the era of calamities-Chapter 86: Cringe

"Yes, I’m listening."

"Hm."

"Okay, I’ll hurry."

Sirius ended the call.

In front of him, the candidate he had struck had a dislocated jaw. The others now hesitated to attack.

"Well then, how about we postpone our conversation for later?" Sirius suggested.

Conrad stepped forward, while the other candidates were still reluctant to make a move.

"What are you babbling about, idiot? We gave you the chance to surrender! Now it’s too late—die!"

Conrad vanished.

("Hm, invisibility...") murmured Sirius.

"Interesting."

He didn’t move, waiting.

He felt the air vibrate and tilted his head aside, but the next instant, a punch landed square on his face, sending him flying.

"Yeah, we can take him down!"

"Let’s go, guys!"

Seeing Sirius on the ground, the other candidates regained courage and drew their weapons, while some activated their resonances.

Sirius, however, did not flinch. He ran a hand across his cheek, noting the pain.

"One who knows how to throw punches but not words," he said with a smile.

<< Nephele Sense >>

Sirius’s ring dissolved into a white mist that spread around him.

Conrad, still invisible, saw this and, for reasons he couldn’t quite explain, chose not to approach.

Instead, he grabbed a stone and hurled it at Sirius with all his strength.

Sirius caught it in his hand.

"Not bad, but you’ve given yourself away."

He threw the stone back toward the direction it had come from.

It sliced through the air, hitting no one.

Sirius had no time to worry about it: all the candidates charged at him.

"Tsk."

Sirius crouched and placed his hand on the ground.

<< Stereo Chains >>

The mist he had summoned solidified into white chains that coiled around the candidates, binding them in place.

"This won’t last..."

Without wasting a second, Sirius leapt toward where the stone had fallen.

Of course, there was no one there. He dropped to one knee, pretending to pick it up.

---

Conrad, still invisible, had slipped away from the mist and witnessed the immobilization of the others.

("Good thing I played it safe.")

The next moment, Sirius turned his back without realizing Conrad was there.

Conrad saw a chance to finish him off. He drew a knife and crept up silently on Sirius, who seemed vulnerable.

When he was just inches away, he gripped the knife, ready to slit his throat.

Or rather... that’s what should have happened.

Sirius, as if he had foreseen it all, seized Conrad by the wrist.

"I told you, you’d been found out."

Conrad tried to break free, but couldn’t. Sirius held him firmly.

"How did you detect me?" Conrad demanded.

Sirius released the chains binding the other candidates. The mist vanished, and the ring reappeared on his finger.

"Very simple... but you don’t need to know."

In truth, Sirius hadn’t detected Conrad—because Conrad had never entered the mist.

Still, he knew the man wanted him dead. By exposing his back, he was waiting for it: even invisible, Conrad’s murderous intent was something Sirius raised in murder could never miss.

Meanwhile, the freed candidates were ready to fight again, and Conrad did not forget it.

He used his left hand to grab Sirius by the shoulder.

"I’ve got him! Beat him to a pulp!" Conrad ordered, wearing a victorious grin.

"Even if you’ve caught me, it changes nothing. You shouldn’t have freed them. In the end, you’re the stupid one."

Sirius laughed.

What Conrad didn’t know was that Sirius had no intention of killing a single candidate well, almost.

After all, if even one candidate died, his first mission as an enforcer would be a failure.

Besides, keeping the candidates bound while they struggled drained his ether. He had no energy to waste especially since Calamities would soon show up.

("If force can’t solve something, trickery will. And I have no shame in that.")

Before the candidates could attack again, Sirius began screaming like a little girl:

"Help, help, they’re trying to kill me!"

The candidates nearly died laughing.

"He’s lost his mind..."

Even Conrad, who had been about to slit his throat, froze at such a pitiful act.

"Senior, help me!" Sirius went on shouting for aid.

"What is he trying to do?"

"We’re alone here."

"He’s hoping for a miracle... he must’ve given up. Let’s finish him off, he’s getting on my nerves."

While no one understood his change in behavior, a voice suddenly rang out:

"That’s enough."

They all turned toward the source of the voice.

San stood there, watching them with exasperation.

They all saw the black cloak he wore, along with the insignia of a Master, and shivered in fear.

Sirius smiled.

("As expected, someone really was watching us.")

In truth, though the director had given the candidates free rein for the second trial, he had also stated that anyone who failed to prove themselves worthy in his eyes would be instantly disqualified.

What Sirius didn’t understand was why no one was visibly monitoring the candidates.

Since this trial simulated the life of an enforcer, the director should have had a team assigned to watch each of them individually.

No matter how far Sirius stretched his senses, he had found no one.

That left him with two options: either he was wrong and no one was observing them, or someone was present but undetectable.

Seeing San, Sirius concluded it was the second case.

("Even now, standing before me, I can’t sense his presence. The only reason I can see him is because he allows it. What a monster... Is this the power of a Master from the Bureau of Archives and Exploration?")

Sirius released Conrad and threw himself pathetically at San’s feet.

"Senior, please, grant me justice! They tried to kill me!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Conrad was so stunned he even forgot to stay invisible.

("This guy... he has no pride.")

The other candidates also scrambled to justify themselves before San.

"We didn’t do anything!"

"Yes, we were manipulated!"

"It’s all his fault!"

Caught red-handed, they all pointed fingers at Conrad, as if he had forced them.

("You bastards...")

Conrad cursed them inwardly but chose not to argue as he stepped forward toward San.

"Honorable Master, all we did was follow the director’s instructions. He gave us free rein for the second trial. Nothing we did broke the rules."

("If you play that game, I won’t be the only one to fall.") thought Conrad.

San remained silent, his eyes moving from Sirius to Conrad.

"This trial simulates the life of an enforcer. In that case, what happens to those guilty of insubordination?" Sirius asked.

Sirius and Conrad locked eyes. Neither was willing to lose this duel.

---

San, on the other hand, was bored.

"You are both exasperating," he admitted.

"Did you not have other ways to resolve this without humiliating yourself so much? While I don’t mind you making a fool of yourself, you wear the cloak of the Order. Whatever the situation, you must act accordingly," he said, addressing Sirius.

"And you..." This time, his gaze shifted to Conrad.

"If you want his place, take it. You’re free to do as you please. But don’t kill him: he remains an enforcer. In truth, you couldn’t kill him anyway... but who knows, you might surprise me."

Finally, San turned to the rest of the candidates, his cold voice dripping with disgust.

"As for you, you are beyond redemption. Consider yourselves failed in this exam. Trash without the slightest ounce of selfhood does not deserve to serve under the banner of this bureau."

As soon as he finished speaking, San vanished.

A gust of wind swept the area, and all the candidates he had disqualified were gone.

Only Sirius and Conrad remained.