Chapter 51 – Peaceful Midterm Week (8)

Mareil was watching from afar the small building headed by Liv, who was holding his arm.
As a member of the Counterintelligence Squad, her goal is to force Liv Labre to give up her investigation into her father. Courtesy A person’s will is difficult to break with just a single threat.

But the difficulty of this mission is haha. Far from breaking her young wizard’s heart with her torture, he only intended to alert her that her Goliath would be watching her until the end.

Injured prey instinctively runs to the safest place. If Liv Labre ignores her warning and tries to bare her teeth again, this will be her last refuge.
As expected, she did not come out even after a long time had passed, and magic surrounded her.

‘Hmm… ‘It is an ideological barrier.’

Mareil looked at the form and realized that it was a defensive magic that put a lot of effort into it. She kept her magic completely hidden so that it would be difficult for the outside world to destroy it.
But she’s not impenetrable. How will we do it. It looks like the lights are off and it looks like someone is with him.

Should I sneak in and leave a gift by the pillow? When she wakes up and realizes that she has been watched, she will no longer dare to rebel.

It was the moment when I was about to take a step forward.

Crispy.

“Huh!?”

The ground suddenly gave way and dense spikes appeared from the floor.

Why is there a trap in a place like this?
Mareil was rarely taken aback by the bizarre situation she never expected to encounter in the middle of the academy.

“I almost got into big trouble… Huh?”

As she barely managed to maintain her balance, a huge iron plate with equally sharp thorns was flying in front of her eyes.
Paaaaang—!! As the 〈 barrier 〉, which was always in effect, was broken with a sound, Mareil’s body was pushed back.

‘Double trap!’

Breaking into a cold sweat and blocking the iron plate with both her arms, she sat down and summoned her iron dog. But one step before that, a tremendous pain radiated from below her waist.

“Keueuuuuu!!”

She didn’t just fly in from the front. It was a vicious trap designed to activate on both sides as soon as one stepped on the fake floor.
A large rock hit her spine and she fell to the ground. Even in that state, her mind was still looking for a way out of this situation.
There was still magic and the Iron Dog, an autonomous advanced defense system.

‘If it is a trap that paralyzes the lower part of the body, it is definitely not intended to take life. If you pretend to faint here and wait for him to come… Uh?’

Cooung—!

As if to laugh at that idea, a large wooden pestle fell on her fallen head.
Mareille, who had quickly rolled to her side to avoid crushing her skull, could feel the lightly crushed soles of her shoes as her own head approached.

“Look! These are all skills that come from experience. “For those who fly and crawl, if you install four revisions, one of them is correct.”

The lower body was still damaged. He couldn’t even see her face as she had her head pressed against the ground in humiliation.
Mareil acquired as much information as she could from the voice and manner of her assailant.

‘A young man over 180 cm tall. Cigarette. Slipper. The weapon… Doesn’t exist.’

In that case, you can fight back even if your body doesn’t move. In response to her resignation, two iron dogs rushed at the man. However–

Pap deuk!! PAD DEUD DEUK—!!! Puzzle!!

The terrible sound of his bare hands crushing the iron mercilessly rang out. A moment later, two heavy pieces of metal fell on the dirt.

“Hey, it’s an iron dog? That’s good, hey. I already thought that traps like this were dangerous and lacked defense. Can this self-repair? “I’ll use it well.”

The man retrieved the iron dog and searched Mareil’s body. Even though she vividly felt the humiliation of taking a flask of alcohol from her waist and a cigar from her breast pocket, she could not resist.

‘Mana… ‘Is it gone?’

“Wow, even alcohol and cigarettes are very high-end products. It’s from the Batudis region. I’ll use this well too. Huh? Hey, where did you get this picture?”
“…”
“You’re not answering? Well, that’s enough. Let’s look into this separately…”

Now that things were like this, she had two options. Either commit suicide with the poison packed in your molars, or use your still free arms to swing a weapon.
Just as Mareil was about to twist her body to save the last of her pride, the man crushed her waist with his fist, where she had been struck by a stone moments before.

“Kwaaaaa!!
“Shhh. Quietly. “The Baron is sleeping.”

Tears and saliva soaking the soil. Not only that, his lower body trembled and squirted out lukewarm liquid.

Completely overpowered.
Strong enough to disarm unexpectedly linked traps and iron dogs. The entire process of taking away the freedom of the body along with some means of sealing the magic was frighteningly smooth.

The man spoke in a dry tone, as if he was also familiar with this situation.

“My nerve is almost broken, but I can fix it if I go to the temple now. But if I crack my vertebrae just two more times, I won’t be in a wheelchair even if Monarch’s high priest comes, right? “If you don’t want to have to cover your poop for the rest of your life, just stay still.”

Even if it is not necessary to say it, Mareil was on the verge of fainting due to the terrible pain. The man grabbed her feet and dragged her to the outskirts of her academy.
The place he headed to was an incinerator with a foul smell of garbage.

Is this really the plan to dispose of me here?

However, contrary to her concerns, she was thrown into a large trash can.
Chiik-! The sound of lighting a cigarette.

“The collection truck will come at 5 am, so if you shout then, you will be able to go to the temple.”
“…”
“You just saved my life. “I have to answer this, right?”
“… “What is your purpose?”

Even though she was gritting her molars as if they were about to break from the pain, Mareil still showed hostility. Goliath does not break until the moment he dies. All for the Kingdom and humanity. No matter how strong her opponent was, she had no reason to feel afraid.

“Is the goal to reveal to the public the true face of Paris Greenwood? If not, is it an overthrow of the Penheim royal family?”
“…”
“Either way, you’ll regret threatening us. “Once Goliath sets his sights on him, he pursues him until the end.”
“What bullshit.”

Hehe. The lid covering the recycling bin was slightly opened. Through the gap, her devilish black eyes stared at her.

“Continue doing what you are doing now. Whether it’s blocking information or hindering the way ahead… That’s the reason you exist, so if I stop you, will you just listen? But…”

At the sight of those scary eyes, Mareille felt the fearful feeling of something leaking out of her still numb lower body.

“If you touch Liv Greenwood one more time, you will be killed by me.”
“… !”
“Not just you, but all those proud Goliath bastards. “This is not a threat.”

Who on earth is this person that can make such outrageous remarks?

“Notice.”

Mareil, unable to find the answer, eventually lost her mind.

When I woke up, treatment was already in progress at the temple. Fortunately, it is said that he will be able to walk after just a few months of rehabilitation.
She quickly sent a telegram to the main unit, still not fully recovered.

She relayed to the counterintelligence unit a request for correction regarding the unusual difficulty of the mission, a report on what had happened at her academy, and all the information she had learned from the suspicious man protecting Liv Greenwood.
Everything he said, without leaving out a single word of the conversation.

A few days later, she received a reply. Although it had Goliath’s seal on it, it was sent from the royal family, not from the mountains.
Was it news that additional troops would be dispatched, or was it an order telling her to gather herself and infiltrate again?
Mareil opened her command with a trembling heart and collapsed on the spot.

“Ah…”

Inside was only the empty black envelope she had shown Liv earlier.

***

The difficult midterm exam is over. The final report was ultimately written and submitted on a different topic.
Karen stopped Liv as she was about to return to her dorm after a tiring week of work. She asked about Liv’s previous night spent elsewhere.

“Liv, where were you really at that time?”
“I told you. “I said I stayed all night at the library.”
“Do not lie. Did I ask the librarian on duty at the library that day? “If you were there, there’s no way people wouldn’t know.”
“I guess I couldn’t find it because it was in a corner.”

Liv, as usual, turns her head and goes on her way. Just as Karen was feeling somewhat uncomfortable seeing her friend like that, Rebekah, who was walking ahead of her, asked Karen.

“You know, Karen. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”
“If… “Have you ever had your stomach touched?”

Karen tilted her head for a moment at the very unexpected question, but soon frowned and answered.

“Of course I won’t let you touch it.”
“Why?”
“That makes you feel fat. “It’s better to touch your breasts.”
“Is it… ?”

The sight of Liv slowly turning her posture and pressing her breasts and her lower abdomen revealed something strangely seductive.
Karen snorted and walked up to her and hugged her around the waist.

“Well, if you were Baron Liv, you wouldn’t have to worry about such things~! “How could anyone possibly be caught with such skinny skin?”
“Ka, Karen! For a moment… ! Where are you touching, kya!?”

Liv, barely able to get her friend off her feet, took two steps back and covered her own stomach with her arms.
Even her bright red face was beautiful.

“Anyway, including my boyfriend, I get a straight face and hate it when anyone tries to touch my stomach.”
“Okay?”
“Oh, I just feel bad for no reason.”
“You feel bad?”
“Of course, right? “Liv, what did you think it would be like?”
“Uh, huh? That… Feeling tingly or slightly floating… It costs…”
“What?”

Liv was startled and waved his hands wildly. A look of confusion was evident.

“Oh, it’s nothing! That’s right! Yeah, I feel bad. Huh!”
“… Live?”
“It’s okay! Oh, thank you Karen! I’m going back to the dorm and resting now, see you later… !”
“What? “Wait a minute, Liv!!”

Despite her cries, Liv lowered her head and ran away. Karen stretched out her hand in vain and muttered as she looked in the direction she had disappeared into.

“We’re in the same room…”