Chapter 296
The outskirts of Kelso.
Here, the sight of the barrier collapsing was even clearer. The massive, grand wall shattering and falling like a windowpane was a rare spectacle to behold.
And there was a girl watching that sight with an expressionless face.
Wearing a black robe over a white school uniform, with her hands stuffed into her pockets, her eyes carried various emotions.
"...S-Sister Lete."
Next to her was her dormitory roommate, Lilinet.
She, too, was wearing a brown robe, and after glancing nervously at Lete, she cautiously spoke.
"Um, is this really the right thing to do? Letting the Saint die."
"I don't know if it's the right thing, but it is the just thing."
Lete replied cynically.
"A Saint made with drugs? Ha! There's no way Efnelle would recognize something that filthy."
"B-But, seeing as they sent Paladins, maybe they did recognize her to some extent."
"...."
At Lilinet's rebuttal, Lete was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Then I'll be honest."
"?"
Lete brushed her white hair back behind her ear.
"To be honest, no matter what anyone says, I'm the most likely Saint candidate on this continent. If it's a matter of losing the chance to some weird fake Saint, I'd rather outright sabotage her. Satisfied?"
"...I don't think that's all there is to it though."
At Lilinet's timid counter, flames seemed to blaze in Lete's eyes.
"Oh, then what! I'm saying it is, so what do you mean it's not?!"
"That blue-haired boy from Keyzen."
Lete froze.
"Wasn't this actually for him? When he said he was going to Kelso, you reacted lightning-fast and even stopped the Paladins."
Lilinet's voice turned conspiratorial.
"And that letter you got back at the dorm from a boy, wasn't it from that Keyzen boy?"
"...Honestly."
Lete gave a short, bitter laugh.
"Lilinet, your thoughts always go straight to 'that side', and that's the problem."
"A-Are you denying it?"
"Here—look at my face."
Lete faced her.
"Tell me why I would go so far to help a Necromancer."
"...."
Lilinet quietly pictured Simon's face in her mind.
Sure, he was a necromancer, but he was quite handsome.
"As I thought, you li—!"
"I'm warning you, think before you speak."
Lete growled, cutting her off before she could finish, and Lilinet instantly fell silent.
Lete stepped closer, thrusting her face right up to Lilinet's.
"You're my roommate, right? Then tell me, do I look like the kind of person who'd fall head over heels for some guy?"
"...."
Lilinet thought back to every time Lete had been with a man.
Lete with men.
Scenes of Lete with men.
Beating them, kicking them, beating them, smashing their heads into walls, beating them, kicking them, beating them, kicking them.
'Yikes.'
No matter how she thought about it, only violent images came to mind. This woman was definitely...
"I-I misspoke!"
She was utterly, hilariously far from romance!
Once Lilinet admitted this and apologized, Lete finally turned her back calmly.
"As long as you understand. Let's go, Lilinet."
"Yes! Sister!"
Lilinet returned to her usual bright voice and clung to her arm.
"Heheh! Of course, of course! There's no way Sister Lete would do that! You're the type who just sees men as perfect punching bags!"
"...Don't slip in insults."
"Yes~"
Anyway, this town had too many necromancers to be safe. Just as the two were walking out of the village—
Step.
Coming from the opposite direction was a man in a white robe, the opposite of Lete's black robe.
Step.
The two brushed past each other, black and white robes brushing in passing.
"!"
Lete stopped and turned her head.
"Wait, Si—"
However—
"Look, Simon!"
"Hey! You haven't seen someone wearing the same color as darkness, have you?"
Around the boy were people.
Friends his own age, chattering noisily.
"Sister Lete!"
At the suddenly loud voice, she quickly turned back. Lilinet was looking at her with a sulky expression.
"How many times do I have to call you before you listen!"
"Ah, um, sorry."
"I said let's buy some food from over there! Hurry!"
Lete forced a smile.
"...Alright, let's go."
Replying thus, Lete glanced back once more.
The man in the white robe had already vanished like a painting fading away.
* * *
Simon returned safely to his teammates after switching places with Erzebet. In the meantime, the situation was quickly being brought under control.
Sasha had been moved straight to the treatment center, and for more detailed examinations, was to be teleported to the Dark Alliance. Though she still hadn't regained consciousness, thankfully her life wasn't in danger.
A group of vigilantes from the Neutral Zone arrived one after another, assessed the situation, and collected the bodies.
And news spread that a Priest named Figaro, who had been after the Saint's power, had trapped the residents in a barrier and massacred them. The entire Neutral Zone was outraged, and hostility toward Efnelle rose sharply.
Efnelle's reaction was one of slight bewilderment.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the Paladin group headed toward Figaro had been ambushed and neutralized by Lete, so Efnelle was able to completely deny any connection between themselves and Figaro.
They officially explained that they had never recognized him as a Saint, and that it was an act of terrorism committed by Figaro alone.
Keyzen, too, dispatched Crows to Vengeance to assess the situation.
Team 7 was also subjected to several interrogations. At headquarters, there was debate over whether Simon and Team 7's mission should be considered a success, or a failure.
At such a time, the ones who unexpectedly stepped forward to defend the students were none other than Vengeance and Agent Blark.
—The students are not at fault, it was entirely our, Vengeance's, oversight.
They explained that, from the start, Figaro—the one who had abducted Sasha—was at least a 3rd Rank Necromancer-level powerhouse, so it was only natural the students couldn't have stopped him, and that had proper staff management been done and a proper mentor assigned, the results would have been different.
Keyzen headquarters acknowledged this, and in the end, only Vengeance was to be disciplined.
"I-I'm sorry. Because of us…..."
When Kamibarez and the students expressed their regret, Blark reassured them that it truly was their own fault, and that because of all the work they'd done for the Neutral Zone, the organization wouldn't be dissolved.
And as for Seiyur, who had become a target of punishment by both Vengeance and the Dark Alliance, he was summoned to the Alliance.
The students were cleared of all responsibility for the Kelso incident, but it was decided they would take on one more mission to fill in the mission quota.
This time, however, they would properly carry out the mission with Agent Blark, who had originally been their mentor.
"Our mission is to wipe out the Sentinel Gang. It's infuriating enough that they took a commission from Efnelle, so we'll take this opportunity to uproot them entirely."
Even though they had to take on an additional mission, the members of Team 7 were in good spirits.
After all, having gone through that man Seiyur, working with their original mentor Blark was an entirely different level of comfort.
Blark was a legendary figure in the industry, someone who had the Neutral Zone firmly under his control, and a necromancer representing Vengeance.
But more than the students being moved by the change of mentors—
"Agent! Have this~"
"H-Huh?"
—it was Blark who was moved even more.
"Don't tell me, you're thinking of me too? Th-Thank you. Really, thank you!"
Blark had been suffering from a severe case of "modern youth phobia". When he heard students from Keyzen were coming, he couldn't sleep properly for days, and after the Seiyur incident, he became even more wary of their eyes.
But when he actually interacted with them, they were nothing like the rumors. There weren't any other kids as kind and bright as these.
"So! So what happened after that? Please tell us more!"
Especially when Blark told them about past events in the Neutral Zone, the students' eyes lit up and they begged him to keep talking all night.
"Are you really that curious? It's just an old story…..."
"Yes! Hurry!"
Unlike with Seiyur, Blark's stories were from genuine, vivid experience, so the students' attitude toward listening was completely different. Unaware of this background, Blark was dumbfounded by their reactions.
And so, living alongside Team 7's students, Blark was overcoming his youth phobia and generational gap in real time.
* * *
Sentinel.
The underground headquarters hideout.
"Ughhh…..."
The "slicked-back boss" of the Sentinel Gang, who had orchestrated Sasha's kidnapping, was sprawled in a chair groaning.
"Never thought I'd end up in jail in my lifetime."
Beaten by Keyzen's little necromancers and handed over to the Neutral Zone vigilantes, he had been freed after his underlings paid an enormous bail.
Thud!
"Boss! Big trouble!"
A gang member burst in, shouting, and the boss scowled sharply.
"What now? My head's pounding."
"N-Necromancers are...!"
Wham!
The gang member rolled his eyes white and collapsed. Behind him, a girl with sky-blue hair walked in with a pretty, smiling face.
"Hello? We meet again, mister."
The slicked-back boss shot up as if he had seen a ghost.
"You're that...! The necromancer girl from Keyzen!"
The gang members who had stood up pulled out knives with threatening expressions.
Maelyn calmly activated a prepared magic circle, sending it floating up to the ceiling.
From the ceiling, ice spikes shot in every direction. The charging gang members were struck and either went down on the spot or rolled across the floor.
Sssssss!
This time, green poison began to spread through the basement.
"Hahaha! Poison gas incoming!"
Dick and Kamibarez also entered the fray.
Dick hurled enchanted nets and scattered sticky poison on the floor, while Kamibarez fired Bloodshots in rapid succession, occasionally showing off surprisingly effective martial arts despite her small frame.
Especially since this hideout was underground and cramped, once the poison gas spread, dozens of gang members collapsed in an instant.
Meanwhile, those boys and girls moved perfectly fine through the poison without even wearing masks or other gear.
"Damn it! H-How did you get here?!"
The slicked-back boss' face stiffened as he hid behind a sofa.
"Where's everyone who unleashed their Cores?!"
"They're with Agent Blark."
At the sudden voice from behind, the boss' heart sank as he turned around.
Walking toward him was the very blue-haired boy who had captured him, the one who had appeared in his nightmares ever since that day.
"By now they're all taken down. Agent Blark is a 3rd Rank powerhouse, after all."
"Grr, you bastard!"
The boss gripped his sword with a grim expression.
"Oh, and you getting out by bribing the vigilantes? That was my idea."
Simon smiled.
"Had to find your main base."
"You little…!!"
The boss charged with his sword, but was immediately kicked by Simon and sent tumbling to the floor.
"Threatening residents, extorting fees—let's put an end to these bad deeds now."
Simon climbed on top of him and cuffed his wrists as he spoke.
The Sentinel Gang, which had endured for a full 20 years, collapsed in a single night.