Chapter 87 : Chapter 87

Chapter 87: The Madness of Icata (5)

You and that girl are the same, what's the difference?

I almost said it but held back.

'No need to stir things up.'

Bain Winter was already exhausting enough.

If Karina joined in, I might really end up wrecking the investigation team and everything else.

"Listen up. The time when people are most likely to screw up is exactly that moment."

I pointed at Bain.

"When you think you're the best."

"……."

"When you delude yourself into thinking, 'I'm the greatest. I'm practically a veteran,' that's when you always mess up big time. Why? Because your overflowing confidence fills your shoulders with fluff. You feel like you can conquer anything. Top of the second-years, took down a necromancer, and what? Zombies? Child's play? They don't even register."

It was like how most accidents happen in the first year of driving.

A driver who’s just peeled off the beginner sticker after a year of accident-free driving through day, night, all seasons, fog, snow, and rain.

That’s when they’re brimming with excitement and confidence—and that’s when accidents spike.

"That's why you always stay humble."

I looked at the first-years.

Especially Ivan and Yuria.

With their Honorary Merit Medals boosting their reputation, the biggest thing they needed to watch out for wasn’t villains or magical beasts.

It was themselves.

I shifted my gaze.

Bain Winter, boldly approaching the swordsman zombie, summoned ice crystals and fired them.

She probably thought it was a sneak attack.

Parbak!

The swordsman zombie, which had been staring blankly at the streetlight, drew its sword as if it knew the attack was coming and deflected every crystal.

"What!"

"It was blocked with a sword!?"

The second-years gasped at the zombie’s swordsmanship and movements, which no ordinary zombie could display.

I sighed.

"Let’s move."

"Huh?"

"What’s with the dumb ‘huh?’ Didn’t you hear me earlier? There are two variant zombies. No, at least two."

"But Bain is the top student…"

That’s when it happened.

With a crash, the shop window of a nearby clothing store shattered, and a fireball flew out.

The fireball struck Bain’s side.

"Kyaa!"

Fortunately, Bain dodged by throwing herself aside, but she was immediately exposed to the swordsman zombie’s blade.

"See that? Typical."

Ivan, Gwyn, and Yuria were already running toward Bain.

Those three could handle the swordsman zombie, no problem.

"Karina."

"What?"

"You and Rachel take care of that mage zombie."

"What? Me with this dimwit?"

Karina openly showed her dislike for teaming up with Rachel.

But after one look at my expression, she nodded obediently.

"Ugh. Just this once, I’ll listen. Hey, dummy, come on."

"Hiing. I’m not a dummy."

As the two ran off, I turned around.

The second-years.

The 889th class kids were still standing there, staring at me blankly.

My face twisted.

"…What the hell are you guys?"

"Huh?"

"What are you doing? Bain, your classmate, is fighting out there. She’s in danger, and you’re just standing there like idiots?"

I couldn’t understand it.

The 890th class, called the golden generation, was filled with century-defining geniuses like Ivan, Gwyn Gaiard, and Karina Zain.

Compared to them, these guys were a complete mess from head to toe.

Sure, I got it.

Back in their hometowns, they were probably called geniuses too.

Frey Academy wasn’t a place just anyone could enter.

They had some skill to be selected for the investigation team.

The problem was their rotten mindset.

'They want fame but don’t want to take risks.'

The horrific scenes they’d witnessed had scared them stiff.

They saw themselves in those corpses, and their minds had succumbed to the fear of dark magic.

"Um, we just trusted Bain…"

"Yeah, and with you here, senior, it didn’t seem that dangerous…"

"Right, me too."

They avoided my gaze, shamefully spouting flimsy excuses.

Bain, with her arrogance and authoritarian attitude, was somehow better.

At least she was out there trying to earn Karina’s approval.

'They’re just chasing the Academy diploma and the benefits it brings.'

No surprise there.

That’s why the Academy kept getting beaten by the Cult.

"Once this is over, you second-years go back to the Academy."

"What?"

They didn’t seem to hear me, so I put it more simply.

"Get lost."

.

.

.

By the time I reached the scene, Ivan had already beheaded the mage zombie.

The swordsman zombie?

Its severed head was rolling on the ground.

I approached Bain.

Whether from embarrassment or frustration, her face was red as she glared at the ground.

She didn’t seem injured.

Karina didn’t hold back, throwing shade at her.

"Talking big about necromancers, but the Winter Family’s pretty pathetic."

"……."

"Still got some pride, huh? If it were me, I’d have apologized to the delusional guy right away. Wait, who’s the delusional one here?"

I reported to Paxen via the communication ring, and soon he arrived at the scene with the security team and mercenaries.

"Good work."

He looked at me with surprise and asked.

"You said it was a trap?"

"Yes, it definitely seemed that way."

After checking their identities, the two zombies turned out to be from the same mercenary group.

The group’s leader had sent his men to find a missing mage, but one swordsman got unlucky and was turned.

"Hmm. Something’s off about this."

Paxen stroked his beard after hearing my explanation.

"Most traps are set to catch prey stronger than the hunter. In other words, the two zombies’ goal was to turn someone stronger than them into a zombie…"

His muttering made me think back to the four scenes we’d visited.

They all had one thing in common.

Like Paxen’s friend, Sir Malit, there was always a knight-level fighter among the victims.

'Wait. Come to think of it, at the workshop where the first zombie attack happened…'

Hans, a retired knight and aura expert.

He was there.

'And Zad showed up in person there.'

It felt like a puzzle coming together.

"But it’s odd that there wasn’t a necromancer nearby. What’s going on?"

Paxen, unaware of Zad’s existence, pondered for a while before leaving.

We left the cleanup to the city defense force and returned to the hotel.

"You worked hard until late. Get some rest, but don’t take off your communication rings. We don’t know when something might happen."

"Yes."

I returned to my room.

Lying on the bed, I thought.

What was Zad’s goal?

And where was Clatter?

'Should’ve asked Paxen.'

I looked at the communication ring but shook my head.

He’d answer if I asked, but he’d definitely find it suspicious.

'Asking out of the blue if a skeleton showed up while zombies are causing chaos would raise questions.'

It might not, but there was no need to create an uneasy situation.

Clatter’s existence would stand out eventually.

If it was still alive, I’d hear about it soon enough.

That’s when it happened.

A presence in the hallway interrupted my thoughts.

Sabak sabak.

The sound of footsteps on the plush wool carpet.

Since this floor was reserved for our Academy investigation team, it had to be one of our kids.

And it was a girl.

The steps were light.

'Who is it?'

The presence stopped at my door.

At first, I thought it was Yuria.

But after about three minutes, I was sure it wasn’t.

Yuria wouldn’t hesitate for three minutes—she’d knock and come in right away.

Three minutes, no, now four.

I tried to ignore it, but after four minutes, it was too suspicious to shrug off.

'What the hell are they doing out there?'

Finally, I opened the door.

"Hat!?"

Bain Winter was there, startled.

"…What are you doing at my door?"

At my question, Bain put a finger to her lips and whispered.

"I-I have something to say. Let’s go inside. Quick."

She barged into my room and closed the door.

Curious, I sat on a chair.

"Do I have to go too?"

Bain got straight to the point.

"Go? Where?"

"The Academy."

That’s when I realized what Bain was worried about.

"You heard from the others?"

"Of course. You told all the second-years to go back to the Academy."

Did I?

I don’t think I said all the second-years.

"Who said that?"

"The Lady."

It seemed Karina didn’t like Bain.

The reason… their personas overlapped?

'Aha. That’s it.'

I’d known since Heroes of Frey, but Karina and Bain were strikingly similar in speech and demeanor.

Meeting them in person, they were even more alike.

It was like seeing a junior version of Karina, so similar that I’d made mistakes multiple times.

'Wait. Bain was born first, so does that make Karina the junior Bain?'

Anyway, Karina must’ve felt it too.

She acted like she didn’t care about Bain, but in reality, she was the one most aware and wary of her.

I was about to say she didn’t have to go.

But Bain’s next move made me swallow my words.

"Don’t send me back."

Suddenly, Bain knelt.

"That wasn’t my real skill. I’ll show you properly. I’ll listen to you too."

"……."

I stared at Bain for a moment and asked.

"Hey."

"Yes."

"Did Karina put you up to this?"

Bain’s body flinched.

"N-No?"

A sigh escaped me.

'She totally did.'

My ten years of thinking Bain was like Karina were corrected at that moment.

Karina Zain.

She was a much scarier kid.

"Alright."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I said alright. You don’t have to go back."

Bain jumped up as if she’d never knelt.

She looked at me with her usual condescending eyes.

"I heard you loud and clear. A woman wouldn’t go back on her word, right?"

"……."

"And don’t spread around that I knelt. That’s petty."

Bain turned her head haughtily and left the room.

No greeting, of course.

Her consistency made me chuckle.

Karina or Bain.

They were annoying and loud, but they were also entertaining.

Without kids like them, the Academy would be dreary every day.

Fortunately, there were no calls in the early morning.

The next morning.

The sky was gray, and cold, torrential rain poured as if swallowing the world.

Shwaaa!

"…The weather’s absolute crap."

The second-years returned to the Academy as soon as they woke up.

The investigation team was now down to me, Ivan, Yuria, Rachel, Karina, Gwyn, and Bain.

A total of seven.

The overall weight class was lower, but I thought this was better for moving efficiently.

A team needs to move like one body—carrying extra fat would only slow things down.

'Yeah, this is what an elite few looks like.'

Sure, there was one kid I didn’t like.

No, on second thought, two.

Wait, correction.

On third thought, three…

"…Maybe four."

Damn, that’s over half.

I briefly considered turning back the carriage with the second-years.

But setting aside personal feelings, in terms of skill, this was indeed an elite few.

After seeing the kids off, I returned to my room and checked the day’s Royal Dream.

Thankfully, no news about Clatter.

Instead, some eye-catching articles stood out.

[The mysterious swordsman, once just a rumor, finally revealed!?]

[Citizens’ testimonies pour in, saying she appeared suddenly, swept away zombies, and saved them…]

[Her bandaged body and sword were astonishingly fast and precise…]

[The mysterious swordsman who killed Narsi and vanished. Who could she be?]

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