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"Come on, let's go together. It's also our guild's business. We're friends, aren't we? We can all enter the academy together tomorrow."
"Yeah. What if something happens? Let's move together, all four of us."
Nubes finally stepped forward.
"The party is perfect too. I'm the tank. Bellum is the melee dealer. Davian is the ranged dealer. Luna is the healer. With this setup, we can handle most guys, right?"
In the end, Davian decided to go to the dorm with his friends and wait for Mons together.
On the way to the dorm.
콰아앙! (Kwaaang!)
"What's that sound?"
"There, over there!"
Luna pointed.
Above the blazing flames, smoke darker than the night sky was rising.
"What is it this time?"
"Let's go!"
Davian darted forward first.
"I'll go ahead, so the three of you come together!"
In fact, Bellum and Nubes can run faster than Davian.
But Luna can't.
He couldn't leave Luna to come alone behind them.
Davian chose to go ahead alone.
The place where the smoke was rising was in the southwest of the city.
More than 10 kilometers away from where Davian was.
How long had he run?
A building that had been completely burned down and only traces remained came into view.
The black smoke completely covered the nearby sky.
Because the fire had spread to nearby buildings, residents were rushing out to put out the fire.
Compared to the completely burned-down state of the building, the surrounding buildings were relatively intact, so it seemed like there had been an explosion from within.
There wasn't even a slight trace of magic, so it was an explosion caused by explosives.
Davian rushed towards the collapsed building.
A resident who was surrounding the area grabbed Davian.
Davian lightly shook off the resident's arm and dashed into the ruins of the building.
"Mons!"
Looking at the shape of the building's ruins, it seemed to have been an inn, but there was no trace of anyone anywhere.
That was a relief, if anything.
"Mons!"
Davian kept calling Mons's name and rummaged through the rubble for a long time.
Rustle.
Davian noticed a piece of the building's debris moving on one side.
Just in case, he manifested wind element magic in his left hand and approached the moving debris.
"Cough cough."
He pushed the debris away, and a sturdy man stood up.
His whole body was covered in black soot.
The wind element magic in Davian's left hand, which had been sharpening sharply, dissipated into the air.
"Mons! Are you okay?"
"Cough! Ah, young master. I'm fine."
Davian approached Mons.
At first glance, it looked like his whole body had been burned, but upon closer inspection, it was just ash and soot.
"That's a relief. Mons. You're alright?"
"I didn't do strenuous training every day just to be burned by this much of an explosion."
Mons tapped here and there on his body. His clothes had completely burned away, revealing his naked body.
Fortunately or unfortunately, he was so blackened that it seemed like you couldn't even tell he was naked from afar.
Davian took off his school uniform jacket and handed it to Mons.
Mons hesitated for a moment after receiving the jacket, then chose to tie the jacket sleeves behind his waist to roughly cover his lower body.
"What happened?"
"It seems they were using this inn by renting it out entirely. They always said the rooms were full and didn't accept guests."
"How many of them were there?"
"I confirmed seven here."
"You didn't fight them, did you? Their skills are no joke."
"As soon as they found me, a young wizard indiscriminately launched attacks."
"So?"
"I thought I should capture at least one alive, so I jumped into the building. But they had already drawn a large warp magic circle in the center of the building."
"So the wizard stalled for time."
"That's right. That way, the other six moved to another place using the magic circle."
"What about the wizard who attacked you?"
"I have to find him. I deliberately didn't kill him, but only inflicted fatal wounds. But, as you can see, the explosives they installed went off."
"A young wizard with fatal injuries... It wouldn't have been easy to survive in this explosion."
"I guess not? Damn it."
"Any other clues?"
Mons looked around the collapsed ruins of the building.
"I don't think anything else will come out of here. It's completely burned."
"I guess so. They're meticulous guys."
"Let's go back to the dorm and talk."
Mons and Davian's dorm.
"So you're saying those guys are spies from the Marino Empire?"
Mons, who had washed up neatly and put on proper clothes, replied.
"Yes, young master. From what I overheard, there are more than ten spies in Elton City alone. There must be even more spies in the capital. Ah! And I also heard something about a Gray Witch. The plan was perfect, but it failed."
Rubens, the assistant who awakened the Gray Witch, was also a spy from the Marino Empire.
"I see... So they were all from the same organization. The inn is the only hideout?"
"They seemed to live separately and gather at that inn. I'll have to go find the building owner tomorrow, but they probably rented it out entirely. Ah, they were also talking about the next hideout, so it seems they don't use one place for long."
Davian turned to look at Bellum.
"Marino Empire... Bellum. Your uncle told you about it, right? That the Marino Empire is focusing on researching large ships."
"That's right, he did."
Luna, with a terrified expression, asked.
"Then are they really going to start a war with our country? Mr. Wilson said that wouldn't happen, but... They're sending so many spies."
Davian replied.
"As Mr. Wilson said, this Alkancia Kingdom is not an easy opponent, so they're sending so many spies. To try to bring us down from the inside."
"Bring down? Our Alkancia?"
"Or maybe they're trying to prevent Alkancia from helping others while they're invading another continent. We don't know yet. It seems they've been sending spies for a long time."
Davian turned to look at Mons.
They were the ones who destroyed Mons's family eight years ago.
But Davian couldn't find any change in Mons's expression.
He was already skilled enough that there was no one in the Naone family's private army who could match him, but now he knew why he focused on internal and external training whenever he had the chance.
He had never shown it outwardly, but he had a life goal of finding and punishing those who had destroyed his family.
'Graduating by clearing all the quests is more important than helping Mons. But if the two are related...'
Davian's head became complicated.
Mons, the first person he met after being possessed into this game 'Elton Academy'.
An unusual expert.
A descendant of the duke's family that produced the most outstanding swordsmen.
Elton Academy's top freshman.
The survivor of a family destroyed by an organization trying to harm the academy.
It couldn't be a simple coincidence.
'In the final of the 3rd playthrough, the Demon Tribe quest was a situation where the academy would be completely invaded by the Demon Tribe if the north gate was not blocked within the time limit.'
There were several quests that would cause the academy to disappear if he failed, let alone graduate.
If you think that there is a huge mastermind behind all of this, it feels like there is more plausibility.
'If that mastermind is the Marino Empire...'
But even so, he can't go to the Marino Empire now and investigate the mastermind.
In any case, in order to complete the final quest, 'Graduation from the Academy', he must faithfully attend the academy.
Besides, in his current state, there is no guarantee that he can win when he meets a proper expert.
No, he would definitely lose.
He has become much stronger after going through 3 playthroughs, but he still has to admit that he is at the academy level.
Either way, what Davian needs most is.
'I have to become much stronger than I am now.'
But knowing that you are simply working hard to become stronger without knowing anything and knowing even vaguely the identity of the enemy is definitely a different matter.
'I have to keep finding out about those spies.'
"Davian! What are you thinking so hard about?"
"Ah, I'm thinking about these spies. What to do in the future."
"Shouldn't we tell the professors about this?"
Bellum, who had been thinking about something for a while, carefully opened his mouth.
"What if we tell them about this and get our weekend outings blocked? The academy is too stuffy."
Nubes shook his head and sighed deeply.
"Hey, do you think the professors won't know if we don't tell them? A stone golem appeared and an inn building exploded."
"Ah, is that so?"
This time Luna asked.
"Anyway, our capital tour was canceled because of the last incident. Are they going to cancel the spring festival too?"
"Oh, is that so?"
"What about the fall picnic? Will it be okay then because it will be quiet?"
"It will be okay then, right?"
"......"
Davian looks at his three friends without saying a word.
The depth of concern was bound to be different from Davian.
In a way, this was a conversation befitting of ordinary seventeen-year-old academy freshmen.
Monday.
Swordsmanship class.
Several skeleton models are standing in the middle of the training hall.
The skeleton models were holding wooden swords of different sizes.
"Today, we will be teaching about the Sword Edge Circle. Now, everyone, draw your swords."
Swish.
All swordsmanship classes except for sparring were conducted with real swords.
After all, the feeling of a wooden sword and a real sword are bound to be different.
"In your current stance, stretch your sword straight forward, then draw a large circle."
Following Professor Stella's instructions, the swordsmanship students who were lined up widely drew large circles with their respective swords.
"That's the Sword Edge Circle. Assuming you meet a swordsman of a similar level, what would happen if an ordinary slash or stab attack were to enter that circle?"
One student shouted.
"It will be blocked!"
"Of course it will be blocked. Now, everyone, turn left!"
The students turned to the left in unison.
"In that state, draw a large circle in this direction as you did earlier."
The students drew large circles again according to the instructions.
"Students using one-handed swords such as arming swords, rapiers, and sabers would have a larger Sword Edge Circle than when standing facing forward. But what about students with two-handed swords?"
"The size of the circle has decreased to less than half."
Stella pointed to a student this time and asked.
"Erban, you are holding a bastard sword that can be used with both hands and one hand. But why did you draw the circle with both hands?"
Erban Nadium.
A 2-star swordsman who sparred with Bonita in the first swordsmanship class.
As soon as Erban's name came out of Professor Stella's mouth, some students began to giggle.
"Snail. Hehe."
"Hey, but we can't make fun of him. He is a 2-star swordsman."
"He rolled around and passed the 2-star swordsman test, right?"
Ignoring the students' giggles, Erban replied.
"The reason is... um... Ah! I assumed that I met an opponent with a heavier sword than me."
It was a stuttering but appropriate answer.
You can't block an opponent who is swinging a larger and heavier sword with both hands with a one-handed sword technique.
"That was a good answer. Just because it is a sword that can be used with both hands and one hand does not mean that I can always choose the grip method. It depends on who you meet."
Professor Stella's eyes moved to Davian.
"Davian."
"Yes, professor."
"Why did you use both hands when facing forward and then rotate the sword with one hand this time?"
"If I do it with both hands, the Sword Edge Circle becomes too small, and if a sword comes in from outside the circle, it will stab my body right away."
"Then, according to Erban, if the opponent is holding a heavier sword?"
Davian drew a large circle again with one hand.
When the circle was about half completed, Davian's left foot moved forward.
At the same time, his left hand, which was not holding the sword, grabbed the bottom of the sword handle.
Davian's sword, which had been lightly drawing a circle, was now firmly fixed in the air.
"I can block it first and then send force with the other hand. Ah, of course, before the sword crushes my body."
Professor Stella tilted her head.
'What in the world is going on with Davian?'
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