Chapter 89 – Cabal

000

The old school district, located outside the academy and not often visited by people.

Some 30 years ago, it is said that a wide-scale second-dimensional magic contamination was spread due to an accident that occurred during a large-scale magic experiment here.

That’s why the academy shuts down all the buildings around it that were affected by the experiment at least, and spreads a barrier that bites people around it to prevent students from coming nearby.

Even within that range, the buildings closest to the boundaries of the outermost sub-districts were largely unaffected by the experiment, or now show little contamination due to their natural regenerative powers.

However, since the facility is outdated and far from other buildings, did they decide that it would be inefficient to use it as a classroom again?

The buildings in the old school district were still standing on the land where no one visited, weathering with the flow of time and disappearing.

Until a week ago, two students who escaped the labyrinth and a temporary teacher started using this place as a base.

A homunculus girl with her hands full of luggage follows Cleon through a forest full of bushes.

Why is there a forest in the academy’s premises? It might be questionable, but this forest was an artificial concealment created to eliminate the sense of incongruity of the barrier that bites people.

It was a large group of trees that grew rapidly in a short period of time by magic, blocking the path that existed here in the past.

People who want to walk in a forest like this must be pretty nature-friendly, or just boys and girls who enjoy escaping.

Looking down at the weedy ground, there was a vague view of a path that had previously been plowed by people.

Innis, who happened to be reunited with Cleon in the toolbox, was following Cleon to the old school district.

It was to tell Cleon’s answer to Innis’ question about where he was and what he was doing for the week.

In one hand, he still held an envelope full of things he had purchased at Quon and Lyla’s request.

For her as a homunculus, the burden of her level was light.

“Should I take one?”

As she set out on her way, she left the other of the two envelopes she originally had with Cleon, who said so, as an expression of her instinct her to be fooled by him.

Although they had only not met for a week, the existence of Cleon, who was artificially created and unstable, was as strongly connected as the creator to the homunculus, which was also necessary for her peace of mind her.

After walking along the dark forest road for about 5 minutes, the section inhabited by large groups of trees suddenly ends and leads to a space completely filled with artifacts.

Statues honoring the great men of the past were erected side by side on the side of the road, and at the end of the road, you can see a huge building where students of the past used to come and go.

Even just one is bigger than the buildings used by the three major departments today, but if you look at the map drawn at the entrance, there are four of them.

Each building was again connected by a passageway, and when viewed from above, a huge diamond-shaped topography was drawn.

The sight was quite high even for Innis, who had inherited the knowledge from Lyla and had knowledge about the academy beyond that of ordinary people.

I don’t know what department this building used to be in, but I knew that it must have been huge.

However, only the building closest to the forest was spared from the magic pollution caused by the accident.

Cleon naturally entered the building and seemed to have already figured out where and what classrooms were.

I go up one floor along the stairs and open the door to the common room used by students who may have studied in this building in the past.

Inside, desks in various classrooms that are no longer used, and desks originally in the break room.

And, I dragged this and that from the bed in the health room and the mask room for teachers.

A small cluttered space was spread out for people to live in.

“Are you back, senpai?”

There, Beatrix, who was drinking tea while sitting on the sofa, turns her head to welcome Cleon.

Then, naturally, her eyes turned to Innis, the homunculus behind Cleon.

Looking at her somewhere, her impression of her overlapping with her Cleon’s impression of her, Tina shuts her mouth for a moment before talking.

“Are you the senior’s daughter!?`

“Yes, yes! I am Papa’s daughter, Innis.”

Watching Innis raise his hand her, immediately spitting out affirmations at Beatrix’s guess, Cleon sighs and tells Tina.

“It’s a homunculus that Lyla made. I just helped make it.”

“Ah, so that’s what it was.”

Beatrix nodded as if she understood, then got up from the couch and prepared a cup of tea for the two of them.

On the table in front of the sofa, cookies that looked like they had just been baked were piled up.

The building’s kitchen was used arbitrarily, but the ingredients were all items that Cleon had obtained from outside during the past week.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Cleon asked Beatrix worriedly, and Beatrix nodded and moved her body lightly.

After distributing Demiurge’s factors to Riomes and Cleon, Beatrix slept for three full days.

The damage caused to her soul was her due to her soul capture her was made up for by Cleon and Rio Meth, but the accumulated blood in her body her and the feeling of mental liberation from telling someone the secret she had barely hidden were superimposed on her. It was as if he was taking a break that he had been lacking all at once.

What Beatrix did as soon as she woke up, based on stories she heard from two people who caught up on the situation at her academy while she was asleep.

In order to solve the situation, it was a summary of what they had to do and the establishment of a plan for it.

Riomes said that she had other things to do, so she moved as she did, but Beatrix, Cleonon, and Riomes thought it was okay.

In her case, doing something unexpected often results in something good for both of them.

“So Papa. Why did everyone get weird? Not only Master, but even Quon and Sasha forgot Papa…”

As Innis arrives here, she questions Cleon about a question she couldn’t bear to ask.

Then Cleon looked at Innis for a while and then slowly opened his mouth to answer the question.

Something about Demiurge.

How did the enforcement department work?

And, the involvement of the Black Engagement.

When Innis heard the story, he was silent for a while before talking.

“Then, since I wasn’t human, I was able to escape from Demiurge’s manipulation of my mind?”

“Looking at the result, yes. Demiurge’s power is only limited to humans. Isn’t that right, Bea?”

“Yes. Demiurges are demons whose source is to ‘dominate and conquer humans’, so their power does not work on living beings other than humans.”

In response to Beatrix’s answer, Innis nodded as if he understood.

“Hey, Papa. Can’t you go back to Master’s mansion with me like this? Everyone, seeing Papa’s face might bring back memories, right?”

“Unfortunately, the possibility is small. No, it’s better to say no. In fact, everyone I knew seemed to consider me a remnant of the Enforcement Division.”

Beatrix slightly darkened her face and added her own opinion to Cleon’s words about her.

“Demiurge is a demon that warps people’s minds and creates alienation by planting seeds of doubt. Perhaps that’s why the power of brainwashing is so powerful that no existing magic can dispel it.”

Innis had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

“But this proves it. The fact that Innis wasn’t affected by Demiurge means that Galatea wasn’t brainwashed either.”

“Galatea… Isn’t that the green hair that is Papa’s demonic sword?”

For some reason, Cleon nodded while looking at Innis, who was only a little bitter about Galatea.

“How is she doing? I can’t figure out the situation since the connection was completely cut off from a week ago…”

“Galatea is protected by the barrier that the Master spread to enclose her room. She is so powerful that the barrier is so strong that even her master her, the Master, cannot break it.”

When Cleon heard the story, his eyes widened a little, then he nodded her head in understanding.

“…I see, Layla.”

“Why, Layla has a barrier?”

Cleon answered Beatrix’s question.

“Perhaps it was to protect her from her rails. Rails must know that I am her her magic swordsman, so she must have been concerned about finding her her Galatea in order to completely neutralize me.”

However, thanks to Layla’s barrier, Galatea is safe. Cleon had even assumed the worst, but thanks to him, he sighed and was relieved.

“… Papa, then you can’t come back to her mansion until the job is done?”

“…That’s how it will be. Joining everyone will come a little later.”

To Innis’ sad voice her, Cleon replies with regret and puts his hand on her head her.

That figure was her father’s like soothing daughter, Beatrix thought as she watched.

“But, what Papa is trying to do is to fight those people who brainwashed everyone into the black war? Then… Wouldn’t that turn everyone in the academy into enemies?”

The students of the Seonghak Department who were students, and the seniors who joined forces, albeit briefly.

And, except for him, all instructors, teachers, and all students affected by Demiurge will stand in the way of Cleons.

“Yes… I guess. But, it has to be done.”

Beatrix answered, clenching his fists as if he was paying the most attention to that part.

This fight is a solitary war.

Indeed, it was the worst fight in which he had to clash swords with his past colleagues and friends his.

“Are you okay…!? There are so many of them, but there are only four of us here, including me…!”

Homunculus are beings that prioritize rational thinking.

Comparing the two camps, which could not be matched by a simple power comparison, the worries about Cleon never ceased.

“Four of us, including Innis… Are you fighting together?”

When Cleon hears Innis and responds, Innis lowers his head and murmurs.

“Yeah, of course… I like seeing Papa and Master getting along well…”

Beatrix looked at Innis and talked.

“It’s the same for me.”

Innis looked up and her eyes met Beatrix.

“I will also do everything in my power to bring back the sight of you and Lila. So, please rest assured.”

“Bearing…”

“…Bearings?”

Innis, who had nicknamed Beatrix at some point, let out a slightly moved voice, although his face his was still expressionless.

“Besides, the situation isn’t hopeless up to that point. Demiurge’s brainwashing is certainly threatening, but brainwashing alone can’t do anything about us.”

At Cleon’s words, Beatrix nodded.

“If their power was truly absolute, the warriors of the past wouldn’t have been able to subjugate them. Even if their mind is altered several times, there is definitely a way.”

“Okay, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

Innis nodding his head with his hand on his chest.

Cleon smiles at her and continues talking.

“Besides, the four of us aren’t the end. We have one more reliable colleague.”

“Uh…? But, isn’t everyone in the academy brainwashed?”

At Innis’ question, Cleon nodded.

“If the person the senior said comes, we can start in earnest. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

“Recapturing Ariadne. Finding the location of the rails. Finding a way to release the brainwashing and neutralizing the Black War… Huh. It’s like a mountain.”

Innis could not grasp the true identity of the ‘strong fellow’ Cleon and Beatrix referred to as ‘him’.

At that time-

Outside, the bells of the bell tower ringing out to announce the time.

It was already past lunchtime, and it was time for the sunset.

As soon as Innis hears the bell, he jumps up from the couch.

“It’s dangerous! I have to do laundry, clean up, and even prepare dinner!”

“Then, I’ll have to go back quickly. Take care of everyone while I’m gone, Innis.”

Seeing Cleon say that, Innis nodded broadly.

001

After Innis left, Cleon embraced Beatrix.

The connection between her soul and her soul her faded over time, so it was necessary to periodically reconnect with her body her once a day to reinforce the connection between her soul and her soul her.

At first glance, it was an act that could change like work, but each time it was repeated, we learned about each other’s bodies.

Following Riomes’s advice, Beatrix was distracted in Cleon’s arms until she collapsed from exhaustion.

I was in the mood to immerse myself in the bathroom, but unfortunately there was no bathroom in the old school building.

I move to the shower room and wash away the heat of pleasure that covered my body by cleaning my body.

On the way, they saw each other’s bodies and almost jumped into action again.

No matter how good the sexual act is, did he feel that mixing his body her at any time was too lacking in self-control.

Sprinkle with cold water to calm your mind and leave the shower.

The old school building, covered in darkness at night, did not use magic lights, so I had to rely only on the moonlight coming in from outside the window when going through the long hallways.

It would have been nice to have brought a magical lantern, but in case someone sees the light, I’m careful not to light it up at night.

As I walked in the awkward silence, I could feel the presence of people on the other side of the corridor, in the shadow where the moonlight didn’t come in.

“…Riomes?”

Cleon calls the names of people who could be here other than themselves.

But it wasn’t she who responded to her voice and approached her.

Body made of steel. A form mimicking a human. Both arms have vicious blades.

With the legs of the reverse joint, it slowly approaches the direction where Cleon and Beatrix are.

“Automata [Automata]!?”

A mechanical doll created by alchemy and infused with a pseudo-soul that automatically repeats and executes predetermined commands.

Since they would kill without hesitation if they were commanded, production was prohibited in the kingdom due to ethical issues.

Its body covered in black steel, its eyes glowing red, approached Cleon and Beatrix in an instant and charged.

Cleon takes Beatrix in his arms and leaps backwards.

He clicks his tongue inwardly for being careless and resents himself for leaving his master’s sword at the rest area.

“Have you been caught?”

“No…! It must be the machine that Black Zion randomly dropped to find us. If he found out the location, the other automata would have been here already…! But, we can’t send them back!”

Feeling a bit relieved by Beatrix’s words, Cleon turned around to get out of the seat for now, aiming to return to the rest area and collect the sword.

“What…!”

There, too, there was another aircraft in the same form as the automata behind his back.

“Kuh…!”

It was only then that Cleon remembered that even if one of the automata was destroyed, if the other remained, they were operated as a pair of two to repair each other and move.

Originally developed by alchemists to deal with wizards, it was impossible to guarantee that their magic would work on those who had high magic resistance by nature.

`What should I do… Even if I use restraint-type magic, if these guys have body specs, I’ll immediately release them and attack them…’

After rolling his head for a while, Cleon sets Beatrix down to the ground and chants magic.

“…Flare spikes.”

The automata that were approaching Cleon from both sides recognized the magical event and raised their entire body’s magic resistance.

Then, a layer of magical power is formed on that metal, and it literally deflects Cleon’s magic of his.

‘As predicted…!’

However, the layer of magical power is thick, and the rest of the guys boasting strong hardness slow down their movements.

One of Flare Spike’s tentacles bounces off, but the next tentacle flies right into their bodies.

It closes the gap between attacks using magic, preventing them from moving.

If it were a human, it would avoid this or aim for a counterattack, but automata, who can only think mechanically, cannot judge the situation to that extent.

Of course, this is also a method that can be used when the number of automata is small. In past wars, it is said that many wizards lost their lives as other automata used to push the hardened automata from behind as shields.

“Let’s go, Bea!`

“Yes, senior!”

The moment he tried to pass by the automata that he had hardened while saying that.

[Magic absorption, threshold reached. Release begins.]

“…What!?”

The moment Cleon turned around in surprise at the voice he heard from the automata.

Waves of powerful and pure magic burst out of them and attacked Cleon and Beatrix’s bodies.

“Keugh…!”

Cleon quickly protected Beatrix, but the shock felt on his back his was beyond imagination.

Thanks to this, the flare spike is released and the automata move again and head to Cleon.

“Senpai! Are you okay!?”

“Kuh… Ah, these guys are properly improved…! Annoying!”

Cleon manages to stand up from his seat, barely enduring the pain, but if the same method doesn’t work, how-

As he was thinking about it, the automata swung the blade of his arm his and approached Cleon at high speed.

“Senior!”

Beatrix somehow tried to support Cleon with other magic, but the speed of the automata was faster than that.

The next moment, a flash of white flashed and the blade swung.

However, the sword did not belong to Automata.

A pure white sword.

What flew through the window and got stuck in the automata was a ‘Holy Sword’ with a distinctive red jewel.

[Cleon!]

Suddenly awakened by the voice calling him, Cleon grabs the holy sword.

And, it was to completely cut down the automata that had been hiding there.

“It’s just the right timing… Ona!”

The memories of the master’s sword flowing through his hands his move Cleon’s body hers.

It was the moment when the last member of the cabal seeking to overthrow the falsified academy arrived.