Splash!
Inside the cavern hall, a sudden burst of water splashed from the tranquil pond, and a vague figure emerged.
"Who is it?"
The City Guards slicing up the Black-Maned Giant Pig's carcass changed expression dramatically!
The two Wizards standing nearby also tensed up.
This place was the Dark Forest, where they could not afford to be careless.
"...Don't be nervous," Colin said as he came ashore, standing at the edge of the pond and lifting his triangular badge slowly.
The ping-pong ball-sized triangular badge in his hand emitted a silvery-white glow.
The expressions of the Wizards opposite him eased.
School badges were bound one-to-one, and that silvery-white glow could only be stimulated by the person themselves.
"Is Wizard Holt still here?" Colin asked.
Upon leaving the stone chamber and returning to the pond, it was just as he had thought—the Black-Maned Giant Pig that had cornered him was already killed by Holt and his comrade, and the passage connecting the cavern hall had also been reopened.
Even now, there were City Guards in the cavern hall dismembering and transporting the Black-Maned Giant Pig's body.
It seemed that more time had passed than he had imagined.
After all, being cut off from the world in the stone chamber with no light, it was difficult to perceive the actual passage of time.
"Wizard Holt... should be in the city now," the Wizard on the left in front of him replied, then paused before adding, "You're Colin, right? Everyone thought you had died..."
Colin smiled and did not expound further but nodded politely to them.
"I still need to find Captain Holt, so I won't disturb your work."
...
Forty minutes later, at the Guard Station in West City.
Knock, knock, knock.
Colin knocked on a wooden door on the second floor.
"Come in," a familiar voice called.
Colin pushed the door open.
Holt was sitting behind a black wooden table, basking in the sun.
"Colin?!"
Surprise colored Holt's voice at the sight of him.
Although no body was found in the cavern hall, he had harbored little hope that Colin was still alive.
"Captain," Colin calmly nodded his greeting.
Despite the invariant Cleaning Technique, his Wizard Robe was still dry but tattered at the edges. His half-length golden hair was also wet and bedraggled.
"It seems you have a lot you want to talk to me about," Holt said after looking Colin over and slowly began to speak.
Following that, Colin recounted in detail what had transpired.
Of course, he omitted the content about the stone chamber.
He simply stated that he had used a fake death witchcraft and hidden in the pond to narrowly escape death.
After listening to Colin's narration, Holt frowned slightly and said,
"...So what you're saying is, Catherine and the others took the opportunity to run away while you confronted the Black-Maned Giant Pig, and they even blew up the passageway?"
"I can't be completely sure it was them who destroyed the passage, but I surmise it's very likely," Colin explained with an even tone.
"...Do you know that Orlando, Willard, and Beilek from the Chiwen Gang are all dead?"
After a moment of silence, Holt suddenly asked.
'Everyone but Catherine is dead?!' Colin was somewhat taken aback internally.
Holt continued gravely,
"I'm glad you're alive... As long as one survives, nobody cares how you managed to do it."
Colin looked at Holt, puzzled and not understanding.
Holt furrowed his brow, sighed, and decided to clarify,
"Catherine's account is the complete opposite of yours, did you know that?"
"Every word I've spoken is true!" Colin emphasized firmly. "I..."
"Colin!" Holt shook his head to stop him, his tone no longer gentle, he spoke with a deep voice:
"If, as you say, three senior Intermediate Apprentices were left half-crippled by the Black-Maned Giant Pig... then how are you still hopping around so lively? How could you stand against the Black-Maned Giant Pig on your own?"
Colin hesitated slightly, about to explain. But Holt interrupted him again.
"Catherine said it was because of your nervousness that the formation was disrupted."
"Then, as the Black-Maned Giant Pig sent you flying, the ceiling of the cave also collapsed.
In a chain reaction, a large part of the cave ceiling collapsed, and Willard and the others didn't escape in time because they were overwhelmed by the Black-Maned Giant Pig."
"In the end, only Catherine was lucky enough to survive..."
Holt gradually calmed down, turned to look at Colin, his tone slightly soothing:
"Colin, you have only just advanced... It's normal to be nervous in battle, and nobody will blame you. There's no need to make up this story..."
Colin was shocked, a surge of complex thoughts flashing through his mind.
He didn't expect Catherine to play the role of the accuser first... and Orlando and the others were all dead?
'Could it be Catherine who killed Orlando and the others?!'
As if by divine inspiration, this speculation emerged in his heart.
But now was not the time to dwell on these matters.
His eyes flashed, and with a ringing sound, he fiercely drew the wasp needle from his waist.
Holt's eyebrows rose slightly but didn't take much notice. However, the next second, his pupils shrank a little.
Colin raised his arm, thrusting the slender sword in his hand hard toward the palm of his own lifted left hand.
Ding!
The wasp needle collided with the palm, making a sound like metal striking stone.
Colin continued to press hard, bending the wasp needle under the powerful force until it bent to ninety degrees before he released his hand.
Then he looked up at Holt, his face calm.
Holt wasn't angry either; seeing Colin's unscathed left hand genuinely surprised him.
He knew Colin was a Great Knight.
As a Great Knight at the peak of the Knight System, it wasn't much compared to a Wizard.
But this was only because Knights have overly singular attack methods and average personal defenses.
In terms of attack power, the full-force thrust of a Great Knight usually cannot be defended against by the Defensive Witchcraft cast by an Intermediate Apprentice.
After all, it was a thrust, not a slash or the like.
Of course, no Wizard would be foolish enough to let a Great Knight get close.
He also saw that Colin had exerted his full strength, and the wasp needle was a rare good sword...
After pondering for a moment, he took the initiative to apologize:
"I have wronged you, Colin..."
"Don't worry too much, Captain." Colin responded calmly.
"As for Catherine, I will go find her and ask again for clarification."
Holt continued, his gaze flashing with gravitas. He obviously also considered Catherine's guilt.
Seeing this, Colin didn't elaborate further.
He paused for a moment, then bid farewell to Holt and headed towards his home.
One cannot act on mere conjecture.
Otherwise, not only might you fail to avenge the real culprit, but you might also create unnecessary enemies for yourself.
So, as soon as he returned to the city, he went to report to Holt first.
But now, combining the information from Holt's side and his personal experiences in the cave hall, he was eighty percent sure that Catherine was the one who collapsed the tunnel and also killed Orlando and the other two.
Although he didn't know how Catherine managed to kill all three at once, the truth was probably very close to his guess.
However, he was not in a hurry to confront Catherine now.
If it was as he thought, the School would take revenge for him without him having to lift a finger.
After doing such a thing, Catherine had only one way to die; she couldn't even dream of sparing her life, nor could she become a slave like Charlie!
Of course... if the School didn't do him justice.
A shadow crossed Colin's eyes as he thought to himself:
'Then I'll just have to take matters into my own hands...'