Episode 73
- After setting fire to various parts of the mansion as planned, withdraw. Announce once more. After setting fire to the mansion, escape the mansion as quickly as possible.
Listening quietly to the orders coming through the radio, suddenly words burst from my mouth.
"Ah, no! It can't be!"
Saying that, I began running somewhere with an urgent expression.
'What is this, auto-progression?'
I was worrying whether I needed to act according to the situation, but thankfully, this means I don't need to act.
- Ssak!
"Stop! Everyone stop!!"
While I was thinking that and spacing out, I had already drawn my sword and was slashing at the assassins appearing before me indiscriminately.
"...Kheuk!"
After slashing through assassins for a while like that, I was eventually caught off guard by an assassin quietly approaching from behind and got stabbed in the side.
"Kuaaaaaaaaaah!!"
'Thankfully. It doesn't hurt at all.'
Fortunately, since this was a situation recreated through the trial, I felt no pain at all. Of course, I was still screaming in terrible pain with a sword stabbed in my side.
"Ah, no..."
As I was screaming and staggering, the assassin who had been wary of me pulled something from his robes and threw it on the ground, and in that instant, fierce flames began spreading across the floor.
- Hwaruruk!
Soon, flames began rising simultaneously from every corner of the mansion, and seeing this situation, the assassin began slowly approaching me as I was drowning in despair.
- Pajijing!
"...I have to save them all, all of them."
Sending a silver laser at that bastard, I muttered those words and urgently began moving my feet.
'What the, there are still civilians in various places?'
Earlier, most of the civilians had been evacuated, so only some students remained on the second floor and in the underground warehouse.
But in the situation manifested by the trial, many students were still collapsed inside the mansion, slumped over.
'Literally the worst-case scenario, I suppose.'
"Cough! Cough!! Keuh..."
Once again rating the system's humanity as the absolute worst, I suddenly realized I was coughing while bending at the waist.
"I can still... I can still do this... I've experienced worse situations..."
Staring blankly at the blood on my hand, I said that and began lifting the students before me and heading toward the entrance.
And so, the tragedy began.
.
"Cough! Cough!! Ugh..."
Every direction is thick with smoke.
The poisonous fog made from moon mana that covered the mansion with a thousand years of history, and the acrid smoke are filling every direction densely.
"Hah... heuh..."
Thanks to that, a girl is desperately crawling across the mansion floor now filled with murky yellow color.
"Not that way."
".....Hup!"
The girl, who had been crawling desperately while shedding tears to somehow survive, to not end her miserable life so meaninglessly, was startled and gasped when someone spoke to her in a low voice.
"Kheuk...! Kheup... Keheuk..."
Then the toxic gas created from the mixture of moon mana and black smoke entered her nose and throat, and the girl, who had been holding her breath as much as possible while crawling forward, began writhing in agony.
"Pl... please spare me. Please spare me."
After writhing in agony for a while, the girl realized the man who had spoken to her was right in front of her and began begging for her life with a face covered in tears.
"I don't want to die... please help me... please..."
"Haah..."
Having inhaled the toxic smoke that turned her insides, her tongue had stiffened, but she desperately requested rescue from the man before her, wanting to survive somehow.
"Stay still. If you squirm, it'll be hard to pick you up."
Then the man watching her sighed and carefully reached out his hand.
- Kwajik!
".....!"
But right then, an unstable sound came from the chandelier right above the girl, and it began falling at great speed.
"Ah... ah..."
The man watching that scene froze, and the girl, sensing death, quietly closed her eyes.
In the end, everything was meaningless.
The days of desperately begging while moving forward through the marketplace with her one and only older sister.
The day she bought her first book in her life with the money she had saved bit by bit.
And when she learned that her sister had paid for most of the book, she hugged her sister and cried her heart out.
After that, when she studied desperately and got accepted into Sunrise Academy, she shed tears of joy while hugging her sister again.
The precious memories that flowed by like a flash of light, the happy memories, all of it was meaningless.
In the end, she would die here, absurdly and miserably.
She would die after being looked down on and mocked her whole life - by passersby on the street when she was young, and by nobles after entering the academy.
'Sister... I'm sorry...'
Recalling the image of her sister who had been happy about getting a job at the newly established orphanage in the capital, the girl muttered inwardly while looking at the chandelier now right before her eyes.
'I couldn't keep my promise...'
"Duck!!"
"Heup!?"
But surprisingly, the man who had been frozen shouted loudly and embraced the girl who had been wearing an expression of resignation.
- Kwajangchang!
"Ah...!"
And the next moment, the sound of the chandelier shattering and the man's painful scream created a terrible harmony.
"...Huh?"
The girl, who had been staring blankly for a moment unable to understand the situation, realized the man who had been protecting her was trembling violently.
"Um... are you okay... huh?"
The girl, who had a kind nature, tried to ask the man who was trembling above her while placing her hand on him, but then became flustered.
Her tongue, which had been stiff until just now, was completely loosened.
"W-who are you? And what is this..."
Discovering that the glittering mana emanating from his body was enveloping her body, the girl asked with a flustered expression.
"...We need to get out of here. Get up."
But her question was lightly dismissed by the man who answered in a cold voice.
"B-but... the smoke... huh?"
"...Don't make me say it twice."
When the man grabbed her hand and lifted her up, the girl began looking around with a flustered expression.
The influence of the smoke that had been suffocating her until just moments ago had disappeared, and a refreshing feeling began circulating through her body.
"Th-thank y... hup!"
The girl, thinking that whatever it was must have been done by the man who saved her and trying to express her gratitude, was horrified when she saw the man staggering.
"Ugh..."
From his body, which was terribly cut up all over, blood was flowing endlessly.
And the clothes he was wearing had long since lost their function as clothes, being shredded to pieces.
"Um, um..."
Thanks to that, his bare skin was clearly visible, covered with burns and wounds from the flames burning all around.
Though the burns and wounds were covered in blood and ash so they weren't that noticeable.
"We need to move quickly... this place will collapse soon."
"B-but... you... can you even move..."
"I'm fine, so don't worry about me and just start walking."
Hearing those words, the girl finally looked at the face of the man who had saved her.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going?"
"Ah, yes..."
Even though his clothes were in tatters, why did she feel somehow familiar from him, having only managed to keep the mask he was wearing?
"...Damn."
"Heup!"
While walking and blankly staring at the masked man, the ceiling collapsed and burning wooden planks began falling.
"Curl up."
The man tripped the girl who was panicked and didn't know what to do, and embraced the girl who had curled up tightly at his words.
- Kwajik! Kwajijik!!
"Kheuk!"
Having secured the girl's safety like that, the man drew his sword and began knocking away the wooden planks rushing toward them.
One. Two. Three.
The man, who had been continuously knocking away planks, suddenly screamed.
"Keuk!"
"W-what's wrong?"
"...It's nothing."
Though the man said it was nothing, the girl could read the trembling in his voice.
".....!"
Thanks to that, the girl who had been at a loss carefully raised her head and was able to confirm the wooden plank fragment embedded in the leg of the man protecting her.
"...Get up. We need to start again."
Nevertheless, the man stood up with a calm expression and began leading the girl outside.
"Puha... puhaa..."
After walking for a while longer like that, the girl was able to reach the outside she had so desperately wanted, and life.
"Um... excuse me..."
She, who had been vomiting the waste accumulated in her lungs before feeling relief at surviving and breathing in fresh air deeply, spoke to the man next to her when her condition improved somewhat.
"Thank you... really thank y... huh?"
But the man who had been beside her until just moments ago was already gone.
"W-wait a moment!!"
The girl, who had been looking around with a bewildered expression for a while, urgently blocked the man who was about to enter the mansion again and began speaking.
"Why are you going back in? You escaped from here somehow...!"
"...There are still a few children left on the second floor."
"What does that mean! Are you planning to save all those children too..."
"Move."
The girl, who had been trying to stop him with an incredulous expression at the man's continued words, was pushed roughly by him and fell to the ground, then began watching him blankly heading into the mansion.
"Ah, Lady Ariane? Where are you going?"
"I'm going to help that man too."
When Ariane, who was in tatters despite having protection magic, tried to follow the man, the girl urgently shouted.
"Don't overdo it, and please save that man! That person is my life's savior..."
"That man isn't just your savior."
"What?"
To the girl who was tilting her head at those words, Ariane added briefly.
"He's the savior of all the children behind you."
".....!"
Only then did the girl realize that the students gathered densely behind her were all blankly staring at the entrance of the mansion that the man had headed toward.
Though they were coughing, vomiting, burned, or wounded, they had all been saved by a single man.
"...Please take care of my unconscious friend Irina over there. She fainted while fighting that strange assailant with me."
Ariane entrusted her friend to the girl behind her with a blank expression and stepped into the mansion.
'There are no casualties yet... so... if I just save the people on the second floor...'
Looking at the toxic gas filled with moon mana and black smoke, and the increasingly fierce flames, Ariane thought this while moving her heavy steps, then stopped walking for a moment.
"But... who is that man?"
Thinking about the identity of the person who had been saving students since earlier, Ariane muttered in a low voice.
"...I've seen that face somewhere before."
His mask had been briefly torn due to the strange assailant's struggle while he was saving them from a crisis of death.
"Surely..."
The silver eyes that were revealed then were quite familiar to Ariane, and to all the other students as well.
"...It couldn't be Frey, right?"
Saying that, Ariane chuckled and headed to the second floor.
That Frey saving commoners - the world ending soon would be a more persuasive story.
.
"I-it's all my fault... all of it..."
"Please. Just take this child out at least. I have no hope at all."
"......."
The masked man and Ariane were looking at the situation unfolding before them with blank expressions.
Before them were Lulu, who had fallen into severe self-loathing, a female student collapsed from inhaling too much smoke, and Aris, whose leg was trapped under a wooden pillar, creating a total disaster.
"...You take that self-loathing girl out. I'll take these two girls."
"Ah, understood."
When the masked man gave orders after thinking for a moment, Ariane urgently nodded and, carrying Lulu who had been crying until then, escaped outside the mansion.
"Thank you for your help."
Then Aris, who had been watching that scene, bowed her head and expressed her gratitude, then continued speaking in a trembling voice.
"I'm trapped under a pillar so I can't get out. So, if you could just take the child next to me..."
"Heave-ho..."
"...Um, excuse me?"
But when the masked man tried to lift the fire pillar that was crushing and mashing her leg, Aris spoke with a flustered expression.
"Don't do this. If you take me too, it'll be too late. The flames have already reached right in front..."
"Shut your mouth. It will be quite painful."
"What? What do you... heup!"
But the masked man, cutting off her words, lifted the pillar and threw it far away, and due to that, Aris felt terrible pain in her leg and then squeezed her eyes shut.
"You still have strength left in your arms to hold on, right? Get on my back. We need to get out of here."
When the masked man, who had been staring at her blankly, muttered quietly, Aris slowly shook her head and answered.
"No, I don't deserve to escape from here."
"What does that mean?"
"This whole incident was caused by me..."
When Aris said that and sighed, the masked man, who had frozen for a moment, lifted her forcibly and spoke.
"What does that mean?"
"Um, excuse me! I should stay here..."
"Speak."
When the masked man said that and lifted the female student who had been collapsed nearby and left the room, Aris, who had been hesitating for a moment, sighed and opened her mouth.
"...I was a hidden thread of the Moonlight family."
"Oh, my."
When the masked man clicked his tongue at those words, Aris sighed and spoke.
"Of course, I wasn't a professional assassin, just an informant."
"I see."
"I don't know who you are, but seeing you going around saving people... you must understand how wrong I've been just from this much. So, leave me here..."
"...Well, I'll need to hear a bit more of the story to decide whether to abandon you or not."
When the masked man said that and continued walking down the corridor avoiding the flames, Aris, who had sighed, continued speaking in a trembling voice.
"I was constantly passing information to the Princess and planning to assassinate Frey. But the Secret Lord must have found me untrustworthy."
"What do you mean?"
When the masked man asked, Aris answered in a trembling voice.
"I don't know why, but he thought I was leaking information somewhere. So, he directly ordered me to kill Frey in secret."
"And?"
"I failed. Because Frey kept spilling his food for the past several days. So today, when I had no choice but to prepare to kill him myself, the Secret Lord, whose anger finally exploded, dispatched the assassination squad."
"...Then that's the Secret Lord's doing. Not yours."
When the masked man spoke with an incredulous voice at those words, Aris answered while shedding tears.
"No... it's my fault. Because I handled things clumsily and provoked the Secret Lord, and because I kept failing to assassinate... everyone was put in danger..."
"That's strange, how did he notice information was leaking? If Serena handled it, it should have been perfect..."
"...Um, so please put me down now. I don't deserve to escape from here."
Hearing her words, the masked man, who had been muttering to himself for a moment, chuckled when Aris spoke with a determined expression.
"Whatever, just turn yourself in when you get out. That's how you repay your sins."
"Ah, no... if I do that, the Moonlight family will... ah."
Aris, who was answering the masked man with a dark expression, stopped speaking and opened her mouth wide when she saw the situation unfolding before her eyes.
"Shit."
And the same was true for the masked man.
The entrance that had been fine until just moments ago was now blocked with collapsed wood and pillars.
"Huaaaahp!!"
- Pajiiiiing!
The man, who had been watching that scene blankly with his mouth shut, squeezed his eyes shut and drew his sword from his robes to fire sword energy.
"W-what!?"
Then the shining mana split the toxic gas and destroyed the obstacles, and Aris, who had been watching that scene in amazement, slowly turned her head and began looking at the man.
"You... what are you?"
"...None of your business."
Then the masked man answered briefly and began slowly heading forward.
"Damn... my life force is at the bottom now too... I hope there aren't more people inside..."
Finally making it to the exit and saving the two women, the masked man lay sprawled on the ground breathing heavily.
"W-where is the Saintess? Where is the Saintess?"
"...Mr. Perlroche! Are you there!?"
But just then, urgent voices calling for Perlroche came from behind, and the masked man stood up with a horrified expression.
"You guys! What do you mean!"
"Well... we were collapsed in the warehouse and received holy power from Mr. Perlroche and escaped..."
"But now we can't see Mr. Perlroche! He definitely told us to go ahead and said he'd follow soon..."
"Shit!!"
Hearing those words, the masked man began urgently looking around.
"Ariane! Where is Ariane!"
"She was caught under a fire pillar while coming out... thanks to the protection magic she survived, but she used so much mana that she's currently unconscious..."
"...No, you can't die. You can't die, I'm telling you. If you die, it's game over. No, no, no."
The masked man, who had fallen into panic at those words and was muttering, soon made a determined expression and muttered to the student next to him.
"My will is in the secret pocket inside my bag."
"What?"
"Just, in case, remember that for now."
And the next moment, the masked man ran into the mansion that had become a living hell.
"W-wait!!"
- Kuguguguguung!!
"...Ah."
And the next moment, the Starlight mansion began to collapse.
It was the moment when a thousand years of history crumbled away in vain.
.
The next morning,
"Mr. Perlroche!!"
Someone was frantically searching through the Starlight family mansion from which all toxic gas had been removed.
"Mr. Perlroche! Where are you!! Mr. Perlroche!!"
"Your Highness."
"Perlroche!!!"
"...Please face reality now."
Clana, who had been digging through the building's rubble until her hands bled despite the dissuasion of the investigation team and knight squad dispatched from the royal family, as well as the students who were parties to the incident, froze in place at Isollet's cold words from beside her.
"Mr. Perlroche is dead. Thanks to your fine plan."
"Ah, ah..."
Clana, who had been wearing a blank expression at those words, sat down in the rubble pile and burst into tears.
"I, I just... I just..."
"...There's a life sign here!"
"...!"
But when the mage dispatched from the Magic Tower urgently shouted, Clana quickly rushed over and began digging through the rubble.
"It's the basement! If it's here, surely!!"
Discovering the entrance to the basement, she wore an expression full of hope and broke down the door with solar mana and entered inside.
"Mr., Mr. Perlroche... you're ali..."
Discovering Perlroche alive and well inside, Clana ran to her with tears streaming down, but...
"...Huh?"
"Why... why isn't life force being infused... how come..."
She soon discovered that Perlroche was shedding tears while holding someone and froze in that spot.
"W-what... what is going on here?"
"Wake up... I said wake up..."
When Clana asked with a trembling voice, Perlroche ignored her and continued muttering while still shedding tears.
"Because I did wrong... please... Frey..."
Frey Raon Starlight had become a cold corpse.