While the kingdom’s troops were being cleared from the evacuation route with magical tools and machine guns at the front line, the Seoguyeon Main Team was turned upside down.
“We have to evacuate immediately! Load the supplies onto the fleet!”
“No, what if we run away without even trying to fight?”
“Are you serious? Fight against a crazy monster that can evaporate an entire squad in a single step?! The idea of subjugating a force capable of world domination by sheer force is self-destructive from the start! I have no intention of perishing alongside you!”
While some noble families surrendered out of fear of annihilation, others, terrified that their surrender wouldn’t even be accepted, were in a rush to escape. Could Velvet Belle, terrified of the nightmare of giantization, withstand the divided strength of the Seoguyeon Main Team?
Even the remaining members were shaken by such anxiety.
“Everyone, don’t panic. I’m here in the Seoguyeon Main Team.”
In this moment right before their collapse, there was one outstanding talent in the Seoguyeon Main Team, his name was Creamfield Rozepasta.
A competent person who graduated from the Gift Academy 20 years ago and didn’t hesitate to dive into bloody power struggles for his family.
“Is that the ruthless product of the Rozepasta family?”
“If it’s Creamfield, isn’t he the ridiculously skilled master who reached an incredible level with [Whirling]?”
“Can his [Whirling] beat Velvet’s Giant Stomp? No matter how I think about it, I can’t picture him winning against a Giant Stomp!”
Velvet’s attacks were undoubtedly strong. In a direct confrontation, even Creamfield wouldn’t have a chance.
“I admit it. If we face him without a plan, even I can’t take Velvet on alone.”
“See? You’re all talk!”
“Great, now I’m the only fool listening in. I should be sneaking more assets away from the family right now…!”
No one in the Seoguyeon Main Team planned to stop Velvet; everyone was thinking about how to run away. One of the nobles who had boldly stated he would flee while preparing documents for the emergency response committee stumbled in place.
“Huh?”
Flustered, he looked down, as if his legs had tripped over something, and saw a pair of pants that were twisted like a wet towel.
Of course, the legs beneath those clothes were also caught in the [Whirling] and wrung out.
“AAAH!!”
“Are you mad, Creamfield?!”
“You all are the crazy ones. Do you really think Velvet and the Academy students would let you flee after coming this far? The moment you decided to run, your future was sealed—killed by Velvet’s assassin within ten years in your hideout.”
As Creamfield took a step forward, noblemen trying to escape screamed as limbs were taken by [Whirling] and they fell.
No competent person could resist his domain among the remaining nobles. The Seoguyeon Main Team wouldn’t allow someone like a ‘leader of the action team’ who grew with the support of their family to sit on the same board as them.
“Who do you think allowed you to rise to your current position?! You think you could come here because we accepted you? You’re just a frisky colt rampaging around in a safe place!!”
“What allowed me to rise here? That would, of course, be my own skill. And the incompetence of you overwhelmed by my undeniable merit.”
Creamfield was the exception who had built undeniable accomplishments to rise to his current position amid this crisis. The nobles of the Seoguyeon Main Team regretted accepting him as an exception, but Creamfield believed their old-fashioned way of thinking was precisely what drove him to take action.
“If you were planning to kick out one ladder and continue a power monopoly for a specific generation, you should have gone all the way. You shouldn’t have tried to use young blood on a whim, leading to this mess.”
“What are the knights doing?! They should be protecting us right now!!!”
Suddenly, outside the door, a sound wave of high-density mana shook the room, and the entire space trembled.
Flash! The lights flickered off and then back on due to the powerful offensive, and the door swung open.
“The waiting troops have been annihilated.”
“Now, the forces to protect the leaders of the noble faction have disappeared. Please achieve your great undertaking, Lord Creamfield.”
“So it is. Noble members of the faction. Please watch the growth of the next generation from the Netherworld.”
“You ungrateful…!”
“No, please, just my life…”
There were those who didn’t even think they would die in the end. In the face of death, they threw off the facade of nobles and honestly begged for their lives. All died, their necks twisted in Creamfield’s domain due to being caught in [Whirling].
“Secure command of the frontline corps. The noble faction is trash that deserves to die for their greed, but not all the ferocious dogs they’ve nurtured under them are trash.”
“But are you really okay not joining us?”
“Lord Creamfield and we are all…”
Shhh.
As Creamfield raised a finger, a worried noble’s bodyguard flinched and closed his mouth.
“The ‘advisor’ who knew we were scholarship students of the Foundation has perished with the last war. Now, liberated from the Foundation’s grasp and also from the clutches of Seoguyeon Main Team nobles, do you intend to offer all this loot to the heir of the Director? Don’t miss this opportunity!”
That’s right. Creamfield and the knight faction were, in fact, scholarship students of the Foundation who passed the Academy’s curriculum. They grew with double support from both the Seoguyeon Main Team and the Foundation.
Extraordinary strength. The secret was in the double support they received.
“Even if the Foundation’s official forces join the Velvet faction, our Foundation’s legacy is not insignificant. Do not fear.”
Now, the confrontation between the Seoguyeon Main Team nobles and Velvet faction was flipped onto a structure of conflict between the Creamfield faction, associated with the former Director of the Foundation, and the current Velvet faction in cooperation with Oknodie Foundation.
*
Jonnas entered the club room with a face that looked like he had some very unfortunate news.
“Lady. I have a report from the battlefield.”
“Gasp. Did our butlers happen to return?”
“No butlers or maids have been harmed. But I’ve received word that the
A gift. From the perspective of a veteran player who finds any received item enjoyable, this was a bitter pill to swallow.
“What kind of gift was it?”
“The silver-grade ingredient Stone Giger, which grants the user the Stone Skin ability, has cracked.”
“What?!”
“The Thunder Parrot, which could make a noise as loud as lightning in a clear sky, died of a heart attack from the shock of the battle.”
“Ugh, my parrot!”
“There was also an unfortunate accident where the Wolf Grape, a bronze-grade ingredient, was eaten by the silver-grade ingredient Stone Giger because the storage bag got a hole due to the battle aftermath.”
This was no time to just let the automatic hunting take care of things.
“I’m going to the scene immediately!!”
“I will contact the teleport sorcerer to secure the closest teleport location within three minutes.”
“Lady. Please gather the necessary preparation items for the outing.”
While Jonnas went off to find the teleport magic circle, Reap pulled out a coordinating book.
“Would you like to wear the odd country Alice set for today’s outing?”
“I don’t want to get my white skirt stained with blood!”
“In that case, I recommend the dark thief set, which won’t show any stains.”
“Ooh, a cloak! Do I wear a mask too?”
Reap reached into my costume bag, which had given her access, and pulled out five party masks, one for each finger.
“Max-level Killing Rabbit mask, Flesh-Eating Monster mask, Fraud Contract Spirit mask, Face-Hiding Mask, Wish Mirror Mask. Which mask do you prefer?”
“The mirror mask looks interesting!”
“Do you have a choice of headbands among star-shaped, moon-shaped, or heart-shaped?”
“Do you have a particle pattern headband?”
“Yes, we do.”
“Wow, Reap is the best!”
“Would you like to apply some nail polish as well?”
“What’s the effect of that?”
“It provides additional elemental damage based on color to attacks, and synergizes with ring-type equipped items.”
“Eh, not really into that. I won’t apply it!”
After finishing my preparations, I suddenly felt worried.
“Mr. Mahabharata has been getting stricter about permits for outings, will we be okay?”
“I’ve already sent April to notify him.”
“Notify him?!”
“If he doesn’t allow it, the heir of the Foundation will ‘escape’ from the Academy, so if you have to choose between an outing and an escape, it would be the outing.”
“Wow, that’s a sweet method!”
From now on, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting permits but would instead threaten with an option of choice.
“I’ve secured a teleport location. Now, let’s get going.”
“Sure!”
I excitedly took both Jonnas and Reap’s hands, shaking them back and forth as we set out. When I heard about the gift being damaged, I was initially angry, but now that I was going out with the three of us, wasn’t this basically the first time aside from taking the ticket exam?
Feeling like we were going on a family trip after a long time, I hummed a song in joy.
The violin played a battle tune obliviously, so I retaliated against a Giant Monster’s anguish with sympathy magic and brought to mind a cheerful walking tune.
Finally, the violin that had been playing the wrong song trembled in pain but then played a tune that fit my mood perfectly.
“Maybe we should have packed a lunch!”
“I thought you would, so I already prepared it.”
Reap quietly showed off the lunch box she secretly put in my backpack.
Of course, Jonnas and Reap are the best!
Today’s outing looks like it will be a wonderful time.
