Chapter 200 : Chapter 200

Chapter 200: New Phase

To summarize the situation at that time briefly, the strategy of focusing fire on Zairo Zain was effective.

The members of the Evil Eradication Squad were five, including Zairo.

Among them, Dayle marked four through mana interference, and Clatter and I cooperated to target Zairo.

Right.

In vulgar terms, we gang-banged him, and it worked properly.

Especially, perhaps due to memories from his past life, Clatter drove Zairo as if he would half-kill him, and as soon as a rib thrown by Clatter pierced Zairo’s shoulder, they gave up the pursuit and switched their combat stance to protecting Zairo.

In that gap, we were able to escape the Academy easily.

‘It wouldn’t have been strange if I passed out as soon as I arrived.’

When I opened the door, I saw a newspaper that had fallen on the floor.

It’s today’s Royal Dream.

Judging by its considerable thickness, it seems to cover the events from last night to early this morning.

I was curious about what was written, but I just threw it into the room and came out.

“Senior!”

Yuria, who was waiting in front of the male dormitory, makes a fuss as soon as she sees me.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? About what?”

“Yesterday! I am asking if nothing happened to you!”

Saying that, she checked here and there on my body, not even giving me a moment to answer that I was fine.

“Lower your head for a moment.”

“Huh? Why my head…….”

I lowered it because she told me to, but why is she lifting my hair to look?

“Phew. You look fine.”

“No. Why are you doing that?”

“You were attacked by a demon yesterday. Men, whether professors or cadets, were all bewitched by her and became slaves. But I thought you became like that too, Senior…….”

“Ah.”

I smirked.

“Nothing happened. Fortunately.”

“How? Were you hiding?”

“I wasn’t hiding. Where should I start telling the story…… First, shall we go eat something? I just woke up, so I’m hungry.”

I naturally spun the lie I thought of while coming out.

“You remember we agreed to eat and watch a play in Icata but went to the Academy because I said I had an appointment with the Dean, right?”

“Yes.”

“But I went there and came back out again.”

“……Yes?”

“The Dean suggested we go outside. So I came out to Icata again, and thanks to that, I could avoid the accident.”

“Ah…….”

“I was lucky.”

Yuria’s expression turned ambiguous.

Eyes mixed wildly with emptiness and doubt.

‘Is it weird?’

Well, honestly, I even think it sounds flimsy.

Even if I came out to Icata, I wouldn’t have been unaware that an accident had broken out at the Academy, but the Dean and I didn’t show even a nose until the accident broke out and ended.

If one dug deeper here, there would be not just one or two suspicious parts.

But Yuria wasn’t going to go find Dean Bell Toro personally to ask, and even if she thought of doing so, he was such a hard-to-meet gentleman that there was no worry of my lie being caught.

‘Also, Yuria isn’t the type to do that.’

As expected, Yuria didn’t probe further.

Rather, perhaps firmly believing my lie, she adds this guess on her own.

“It seems the Dean knew something. So he took you outside, Senior.”

“……Is that so?”

“It must be. The Dean took you out to save you from the demon’s hands, Senior. The Dean cherishes you especially, Senior.”

I don’t know about cherishing, but that human does think of me specially.

But doesn’t that mean he doesn’t care what happens to the other kids he doesn’t cherish?

It seemed Yuria thought of Dean Bell Toro as a very cold-hearted and scary human.

“Is something like that important? What’s important is that nothing happened.”

To change the subject, I raised my hand, ruffled Yuria’s hair messily, and asked.

“So. Were you worried about me?”

“Ugh. Of course. If you were bewitched by the demon, I would have had to fight you, Senior. Do you know how nervous I was thinking that might really happen?”

“Then it would have been fun?”

“It’s not fun.”

“Just tell me a bit about what happened inside. Looking at Royal Dream, it seems Skull Mask played an active role again.”

Yuria excitedly told me about the things that happened yesterday.

She also told me about the various repercussions covered in Royal Dream, so thanks to that, I didn’t have to go back and read Royal Dream.

What we did after eating was Academy repair work.

Organizing and cleaning up the facilities damaged by the demon invasion.

While filling the hallowed ground of the training field, I recalled the events of yesterday.

‘Uriel.’

Numerous questions follow.

She knows my true identity from another place.

Furthermore, the mention that she had been watching me.

I had long abandoned the thought that this place was inside a game.

I was aware that this was another reality different from Earth and I roughly felt that there were existences called gods.

‘Because only with such things do all these events make sense.’

However, I didn’t think a god would hold my fate in their hands and toy with it.

That all these processes where I struggled for survival after possessing Gerard’s body were merely entertainment for them…… Ah. Honestly, this is hard to tolerate.

Of course, I can’t jump to conclusions yet.

These are problems I can only know by meeting Uriel and talking to her.

Why and how did I come into this world?

Also, can I return to my original world?

If I see the game’s ending. Thinking I would naturally know the answer if I caught the resurrected Great Demon and saved the world, these were problems I had just pushed back indefinitely.

At the time, solving the survival problem right in front of my eyes was the urgent priority.

But not now.

Right. I had never properly pondered the primal problem of ‘how to escape this world’ until now.

A Master who must rebuild the thief guild called Shadow.

Navigating through various dangers is a natural procedure, and I am in that process now.

Saving the continent from the approaching threat of evil is the same.

I am in that process.

And when I accomplished all this, I never thought about what I should do.

‘Did I really intend to just settle down and live here?’

Not as Lee Hyuk of Earth, but as Gerard?

I think I was thinking that way implicitly.

If there is no way to return, I would have to, but…… what if there is a way to return?

What choice should I make then?

‘I should think about it.’

Hmm. My head is complicated.

I wanted to meet Uriel one more time.

If I talk to her, many questions will be resolved.

However, to meet her and have a conversation, there was something I had to solve first.

[Enter the Minas Forest and destroy the Dimensional Harmonization Device within it.]

This was what Uriel demanded of me in exchange for lending me power.

Not asking for my eyes, other body parts, beautiful jewels, artifacts, or my life.

In exchange for lending me the power to save Reina, she requested a commission from me.

[You must have many questions. But I cannot answer them now.]

[Roland will tell you the detailed story about the request.]

Well, for me, it was a request I had no choice but to accept.

I don’t know where Minas Forest is or what the Dimensional Harmonization Device is, but she said she would lend me the power to save Reina and annihilate the demon, so what is there to be picky about?

Rather, at that time, I felt fortunate that she didn’t take my eyes.

But now that the job is done, I suddenly become curious.

Minas Forest and Dimensional Harmonization Device.

Both keywords are words that even I, who cleared ‘Heroes of Frey’ over dozens of times, have never heard of.

‘It’s not a damn difficult request, is it?’

I don’t know.

Still, since it’s a request entrusted by an angel, wouldn’t it be of high difficulty?

‘I can’t even cancel it since the payment was made in advance.’

I felt I would get the rough picture only after meeting Roland first.

Anyway, I had to go to the Cathedral to return the borrowed sword. I can drop by Lunatic later and then go visit him.

‘But, nothing bad will happen because I borrowed the sword, right?’

***

Underground secret chamber of the Cathedral.

Two men were facing each other there with a single candle between them.

One was a man with long flowing hair and a stylishly grown beard.

Judging by the fact that he was wearing the uniform of the Max Paladins, he appeared to be a Paladin of the Holy Kingdom.

The one on the opposite side had both eyes covered with a pure white cloth.

Similarly, he was also wearing a uniform, but the strange thing was that his hands and feet were tied to the chair.

He was Roland, who had been relieved of his position and detained in the Cathedral for committing blasphemy.

“Why on earth did you do such a thing?”

At that moment, the long-haired Paladin spoke first.

His name was Martin.

He was the Vice-Commander of the Max Paladins, just like Roland.

“Talk comfortably even now. It’s just the two of us here right now. You can talk to me honestly, can’t you?”

“…….”

“Are you really going to be like this? I thought Roland, you and I, were quite special to each other. Was it just my own delusion?”

When Martin spoke with a voice full of disappointment, Roland, who had kept his mouth shut until now, spoke.

“Didn’t I keep telling you before? I just entered there by coincidence.”

“That story again? You didn’t know Minas Forest was a sanctuary?”

“That is correct.”

Martin burst into a smirk.

“Don’t lie. If you are a Paladin, you can’t not know that Minas Forest is a sanctuary. Furthermore, if it’s you, Roland, you couldn’t possibly not know.”

“…….”

“To lie even to me. I am really disappointed.”

“It is not a lie. Of course, I know Minas Forest is a sanctuary. However, I am telling you that I didn’t know the place I went to was Minas Forest. As you can see, aren’t I in this state?”

Roland, having finished speaking, thrust his face close to the candle.

As the reddish light illuminated Roland’s face, a dark shadow was cast on the sunken eye sockets under the pure white cloth.

“Ahem.”

Martin cleared his throat and frowned.

“If you could see, you would have known that place was Minas Forest.”

“Well, that could be true. But the Cult won’t believe those words. The Commander as well.”

Of course, Martin also didn’t believe his words.

Roland was someone who navigated better than people with eyes despite having none.

“They think you entered the sanctuary harboring wicked intentions. No, they seem half convinced.”

“…….”

“Listen carefully, Roland. I want to help you. Why do you think I ran all the way to the distant Icata? Wouldn’t it be to help you, my friend? Then you have to trust me and talk honestly.”

“I told you honestly.”

“Right. Of course, I know too. But…… as soon as I arrived in Icata this morning, I heard an interesting story.”

Martin put down what he was holding in his hand on the table.

It was Royal Dream.

“The demon Lilith that appeared at the Academy. And the one who exorcised it was Skull Mask. I heard Skull Mask is a famous thief shaking up Icata recently?”

“…….”

“But there was talk that the sword that the thief was holding was a holy sword. Here, the article text says ‘a dazzling rope bound Lilith’. This, it’s the power of the Devil Slayer you possess. Also, there’s no way a mere thief could have exorcised a demon.”

Roland is still silent.

Toward him, Martin asked.

“Roland. Where did the sword go? Don’t tell me you handed the holy sword over to a thief?”