Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Masked Figure (2)

WHOOOSH! CLACK!

The thrown Shadow Spear flew forward with terrifying force, pierced Smiling Mask’s abdomen, and embedded itself in the floor.

“…What is the meaning of this all of a sudden?”

Even with the spear lodged in him, Smiling Mask’s voice did not waver in the slightest.

“What a shame. I threw it to see whether I could kill you.”

My Shadow Spear passed through Smiling Mask’s body without much resistance.

It had not pierced him. 

It had passed through him.

It felt as though I had thrust a spear into empty air.

This was.......

“Was it an illusion?”

That was a phantom image manifested through an artifact as a medium.

The real body of the Smiling Mask must have been somewhere else.

Grrrr.......

Grrk.......

The Corrupted Bodies that had charged at Smiling Mask in perfect order stopped approaching as well and merely scraped their teeth.

It was not because they had disobeyed my command. 

They had simply recognized that the target I had ordered them to attack was an illusion, so the command had failed.

“Our prediction was correct. To think you had formed a contract with the demon who contracted with Student Lucia... with ‘Valak.’”

Smiling Mask’s voice sank low.

“I will ask again. Why did you attack me?”

Smiling Mask had begun to be wary of me, but even that was within my calculations.

“Wouldn’t you be furious if you were me?”

“......?”

“I nearly died after getting caught up in Lucia’s Rampage, and it turns out you were the one who caused it. Do you think I would treat you kindly?”

“Ah... haha......! My, my. I apologize. I was too hasty. Yes, of course. You would hardly be the sort of person to let that pass.”

When I spat out my words with my face twisted fiercely, Smiling Mask returned to his original tension.

It was nice that I had once been a reckless Mad Dog. 

No matter what I did, people accepted it as the behavior of a madman.

-Wow... the way you lie is truly....... wow.......

The real-time admiration I received from a High-Rank Demon was a bonus.

“You have passed the test.”

“Of course.”

“I will contact you separately through the artifact in a few days. Please cool your temper until then. If you continue making such sudden moves, it will cause us a great deal of trouble as well, you know?”

Fsshhhh.......

The brother of Smiling Mask who had thrown me the Pocket Watch gradually began to blur.

“Please take good care of yourself until then.”

What a shame.

Depending on the situation, I had thought of subduing him here, or at the very least, confirming the face beyond that mask.

But since the other side had appeared as an illusion from the very beginning, there was no way for me to use another move.

Still, well, there had been a harvest of sorts.

“Speaking of taking care, can’t you even take care of your mouth properly?”

“Pardon?”

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the Smiling Mask.

“Even considering how big this incident became, you know far too much about Saengterminum’s affairs, and on top of that, you naturally called Lucia a ‘student.’ Aren’t you giving me too many hints?”

Smiling Mask’s movements stopped.

“You are a professor at Saengterminum, aren’t you?”

“…All of a sudden? Aren’t you jumping to conclusions too quickly?”

“Well, I wonder?”

Moreover, since ‘Abyss’ was researching artifacts in Saengterminum’s Research Building, there was a high chance this man was a professor at Saengterminum.

Of course, it was still only a guess, so I had asked in order to probe him.

“Think whatever you like.”

The presence beyond Smiling Mask was not easy to read.

The disguise artifact was one thing, but this guy also seemed fairly skilled at hiding what was inside.

Slide.

Soon, when Smiling Mask’s illusion vanished completely from sight, a string of characters appeared in succession on the Pocket Watch.

[The authentication procedure has been completed.]

[‘Aron Bayonel’ is recognized as the formal owner.]

[Contracted demon: Valak]

[From now on, the characters that appear will be adjusted to be visible only to the owner.]

Really... when I saw things like this, Abyss’s technology was excellent when it came to demons.

The problem was that they were a Demon Order that tried to worship demonic power rather than use it.

In any case, with this, I had succeeded in making contact with Abyss.

They would see me as useful as well, so they would surely contact me in a few days.

-So... those things were involved in Lucia’s Rampage, right?

Valak sent a Thought-Message in a displeased tone.

Since this guy was a demon too, it seemed his mood was not good after learning the inside story of how his plan had gone awry.

-Abyss? What are those bastards?

“You don’t need to know.”

-Tch... so you are keeping it all to yourself again, is that it?

Valak grumbled inside my head.

-But is this the end? You guaranteed that you would give me a price.

“What do you mean there is no price?”

I looked around at the Corrupted Bodies Smiling Mask had created.

“All the Corrupted Bodies here are the price.”

There were many ways to pay a price to a demon.

The most typical method was to offer a sacrifice to the demon.

If that sacrifice was a creature deeply imbued with Demonic Aura, the power of demons, then there was nothing better.

-...They are indeed the best possible price. But you do not have an altar to offer them to me, do you?

“Why wouldn’t I?”

I shook the Pocket Watch.

“You do not know this, but this thing is truly useful for a demon contractor.”

Click.

I opened the lid of the Pocket Watch.

‘Authority Activation.’

Valak’s Authority, Reptile Domination.

‘All of you, become offerings for the price.’

No sooner had I given the order than the Corrupted Bodies’ forms turned into black mud and collapsed. 

Then the black mud split into small lumps and began to enter the inside of the Pocket Watch.

[The price is being paid to Valak.]

This artifact allowed its user to handle a demon’s power more smoothly.

That also included the function of an altar that allowed the user to offer sacrifices directly to the contracted demon.

So to speak, it was a portable altar.

[The price payment has been completed.]

Not long after, once even the last of the mud had been absorbed, I closed the lid of the Pocket Watch.

“What do you think? Useful, isn’t it?”

-Insane.......

“I will keep paying the price like this from now on, so do not even think about refusing to lend me your power and telling me to go to hell.”

After cutting off my connection with Valak, I started walking toward the outside of the Artificial Rift.

Still... to think Abyss had been involved in Lucia’s Rampage.

It seemed Abyss was far more deeply involved in the incidents that had occurred at Saengterminum than I had expected.

Smiling Mask, or rather Abyss, still did not know that I could use Holy Power.

Since they were a Demon Order that served the Seven Deadly Sins, I was also curious how they would react if I said I had contracted with Lucifer, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

‘I have to keep my trump card hidden too.’

Holy Power and Holy Magic.

For now, these were the best variables I had to oppose the Demon Order known as ‘Abyss.’

‘First... should I try talking separately about Holy Power tomorrow?’

Tomorrow was a holiday anyway. 

I would have time to meet Yulia or Viole separately.

My Mid-Rank Holy Magic Understanding had also risen quite a bit compared to before, so if I asked directly, I should be able to hear better advice.

***

I had stepped outside the Artificial Rift while drawing such ambitious plans.

“You have to take responsibility.”

“Hmm.......”

Before long, I ended up frowning and rubbing the back of my neck.

It was because, as soon as I came out of the Artificial Rift, one person who had been waiting for me blocked my path.

An elf with striking bronze skin and silver hair.

A Grade 2 Dark Elf in her first year at the Magic Department, Karin.

“Because of you, I couldn’t get my equipment repaired on time.”

“Why is that because of me......?”

Just as I was about to ask back, I recalled what Jaeger had said.

‘Of course. It was a bit troublesome because I had to postpone the commissions I had already accepted.’

Apparently, one of the commissions Jaeger had postponed had been Karin’s weapon repair.

“It seems you had entrusted the repair to Jaeger. Then can’t you just leave it with another blacksmith?”

“Do you think I didn’t look? I asked everyone, and they all flatly told me they couldn’t repair it within three days.”

“Don’t tell me... your main weapon broke? The bow you used in the Joint Class?”

Karin’s eyes widened.

“How did you know that right away?”

“I have learned a bit of weapon arts. I know a little about weapons too.”

Of course I knew. 

You were one of the talented people who would have to suffer later as well.

I remembered a certain amount of personal information about the talented students among those currently enrolled.

“It was a ‘dual weapon,’ wasn’t it? If it is not a Jaeger, repairing that would take a long time.”

Karin mainly used a bow, but in truth, that weapon was both a bow and a staff.

The Mana Stones attached to both ends of the bow supplemented the power of Wind Magic.

That was also why she had been able to rain down Mana Arrows during the last Joint Class.

Now that her main weapon was damaged, her grade would drop one level from Grade 2... to around Grade 3, perhaps?

“Can’t you just repair it later? What is the rush?”

“The Magic Department has a team tournament starting on weekdays next week, you know?”

“Uh... is that so?”

I did not know that.

Since I had been a Black Magic Department student before my Return to the Past, I did not know the schedules of other departments by heart.

Tsk... in the previous round, she must have repaired her weapon in time for the schedule.

It seemed the future had changed again because of me.

“Including me from the Magic Department, there are three people in total. They said two of us have to bring first-year students from other departments and form a team.”

“So you want to team up with me?”

“Yeah. My main weapon is broken... so I wanted to bring teammates with decent grades, at least.”

“I am not particularly interested.”

At my indifferent answer, Karin sent me a pleading look.

“Come on, don’t be like that. You are Grade 3. They said that if we get a good ranking, it will count a lot toward credits too.......”

“I do bear some responsibility, but isn’t it more your fault for not checking properly? And your main weapon, at that. Do you have any sense?”

“No, that is true, but.......”

Karin seemed about to say something, but perhaps thinking it would sound like an excuse, she soon closed her mouth.

“Tch, what a personality……. This is why you got rejected after confessing. If you speak that harshly, who would like you?”

“What does that have to do with this, exactly?”

At my attitude of treating it like someone else’s problem, Karin’s mood turned gloomy, but I wondered whether I truly needed to help her.

I had not come back to Saengterminum just to get better grades than before.

On top of that, I already felt uneasy after learning that Abyss was making artifacts at Saengterminum.......

“…Hm?”

Wait a moment.

The Magic Department? 

A tournament?

“Karin, you are in the ‘Magic Department,’ right?”

“Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

“About your Magic Department. As far as I know, there are quite a few professors who research artifacts.”

Karin tilted her head at the abrupt change of topic, but soon nodded.

“There are a lot. Artifacts have magical effects to begin with, after all. I heard that most artifact research passes through the ‘Magic Department.’”

Even if it was a tournament held by the Magic Department, it would involve students from other departments as well, so it would likely be conducted on a fairly large scale.

In other words, what did that mean?

It meant that if someone achieved good results there, rewards would follow from the Magic Department accordingly.

“Do you know whether they give anything besides credits if you place high in the tournament?”

“They do, but... I doubt it will be a reward you or other department students would like.”

Perhaps convinced that I would not join her team, Karin let out a deep sigh and continued.

“You receive the right to view a Magic Department professor’s high-rank research records for one day.......”

“What should we name our team?”

The answer burst out of my mouth before Karin had even finished speaking.