Chapter 290
'W–What, my Akallion was taken from me?'
The priest was so shocked she nearly fell over.
Divine beasts are the most extraordinary lifeforms in the world, living off morning dew and holiness.
They have an insatiable appetite for their food, "holiness", and, in rare cases, have even been known to be so tempted by another priest's holiness that they attempted to change owners.
That was why there was a running joke that, for Divine Beastology majors, the number one value wasn't their ability to handle divine beasts, nor their skill in caring for them, but the quality of their "delicious holiness".
But she had been keeping Akallion safe in Efnelle, a place reserved only for the elite among elites, and she had thought she would keep him that way.
And now she'd been told he was stolen?
By a necromancer, no less?
"Go!"
At the boy's command, the bear-shaped divine beast Akallion charged toward the priest at terrifying speed.
"Akaaalion! How could you do this to me?!"
The priest cried out in anguish.
Memories flashed before her eyes like a panorama, the first time she fed Akallion, the times they had slept together after he was startled by wild animals, the joy they shared when they first defeated a monster.
'There's no way my Akallion would do that! The opponent's a vile necromancer! He must have been hit by some kind of curse! But… do curses even work on divine beasts? Whatever! I have to defeat that necromancer and take Akallion back!'
Forcing herself to regain composure, the priest quickly stretched out her arm. Even though she had lost her strongest divine beast, she still had two more.
"Block him, Jeki!"
The stone-like divine beast rushed in front of her, crouching into a defensive posture.
Akallion didn't slow down, ramming straight into the stone beast and sending it flying into the air.
"Jekiiii!"
Tears welled in the priest's eyes. With the obstacle removed, Akallion continued his charge, slamming into the priest.
With a scream, she was sent tumbling down a steep cliffside.
—Kiii!
Her last remaining flying-type divine beast dove after her to rescue her from the cliff.
Simon scratched his head, looking somewhat dazed.
'It actually worked.'
Even Ran, the baby white dragon Lete had, followed Simon well, but he had never imagined he could actually command a divine beast belonging to a Divine Beastology major.
Thump, thump.
Just then, Akallion trotted lightly back to Simon.
He even carried the "subspace badge" he had emerged from earlier in his mouth, sat down with his tail wagging as if to say, "Praise me."
"…G–Good job."
Simon gave a wry laugh as he patted Akallion's head. Akallion made a pleased sound.
"Now, want to go back? Your owner's probably really angry."
Simon extinguished the holiness wrapped around Akallion's body and turned his back.
Naturally, Akallion followed him.
"?"
Simon quickened his pace, and Akallion ran on all fours to keep up beside him.
"??"
Blinking, Simon looked down at the beast. Akallion licked Simon's cheek with his tongue, wagging his tail.
"You're… really going to follow me?"
Simon was dumbfounded. The divine beast had no intention of leaving.
'…So this can actually happen.'
He let out a dry chuckle. Honestly, he felt a slight pang of guilt.
Somewhere on that slope, the priest was probably still unconscious. Simon sent her a silent word of consolation.
"…Sorry, but sorry's sorry."
Simon smiled faintly and climbed onto Akallion's back.
"Since it's come to this, I'll be counting on you from now on, Akallion!"
—Wooong! Wooo!
Simon wasn't the type to let guilt cost him an opportunity.
Getting a divine beast during the Neutral Zone dispatch was entirely unexpected, but now he met the conditions to learn Divine Beastology.
Akallion began to run with Simon on his back.
He was worried about the others, and about Sasha.
Riding Akallion swiftly through the forest, Simon soon heard a familiar voice.
"Are you okay? Please, open your eyes!"
It was Maelyn's voice. Simon patted Akallion's back.
"Go toward that voice."
—Wooong! Wooo!
It wasn't long before Akallion reached the source of the sound.
Maelyn was shouting frantically in front of a collapsed girl. That girl was none other than—
"Kami!"
Simon hurriedly dismounted and ran over. Maelyn looked back, saw Akallion, and let out a strange scream, scooting back from her seated position.
"W–What the hell is that?! A monster?!"
"Found it in the forest."
Simon said vaguely, kneeling to check on Kamibarez's condition.
"Kami! Are you okay?"
Her eyelids trembled, and she let out a weak groan before opening her eyes. She looked utterly exhausted and haggard.
The moment she saw Simon's face, she burst into tears.
"…I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!"
"W–What's wrong?"
"I… I couldn't protect Sasha."
From what Kamibarez explained—
She had managed to defeat a female Efnelle student who appeared to be a Defensive Arts major. Since Simon had taken down three on his own, that meant they had, in total, beaten all four Efnelle students in battle.
But—
"A man took Sasha."
"A man?"
Simon recalled the only adult male among the group of female priests he'd seen earlier.
"An adult, with kind of unusual hair? Orange hair…"
"Y–Yes."
After Kamibarez had taken down one priest and was completely drained, the orange-haired man appeared and attacked her.
Apparently, he had been chasing after Dick and Seiyur, then realized they were illusions, turned around, and came straight for Kamibarez.
And he was far stronger than the Efnelle students. Already exhausted, Kamibarez couldn't hold out for long.
"That's when Sasha said this to him."
Kamibarez's voice shook.
"She called him… Godfather."
"!"
Simon's eyes widened.
Sasha was an orphan with no family, but she had once mentioned that her "godfather" would occasionally visit her home.
'So that's him. And he's a priest.'
If it was a godfather rescuing Sasha from being kidnapped by necromancers, that would make sense.
But something about it bothered him. Simon remembered the drugs and syringes he had seen at Sasha's house.
'If that had been the godfather's doing…'
"I saw it."
Kamibarez's voice trembled again.
"Sasha was afraid of him."
"Afraid?"
"Yes, but she still resisted, said she'd stay with me. Then the godfather knocked her out, picked her up, and ran away."
Maelyn scowled.
"Talk later. First, let's get out of this forest. We need to meet up with Dick and Agent Seiyur, hear what they have to say."
Simon nodded in agreement.
By now, night had passed and dawn was breaking.
* * *
Once out of the forest, the three met up safely with Dick and Seiyur.
"Dick! You okay?"
"Yeah, aside from almost dying."
Dick gave a bitter smile. His head and shoulder were wrapped in long bandages.
"Man, that orange-haired guy's strong. I didn't last a minute."
As Simon had guessed, Sasha's godfather had been chasing Dick and Seiyur from the start.
But during the fight, he must have realized the carriage was just Seiyur's illusion, stopped attacking, and turned back in a hurry.
"And here."
Dick gestured toward the ground, "is someone who got hit hard by white magic and lost his mind."
Seiyur lay there, trembling as if having convulsions.
Maelyn pressed her fingers to her forehead in irritation.
"Ugh. Totally useless! If we'd had a proper pro necromancer on our side from the start, this wouldn't have been so easy for them! We beat all the students in the fight! This is so unfair!"
Kamibarez, still on Simon's back, poked her head out with a hollow look.
"S–So… we failed the mission?"
Dick nodded, letting out a low sigh.
"Pretty much. We lost the target, so the disciplinary committee's a given. If we're unlucky, we could even get kicked out of Keyzen."
Tears welled up in Kamibarez's eyes, while Maelyn flung her arms in frustration.
"T–That's not fair! This was that idiot Seiyur's idea, he tricked us into going along with it! He wasn't even our mentor necromancer!"
"Try telling that to the disciplinary committee. But… Keyzen's such a stickler, I'm not sure how it'll go."
"You realize you've been acting all cool while spouting nothing but pessimistic crap? You're seriously annoying."
"You're the one who keeps…!"
Just as the two were about to raise their voices further, Kamibarez lowered her head and said,
"...I'm sorry, everyone. It's my fault."
At that, Dick and Maelyn flinched in surprise and stopped arguing. Then, forcing smiles, they tried to comfort her.
"C–Come on! No way! You said you took down a priest, right? You did your part. You didn't do anything wrong!"
"That's right, that's right!"
Dick gave her a thumbs-up and continued,
"No matter what happens to us, we'll make sure you don't get expelled."
"If I'm going to be left alone, I'll just drop out too! You all have to stay in Keyzen with me!"
After saying that, Kamibarez lowered her head again.
"And Sasha… what's going to happen to her now?"
"..."
No one could answer that question.
A heavy, drooping mood settled over them.
Simon, who had been quietly listening, organized his thoughts and then acted. He carefully set Kamibarez down on the grass from his back, then began searching the clothes of the still-twitching Seiyur.
"Oh."
Simon pulled out a necklace hanging around his neck.
"Dick. Isn't this subspace?"
Dick came over quickly to check.
"Yup, definitely a subspace artifact. Totally old-fashioned!"
"Can you open it?"
"Mm-hm, let me see."
Dick set the necklace down, put on magically-treated glasses from his own subspace, and examined it.
"Wow, this is a completely outdated second-hand subspace! These days, products respond to the user's actions or Darkness, but with an antique like this, I should be able to open it quickly."
"Please do."
Dick pulled out a makeshift table and tools, set the subspace down, and scribbled a few notes.
Before long—
"Got it!"
A small space, just big enough to fit an arm, opened inside the ring's body.
Dick reached in, rummaged around a few times, and then pulled something out.
"It's a communication crystal orb!"
"Really?"
Maelyn jumped in excitement for a moment, but then immediately glared at the still-unconscious Seiyur.
"You said you lost it, and you had it the whole time! You! You! Liar to the very end!"
Dick handed the orb to Simon.
"Only fixed-point communication, but definitely a means to contact headquarters."
"I'll connect right away."
Simon poured mana into the orb to activate it.
There was a vibrating connection tone, and then, after a moment—
—Seiiiiiiyuuuuuur!!!
A deafening male voice blasted through.
Simon winced and held the orb away, while the rest of the team covered their ears.
—Where the hell are you? Where are you right now, you crazy bastard?! Because of you, all of Vengeance is on emergency alert! You @$*%^!!!
The voice was furious beyond question. Simon forced a polite smile and began to explain.
"There's been a misunderstanding. I'm not Seiyur, I—"
—What do you mean you're not?! You really lost it, didn't you?! An unqualified bastard snatching up Keyzen kids to carry out a critical mission? You—&^!@$!!!
There was no sign the man would listen, so consumed was he with rage.
"Let me handle it."
Maelyn took the orb from Simon.
Even as she cleared her throat with a dainty hum, the man's furious swearing continued.
—Didn't I tell you last week? Just do the damn job you're told! I'm so pissed I can't even talk straight, you lunatic son of a—
"Hello! Is this Vengeance headquarters?"
The sudden female voice made the man pause, sounding startled.
—Uh, wh–who is this?
Maelyn smiled brightly and spoke in a crisp, clear voice.
"I'm Maelyn Villene, a first-year student from Keyzen, currently on a dispatch mission with Vengeance!"
There was exactly five seconds of silence.
—Ah, ahhh, ah! M–My deepest apologies! I didn't mean any offense! I don't know how I could possibly make amends to such an esteemed—!
Now came a flood of apologetic words.
Looking smug, Maelyn brought the orb to her lips.
"And who am I speaking to?"
—B–Blark, field operations staff of Vengeance! I was supposed to be the necromancer assigned to you Keyzen students!
"Oh, I see. In that case, I'd like to explain the current situation."
Maelyn laid out everything.
How Seiyur had used illusion magic to forge a letter and trick them into following him, how they'd taken on a mission to secure Sasha, defeated the gang that had kidnapped her and successfully rescued her, only to have Sasha taken again in an attack by Efnelle.
—H–Ha ha, quite a lot happened in such a short time… You've all done a tremendous job. Losing Sasha was entirely our fault. I'll make sure to speak to your school so none of you suffer any consequences.
Maelyn turned to her teammates with a confident nod, then spoke into the orb in a calm voice.
"Mm, thank you. That would be much appreciated."
—We should, of course, come pick you up immediately, but we've had an incident here too, so it'll take some time. Please head into any nearby village for now…
At that point, Simon stepped up and gestured for the orb. Maelyn handed it over without resistance.
"This is Simon Follentia, also a first-year at Keyzen."
Another five seconds of silence passed.
—Ah, aha! Ha ha ha! The special admission number one student! My apologies, truly, please don't tell the Witch of Death—!
"I'm not going to say anything. But I need information on the man who attacked Sasha, the one she called 'godfather'."
—Understood! I'll look into it right away and contact you!
The call ended.
Simon had a specific reason for asking them to investigate the godfather.
He had no intention of leaving a mission he'd been assigned to in such an unsatisfying state.
Of course, beyond any sense of duty to the mission, he also felt personally responsible for Sasha.
[Khhuhuhu! Even if they find the godfather, won't it be beyond what students can handle?]
Feer seemed to be enjoying the tangled situation.
[Boy, I think it's about time you made a decision!]
'…Haaah. Looks like there's no helping it.'
Simon scratched his head and said,
'If it comes to it, and it's beyond a student's abilities, I'll use the Legion Commander's power to resolve it.'
Feer laughed thunderously, as if he had been waiting for those very words.
[Now it's getting interesting! I'll be ready to step in at any time!]