Chapter 99: Midterm Evaluation (3)

But I had to stop my hand before swinging Raven.

Because the Black Swords of Galbart and the Dark Clerics were already aimed tightly at the guy’s body.

“That’s enough. Move any further, and we’ll cut you down.”

The guy, glaring at Galbart, smirked and raised both hands.

“Ehehe. Got carried away with the fun. My bad, my bad.”

“….”

“I’m serious, give me a break.”

When Galbart lowered his sword, the other Clerics sheathed theirs as well.

And so, the situation ended somewhat anticlimactically.

“Hey, thief. Not bad, huh? I lost. Completely. But, you know, I heard you’re supposed to be terrible at fighting despite being quick on your feet. Doesn’t seem like it, though?”

He whispered as he passed by me.

His eyes were fixed on Raven.

“Your movements, the way you draw your sword. Are you hiding your true skills?”

“When you’re a thief, you end up dealing with all sorts of dirty situations.”

“Oh, like today?”

Instead of answering, I stared at him.

At that, he took off his mask and grinned.

“I’m Madre.”

* * *

We headed to the operation site.

Their request was to help them infiltrate the exam site for the Survival Game happening tomorrow.

The exam site was the Mountain of Trials, not far from the Academy, and it was currently surrounded by two layers of security.

The first layer was a perimeter of guard posts.

A fence inscribed with alarm arrays and guard posts stationed at regular intervals completely encircled the Mountain of Trials.

The second layer was a large-scale barrier array, activated only during special periods like the midterm evaluation.

The large-scale barrier array was a massive shield that completely isolated the interior from the exterior, strong as steel and capable of absorbing aura and mana, making it nearly impossible to break with sword strikes or Magic.

After breaching these two security measures, the final task was to install a Beast Pouch inside the ‘Safety Zone’ within the Mountain of Trials.

That was the request the Cult made of me.

And now, far ahead, the lights of the first checkpoint, the guard post, were twinkling.

Lowering my stance and hiding in the bushes, Galbart looked at me and asked.

“It’s time to show your skills. If there’s anything we need to watch out for, tell us now.”

At that, all the Clerics’ eyes turned to me.

Things to watch out for, huh.

“Just stay quiet.”

After summoning Sylph, I moved toward the guard post without waiting for a response.

In truth, I could’ve just climbed over the fence instead of dealing with the guard post.

But there were two risks involved.

Namely, the alarm arrays and the abilities of the Dark Clerics.

Judging by Galbart and Rachel’s movements, those two could probably scale the fence without triggering it.

But I wasn’t sure about the others.

Even if they claimed they could, I didn’t trust them.

So I chose a more certain method, and that was this.

Sleeping powder.

Sylph, carrying a leather pouch filled with sleeping powder in its beak, flew straight toward the airspace above the guard post.

With my increased mental strength from leveling up, the days of giving verbal commands were long gone.

Chirrup!

Sylph, having completed its task, flew back, and I approached the guard post to check inside. The guards were completely knocked out.

I raised my fist and waved it, signaling Galbart and the Clerics to cautiously pass through the post.

To ensure no traces were left, I checked one last time before passing through myself.

“The problem comes next.”

Galbart approached me.

“According to prior information, that barrier is impenetrable. A barrier that neither Aura Sword nor Magic can break.”

It wasn’t entirely impervious.

If you hit a single point with damage exceeding its threshold, even a large-scale barrier array would break.

The problem was that no one in the Cult present could produce that level of damage.

You’d need at least a bishop-level figure, but they wouldn’t come all the way here just to break a barrier.

“You must have some special trick up your sleeve.”

I didn’t know about tricks.

But I did have a person and an artifact.

The person was Dayle, and the artifact was a dagger.

The day Dayle awakened the true eyes of Evil Eye, he succeeded in enhancing my dagger, granting it a special ability.

And that special ability was [Barrier Nullification].

Since there was no need to share that secret with them, I gripped the dagger inside my palm using only my thumb.

Then, I lightly stabbed a point in the barrier, and with a crackle! A faint resistance accompanied red sparks at my fingertips.

The resistance lasted only a moment.

The dagger slid through smoothly, creating a gap in the barrier, and with a wide swing of my arm, the tear widened enough for a person to pass through.

“Go in.”

Galbart turned to me at the sudden appearance of an entrance.

For the first time, a deep admiration shone in his eyes as he looked at me.

“How did you do it? It looked like you cut the barrier with your bare hands… Is this a Shadow Vision?”

“It’s a secret.”

Since asking about Visions in detail was considered rude, Galbart didn’t press further.

That’s when it happened.

“…Impressive.”

It was Madre.

The martial artist seemed quite interested in my bare-handed barrier-cutting, staring at my hand for a while.

Yes, Madre.

He definitely introduced himself as Madre.

I racked my brain the moment I heard it.

But that name didn’t exist anywhere in my memory.

There were two possible explanations.

Either I didn’t know it because it wasn’t covered in the main story of the original work, or the name Madre itself was a lie.

All I knew about him was that he had a prickly personality, didn’t get along with the Clerics, was crazy about fighting, and was a martial artist who used Martial Art.

Oh, and one more thing.

He used a unique Vision that released an intangible force after an attack.

Solid information gained through direct experience, but it was still insufficient to deduce Madre’s identity or gauge his strength.

“…Hrm.”

All that remained was to enter the ‘Safety Zone’ and install the Beast Pouch.

It was a quick task, so I could consider my chance to gather more info on him effectively gone.

I’d have to settle for this much, whether I liked it or not.

It’d be a lie to say I wasn’t disappointed.

More information would’ve allowed me to prepare more thoroughly and perfectly for the upcoming boss fight.

A perfect plan guarantees victory, so the lack of it was frustrating.

The variable was still Madre.

If he was bishop-level strong, this could lead to a pretty fatal outcome.

The Vision that released an intangible force at the end was unsettling too.

‘If we’d fought a bit longer, I could’ve figured out his true strength.’

Just before heading to the final task, the ‘Safety Zone,’ during a brief rest.

An unbelievable scene caught my eye.

In a corner of the clearing, Madre was talking to someone.

His eyes were crinkled, so was this guy… smiling?

‘Seems like it.’

Madre, who I thought was an outcast, was talking to someone, and smiling at that?

I got curious about his conversation partner.

I immediately looked toward the other person.

But from where I stood, they were obscured by a tree, out of sight.

Damn it.

Who was it?

Galbart?

No, I saw him on the opposite side, giving orders to the Clerics.

So it had to be one of the Clerics.

And as my thoughts reached that point.

I suddenly recalled one Dark Cleric who hadn’t been visible even once while we passed through the two checkpoints.

* * *

“….”

What the hell.

They knew each other?

Indeed, the Dark Cleric emerging from the tree’s shadow with Madre was Rachel.

They kept talking, and judging by Rachel’s characteristic low laughter, they seemed quite close.

It was genuinely unexpected.

How did they know each other?

‘I thought nobody knew him since even Galbart didn’t.’

What’s more puzzling was that neither Galbart nor the other Clerics found this odd.

They seemed to think it was natural.

Come to think of it, when Galbart and the other Clerics drew their swords to stop Madre after our bet, Rachel didn’t.

“Let’s get moving.”

Galbart approached, urging us to proceed with the operation.

The final task was to infiltrate the ‘Safety Zone,’ the exam site’s safe area and control tower, and install the Beast Pouches.

He held three Beast Pouches in his hand.

“The goal is chaos and paralysis. We need to disable the Safety Zone’s facilities and keep the professors tied up.”

I took the Beast Pouches he handed me.

“Can I make one request?”

“A request?”

“I’d like one more person for this task.”

A hint of confusion flickered in Galbart’s eyes.

It must’ve seemed strange since I’d handled all the tasks alone so far.

“Is there a reason?”

“A precaution. I need someone to take the fall in case something goes wrong.”

At my chillingly cold words, Galbart’s brow furrowed sharply.

Unlike other factions, the Darkness Council had strong camaraderie.

Sure, there were psychopaths like Cave or Sabo, but even they had some sense of loyalty to their comrades.

And here I was, blatantly treating his subordinate like a tool.

No way he’d be happy about that.

But after hearing my next words, he agreed readily.

“Rachel.”

“Rachel?”

“I’ve worked with her a few times.”

“Fine.”

Galbart called Rachel over immediately.

She came and flashed me a smile.

“You wanted to go with me, huh?”

“….”

“What? Planning something?”

Ignoring her as she covered her chest with both arms, I started walking.

“…No fun.”

I heard Rachel following behind.

The Safety Zone.

Far ahead, a pillar of light stretched above the tree-lined horizon—that was the ‘Safety Zone.’

There was no conversation between us.

Surprisingly, Rachel followed me quietly, maintaining silence until we reached the operation site.

When I glanced at her, she had a thoughtful expression but smiled brightly when she caught my eye.

I looked forward to it again.

I was waiting for the right moment to ask about Madre.

Of course, she might not answer willingly.

But I wasn’t particularly worried about that.

For some reason, I felt Rachel would answer honestly.

It wasn’t baseless confidence.

‘She said she had a request for me, didn’t she?’

The assassination of Bishop Lutus.

She’d said she needed assurance, but I figured the skills I showed at Frey Academy gave her enough confidence.

If so, she wouldn’t hold back on supporting me.

Step, step.

The Safety Zone task was simpler than expected.

Perhaps because they relied so heavily on the guard posts and barrier, there were no guards inside the Safety Zone, and with three days until the Survival Game, no staff were present either.

The interior of the building was silent, like it was abandoned.

But it was clean, with no dust, indicating periodic maintenance.

“It’s quiet. Like no one’s here.”

“Be quiet.”

Rachel shut her mouth again.

With no need to be cautious, the task went smoothly.

I installed the three Beast Pouches in hidden spots and left the Safety Zone the same way I came in.

“Done?”

“Yeah.”

How far had we gone?

Feeling the moment was right, I stopped in my tracks. She bumped into my back with a thud and bounced back.

“Ouch. What the hell? Why’d you stop suddenly?”

I turned around.

As she rubbed her forehead and looked up at me, I asked.

“You seemed pretty close with Madre.”

“…Out of nowhere?”

Her eyes seemed to ask if I stopped and set the mood just for that.

A puff of laughter escaped her.

“What’s this? Are you jealous?”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed.

“I thought you were all cold, but you’ve got a cute side? Don’t worry. Me and Madre are definitely not like that. You’re the only one for me.”

“What do you know about him?”

“…You just completely ignored me. No charm at all, huh.”

Pouting and grumbling, Rachel looked around.

She sat on a nearby rock, crossed one leg, and asked.

“You’re curious about Madre, right?”

“Yeah.”

“To answer your first question, we’re not close. But I do know him.”

So his name really was Madre.

“Tell me everything you know about him.”

“Hmm.”

Rachel tapped her lips, then smiled brightly at me.

“Alright. But there’s one condition.”

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