Chapter 49 – Peaceful Midterm Week (6)

The streets were quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the clanking of metal coming from the two dogs following behind.

“Did you refuse to borrow books?”

Surprisingly, it was Liv who spoke first. She didn’t give a damn even if her opponent was the most elite soldier of the Ravier Mountains.
Under the gas lamp, the black eyes shined brightly.

“Yes.”
“What is the reason?”

Mareil smiled lightly at the look in his eyes that showed the will to protest if he couldn’t give a reasonable answer.
Did I mention she was the head of the Ministry of Magic? She had already done all the research on her on her way here.
An unrivaled genius who receives love calls from all kinds of magic towers. But now it is just a sprout.

His keen eyes caught the trembling hands at his waist. She was still too young to maintain her composure in the face of Fenheim’s hounds.

“Stop investigating Paris Greenwood.”
“Why?”
“Because it creates noise.”
“Noise… ?”

What kind of noise is there about my father’s death? While Liv was confused, Mareil took out two envelopes from her arms.
It was an item with red and black seals on the cover, respectively.
Among them, she opened the red seal and read the document inside her. It was a calm expression, but a very bitter tone.

“Paris, your father was a commoner from the North who organized a vigilante group and fought in the tributaries of the Ravier Mountains during the Great War. Well, he was posthumously made a baron.”
“What does that mean?”
“Listen to the end. The troops he commanded at the time were not just soldiers, but also residents and hunters of the area, volunteers dispatched from the temple, and most of the nobles who had lost their fiefs and families and gathered in the mountains for a desperate fight, forming a huge army. “It was achieved.”

Right. And his father defended the mountain range by fighting with all his might to stop his demons. Even though he did not have any outstanding magic or great swordsmanship.
Because Paris’ performance was recognized by everyone there at the time, Reeve now had the conditions to enter the academy.
However, the next words that came out of Mareil’s mouth shocked Liv greatly.

“However, during the Second Battle of Ravier Hill, he disobeyed his superiors’ order to retreat and left his entire army in the Greenwood Forest until the end.”

And–

“The total number of soldiers and civilians who died in just one night because of that decision was 170,000.”
“… !!”
“I also died there.”

The strength in Liv’s legs went away. She sat down on a bench by the side of the road and shook her head, saying that couldn’t be possible.

“No, it’s definitely not in the history books…” … !”
“It would have been recorded as a glorious battle. But if you compare the records, there will be many errors.”
“This is ridiculous! “There’s no way so many people died in an instant!!”
“At that time, the being that invaded the Ravier Mountains was the 4 worst of the Demon King’s army, Carvius of Destruction. “With two archdukes dead, there was absolutely no chance of victory.”

The other troops in the mountain range had already left early. Based on the experience of having their defenses breached once before, Fenheim and Monarch’s leadership knew that no single unit could take on the worst of the four.

But Paris ignored her decision and drove everyone who followed her to their deaths.
The results were disastrous.
Those who could not even touch the scales of Carvius were annihilated in the Greenwood Forest. It was a one-sided massacre.

“Most books in the academy have security levels. But we have the right to access more accurate information than that.”
“No, that’s not possible…”
“Read it for yourself. You can have it if you need it. However, I will not allow you, my child, to write an article about Paris Greenwood yourself.”

It would cause great pain to the families of the victims who died because of him, and at the same time, it would expose the kingdom’s wealth to the world. Mareil said and handed over an envelope.

That can’t be possible. There’s no way my father was that kind of person.
However, what was written on the paper that Mareille turned over – records of communication magic in the mountains, testimonies of survivors, statistics on victims, and minutes from post-war debates – all proved that she was not wrong.

At that time, Liv’s eyes caught the black envelope she was holding.

“… “What is that?”
“Well? “What do you think?”

Liv, who was quick-witted, realized right away. It’s definitely information that’s one level higher than red.
She immediately stretched out her hand to snatch the envelope. At the same time, she activated 〈 Smoke 〉, 〈 Flash 〉, and 〈 Blink 〉.

Pubububung——!!

A blinding light flashed and an explosion rang out. Liv, who managed to grab Mareil’s envelope before she could pull her away, immediately tried to get behind her, but a tremendous pain shot out of her arm.

“Ugh… !!”

The iron dog had chewed on her left arm. Her white shirt was soaked with blood. Mareil spoke to her calmly, putting her mask back on.

“If you don’t let go, I’ll break it.”
“…”
“You have good guts.”

Pead deud deuk!

Liv unconsciously flinched at the horrifying sound. But she didn’t let go of her hand until the end.

Exhaling heavily, she barely raised her head and realized that the dog biting her had already curled up and shrunk in size.
Mareille, who calmly retrieved it, lit her cigar and shrugged her shoulders.

“No matter what, you can’t kill a student.”

I was angry. But now, confirming the truth came first.
With her blood dripping hands, Liv carefully opened the envelope. However…

“It’s empty… Uh?”
“We can’t see it either. “The black one.”

Leaving behind her devastated Liv, Mareil snapped her fingers and lifted her thought barrier.
And when he saw the students approaching from afar, he disappeared without saying hello.

I think her warning was enough —— She probably doesn’t want to reveal her father’s secrets. It was that kind of judgment.

“Tsk… !”

Left alone, Liv clutched her arms and trembled.

Why did Paris Greenwood not receive a medal from the royal family after the war? This was the answer to the question that had always been in her heart.

The night air was unusually cold. Pain, resentment, suffering, confusion. All the negative emotions were swirling around.
A different evaluation of my father than the world. A criminal and the worst criminal in the world who drove countless people to their deaths.
She wanted to avert her eyes from reality, but the blood of the victims was smeared on the red envelope thrust in front of her.

“Oh my god… “Huh!”

Eventually, the tears she had been holding back fell onto her knees. The loss of her father, her spiritual support, was a huge shock to Liv.

Her chest was heaving as she couldn’t breathe properly. Her vision kept blurring before her eyes, and her unsteady steps wavered under the light.

‘Treatment, treatment first…’

I have to go to the temple. But his feet did not fall. Liv collapses again after only a few steps.
At the end of her field of vision, she saw a store with the lights off.

‘That’s right. Obviously the boss…’

Previously, when Lewis asked her if he knew Paris Greenwood, he answered:

He was a great knight.

***

Although business has not yet resumed, the night after the store is closed is usually time for oneself.
In a corner of a room in a different world without a TV or smartphone, all I could do to pass the time was decorate the second floor.
Try bending a piece of iron to make a receiver, then scrape the glass into a circle with your fingernail and place it in the center of the highlight.

Do you call this DIY? I’m not sure because I’ve never done it on Earth, but if I kept assembling homemade Legos like this until I fell asleep, the next morning would come before I knew it.

“Oh, that’s it.”

Even today, I was making small toys by recalling memories from the back of my mind.
I don’t remember the name, but it was a memorable item where when you pulled out the remaining piece of gum, a cockroach would pop out from inside the wrapper.
The level of completion was also quite high.
In particular, there is no way to obtain a rubber cockroach model, so the fact that real insects were installed will be able to convey a more vivid sense of fear than the original. I’ll try using it later.

While I was playing with fire in the middle of the night, my ears caught a small knocking sound from the first floor.
Hmm… This is not good.
Sometimes students visit the cafeteria late at night, but of course I am not happy about it.
If I open the cafeteria because of one student who can’t sleep at night, won’t everyone come at their convenience and interfere with my happy hobby?

This is a concession stand, not a convenience store. Work-life balance should always be considered important.

I adjusted the tension of the spring inserted into the cockroach’s anus, thinking that if I ignored it, it would soon give up and leave.
Like a cockroach that flaps its legs and then stops moving, the small tapping that followed a couple of times soon disappeared.

‘Did he go?’

However, no sound of footsteps heading outside is heard. Rather, a little while later, a small sniffle followed.
It’s going to spin, really.

I had no choice but to put on a light coat and go down the stairs. And then I found Liv sitting on the doorstep, bleeding.

“Oh my God, Baron! Are you okay?”
“CEO… Sir.”
“Come in quickly. Right now.”

When I saw the blood, the drowsiness that had been coming on me late at night disappeared in an instant. The side where the sword was not hanging felt empty.
First, I made her sit inside the counter, brought her potion and bandages, and carefully inspected her wounds.

“This…”
“I was bitten by an animal. The size is also quite big. “I don’t see any residue in my saliva or teeth. Is this a water change?”
“Oh, maybe. How on earth…”

You’ll know when you bite into it. Fortunately, the wound doesn’t seem to be that deep.
If you bite into something this big, you’re lucky, because the bleeding would be very severe.
As I was about to take her clothes off to tend to her wounds, I made eye contact with Liv. She, who always looked straight in this direction, immediately averted her gaze.

“I’ll take it off in a moment.”
“… Yes.”

She hesitated for a moment and then nodded her head. Her cape was removed, and her waist-length top was removed, revealing her blood-soaked shirt.
The hand that unbuttoned her button trembled again. She clicked her tongue slightly and continued to go down silently, but she kept slipping.

“I will do it.”

Liv, who was younger than her, took it upon herself to undo her buttons and pull on her sleeves, freeing her injured arms.
Her white shoulders were revealed with a small moan of pain. Along with the hem of her black underwear held inside her.

“…”
“…”

You’re bolder than you look.

“Well, it’s not like that. Today I happened to…”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“…”
“…”

As we didn’t say anything to each other, a somewhat more awkward atmosphere began to flow. I came to my senses again and started treatment.
I wiped off the hardened blood, poured the potion, and applied a bandage.
Liv shrugged her slender shoulders and stretched out her arms forward.

“There may be a scar, so go to the temple tomorrow and get treatment.”
“Yes…”
“Luckily, I don’t think any bones were broken. “Who on earth does that?”
“President.”

She hesitated for a moment in response to my question about what was behind her, then bit her lips tightly and opened her mouth heavily.

“You said the other day that you knew about my father, Paris Greenwood.”

It was quite a sudden question.

“My father… “What kind of person were you?”