Chapter 72 - The False Teacher (2)

He added the tea powder he had prepared to a pitcher of water on one side of the room, then asked Piar and Mirisa,

"You're both still wearing your necklaces, aren't you?"

"Of course. I even wear mine when I bathe."

"Yes, me too."

They both put a hand to their chests. They had faithfully kept their Master's constant warning not to show the necklaces to anyone.

Satisfied, he handed Piar and Mirisa the tea he had prepared.

"It's tea to help you sleep. You'll have to go back early tomorrow, so have a cup each before bed. As I asked earlier, you don't have to return tonight, do you?"

"That's right!"

"It's still a shame. I wanted to stay up all night talking."

"It can't be helped. I only stopped by because I was passing through. I'll make time to see you again."

The two nodded as they drank their tea.

"This tea is delicious."

"But it does more than help you sleep. Yawn... I'm sleepy already."

"I know. Goodness... I feel so drowsy..."

As soon as they set down their cups, both began to nod off.

THUD.

The next moment, they tumbled from their chairs and lay sprawled on the floor.

"Oh dear. You can't sleep on the floor."

Their master, Louis, spoke to his two disciples from his seat. Already fast asleep, neither answered.

He made no attempt to move them to the bed.

"Dealing with children really is exhausting."

He sighed, laid Piar and Mirisa out straight on the floor, then slipped a hand behind each of their necks and drew out their necklaces.

They were simple necklaces set with gleaming gems. The stones were small and the workmanship unremarkable—ordinary necklaces that even commoners might wear as keepsakes.

But Louis examined both necklaces with a serious expression.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the necklaces... What on earth happened at the entrance ceremony?"

He set them down and frowned.

"If I'd known, I would have planted a few more people at the ceremony. Tsk. I thought sending people to a place where they'd die was too cruel, so I pulled them out. And now I've got this problem."

He sighed again and shook his head.

"Things have been going wrong for a while, and now I'm in trouble too. Well, trying to use the test subjects I went to so much trouble to prepare as bombs was where it all went wrong."

Muttering to himself, he looked down at the sleeping boy and girl, a trace of remorse on his face.

"I suppose I owe you another apology. I dragged you into this and got you killed so young."

"You can forgive me for my mistake in exchange for giving mere commoners like you abilities and getting you into the Royal Academy."

After saying something Piar would have found absurd if he'd been awake, Louis gripped the necklaces with both hands.

HUMMMMM.

His eyes began to glow, and the necklaces started to shimmer with a low hum.

"If their classes are in the morning, should I set it for about ten hours from now...?"

As he muttered, a sound reached his ears.

BANG!

The back door downstairs had been smashed open.

* * *

I was startled by the energy pouring from the shop's second floor.

"Mana?"

Had I been too cautious?

The moment I sensed mana rising from upstairs, I kicked in the back door and rushed inside.

"Who are you?"

People came running down the hallway leading from the back door. Three in all. As I'd thought, none of them had been asleep. They were properly armed, too. This was definitely no ordinary shop.

"Would someone planning to tell you break down the door?"

I answered as I swung my blade, slashing the short dagger through the air in front of the man blocking my way.

The bushy-bearded man looked baffled at the sight of my blade cutting through empty air. Then his face split in two, spraying blood.

I shoved aside the falling man and kept running.

"Could that be sword aura?"

"Damn it! Stop him!"

They were no ordinary men. Even after the first went down in a single stroke, the others held their ground. Their skills seemed no better than a trainee knight's or a middling mercenary's, but their movements and conduct made it clear they'd been trained by a proper organization.

Damn it. I hoped following the tail wouldn't lead me straight to the tiger. The thought filled my head, but my body kept moving toward the enemy, guided by experience and training.

I ducked beneath a sword swung at me and drove my mana-charged dagger into the man's chest. He wore a metal breastplate over his leather armor, but it couldn't stop the dagger as it plunged in, leaving a red afterimage. Sword aura surged along the blade, piercing metal and leather and running him through.

The last man held a crossbow. He'd clearly intended to shoot me while I fought the others. That, too, showed how well prepared they were. If I hadn't been skilled enough, it might have felt like walking into a trap.

The crossbow swung toward me and the man impaled on my blade.

I didn't pull my dagger from the man's chest. Instead, I let go, kicked off the wall beside me, and launched myself upward.

THUNK!

The crossbow fired at that same instant, straight at his fellow with my dagger in his chest. They really were well trained. The bolt passed through his comrade's chest. If I'd wasted time pulling my blade free, it might have hit me too.

But I was already passing over the enemy's head, my knee meeting his face.

CRUNCH!

I heard his skull cave in beneath my knee.

I moved back at once, pulled my dagger free, and ran up the stairs. Then I opened the door to the room where the mana had come from.

Piar and Mirisa lay on the floor, with a man standing by their heads. Mana was still moving through the room.

It was why I'd rushed in. Mana with a scent like the one I'd sensed in the entrance hall flowed from the chests of the two lying there, centered on the necklaces protruding from their clothes.

A hand was extended toward the two students. And the mana surging through the room as if about to burst was the very same mana that had destroyed the entrance hall.

That was why I couldn't move the moment I entered.

"Who are you?"

The man standing by the students' heads addressed me.

Was he middle-aged, or still a young man? He had sharp features, and he frowned as he looked at me. Something had displeased him, and he seemed to have made up his mind about something, yet he didn't look anxious.

I answered his question with one of my own. "Who are you?"

It was already too late to rush him. From his expression, he'd finished his preparations. And judging by the mana rippling through the room, there was no guarantee that killing him on the spot would keep the two students from exploding.

'Plan B, then. I'll just have to hope my mental strength has recovered a little...'

"The ones waiting downstairs were no ordinary fighters, yet you got through them in an instant and made it up here. At least knight-level, then?"

Ignoring my question, he muttered to himself. "But you don't look like an adult, no matter how I look at you."

I let him talk. He didn't seem likely to answer me right now anyway. Instead, I examined the two on the floor.

Their breathing was normal. They appeared to be asleep, not dead or unconscious. Given the cups on the table beside them, sleeping medicine seemed likely.

But there were no signs of a struggle or of their having been tied up. They hadn't been abducted; they must have come here of their own accord. Which meant they knew this man... He'd brought people he knew here, put them to sleep, and was doing something to them with mana.

So had Piar and Mirisa been deceived, just as I'd suspected? But what was their connection to him? They hadn't mentioned anyone like him last night. Then again, it would have been absurd to expect to learn everything in a single night.

And then there were the necklaces around their necks. Mana was gathering at them, so they clearly held some secret. Were they catalysts, or some kind of conduit? I couldn't see anything else. The necklaces seemed the best place to start asking questions.

"Were those necklaces the key to the entrance-ceremony attack?"

It was a rough guess, but fortunately it seemed to have hit the mark.

"No knights or soldiers have come swarming in. It looks like you came alone. How does that make sense? And those... Wait, the necklaces?" The man had been muttering through his thoughts, but my words drew a response.

"Don't tell me you're the bastard who ruined things at the entrance ceremony?"

"Not me. Us."

I was alone, but there was no reason to let him think so.

"Hmm. Going out of your way to correct me makes me think you are alone..."

Tsk. I shouldn't have said anything. He was much sharper than I'd expected.

"But how did you know these necklaces were the key?"

How did I know? Because I could plainly see mana gathering at the necklaces and flowing into Piar and Mirisa through their necks.

But only I, with my abnormally keen sense for mana, could perceive that.

"Well, telling me wouldn't do me any good, so perhaps it's a pointless question. To think you'd break in at precisely this moment. If these children weren't here, I'd give you a proper fight."

He clicked his tongue as he looked at the two on the floor. I'd wondered why he wasn't attacking. Was it because of them?

"No point dragging this out, is there? I suppose I should be satisfied with catching the bastard who ruined the plan along with them."

Still muttering to himself, he began extending his hand toward the two students. At that instant, I moved.

I kicked off the floor. His face rushed toward me, and I poured mana into my dagger.

WHOOSH!

Red mana stretched far beyond the blade. I swung it and severed both his arms.

SLICE.

Blood sprayed everywhere. I stepped between his bleeding arms and drove the blade into his chest.

THUNK.

Red mana burst out through his back. Leaving the blade where it was, I turned and tore the necklaces from the students' necks.

Mana whipped in every direction, but the link of mana between the man and the two students remained intact.

"Cough... It's no use. When you entered the building, I changed it to trigger the moment the link broke. The moment I sever it myself—or die."

He coughed up blood as he sneered. I clicked my tongue softly. "I thought so."

Too late after all. Just as I'd feared.

"Heh... You didn't even hit my heart. It makes no difference now, but it's still a shame. I'd left enough mana to set them off tomorrow morning, when everyone was together..."

The dagger was still lodged in his chest, a little below his heart.