Chapter CXV - Two Versus Two (part 2)

Lemillia quickly stood up from the ground and looked up into the platform, where I had stood.

But on the platform, there is nothing but dust and destruction.

Jericho and Manda searched around for me on the platform, but they found nothing. Instead, on the far wall behind the platform, a shout can be heard.

"Those are some nice combos!"

I shouted from the back wall.

The explosion from their attacks managed to throw me off quite far, all the way to the back wall, but that didn't scathe me one bit.

But, those could hurt Lemillia. That's why I pushed her out of the way just in time.

However, since I'm out of the platform, it's clear that I lost the battle.

"Rize! Are you okay?"

Lemillia came running at me. The way she ran with her round glasses and tied hair is very funny and cute.

"Yeah. Are you hurt?"

"N-No, I'm fine."

After confirming that she is okay, I patted her shoulder and headed to the platforms where Manda and Jericho were staring at me angrily.

"Y-You were holding back, weren't you!?"

Jericho asked me with her pissed expression. And judging from Manda's expression, she too wants to know.

"Well, of course. I am training my new shadow magic, after all."

I said while chuckling, which somehow made the two even more pissed at me.

The teacher approached us. His hair looks very messy, not to mention his expression.

"Winner. Jericho and Manda."

He announced that and then he turned towards everyone else in the class. Jericho and Manda chuckled, and then followed the teacher to group up with everyone. Me and Lemillia also followed.

"Everyone, thank you for coming to today's class. It was… horrific. Tomorrow is the weekend, so be sure to focus on training. After all, talent is nothing if you don't train it."

The teacher said to everyone and then dismissed the class. The teacher then headed out and left the gymnasium, but everyone else stayed.

Now, we talk about the real training.

I looked around the gymnasium, and it seems like there is no one else here besides us. We are in the clear.

"Everyone, may I have your attention please?"

Elmone moved to the front and spoke out.

"Now that it is the weekend, we are going to be more intensive with our training. We will begin training today until eight. And tomorrow..."

Elmone turned to me for the schedules, but I simply shook my shoulder. I don't care what time we are training. It's them who need me.

"Then, we will train for the whole day tomorrow! Because Sunday is club day, so we can't really train much."

Club day? That's new to me.

A hand suddenly lifted upwards from the crowd. It's Maneil.

Everyone turned to her, and she turned her gaze at me.

"Before anything, I'd like to apologize for... leaving. I thought that we have to live like barbarians as training, and I can't accept that. But, if we are training for real… then I will accept anything."

Maneil spoke aloud, and everyone else who left with her were agreeing with her words. As a result, an evil grin formed on my face.

"Really? Then I have just the perfect punishment for those who left."

My expression must have scared them because they looked quite terrified. But, they had no choice if they wanted to come with the training.

After that, the class was dismissed. Everyone else went to their own dorm room to prepare for the training. It is currently three, and we will go at 3.5 later and we will gather at the bottom of the stairs.

I returned to my room right after the class was dismissed. Arriving at the dorm, I can see some eyes glaring at me, and none of them are pleasant.

Just like any day with any person, I simply ignored them and continued heading to my dorm room.

But as soon as I touched my room's door knob, my whole vision turned white. I quickly went on a stance as my knight's sword immediately summoned to my left hip.

My eyes studied the surroundings until the whiteness finally cleared itself and showed me the headmasters room.

"W-Well... You seemed to be on edge there..."

The headmaster quickly dropped sweats as I glared at him with a slight hatred and anger. But then I let out a sigh, and returned my sword to the space ring.

"I thought we talked about this..."

"Yes, but it seems… this is a lot more urgent than you think."

The headmaster's expression turned serious.

Seeing how he is going to start talking, I quickly sat down at the sofa and placed my foot on the table. I turned my gaze at him when his mouth started moving.

"We seemed to have some mole in our midst."

"... W-What?"

A mole? In the academy?

"I'm not sure who the mole is, but I know their origin. They are most likely from the demon kingdom."

"D-Demon kingdom...?"

I have never heard a single word about the demon kingdom. I mean, I do know about it, but there hasn't been a single news about it, and it does worry me.

Being the largest kingdom in the continent and fairly close to our kingdom, the demon kingdom might be the biggest threat to us till date. After all, they are only at the other side of the great desert.

The reason why they are a threat… was because they were never an ally. There has been no news, no relation that was ever made, no contact... Nothing.

The demon kingdom lives in an entirely different part of the continent, away from the kingdoms here, like Mazino or Xyphon.

The headmaster began telling me everything. He started from around a week ago, right before I arrived at the academy, a student was injured heavily from what is expected to be a bullying incident. 

The student was rendered unable to speak, and somehow lost a slight piece of his mind and became insane.

And after thoroughly investigating it, it was noticed that there were traces of demon curse magic on his mind. It was impossible to remove the cursed magic corroding his mind, so the student couldn't be saved.

The executives of the Xyphon kingdom who were investigating this incident had agreed to keep this in silence, as a sign of a cursed demon magic means that there might be a demon race hidden among the students, and that they suggested increasing the security on the academy.

"And now this… demon race student. They are still within our midst?"

"Yes. And we don't know for sure if he/she is a student or not. Plus, that incident was weeks ago. We have no way to know if this demon person is still here or not."

"Damn... Why tell me?"

The headmaster turned his gaze at the paper on his desk. Some names were written there, the names of what seemed to be his selected students.

"I have compiled a list of students that I think are strong enough to handle my trust. And, I want to add them to the disciplinary committee."

"... You are not thinking of adding me..."

"What? No."

He chuckled as he stood up and walked towards me. His hands are behind his back, and I can see that he summoned something.

By the time he got close, I could smell a little bit of what the item was, and my mind quickly started guessing.

"Go on, guess it."

"It's… clothes?"

He took out his arms. And yes, it's a long black robe with a red hood on the top.

He gave me the robes and then walked back to his chair. I just stared at the robes awkwardly and confused as he chuckled.

"... Am I supposed to understand something??"

"The disciplinary committee wears a white robe with a blue hood on the top. You can guess what that means, can you?"

I glared back at the robes. There are many guesses in my mind, but I think one thing is certain.

"You want me to… support them from the shadows?"

"Correct."

Oh dear... This is going to be annoying...