Chapter 129

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Episode 29 - Preparations [4]

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Las emociones del chico eran puro terror y fear; I was honestly somewhat bewildered.

I had seen those emotions before. Yes, it was just yesterday.

In any case, I leaned my shoulder against the doorframe as I crossed my arms.

"Hey, what’s your name?"

I asked a simple question. The boy flinched, his gaze continuing to wander around the entire room.

"You can’t escape, just answer my question."

The boy looked back at me. He swallowed nervously while his heart continued pounding hard.

I was starting to lose patience. Honestly, I didn’t want to waste too much time.

Tomorrow, I would have to leave the Academy and obtain a leave permit.

The entrance to Black City would close before noon, and I couldn’t wait for classes to end.

’Time is tight.’

The boy, sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the wall, finally answered.

"R-Rowan... my name is Rowan."

I nodded as I used my senses, soon focusing my attention on one particular door.

Instead of a conventional lock, it had a padlock wrapped in chains.

I turned my attention back to Rowan and asked:

"Why do you steal?"

I was actually curious.

In Holy Land, I had no memories regarding the reason behind the thief’s robberies.

And even if it was mere curiosity, I couldn’t help but ask.

Rowan blinked for a few seconds before responding.

"I-it’s not a big deal... I don’t have parents or anyone else, and because of my age and status as a commoner, I don’t think I could get a decent job... I-I think they’d just exploit me."

"Mhm."

I nodded without saying anything about it. In a way, this was fairly common among commoners.

Well, I wasn’t very different during my early days in this world.

Though I did take all the money from a villain, and ever since then, money has been the least of my concerns.

Besides, I have all the money from a military city stored inside my Inventory.

"So..."

Rowan continued.

"S-so, I wanted to go to Arlumeria and live as a merchant until I sold everything I stole, then buy a house and live without working or worrying about money..."

Once again, I nodded. I thought about it for a moment before pointing at the door.

"Open it. I really want one of your items... no, wait, I think you have it in your pocket."

The hidden piece was a Titan Core. I needed it, especially because of the amount of Mana it contained.

It was necessary to activate a Seal Scroll that had cost me a great deal to obtain.

It would be enough to seal even a Class 10 villain for a few seconds.

I didn’t have enough mana to activate the Seal Scroll, and the hidden piece was what I needed to secure the spell.

Rowan brought his hand to his right pocket and pulled out a small sphere.

It was about the size of a ping-pong ball.

I took the Titan Core and stored it inside my Inventory.

Then, I opened my mouth and said to Rowan:

"Return everything you stole... no, not everything, just what you stole from commoners. Then sell everything stolen from nobles and afterward go to a potion shop called Alchemy Night, in the Southern District, on Street Number 8. The owner of the shop is named Mia. Tell her I sent you."

I turned around while Rowan’s confusion was obvious.

"W-what do you mean?"

As I walked out the door, I continued:

"You’ll stay with Mia and work for me. You’re not an Awakened, and even so, no one has managed to catch you, so you have talent for infiltration. I’ll arrive there in a couple of days; if I don’t see you, I’ll personally come looking for you."

Rowan swallowed nervously and nodded unconsciously.

"O-okay, I promise."

Finally, I continued on my way back to the dormitories.

It was already nighttime, and tomorrow the leader, Alessia, would probably call for a meeting.

Yeah, it was very likely.

***

The reason for recruiting Rowan along with Mia was simple.

They would make certain things I have planned for the future much easier.

After Chapter Four, the villains and the five criminal organizations would become very important and would appear frequently.

And I needed a team that could help me gather information about them.

Noticing that Rowan had talent for espionage and Mia for Alchemy, both of them would be very useful in the future.

In any case, it was already morning, and my watch had vibrated.

So I headed straight to the main building, to the Club room on the third floor.

After opening the door, some of the members were already there; only Rinna was missing, though it seemed she would arrive soon.

I took a seat in the same spot on the sofa while we waited for Rinna.

Click!

The door opened, and Rinna entered while apologizing.

"Sorry, I went to sleep really late yesterday, so I just woke up."

She said while yawning and taking a seat.

The leader brushed it off.

"It doesn’t matter, little Saint. Well, now about the meeting, I think you already know what this is about, right?"

Everyone present nodded.

Alessia’s calm and playful expression changed into a more serious one.

She picked up a few papers and then said:

"Director Bernice sent us a new mission. It’s related to the Black City and its grand Auction. Even though we can’t obtain one of those Special Cards, we do have the conventional Cards."

"Once inside the Black City, we’ll look for a way to infiltrate the Auction or, at the very least, surround the area to obtain as much information as possible."

She placed the papers on the table and continued: 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"We’ll split into two teams. They’ll be the same ones from the first mission. You can skip classes today, so don’t worry about the points. We’ll leave in an hour, since it’s known that the entrances to the Black City will be closed before noon."

"Director Bernice gave us a couple of Legendary-Rank Relics to conceal ourselves and prevent anyone from discovering that we’re spies. As far as we know, there may be one or more Class 10 villains at the Auction."

"Then, if anyone has a doubt or question..."

She looked at all of us, but nobody said anything. Well, except for me.

I raised my hand, drawing the leader’s attention.

"Yes, Junior Adel."

"I won’t be going on the mission. I have something important to do outside the Academy, and it’s urgent."

Alessia raised an eyebrow and said:

"Refusing a mission carries a penalty of five hundred points. You’ll lose the points you received from your first mission. Are you sure?"

I did not hesitate to confirm my decision.

It was certainly a shame to lose the points I had earned.

I would probably have to participate in three or more missions to earn those five hundred points again.

’But we’re talking about a Main Mission.’

Ironically, so far I haven’t received any Side Missions.

The leader nodded and said:

"Alright, then you’re out. You may leave if you want."

"Thanks, then I’ll be going."

I noticed the others looking at me in confusion, as if asking why I had not told them anything about leaving.

I shrugged and walked out the door.

***

Clank!

When the door closed, silence filled the Club room.

Alessia let out a sigh as she deducted five hundred points from Adel.

Then she turned to the others and said:

"That was unexpected, right, guys?"

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Alessia.

Nobody had expected Adel to refuse this mission, but meanwhile, Charlotte frowned.

To Charlotte, something did not add up.

’How strange. Aside from Veronica, he didn’t exist in the novel, but until now he hadn’t acted strangely... not until today.’

Charlotte had spent forty days with Adel inside a Memory Gate. The two of them had worked together and fought together.

They had grown closer and joked around with each other. They had even created a sort of language through emotions.

And even though Charlotte had avoided talking to him, since the memories of certain moments inside the Memory Gate could not be forgotten...

Throughout all this time, she had never stopped keeping an eye on him.

’Ugh, forget it. Anyway, the future I know from the novel is different.’

In the novel, there was no arc related to the Black City or an Auction.

To begin with, Julian had never even joined the Anti-Villain Club.

So Julian had never left the Academy, except during the two vacations after each semester.

’Since the protagonist is participating in this unknown arc, it’s better to stick close to him to avoid any mishaps.’

And this Black City had also caught Charlotte’s attention.

Meanwhile, Alessia was explaining some details of the mission and showing the Relics that Director Bernice had lent her.

"Well, since there are seven of us now, I’ll return one of the Relics to the Director. See you all in an hour."

Alessia took one of the Relics and walked out the door.

Probably to return it to Director Bernice.

The rest of the members stayed for a while, reviewing the plans and actions they would use in the Black City.

"Will there really be a Class 10 villain? Is this mission safe?"

Julian asked, somewhat worried.

"Well, if Director Bernice assigned us this mission and even lent us high-ranking Relics, I suppose it won’t be too dangerous unless we do something stupid."

Rinna replied. She probably had the most experience in the entire first-year group when it came to dealing with villains.

"Well, the strangest thing was Adel."

"Yeah, that’s true."

"True."

Everyone nodded, agreeing about Adel’s suspicious behavior.

In any case, shortly afterward, they all left to prepare their things for the mission.