Chapter 75 – Inside

000

It’s lunchtime with the sun still overhead.

Under the shadow of the parasol, the ice in the cup melted.

A ‘click’ sound resounds as it collapses the form it was equipped with.

While Lila’s voice flowed, Cleon didn’t even bring her hand to her own cup.

Having finished her story, Lila quietly closes her eyes and organizes her thoughts.

Then she pauses for a moment, then opens her mouth to speak to Cleon.

“…So, wasn’t it a pleasant story?”

She murmured in a voice that mixed self-help and sadness.

She knew what had happened between her and Ariadne and the girl named Bea.

The girl depicted in the picture I saw earlier when I moved Layla into her bedroom.

She must be Beatrix.

When Layla peeked into her memories, she was locked in the deepest place.

That was the biggest trauma that human Leila had.

After that, it was a story that Cleon knew well.

I tried to build up achievements to stand in the position of an elder.

In the process, she even had a colleague to study the same topic for a while.

But to Lyla, they are just humans with the same purpose compared to Beatrix.

Even though they called themselves friends, he didn’t deny it.

He was not afraid to demand sacrifice from them if necessary, and he had fallen into a heinous man who was not saddened by such a thing.

Ironically, because she was such a lila, she was at odds with Cleon.

In return for tricking her party members, including her new ally, her new friend Quon.

She was defeated by him and survived by Quon’s mercy.

The reason she changed because of that was probably because she was living with Quon.

It may be that she felt the shadow of the existence in her that was the only undeniable light of her own Beatrix.

To that extent, the girl named Bea in the story was similar to the caring and caring Quon.

Such speculation passed through Cleon’s head.

After a bit of thinking, I open my mouth again and talk to Lila.

“If Ariadne reappears, maybe Beatrix-“

Maybe it’s alive Let Cleon try to talk.

Lila becomes sad and shakes her head.

“If what the Enforcement Division said is true, Ariadne’s current owner is a member of the Enforcement Division.”

“Is it…”

Come to think of it, it had to be.

It was unlikely that Beatrix was collaborating with her Enforcement Department as she assaulted Lyla and nearly took her own life.

It’s a story of what if she was still alive.

“And. If Bea was alive, she would… She would have appeared before me.”

Those words contained Laila’s wishes her.

Unless, by any chance, we had an eternal farewell there.

It’s okay to feel disillusioned with yourself for repeating many evil deeds.

If it was good for a moment, he would have shown his face her to himself.

“Ariadne is an ancient relic with many things still hidden. It would be correct to think that the humans from the Enforcement Division recovered and used what reappeared later.”

For those who had to hide their identities, Ariadne’s existence would have been worth a blind eye.

“…Then I’ll have to get it back.”

Saying that, Cleon stood up from his seat her.

Still, many things remain unclear.

There are a few pieces of the puzzle missing from Lila’s story.

1. Where did the Minotaur that appeared inside Ariadne come from?

2. Why did the Enforcement Division target Beatrix?

3. In Layla’s memory of her, what is the reason why she was not targeted by the Enforcement Division after that incident?

Lila couldn’t have been curious about that fact.

If so, contact with them could not be avoided even to reveal all of that.

As for Cleon, it was something I started to do to give grace to the chiefs.

Layla had a fate greater than that intertwined.

“…Yes.”

Lyla gets up with a determined expression and tries to head for the tower of Aion, where the chiefs are gathered.

At that time-

“Instructor Cleon.”

A voice calling out to Cleon.

When the two of them look back at the man’s voice they hear for the first time.

Standing there was a young man with green ponytails—no, a student who looked the age of a boy.

His eyes were sharp, and he gave off an intellectual aura.

A quiver or bow carried on the back of his.

And the greeves worn on the body his.

He It was seen wearing the typical hunter’s costume.

“…Who is it?`

When Cleon asks quietly, the boy sweeps his bangs and reveals his identity.

“This is Thrace. Thrace Orleon.”

“Ah, the chief of the archery department.”

Lyla heard the name and spoke as if she recognized it.

Cleon nodded, thinking, ‘Is this the department where Sasha is?’

“I heard you were tracking down the Enforcement Division hideout by yourself.”

“Yes. Unfortunately, there were no great results.”

He clenches his fists in anger.

In the end, he seemed to feel frustrated about not being able to catch up with the enforcement department.

But Cleon didn’t care much about that.

Rather, when the chiefs of other departments try to take care of their own

I think it was definitely a wise decision to move alone.

“After a while, the chiefs will gather at the Aion Tower for another meeting.”

When Cleon tries to say that, Trace nods as well.

“Ah, I heard. I just wanted to talk to you before that.”

“…With me?”

The unexpected words piqued Cleon’s curiosity in her.

“Sorry, but without Lyla Flamewatch, just the two of us.”

“Wait. What are you talking about? I’m sure you’re not trying to say that Cleon is the lecturer in the sex department of the dark horse clan.”

When Lyla frowns and tries to talk, Trace shakes her head.

“I won’t do anything stupid like that. I’m a noble. I’m afraid I’ll do something that hurts my face and dignity as a noble.”

He’s a typical aristocrat, but he seems like a fun guy. That’s what Cleon thought.

Then Cleon puts his hand on Lila’s shoulder.

“…Should be back soon.”

She turned her head and met Cleon’s eyes her.

As Trace wanted, she moved to the top of Aion one step ahead.

After tracking Leila for a while, Trace turns her gaze back to Cleon and starts talking.

“What’s your relationship with her?”

“Didn’t you hear? Sasha- Along with Sanasia, I am also a party that had an adventure with her.”

“A colleague?”

Cleon nods at Trace’s question.

Trace has a slightly complicated face.

Soon, he became a little arrogant and expressionless as usual and continued talking.

“Tell me directly. Instructor Cleon, you are being followed by someone—or being pursued.”

“…Aren’t they the guys from the Enforcement Division?”

They were the only ones with a history of attacking him at the academy.

Trace continues with her hand on her chin.

“No, even when you were being attacked by the Enforcement Division. There was a person who kept observing you.”

“You’re not helping us, and you’re not joining the Enforcement Division?”

At the words of the boy nodding his head, Cleon also seemed to be picking something up.

Come to think of it – the jealous gaze that I sometimes feel.

However, I didn’t feel any malice, so I didn’t react that sensitively.

Thinking that far, Cleon notices a sense of incongruity for a moment saying, “Huh?”

“Wait, how do you know I’m being followed?”

“…That, that’s… Uh, by chance. Everything.”

Trace turned away, visibly taken aback by Cleon’s point her.

Maybe he was spying on himself?

“So, what kind of person is that person?”

“…I don’t know that much. It’s because they’re good at hiding themselves and seem to appear intermittently.”

“Did you use magic…”

If you use stealth-type magic, you won’t be able to see it with normal eyesight.

If it’s similar to your own dark veil, it’s a high-level magic time.

You have to be at the level of RYLA to be able to see it visually.

“Are you still there?”

“It seems like it was a while ago.”

Trace shook her head and answered Cleon’s question.

It gives me a headache to think that even an unfamiliar stalker is attached to it.

“Thanks for letting me know, I’ll keep my guard up.”

“Well, if something happens to the guardian of a student in the same department, she will be sad.”

Trace spoke with a slightly proud face.

Alas, indeed. Is that so, Cleon seemed to have noticed something.

“It was because of Sasha. The one who watched me.”

At those words, Trace’s face her froze on the spot.

Then he speaks in a confused tone.

“Muh, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course, it’s true that I cared about you for Sanasia Rufenwolf, but…”

Cleon is convinced that the answer is correct, seeing his stuttering and flustered expression of her.

“I wonder if the guardian of a girl with a heart was bothered by the fact that she was the ‘instructor of the sex department’ in the ‘Dark Horse Clan’?”

At the slightly teasing tone, Trace spat out a saliva, saying ‘Kuh…’.

“…Yeah, that’s what it says. But what I focused on, of course, was the pursuit of the ‘Execution Division’.”

However, he quickly returned to his original expression his, probably because he was a nobleman.

“So? What do you really want to talk about?”

“…Are you using mind reading?”

Trace seemed embarrassed once again for revealing his true intentions of her, but Cleon just shrugged.

The boy looked around for a while, then cleared his throat and talked.

“I want you to tell Sanasia Rufenwolf about me.”

“…Hoo.”

“Her talent her is too precious to just rot. With the support of House Orllion, she can further sharpen her skills her.”

Cleon responded by raising the corner of his mouth to those words.

“If you’re lucky in the process, you might get close to her, right?”

“…Okay.”

Trace answered honestly, as if there was no need to hide her feelings behind it.

Cleon thought for a moment as if pondering.

One of the things I was concerned about when I came to the academy was the gathering of flying flies who didn’t know how precious their lives were to their colleagues.

Layla aside, Sasha and Quon’s looks alone are enough to stand out.

If it’s Quon, he’s usually a bit laid-back, but after parting with Alvein, he’s clear about his reasoning his, so he’s a little less worried.

Sasha was an innocent girl from the countryside, so Cleon would meet her even if Quon or Layla asked her to.

Trace is different from the kind of people he feared, like the flying flies.

He has a slightly arrogant impression like an aristocrat, but he has skills and easily reveals his honesty.

I don’t think it’s bad as a friend.

Cleon laughed and opened his mouth.

“No. No. She’s mine. I won’t give it to you.”

“…Kuh…”

When the opposite of laughter came out, Trace let out another drool.

Although Cleon himself was a bit surprised that he had such an exclusive desire.

It was as frank as I thought.

A long silence passed between the two.

After a moment, Trace carefully opens her mouth to ask.

“…Is it perhaps the common saying ‘I don’t give you my daughter’?”

He was a boy with strong hopeful observations.

“It’s different. She’s my woman, so it means I won’t pass it on.”

“Lolicon…!”

“You can say whatever you want. As a nobleman, how would you like to steal someone else’s woman?”

“Well, if you say that…”

Trace turned her head away as if she had been stabbed in a sore spot.

“Well, it’s not that you’re personally bad at it. But give up on Sasha.”

At Cleon’s words, Trace lowered her head.

He seemed quite resentful of the heartlessness (?) Of reality.

“And. You don’t have to talk to me to get to know her, right?”

“…I am a man from an aristocratic family. Talking to a woman first is against my father’s teachings.”

“What is that? If you do it that way, you will miss the bond you can catch.”

When Cleon said, Trace lifted her face.

“Has Cleon’s instructor ever been like that?”

“I-I…? Um…”

At the sudden question, Cleon turned his head for a moment.

I only had the experience of liking someone once in my childhood.

…It was definitely true that I couldn’t convey that feeling.

But whether it was ‘love’ was still a question.

Perhaps, it was the longing of a child.

Aside from that, Cleon had no experience of a broken heart.

Because there was never a case where I fell in love with someone separately in the first place.

“No, I don’t have…”

So, once again, I answer honestly.

Trace looked at Cleon for a moment.

Suddenly, I bowed my back.

“…Instructor Cleon, no, Master!”

“…Master?”

If Cleon is embarrassed by the sudden title change.

With strides, Trace came to him and bowed her head once more.

“I followed my father’s teachings from a young age and have waited for a woman with a heart to come to me. But, every time, women end up with other men…! I thought maybe my father’s teachings were wrong! I thought that a girl as innocent as Sanacia would have a chance, but… If even she doesn’t…!”

“That’s right…”

Seeing Trace pouring out his inner thoughts like a rapid-fire cannon, Cleon is taken aback.

Did this guy have such worries…

“Cleon is a professional in male-female relationships, to the point that the woman next to him changes every time he sees him… Hearing that just now, I was convinced. He must be like you to be a good hunter (man)!”

“Suddenly, it’s very rude…?”

When he said that he might be insulting himself somewhere, Cleon expressed doubt for a moment.

I didn’t have the will to do anything to this desperate boy.

“Please! Please teach me the secret of male-female relationships! Master!”

“…”

…Became a nuisance.

Cleon is obviously in a relationship with many women, but he is a person who has no experience of dating in general.

You mix your body by deception, or you mix your body out of necessity, or when you notice it, you have a relationship like that.

Most do.

“Ah- that’s what. There’s not much I can do for you.”

“No! I’m satisfied with watching Master treat women from the sidelines.”

When Cleon watched such an enthusiastic trace, he couldn’t hit it properly in the end.

Ashamed of the gazes of the people around him, he headed toward the Aion Tower one step ahead.

001

When Cleon and Trace climb the tower and enter the chiefs’ conference room.

Unlike before, a woman who appeared to be a teacher was standing there.

A little over 50 years old, she wears a gorgeous dress and has gray hair rolled up like an aristocrat.

It was a woman with a lot of flesh attached to her body.

The other chiefs looked at her with disbelief in her eyes.

Still, the relationship between the chief and the teacher.

It seemed that no one spoke directly to her.

A female teacher turns to face Cleon and Trace, who appeared in such a situation.

“Hmm? You are…? Trace, the head of the archery department… And the dark horse clan?”

Cleon tried to say something to her burdened gaze as she narrowed her eyes on one side and looked at herself.

Before that, Aruru spoke first.

“He is the Cleon instructor. Do you remember what I said earlier?”

“Ah… With that sex department… Heh.”

The female teacher snorts at Cleon as if she is not worthy.

When Layla, who was sitting next to Aruru, tried to stand up from her seat with a face that would kill people.

Also, Rio Mess, who was next to him, was holding Laila’s legs as if to calm her down.

“If you suddenly interrupted, why don’t you at least schedule a meeting?”

“…Sorry.”

No matter how you look at it, he was his boss her, so Cleon agrees with her words her for now.

Trace spoke quietly in a voice that only Cleon could hear.

“She’s a gnome lady. She’s the agent under the direct control of the 12th Reactor, and she’s the one who reports the senior council’s progress to them.”

…In other words, it is the role of a watchdog to keep the chiefs from rebelling against them.

It was understandable that the other chiefs had dark expressions.

“So, what do the elders want?”

At Aruru’s words, Mrs. Gnome turns her gaze away from Cleon and tells her.

“An extremely dangerous artifact possessed by the Enforcement Division… It is to retrieve the ‘Demiurge’.”

When Mrs. Gnome said that, all of her chiefs seemed at a loss as to the name.

“What is a Demiurge?”

When Aruru asks questions on behalf of the chiefs, Mrs. Gnome replies.

“I haven’t been informed of Demiurge’s identity. The elders say it’s because just knowing the identity is taboo.”

The students and Cleon all frowned at those words.

If you don’t reveal your true identity, how on earth are you going to retrieve it?

“The one in possession of Demiurge is the current chief of her Enforcement Division and her. Be sure to capture her alive.”

“… I never intended to cause death.”

In her tone, as if she could do anything with the students of the executive department other than the chief,

Aruru replied with a little anger.

“If possible.”

The gnome wife’s way of speaking seemed to be looking down on Aruru’s will her and ignoring it.

She is not on the side of the chiefs.

He is a member of the Council of Elders, and has only a superficial cooperative relationship with the chiefs.

The gnome woman felt no dignity or responsibility as her leader or teacher her.

An adult who hates typical children who only assert their authority as superiors.

Cleon couldn’t help but feel that way.

When everyone is thinking the same thing, Aruru replies to her before her mood her turns grim anymore.

“Okay. We’re going to enter their hideout tomorrow. Mrs. Gnome, please talk to the teachers before that so that normal students don’t pass by.”

No matter how senior they are, a battle cannot be avoided if the opponent is the executive department.

Although it was fairly quick to set up a day for preparation time.

If you delay, they too may realize that their hideout location has been exposed and hide out of reach.

“So. Is the meeting over with this?”

Lila quickly rose from her seat and looked around.

“Because I have work to do. I’ll go first. Don’t worry, I’ll participate in the operation properly.”

Saying that, he met Aruru’s eyes her, then took Cleon’s hand her and left the tower.

Cleon asks Lyla, who hastened her steps her.

“…What’s up?”

“The gnomes are connected to the Senate. The Senate is connected to the Enforcement Division. It’s clear they’re going to cut them off like lizard tails.”

Even the power of the Council of Elders could not cover the Execution Division that was exposed after that.

I guess that’s how I judged it.

“But even the Council of Elders won’t try to cut them all. Since we’ve been using them well up until now, we’ll cull those that still have value and keep them.”

“I see. So you’re trying to prepare a hand that won’t let them know?”

Leila nodded at Cleon’s answer.

“I need to prepare barrier stones and magic tools… If I show you my magic, Cleon can duplicate it and use it as the stamp of control. I’m sorry, but please join me.”

“…Of course.”

In order to make good use of the time left until the operation, it was necessary to hurry.

It seemed that there was not much time left until the bad relationship with the Enforcement Division was put to an end.