Holding the upgraded mithril steel sword, Hulim "left" Charkin’s forging room.
Clang! Clang! Clang......
The forging hall outside was also filled with the sound of hamring iron.
"Hmm? Hulim, did you get kicked out by Master again?"
The one speaking to her was the apprentice who had first led her to et Charkin—his na was Hokis.
"......Hokis, you’re still as tactless as ever. Can’t it be that I ca out voluntarily?"
"Don’t tell lies!"
"......"
"By the way, I have sothing to remind you. A group of bad guys seems to have co to Langard, specifically abducting students from your academy. You need to be careful!"
Hulim: "！？"
"What? Where did you hear that?!"
"This is a blacksmith shop, after all. All kinds of people co here to forge or repair weapons—including gang mbers. I heard about it from a regular custor."
"Don’t underestimate them. Even though they usually hide in dark places, no one in Langard is more well-inford than them."
That was the truth. No one had a sharper nose—especially when the sll of danger also ca from the shadows. It was impossible to hide it from them.
"Co to think of it, isn’t Manacos in its extracurricular research period now? Maybe those guys are taking advantage of the fact that many students are away for a long ti. That way, even if soone goes missing, it will take the academy a lot of ti to react, right?"
Extracurricular research was a mandatory subject for every student at Manacos, to be completed before the end of the second year. The content of the research was entirely formulated by the students themselves. Once approved by the academy, they could go out for an extended period.
Since many of the research topics required fieldwork outside Langard or even the Pasara Empire, many first and second-year students were not at the academy during this period and were basically unreachable. Even if an accident occurred, the academy couldn’t be notified in a short ti.
Hulim nodded: "You’re right. Just yesterday evening, I heard soone ntion that two students are missing."
"Really?! " Hokis looked shocked. "Has it spread among your students already? Those guys are even more reckless than I heard. You really need to be careful!"
"I will. Thank you for telling
this."
......
After leaving Charkin’s Blacksmith Shop, Hulim returned directly to the academy. Perhaps it was an illusion after hearing Hokis’ words, but she felt a faint sense of tension among the students.
Could it be that the news had really spread......
No matter the current situation, it didn’t change Hulim’s routine. She went to the Grand Library as usual to study the Rank 4 spell.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to
for the genuine story.
After dark, she returned to the dormitory.
However......
"It’s too late......"
Several hours had passed since nightfall, but her roommate Miko still hadn’t co back.
She pushed open the window. Outside was a pitch-black night, with dark clouds covering the sky—another starless night.
Staring at the deep darkness, an ominous premonition gradually crept into her heart.
"No, I have to go check on her."
She closed the window, took out the wand and sword she had already put away. Hesitating for a mont between her uniform and the mage’s black robe, she picked up the mage’s black robe.
Thud——！
As the sound of the door closing echoed in the quiet apartnt, Hulim, shrouded in the black robe, quickly rged into the night.
......
A few hours earlier.
Slum Street, Lower District.
Miko was wearing a black robe suitable for moving around the slums, heading toward an orphanage. When passing through a remote road, she suddenly sensed sothing was wrong. She stopped imdiately and placed her right hand on the hilt of the short knife hanging at her waist.
"Co out! Stop hiding!"
"Hmph, quite sharp indeed. It seems a surprise attack won’t work."
As a cold voice sounded, about twenty suspicious n dressed in black robes walked out from hiding places around her.
"Who are you......"
"Us? You ‘Righteous Thief’ are truly too noble to rember such trivial things. Well...... Anyway, we finally found you, so we won’t let you go easily. Co with us."
"......"
Feeling the dangerous aura emanating from these n, Miko’s expression turned serious. These were not ordinary gang thugs—they were a truly ruthless criminal organization!
But where had she crossed paths with these people?
Miko carefully recalled her experiences over the past few days. Suddenly, she rembered encountering a group of n with a similar aura a few days ago. At that ti, those n were attacking a Manacos student. Naturally, Miko hadn’t stood by and watched—she had stepped in to help. As those n fled, they had indeed left threatening words like "You just wait!"
"......So you’re accomplices of those n from a few days ago."
"Oh~, finally rembered? Normally, we wouldn’t care if you, a little thief, play hero with those gangsters. But you made the biggest mistake of your life by ssing with us!"
"......"
"Hehe~, judging by your expression, you won’t co quietly. Then we’ll have to teach you a lesson——!"
In an instant, all the criminal organization mbers launched an attack on Miko at the sa ti.
"Go ahead and try."
Whoosh!
Miko activated Strengthen.
Combined with the lightness of Wind Attribute Magic, her speed instantly reached an astonishing level. Only an afterimage remained in her original position. When she reappeared, she was already in the middle of the crowd.
The two short knives in her hands drew bright arcs, slicing past one person after another.
"Ah!""Ah!""......"
Several people were injured and fell to the ground on the spot.
"Don’t panic! Attack together and block her offensive route!"
Their organizational skills were clearly far beyond that of ordinary gangs. Even though several of them were easily defeated, the rest didn’t panic much. Instead, they quickly took counterasures.
For a mont, sword light flashed everywhere on the remote road, and the battle between the two sides reached a fever pitch......
At the sa ti, on a nearby street.
"Aunt Clea, you don’t have to take such good care of . You can just leave
in the orphanage courtyard."
A blonde girl with blue eyes sitting in a wheelchair was being slowly pushed forward by an adult woman.
"That won’t do! Alice, you’re inconvenient to move around. If you stay cooped up in the orphanage all day, your illness will only get worse. You need to go out more often."
"But...... Arthur and I used to get by like this. As long as I knew I was waiting in the courtyard, Arthur would always co back. I never felt bored at all."
"Alice......"
Clea sighed helplessly, but said in a firm tone:
"What’s past is past! Anyway, now that I’m in charge of the orphanage, I won’t allow things to be like before! And I won’t let you say such discouraging words!"
"......"
"......But Aunt Clea, besides Arthur, I’m the oldest in the orphanage now. If you take care of
like this, I won’t be able to set a good example for the others."
"You——"
Clea gently tapped Alice on the head.
"The only way you can set a good example now is to try to get healthier. If you look sickly, those little ones will worry too. How can you set a good example like that!"
"Um...... But......"
"Okay, no more ‘buts’——"
Clang! Clang! Clang......
The sound of a fight suddenly reached Clea and Alice’s ears. Before they knew it, they had arrived at another street.
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