The morning began to break.
Maylin, lying under Simon's robe, let out a soft groan as she raised her upper body.
After a moment of daze, she quickly scanned her surroundings. "...... Simon?" But Simon was nowhere to be found.
The remnants of a small fire and scattered fruits were all that remained.
Next to the skewers that could be roasted right away, there was a note from Simon. <Sorry, I have personal matters to attend to, so I’ll leave first.> Upon reading the note, her expression turned sour. "...... What? I wasn’t planning on teaming up with you anyway."
She muttered to herself, pouting her lips as she rekindled the flames of the campfire. 'Be careful, Simon.'
"Damn! Damn! Damn!" At the same time, Haren Cock and his team members were scouring the jungle. 'Where the hell did that guy go?' Haren, who had spotted Simon crossing the bridge into Keras Island, immediately chased after him.
However, the dense jungle and monster attacks hindered him, and he ultimately lost track of Simon.
It was not a good situation.
He had been fortunate enough to receive an opportunity from 'that person,' but at this rate, he might have to return to Kizen without accomplishing anything. 'Tsk.' Haren fiddled with the feathers in his pocket.
He had already used two out of the five feathers.
Frustrated, he scratched his head and turned around.
"Hey, what are you doing? Look harder, you idiot!" "Yeah! Yeah! I’ll look harder!" The male student, pretending to sniff the ground, couldn’t even meet Haren’s gaze.
The other team members watching this were quite bewildered. '......
Why is Malcolm being pushed around by that loser?' The student sniffing the ground was none other than Special Case No. 10. Malcolm Randolph, who had fought evenly with Hector.
All the team members here had followed Malcolm.
Haren was one of the students who had latched on to Malcolm’s strength and power.
But at some point, the master-servant relationship seemed to have flipped.
Haren wasn’t even leading the team; he was just wandering around the forest, insisting on finding Special Case No. 1, Simon Polentia.
"Wait a minute, Haren."
A female student, unable to hold back, approached Haren.
"How long are we going to keep wandering around? Today is already the third day. If we don’t make it to the mansion soon, it’ll be dangerous. The entire central island will soon become a battlefield!" Haren picked at his ear.
"You’ve been blabbering since earlier. If you’re so upset, why don’t you just leave my team?" "Your team? Since when has this been your team? The leader of this team is Malcolm!" "Oh, is that so?" Malcolm turned around with a crooked smile.
"What do you think, Malcolm?" As soon as Haren asked, thud! Malcolm slammed his forehead into the dirt, sticking his butt up in the air.
"Of course, you’re the leader! Haren! You’re the only leader!" "Ahahaha!" The female student bit her lip at Malcolm’s unusual behavior. 'No matter how I think about it, this is strange.' Her name was Amelie.
She was in the same M class as Malcolm and was also a team member.
It was unimaginable for the prideful and competitive Malcolm to act like this.
"Honestly, what did you do to Malcolm?" At Amelie’s question, Haren shrugged.
"What nonsense are you talking about? He’s the one acting like this because he likes me."
"Don’t lie!" She activated her core and spread her palm.
A magic circle quickly formed on Amelie’s palm.
"Turn Malcolm back to normal right now!" "A-are you kidding me?" Haren chuckled.
"Hey, think about it logically. Is there such a black magic that can force someone into submission? Well, there might be. But can a first-year like us use such powerful mental black magic?" "......"
Not just Amelie, but everyone present couldn’t refute Haren’s words.
All the speculations about some trick or having found a weakness were just guesses.
What was most frustrating was that Malcolm himself hadn’t provided any explanation. 'But that girl.
It’s annoying how she keeps following me around.' Haren smirked and said to Amelie, "Alright, fine. I’ll give you a hint." "......?" "But you can’t tell the others, okay? Come closer."
As Haren gestured, she looked at him with a wary gaze.
"Amelie! Don’t go!" A male student standing behind Amelie spoke up.
"I don’t know what it is, but Malcolm is finished. It would be better to distance yourself from these guys now...."
"No, I’m going."
Amelie strode toward Haren.
She needed to know the identity of the curse placed on Malcolm.
If that power could be used on herself, even better.
Amelie was one of the rare necromancers who was less susceptible to curses.
If a curse was placed on her, she could analyze it based on that.
Besides, she had five companions behind her.
As Amelie approached Haren, he grinned mischievously.
"Come closer. You can’t let the others hear." "......."
Though frustration boiled over, she had to endure it to save Malcolm.
Amelie squeezed her eyes shut and stepped forward.
At that moment, Haren grabbed her shoulder.
"Eek!" "Amelie!" The male student watching immediately drew his black sword.
But nothing serious happened.
Haren merely whispered a few words in her ear, and she nodded and stepped back.
"Haaah— I’m bored."
Haren yawned and looked at her.
"Hey, girl. Sit like a dog." "......!!" At those words, the surrounding team members looked furious.
"You bastard! You’ve crossed the line......!" However, Amelie actually squatted down and stuck her tongue out like a dog.
Everyone’s expression turned pale.
"What? She’s doing what I told her to do."
Haren shrugged and chuckled.
"Now, try dancing next."
"Amelie! Don’t do it!" As Amelie really tried to get up and dance, one team member grabbed her tightly from behind.
"What’s going on all of a sudden! Please come to your senses!" "Hahahahahaha!" Haren laughed, holding his stomach.
"This is a real comedy! So funny!" "Haren!" Finally, unable to hold back, a male student charged at Haren with his black sword.
Thud! A stick that flew from the side smashed into the male student’s face, sending him flying.
The other students stepped back with tense expressions.
"Oops, did I forget someone was next to me?" Haren said, and beside him, Malcolm was taking a combat stance, wielding a stick with a fierce aura.
"Tsk, these guys are a waste of feathers. They don’t look like they’ll listen."
Haren gestured.
"Just take care of them, Malcolm."
At those words, Malcolm charged like a demon.
It didn’t take long for the remaining students to fall to the ground.
At the same time, Simon returned to the very spot where he had fought Maylin, searching for clues.
However, he struggled to find any hints. 'Why did Big Kroom appear at that moment?' Simon recalled the battle with Maylin.
Was it the noise from the fierce fight that triggered it? But thinking that way, the entire island was in battle.
Was it just sensitive to fire? That seemed a bit vague too. 'Pier.
Do you remember anything?' [.......] Pier, who loved to chatter, had been unusually quiet since meeting Big Kroom.
"Is something wrong?" [Hmm.
No, it’s nothing.
If I had to say, the biggest reason Big Kroom grows is anger.
In other words.] 'Are you saying it might have hostility towards me?' Simon crossed his arms.
If that were the case, it might be similar to Erzevet, who held a grudge against the legion.
But thinking that way didn’t quite add up.
Big Kroom was extremely loyal to the legion, to the point of sacrificing itself. [But, you know.] Pier’s clone spoke up. [I should go out of the void and check to be sure, but definitely, the atmosphere of that guy was a bit different from the Big Kroom I knew.] 'Hmm.' [You should be careful, boy.
I have a bad feeling about this.] 'Yes.
For now, let’s head to the center and search thoroughly.' Simon moved forward without hesitation.
As he approached the center, the frequency of monster appearances decreased, while traces of Kizen students became more frequent.
Now it was the third day.
With all students having high Tengpad points, capturing fellow students would yield greater results than hunting ordinary monsters.
Simon stopped in his tracks.
At some point, the surrounding sounds had quieted down.
With a tense expression, Simon looked around and spotted someone hiding behind a tree. '......
What is that?' A hand was visible behind the tree, clutching it tightly.
If that was the case, why were they hiding? "If you have business, come out."
At that, the person hiding behind the tree revealed themselves. "......!" Simon’s face turned pale, almost white.
Though wearing a Kizen uniform, it was a face that should not be here, no, a face that shouldn’t appear at all.
"Why are you...... here?" The expelled student he had met on a mission, Ellen Zile.
She waved her hand and smiled.
As Simon took a step closer, she quickly turned and fled into the forest.
"Wait!" Simon hurriedly followed her.
Panting, he chased her deep into the woods, where Ellen was crouched, looking at a flower blooming on the ground.
As Simon approached, she smiled sweetly and ran away again. 'Who’s playing this kind of prank!' His head spun.
He could tell at a glance that it wasn’t the real Ellen, but he couldn’t help but chase after her.
Ellen Zile had climbed trees and danced like a ballerina.
She even clasped her hands together in prayer.
No matter how fast Simon ran, he couldn’t catch up to her.
Finally, "Huff! Huff!" he reached an open space in the forest. "......!" What lay before him was a tragedy.
Nearly twenty Kizen students were crawling on the ground, screaming in agony.
"S-save me......!" Crack! A spear, as red as blood, fell from the tree and pierced a student’s body.
He screamed as if truly impaled and then slumped down.
Soon, forced teleportation occurred, leaving only a mass of magical energy spat out by Tengpad.
Thud! Crack! Thud! Thud! Hellish scenes unfolded everywhere.
The screams harmonized in the air.
Nearly twenty students were falling without being able to defend themselves.
One by one, the students disappeared, leaving only the magical energy left by Tengpad.
"Stop! Stop it!" One student shouted at the sky.
"Why are you doing this to us! What did we do wrong to deserve this!" At that moment, his body was caught by solid chains and fixed in place.
The frame was a bloodied cross.
During the Hundred Years War, Erzevet would capture necromancers and hang them on a red cross to kill them.
The symbol of death.
The cross rose into the sky, and sharp spears waiting in the air thrust down at its end.
The student, terrified, cried out, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"Noooooo!" Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! The spears pierced him countless times, and his body went limp.
The barrier of the protective suit disappeared, and forced teleportation began.
In the last moment, Simon saw a feather fly and touch his forehead.
On the ground, the remaining students were still struggling.
Then they were caught by chains and bound to a massive guillotine.
"Stop! Stop! Please!" "I’ll do anything! Save me......!" The guillotine came down mercilessly, and they fell silent. "......."
Simon watched the scene with a cold expression.
Then he looked up.
There was someone sitting comfortably on a tree, enjoying this spectacle like a show.
The shadow was so dark that only a silhouette was visible.
"Everyone is being overly dramatic."
A voice like a child’s echoed from the darkness.
"Even with protective suits on, it’s not like you’re really going to die. When you return, your memories will be wiped clean." "......."
Simon clenched his fists.
"What’s the reason for this?" From the darkness, a girl with ivory hair smiled chillingly. "...... For fun?"