Chapter 72

Part 22: The False Teacher (2)

He added the tea powder he had prepared to the water bottle placed in one corner of the room and then asked Piar and Mirisa.

"Are you both wearing your necklaces well?"

"Of course. I always wear it even when I wash."

"Yes, me too."

The two of them placed their hands on their chests.

They had always kept what their teacher had instructed them not to show to others.

Satisfied, he handed them the tea he had prepared.

"This is a tea to help you sleep. You need to go to bed early tomorrow, so have a cup each and go to sleep. As I said earlier, you don't have to go in today, right?"

"Yes!"

"Still, it's a bit disappointing. I wanted to stay up all night and talk."

"Well, there's nothing we can do. I just stopped by on my way. I'll make time again next time."

The two of them, who were drinking the tea, nodded at his words.

"Really delicious tea."

"But, this isn't just a tea to help you sleep. Yawn... I'm already sleepy."

"That's right. The world... feels so lazy..."

The two of them started dozing off as soon as they put down their cups.

Thud.

In the next moment, the two of them rolled off their chairs and lay flat on the floor.

"Oh, how will you sleep lying on the floor?"

Teacher Louis, sitting in his chair, spoke to the two disciples lying on the floor.

The two disciples, already deeply asleep, did not respond to his words.

He did not move the sleeping disciples to the bed.

"Dealing with kids is really tiring."

He sighed and laid Piar and Mirisa straight on the floor.

Next, he put his hands around their necks and took out the necklaces.

They were simple necklaces with shiny gems embedded in them.

The gems were not large, and the craftsmanship was not complex, just ordinary necklaces.

They seemed like the kind of necklaces that commoners could make as keepsakes.

However, Teacher Louis examined the two necklaces with a serious expression.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the necklaces... What exactly happened at the opening ceremony?"

He put down the necklaces he had been examining and frowned.

"If I had known this would happen, I would have planted a few more at the opening ceremony. Tsk, I thought it was wrong to plant people in a place where they might die, so I removed them, and now this problem has arisen."

He sighed again and shook his head.

"Things have been going wrong for a while now, and it's become a problem for me too. Well, the whole thing went wrong from the start when I decided to use the carefully prepared test subjects as bombs."

Muttering to himself, he looked at the sleeping boy and girl with a slightly apologetic face.

"I have to apologize to you again. I got you involved in this and made you die young."

"My mistake can be forgiven by giving you the ability to become a commoner and enroll in the Royal Academy."

After saying what Piar would have found ridiculous if he had been awake, he grabbed the necklaces with both hands.

Whoosh.

His eyes began to glow, and the necklaces started to shimmer with a low sound.

"Should I leave about 10 hours until the morning class starts...?"

As he muttered, a loud noise reached his ears.

Bang!

The back door on the first floor was smashed.

* * *

I was startled by the energy emanating from the second floor of the shop.

"Mana?"

Was I too careful?

Feeling the mana rising from the second floor, I immediately kicked open the back door and rushed into the house.

"Who are you!"

People ran out from the corridor that led from the back door.

There were three of them. Indeed, no one was sleeping.

Moreover, they were properly armed.

Clearly, this was not an ordinary shop.

"Who would break down the door and rush in if they were going to say who they are!"

I answered the other person's question and swung my sword.

I swung a short dagger in front of the person who was blocking me.

Seeing the sword swing in the air, the bearded man looked bewildered, but his face split in two, spewing blood.

I pushed the falling opponent and continued to run forward.

"Can it be, a sword aura?"

"Damn! Stop him!"

They were clearly not ordinary people. Even though the first one fell with one strike, they still blocked my path.

Their skills seemed to be at the level of a squire or a mid-level mercenary, but their movements and actions were clearly those of a well-trained group.

Damn, I hope I don't end up meeting a tiger while following the tail.

This thought filled my mind, but my body moved according to my experience and training, advancing toward the enemy.

I ducked under the sword swung at me and thrust the mana-infused dagger into the enemy's chest.

The enemy had added a plate to the chest over their leather armor, but the dagger, leaving a red trail, pierced through.

The sword with a rising sword aura pierced through the enemy's chest, breaking through the metal plate and leather.

The last person was holding a crossbow. He was clearly planning to fire it while I was fighting the others.

This clearly showed that they were well-prepared. If my skills were lacking, I might have felt like I was in a trap.

The crossbow moved toward me and the man I had stabbed with the sword.

I did not pull the sword out of the enemy's chest.

Instead, I let go of the sword and kicked the wall to the side, leaping up.

Thud!

The crossbow was fired at the same time. It aimed at the front companion who had the sword stuck in him.

Indeed, they were well-trained. The crossbow pierced through the companion's chest.

If I had spent time pulling out the sword, I might have been hit by the arrow too.

But I was already above the enemy's head. My knee hit the enemy's face.

Crack!

The sound of the skull caving in was heard from my knee.

I immediately moved backward, pulled out the sword, and ran up the stairs to the second floor.

I opened the door of the room where the mana was leaking out.

Piar and Mirisa were lying on the floor, and a man was standing by their heads.

The mana was still moving in the room.

This was the reason I rushed in.

The mana flowing from the necklaces, which were poking out of their clothes, was similar to the mana I had felt at the opening ceremony.

The outstretched hands toward the two lying children and the mana overflowing in the room were the same as the mana that had destroyed the opening ceremony.

This was the reason I did not move after entering the room.

"Who are you?"

The man standing by the two students' heads asked me.

Was he middle-aged or still a young man?

The man with a sharp look on his face frowned at me.

His expression showed that something was bothering him, and he had made a decision, but he did not look anxious.

I countered his question.

"Who are you?"

It was too late to attack.

From his expression, it seemed he had already finished his preparations.

From the shimmering mana, there was no guarantee that the two lying students would not explode if I killed the man immediately.

'Is it finally Plan B? I can only hope that my mental strength has recovered a bit...'

"The people waiting on the first floor were not ordinary either, yet they couldn't stop me for even a moment and I broke through to here. At least knight-level or higher?"

He muttered to himself, not answering my question.

"But, you don't look like an adult at all."

I left him to his muttering. He probably wouldn't answer my question anyway.

Instead, I examined the two lying on the floor.

From their normal breathing, it seemed they were not dead or unconscious but just asleep.

The cups on the table next to them suggested they had probably been given a sleeping potion.

However, there were no signs of resistance or being tied up. It was clear that the two had come here on their own.

So, this man must have some connection with them...

This meant that he was putting them to sleep and doing something with mana.

In the end, it seems Piar and Mirisa were deceived as I had suspected.

But, what kind of connection could it be? I didn't hear about such a person last night.

Well, it's unrealistic to find out such a story in just one night.

And the necklaces around their necks.

From the mana flowing into the necklaces, it was clear that they held some secret.

Were they catalysts or mediators?

I couldn't see anything else.

So, it seemed best to focus on the necklaces.

"Are these necklaces the key to the opening ceremony attack?"

It was a rough guess, but it seemed to hit the mark.

"Is it a knight or a soldier? You came alone, does that make sense? What... necklaces?"

The man, who had been muttering, answered my question.

"Could you be the one who messed up the opening ceremony?"

"It's not me, it's us."

I was alone, but there was no reason to let him think that.

"Hmm, from your correction, it seems you are alone... Tsk, you seem smarter than I thought."

"Then, how did you know these necklaces were the key?"

How did I know?

Because I could clearly see the mana flowing into Piar and Mirisa's necks through the necklaces.

But, only I, with my abnormally developed mana sense, could see this.

"Well, it's a meaningless question if you can't do anything about it. Really, to come in at such a perfect time. I would have liked to fight you properly if it weren't for these kids."

He clicked his tongue, looking at the sleeping children.

I was curious why he wasn't attacking, but it was because of the children.

"Dragging out the time is meaningless. Should I find some meaning in catching the one who messed things up?"

He muttered to himself and started to extend his hands toward the children.

At that moment,

I pushed off from my position.

The face of the approaching man appeared in front of me in an instant.

At the same time, I filled the dagger with mana.

Swish!

A long red mana extended from the dagger.

I swung the sword and cut off his two arms.

Swoosh.

Blood splattered in all directions.

I took one more step between the bleeding arms and thrust the sword into his chest.

Thud.

Red mana burst out from his back.

I did not pull out the sword but turned my body and grabbed and tore off the necklaces around the children's necks.

Mana swirled in all directions.

However, the mana connection between the man and the children remained.

"Cough, it's useless. The moment you entered the house, I changed it so that it would activate the moment the connection was broken or I died."

I clicked my tongue at his mocking words as he spat blood.

"I thought so."

Indeed, it was too late. As I had feared.

"Grk... grk... And you didn't even hit my heart accurately. It's the same either way, but it's a bit disappointing. I was going to leave some mana and make it explode when everyone would be gathered in the morning..."

The sword was still embedded in his chest, a little below the heart.