Chapter 239

Chapter 239

Suddenly, things escalated big.

Simon had expected to just do some modest shopping in downtown Rochest, but Serene had already prepared an expensive teleportation circle.

At her urging, Simon stepped on the circle, and suddenly the city of Langerstine appeared before his eyes.

"Hurry up~!"

Said Serene, tugging on Simon's sleeve.

"No, wait, isn't it a grave violation of school rules to go outside of Roke Island without permission?"

"Says the one's addicted to hopping the fence and goes into the Forbidden Forest all the time."

As she said that, she spun around to face Simon and crouched down until she was eye-level with Pier's clone clinging to Simon's shirt.

"It's been a while. Have you been doing well?"

From the outside, it just looked like a skull accessory.

As she playfully poked Pier's clone, Simon translated Pier’s scream that echoed through his mind.

"He said he'll kill you."

"How scary."

Serene stopped playing, turning back to the front as she urged,

"Come on, let's go! Shall we check out the shopping complex first?"

* * *

A rooftop a few hundred meters away from Simon.

Men in black robes holding mana telescopes were bustling about, keeping an eye on the two that just teleported in.

"Confirming the movement on the target. Headed toward Hammelroad."

"Roger that."

As the men scrambled, a black flash of light enveloped the rooftop.

Soon, a black-haired girl in a dark, long coat and with a hat pushed down to obscure her eyes descended from above.

The men all bowed to the girl.

"You've arrived, Lady Lorain."

She nodded.

"Where's Serene?"

"She's traveling to Hammelroad with Simon."

Lorain held out her hand, and the man politely handed her the mana telescope. She kicked a leg up on the roof railing so she could lean further forward and adjusted the telescope.

In the distance, she could see Serene and Simon walking all lovey-dovey.

'...Serene Aindark. What are you up to this time?'

For Kizen, Serene was like a walking time bomb.

Her mind control abilities were so powerful that she was able to manipulate the rankings of other students on the tests.

Recently, there were suspicions that she intentionally sabotaged students marked by the Ivory Tower, knocking them out of Kizen and then scouting the discouraged students.

But all they had was suspicion. They needed proof.

Serene was as clever as a fox, and she acted discreetly enough to leave no evidence behind. There was no way to tell how much of this was her doing and how much wasn't, as she could erase even weeks of memories.

'But it's also not something the adults can interfere with.'

Serene was a 17-year-old student in her first year like the rest of the students, and she was being fairly tested on her skills.

Of course, they could find a plethora of tiny breaches to get her expelled, but the higher-ups at Kizen didn't want that to happen.

Part of it was internal politics, but a bigger part was the influence they gained against the Ivory Tower by having Serene stay under them. In many ways, the Ivory Tower actually wanted Serene to be expelled.

There was also an underlying concern that the Ivory Tower would turn against Kizen in earnest if Serene was sent packing.

So it was now Lorain's job to stop Serene.Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

There had been countless times where adults interfering in children's matters escalated into major conflicts.

Lorain, a fellow first-year, was the one who had to make the move to keep the fight from getting worse.

'I just need one piece of evidence.'

For Lorain, the best-case scenario was to find evidence of Serene's misdeeds, publicize them, and bring her to justice.

That way, she could expel her and bring the Ivory Tower down a peg at the same time. It could also be possible to imprison her under the laws of Kizen.

And today, the opportunity came.

Serene boldly approached Simon, the Special Admission No.1

'I'm all but certain that the Ivory Tower wants Simon. But I won't let that happen.'

* * *

* * *

[Simon, I don't think this is a bad thing for you, either~]

Speaking with feathers, Serene took a bite of cotton candy.

[Please help me, your ally in the Tower, to maintain my authority in it. There's no need to let the Ivory Tower return to their original plans, right?]

She was certainly right.

He didn't need to turn the Ivory Tower against him when Magnus alone was enough of a hassle.

"I have a question."

Simon spoke verbally this time.

"Why are you helping me?"

The actual question went a bit deeper. He was asking why Serene was taking his side here.

"I wonder~"

[Because I think you are an irreplaceable asset.]

In the beginning, Serene didn't care who the Commander would be. All that mattered was the Ivory Tower owning a Commander.

So, if she failed to convince Simon, she planned to expel him from Kizen and then get rid of him.

But then, after going through world-changing events at his side, she changed her mind. She had seen just how remarkable Simon was a Commander.

Who in the Ivory Tower could wield the power of the Legion as perfectly as he could? She realized it wasn't the Legion that mattered, but the one who controls it.

So she got greedy. She wanted to bring not only the Legion, but also Simon to the Ivory Tower.

"I'm telling you, I may not be able to return your investment."

Simon had no intention of going to the Ivory Tower anytime soon, and he couldn't promise he'd go there after graduation.

"But for now, we are the group closest to you, and that's good enough."

It was true that, right now, the Ivory Tower had the upper hand in the battle to recruit Simon two years from now. For now, that was enough.

Simon's face brightened up at this explanation.

'Now I finally understand the situation.'

Serene was essentially playing for the adults. In other words, politics.

Neigghh!

Just then, Simon's gaze shifted. A horse approached from the adjacent road, kicking up dust as if aggravated.

'If we're going to be acting, we may as well do it right.'

Simon grabbed Serene's shoulders and pulled her to the side, wrapping protectively around her with his arms around her back.

"??"

As though she didn't see this coming, Serene's eyes went wide, and all she could manage to do was blink. The carriage screeched as it hurtled onto the sidewalk, barely managing to swerve in time.

Simon looked in the direction of the watcher and spoke softly.

"Are you alright?"

"..."

Serene's cheeks turned a light pink, and then she gave a meaningful smile.

"Do you finally feel like escorting a lady?"

"Was that not what I've been doing this whole time?"

Said Simon, stepping out onto the carriage road.

She giggled and quickly walked beside him.

* * *

Lorain, who had been watching the situation from a rooftop, had a scowl across her face.

'They really are doing all sorts of things.'

Clinging to each other, sharing cotton candy, Simon walking between Serene and the muddy road, and just generally acting like lovers.

'No matter how much I think about it, Simon's not like that. He must be mind-controlled.'

Lorain zoomed the mana telescope onto Simon's body, looking for the feather, but she couldn't find it. Maybe it was hidden in his clothes?

'...'

Lorain felt strangely uncomfortable as she watched the two acting lovey-dovey together.

There was no way she would lose Simon to the Ivory Tower in such an ugly way.

He was a valuable asset to Kizen, and she wanted him to follow her to Kizen after he graduated. Of course, that was entirely up to him, but she thought Serene's method just wasn't it.

"...This won't do."

Lorain took the telescope away from her eyes, unable to bear watching them walking and eating cotton candy.

"I'm going in myself."

——