Peace Hunter

The thick fog that had enveloped the area slowly began to dissipate. Feline and Fee had completely vanished from the fog, as we could no longer sense their presence after the fog dissipated. Not only that, Ludmila and Ariu, who had previously been lying unconscious, had also vanished.

"A Fairy, huh? I've truly encountered a rather rare race. Judging by her previous appearance, she was a Demi-Human, and it seems she used disguise magic to conceal her true identity," I said.

"Yes, that seems likely. I'd rather believe she's a Fairy disguised as a Demi-Human than a Demi-Human disguised as a Fairy. Since Fairies are highly skilled at using magic, it's not impossible for her to disguise herself as a Demi-Human, while most Demi-Humans are more skilled at attacks involving physical strength, so I doubt she's a Demi-Human disguised as a Fairy," said Miss Karina.

"Rather than that, why did she reveal her true form to the two of us? Shouldn't she have kept her identity a secret and remained disguised as a Demi-Human?" I asked.

"It does seem a bit odd. But I have my own thoughts on it. Regarding the thick fog that suddenly appeared earlier, it seems to be a high-level magic. While it didn't affect us, you saw for yourself that the fog was able to make them both disappear. Not only that, even the jaguar and bear Demi-Humans we defeated also disappeared after the fog appeared. And it seems the Fairy had been surrounding this academy and taking the humans and Demi-Humans who attacked the academy as well,"

"So, you could say that when she used that high-level magic, her disguise magic was slightly disrupted, causing her to reveal her true identity. Well, that's just my opinion, I don't know the actual facts," said Miss Karina.

"That makes sense. Although the Fairy are highly skilled at using magic and possess a greater mana capacity than the Elves, it seems impossible for them to use both high-level spells simultaneously, considering that disguise magic is also high-level, especially since they can disguise themselves as other races," I said.

"Yes. Furthermore, considering that the Fairy brought along the attackers who had already been defeated with their magic, I couldn't get any information from them."

"You said earlier that their goal was to kill my sister three children—I mean, Her Majesty the Queen and declare war on the Kingdom of San Fulgen. And they claimed to be from the Kingdom of Sedona. At first, I believed that, but after seeing that the Fairy ​were in the same group as the attackers, I became unsure whether they were truly from the Kingdom of Sedona. Especially after seeing that there were also humans involved in the attack on this academy. It seems they aren't from the Kingdom of Sedona, and the reason they claimed to be from the Kingdom of Sedona was to stir up discord between the Kingdoms of San Fulgen and Sedona," said Miss Karina.

"I thought so too. It seemed suspicious when I asked if they were from the Sedona Kingdom and they readily agreed. Normally, if an assassin wanted to kill their target, they wouldn't readily reveal information about themselves," I said.

"That's true," said Miss Karina.

Then we both fell silent for a moment.

"It makes me wonder about the intruder who previously tried to infiltrate this academy. I don't know their identity yet, but it must have been one of them. They wanted to infiltrate this academy to kill Chloe and Charles while I wasn't there. Also, you mentioned earlier that one morning when you were in San Minerva City, you saw many destroyed buildings there. And you learned that the cause was the battle between the Commander of the Silver Peacock Squad and the criminals there, right?" asked Miss Karina.

"Yes, I did say that before," I said.

"I've received information from my sister—i mean Her Majesty the Queen about what actually happened there. The buildings were indeed destroyed by the battle waged by the Troops commander, but the ones she fought in that battle weren't the criminals that frequently appear in the city of San Minerva, but rather a group of Demi-Humans," said Miss Karina.

"Demi-Humans?" I asked.

"Yes, the troops commander reported it herself to the supreme commander, Commander Oliver. Then, Her Majesty the Queen received the report from Commander Oliver. One of the Demi-Humans the troops commander fought was a woman with ears and a tail resembling a jaguar. Furthermore, that Demi-Human also stated that her purpose in coming to the city was to assassinate a 'target,'" said Miss Karina.

"A female Demi-Human with ears and a tail resembling a jaguar? It seems she's the same Demi-Human I defeated and sent here earlier. Before I fought her, she tried to assassinate Charles, but I managed to thwart her. It seems she's trying to assassinate Charles again after her previous failure in San Minerva City," I said.

"It seems so. So, the previous infiltration incident at this academy, the commotion in San Minerva City, and the attack on this academy seem to be related."

"As for the infiltration incident, I suspect it was carried out by one person, or possibly more, but no more than five. And regarding the commotion in San Minerva City, initially, it was only the jaguar demi-human who fought with the troops commander there. Then three other demi-humans joined in to assist her.

"From the infiltration incident and the commotion in San Minerva City, it can be concluded that they wanted to assassinate Charles and Chloe secretly and covertly. So why did they decide to attack this academy so openly and involve so many people?" asked Miss Karina.

"Isn't it because of Caroline's presence at this academy? Their targets were Her Majesty's three children. With Charles, Chloe, and Caroline all in the same place, at this academy, they decided to attack the academy so openly and involve so many people," I said.

"That makes sense. During the infiltration incident and the commotion in San Minerva City, they only had two targets: Charles and Chloe, which is why they chose to use stealth."

"But the problem is, how did they know Caroline was coming to this academy? Not only that, they also attacked on a day when there were no important guests attending the festival, meaning there wasn't any extra security at the academy. Isn't that a little strange?" asked Miss Karina.

"Yes, I thought so too. They knew Caroline was at the academy, and they seemed to know the perfect time to attack," I said.

"This is just my thought. Could there be a traitor in the academy who leaked all the information, especially about the current festival?" asked Miss Karina.

"A traitor......, Hmmm, it's possible there is a traitor in the academy. But I'm more concerned about whether those who attacked the academy have any connection to the Dukes. As you know, Miss, I told you before that I was almost killed by Duke San Minerva's knights, right? I think the attackers might have some connection to Duke San Minerva or perhaps another Duke," I said.

"I also thought that the intruders who wanted to infiltrate the academy had some connection to those Dukes. But after I concluded that the intruders were from the same group as the attackers who attacked this academy, I stopped thinking that way. The attackers were targeting Charles, Chloe, and Caroline, while Duke San Minerva and perhaps the other duke were targeting you. So the possibility of them being connected is very slim. But it's still a possibility."

"Well, perhaps I'll discuss this with my sister—I mean, with Her Majesty the Queen later. It seems like news of the attack on this academy has spread everywhere, considering that before the two of them disappeared, they said that knights were on their way here. Not only that, but even Commander Oliver is also here," said Miss Karina.

"Commander Oliver, he's the supreme commander in this kingdom. I saw him with Her Majesty the Queen when they visited the infirmary where Chloe and Charles are," I thought.

"Since the attackers are gone, it seems there's nothing I can do now. In that case, I'll go around to check on the situation. Perhaps I should also help some of the injured," said Miss Karina.

"Aren't you tired, miss? You just fought, wouldn't you like to rest first?" I asked.

"I'm not tired. Besides, in the fight just now, I hadn't fully unleashed my power. I hadn't even used my area magic. It's precisely because I wasn't tired that I decided to help the injured and assess the situation at the academy."

"You're not even tired yourself, Rid. And I just learned that you can use healing magic too," said Miss Karina.

It seems Miss Karina knew I could use healing magic after seeing me unharmed after taking several hits. Also, Miss Karina probably overheard the conversation from the cat demi-human who said I could use healing magic too.

"Well, I won't ask any more about that. I thank you again for saving me from that fairy attack, Rid," said Miss Karina.

"You're welcome, miss," I said.

"I'll start making my rounds and visit the building where the staff, teachers, and guests live first. Could you stay here to look after those four, Rid?" asked Miss Karina.

The four Miss Karina was referring to were Chloe, Caroline, Irene, and senior Gretta, who was still unconscious.

"Yes, miss, I'll look after them," I said.

"Not only that, when Commander Oliver and his knights arrive, I want Commander Oliver to come see me. Please escort him. I'm going to visit the staff, teacher, and guest residence building now, so please escort him there. If I'm not there, I'll probably have visited other places like the academy garden, the academy forest, lake, or shopping area. I'd like you to escort him to those places until I meet him," said Miss Karina.

"Yes, Miss," I said.

"Thank you, Rid. Then, I'll be going now. Please take care of them," said Miss Karina.

Miss Karina then left me and ran towards the academy's guest building. Meanwhile, I decided to sit on the steps of the destroyed academy lobby entrance while guarding the four of them.

-

In front of the Academy gate.

Commander Oliver and many royal knights had arrived on their horses. They also brought several horse-drawn carriages, each carrying many soldiers.

They were shocked to see the scene at the academy gate, many people were lying in pools of blood, many of the previously parked carriages were in a state of disrepair, and the buildings around the gate were also damaged, some even destroyed. The academy gate and the surrounding wall not far from it were also destroyed.

"What a horrific sight. Who dared attack this academy, causing such damage?"

"Some of you follow me into the academy, and the rest of you help the people lying there. ​Heal those who are still breathing," said Commander Oliver.

"Yes, Commander," said the knights.

Then Commander Oliver dismounted and walked into the academy, accompanied by some of the accompanying knights.

-

News of the attack on San Fulgen Academy had spread throughout the kingdom. The news caused a stir, given that San Fulgen Academy was the only academy in the kingdom. Because of this news, many parents whose children were still attending the academy decided to go to the academy to check on their children. Not only commoners but also nobles decided to go to the academy, including high-ranking nobles such as the Dukes.

Duke San Minerva, Duke San Angela, and Duke San Quentine decided to immediately depart for the capital of San Estella upon hearing the news. Not only the three of them, but Duke San Lucia, who had not traveled much recently, also decided to go to the capital of San Estella. His reason for going to the academy was, of course, to check on his daughter, Irene.

-To be continued