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170th Chapter. Apostle of Justice (1)

“Recognition Disturbance Magical Device?”

“It’s a magical device that erases one’s recognition among people. You could say it makes you almost like a transparent human.”

Baimon was explaining while displaying a 3D screen contained within a spirit crystal. It was filled with designs of various magical devices.

Hearing this explanation, Riplain asked a question.

“Does it completely conceal your appearance?”

“Yes, the forms can vary. Badges worn on the chest, hats, necklaces, earrings—anything that can be worn easily and is suitable for covert actions.”

“Truly an amazing item. If equipped with this, wouldn’t anyone be able to assassinate anyone?”

“That’s impossible. Using magical power while wearing such a thing will automatically destroy the device.”

Moreover, it’s practically useless against strong individuals. They can sense the presence or detect mana, and will immediately identify you.

If such a thing were effective for assassinating prominent figures, those at the top would not have existed at all.

“So they chose to escape rather than attack us.”

“Well, with Tariel-san here, it’s understandable.”

Before entering this domain, there were knights monitoring their expedition.

Since they were dispatched from the royal family, they couldn’t just be turned away.

But suddenly, they vanished, leaving questions in the air.

“By the way, Baimon. You’re not wearing that magical device, are you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Baimon furrowed his brows, as it felt like Riplain was suspecting him. Then, Riplain spoke with an inappropriate familiarity.

“No, I just couldn’t recognize where you were. Let’s say you had no presence.”

“….”

“Hahaha! Just kidding. You’re quite reliable!”

Even if it was a joke, Baimon couldn’t help but give a serious look. He already felt excluded, and hearing that made his irritation flare up.

He wanted to curse, but before long, he was about to be overwhelmed by Riplain’s brilliant presence. She truly looked ‘brilliant.’

“But what exactly were those knights up to? They seemed more like spies than actual knights.”

“Well, we should find out shortly.”

To be honest, they hadn’t helped at all. When they encountered the specters, it was unclear what those knights were doing.

Had they just been watching and observing? At the very least, a knight protecting citizens of the Empire should show some conscience and help out.

But do they even have any feeling of conscience? They even vanished like the wind now.

The next day after spending the night in the Spirit King’s Realm.

All the people who had been staying in this town were currently gathering in the plaza.

The sight of many prisoners, several knights, and a top-tier mercenary group made it feel more like a stronghold than a town.

At the center, Tariel, who was commanding, spoke.

“We have been too complacent.”

He had forgotten about the existence of the knights watching over them and just recalled it belatedly.

Once they understood the prisoners’ intentions, the knights had suddenly vanished. Tariel instinctively felt where those guys were headed.

“When we first came here, I was aware of them, but I suddenly forgot. It wasn’t until last night that one of my subordinates remembered.”

“The fact that they have disappeared means… that the royal family has noticed our plans!”

Prince Totema, who governs this stronghold, said with astonishment. After all, it was Tariel and his group’s involvement that had drawn in those knights.

“This is all my fault. I sincerely apologize.”

Despite having so many people, they hadn’t noticed at all. The same went for the prisoners, which was a strange aspect.

Heidern also did not blame Tariel mindlessly but observed that part.

“If it truly is a Recognition Disturbance Magical Device, it won’t just end with becoming an ordinary transparent human. It will reach the level of making one’s existence itself vanish.”

“It eliminates not just appearance and presence, but even the sense of existence?”

“It surpasses transparent humans and becomes a ghost-like state. In other words, it means the recognition disappears altogether.”

The idea that while hiding appearance, it could erase existence left Tariel speechless.

It was so profound that even entering his mind wouldn’t make him recall it.

“Of course, once in that ghost state, you can’t touch anything. The limited time isn’t that long either. Moreover, the reason it’s possible is because of this realm.”

Unlike the beautifully shining night sky, upon daytime, a gloomy fog hung over.

Heidern pointed at this strange scenery and said, “This place is where the boundary between life and death is ambiguous. It’s easy for recognition itself to disappear here, which is why such a magical device’s effects will trigger even more effectively.”

Of course, as powerful as it is, Heidern added that the effect can only be used once.

However, even though they could have sensed an attack from behind, their intention was to flee, not ambush.

An opponent that exposes no malice and turns their back doesn’t appear threatening.

Since they were virtually non-existent, it could also contribute to amplifying that effect.

“This spot where life and death are ambiguous. I wonder how Shaikar, who was once called the Spirit King of Life, ended up like this.”

“It seems like someone is looking for a dead person.”

Prince Totema spoke solemnly. He had noticed it since they first established this stronghold in the realm.

From the moment they entered, he felt the Spirit King’s emotions seep through his body.

“Shaikar hasn’t been able to let go of his late daughter who died 30 years ago. At least he twisted the boundary of life and death to discover some trace of her.”

Though she was not his biological daughter, she was the first child who had captured his heart.

He had a hard time accepting reality, no matter how sad it was.

Even if it meant forsaking the duties of the Spirit overseeing life.

“He’s probably still searching for his daughter beyond the boundary of death. Of course, he’ll temporarily return for rest by tomorrow.”

Tomorrow is the day of the full moon.

The reason he seeks the mana of humans then is that he needs the strength to maintain that boundary of death.

Having abandoned all the duties of a spirit, the Spirit King of Life descended into the Spirit King of Death.

In effect, all those duties were for humans. She wouldn’t have the heart to carry out that duty after having turned against them.

At least not until she found her daughter.

‘But even if she searches through the afterlife, she probably won’t find her. She has already reincarnated.’

I thought Shaikar was pathetic in my heart. After all, that daughter’s soul no longer exists in the afterlife.

To begin with, the daughter was a soul that could not go to the afterlife. It was destined to completely vanish from this world after five deaths.

“Anyway, soon a royal personage will arrive here. If we don’t hurry to extract our mana, you all may become endangered too!”

“Yes! It’s almost certain that they’ve realized your cooperation with us. You might end up targeted by the Empire.”

Heidern and Prince Totema were trembling, realizing this was no ordinary situation.

Their secret experiment was now known to all of us. They wouldn’t sit idle and suck their thumbs.

“Moreover, your mission also includes students. There’s no guarantee the royal family won’t meddle with those kids.”

That was a matter of even greater concern for Heidern. They could do anything to silence them.

Even Tariel, upon hearing this, groaned and pondered.

There was a way to do it.

They could pull out the students right now before the Spirit King could offer them mana.

By doing so, they could prove that they hadn’t cooperated with the prisoners.

“Hey, wait a minute…”

“Huh?”

While everyone was burdened with serious contemplation, Mary tugged at my sleeve.

When I looked at her as if asking what was up, she spoke with a trembling expression.

“Something… sounds strange.”

“Sound?”

“It feels like someone is calling us. They keep screaming.”

Who on earth could be screaming?

No matter how much I perked up my ears, all I could hear was the murmuring of the plaza’s people, the rustling of trees, and the whispers of spirits crawling about.

“I can’t hear anything.”

Mary’s confusion didn’t seem like a lie; the situation felt perfectly fine.

But then it happened.

“…!!”

Suddenly, a crisis detection skill was ringing alarm bells in my mind.

After that, my actions seemed to be controlled by instinct rather than my will.

Without warning, I summoned Muto and placed him defensively in front of me like a shield.

『Eh?!』

Muto appeared and looked puzzled, but soon turned serious.

He quickly understood the reason I had summoned him.

Something shot towards us at supersonic speed, and Muto caught it with his tail perfectly.

『Feces. If I were even a moment late, there would have been tunnels opened in both you and the students in uniforms.』

What Muto caught was a large, pointed object.

From a distance, it looked like elongated toothpicks, but the principles used were closer to arrows.

The moment I pondered about who had shot that, I heard a scream from beside me.

“Uaaah!”

I turned my head towards the sound.

There, arrows had pierced the heads and hearts of the knights who were cooperating with the prisoners, and I saw the conductor screaming and the prisoners covered in cold sweat.

“Ugh!”

“Commander!”

The arrow had even pierced Tariel’s shoulder.

However, thanks to his quick reflexes, he managed to twist his body to avoid a fatal blow, so it seemed he was only grazed.

If Mary hadn’t reflexively warned me, I might have been caught off guard too.

“What just flew out of nowhere?”

“Be careful! This feels ominous!”

“….”

Trisha, Riplain, and Baimon sensed the crisis and assumed defensive stances.

Suddenly, arrows flew in and killed the cooperating knights.

Simultaneously, it was clear someone had intentionally targeted us to harm us.

“Surprisingly decent. Just an academy student, and they’ve already sensed my arrows.”

A man clad in elegant armor revealed himself from the forest. He had striking blonde hair, a large great sword slung over his back, and a bow-shaped bracelet attached to his left arm.

He also carried a white sheath containing a sword at his waist, with a bright and passionate-looking face.

‘That white sword, where have I seen that before? Who the heck is he?’

I used my eye ability to inspect his information.

It was only focusing on the opponent’s stats, so I couldn’t discern his affiliation or profession.

But just from that, I could roughly guess who he was.

——————–

<Luthis Sentry>

Race: Human

Profession: Magician Knight

Aura Class: 7 Stars

Mana: 175/175

Disposition: Extreme Justice/ Extreme Arrogance

Emotions towards the user: None

[Other Notes]

– Abilities dramatically increase due to mana manipulation.

——————–

Mana manipulation. I know well who those performing that belong to.

However, his attire resembling a royal knight gave off a different vibe.

And several knights who appeared to be his subordinates sprang out beside him.

“Hear me, villains! I am Luthis Sentry, the Second Lieutenant of the Divine Knights, upholding the Empire’s justice! You have committed acts that should never be done. Therefore, I, Luthis, have come personally to condemn you!”

They arrived sooner than I expected. I shivered at the fact that he was a commander just like Jason.

The fact that he openly attacked us meant we had already been marked as traitors.

“For now, I will personally deal with those who betrayed the knights. But I will give you a chance not to end up like them. If you hand over those prisoners now.”

Luthis wore an expression that seemed to extend mercy. He had the look of an enthusiastic and altruistic protagonist from a boy’s manga.

But remembering Luthis’s disposition from earlier, it made me squint.

“I have one question to ask.”

“What is it?”

As Tariel approached us, he asked Luthis while enduring the pain in his shoulder.

“Certainly, this incident is our responsibility. We were entangled with the prisoners, which must have prompted you to step in directly. Therefore, I will not blame you for killing them or piercing my shoulder. However…!”

At that moment, Tariel pointed at us and shouted.

“Why did you attack these friends too? While they might have participated, they are still only fresh students. What if they are being manipulated unavoidably by bad adults like us!”

That was the very question I wanted to ask.

Even more absurd was…

“In that case, it’s unavoidable.”

“What?”

“If they really had died, it would have appeared they died under the coercion of corrupt adults like you. You, who use them like young boys, aren’t you the true evil!”

Luthis, still with a fervent countenance, declared.

Seeing that, our students, as well as the mercenary group and all the prisoners, were taken aback.

Though he shouted justice, in reality, he was a self-righteous individual who believed his selfish ideas were ‘the truth.’

‘Wow… that’s quite something.’

Even Muto, a mass of curses, was taken aback.

In summary, this is how it was.

A child who appears kind, preaching justice while being wrapped in hypocrisy. That’s the type I detest the most.

“I don’t know who those friends are, but if they are to be manipulated by someone like you, then it’s better to put them out of their misery! Hahaha! Did you think you could get away with that?!”

While Luthis laughed, completely assured of his judgment, Tariel hurriedly spoke to us.

“Guys. Quickly rip off your name tags!”

“Why?”

“I heard they do not seem to know about you yet. They might have heard about the cooperation news of the Aligieri students, but it seems they haven’t heard the names on that list.”

Hearing that, we didn’t hesitate and tore off our uniform name tags.

Riplain quickly burned them up with fire magic.

Meanwhile, Luthis drew the sword from his waist and said,

“You will never leave this place. Because I am the one who dominates this space!”

As the blade drew from its sheath, it radiated a red color.

I gasped at the beautiful hue embedded in that blade.

‘Holy Sword Rozaria?!’

Luthis was holding the sword once wielded by the former saint. Since it was the sword used by the daughter of the Spirit King, upon grasping it, he could command spirits freely.

Given that this realm is what it is, it’s an essential item.

And that sword should have been kept by the executives of Doomsday. So indeed…

“With the remnants of the former saint, I will condemn you!”

“What are you, a lackey of Doomsday, spouting about saints?”

“Doomsday? What’s that!”

“What?”

He looked genuinely clueless.

I was taken aback.

Did he really not know?

Was he blindly following the Empire without understanding anything?

‘This guy is a colossal dimwit. But the dangerous one is us now.’

Muto empathized and warned me. It was surprising that he and I were on the same wavelength, but I felt utterly tense.

Behind him, shadows of restless spirits bathed in mist were visible.

-zzjijijijiji!

The ground trembled and began to crack apart.

Just the descent of the top-tier spirit was enough to start destroying the village and forest.

“Justice will prevail!”

What’s even more bewildering was Luthis’s needless enthusiasm.

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.

 

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