At the mana analysis device placed in the center of the conference room, residual traces of mana forcibly severed by the water spilled in the plaza moments ago flickered like red threads.
Erka stared intently at that flow, furrowing her brow.
A bead of sweat on her pale forehead fell onto the table with a soft tap.
"I'll get straight to the conclusion. Completely removing it is impossible."
Erka's dry voice split the chilly air.
She tapped Central Plaza on the map with the end of her staff.
"You stopped the chain overload by spilling the water. But that was only delaying the explosion's trigger by a beat.
Even if the main device was removed, remnants of that ominous mana have already transferred to the normal magic lamps and support structures installed throughout the plaza.
I suppose you could call them residual phase toxins.
To scrape all of this away, we'd have to tear out every installation in the plaza and reconstruct the spellwork."
"How long would all of that take?"
Nadia asked quietly.
Erka let out a self-deprecating laugh and answered.
"At least three days. Even if we worked around the clock, it wouldn't be enough."
Three days.
The bell announcing the festival's opening would ring by tomorrow morning.
I gripped my wet sleeve tightly and looked at Nadia.
"Then we should just cancel it. Cancel and inspect it again from scratch.
Opening the festival like this is no different from dancing on top of a powder keg."
Nadia shook her head at my desperate proposal.
In her eyes, the cold, pragmatic calculations unique to an intelligence strategist were rapidly turning.
"It's impossible, Yurian. The festival starts in just a few hours now.
Visitors have already arrived from across the Empire, and the vested interests of the sponsoring houses and merchant guilds are intricately entwined across every inch of this plaza floor.
If we cancel the festival entirely based on nothing but a gut feeling that it's dangerous, without any clear evidence of terrorism,
the culprits will cut their tails and hide deep in the shadows.
If that happens, the political landscape inside the Academy will be overturned beyond control."
Nadia leaned over the table.
The subtle scent of perfume wafting from her mixed with the acrid smell of paper dust, evoking a bloody tension.
"The bigger problem is that canceling doesn't make the danger disappear.
As Erka said, the devices have already been installed, and some have blended with normal equipment and phase structures.
If we recklessly begin dismantling them in this state, the spellwork could get tangled from the stimulus alone and explode.
We have only one choice left now."
I already knew what she would say next.
My stomach sank heavily, as if I had swallowed a lump of stone.
"The festival proceeds as planned. Instead, you all need to move."
Nadia's gaze swept over us one by one.
"Erka will track the fluctuations of mana; Mia, the source of that foul smell;
and Yurian... you'll use your strange intuition to detect abnormal reactions.
There is no other way except for us to isolate the point or neutralize the spellwork before an accident happens."
I let out a hollow laugh and leaned back against the chair.
It felt like the last of the strength in my legs was draining away.
"So instead of enjoying the festival, I'm supposed to become a living, walking bomb detector."
Erka answered shortly to my self-mocking words.
"Exactly."
"...Don't be exact, please."
The map in the conference room had now transformed into a war room strategy board.
Nadia picked up a fountain pen and began finalizing each person's position.
Erka was in charge of adjusting the phase of the magic lamps and would watch near the central control panel.
Mia would handle scent tracking and surveillance of the plaza's outskirts.
Nadia herself would coordinate the movements of the student council and VIPs while watching for any potential internal accomplices.
Briana would provide administrative support in real-time from the Student Support Office, managing inspection records and changes.
The others also had to prepare for the coming catastrophe from their respective positions.
Rine and Amelia would stockpile medicines and mana at the treatment booth in preparation for emergencies,
and Seria was to re-inspect the auxiliary lamps of the Magic Department booths one by one.
Rowen had been revising the maze's route all night at my pointing out,
and Dylan had been pushing the Swordsmanship Department's safety line further back while reinforcing the supports.
And the original protagonists, Kyle and Serena,
would stand at the center of tomorrow's splendid opening ceremony, basking in brilliant lights, knowing nothing at all.
On that dazzling stage which the true story sought to protect.
As for me?
I, who had wanted to belong nowhere and simply dust a corner warehouse, was now stuck in the worst position—being called around to every single one of these dangerous points.
An observation target and an anomalous student candidate,
and now an on-site assistant fitted with the student council's official shackles.
Deep in the night, the path back to the dormitory was terribly quiet.
The tents erected throughout the plaza looked like white funeral clothes under the moonlight.
The moment I stepped inside the room, I sat down on the edge of the bed without even changing my clothes.
I didn't have the strength to move a single finger.
A new record had been updated on the terminal screen, which I had turned on out of habit.
[Record Update Regarding Equipment Inspection Accident During Festival Preparation Period]
[Related Student: Yurian Balter]
[Property Damage and Rehearsal Delay Occurred]
[However, Multiple Phase-Unstable Devices Discovered Subsequently]
[Note: Observation Target Maintained / Anomalous Student Candidate Review Ongoing]
Staring at the screen, I let out a weak, hollow laugh.
"I really look like a guy who only causes accidents."
To anyone seeing it, this was the record of a clumsy, incompetent student who had spilled water and ruined the festival rehearsal.
But the new schedule appended below that record was anything but light.
[Academy Festival Main Event]
[Central Plaza On-Site Safety Inspection Assistant]
[Full-Day Deployment]
Full-day deployment.
From the moment the festival began until the moment it ended,
it meant I had to walk nonstop atop this time bomb called the plaza.
All my plans to hide in the background as an extra had already become distant memories.
No matter how much I ran, no matter how much I struggled pretending to be incompetent,
in the end, I had been pushed back into the heart of this massive incident.
Whether the water I spilled had stopped the explosion,
or whether it had been the prelude to an even greater calamity, would only be known come tomorrow.
I turned off the terminal and collapsed onto the bed.
The festival hadn't even started yet.
Yet my academic record was already as dirty as someone who had died and come back to life three times over.
My stomach cooled as my consciousness grew hazy.
And the next morning.
The majestic peal of the bell signaling the true opening of the Academy Festival rang out across the plaza.
The sturdy dormitory ceiling, which looked like it wouldn't even get scratched, felt unusually close today.
No, actually it was because my body was heavy.
What I heard the moment I opened my eyes was the majestic bell announcing the Academy's peace,
but to my ears, it sounded like a funeral knell ringing from some faraway place.
My academic terminal, which I had stuffed under my pillow, buzzed as if asserting its existence.
I knew without looking.
Those phrases blinking in red, constricting my breath.
I reluctantly picked up the terminal.
Letters so vivid they hurt my eyes filled the screen.
[Academy Festival Main Event]
[Central Plaza On-Site Safety Inspection Special Assistant]
[Assignment Status: Full-Day Deployment]
[Special Note: In case of tardiness, immediately report to Student Support Office and demerit points will be assigned]
"...Full-day deployment. I guess labor standards laws don't exist in this world."
I flipped the terminal over onto the floor and smothered my head under the blanket again.
If only I could hibernate until my expulsion date like this.
But reality was cruel.
The festival's energy was already seeping through the thin blanket.
In the hallway, the excited footsteps and laughter of students never ceased.
Even the upperclassmen who would normally shout about dress code violations were wearing festive decorative ribbons and in high spirits today.
Conversations about the limited menu at the cafeteria, the exhibition the Magic Department had ambitiously prepared,
and speculations about who would appear at the Swordsmanship Department's sparring booth flowed in through the walls.
Everyone seemed to have been eagerly waiting for today,
but to me, it was simply the beginning of a massive commute.
Knock, knock.
My heart dropped.
It was obvious who would come looking for me at this hour. I
held my breath and played dead, but the person outside the door calmly opened their mouth as if mocking my shallow expectations.
"Yurian, I know you're awake."
It was Erka's voice. She had clearly calculated the probability of my escape down to the third decimal place.
If I didn't open the door, she looked ready to pick the lock with magic and come in.
I acknowledged defeat and raised my heavy body.
When I opened the door, Erka, who had finished preparing much earlier than usual, was staring at me intently.
"...Erka, I'm a student. A proper student enrolled in the Academy.
I'm not a living, mobile public detection device."
Erka didn't bat an eye at my desperate protest.
She looked over my attire and spoke firmly.
"I know. That's why I'm taking you around personally.
If you were equipment, I could just leave you in a warehouse,
but you keep trying to disappear somewhere."
"How is that any different from imprisonment?"
"I've decided to call it protection.
Rine and Nadia are waiting.
Let's go."
In the end, I followed behind Erka like a prisoner being dragged to the execution ground.
The hallway was already chaos.
Colorful magical flower decorations were stuck to every wall, and the students were moving toward the festival grounds at twice their usual speed.
The more I saw their vibrant faces, the tighter my stomach clenched.
The moment we arrived at the cafeteria, what I saw was Rine, already seated and settled in.
In front of her was a serving of recovery food and nutrient porridge that looked twice the usual amount.
The moment Rine saw me, she smiled a saintly smile, but today that smile felt especially cold.
"Yurian, today will be a long day.
So you need to eat a sturdier breakfast than usual.
I prepared a new herbal blend specially for you."
"Rine, I appreciate the thought, but I have absolutely no appetite right now..."
"No. You have to eat to endure. This is a meal, not treatment, so don't forget that you can't refuse."
At Rine's firm attitude, I had no choice but to pick up the spoon.
This wasn't a meal; it was torture.
So-called food torture.
The porridge I forced down my throat had a strangely bitter taste,
and because it felt like the taste of my future, tears pricked my eyes.
At the seat beside me, Mia sniffed and brought her nose near my shoulder.
"Senior, the smell is heavier than yesterday. But you haven't died yet."
"Mia, am I supposed to take that as a compliment?"
"Yeah. The festival smell makes my nose hurt a bit, but I can see your smell clearly.
I'll keep a good eye on you from behind today too."
Mia's tail tapped the leg of my chair.
Rather than the encouragement of a reliable partner, it sounded like a predator's warning that she would snatch me up immediately if I ran.
Then the terminal rang again.
It was the detailed inspection route Nadia had sent.
The moment I saw the schedule packed without a moment's rest, from the north of the plaza to the VIP seats in the south, strength drained from my legs.
Then a dry confirmation message from Briana arrived.
[Attendance check complete. Inspection duties begin in 5 minutes. Move to position.]
I realized.
From the first day of the festival, I was thoroughly not alone.
Every direction was filled with people watching me, needing me, controlling me.
It wasn't safe because I wasn't alone.
Because I wasn't alone, a hell from which I couldn't escape even if I died had unfolded.
"Now, if you're done eating, let's move."
Having confirmed Nadia's message, Erka took the lead.
I downed the last of the herbal tea and moved my heavy footsteps.
The moment I entered Central Plaza, I momentarily stopped breathing.
It was blinding.
Colorful tents and flags fluttered to an extent that made it unbelievable this was the usual Academy plaza.
Small magic lamps floating in the air shone like jewels under the sunlight,
and sculptures prepared painstakingly by each department displayed their magnificent forms.
The cheers and laughter of the crowd, along with the sound of instruments playing from somewhere, mingled together to announce the perfect overture of the festival.
In the original story, this scene was a beautiful segment where Kyle and the heroines' affection points exploded.
But to my eyes, the dangerous sparks hidden behind that splendid curtain were visible first.
In the very center of the festival's vigor crashing in like waves, I alone swallowed dryly.
"Everyone's enjoying the festival like this... so why am I the only one going to work?"
My low grumbling was buried in the festival's cheers and disappeared without a trace.
I fiddled with the temporary access badge hidden inside my collar,
and took my first step into the center of a festival ground more splendid than an execution site.