Chapter 89

I stayed in the forge for a couple of hours, processing an incredible amount of material, enough for a small arsenal. A larger arsenal wouldn’t have hurt against the danger that was knocking on the door.

When I finally walked out of Oeyne’s room, the sun was finally appearing on the horizon, marking a new day. But it wasn’t just another day, because the guards were moving around with a great hurry in the courtyard, their alertness much higher. The magical sword gleamed on the waists of anyone on sufficient rank, signaling that the school had finally tapped into its legendary arsenal.

The headmistress must have decided that there was no merit in holding back completely, not after our little assault had already revealed our knowledge to the enemy. There were even several student teams dashing around, no doubt preparing for an incursion. Most of those teams were moving toward the training forests even though they were too strong to get any kind of benefit from a slaying few weak dire beasts. They were probably doing that to remove a potential weapon from the arsenal of the attackers.

The monsters in the training forest might not be the strongest, but if the wards that kept them separate from the school proper, it might prove a dangerous distraction at a critical moment.

Interestingly, however, despite the preventative measures, the school didn’t go to a full mobilization of the wards, which meant the classes would continue for any student without an assigned task rather than being pulled as a part of the standing army. Not yet, at least. Maybe it was about the politics, I surmised, not wanting to risk the students unless it was absolutely necessary. Or maybe, she was trying to bait them into attacking by showing she was underestimating them. A panicked attack from them before our intelligence about their plan had degraded —or they had discovered the changes made into the defensive wards of the school— could prove decisive.

Unfortunately, there was no undead presence out on the walls yet.

Funny, though, how quickly one’s perspective could change with power. I could never imagine preferring to have an undead army attack directly as soon as possible, so we could ‘handle’ them, rather than trying to escape as far as I could manage to avoid the backlash.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to waste on introspection on the physiological impact of overwhelming power, not when I was facing a danger that forced me to accumulate even more power.

Then, just as I was considering the relative merits of focusing on Marianne or Helga first to maximize the potential of our little group, I noticed something that made me shelve that little plan. A couple of familiar figures stepped outside as part of a small group. It was a group of students, a total of eight, following an instructor as they dashed toward the main gate in a great hurry.

Cornelia, and Helga.

That was a rather interesting combination, I noted as my suspicion tingled. As, other than Cornelia, every single student was a low-leveled commoner. Helga was the strongest of them in terms of combat potential, even before my help, and considering Helga’s reputation for combat abilities and the fact that her recent developments were still a secret, it was entirely too suspicious.

And the identity of the instructor did nothing to actually limit that suspicion. They were being led by was a young female instructor with a tight expression on her face, one that I recognized only through reputation. Her name was Iomene, and she was a part of the school of tracking. I knew exactly three things about her. She came from a distant corner of the continent that was outside of the Empire’s borders —which was more of a technicality rather than the actual ability to project military power— that was populated by many city-states, relying on trade to survive. She was an excellent tracker, and a decent warrior.

And, she was a complete outsider, her extreme standoffish attitude keeping her distant from everyone else, teachers and students alike.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

In other words, the perfect candidate to blame for the loss of one of the most promising noble scions.

I had to admit, the ploy was rather incredible despite its transparency. With the chaos going on, it would be too late for anyone to notice any mistaken paperwork about the assignment, and in the aftermath, it was almost trivial to blame the mistake to one of the dead clerks —as it was almost certain to happen, and if by some luck all the clerks survived, the conspirator could easily nudge one of the less important ones to the other side, before destroying his reputation as a traitor, working against House Antony.

At first glance, it seemed like a simple ploy. Cornelia’s uncle was doubtlessly looking for a way to take control of the house without risking a duel. Cornelia’s lack of leveling was a conjecture of their part, after all, and even if that had been the case —as it would have been without my intervention— direct combat was too unpredictable, especially when facing someone like Cornelia, with a perchance toward overwhelming firepower.

House Antony was certainly important enough that more than one instructor would be interested arrange an assassination in exchange for future favors.

However, what made the trick really impressive was the quickness of implementation. It was almost like whomever responsible knew that a crisis was on the door, and already arranged everything, ready to be initiated!

Finally, a clue toward the identity of the mysterious owner of the shade, but whether direct or indirect, it was a mystery. It was a possibility that they were the same people —as someone would be willing to sell the defense secrets of the school wouldn’t have felt torn about sending a few more students to death. It might be also one of his subordinates, trying to create some ancillary benefit outside of the knowledge of his boss.

Endurance: 30 Wisdom: 44

HP: 5010 / 5010 Mana: 6300 / 6300 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [97/100]

Master Arcana [91/100]

Expert Speech [68/75]

Advanced Craft [50/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 17/25]

[Helga - Level 13/17]