Chapter 13 If You Do It, They Will Do It Back

 

“Ada. Are you really going to do it? Without Master Vince’s permission?”

“You can leave if you don’t want to, okay? …… Just don’t you want to know? The end of the string attached to our backs. Master Vince stubbornly refuses to reveal our “protector”. But if we know the identity of our protector, we can find out the true meaning of humans. It is possible that even Master Vince is being deceived. …… We all know how cunning humans are, don’t we?”

Those who gathered at the call of Ada. In the dimly lit hut, six shadows swayed in the dim light.

These women are those who are in communication with the open war faction on the demon territory’s mainland. They are reconciled demons who do not approve of living under the protection of humans.

They certainly have respect for their chief, Vince. At the same time, they also have doubts.

Why do they not reveal their “protector” who is a collaborator of humans even to their own people?

Why do they turn away messengers without even listening to the arguments of the demons of their own country?

Why did they take the path of blending in with human society and hiding their demonic identity?

Even with these questions in mind, Ada, as the leader of the young people, has had words with Vince. Unfortunately, those words have so far neither captured nor moved Vince.

At that time, a humans, who seems to be related to the “protector,” appears.

Ada’s gloomy call was answered by a group of young people who were still very young.

They lacked patience. They were also growing up with the amount of mana they had, as if they were the aristocrats of the human tribe.

They have a lot of mana. We must be vigilant.

Low mana. They are just like the others.

It was like the reaction of an infant.

And what motivates these women is the most important question that they most want an answer to.

Why should we, the strong demon tribe, obey the weak humans?

(Once we have captured those involved with the “protector”, Master Vince will listen to our arguments. If …… It comes down to it, we can kill that Human and make sure there is no turning back. ……)

Ada is unaware of her own shortcomings.

Do you think you can do something about humans with that level of thinking and impulsive action?

If Vince were here, he would have admonished her to do so. He would never have reached Ada and the others now at …….

They had already investigated a man they believed to be related to the “protector.

A man called Al.

He has been in contact with Master Vince for several days.

He is already in the dormitory of the institute and is a student of the institute.

The amount of mana is very small. If anything, he is no different from an ordinary human. It is doubtful if he really belongs to the nobility.

“…… That man may be pretending to be a nobleman in order to get close to Master Vince.” The “protector” may be using a non-aristocrat to get to Master Vince. …… Or he may be using that man as bait to get to his real target.”

“If he’s a decoy, wouldn’t we get more information out of him if we caught him?”

“…… Even so, Master Vince will know we mean well…. He will listen to us more than before. And even if he is a decoy, he may have some information. If we torture them, they will talk about it to spare their lives. The …… humans are such vile people that they would give up their pride for the sake of self-preservation.”

Mana dwells in Ada’s eyes.

……

…………

………………

Al has not visited Vince since then. He had been spending every day in the main hall, explaining to Vince that he was going to see someone he knew who might be going through the admission and dormitory procedures.

(But I’m bored. …… Most of the people who arrive during the busy season are frontier aristocratic families, which is good because it confirms that many of them are reasonably competent, but …… There aren’t many people who seem to be important characters in any way. I feel like it. I guess the main characters are from aristocratic families on the frontier, so the other characters are mostly from aristocratic families in the capital or mages from the commoner’s background as a contrast? …… Come to think of it, were there a few major characters from the frontier? …… huh. I’m talking about a game I played over thirty years ago in my body. I don’t remember all the details…… I wrote some of it down, but I’m not even sure if it’s right in the first place…… And it doesn’t seem to be completely the same as the game either. I guess the game knowledge is just for reference. As long as I can survive the war with the demons, I’ll be fine. ……)

The main hall is an atrium structure, and there is a café space on the second floor. Although it is nominally a space for self-study, there are almost no students who study here. Al occupies one of the seats and observes the first floor bustling with people going through procedures.

His appearance has already been marked by academy officials, who treat him as suspicious, but he doesn’t mind.

For the past few days, he spends his days going back and forth between the dormitory and the main hall.

Since the crowds are only from morning to early afternoon, Al’s day’s work is over a little after noon.

He sometimes thinks about stopping by Vince’s hut on his way home, but he is too tired to just sit and observe people, so he often goes straight back to the dormitory to rest.

(Waiting for the demons to get trapped…… Or something like that, it wouldn’t have been that hard to lurk for a few days. …… but still the crowds are mind-numbing to look at……..)

Al recalls more and more of his days in Falconer territory. He is already aware of it. He feels homesick. In other words, he clearly recognizes Falconer as his home.

(War with the demon tribe? I’m not particularly worried about the Falconer family members, but when the framework of the …… The country is in shambles; it is the people who will suffer the aggravation. If the people are in trouble, the territory will be in trouble. …… is right. If my actions can alleviate some damage to the war, so be it. A perfect score of 100 is impossible anyway. …… I can’t do it if I don’t think that way.)

I comforted myself, inspired myself, and dragged my tired heart back to the dormitory today.

And then, three shadows follow Al’s figure.

……

…………

The academy’s grounds are large.

Although important facilities and areas are heavily watched, not all of the vast grounds are so. In fact, it is easy to enter the premises.

Paths for walking and horse-drawn carriages are provided for each, and higher grade dormitories offer services such as horse-drawn carriages for individual transportation to regular services that travel between the campus and the dormitories.

Of course, there are no such services in the dormitories, which are usually free once you are officially enrolled in a grade …… institute. However, it seems that they will provide such services if you pay an additional fee.

Al walks along such a road in silence.

(There are four days left until the deadline for the procedure. Even though it’s crowded, it seems to have calmed down by now. …… Maybe it wasn’t this term? Well, that’s quite possible. If it was the same as my admission, I would feel a fate after all these years. In the first place, am I here because this world wants something from me? With this half-baked knowledge of the game from my previous life? If it is the will of the goddess Elinora, I hope she will respond. …… Maybe I should go and visit the cathedral once? I guess it’s the same in this world to ask for help from God in times of trouble. …… Is just an escape from reality, then, isn’t it?

Huh,…… if the main characters don’t enroll in the school this term, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to spot the places and people where the events of the academy are likely to happen first,…… On the other hand, I can think of it as a blessing and a freedom….)

I walk along the well-maintained road, mulling over my thoughts.

It was after noon and still early in the evening.

Although the sun is still bright, there are many natural areas for training, such as those for battles against demons in this institute. The school is well-maintained, but the visibility is poor and the sun is blocked by trees, making it dim……. convenient for raids and kidnapping,…… Such places are also scattered throughout the academy’s grounds.

“…… hey, you there,…….”

A shadow quickly blocks Al’s direction of travel. At …… At the same time, two shadows appear from behind..

Two bursting sounds could be heard.

Immediately, the shadows behind them fell. For some reason, the two shadows were missing their heads, which should have been there just a moment ago.

“…… e…… a……? ……wh……!”

Rather than stop walking, Al steps in at once, crushing the distance, and strikes the shadow that was standing in the direction of his progress, which was still standing on a stick.

The shadow collapses vertically.

“…………”

Al thinks.

This is why the aristocracy in the capital is so feckless, he said.

“…… What is it with these guys? They set up a lousy tail all the way from the main hall and have no tricks or tricks up their sleeves? I let one of them live. ……I took it pretty easy on you, but was this still strong enough? Why would you lose your consciousness with a palm strike of this magnitude? You’re too soft. …… You should at least strengthen your body before calling out to people. No, why call out to them in the first place? This is no different than a non-mage thug on a back street.”

Al is unaware.

They are the ones associated with the …… Demon tribe that he had been searching endlessly around the academy grounds the other day.

：－：－：－：－：－：－：－：

“…… Old Man Vince. Ada and her friends have made a fool of themselves: ……”

Gardener’s compound.

Vince is sitting on the sofa in the living room, papers lined up on the table, doing some sort of checking when a report comes in. It is not a pleasant report.

“…… have you finally wadded up to sell yourself to the open war faction ……?”

The time has finally come. It has come,…… And Vince spits out the words with resignation.

But what came back was completely unexpected.

“…… No, no. They planned an attack on that boy, Al, who has been in and out of the house for some time now. It was put into action today and seems to be already in motion. Ila has informed me at this time.”

“…… huh! …… what the hell is ……?”

Why are they attacking Mister Al?

Vince doesn’t understand what it means. It still seems more realistic to have an altercation with the open war faction.

“So, what’s going on with Mister Al?”

“…… and I couldn’t believe it …… when I rushed over.”

“…… was he dead ……?”

How dare you! …… Vince thinks.

Mister Al is a member of the nobility. He was a frontiersman, and perhaps he was under a secret mission. We are the demon tribe, and we would never harm such a person. ……

“No, no! Old Vince! No, no, no! It was Bert and Bella who were dead! Ah …… those we think are Bert and Bella. ……!”

“…… what? “Oh, you think they’re the ones ……?”

“Yes, sir. The two bodies were missing their ……, well, their ……, their heads, possibly because they were both hit by a magical blow at the same time,…..I think it was an instant death. ……”

Again, Vince is not sure what it means.

It is true that those two were strongly inspired by Ada and were in the open war faction. Although they were mentally unsteady and immature, as “warriors” they were second only to Ada among the younger members of the group.

How could these two fall to their deaths without being able to …… Defend themselves at the same time? And that, too, with enough magic to blow his head off? If the power was that high, there must have been a certain amount of “timing” involved. What were the two of them doing? Were you leisurely just waiting for your opponent to finish his magic? Impossible.

Vince described Al as “a warrior that not even Ada could match,” but the truth is that he also had a contempt for humans.

That said, he believed that if they actually fought, Ada would win.

Such favoritism toward one’s own people and pride that one’s own people are demons. Arrogance.

“So, and then ……? What about the others involved in this raid? Ada, Bert and Bella. …… Ho, who else?”

“……In examining the scene, we can see that Bert, Bella, and Ben were the three people who directly attacked Mister Al. Three twisted fingers and bloodstains were found at the …… scene of Ben’s …… attack, which we believe belonged to Ben. …… alive or dead, but we hope they are safe and sound. ……”

For once again, Vince surprised.

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that the two are not only in the same boat, but also in the same boat together. What is Ila saying?

“I don’t think Ila has been told what is going to happen next. …… Perhaps the plan was to kidnap Mister Al and use that to force old Vince to set up a meeting with the open warring factions. ……”

“…… So, Ada and the others were going to kidnap Al in a …… raid and negotiate with me in exchange for his safety? Well, then! You mean that Mister Al is on his way to those kids!”

Ben’s finger. Sole is at the scene. A fearless but simple deduction.

The torture of twisting off Ben’s finger. As a result, Al found out where to meet Ada and the others.

“Come on, let’s go find them! Ada and the others!”

Come on. Hurry, or the madman will come.