in thought.

Inside the sack were ten Beast Pouches.

Their contents: Grade 4 beasts, War-wolves.

Each Beast Pouch held ten War-wolves, meaning I had a hundred War-wolves in my hands.

But how could I detonate these Beast Pouches without getting caught?

I wracked my brain, but all that came out was a groaning “Ughh—.”

“Anyone else?”

The detonation mechanism of the Beast Pouch works like this.

The trigger is mana.

Inject a certain amount of mana, and the color changes, exploding exactly one minute later.

The explosion releases the contents and generates a powerful shockwave, causing a Mana

Freeze phenomenon.

Naturally, detonating it requires the ability to manipulate mana.

Ordinary people obviously can’t, and it goes without saying that it has to be someone I can fully trust.

“……Hmm. No matter how I think about it, it’s just Luis.”

Then, what about non-humans?

What about Visions?

Creating a novel solution using the Visions I possess.

Like how I used the Summoning Art Vision [Phase Shift] during the Vault job.

But I soon shook my head.

“Maybe with mid-tier thievery, but the lesser thievery I have now won’t cut it.”

The other Visions were the same.

Mostly combat-oriented, they were useless in this situation.

“Damn it. Isn’t there a Vision like a clone?”

If I had just one more body, I wouldn’t need to worry about this— That thought hit me, and something I’d forgotten flashed in my mind.

There is.

Not a clone, but one entity that could act in my place.

“Wow. Why didn’t I think of this?”

I hurriedly closed the window and locked the door.

Then I summoned my Subspace.

The dark interior.

I felt a single gaze looking at me.

An entity that could act in my place, one I could trust.

“Come out.”

What stepped out from within was a stark white skeleton.

My third summon, the skeleton, Clatter.

Clack clack!

It shook its jawbone, greeting me warmly.

Seeing it, my heart pounded.

I’d felt it since the first time I saw it, but this one’s definitely different from ordinary skeletons.

For starters, its ability to express emotions sets it apart from worthless corpses.

So.

I couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

“Hey, you.”

I steadied my breath and asked.

“Can you use mana?”

Some undead can manipulate mana.

To be precise, death mana, called sagi (death energy).

If hatred and resentment are the life force that revives undead, sagi is the power and energy that moves them.

Thus, all undead possess sagi.

However, few can instinctively sense and manipulate it.

The lowest-grade undead capable of using sagi is the Ghost Knight.

For reference, the gap between a Ghost Knight and a skeleton is so vast they can’t even be compared, and it’s a known fact among necromancers that skeletons, the lowest-grade undead, can’t even be taught basic swordsmanship, let alone sagi.

“But Clatter’s different.”

I trusted my instincts.

And [Gaius’s Insight], too.

Just a tiny bit.

If it could show me even a sliver of potential.

Potential, that’s all.

If Clatter could just prove it’s aware of sagi, I could take it from there.

I had the two Visions I obtained from the necromancer that day: [Understanding of Death] and [Beltus-Style Revival].

“Mana. Don’t know?”

Clack clack!

“No, mana. Mana. The stuff flowing through your body right now.”

Then,

Clack!

As if realizing something, Clatter clapped its hands.

Suddenly, it clenched both fists tightly, bent its knees, and assumed a straining posture.

It looked like someone sitting on a toilet, exerting effort.

Tremble tremble…

A sudden worry crept in.

Uh. This guy didn’t mistake it for a fart, did it?

Well, a bad enough fart could be a kind of death energy in its own way.

But skeletons don’t have digestive systems.

That’s when it happened.

A scene unfolded before my eyes that made my worries irrelevant.

Whoosh──!

A dark, shadowy energy gathered in Clatter’s fists and vanished in an instant.

It lasted only a moment.

But I felt it clearly.

That was unmistakably sagi (death energy).

“……!”

I nearly shouted in excitement but quickly covered my mouth.

Instead, I grabbed Clatter’s arm and shook it to express my joy.

Clatter, not knowing why, shook its jaw and danced along because I was happy.

“Yes. You’re the best!”

Clack clack!

My prediction was spot-on.

Clatter was indeed different from other skeletons.

It was just a fleeting spark.

But the result that spark brought was immense.

A guidepost showing the right path to someone lost and wandering.

Once I had a lead, the tasks and plans immediately took shape in my mind.

I looked at the calendar.

There wasn’t much time.

Tomorrow was the terror D-day, so I had to finish everything tonight.

“Clatter. You clearly remember the energy and flow you just pulled up, right?”

Clack clack!

“Keep practicing that here until I finish class.”

Clack!

Clatter immediately assumed the straining posture and began trembling.

Leaving it at that, I sat at my desk and pulled out stationery and a pen.

Scribble scribble.

That practice alone isn’t enough.

To detonate the Beast Pouch, far more sagi is needed and the total amount of sagi won’t increase with that method.

“I need to make it grow.”

Into a higher-grade undead.

I had the method in my mind.

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