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Sophie Mare barely calmed herself and went back into the cabin.
"The plan?"
"Plan? Do we need one?"
"Ah... I guess not. You came yourself, so what kind of plan would we need."
"Can you stop calling me 'you'? I'm still a senior in the organization."
Sophie's eyes sharpened.
"I still vividly remember the day you wiped out my village. You don't expect me to call you nicely, do you?"
"Oh, come on, Sophie Mare. Still stuck in the past."
"......"
'It's the past for you, but it's still reality for me. You devil.'
"So, when are you going to attack?"
"Tomorrow?"
No.
I have to tell Davian who came and how to prepare.
It's unlikely he'll survive anyway.
'But he's amazing for his age...'
Davian might not be able to beat Obsess, but maybe he can create an opportunity for Obsess to be killed.
To do that, tomorrow is definitely out.
"Tomorrow is the day that Davian guy goes to the academy. Every Friday, he goes to the academy for group training."
It's a lie.
"Is that so? Then I'll just go to his house first. I'll deal with that servant of his and wait for him to come back. I hear that servant is pretty good too."
"Ah, no. Once he goes to the academy, you never know when he'll come back to his lodgings. He often spends the weekend there."
Obsess's black eyes stared at Sophie.
It felt like he was seeing through her, but she had to withstand it.
She absolutely couldn't show any signs of faltering here.
"Hmm... is that so? Then when would be a good time?"
"If you stay here, I'll let you know the day he comes home. It won't be more than four days."
"Four days... well, I guess it doesn't matter."
"But aren't the people you came with too conspicuous? With those huge weapons and all."
Obsess leaned forward and squinted at Sophie.
"Did you think I would sneak in and assassinate him or something? Me, Obsess? Against a mere first-year academy student?"
"N-no, it's just... if it's too conspicuous or noisy, the guards will come quickly. Elton City is a big city."
"The guards will come?"
"Yes."
"...Then we'll just kill all the guards."
'Crazy bastard.'
Obsess leaned back on the sofa again.
A bitter smile sent chills down the spine of anyone who saw it.
"Or, since I've come all the way here, should I just turn the entire city of Elton into a sea of fire? Just like your hometown, Sophie Mare?"
The nightmare of that day flashed through Sophie's mind, and she closed her eyes without realizing it.
She felt her whole body trembling.
But.
'It won't be easy this time, you devil.'
"Ah... it's not easy."
When there's nothing special going on, the place where Davian spends the most time.
The academy's personal training room.
"I feel like I can do it, but I can't."
He was repeating the training of pushing magic power into his sword, but it wasn't working out as he wanted.
If it was still like the first day, he would have given up altogether.
From a certain day onwards, he could feel the magic power flowing through the sword hilt.
But at that stage, it stagnated again.
He kept trying to alternate between magic power and internal energy, and before he knew it, pushing in internal energy had become very natural.
'Well, I guess that's something.'
But pushing magic power into the sword was still blocked by a high wall.
There was no one to ask for advice.
Perhaps it was something that only Davian could do in this world.
'Or maybe it's impossible.'
But he had to keep trying.
He had to get stronger to graduate from this damn academy.
As he left the personal training room, the sun was already setting.
It was about a thirty-minute walk from the personal training room to the academy's main gate.
After walking for about ten minutes.
A female student in a school uniform was standing under a magic stone street lamp.
A slender figure with short brown hair.
'Short brown hair?'
Davian approached the female student.
"Now you're just doing a rough job of disguising yourself? Not even wearing a wig?"
"I just needed to succeed in infiltrating the academy."
"What are you doing here? Sophie."
"Let's go somewhere quiet. Somewhere where no one is."
Davian and Sophie took a seat on a secluded bench behind the auditorium.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a big problem, Davian. A powerful guy from the Marino Empire has come."
"A powerful guy?"
"Yes. A powerful guy. And I..."
Sophie swallowed hard and continued.
"I'm trying to take a huge gamble on you right now."
Ting.
A notification sound rang in Davian's ears that only he could hear.
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[Quest: Defeat Obsess the Fire Mage]
Reward: 13,000 Mana Points (x2)
Failure: Death
=====
The highest point reward ever was 16,000.
It was the reward for the quest to defeat the demon legion commander Jedikus.
But the reward for the quest to defeat a guy named Obsess was 13,000 points.
Of course, there was a difference between the two.
From his experience, he had come to realize that there was a clear difference between the terms 'repel' and 'defeat' that appeared in the quest window.
Repel meant somehow forcing them to retreat, while defeat meant killing them outright.
If it had been a quest to defeat, not repel, Jedikus, it was impossible to even predict how many points would have been rewarded.
'I can't compare him to the legion commander Jedikus... but anyway, he's a powerful guy.'
The next day.
Sophie's cabin.
"He's back."
Obsess, who had been lying on the sofa, slowly got up.
"That guy. He sure made me wait a long time. Let's go."
Sophie, Obsess, and three warriors headed to Davian's house.
From the time they could see the city scenery, Obsess was humming a tune, as if he was enjoying himself.
"It's so nice to be in a place with so many people for the first time in a while."
"I didn't know you liked such crowded places."
"There are so many humans here that I can burn to ashes if I want to."
'Crazy demon bastard.'
As they passed through a street lined with stores.
'Why isn't he coming out? He should be coming out around now.'
The more Obsess looked around at the people and smacked his lips, the more anxious Sophie became.
Two days ago.
"That guy is a perverted psycho demon who enjoys watching people suffer as they burn. You can't let him go to your town. The people living nearby might all burn to death."
"You're saying we have to fight outside the city."
"Yeah. But you have to lure him out without being obvious. If I'm even slightly obvious, he'll kill me first and then turn the area into a sea of fire."
"Can't we just attack your cabin first?"
"Then I'll get caught for colluding with you! If that happens, my family..."
"I see. We have to get him to enter the city first, create witnesses, and then lure him back to the outskirts. Because your organization will investigate later."
"That's right. You're so smart... but Davian."
"Why?"
"It's better not to involve your friends in this fight. That demon Obsess will try to burn the people who show weakness first."
"Is that so? Then I'll just take Mons with me. The others might just be a burden."
"Are you really confident? Shouldn't you ask the academy professors for help? I think that's the only chance you have."
"It's only been one semester since I entered the academy. If I rely on the professors already, I'll be screwed later."
"What does that mean?"
"It just means that you have to overcome quests on your own. Anyway, I'm confident, so don't worry."
'He said he was confident, so why isn't he showing up? Surely he didn't run away?'
Sophie had never really taken such a big gamble on anyone before.
If Obsess found out that Sophie was colluding with Davian, she would be turned into a handful of ashes on the spot.
Even if she successfully lured Obsess and killed him without being discovered, Sophie would be punished by the organization if there was any evidence that she had colluded with Davian.
Of course, her family's lives would also be in danger.
'Yeah. It's better if he doesn't show up. I hope he ran far away. Then nothing will happen to me.'
But then the opportunity to kill the demon bastard who was walking right in front of her would also disappear.
She wanted to detonate the bomb in her pocket right away and commit suicide together, but that would put her family in danger.
At that moment.
Two people approached Sophie's group from across the street.
A man in his early forties dressed as an explorer, and a swordsman of a similar age with a sword.
The swordsman was following diagonally behind, so he seemed to be a bodyguard.
The man who approached Sophie's group opened his mouth.
"Excuse me."
One of the warriors surrounding Obsess in a triangular formation frowned and held out his hand.
"Get out of the way."
"No, I'm just asking a question, why are you being so strict?"
"I said get out of the way."
Obsess's bodyguard nudged the man.
"You son of a bitch!"
The swordsman right behind the man stepped forward.
He looked like he was about to draw the sword he was wearing on his waist.
"How dare you lay a hand on him!"
A tense situation.
Obsess said in a calm voice.
"Let's just go. There's a more enjoyable thing waiting for us today."
Then he calmly looked at the two people who had come across the street one by one.
"You're lucky guys. I'm on my way to do something more fun, so I'll spare you."
As Obsess took a step, the bodyguard, who had been frowning and glaring at the other party, also began to walk in formation.
As Sophie was about to follow behind him.
"Wait a minute."
The man grabbed Sophie's shoulder.
His forceful voice echoed far away.
"I've been looking for someone who looks like a woman."
"W-what? Let go of me."
"I'm a private detective. I've been hired by Elton Academy to find the person who carried out the bombing at the academy a few months ago."
Obsess stopped and looked back.
The man who introduced himself as a private detective pointed his finger in the direction that Sophie's group had been walking.
"Doesn't she live in a cabin deep in that forest over there? I received a tip that someone who looks exactly like her is coming and going to the cabin."
"N-no! You've got the wrong person."
"That can't be. My eye for detail is the best on the continent. You'll have to come with me to the place where the cabin is. There's something I need to check."
Sophie's eyes trembled rapidly.
"I... I'm telling you it's not me!"
"Look at her. She's shaking her eyes from side to side and trembling her voice, isn't that even more suspicious?"
Obsess was staring intently at the detective and Sophie.
He tilted his head several times and slowly walked towards Sophie.
Obsess brought his long, sharp nails to Sophie's neck.
Then he whispered in Sophie's ear.
"Looks like you've been followed, Sophie Mare."
"P-please... help me."
"Me? Why?"
"I left the... the order document in the cabin. And some other traces..."
"That's not like you. Not like you at all."
Obsess slowly turned his head and looked at the detective.
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