Chapter 103: Trap (7)
What a ridiculous trick.
Kyren Amiel declared without hesitation.
He kept his mouth shut, silently vowing that the moment the boy took one more step and entered the range of his sword, he would cut him down immediately.
A boy who could say such things in a situation like this, in a place like this, couldn’t possibly be ordinary.
He wasn’t so naïve as to be deceived by the appearance of a child and make a mistake.
“Why are you like this, brother?”
The boy only looked at Kyren with a faint smile.
Just one step.
He stood exactly one step outside the range of Kyren’s sword.
As if he knew that distance perfectly.
“No matter if we have different mothers, aren’t I still your younger brother? You’re scaring me.”
“……”
“Please, look at my face. I’m your brother. Allen Amiel, of the same Amiel family.”
“……”
“Can’t you believe me? This red hair, these eyes. Don’t I look just like Father—”
“Shut your mouth!”
In the end, it was Allen who couldn’t bear it anymore.
Unable to express what he was feeling, he burst out in rage and charged straight at the boy.
His mind was filled with only one thought—to shut that mouth.
But he couldn’t fulfill his intention, blocked by Kyren, who stretched out an arm to stop him.
“Young Master…?”
“You fool. Cool your head and look around.”
Thanks to Kyren’s advice, Allen managed to regain a sliver of rationality.
And with it, enough composure to look around.
They weren’t the only ones here.
“When… did they…?”
Allen muttered with a sigh.
The two of them had long been surrounded by more people than they could possibly count.
The boy had merely been the bait.
And Allen had nearly been caught in that trap like a fool.
“As expected of you, Brother.”
As if he hadn’t expected much to begin with, the boy clapped a few times.
His condescending attitude was enough to make even Kyren frown slightly.
“More importantly, why on earth do you keep calling me your brother? I’ve never had a younger brother like you.”
“I told you, didn’t I? I’m Allen Amiel.”
Cheap provocation.
Kyren tried to brush it off casually.
And he would have—if not for the boy’s final words.
“I’m the Allen Amiel from your childhood that you feared. That’s me.”
The boy smiled as he looked at Kyren.
When Kyren flinched and trembled slightly, the smile on the boy’s lips deepened into a sharper curve.
“The red-haired bastard who appeared out of nowhere. The bastard who showed overwhelming talent beyond even your own, even though you tried to treat him as a brother without prejudice. The bastard who sliced through a knight’s armor with a wooden sword during a practice spar.”
A cheap trick, a worthless provocation.
Kyren repeated it to himself.
“A genius you couldn’t even touch. The embodiment of your fear and inferiority. That’s me—your younger brother, Allen Amiel.”
A ripple began to stir deep within his heart.
In this kind of confrontation, the one who wavers first loses.
Kyren, who hadn’t forgotten his father’s teachings, struggled to suppress the tremor in his chest.
“…You seem to have a lot of interest in our family.”
“Of course. And not just interest.”
The boy snickered.
“One day, it’ll be mine.”
No—more precisely, not mine.
Muttering to himself, the boy clapped once.
“To be exact, it’ll be ‘ours.’”
With that clap as a signal, the people who had surrounded them took a few steps forward.
Thanks to that, their faces—previously hidden in darkness—were now visible. Even Allen, and even Kyren, couldn’t help but be shocked.
Young men, little girls, middle-aged men, elderly women…
Men and women of all ages—a truly uncountable crowd.
And every single one of them had red hair.
As if they, too, were claiming to be of the Amiel family.
“Since we’ve come this far, shall I introduce myself again?”
The boy once more bowed politely to Kyren Amiel.
Speaking on behalf of all those gathered here.
“We, ‘Allen Amiel,’ greet you.”
“...Something’s off.”
The first person to respond to the words I unknowingly muttered was Cecilia.
“What is, Lian?”
“Several things.”
At my murmuring, both Yuran, who was leading us, and Lancia, who was watching our rear, stopped walking.
Yuran turned to me and asked,
“…Let’s hear it.”
She, too, seemed to want to confirm something.
I gave a slight nod and began voicing the questions that had been circling in my mind.
“I don’t understand what their goal is.”
“Uh… wasn’t it to hurt us? That’s what the first person who appeared said.”
At Lancia’s answer, I shook my head.
“That’s exactly what doesn’t make sense. If their goal was to kill us… then why go through the trouble of bringing us all the way here?”
“What do you mean, Lian?”
“It’s just too much of a hassle.”
If I were them—and I had to kill us?
Then I certainly wouldn’t have dragged us to a place like this.
“Of course, this place is ideal for committing such acts. No argument there. But aside from that, everything else feels… forced. They brought each of us here with half-baked lies. It was a plan so flimsy that a single misstep could have ruined it from the start.”
“You speak truth.”
Yuran nodded.
“The man who guided me—I already knew he was a shaman.”
“You knew, Yuran?”
“Wait, you too, Yuran? And you, junior?”
Lancia murmured in surprise.
“I also thought something felt off… so I pretended not to notice and just followed along to see how things would unfold.”
“Same here.”
“Me as well.”
“……”
Meanwhile, Cecilia glanced around briefly as if surveying her surroundings.
Since she had technically followed behind me, it seemed she didn’t have much to add.
“Anyway, if I were them—and if their goal was to kill us—then I would’ve done it at the Academy. They had taken on roles as students, assistants, faculty, maids, and even investigators… They could’ve had countless opportunities if they wanted to.”
I paused for a moment.
Speaking slowly so Yuran, who wasn’t fluent in the imperial language, could follow, had left my throat parched.
“Here.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Cecilia, somehow knowing, handed me a canteen. I immediately drank from it.
Strangely, the water inside was still cold.
“Even if, for some unknown reason, they needed to get rid of us here specifically… then they should’ve separated us first and targeted us one by one.”
“Lian Gwendil, your words are truly sound.”
Yuran nodded slowly and agreed.
“The sorcery we were hit with earlier was for training purposes. Not for combat or defense.”
“There’s no reason they would’ve bothered to prepare that kind of spell, then.”
“Indeed. And also, how we got separated at the beginning and brought here—it was sorcery. A very difficult one to master.”
Yuran nodded again.
“And that man earlier—he was weak.”
“You mean… there could be another sorcerer?”
“Exactly.”
Yuran continued,
“And the scattered tra—trap spells are strange too. All of them seemed aimed at stalling time, not causing actual harm.”
“……Actually, I thought something was off too.”
Lancia added quietly.
“If they really wanted to kill or disable us, they would’ve used spells, magic, and primitive traps in combination. Sister Roberta always said there’s nothing more dangerous and troublesome than a trap that mixes those elements together. But… as Yuran said, the traps we’ve encountered so far have been annoying but not threatening.”
She was right.
Just being aware of various traps and snares can wear down a person mentally.
There’s no way the enemy didn’t know that—so what exactly are they aiming for?
“Delaying us… Are they trying to prevent us from regrouping with the two who got separated from us earlier?”
“They probably wouldn’t even need to go that far.”
I recalled the moment we were attacked.
“They can numb and confuse our senses. In a place like this, that’s an incredibly effective power. Just make someone miss a single step, and you can throw them completely off course.”
“Then you’re saying they have another goal?”
“Hmm, if so, what could that goal possibly be…”
Cecilia spoke up quietly.
“This might be a little off-topic, Lian.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“They had a way to communicate with each other, right?”
“They did.”
“Then they must know I joined you late, and they must also know I requested help from the outside, don’t you think?”
“True…”
Which means it doesn’t make sense that they’re dragging things out like this.
If anything, time was on our side.
‘Wait a moment… don’t tell me…’
A sudden thought flashed through my mind, and I froze.
Yuran didn’t miss that reaction and pressed me.
“Lian Gwendil, do you know something?”
“…I do, but…”
I let out a small sigh.
Though I had promised to keep it secret, I couldn’t hide it in a situation like this.
“The truth is, here in the Forest of Secrets…”
In the end, I began to share with them what I knew.
Why such a dangerous and suspicious place even existed within the Academy.
The official reason the Forest of Secrets was off-limits, and the sanctuary located at its center.
The caretaker of that sanctuary—Airos.
And how the Headmaster had handed something to Airos.
“…Ah, I think I vaguely heard something like that. That there’s a place only we and the other two Duke families are allowed to enter.”
Cecilia nodded slightly.
Her reaction suggested the others believed me too.
“That’s quite the tale.”
“Seriously… A sanctuary housing the Wolpen Knights… That means the Saintess and the Holy Knight too…”
Lancia had been murmuring quietly, but suddenly waved her hands in a panic.
“Hey, I’ll definitely keep my promise! Don’t worry, junior! I swear on my name!”
“I’d really appreciate that. If the Headmaster finds out I said this, I’ll be in serious trouble.”
“Got it, don’t worry!”
Lancia nodded firmly, clenching both fists.
Seeing her, Cecilia also looked at me gently and said,
“…I’ll keep the promise too.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“……”
While we were talking, Yuran remained silent.
Then, in a cautious voice, she asked me,
“This Airos person—he must be strong, right? Am I correct?”
“Yes.”
“I suspect he’s not human. Am I right again?”
“Yes.”
“What is he?”
I hesitated for a moment.
But since I’d already mentioned the sanctuary and other details, I didn’t see much point in hiding what he was now.
“He’s a Dragon.”
The other three gasped.
Understandably so.
A Dragon—it was so unbelievable that it almost had to be true.
“In any case, as long as we don’t go to the very center, we’ll be fine. He said he was the caretaker of the sanctuary, and he said he would never forgive intruders. He said it himself.”
At my words, Yuran stiffly asked another question.
“Then, Lian Gwendil… I must ask, just in case.”
“What is it, Yuran?”
Gulp.
Yuran swallowed dryly and, pointing to one side, asked me carefully,
“…That Dragon, Airos—could it be that person?”
I stiffened at her words and turned my head to where she was pointing.
A clearing suddenly came into view.
A familiar structure.
And a man sitting casually on a familiar rock.
“…Oh, please no.”
Airos.
He was staring at us with his vertically slit eyes.