I stepped through the debris. Smashing the building had changed many things. Their attitude toward me had shifted, and mine toward them needed to shift in turn.
“I am Dante Hiakapo, Senior Professor of the Department of Assassination. I came here to report the mass emergence of Rifts in Zone 4. And yet you people refused to accept my report.”
“A-A-Assassination Dep—!”
At the mention of Senior Professor from the Department of Assassination, terror seeped into all of their eyes. I hadn’t revealed it earlier on purpose—I’d wanted to see what they were like during normal operations.
“The Rifts will rupture between tonight and early tomorrow morning. The situation must be rectified before then. Therefore, from now on, you will cooperate with me. If anyone objects, speak now.”
“......”
No one objected.
My head cleared a little, and I was slightly surprised to find that among the memories synchronized from the original Dante, there were quite a few involving the Disciplinary Bureau.
Perhaps the original Dante had once been a Bureau agent. Regardless, it worked out well.
“You on the left. Go now and print the patrol logs from the last four weeks since the Assassination War. All of them.”
“A-ah...”
His face went pale. Like he’d just remembered something incriminating.
“If you tamper with or alter the logs in any way, you’ll die by my hand.”
“Y-Yes, sir...”
He headed into the back office.
“You, in the middle. Where’s the on-duty officer?”
One of them scrambled to make a phone call, while another hesitantly explained. The long-standing practice at this precinct, apparently, was that the supervising officer only showed up in special circumstances.
“You think that makes any sense?”
“......”
So there had been no supervisor. Just subordinates running shifts unsupervised.
“Go get him.”
“Ah! B-but, um... he’s... it’s his wedding anniversary...”
Wedding anniversary?
As the others squirmed in discomfort, the one on the right asked me,
“Would it be okay if we handle this ourselves...?”
“No.”
“If it’s a mass Rift incident... w-we could activate the emergency standby team—”
“No.”
There was no need to consider it.
At my response, the officer’s face stiffened.
“B-But...”
“You’re not capable of handling the consequences of this situation.”
“......”
“If that anniversary was so important, your officer should have made the effort to switch shifts. And if you’re using ‘standard practice’ as an excuse—then that practice needs to die.”
There was no reason for me not to summon the officer.
“And yet...”
I stared directly into the man’s eyes.
“Who do you think you are, trying to negotiate with me?”
“......”
His expression froze.
“Know your place.”
The words came out with an authority and oppression that even surprised me. But there are times when oppression is necessary.
Then the officer next to him stammered,
“I-I’ll call him right away...!”
But his phone call was merely a stall tactic—to buy time and think. I knew this because just now, I’d seen it in the 【Script】. It showed where and what the officer was doing.
“Officer.”
“Y-Yes...?”
“Where is your commanding officer right now?”
“Ah, like I said, it’s his anniversary... so he’s probably at a restaurant with his wife...”
I cut him off and asked again, slowly.
“Where is he?”
“With his wife at a... restaurant... or maybe a bar...”
“Where exactly?”
“Well, that is...”
“Where?”
“......”
His mouth shut tight.
“Why lie?”
Clink.
The crystal orb slipped from his fingers.
He’d dropped it in shock.
His hand began trembling like a leaf.
“......”
So the wedding anniversary had been a lie.
They say that in remote provinces, the magistrate rules with absolute power—and this place was no different. The commanding officer hadn’t shown up for work today. He frequently slapped on an “external duty” tag and disappeared to have fun. And he had the connections to get away with it. Today, apparently, was one of those days.
I stepped right up to the man, looming over him. He averted his gaze.
“Even now, with the situation this far gone, you still refuse to show me respect.”
“......”
“So then, how long must I keep respecting you?”
“......”
“I’m running out of patience.”
Frozen stiff, the man shakily reached for the crystal orb again. It seemed like this time, he was truly trying to call the officer. But it was no longer necessary. I kicked his hand away.
Thunk.
The orb rolled across the slope and hit my other shoe. I crushed it underfoot.
Crkkk—
The glass bead shattered into pieces.
The officer flinched but dared not resist.
“You.”
“Y-Yes...!”
I addressed the officer in the middle. This situation could still be resolved easily. We just had to request support from higher up, locate and neutralize the Rifts. There was still time.
But I didn’t think it should be that easy.
The Disciplinary Bureau—the term itself means the enforcement of discipline and law. A body that protects what must be protected.
But under their order, the safety of cadets had not been protected.
Therefore—
“Call the main headquarters of the Academy’s Disciplinary Corps.”
“T-The main HQ? Yes, sir! B-but, for what reason...”
Now they had to follow my rules.
“Auditing request.”
Their faces went deathly pale.
“Inform them that Senior Professor Dante Hiakapo is requesting a full audit of the Zone 4 Bureau. That should be all they need to hear.”
***
He had no desire to live virtuously.
Everyone dreams of it. But if there was anyone who had actually achieved that dream, it was him.
“Hello?”
It was five minutes after Dante Hiakapo had blown up the airport precinct when the call reached Officer Denis.
“Yes, sir.”
Denis always silenced all his alerts when he was drinking—except this one. It was a number from a senior executive at HQ.
“An audit? What’s so urgent that it requires an audit? Hahaha...”
At first, he thought it was a joke. He was drinking, feeling good, and joking around with an old friend who’d always covered for him.
But something was off in the reply.
“...Excuse me?”
—HEY!!
The crystal orb boomed with volume.
—DENIS! YOU LITTLE SHIT, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?
His heart plummeted. He’d known this senior for over twenty years, and this was the first time he’d heard him shout like that.
“What the hell, sir? Why are you suddenly yelling?”
—YOUR PRECINCT’S BEEN SLAPPED WITH AN EMERGENCY AUDIT, YOU IDIOT!!
“......”
His «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» drunken haze vanished instantly.
Emergency audit?
Just like that?
Was he hallucinating from being too drunk?
As the senior’s rant continued—Where the hell are you? Why did you ditch your shift— Denis blurted out,
“An emergency audit? But why!? What the hell happened!?”
—A professor filed the request, dumbass!
“What do you mean a professor filed it!? What kind of professor can do that!? Who is this professor!?”
—FIND OUT YOURSELF! You want me to wipe your ass too!?
“Y-Yeah... I’ll take care of it...”
It made no sense.
A professor couldn’t file for an audit.
The Bureau was a national agency—not an academic department’s servant.
He dropped the drink and sprinted out. While running, he called the officer on duty.
He had to find out what the hell had happened.
—H-He’s from the Department of Assassination... Dante Hiakapo...
The officer’s voice was a whisper. Probably because the man was still nearby.
Gripping the wheel, Denis asked,
“Assassination? What the hell is someone from Zone 0 doing in Zone 4? More importantly, what kind of professor is he?”
—He said he was a Senior Professor...
“WHAT!?”
Hah!
Ridiculous.
Senior Professor?
If it had been a Chief Professor, sure, maybe.
But a Senior?
He had over thirty senior professors’ numbers in his contact list. Knew two Chief Professors personally. He was that well-connected. And that guy dared to file an audit?
“Hey. Mark. Did you seriously just say that out loud?”
—Uh, yes?
“What kind of Senior Professor can file an audit?!”
—Uh, well...
The guy stammered.
Was this some kind of prank? Were they all in on it to mess with him?
“You know what, forget it! I’m coming over right now, so just wait!”
This was insanity. Some lunatic wrecking the Bureau and demanding to see the officer?
He’d put an end to this himself.
But when Denis arrived near the precinct, his jaw dropped.
The entire building had been obliterated.
And in that moment, he realized the situation was beyond his control. Any professor might technically be capable of such destruction... but even so, something felt wrong.
His instincts told him so.
“Hello? Yeah, it’s me...”
He called someone immediately.
***
I despised people who wielded power to crush others.
Those who exploited their lofty status to push others down—I had never once viewed them favorably.
But...
“This is it? No abnormalities across four weeks of patrols?”
“......”
I had read every log. According to them, patrols were carried out daily and nothing was found.
The officer just stood there, head bowed. Even he had to find it absurd.
“Even healthy plants will wilt and die if you move them to a greenhouse. That’s what you lot are.”
Even during the Assassination War with Kreutz, Zone 4 had remained untouched.
It was the Academy’s most pristine greenhouse.
And then, from a distance, the officer arrived—staggering.
Fat. Greedy face.
“...Unbelievable.”
He froze at the sight of the destroyed building.
He ground his teeth and asked me,
“Hey, you! What the hell do you think you’re doing!?”
“One question. Why did you abandon your post during your shift?”
“Professor! Before you nitpick my mistakes—what do you call this!? Isn’t this going too far?!”
He twisted the narrative.
“...Mistake?”
“Listen! I hear you’re a promising professor from the Department of Assassination. But even so, this is abuse of power! You should know your limits!”
“......”
“I don’t know what you told your higher-ups, but this is too much! Professors and the Bureau each have their roles to play! Just because you’re pissed doesn’t mean you get to destroy a government office! Don’t think you can just walk all over the Bureau because you’ve got a bit of muscle!”
I didn’t respond. I was reading the 【Script】. His goal with all this talking was to buy time—he’d already requested HQ’s emergency response unit.
He thought if he escalated it to the top, I’d get taken down.
I had no reason to argue. So I listened.
“...And what Rift, anyway? The logs show we patrolled everything! There are no Rifts! You do realize a Rift can’t exist within the Stigma of Peaceful Nature☮, right? You’re a professor and you don’t even know that!?”
I couldn’t let that pass.
“Can you take responsibility for that claim?”
“...Look, this tantrum has gone on long enough—wait, what?”
“I asked if you can take responsibility. For claiming there are no Rifts.”
“I’m the commanding officer here! Of course I can! There has never been a Rift inside the boundaries of the Stigma of Peaceful Nature☮! Not once in history! You really don’t know that!?”
He still didn’t get it. One of the many twisted Rifts born of warped mana—
“—is right there.”
Just to the left of the ground beneath his feet.
＊ Monster Rift [B++] [90%] ＊
According to the display, this one wasn’t like the ones I saw earlier. It was nearly ready to erupt.
But the officer blew up.
“...That’s absurd! Are you seriously claiming that this wall crack, this flooring fissure, is a Rift!?”
I rose and walked toward him. I had to look down quite a bit—there was a large height difference.
He tensed but didn’t back away. As if confident.
“Then open it.”
His face twisted in disgust at my words.
He scowled and tilted his head.
“...What?”
I gestured.
At the jagged line scored into the floor.
“You do know how to open a Rift, right? You’re a martial-grade officer.”
“......”
“Go on. Place your hand on it. Inject mana.”
He fell silent. I was claiming something impossible—and yet my confidence didn’t waver.
“If you don’t know where, I’ll show you. It’s right here.”
I scraped the edge of the Rift with my blade.
Scrrk—
“Reach out your hand. Feed it mana.”
“......”
He froze. Everyone knows that once you open a Rift, whatever’s inside may attack first—and it always goes for the one who opened it.
Every combatant knows this.
“Why are you hesitating? I’ve given you the location.”
“......”
“Did you forget how to bend? Want me to help?”
“W-Wait, wait—”
Suddenly, an invisible hand seized his body. Slammed him to the floor.
“Grahk—!”
He struggled but couldn’t escape.
The other officers flinched—but none of them moved.
“Now. It’s right in front of your eyes.”
“......”
“You’re free to open it.”
“......”
He was clearly spiraling into dread. He wouldn’t even look at the crack anymore—he just froze in place.
“Still resisting? I showed you where it is. Taught you how to kneel. Want me to teach you how to reach?”
“W-Wait... just a moment...”
“Fine. I’m a generous professor. I’ll teach you how to extend your hand, too.”
Shing— I drew the sword and drove it through the back of his hand.
THUD!!
“GRAAAAAAAAH!!”
He screamed. I dragged the impaled hand toward the Rift. Wailing in pain, he resisted—but I kept pulling.
“Why are you resisting?”
“Hhkk... hrrgh...!”
“What, can’t even bend your elbow now?”
“A-Ah... uh... th-there, that’s...”
When he’d stalled earlier, trying to buy time with words, I’d wondered what exactly this man had ever taken responsibility for today.
I’d thought about it.
But there was nothing.
“You said you’d take responsibility.”
I didn’t consider this excessive in the slightest. His negligence could have killed dozens—could have killed Gray.
The fact that I hadn’t killed him yet proved the strength of my character.
With that reasoning, I spoke quietly.
“Open it.”