Chapter 107
Royal Academy Yggdrasil, Main Building, First Floor, Lecture Room 4.
Since there was still some time before class began, only one student was seated.
“…….”
Nixie, sitting in the very back seat, looked at her wrist.
A blue ribbon was tied around her right wrist.
Then, she unfolded and read again the letter she had received yesterday.
「If you have the courage to burn your own body in pursuit of justice and to face the truth.
Wrap a blue ribbon around your right arm.」
The sender was……
「From. Black Knight」
Nixie mulled over the phrase ‘Black Knight’.
She did not think it was someone’s prank.
She was strongly convinced that the sender was indeed the Black Knight.
‘This letter was inside my locker.’
The communal lockers on the 3rd floor of the Main Building.
They were protected by Yggdrasil’s own security magic, which could not be opened unless one knew the password pattern.
With millions of possible combinations, even professors struggled to unlock them.
Thanks to that, locker theft incidents had been nonexistent.
‘A person skilled enough to disable such security magic in an instant…….’
The Black Knight had managed it and left a letter in Nixie’s locker.
She had heard rumors about him before……
But this was the first time she had personally felt the extent of his skill.
‘Vice President Rubin…… was he really such a person?’
He was the man who had recently revealed his identity and came to be called the Black Knight.
Personally, Nixie did not like Vice President Rubin.
But she did find the ‘Black Knight’ rather appealing.
‘The atmosphere of this letter and Vice President Rubin…… do not match at all.’
She could not imagine the man she thought of as gentle and quiet to have written such a letter.
Even so, the reason she had followed the letter’s instructions was—
「If you have the courage to face the truth.」
That one line had stirred Nixie’s heart.
By then, students began to gather one by one, filling the lecture room.
“Hello, everyone……!”
Professor Hilda, with long black hair covering one eye, entered the lecture room.
“Since you are all seated, let’s begin the lecture……!”
The Introduction to Basic Magic class began.
Nixie kept her gaze fixed on her textbook.
But her mind was entirely occupied with thoughts of the letter and the Black Knight.
After about two hours had passed—
“……Then, that concludes today’s lecture!”
As Professor Hilda clapped her hands, the students rose from their seats.
Nixie also left the lecture room along with them.
When she opened her locker to put away her textbook—
Nixie’s eyes widened.
……Again.
There was a new envelope inside.
She quickly shoved it into her bag and ran straight back to the dormitory.
In her empty dorm room—
Nixie hurriedly pulled the envelope out of her bag and read it.
「Invitation.
Nixie, I have witnessed your resolve with my own eyes.
We swear never to turn away from the events of this world, and to always fight for truth and justice.
If you wish to join the Black Knights, come to the following place tonight.」
……At the same time, beneath the golden sunset sky.
Behind the Academy’s Main Building.
“Uuuhhhuhhh……!”
A muscular man, Queens, held a letter in his trembling hands.
“Th-the Black Knight……!”
His face flushed red, and unable to hold back tears of emotion, they rolled down his cheeks.
“The Black Knight has noticed me……!!”
His cry of joy echoed all the way to the end of the golden sky.
I watched Queens’s wailing from the 3rd-floor window of the Main Building.
‘……I never thought I’d end up doing something like this.’
Letting out a small sigh, I walked toward the lockers in the hallway.
Somehow, things had turned out this way.
Throw in some words like ‘justice’ and ‘truth’, and they were all fired up with a sense of duty.
To make them feel chosen by me, I even wrote their names directly in the letters.
‘For now…… they seem to be following without suspicion.’
Each of them had shown a willingness to obey.
‘I told one to tie a blue ribbon around their wrist, another to wear black gloves—different instructions for each.’
It could have been dismissed as a prank letter.
But fortunately, they seemed to believe the contents.
‘There was no secret place to put the letters, so the lockers were the only option.’
To open a locker, one normally had to undo the security magic, but that wasn’t necessary.
The method was very simple.
‘It doesn’t matter even if there are people around.’
I leaned my back against the locker.
I opened the book tucked at my waist and pretended to read it.
Then I called out in my mind.
‘Pau.’
Kuyap.
Inside the locker, I heard the small sound of Pau being summoned.
And within it, I opened a subspace.
‘Pau, take out the envelope for me.’
As I replied in my mind, I heard Pau biting onto something.
Kuuu…… yap!
Thud!
At the same time, I heard the sound of a paper envelope hitting and falling against the locker.
In this way, if I closed the subspace and put Pau back into the ✿Animal✿Farm✿ system……
‘A perfect crime is established without even touching the security magic.’
Not just envelopes, but other items could also be stored in sealed spaces.
It was a very useful ability.
“Hey, Torono. Why are you so down today?”
“……Shut up.”
Voices echoed from the hallway.
‘Perfect timing.’
Seeing the group of students, I strolled along calmly without even lifting my gaze from the book.
Soon after, behind me came the sound of a locker opening, followed by Torono’s surprised voice.
“Whaaat?!”
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Why do you have a love letter in your locker? Hand it over.”
“It’s not a love letter. T-there’s something like that, you idiot! I’ll never give it to you!”
Just as I expected, Torono kept the secret until the end.
Four fools, brimming with a sense of justice.
Nixie, Eris, Queens, and Torono.
I had delivered letters to each of them.
The contents of the letters were adjusted to suit their personalities.
……This was the way to counter the impostor.
‘Since someone has appeared, claiming to be the Black Knight……. Fine, do as you please. I’ll just increase the numbers even more.’
Under the name of the ‘Black Knights’, I decided to increase my ranks.
‘If multiple people appear at once, villains won’t know who the real one is.’
It would bring confusion to enemies.
And it was a way to eliminate impostors who would surely appear even after I caught Rubin.
All four I had chosen were fundamentally talented individuals with great potential.
But I had not recruited them with ability as the top priority.
‘The real priority was how well they could follow without doubting me.’
Their personalities may all differ, but they were endlessly loyal to the figure they admired, and overflowed with duty and chivalry.
That was their common trait.
‘Anyway, all the letters have been delivered…….’
Leaving the Main Building, I walked toward the street marked ‘6th Avenue’.
It was the time when the golden sunset painted the sky purple.
‘……Now, only one remains.’
The total number I wanted was five.
Step, step.
As I walked down the empty street, I touched my face.
My uniform was dyed pitch black, and a black mask covered my face.
When I reached the 13th tree along 6th Avenue, I saw a man wearing armor and a red cape.
He was tall, with messy red hair, but his face still looked youthful.
Noticing my approach, he raised his hand halfway and waved.
“Hey, Rubin! Why did you send this challenge?”
「If you have the courage to face the truth.
At 9 p.m., come beneath the 13th tree on the left side of 6th Avenue.」
The letter in his hand said exactly that.
He was the Vice Captain of the Red Hawk Knights, affiliated with Yggdrasil.
‘Second-year, Joel Gelhart.’
Known as a genius of swordsmanship, he was as strong as the first-year top student, Heidel.
He was not someone who sought loyalty or justice.
But when something seemed fun, he followed along—even against orders—and poured his everything into it.
If he became an ally, he would be an invaluable force.
I silently stood before him.
Gelhart blinked, stroking his chin.
“Hm……”
Gelhart furrowed his brows and opened his mouth.
“You’re not Rubin, are you?”
Then he smirked.
“Who you are…… I guess I’ll find out by crossing swords.”
With a swift motion, Gelhart drew his blade.
Whooosh―!
As he touched the blade, crimson flames erupted.
“Let’s see just how skilled you really are!”
Gelhart charged with his sword in hand.
I drew the Titanium Sword from subspace.
Clang―!
Sparks flew as our blades clashed.
Blocking the sword strike, I retreated with a backstep.
‘Not quite at Verdi’s level, but certainly strong.’
Among Academy students, Gelhart was one of the top five.
‘The only reason I defeated Verdi was purely thanks to the fusion skill.’
Compared to back then, I wasn’t even at 10% of my full strength now.
‘Of course, I know the strategy to deal with Gelhart, so I won’t lose…….’
But my basic stats were too lacking to fully carry out that strategy, making victory difficult.
“Strange, why aren’t you attacking?”
In a flash, Gelhart closed the distance to me.
Clang―!
Clang―!
Sword strikes poured like a storm, and I barely managed to endure the onslaught.
Whooosh―!
One of Gelhart’s eyes suddenly ignited with flame.
A self-enhancement skill that exploded his base stats by pouring all his mana into them.
‘So he’s willing to push himself this far, just to defeat me.’
Thanks to that, I could end the battle more quickly.
Kaaang―!
I blocked his strike with the shield in my left hand.
“Hm?”
There was a reason Gelhart showed doubt in his eyes.
Whoooosh……
The flames clinging to Gelhart’s sword and eye went out.
‘It’s worth the high price.’
The unique ability of high-purity Clovarium, usable only once per battle.
It had completely ‘nullified’ the mana flowing through his body.
“……?”
Gelhart stepped back a few paces, glancing between his extinguished sword and me.
He must have used up all his mana when activating that buff skill just now.
The fight was decided.
‘He’ll soon realize that continuing the battle is meaningless.’
As I thought about how to propose my terms, I closed the subspace after storing away the Titanium Sword.
Flash―!
Yet the man rushed at me, sword in hand.
‘……What? Why won’t he give up?’
I hurriedly reopened subspace to draw my Titanium Sword.
‘Damn it!’
Too late.
Before I could even reach into the open subspace, he thrust his blade through the air first.
Charging at the Black Knight, Gelhart swung his sword again and again, thinking.
‘He’s not attacking at all?’
Surely, he must have been looking down on him.
Gelhart had cloaked his entire body in flames.
He intended to pour all his mana into one strike, taking advantage of his foe’s carelessness.
‘But to erase all of it in an instant.’
He didn’t know what trick was used, but all of his flames had disappeared.
With his mana depleted as well, swinging his sword was now meaningless.
The Black Knight, as if assured of victory, sheathed his sword.
‘To claim victory without attacking.’
……That sparked his spontaneous curiosity.
What if, instead of giving up, he swung his sword at the man?
Swaaash―!
A surprise attack.
In an instant, he lunged and stabbed at the Black Knight.
‘It will land for sure!’
A swordsman who had wielded a blade for so long carried with him a certain ‘sense’.
In that brief instant of 0.1 seconds when the sword was swung toward the enemy.
A perfect moment when situation, conditions, and timing all aligned.
A feeling arose—‘This strike will definitely connect.’
And that intuition had never failed him before.
“…….”
But.
For the first time, Gelhart’s sense went astray.
“……?”
There was no heavy sensation in his hand.
The sword he had been holding had vanished, and even his gauntlet was neatly severed up to the wrist.
……Yet his arm felt no wound, no pain.
“……What is this?”
Eyes widening, he slowly turned his gaze toward the Black Knight.
Gelhart stopped breathing.
In the Black Knight’s hand were his sword and gauntlet.