Chapter 173
Chapter 173
Trinity Academy.
On the day of the Dawn Light Festival.
The main front gate of the Academy was packed with countless outside visitors.
Since it was the very first official festival ever held in Trinity Academy’s history, a wide variety of people had come, full of interest.
Hello?
When are you arriving?
I’ve reached the entrance, but the line is too long.
How long do you think it’ll take?
I’ll probably have to wait here for about 30 minutes.
Once you arrive, go around to the back of the building and come in through Entrance 5. I’ll be waiting there in front. And don’t you dare lose your invitation.
I know, man. You said if I lose this, I won’t be able to get in.
There were young people who joined the festival after receiving invitations from Academy friends.
Sir, I’m sorry, but this is an unauthorized invitation. Please turn back.
Th-that can’t be. I got this from a friend!
The holo-tag and serial number are incorrect. It looks like a fake invitation.
I told you it’s not fake! Someone I know is inside, let me just talk to them real quick and come out.
Not possible.
Here, take this and let me in just once?
Hey. Drag this guy out.
Aagh! Wait, hold on!
There were also suspicious people trying to sneak into the Academy with impure intentions.
And then.
Please come in, Reporter Onami.
Yes. I am here at Trinity Academy’s first-ever ‘Dawn Light Festival.’ The festival will be held over the weekend for two days, and only those with invitations are allowed entry. As you can see, the guards are thoroughly checking visitors. Well then, I’ll head inside now.
There were also official reporters who had come with proper invitations. Meanwhile, numerous aerial cars were constantly crossing over the walls lined with defensive turrets, transporting people and goods.
Meanwhile, Feng Wei was heading toward the rear gate, clutching tightly the bag handed to him by a mysterious android.
“Hoo… hoo….”
The closer his turn came, the paler Wei’s face grew, and his breathing became rougher. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was doing something he shouldn’t. Even so, he kept reassuring himself.
‘It’ll… it’ll be fine. I checked it wasn’t a bomb. It’ll be fine. No, it has to be fine.’
Because of the thing in this bag, he hadn’t been able to sleep properly for days.
Luckily, Professor Adam’s research schedule had mostly been scrapped recently; otherwise, he would’ve been scolded badly for failing to concentrate properly.
Wei took a deep breath and glanced down at the zipper bag in his arms. The mysterious android had told him, “Do not open it,” but last night he had given in to curiosity and checked its contents.
Inside the bag was a mysterious machine. As a materials science major, it was hard to determine exactly what it was, but as an engineering student, he did his best to analyze it with his knowledge and ability. The conclusion was…
‘It looked like some kind of scanner… right?’
The machine had multiple sensitive sensors attached, and thankfully there were no explosives inside.
It was probably a device made for information-gathering. Though he couldn’t figure out exactly what information it was designed to collect.
You know a student named ‘Miyu,’ correct? You just need to leave this bag within 10 meters of her for about 12 hours.
Apparently, the android’s target was Miyu. If this was indeed a scanner, then it was highly likely designed to extract some kind of data from her.
At the time, Wei had hesitated after hearing the android’s explanation. That clumsy yet brilliant prodigy girl had helped him several times, and it felt wrong to repay that kindness like this.
But as if reading his mind, the android had reassured him.
Don’t worry. We don’t intend to harm her. This isn’t the kind of device that causes problems to the human body.
The android even compared Miyu to a “bird,” persuading Wei further. That right now Miyu was like a bird trapped in a cage, unable to fully spread her wings, and that they only wanted to set her free.
The explanation was so polite and eloquent that Wei, who had hesitated at first, quickly found himself persuaded. Of course, more than the android’s silver tongue, the bundle of cash in front of him had played a bigger role.
At any rate.
‘So all I have to do is leave this near Miyu, right?’
That made things simple.
As far as he knew, Miyu would be wandering around the ‘Living Fireworks’ exhibition hall throughout the festival.
If he just left this near the exhibition or close to her dorm, the scan would complete on its own, and all he had to do was retrieve it later and hand it back to the android.
‘Yeah. It’ll be fine. Nothing will go wrong.’
As he once again tried to calm himself and gather resolve, his turn came.
[Please present your ID.]
“H-here it is….”
Perhaps because of the festival, the security was even stricter than usual.
The guards, heavily armed in Powered Armor, scanned Wei’s ID with sharp eyes. He was trembling nervously, but of course, there was no problem with the ID, so he passed.
[Confirmed. Now for a belongings inspection.]
“Urgh….”
Wei reluctantly handed over the bag.
The guard scanned it with a camera equipped with X-ray, then unzipped the zipper bag with a rather rough hand. He pulled out the device inside.
[What is this?]
“T-that’s…”
He couldn’t exactly say, “I don’t know.”
It looked somewhat like a cylindrical tumbler, but saying “It’s a water bottle” obviously wouldn’t work either.
As he desperately searched for an excuse, another guard who had been watching came over and spoke.
[To me, it looks like an information-gathering device.]
[Information-gathering device? How do you know?]
[Ah, disassembling radios is my hobby. Looking at it, this has a biometric signal sensor and a radio scanner. Inside there’s also a data storage unit… I’m certain. It’s a type of radio scanner.]
[Is it safe?]
[Doesn’t seem to be a major issue. That said, it’s clearly built with advanced technology. No doubt this is quite an expensive item.]
[Urgh…]
An expensive item.
As soon as the senior guard heard that, he hurriedly shoved the device back into the zipper bag, then handed it back to Wei.
Then he shouted loudly.
[Pass!]
Stingray Foundation Academy Branch.
Chairman’s Office.
“Why can’t I go with you!”
“[N-no, I mean, I just have some schedule…….]”
“We promised to walk around together after you were discharged! There’s no way you met someone else in the meantime, so what schedule could you possibly have?”
“[S-something could come up…….]”
For some reason, Raina and Silence were bickering inside my office.
Judging by the conversation, Raina wanted to go around the festival with Silence, who had been discharged from the hospital three days ago, while Silence was trying to run away from her.
‘Ah, those were the days.’
It seemed that ever since the [Showcase], where Silence had sacrificed himself to save her from crisis, Raina’s green light had turned on for him. Her target had shifted from Iri to Silence.
Silence, on the other hand, seemed burdened by his junior’s sudden advances. An emoticon of ‘(ºΔº);;;’ floated across his LED Mask. Just by looking at it, I could tell he still hadn’t let go of his dead lover, and that was why he was acting this way.
In some ways, it was a heart-wrenching love story, and as a reader, I had to admit it was quite an entertaining development.
……But why were they doing this in my office?
Well, I didn’t really need to ask.
I usually kept my office door open for the special class kids. And Silence, fleeing from Raina, had been chased all the way up to the very top floor — my office.
‘He probably thought he could use the fact that Raina is scared of me.’
The calculation was simple: in front of me, Raina might act a little more reserved. As someone specialized in agility and stealth, Silence had no confidence in handling Raina, who swung around a minigun, with brute strength, so he came up with a trick.
If he truly hated Raina, he could’ve just hidden in some remote corner of the Academy, but he knew that would hurt her.
In other words, Silence himself also had some feelings for her. A truly earnest young man.
“C-could it be that you don’t like me? Or maybe…….”
“[Raina, calm down. Calm down, I said.]”
Watching the two flirt like that, even my heart warmed a little. If anything, I felt like it might be better to quietly slip out and leave them to it.
But the problem came from elsewhere.
“Why can’t you go with me!”
The Academy Branch’s mascot, the little witch, had climbed onto my head and started pestering me with the same line as Raina.
Just a moment ago, she’d only been whining, but after watching Raina press Silence, she seemed to decide to copy her in earnest.
Like Tenzing Norgay climbing Everest, Evangeline had strained and struggled until she finally reached the summit — my head — and now squirmed in a piggyback position.
She probably wanted to disturb me by shaking my head, but unfortunately for her, the Strength Enhancement Module I had equipped was military-grade.
I quietly let her whine and answered.
“I have work today.”
“Don’t lie! I already asked Maria!”
“What did Maria say?”
“When I said, ‘I want to go to the festival with Aaron today!’ she answered, ‘Young Master Aaron has some free time today, so why don’t you ask him to walk around the festival with you.’”
So that was it.
As she said, my “official” schedule was empty.
Which was probably why Maria hadn’t stopped Evangeline from trotting into my office. She knew very well how much I doted on Evangeline.
“Hmm……”
But it wasn’t a lie that I had work. It was just that it involved the “Scenario,” something I couldn’t explain to Evangeline.
How could I persuade this little witch to settle down? As I quietly pondered, I took Evangeline off my head and placed her on the floor.
Then it happened.
“Sniff…!”
I heard the sound of crying from somewhere. Turning my gaze, I saw Raina shedding big, fat tears. Silence’s LED Mask emoticon shifted into an even more flustered expression.
And then he shouted.
“[F-fine! I’ll go! I’ll go with you!]”
“Really?”
“[Ugh.]”
Raina instantly wiped away her fake tears and gripped his hand tightly so he couldn’t escape. From his wrist came a rather ominous cracking sound, but well, he was an Adaptee, so it should be fine.
“Come on, let’s go!”
“[H-hey! W-wait……!]”
Like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse, Silence was pulled along helplessly by Raina’s grip.
At the last moment, Silence sent me a desperate look, pleading for help, but I did not respond.
I’m sorry, Silence.
This is something you must handle yourself.
The only way to grow into a better man is to experience firsthand just how terrifying a woman’s tears can be.
As I offered him silent advice, I turned back to Evangeline. She was also looking at me, eyes locking with mine.
“Ugh, uuuugh……!”
“??”
What was this?
Evangeline suddenly scrunched her face and made strange noises at me. For a moment, I couldn’t tell what she was trying to do, until I realized — she was trying to cry fake tears like Raina.
But sadly, unlike Raina, Evangeline’s acting skills were absolutely terrible. And unlike earnest Silence, I was more than capable of withstanding a girl’s tears-.
“……So it really can’t be done?”
For a brief instant, I saw true tears welling in Evangeline’s eyes. The ruby-like sparkle in them melted my heart instantly, and before I knew it, I murmured.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“Yayyyy!”
Evangeline cheered, bouncing with joy.
It wasn’t until about five seconds later that I realized.
I had no right to scold Silence.