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Chapter 9
Just as the brighter the light, the darker the shadow, the back alleys behind the glamorous city were steeped in darkness.
Even the city guard refused to patrol there.
And even in those alleys, Milo was infamous as a mad dog.
When a rapier had pierced straight through his stomach, he had only laughed and bitten out his opponent’s throat.
But this time…
He couldn’t laugh.
Damn… what kind of fists are these…?
Every punch the man threw felt like being struck by solid stone.
Milo had endured countless stab wounds without so much as a groan, yet now he found himself screaming.
Those fists hammered him relentlessly.
But something felt strange.
Normally, after taking this much punishment, he should have blacked out.
Instead, his mind was becoming clearer and clearer.
Why…?
Then he noticed the faint light surrounding the man’s fists.
Holy power.
The man had wrapped his fists in divine energy.
Why would he use holy power on his fists…?
Only then did Milo realize…
His body wasn’t injured at all.
The man was beating him senseless—
while healing him at the same time.
There could only be one reason.
So he can keep beating me forever…
At that moment, their eyes met.
The man’s gaze was terrifyingly emotionless.
Like a blacksmith hammering steel, there wasn’t the slightest hint of feeling.
“Bark! Bark!”
Milo had no choice but to bark desperately.
* * *
Not bad.
I nodded as I looked at Milo.
He was actually pretty capable.
He was tough, quick to react, and above all, incredibly tenacious.
It made me wonder why someone like him was wasting his time as a guard.
Just then, our eyes met.
Even after taking such a beating, there was still fire in Milo’s eyes.
He had lowered his head for now, but he was clearly waiting for another chance.
Pretending not to notice, I asked,
“Milo, explain Squad 42.”
“Squad 42 is the support squad.”
Even after all that, he still answered curtly.
The man had spirit.
“Support squad?”
“Yeah. We don’t have a fixed assignment. We move wherever the other squads request backup.”
“So you’re basically handymen.”
“Handymen? You—”
A murderous glint flashed across Milo’s eyes.
But he didn’t attack.
Support squad… Perfect.
If we moved according to requests for assistance, that meant we’d have access to all kinds of locations.
Exactly what I needed.
Maybe luck really is working in my favor.
Things were falling into place almost too neatly.
“So who’s the squad leader?”
Since I wouldn’t recognize the names of ordinary guards anyway, I asked casually.
Milo’s answer, however, was anything but casual.
“Captain Evelyn.”
“Wait… Evelyn?”
“That’s right.”
Milo answered indifferently.
Evelyn… an executive of the Republic.
Even the Empire—the ruler of the continent—had enemies powerful enough to threaten it.
They were known collectively as the Ten Great Enemies of the Empire.
The Republic ranked first among them.
The Republic preached absolute equality.
On the surface, that sounded admirable.
The problem was its leader—the Supreme Commander.
He was insane.
Obsessed with equality to the point that he’d willingly set the entire continent ablaze if it meant achieving “true equality.”
Under someone like that, the Republic never cared about methods or consequences.
Once they sank their teeth into something, they never let go.
They were the real mad dogs.
Evelyn was one of their agents.
A major one.
She had once blown up the entirety of Elysium Academy.
And now she was my squad leader.
This is getting interesting.
I tapped the hilt of my sword.
“And the vice-captain?”
“The vice-captain is…”
Milo hesitated.
I didn’t pay much attention.
After Evelyn, what could possibly be more shocking?
“Hanswell.”
Hanswell…?
The name sounded familiar.
I’d definitely heard it somewhere before.
Then it hit me.
The Headmaster’s half-brother.
The Headmaster belonged to the prestigious Kerietan family, one of the Six Pillars of the Empire.
Officially, he was an only child.
Hanswell, however, was his illegitimate half-brother.
I remembered him for only one reason.
Hanswell’s death caused the Headmaster to lose his mind and become a calamity.
It was a mandatory event.
No route in the game allowed the player to prevent it.
And now…
That very Hanswell was the vice-captain.
That’s dangerous.
As long as Hanswell was around, the Headmaster’s attention would inevitably follow.
That made things far more complicated.
But it also presented an opportunity.
Maybe I can stop the Headmaster’s rampage by using Hanswell.
I’d never had this route before.
I hadn’t even known Hanswell belonged to the guard corps.
Joining the guards had unlocked a completely new possibility.
I’ll make use of it.
Just then, someone knocked on the warehouse door.
“Milo.”
A calm voice.
Milo jumped in fright.
“Damn it! It’s Hanswell!”
He screamed as though the devil himself had arrived.
The door was locked.
Yet without so much as a loud sound, the lock broke apart and the door swung open.
A neatly dressed man entered.
His hair was perfectly combed without a single strand out of place.
His uniform was immaculate.
Even his sharp glasses looked perfectly aligned.
His appearance alone screamed strict disciplinarian.
“Milo. Why are you here?”
“V-Vice Captain…”
Milo lowered his eyes nervously.
“I told you to bring the recruit immediately.”
“W-Well…”
“You weren’t putting him through one of your ridiculous ‘senior training’ sessions again, were you? You know better than anyone that Squad 42 is short-handed.”
“I was just—”
“And I noticed you neglected your duties this morning.”
“The entrance ceremony is in two days. I warned everyone to be careful.”
“And why did you leave before the end of your shift yesterday?”
“I only left five minutes after finishing—”
“Who gave you permission to leave five minutes early?”
“You’re also habitually late.”
“Yesterday: one hour and two minutes.”
“Today: forty-six minutes.”
Hanswell continued lecturing without stopping for breath.
Even I felt dizzy just listening.
Milo’s face grew paler by the second.
Then Hanswell looked at me.
His sharp hawk-like eyes resembled the Headmaster’s.
“So you’re the new recruit, Grave.”
“Yes.”
“I’m Hanswell, vice-captain of Squad 42.”
“We’re busy, so we’ll talk while we walk.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned around and left the warehouse.
Milo hurried beside me and whispered,
“What about the senior training?”
Although he hid it well in public, the Headmaster treasured Hanswell more than anyone.
When Hanswell died, the Headmaster had slaughtered students in a fit of madness.
And Milo wanted me to beat him?
What a horrifying suggestion.
Ignoring Milo’s pleading gaze, I followed Hanswell.
Hanswell headed straight for Guard Headquarters.
The building looked remarkably similar to a European police station.
Guards in uniform bustled around outside.
Each floor housed different squad offices.
Squad 42’s office occupied the top floor, tucked away in the farthest corner.
Hanswell opened a locker and handed me something.
It was the guard baton the guards carried in the game.
“Our academy occasionally experiences anomalies known as Rifts.”
“No one has yet discovered what causes them.”
“They’re dangerous enough that even professors can die if they enter one carelessly.”
At the mention of Rifts, my expression hardened.
“Normally, professors deal with them.”
“The problem is that until someone enters a Rift, nobody knows what type it is.”
“We have to identify its nature before rescue teams can be organized.”
“That’s our job.”
Hanswell held out the baton.
“When an elite guard discovers a Rift, they’re the first to enter before any students get caught inside.”
“They determine the Rift’s type, send a signal, and wait for rescue.”
I already knew this.
The game always had the guards report newly formed Rifts.
Still, one question came to mind.
“If someone enters a Rift first, their chances of survival are extremely low, aren’t they?”
“Nine times out of ten, they die.”
Hanswell said it calmly.
“If that frightens you, resign now.”
I wasn’t frightened.
Rifts were one of the main reasons I’d joined the guard corps.
“I’m a fairly brave person.”
I accepted the baton without hesitation.
Hanswell’s expression softened slightly.
Then it immediately became stern again.
“At the bottom are four buttons.”
As he said, the bottom of the baton bore symbols of a sword, staff, skull, and holy relic.
“If the Rift is Knight-type, press the sword.”
“If it’s Mage-type, press the staff.”
“If it’s a Dark Mage, press the skull.”
“If it’s a Priest-type, press the holy relic.”
“If multiple attributes are present, press them simultaneously.”
“Simple enough.”
“It has to be.”
“In emergencies, simplicity saves lives.”
“Though in truth, encountering a Rift is extremely rare.”
“Most patrols end without seeing one.”
I nodded.
“For now, put this on.”
“This reinforcement wasn’t planned, so it’ll be a while before your official uniform arrives.”
Hanswell handed me a used guard uniform from the locker.
“Understood.”
I took it and entered the changing room.
As expected of Elysium Academy, the fabric was excellent.
The problem was the design.
No matter how many times I looked at it…
The uniform looked pathetically weak.
Is it supposed to lull the enemy into lowering their guard?
Clicking my tongue, I changed clothes and fastened the baton to my belt.
Though I doubted I’d ever actually use it.
I’ll be taking care of the Rifts myself.
Rifts were among the deadliest hazards in the game.
But they also offered some of the greatest rewards.
I had no intention of letting anyone else claim them.
When I came back out, several unfamiliar people were gathered around a table.
They were apparently the members of Squad 42.
The problem was…
I recognized every one of them.
Recognizing ordinary guards was a very bad sign.
“Oh my, the new recruit?”
A black-haired beauty with a spider-like appearance smiled warmly.
Her altered guard uniform was so short that her navel was exposed.
Hanswell gestured toward her.
“This is Scarlet.”
Scarlet… the Saintess of the Outer God.
The Scarlet I remembered was a horrific monster covered in hundreds of writhing tentacles.
She was one of the major villains introduced late in the game.
Evelyn.
Hanswell.
And now Scarlet?
She wasn’t even the end of it.
The long-haired man beside her, smoking casually, also looked familiar.
“This is Rudrick.”
Rudrick, the Spear Wraith.
Rudrick always appeared alongside Scarlet.
His combat ability was overwhelming.
He had single-handedly killed a Sword Master.
I turned toward the huge man quietly sitting in the corner.
I recognized him too.
“This is Volkan.”
Volkan the Barbarian.
He was an early-game villain.
A savage who wore students’ intestines around his neck like a necklace.
“This is our newest recruit, Grave.”
At Hanswell’s introduction, everyone turned to look at me.
The captain was an executive of the Republic.
The vice-captain was the Headmaster’s emotional trigger.
The squad members included the Saintess of the Outer God, the Spear Wraith, and the Barbarian…
“Nice to meet you.”
I meant it.
I was genuinely glad to meet them.
