Chapter 17 - 14: Internal Affairs Court
Looking at the words he had written on the paper, Rod felt an inexplicable fear, as if they presaged some kind of ominous sign.
The dark red text did not disappoint, confirming his suspicions.
It also forced him to criticise the inspector’s translation skills.
"How did you translate ’Dark Devourer’ into ’black rice bucket’?"
But what was even more baffling were the obscure words beneath "Dark Devourer".
Maybe it’s a translation issue.
Rod thought.
I’m piecing this together based on conjecture; there must be some inaccuracies.
It seems I’ll have to devote a lot of effort to linguistics from now on.
The thought of having to study this worm-like ancient language for an extended period made Rod deeply distressed.
And what distressed him even more was the passage on the Obelisk.
What did "invasion" mean?
And what did "Nightmare is coming" signify?
Rod had a bad feeling, was new trouble coming before the old one had even been resolved?
The only choice was to take a look in the Dream Realm.
Making up his mind, Rod quickly finished washing up and went to bed.
Exhaustion made him fall asleep immediately upon hitting the pillow.
Bang bang bang!
"Open the door!"
Bang bang bang!
"Rod, open up for me, or I’ll smash your door down!"
Rod opened his eyes from deep sleep to see the dormitory ceiling and to hear the banging on the door along with Kashan’s yelling.
He shook his head and finally came to his senses.
I didn’t go to the Dream Realm?
Is it the next day already? Did I just sleep through?
Rod looked at his hands.
Was there a special reason, or was it just because I didn’t enter a deep state of tranquility?
Maybe I need that gesture...
Bang!
A loud noise resounded.
The door fell down with a crash.
Kashan charged in, like an enraged lioness.
"Why didn’t you open the door? Do you realise we’re about to be late?"
Rod, disturbed in his thoughts and not happy about it, decided to dismiss this annoying girl first:
"I was waiting for you."
"Waiting for me?"
"Yes, waiting for you to break through my emotional defences and enter my world."
Whoosh.
The onlookers outside the door made a confused noise.
Wayne whistled excitedly.
The dozy green-haired kid suddenly woke up: "Eh? Is the team leader going on maternity leave?"
Kashan’s entire face looked steamed, but it only made her appear even more furious.
"Hurry up and come to class with me, if group ten gets a deduction, I’ll eat you!"
----
Jinworth Academy operates on a credit system, with both individual and group credits.
Credits not only represent honor but also can be exchanged for rewards.
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On the way, Kashan kept crazily rambling about the importance of credits and sternly warned Rod that their current priority was to study and train to become a qualified combatant, and having kids was a matter for the future.
Rod didn’t listen to a single word, his mind filled with worry and a simmering sense of urgency.
The morning classes were "Holy Fire," "Mathematics and Combat Application," and "Human’s Last Hope: Trolian Establishment and Continuation."
All cultural classes.
"Holy Fire" talked about how a strange flame known as the "Guardian Fire" protected humanity.
The teacher for this class was a young and beautiful female Priest, whose priestly robes flickered like dancing flames, not just bright but also somewhat transparent, significantly boosting the efficiency of all students in the class.
She vividly described the symbiotic relationship between fire and humanity.
Humans had to live within the range of the firelight, or else the Black Fog would erode their souls, turning them into monsters.
The Guardian Fire also needed humans to produce the Fuel Element and Firewood to keep burning continuously, becoming stronger.
In the Trolian Kingdom, at the heart of every human settlement, was the Guardian Fire Sacrificial Ground, and the size of the Guardian Fire directly determined the size of the settlement.
Guardian Fire was precious, not to be moved lightly, and usually, its range was limited.
But when humans were forced to travel in the dark, what should they do?
People separated "Residual Fire" and "Residual Light" from the Guardian Fire, placing them in lamps that could light up the environment and dispel the Black Fog under limited conditions.
The power of Residual Fire was stronger and more draining on the Guardian Fire, so it wasn’t used much.
Residual Light, however, was essential, hung in front of every house, and anyone leaving the Royal City also had to carry a lamp filled with Residual Light on their waist.
Rod was listening attentively, but then she began an extensive discussion about the sacredness of fire, using many religious terms he didn’t understand.
His attention shifted to the Priest herself.
Um, not bad elasticity.
"Mathematics and Combat Application" was much more tedious, discussing how to apply mathematics in combat.
To Rod, this class was nearly indistinguishable from foolishness, full of problems like, "If there are one hundred monsters and ten arrive every clock hour, with humans eliminating twenty each clock hour, how long will it take to eradicate them all?"
The lecturer was a middle-aged man with glasses, utterly lacking in excitement.
"Human’s Last Hope: Trolian Establishment and Continuation" was a history lesson.
It told the grand tale of how, during the Dark Epoch, the human hero Trolian transported the last spark of the Holy Fire to the Royal City, igniting the Holy Fire.
The teacher was an old man whose dry voice could make any thrilling story less combustible than "Boruto".
Most students were drowsy.
Only Rod listened attentively, trying to understand the differences and significances of the concepts of the Trolian Royal City, the Trolian Kingdom, and the Trolian humans.
Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, Rod still could not grasp many things.
Finally making it to the end, he received notification that there was a departmental meeting in the afternoon.
Unable to endure any longer, Rod took advantage of the lunch break to find a quiet corner and sit down.
He closed his eyes and took a series of deep breaths to calm his mind.
His thumbs crossed, forming that lightning-shaped gesture.
The next instant, his soul soared, and his vision was obscured by fog, becoming a blur.
A few seconds later, Rod opened his eyes.
He was now standing in this Dream World filled with endless mist.
Looking ahead, the Obelisk stood right in front of him.
The black Altar also stood quietly not far to the side and behind.
Rod quickly walked to the Obelisk, touched its surface, and once again, the deep night sky scattered with countless points of light appeared, the dark red one in the center as always.
When he focused on it, the same words emerged once again.
But this time, Rod already knew their general meaning.
After looking for a while and confirming that the characters he had written down had no errors, the only issue left was translation ability.
"I wonder if the other points can really be lit? They feel more like some sort of light effect," Rod thought.
He let go and touched the left and right sides of the Obelisk again, still seeing black and gold coalescing and settling, like indices on some kind of thermometer.
Last was the back of the Stele.
When Rod touched it, blood-red letters appeared again on the surface, flickering slightly, displaying an unusual urgency.
But, there was one character different from yesterday!
Rod’s pupils constricted, and a terrifying suspicion rose in his heart.
From the position of the characters, three sunsets, had turned into two?
Was this an invasion countdown?
A sort of final ultimatum?
A chill rose in Rod’s heart.
Was that black shadow coming back?
If it shattered the Obelisk, would he die?
As he pondered, suddenly, a tight sensation came from below, as if something had grabbed him, followed by an intense sensation of falling, and everything in front of him blurred.
When he came to his senses again, he was still sitting in the same spot, in a corner of the public rest area.
His first good brother at the place, Wayne, was just taking his hand off of him, with two boxes of food in front of him.
"What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me calling?" Wayne asked, with a slight dissatisfaction in his voice.
"I brought you some food. I had to fight to get it, jam, manchineel fruit, and blue blossom. Trust me, they’re really tasty," Wayne said.
Rod glanced at the mush of blue, green, and turquoise mixed together that looked like vomit, almost heaving.
What kind of dark cuisine was this? Was this even edible?
Unaware of Rod’s thoughts, Wayne picked up the vomit-like mush without any hesitation and started shoveling it into his mouth.
"I heard we’re going to choose our classes this afternoon. Rod, do you have any classes in mind?" he asked vaguely, with the mush making smacking sounds in his mouth.
Green-haired Sen also sat down beside them with a box of the vomit-like substance.
"I heard the Ancient Language teacher is a big beauty, maybe my soul is destined to meet hers," Sen commented.
Wayne looked at him with disdain, "All you think about is beauty. Our task right now is to study! To train! To become a qualified combatant!"
With dissatisfaction, Sen huffed, "Why do you sound just like that woman? Is it contagious? Rod, go make her take maternity leave! The nagging is too much for me to bear."
You think I’m a stud horse?
Rod’s train of thought, only just resumed, was interrupted again, and he forced himself to calm down, trying to refocus his mind.
But once interrupted, his thoughts would not reconnect and remained very chaotic, the blood-red variant text flashing in his mind as if it foretold an extremely ominous future.
The brief lunch break came to an end quickly, and Kashan, their group leader full of authority, arrived at the public rest area, urging them to go to the meeting.
In just these few short days, she even had underlings following her around.
They spouted the same talks of study and diligent effort, urging everyone to leave with their leader.
With a moan Sen pleaded, "Rod, please take her down. It’s only been a few days. I can’t even imagine the days to come."
Kashan glared at him sharply, saying sternly, "Zales, what are you saying?"
Sen hung his head like a wilted rooster, not daring to speak.
Scanning the room, Kashan said sternly, "This afternoon’s meeting is very important, if anyone doesn’t go, I’ll..."
Click—
The door to the public rest area opened.
A tall man in a gray robe entered the room; he had black curly hair and seemed about forty years old, with striking gray eyes.
He nodded slightly to Kashan.
"Respectable group leader, miss, I need to take one of your students with me, please excuse me, but he can’t attend this afternoon’s meeting," he said.
He raised his hand, displaying a teal badge engraved with a balance scale, a sword, and a flame.
"I am Lauren from the Internal Affairs Court."
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