While traveling to the deep zone by car, Adela fell into thought.
‘Could what Violet said be true?’
When she had t Violet again, she had been very happy. The excitent of eting a girl who might beco a junior was overwhelming.
But when she learned that Violet had lied about her na, she was deeply disappointed. She had thought Violet was a cute and innocent child, but it turned out she had been hiding such a bad side.
Just as she was about to turn away in disappointnt, Violet’s eyes made her hesitate.
The young girl, fumbling as she tried to explain her situation, had tears glistening in her eyes.
“My parents passed away. And bad people started chasing ... Now I can’t go to school anymore…”
Logically, there were many things that didn’t add up. The reasons she gave seed odd and exaggerated. Clearly, she was hiding sothing.
However, her instincts, honed through training and experience, told a different story.
At the very least, it didn’t seem like Violet was lying about what she was saying.
“Adela unnie... Can I leave now? I need to make money with my friends…”
“Unnie…”
Adela murmured.
According to what she had learned, relationships between people should be analyzed and judged rationally. But for so reason, she couldn’t seem to do that with this girl.
The car arrived at the deep zone, and while she was guiding the juniors she was in charge of, she happened to run into Violet again.
‘Let’s talk to her first.’
She gave a sowhat awkward smile and said.
“I didn’t expect to see you here again… I’m sorry for getting angry earlier…”
“Hehe, it’s fine! I did sothing that could easily be misunderstood.”
When Violet answered with a grin, Adela found herself unexpectedly feeling a bit relieved. Was it that she didn’t want to be resented by this girl?
Adela noticed the ard soldiers sitting behind Violet.
They had a blurred impression that made it hard to focus, so sort of interference device.
‘Why is this child here like this? Who are they?’
The thought of forced labor crossed her mind. She began to suspect that Violet might be working for so shady organization.
Adela cautiously asked, and Violet imdiately replied.
“Oh, those people? They’re from Ariel Group…”
“Ariel Group?”
Violet gestured behind her. The soldiers, who had been sitting, stood up and moved in perfect unison, lining up.
“They’re my bodyguards. They were left by my parents.”
Violet gave a sad smile.
At that mont, Adela’s mind flashed as if struck by lightning.
Her knowledge of the awakened world, noble families, and high society dynamics as a future head of an old noble family suddenly clicked together like gears in a clock.
The flow of knowledge and thought pointed to a few clues.
Deceased parents, a student at the Awakener Academy, an unknown security organization, and awakened colleagues who seed to be her friends.
‘A power struggle within the clan. Inheritance and shares issues.’
The Cascadia family has a vast network. Thanks to that, she often hears rumors and stories involving nurous clans, whether she wants to or not.
There’s nothing more frequently discussed among the gossips than family infighting over power struggles and shares.
‘If her parents died and she’s being chased by relatives or competitors?’
A narrative began to form naturally. It was a common story.
Humans beco cruel in the face of money and power.
Violet was a young girl who had been driven out of her clan or family for so reason. Unable to attend school anymore, she was now leading a dangerous dungeon expedition with loyal soldiers and friends, trying to reclaim her rightful inheritance.
The pieces of the puzzle that had been missing began to fit together. There was no conclusive evidence, so it couldn’t be definitively concluded, but it was a sad story.
She regretted that her family’s policy prevented her from ddling in other people’s affairs.
“I see.”
Adela swallowed her bitterness and pretended to remain calm.
‘If it’s true, poor child...’
When Adela suddenly began asking about the identity of our Violet clones, I was honestly flustered.
I didn’t know how to explain it. I barely managed to cover up by pretending it was Irene’s situation. Fortunately, Adela let it slide.
“Phew! It worked! The excuse about the parent’s bodyguard team worked!”
“Thank goodness.”
I sighed in relief inwardly.
Now I was thinking about how to leave here when Adela walked over to my bodyguards, who were lined up in a row beside —the Violet squad mbers. We stood motionless without moving.
“Is she still suspicious? What should we do?”
“It’s okay. We have insoles in, right? She won’t know!”
Adela looked at our squad mbers, and her athyst-like eyes held a look of kindness.
“They seem like good people. I’m glad.”
“Why is she saying this all of a sudden?”
I was puzzled but stopped thinking about it. At least Adela didn’t seem upset.
Once the crisis passed, curiosity arose.
Why had Adela co here?
“Could she be planning so strange human experint too?”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Adela is a good person.”
I looked around, and those glancing over here were probably the lower-year students.
But why had the student council president co along on this lower-year student field trip?
It was odd for the student council president to accompany them on such a trip.
I noticed that there were also students wearing armbands, probably mbers of the Disciplinary Committee. There were quite a few ard guards as well.
I asked about it, and I could see Adela making a distressed expression.
“Actually, one of the first-year students caused an incident. So, the senior student council mbers stepped in to help.”
“An incident?”
When I asked, Adela pressed her hand to her forehead as if it was aching.
“Well, one new student ran away to find so artifact and went to a dungeon with friends. Fortunately, they were rescued quickly, but it was chaos. Because of that, we’ve tightened the safety regulations for field trips. We need to prevent any other incidents.”
“Wow, I can’t believe that happened! That’s scary.”
I responded, and Adela nodded, then made a troubled face.
“The younger students have such a strong sense of adventure. A Holy Grail... confession...! Sigh…”
From a few words that slipped from her mouth, I quickly realized the situation.
Goodness, this was about that guy Alex, wasn’t it? Tsk, tsk, looks like it’s been found out.
Suddenly, sothing I had forgotten about popped into my mory.
“Wait, did you say it’s a field trip?”
It was unclear whether the people at Aegis Academy knew about the Unity Cult. I had just explained the presence of the cultists at the forward base a mont ago.
"Excuse , President? I have sothing to tell you."
I explained about the Unity Cult and what I had experienced.
"Is that true?"
"Yes! Look, I even have so of their stuff..."
Pretending to reach into my inner pocket, I retrieved the loot I had obtained from the cultists through my inventory.
Adela’s expression darkened as she examined the pocket-sized scripture of the Unity Cult.
"Thank you for letting know, Violet! I must report this to the professors imdiately."
As she turned to leave, a series of violent gunshots echoed from sowhere deep in the restricted zone.
Everyone present turned their gaze toward the darkness where the sound had co from. It was far louder than what hunters’ weapons usually produced.
Strange, unfamiliar noises followed the gunfire. A sharp, tearing sound, as if a rough cloth was being ripped apart. It resembled gunfire but was sharper and distinct.
"This... sounds like a Federal weapon."
As Adela muttered, I recalled what I had seen last night.
"That’s right! I saw Federal tanks arriving last night!"
"Are you sure?"
I began explaining about the Federal Mobile Unit. Hearing my words, she imdiately ran toward the academy bus.
In an unknown ruin, while mbers of the Third Division of the Mystic Research Bureau rummaged through the cultists’ corpses, Lera, who was operating a detector, spoke.
"The Federation has begun moving. We need to act faster."
She sent this telepathically while glancing briefly at a wall. The sound was bothering her.
The noise in the distance was loud and unusual.
The distinct sound, reminiscent of fabric being torn apart by tungsten bullets, was not sothing common firearms could produce.
"This is... electromagnetic weaponry. They ca well-prepared."
The Vanguard Commander, leaning against the wall, raised his arms exaggeratedly as if to signal trouble.
"This makes carrying that heavy thing on my back pointless. Did you see the expression on that so-called elder’s face when he died? He looked like he couldn’t believe his weapon wouldn’t fire! Just thinking about it cracks up."
The nearby agents chuckled at the commander’s words. The sound, distorted by their enclosed helts, ca out as eerie chanical tones.
"We’re not here to joke around, as you know."
"Ah, young folks these days are too serious. Alright, I’ll keep that in mind!"
The commander grumbled.
"Isn’t this over once we find the artifact? We’re incognito, so nobody will recognize us anyway. Oh, look at that, we just found sothing."
One of the staff mbers discovered a peculiar key amidst the mangled remains of Unity Cult fanatics.
Lera took the key, examined it, and inserted it into a conspicuous hole in one section of the ruin. The agents’ attention focused as the wall shifted, revealing a hidden toothed sphere.
The hopeful atmosphere among the agents dissipated. It wasn’t the artifact they were looking for.
"This isn’t the Vision Prism. Another dead end."
Lera couldn’t hide her disappointnt.
"Wasn’t this still necessary for the plan? Don’t rush! We have plenty of ti. Stay calm."
She issued new instructions to the agents, who prepared to detach the toothed sphere from the wall.
In the distance, other agents carrying equipnt were approaching. One of them, upon seeing the corpses, suddenly gagged and dropped their tools with a loud clatter.
"Ugh, seriously... such a rookie move."
"S-sorry! Urgh, ugh!"
The agents voiced their irritation.
Lera approached the female rookie, pulling her aside to console her.
"S-sorry..."
"It’s alright. I’m not angry. Is this your first field operation?"
"Y-yes, I was assigned from the lab... this is my first field mission... urgh! These people... what even are they..."
The brown-haired woman trembled.
"You heard the briefing earlier, right? These are cultists. You’ll get used to it, so don’t bla yourself too much."
The rookie, looking dejected, picked up her equipnt and returned to work.
Not long after, the tal sphere was removed from the wall.
Lera and the team swiftly retreated as the noise grew closer.
**
After Adela left, she was seen discussing sothing with people who appeared to be professors. Nearby instructors listened intently with serious expressions.
The conclusion was reached quickly.
"...Adelaide’s information is accurate. Attention, everyone!"
The professors gathered the students and made a loud announcent.
The decision by Aegis Academy was simple: cancel the field trip!
"They’re faster than I expected," I mused.
If it had been Polaris, they would have stubbornly persisted, no matter the risk.
Aegis, being a reputable academy, was sensitive about safety issues. As soon as danger was detected, they opted to withdraw.
They seed focused on creating a safe educational environnt for their students. That sealed it—I absolutely had to get into this academy, no matter what!
"I bet they serve good als too," I thought to myself.
I began preparing to return to my main task.
I needed to find rare artifacts in the restricted zone, make a fortune, and buy more weapons.
Urgent voices called out from the Aegis group as they prepared to evacuate.
"Where did those students go?"
"Three teams are missing!"
Oh dear, it seed there were more students like Alex. This academy was in trouble.
As the convoy carrying the remaining students hurried back to a safe zone, Adela approached .
"Huh? Sis. What’s up?"
"Sis? Uh... no, that’s not right... Violet, how long are you planning to stay here? It’s dangerous."
"I’ll search for a few more artifacts before I leave. I need the money."
"Ah... I see. Then I have a favor to ask."
I nodded. Adela spoke with a worried expression.
"We’re evacuating quickly, but so of our academy students are missing! While we’re organizing a search, the area is too vast, and their location is unclear. If you happen to find them, can you bring them to these coordinates? We’ll reward you."
The answer was obvious. I couldn’t refuse. This might help with admission or transfer into their academy if the professors noticed .
"Of course! I’ll bring them back as soon as I find them!"
Above all, it was Adela’s request. I had to fulfill it!
"Don’t overdo it. Your work takes priority, Violet. Understand?"
Adela handed photos of the missing students and the coordinates. The coordinates pointed to the dungeon’s border zone.
I returned to my team and explained the situation.
"Let’s find the artifacts and the students!"
Finding people was a piece of cake for us.
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