Chapter 251
Chapter 251:
‘A way to gather people…….’
As someone who had spent half her life as a songstress, McGrim knew better than anyone how to do that.
‘If I return to my original appearance and put on a performance…… wouldn’t the cadets gather?’
The match was currently raging fiercely.
One might wonder whether something like a song could instantly seize the cadets’ attention and even draw them over in the middle of such an intense match, but this was neither arrogance nor baseless self-importance.
McGrim was the greatest icon of the current era and the idol enjoying the most overwhelming popularity.
There were even countless fans who panted for breath and fainted simply because their eyes met hers during a performance.
That had happened during the Academy’s previous invitational performance as well. Hadn’t the entire student body swarmed in like a horde just to see her, paralyzing the whole area?
‘It might work. ……No, it definitely will.’
Thinking back to the impact she had caused by personally announcing that she would submit an Academy application during last winter’s festival concert, she could be certain.
Every major daily newspaper in the Imperial Capital had splashed the news across its front page, and there had even been countless fanatics who submitted Academy applications solely because they wanted to be in the same place as McGrim.
Because of that, the Academy’s competition rate had even skyrocketed to several times its usual level. Of course, most of those applicants had never stood a chance.
It had been the same during the entrance ceremony.
That day, the entire campus had been filled with talk about the songstress McGrim.
Everyone had apparently expected such a famous songstress to enroll as one of their classmates, but unfortunately, the songstress McGrim was nowhere to be found.
However, there had been one McGrim.
The McGrim wearing a white beret.
The McGrim who enrolled at the Academy and the songstress McGrim differed in everything—their height, faces, and even hair color.
Even so, quite a few cadets had repeatedly asked McGrim whether she was ‘the songstress McGrim.’
Every time, McGrim brushed off the rumors by telling them to look at her face and saying they merely shared the same name.
Eventually, a rumor spread that ‘the songstress McGrim’ had failed to gain admission to the Academy, and the commotion surrounding McGrim ended there.
The reason McGrim had gone out of her way to hide her identity as a songstress was because she was a little afraid.
And because she felt the cadets might either look up to her excessively or view her through prejudiced eyes.
That was why she had intended to hide her true appearance for the time being.
……But.
‘People’s lives are at stake.’
Things were different now.
The songstress McGrim had to step forward and hold a surprise performance to gather the cadets.
‘Don’t worry. As soon as the performance ends, I can just return to my appearance as a cadet.’
She repeated that to herself.
If she was lucky, wouldn’t she be able to vaguely brush it off and claim that she and the songstress McGrim weren’t the same person?
Right, their faces, heights, and hair colors were all different.
She could simply insist that it wasn’t her.
For now, gathering the cadets took priority.
‘There was something like dark smoke surrounding Senior Villead and that girl Marie, so I couldn’t hear exactly what the two of them talked about…….’
But.
‘According to that girl Marie, Senior Villead said there would be casualties.’
The fact that Senior Villead had specifically gone out of his way to tell Marie that meant…….
Wasn’t he asking Marie to prevent that future in which casualties occurred?
Of course, she still wondered how Senior Villead had learned about the future, but since he was a high-ranking noble, maybe it was possible for him to learn something about the near future……?
Anyway.
‘Even if I return to my original appearance, I can’t put on a performance all by myself.’
She needed a proper stage.
Especially since she didn’t even have a microphone.
‘How am I supposed to create the acoustics or a stage……. Ah.’
She suddenly remembered that her best friend Hesty possessed earth and wind magic.
McGrim immediately flew back to Hesty.
“Hesty, could you make me a stage?”
Those were the first words McGrim said as soon as she met Hesty again.
Hesty, the freckled girl, blinked.
“A-A stage?”
“Yeah, a stage where I can sing.”
“……?”
Hesty was a little bewildered as to why she had suddenly brought that up.
But McGrim was asking so seriously that she decided it wasn’t mere nonsense or a joke.
“Hmm, I’m not really sure…… but it might not be that difficult……?”
“Really?”
McGrim’s expression immediately brightened with joy, but only for a moment before she fell into thought again.
Worried by McGrim’s expression, Hesty cautiously opened her mouth.
“McGrim, is something wrong?”
“……Hesty. Don’t be surprised, no matter what. I’m only telling you. You absolutely have to keep it secret.”
“Okay, tell me everything. I promise I’ll keep it secret.”
……Phew.
As McGrim let out a light sigh, light began to radiate from her entire body.
When I opened my eyes, I was inside a yellow barrier.
‘So this is what it feels like.’
I felt dazed and completely drained of strength.
Even moving my body wasn’t easy, as though I were underwater.
In a way, it was a little unpleasant. Somehow, I could understand why the cadets hated being inside this place.
I tried placing my hand against the barrier, but it blocked me like a pane of glass, preventing me from going outside.
If I waited here for 10 minutes, I could revive and return to the battlefield.
But.
Judging by the situation in front of me, that didn’t look easy.
‘……There isn’t a single opening.’
The second-year cadets were staring directly at me.
Not only had they surrounded me, they had even deployed troops in front of the castle gate just in case.
When I strained my ears, I could faintly hear the conversation outside the barrier.
“I don’t know about anything else, but he’s certainly mastered running away like a rat.”
“Don’t let your guard down. If we lose him, Stoneface will chew us out.”
“Stoneface has already told us ten times not to let him get away no matter what. My ears are practically numb.”
……As expected, Jennings hadn’t given me even the slightest opening.
It was meticulous enough to shut down every possible variable.
I lifted my head and looked at the sky.
A faint image of clock hands was floating there.
‘Only a few minutes left now.’
Once the clock hands completed a full revolution, the Cleaner’s destruction magic would rain down from the sky.
If I searched, I might be able to find some other way to stop that magic, but among the methods I knew, the ‘Block’ was the only one.
‘A siege weapon capable of stopping any magic.’
A bulldozer that advanced while taking countless bombardments with its entire body.
The Block’s original purpose had probably been to destroy the opponent’s castle, but my objective was different.
I would summon both Blocks at once—the first-years’ Block and the second-years’ Block—and focus solely on stopping the magic that would destroy the protective spell.
‘That key really is valuable. Every second-year has gathered here.’
……Except for one person, the Imperial Princess.
‘If things follow the original story, the Imperial Princess should be the only second-year who can’t be contacted.’
Assistant Lahan, the villain hiding behind the scenes, should have completely cut off her communication network and isolated her.
‘Well, as long as the second-years are tied down here at the castle, they should be safe.’
Marie, who was responsible for the first-years’ safety, was meticulous when it came to handling things, so I could trust her with it.
Besides, there was another helper.
‘……McGrim was watching me while concealed.’
Even in the game, McGrim had gathered the first-year forces by holding a performance.
If McGrim helped Marie as well, they could gather everyone even faster and more safely.
“By the way, there’s no way this bastard lost the key, right?”
“Come on, the professor said he didn’t see him lose the key. That’s probably why he told us all to gather here.”
“He’s bringing shame to every second-year all by himself.”
“Ugh, I’m scared I’ll get dragged into this somehow. Seriously.”
“I’m just going to pretend he doesn’t exist. Not that anyone treated him differently before.”
Judging by their conversation, they firmly believed I still had the key.
I had already handed the Block Key to Marie inside ‘Private Audience,’ but they didn’t seem to have noticed at all.
……Eventually, time passed, and I finally emerged from the yellow barrier surrounding me.
At the same time, the cadets positioned around me simultaneously aimed their swords and wands at me.
“Hand over the key quietly.”
“You’d better give it up before this gets any worse. Dealing with one person like you is nothing.”
As the cadets threatened me, I slipped a hand into my pocket.
“Take your hand out of there! Don’t try anything funny and put both hands over your head right now!”
“……Looks like I have no choice.”
I gave a faint smile as though reluctantly resigning myself to the situation and slowly pulled my hand from my pocket.
The moment my hand emerged, the cadets flinched and stepped back, but once they saw it was empty, they pointed their swords at me with even fiercer expressions.
Still smiling, I opened my mouth.
“Everyone calm down. I’d rather not go back into that suffocating barrier again. I’m saying I’ll cooperate peacefully.”
I raised both arms to shoulder height in surrender.
“It’s in my left pocket. Take it out yourselves.”
“I’ll do it.”
Ren, a brown-haired cadet among the group, cautiously stepped forward.
He slowly approached me. After slipping his hand into my left pocket, he whispered quietly.
“Mr. Villead, why did you do all this?”
“…….”
I couldn’t give him any answer.
“I want to believe in you, Mr. Villead.”
There wasn’t really an answer I could properly give Ren.
“Ren, the answer is inside the box in my pocket.”
“Understood.”
At my reply, Ren gave a small nod and pulled the box from my pocket.
“The key’s in there, right?”
“What are you doing? Hurry up and open it so we can retrieve it.”
The others didn’t seem particularly wary either.
“Then, I’ll open it.”
Ren also reached for the box without any suspicion.
After seeing that, I closed my eyes and inhaled as much air as possible
……That was when it happened.
Boooom-!
A small explosion.
“What?!”
Pitch-black smoke pouring from the box swallowed the entire area.
“W-What is this?!”
“Cough, cough!”
The cadets’ bewildered voices and coughing echoed around me.
“Cough! M-Mr. Villead?! This isn’t what you promised! Did you trick me!”
B-rank - Black Smoke Canister
A highly effective smoke bomb. They say you’ll regret it if you don’t cover your eyes and nose.
An object I had obtained while subjugating monsters.
That was what the box Ren had opened contained.
If they hadn’t prepared for the smoke, their eyes and throats would sting quite badly.
Apparently, the protective spell didn’t shield them from pain this minor.
‘Shark!’
Inside the smoke, I pulled out Shark’s card and wrapped darkness around my feet.
With even the spiritual beast’s ability at my disposal, escaping the encirclement was child’s play.
I ran up the castle wall and quickly escaped outside the castle.
Shouts rang out behind me.
“W-Where’s Villead?!”
Whoosh-!
The cadets dispersed the thick smoke with wind magic and looked around, only to spot me atop the castle wall and start shouting.
“There!”
But I had already succeeded in escaping the castle.
I lightly dropped down the outside of the wall and quickly fled.
There wasn’t much time left before the magic that would destroy the protective spell activated.
‘I need to head straight for the underground waterway.’
The place where the Imperial Princess had been isolated.
And also the place where the villain, the Cleaner, was.
I had been fleeing for a while when it happened.
Baaang-!
Something translucent slammed down in front of me.
Even beneath the blazing midday sun, the chill of midwinter enveloped my entire body.
‘Ice?’
No way.
When I turned around, I saw the owner of that ice.
A man approached with elegant steps.
‘……Damn it, I’m already out of time, and of all people.’
A silver-haired young nobleman.
Heidel, the top-ranked second-year, approached with magical energy gleaming in his eyes.