Episode 140. Explosion Plan (2)
At that time, while the examination of the Jang Education Committee was in full swing in Capotini, Tresden.
Kukukukung.
The sturdy front door of the ‘Valley Prison’ was opening with a dull sound.
Rosenthaler, who had stumbled through the prison gates, turned his head here and there to check the prison conditions.
Gradually, his expression became distorted.
“Hitan, this stupid kid… … .”
The prison looked like it had been hit by a massive air raid. More than one cell had its iron doors ripped off, and the corridors were littered with the corpses of Imperial soldiers and prisoners that had not yet been recovered.
Rosenthaler’s first stop was the deep section, where the Level 1 prisoners’ cells were located. This was where the breakout had started, and two of the Level 1 prisoners who escaped were still missing.
The only good thing is that the three remaining Class 1 prisoners who were attempting to escape were dealt with immediately.
“Ha, you little punk.”
After confirming the dire state of the deep section, Rosenthaler headed to the director’s office.
In the middle of the dark office sat an expressionless Hitan. He smiled weakly when he saw Rosettaler coming in.
“I guess it makes you laugh.”
“Has it been thirty hours since Enzo left? You came so quickly. It would have taken Capotini a long time.”
Rosenthaler sat across from Hitan. He didn’t look like someone who had come to deal with him, but like someone visiting a friend he hadn’t seen in a long time.
After all, it’s a predetermined ending.
“Long time no see, Rosenthaler.”
Bam.
Rosenthaler ignores the greeting and simply places his longsword on the table.
“A prison break from a first-class prison. At least that’s fortunate. Compared to other incidents of this magnitude, rumors didn’t spread that much.”
“…Is this an order given directly by Lord Rulpo?”
“Yeah. He told me to tear your body apart and throw it to the first-class prisoners. So they can eat it whenever they’re bored.”
It was a joke, but Hitan knew that this was actually a message from Rulfo. Rulfo was that kind of person. And the Rosenthaler in front of him was definitely someone who would carry out that order.
Although the two were equals within the Imperial Department, there was a clear gap in their level of expertise to the point where they left the handling of Hitan to Rosenthaler.
Even though they both learned the secret swordsmanship of the Imperial Order, Hitan wouldn’t be able to last ten minutes in a duel with Rosenthaler.
“You know? Even if I hadn’t come forward, there are still many people who would kill you. At least Rulfo could ask His Majesty the Emperor to kill you in a gentlemanly way.”
“The chief must be in a very awkward position.”
Hitan, who seemed to be saying that with a fresh face, suddenly glared at me with wide eyes.
“If you had found that little brat Per sooner, none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have been able to use that ponytailed Kaizen properly!”
Rosenthaler chuckled.
“Hittan. Are you losing your touch because I’m a low-level agent and I’m taking care of that little Roinen?”
“Yeah, that’s right. That kid… . Yeah, that guy who’s the son of the main family. Could it be that he’s involved in this?”
“Wouldn’t that be great? Do you think you can survive then?”
Hitan’s upper body trembled as his emotions became noticeably intense. In fact, he knew very well that it had nothing to do with Rubin Roinen. The evidence was clear.
“Stop whining. They were all corpses buried by Aurors. How about you analyze the traces of Aurors?”
“… … .”
“Yeah, I understand since you’re going to die soon. It’s my job to clean up your shit too.”
One of the reasons Rosenthaler came here was to check the traces of aura on the corpse and trace which swordsmanship family it was.
The Assassins don’t use auras. If they were really involved, there shouldn’t be any traces of aura on the corpse.
“Anyway, it’s not that Rubin. I confirmed that he was in Capotini when the chaos started here.”
Rosenthaler said blandly. The day before the raid, he had clearly seen Rubin in the bookstore, though they had not met.
It was a natural conviction for him, not knowing that this was Tina’s transformed form.
“Where are the corpses of the Imperial soldiers that came out from in front of the crematorium?”
Hitan pointed behind him with his hand. Near the office desk, there were ten corpses piled up.
Rosenthaler got up from his chair and trudged over to the body, looking for any traces of auror.
“Which family is it? Hmm, I can’t tell by sight.”
Judging from the fact that the corpse had not decomposed, it was definitely a high-level aura. It seemed like it would take some more time to accurately identify it.
There was an expert in the Imperial Department who could identify the aura, so I had no choice but to send the body to him.
“I guess I’ll have to get rid of it first.”
To do that, he needed a sword. Rosenthaler reached out toward the table where Hitan was sitting, as if he was asking for anything to fly into his hand.
After a while.
“… … .”
Ddddddd.
His longsword on the table began to shake. It seemed as if it was ready to fly in at any moment, as if responding to its master’s call.
Hitan remembered the name of the longsword.
‘Robson’s Flying Sword’
This was one of the countless Noble Phantasms of the Black Imperial Order’s leader, Rulfo. Its special feature was that it could fly to its owner’s hand whenever the owner wanted, as long as it was within a certain distance.
‘The fact that this precious treasure is in Rosenthaler’s hands means that he has Rulfo’s trust in him.’
Within the Imperial Department, it was said that Rosenthaler had been demoted to Capotini as a scapegoat for his own blunders, but this was not true.
Rulfo’s trust in Rosenthaler never wavered, as evidenced by the fact that he gave him a sword along with his mission in Capotini.
He knew that if he really fell out of favor with Rulfo, he would not just be demoted, he would be killed. Just like Hitan himself.
Wheeeeeek.
“… … !”
A longsword floated over the table and flew dizzyingly close to grazing Hitan’s neck. The flying sword quickly flew towards Rosenthaler and was caught in his hand.
Rosenthaler looked satisfied, as if he had been using a sword for a long time.
“Come on, kill me.”
“Wait. Let’s do this first.”
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Ss …
Soon, a bright yellow aura was added to the secret sword. It was the aura of the ‘Secret Sword Technique’ that was only passed down to those who were recognized by Rulpo in the Imperial Edict.
If Hitan were to survive and fight against Rosenthaler, the two Aurors of the Imperial Order would clash in this space. Of course, Hitan would have no chance of winning.
Thud thud.
I felt Rosenthaler, cutting up the body parts, approaching me step by step.
“Oh, right. Hitan.”
“… … ?”
“The Magic Brigade just came to Capotini. I think it’s the Jang Education Committee or something.”
“… … .”
“I found out when I came here today. You knew, right? But you didn’t tell me.”
A humming noise from his yellow aura filled the room. Rosenthaler raised his sword high.
“Because of your foolishness, little Roinen will come to me and ask why I didn’t tell you in advance. You’ll never know, even if you die. How reckless that little brat is!”
The next moment.
Crunch.
‘Robson’s Sword’ slammed down on Hitan’s crown.
It penetrated the black skull, pierced the neck, and reached the heart. The yellow aura was still burning on the sword’s blade.
“Idiot.”
Rosenthaler did not draw his sword for a long time.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the testing center.
While all the eliminated cadets returned to the dormitory to rest, the surviving cadets were struggling to hold on amidst layers of fatigue and hunger.
Before we knew it, the selection test had reached stage 8.
There were only five remaining applicants.
“Haa… haa… … .”
‘Damn, I’m not even feeling better now.’
Eric Eyelos clutched his chest, which rose and fell without him knowing it. In the early stages of the test, if you passed, the fatigue in your body would be washed away automatically, but that only applied up to the fourth stage.
The reason the test is so rigorous is probably because it is intended to select the best imperial officers, not just mere magicians.
‘But what the heck is that guy?’
Luden Poinen. The only test taker who passes all the tests without any problems.
While everyone else was sitting exhausted, Luden was the only one standing still. He was quietly stroking his black hair as it blew in the wind.
Eric gritted his teeth. He remembered the time he had encountered that guy in front of the magic shop before the entrance ceremony. And then there was Chloe, who had ignored him and asked him to dance.
It was shameful and humiliating to even think about.
“dahlia.”
“… … ?”
“What the hell is that guy?”
“Are you talking about Luden?”
“Yeah, Luden or something. He’s in the same class as you.”
Dahlia paused for a moment and then gave an ambiguous answer.
“What should I say? He’s a bit of a strange kid.”
“singularity?”
“You saw it too. He has something we don’t have.”
“What are you saying?”
Yet Eric seemed to know what that meant.
The qualities of an unmanned being, aura.
That’s what I’m saying.
Eric had also heard that the illusions held by humans can only contain aura or mana, but in very rare cases, there are humans who have both aura and mana.
“Other names are ‘Madomuin.’ Or ‘Magic Swordsman.’”
“Huh, you mean it’s half-baked?”
Eric chuckled.
I was rather relieved to learn that Rubin was a madman. Judging from what they had shown so far, Rubin was in the lead, followed by Eric and Dahlia.
In other words, these three had a high probability of being selected as officer cadets.
‘I don’t think I can turn the test around. I’ll just become an officer cadet first and then deal with that guy.’
It was so humiliating to be following Rubin, but it was only for a moment. Once I was selected as an officer cadet, I could easily turn around my current humiliation with the difference in my mana level.
‘Yeah, well, it worked out. This damn Capotini. There wasn’t a single thing I liked about it. As soon as I finish my exams, I can go to the mainland.’
Eric regained his composure.
Meanwhile, Rubin was talking to Haneke.
-It’s already stage 8. I guess this stage won’t be too difficult either.
There was another reason why Haneke was so confident. He was the one who created all the tests for the Jang Education Committee. The content of the selection test was also almost the same as before.
But that doesn’t mean he gave Rubin any advice.
Not only was it because Rubin hadn’t asked, but he also knew that even if he had told her, it wouldn’t have been of much help. Rubin was doing just fine on his own.
‘Haneke, the problem is not step 8 right now. It’s step 9 next.’
-Yeah, you said you were going to cause a mana explosion there.
Stage 9 was the key to testing the strategic and tactical abilities of the candidates, and was officially called the ‘Great Battle of Laskien.’
-Eight people, including you, will become commanders and fight in a virtual battle. If there aren’t enough people, the examiners will join in instead. Can you win?
‘First, I have to create the battle situation I want. This is where I need the general’s help.’
The situation Rubin wanted was the most important. That was the key condition for the mana explosion written in the inspection report.
However, Rubin had never played the board game called ‘Battle of Laskien’. Since it was originally intended for strategic research, only Imperial forces were allowed to play it.
Rubin had already explained to Haneke everything he needed to know about the situation.
‘What do I need first to create the situation the way I want?’
-… … .
That moment.
Rubin noticed that Haneke wanted to observe the other candidates, so he brought four of them, including Dahlia and Eric, into his sights.
– First, we need two people who can do what we want. Eric and Dahlia seem like they’d be good.
‘You want me to get those two through this 8th stage?’
-That’s right. Of course, it’s not impossible without those two, but that would be nice.
‘Yeah.’
Just then, the long-awaited 8th stage began.
Boom.
The first thing that appeared before their eyes was a large square pillar. A single square pillar that was just big enough to reach the top of the bunker.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Centered around the first square pillar, other square pillars of different thickness and height began to rise and stick together, like growing mold, or like the ripples of ripples.
The examinees were in an uproar.
“What, what do you want me to do?”
At the same time, the cadets realized that they were being pushed away from the square pillars. Only the first square pillar was holding its ground, pushing away everything else.
Flutter.
At first glance, I could see the flag on top of the square pillar. As I was pushed away from the center, the flag in my field of vision quickly became smaller.
Rubin quickly realized what the winning conditions for this test were.
‘They want me to pull out the flag.’
That moment.
“Euraa!”
One of the cadets jumped out first. It was Eric Elielos.
It wasn’t just Dahlia who thought the flag had to be pulled out. Following that, Dahlia also jumped towards the flag. Using that as a signal, all the other cadets started jumping.
Papat.
The square pillars were all different heights, so the cadets had to jump over and hang on to each one to move forward with difficulty.
Knock knock! Knock knock!
Meanwhile, the square pillars continued to multiply and push the cadets out of the flag.
“Eww!”
One of the students from Class A lost his balance, fell, and was pushed endlessly to the outskirts. As he watched, Class A’s homeroom teacher, Solana, must have let out some harsh curses.
And then.
Rubin jumped over the head of the fallen Class A cadet. His movements were light and brisk. There was no need to use a dark smoke.
