Chapter 283: Protector
lty Sani was a Third Grade student with average height and a slightly lean build. She had black hair and blue eyes, a standard appearance for an Austinean.
The Saint Freya Academy was a gathering place for the offspring of the affluent and noble. The Sani House did have so wealth, but being the daughter of a viscount wasn’t much to brag about, and lty’s results in combat classes had only been average thus far. Due to these reasons, she wasn’t able to join the Purplerose Faction despite being a Third Grade Austinean.
She t Cheryl in a light music club, and the two of them played together at last year’s Academy Foundation Day. From this, it should be safe to say that they were closely acquainted with one another.
After looking through the report himself, Roel crossed his arms and fell into deep thoughts.
Paul and Geralt stood by the side with grim looks as they awaited Roel’s next instruction. The scale of this matter had already far exceeded what the two of them expected out of this peculiar departnt.
Paul’s initial intention was just to establish an organization to help the students in need, just like how Roel had once helped him. He thought that the worst he would have to deal with were bullies, but he ended up getting involved with sothing much more sinister.
The ‘Bloody Envelope Incident’ was a serial murder case with more than ten victims. Sothing of this scale definitely qualified as a major case in any country on the Sia Continent. What made things worse was that like with most cases involving evil cultists, it was hard to tell whom they could trust.
The staff mbers couldn’t be trusted, the coachn couldn’t be trusted, and even the general student populace couldn’t be trusted either. The only ones they could really count on were the mbers in the two factions. It was still barely manageable for the Third Grade students who had tempered themselves through missions, but for the newly enrolled First Grade students, this was definitely severely beyond their scope of expertise.
In the silent eting room, Paul continuously took deep breaths, but he couldn’t stop his palms from sweating. This was the first ti in his life he was being exposed to such a grievous cri.
Sitting opposite to him, Geralt also had an awful look on his face.
The two of them were only able to barely retain their composure due to how self-collected Roel was. Noticing the unusual state the duo was in, Roel sighed softly and advised.
“Rember this, you must never lose your composure in tis of trouble. Panic will get you nowhere.”
“My apologies, big brother Roel. I was just taken aback by how severe the incident is.”
Roel could understand where Paul was coming from, but this was a hurdle he would have to overco. ntal fortitude ca not from fearlessness but triumphing over one’s fears. Righteousness ca not from knowing not of cri but opposing it.
Paul had the potential to beco sothing great; he just needed ti and a bit of support.
“The raid operation will be a collaboration between both our factions. While our Bluerose Faction is still weak at the mont, we’ll still have to dispatch people over. I’m intending to send the two of you and so of the stronger Origin Level 5 faction mbers.
“My only request for you all is to remain safe. I don’t want to have even a single casualty amongst us. There’s no need to compete with the Purplerose Faction for rit. We have done everything thus far with the objective of upholding justice, and nothing matters other than that.
“The fighting prowess of our squad should surpass that of a typical inquisition squad in the Theocracy. The only thing we are really lacking here is experience. There’s no way to fill up that gap right now, so I can only offer you so advice.”
Roel looked at Paul and Geralt intently as he issued a clear order.
“Don’t show rcy. Kill them.”
“Chief?”
“Rember this! No matter how much of an advantage you might have over them, never show hesitation in killing off the evil cultists. I don’t need you to capture any of them as hostages here. All I ask of you is to bring everyone out alive. Anything that happens to you will be my responsibility to bear.”
“Big brother Roel...”
Paul and Geralt felt deeply touched by those words. They took Roel’s words to heart and nodded earnestly.
“With that, there’s nothing much I can help you on anymore. I have my own mission to carry out too,” said Roel before quietly picking up the report on the table.
...
“Sorry, we haven’t seen Cheryl around. She hasn’t been here since her graduation.”
“I-is that so? Sorry for disturbing and thanks.”
In a music instrunt store along the comrcial street, a young woman politely apologized to the store owner before trudging off with her head lowered in disappointnt.
It was a day off for the students of the Saint Freya Academy, so there were huge crowds gathered at the comrcial street early in the morning. Laughter could be heard all around as friends and couples made use of this free day to catch up with one another.
But there was one person who looked out of place in this rry atmosphere—lty.
Just a week ago, lty t the parents of an old friend who took good care of her in the light music club. When they revealed their suspicions that their daughter, Cheryl, had disappeared on campus, everyone thought that the couple was simply muttering gibberish from the shock of losing all of their offspring. Only lty sharply noticed that sothing was amiss.
She believed the couple’s words not because she had so special superpower but that she grasped critical information that no one knew of—a magic communication device.
Magic communication devices were sold in pairs, and so of them took the form of adorable plush toys. It was common for female students to send one to each other as a symbol of friendship, and lty had received one from Cheryl before.
It was a cute kitty plush toy whose eyes would light up whenever they were in range of one another and purr when a ssage had been sent or received. lty clearly rembered the eyes of the kitty plush toy lighting up for a brief period of ti on the first day of the new sester, and it matched up with the day on which Cheryl was last seen.
She had no idea what was going on, but she was certain that Cheryl had indeed been to the academy. It was just that she had no tangible evidence on hand to convince her peers.
For her friendship with Cheryl, as well as the old couple of the Lawrences who had recently lost all of their children, lty decided to look into the matter. A week had passed since then, but there was hardly any progress at all.
No one had t Cheryl, be it her previous teacher or their friends in the light music club. She checked the instrunt store, the café they used to frequent, and everywhere she knew Cheryl had been to, but it was to no avail.
In the course of her investigation, she noticed sothing peculiar. It had only happened a few tis to date, but her intuition told her that soone was eyeing her. As a student who had taken a few divination classes in past sesters, she knew that this wasn’t a good on.
Could it be that my actions have brought the academy trouble, so they are keeping an eye on ?
This was the limit of what an ordinary noblewoman who had never encountered evil cultists or murder cases could think of. But thanks to that, the idea of seeking help popped into her head, and coincidentally, it happened at a ti when rumors about a peculiar departnt operating in the academy started spreading.
“Have you heard about it? The Bluerose Ringbearer took in that illegitimate son and even founded that Request Club!”
“Oh my, how utterly ludicrous! It was founded to help students in need? More like an excuse to slack off!”
“Not everyone has a strong sense of duty like Lord Lilian. It’s only normal for there to be organizations seeking to freeload off the academy.”
“...”
Such remarks were often echoed by the Austinean students around lty, but she disagreed with their opinions. For one, she was desperately in need of help right now.
It was probably the accumulation of fear, worry, and frustration that led to her penning down the letter on a whim. For the sake of the missing Cheryl, she was determined to leave no stone unturned. In order to bring attention to the letter, she intentionally dyed the envelope blood-red and neglected to leave her na on it.
She was worried that the Request Club might use the letter to report her for starting unfounded rumors, which could be a huge problem since the academy had made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with this. On top of that, Paul was in the organization too, and she was worried that being associated with him could lead to her isolation.
But to her disappointnt, there had been utterly no response after she sent out the letter. It didn’t look like the Request Club was making any move at all. In fact, she just heard infuriating news from her fellow Austinean peers.
“It seems like the Bluerose Faction’s Request Club has gotten into a conflict with the Enforcent Division over the allocation of resources.”
“I heard of it too. My friends who are in the Purplerose Faction told that they had a huge argunt with one another!”
“Is there going to be a factional war? Surely not...”
There were a mixture of responses to the news, be it anger or intrigue.
As for lty, she felt like her heart had been plunged into icy-cold water as despair washed over her. It was clear to her at this point that her letter had been completely disregarded.
Utterly disappointed, she made her way back to her dormitory in the southwestern corner of the Third Residential District. She opened her door with a deep sigh as exhaustion washed over her.
It was then that she spotted a figure sitting in her living room. A jolt imdiately ran through her body. Her first instinct was to scream, only to realize that she was unable to make any noise.
However, she quickly realized that this wasn’t a bad thing, for she recognized the uninvited guest right after.
It was a black-haired man dressed in a simple formal suit, standing unmovingly with an ancient staff placed in front of him. Despite his closed eyes, his presence was dignified and powerful. The mont he revealed those golden eyes, it was as if a resting dragon had awakened, bringing about an authoritative yet mysterious air around him.
His appearance and disposition violently shook lty’s heart, but what was most important of all was that she recognized his face.
“Don’t be nervous, Miss lty.”
Roel directed a gentle smile toward the flabbergasted woman. He rose to his feet and walked up to her.
“It’s alright now. I’m here to protect you.”
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