Chapter 153
Chapter 153
The Woman in Black took a step toward Lapin.
“Do you know why I named you ‘Lapin’?”
She continued with a pleasant smile.
“Because you were timid like a rabbit, and always ran away so well.”
As she came closer, I tightly shut my eyes.
“You ran all the way here quite well.”
What followed was unexpected.
“Good girl.”
A sudden compliment fell.
……Good?
I thought she would be furious that I secretly ran away……
“Because you’re a good child. You did exactly as I wanted.”
Her soft voice brushed against my ears.
I opened my eyes wide.
I didn’t understand what that meant.
“Why are you so surprised?”
The woman smiled quietly.
“Think carefully. There’s no way you could escape from me.”
She embraced me and whispered.
“A child who knew nothing of the world and grew up only in the tower, happened to run away, happened to take the Academy’s exam, miraculously passed it, and became a student there.”
While running away, I happened to hear from people that the Academy was safe.
It happened to be the application period.
I happened to have the application fee in my pocket.
I happened to take the exam and passed.
Coincidence.
……Were all those really coincidences?
“Lapin, there’s no way you could have done all that on your own.”
“Ah…….”
My breath trembled.
Right.
If I thought back, it was strange.
An artificial story, as if I had walked along a script someone had written beforehand.
“I let you run away. I made you into a student of such a wonderful Academy.”
……Thud.
I couldn’t stand any longer.
“From the very beginning until now, you were always in the palm of my hand.”
“…….”
At that one sentence, everything collapsed.
Unlike when I lived in the Black Tower, I thought I finally had people I could rely on.
I thought I had grasped freedom and peace with them.
……Stupidly, I had been mistaken.
I was still trapped in that lonely Black Tower.
From now on, for the rest of my life…… I would never escape this dark despair.
I gave up everything.
Black Butterflies fluttered around me.
My emerald eyes lost their life and turned pitch black.
“Now, Lapin. It’s been a while since I’ve given you a command.”
The Woman in Black whispered quietly into my ear.
“Bring Princess Arlhardt to me.”
The first-floor hallway of the Finders building.
“Phew……”
Applicants who finished their interviews sat on long benches, quietly waiting.
A moment later, a staff member came out and posted the final list of successful candidates on the board.
Everyone gathered there and began reading it.
「Finders Successful Applicants
Heidel
Kunking
Elined
Keirin [Special Admission]
Arlhardt
Sia
Torono
Curio
Luga
Ren」
“Heh.”
After checking the results, Kunking moved away first, as if it were only natural, with eyes that held no emotion.
Heidel and Sia also left without a word.
Those who unfortunately failed did the same.
“……Yes! Hurray!”
But only Torono burst into tears of joy.
He was the one who had even shaved his head to show his resolve to pass Finders.
“Lady Elined, we passed! We passed Finders! Unlike the others, I didn’t betray you! Thanks to trusting Lady Elined until the end, I passed Finders! It’s all thanks to you!”
“……Yes. Congratulations. Now please shut up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
At Elined’s icy reply, Torono bowed deeply and slipped away.
Elined stared at the list, looking lost in thought for a moment.
Keirin, through a special clause, had been accepted without taking the interview. Apparently already notified, he had left the Academy yesterday.
“Haa, I barely made it!”
I also heard Ren’s excited voice.
“I didn’t expect my poor first-semester grades to drag me down this much. I thought you’d go to Hawkeye, Miss Elined, so when you suddenly chose Finders instead, I was terrified thinking you’d drop out of the competition.”
He was so excited that his voice reached even my ears from where I stood a few steps away.
If he had kept those thoughts inside or only mumbled to himself, I wouldn’t have cared……
But Elined was the type who couldn’t stay quiet at a time like this.
“That sounds as if I got in your way. No matter what I choose, this is a competition.”
Elined replied coldly.
“……Ah, I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. Anyway, congratulations, Miss Elined.”
“Yes, you too.”
Elined answered calmly.
As Ren had said, she had canceled her application to Hawkeye at the last minute and chosen Finders instead.
The decisive reason that led me to that choice was the conversation I had with Villed at the livestock shed.
A title earned not as a graduate of Hawkeye, but one obtained by stopping and overcoming an unidentified group—such a title would be far more valuable.
And to fight them directly and win, I needed ‘strength.’
And to train that strength most efficiently, ‘Finders’ was the best.
Because they offered such an intense curriculum, there were indeed cases in the past where students had lost their lives.
Although such extreme incidents hadn’t occurred recently, it was said that there were cases of severe injuries.
Even so, Elined chose Finders.
Among the Top 3 Departments, it carried the highest risk to one’s life…….
But pioneering unknown worlds and fighting through them—
It was the department where one could expect the greatest growth in combat-related fields.
Elined didn’t regret this choice.
……However, the person standing beside Ren was unexpected. That the noble Princess would choose Finders.
“Congratulations, Your Highness.”
“Yes, Elined. I look forward to next semester.”
Elined answered with a slight bow.
Before I knew it, Narrow-eyed Luga had appeared beside Ren.
“Congratulations, Young Master Ren.”
“Ah, thank you. Though I barely made it in last.”
“Even barely passing is still passing.”
Luga stood next to Ren with a faint smile.
And then, in a low voice, he added:
“Young Master Ren. Of course, you must be happy, but this is merely the starting line.”
“I know.”
Ren clenched his fist.
“Those who seek Remi’s life are hiding somewhere in this Academy. Luckily, this year passed without any major incidents…… but next semester will surely be different.”
Ren looked straight into Luga’s eyes and spoke quietly.
“Captain Luga. Please accept me as your disciple.”
“I have always considered you my disciple, Young Master Ren.”
“No. I want to be recognized as an official disciple.”
There was strength in Ren’s voice.
“I am still weak. I want to become the sword that protects Remi.”
“…….”
Luga’s narrow eyes finally opened at that moment.
“Haa, haa…….”
Someone came running toward us with rough breaths.
It was none other than the golden-haired girl, Lapin.
Unlike her usual calm, expressionless demeanor, she looked urgent.
Ren blinked when he saw her.
“Miss Lapin? You were still at school.”
“……Help me.”
Lapin whimpered.
“Villed is dying. Please, help me.”
At her words, everyone around widened their eyes.
“……What? Villed?”
Ren and Elined thought of the same thing.
An enemy within.
That Villed had been attacked by the ‘enemy inside the Academy.’
And Lapin was the one always by Villed’s side.
And everyone here knew she would never lie.
Tap, tap—.
At that moment, the sound of shoes quickly approached.
“What do you mean by that?”
The first to react to Lapin was Elined, approaching with her purple hair swaying.
“What happened to Villed……?”
She grabbed Lapin’s shoulders, looking her in the eyes.
“…….”
But Lapin only trembled and whimpered silently. Elined’s lips quivered.
“……Hey, can’t you speak? Say something. Why are you acting like a mute!”
Elined shook Lapin irritably.
“Please calm down, Miss Elined.”
Ren intervened, gently taking Elined’s hand off of her.
“Miss Lapin, lead the way.”
Ren spoke calmly and clearly.
But he wasn’t simply remaining rational.
He wanted to remain rational.
“Wait, Ren. We should call a professor first…….”
The Princess tried to stop them.
But mana communication couldn’t reach the professors’ building.
They could run there, but…… time was too urgent now.
“Remi. We don’t have time to go to the professors’ building. Where do we need to go, Miss Lapin? Lead us.”
“…….”
Lapin wiped her eyes with her sleeve and began moving quickly.
Ren and Elined ran after her.
“Wait, Ren!”
The Princess’s voice wasn’t enough to stop the two.
……It could very well be a trap.
“Your Highness.”
Luga stepped beside the Princess and spoke.
“Let us follow as well.”
……And so, the group followed Lapin all the way to the top floor of the clock tower.
A very spacious place.
All sides were made of large glass windows, allowing them to view the scenery below.
The red sunset was slowly fading, staining the sky in navy blue.
Rumble……
In the center, massive gears and a pendulum were intertwined.
“……Is it here?”
Even after thoroughly looking around, something was strange.
Villed was nowhere in sight.
There wasn’t even a trace of blood or any sign of an emergency.
“……Miss Lapin, where is Villed?”
After checking every corner, Ren turned toward Lapin.
Lapin simply stood there in silence.
Only then did everyone sense that something was wrong.
“Miss Lapin?”
“…….”
She didn’t respond—only stared at them quietly.
After finishing my work at the livestock shed, I used Shurk’s ability and searched every corner of the Academy.
But……
‘As expected, nothing.’
I couldn’t find even a trace of a spirit beast.
‘Was it a miracle that I even found Hwayo and Boogie inside the Academy?’
Outside the Academy, there were Shurk and Ramji.
Inside the Academy, Hwayo and Boogie.
Pau had hatched from an egg.
Since arriving in this world, I had found only five spirit beasts.
‘……But fifty?’
I recalled Lapin’s recruitment quest.
Free the 50 spirit beasts!
Not even close to fifty—
I only had five.
And it wasn’t even recruiting, but freeing them.
Clinging to the tiniest hope, I searched the entire Academy, but couldn’t find a single spirit beast.
While searching, I kept pondering.
Should I let Lapin fall and become corrupted according to the story?
Or should I change the storyline entirely and stop her corruption attempt itself?
But I decided.
I chose to accept the original story.
‘I can’t stop her corruption.’
I had to judge with reason over emotion.
If I forcefully stopped the predetermined flow, I didn’t know what kind of worst outcome it might trigger.
‘Besides, a method…… might actually exist.’
I recalled the time when I accidentally failed the episode where the player defeats Lapin in the game.
There had been ‘a certain bug.’
Surprisingly, instead of resurrecting at the cathedral upon death, the player was teleported to a ‘strange place.’
There had been a huge blue tree there, and someone was beside it.
For some reason, the player couldn’t approach that tree in the game.
So I never knew who it was.
Since nothing could be done there, players simply dismissed it as a bug.
Even I had dismissed it as a simple bug…… but now my thoughts had changed.
The reason was the fortune-telling I had seen at the Barrier Magic Department.
‘I see a blue tree.’
That was what Lapin said when she saw her inner world.
Every time I remembered those words, the blue tree from the game’s bug also resurfaced in my mind.
‘If that wasn’t a bug…….’
Maybe it could be another key.
……Of course, it was still an uncertain gamble.
As the sunset darkened, I returned to the livestock shed lost in thought.
……It was quiet.
“Lapin.”
I called her name, but she didn’t peek out as usual.
She had no reason to return to the now-empty dorm.
In that case, the answer was obvious.
The story had progressed as in the original.
Step, step……
I walked into the storage room.
On the table inside, there was a white dish with pancakes placed on it.
I sat in front of it and picked up the fork and knife.
“…….”
I cut the pancake and put a piece in my mouth.
“……Cold because it’s been sitting.”
I lifted the fork again and took another bite.
“The batter isn’t mixed properly.”
The hard parts and soft parts were unpleasantly mixed.
Bits of raw batter burst faintly in my mouth.
“It’s a complete mess.”
I chewed it down.
“……You really have no talent for cooking, Lapin.”
I continued eating the pancake.
“But still…….”
I set down the fork.
The plate that once held the stack was completely empty.
“At least you didn’t burn it this time.”
I could feel traces of effort lingering on my tongue.
I stood up and walked toward the exit.
“I told you I wouldn’t let you cook again…… but if you come back, maybe I’ll teach you a little.”
I stepped outside the storage and grabbed at the air.
Shurk’s card was now in my hand.
The sky had fully darkened, and white snow was starting to fall.
I stepped out of the shed and looked far toward the clock tower.
Ding—. Ding—.
The sound of the clock tower ringing 6 p.m. echoed across the Academy.