Chapter 120

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Episode 27 - First Mission [4]

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The next day.

It was already noon, and I was heading toward the Academy’s exit, in front of the plaza.

As I walked, I placed the mask over my face.

After all, it didn’t cause me any discomfort. With or without the mask, the white lines allowed me to "see" the world around me.

In any case, there were a few things running through my mind.

And one of them was the mission’s location.

’An abandoned museum.’

Yesterday, I confirmed it with Rinna after asking her a few questions before returning to the dormitories.

So I was able to make sure of it.

The museum was one of the entrances to the Chapter Two Auction.

The Auction, which was an arc from the main story, had multiple entrances, and one of them was the museum we would be going to today.

The museum was called Malovia, an old art museum that had been abandoned for approximately a century.

But that wasn’t what mattered; there was something else that did.

’First, Zoey and Alessia never discover the museum, so I can be sure that, because of me and the other changes, this mission is part of the alterations I’m causing in the story, and that means the Anti-Villain Club could discover the Auction.’

The only secondary character who knew about the Auction and entered it was Clana. She appeared for the first time in a Main Mission within this arc.

And there were two different routes here: one was Clana’s death, and the other was her survival.

So part of Chapter Two was about keeping Clana safe, although the main focus was everything else.

Anyway, if the Club discovered the Auction, they would probably appear in the Main Mission, and its difficulty could increase.

’I should prevent them from discovering the Auction.’

My only concern was the difficulty of the Main Mission.

If it increased, that meant things different from what was expected could happen.

So far, only Chapter One, Part One, had undergone a change, with a variable and increased difficulty.

But the rest had not.

’If the other main characters who are in the Club enter the Auction as part of a mission, the difficulty for the Main Mission will naturally increase.’

I was trapped between two choices: preventing the discovery of the Auction or letting everything continue normally.

’But, thinking about it... what if I receive an extra reward like last time?’

I received my first Fable and came to understand its existence and meaning.

The Fable was the only thing that allowed me to change my Dark Destiny, to which I was bound.

Without it, my ending would simply be death, unless I reached 11 Stars before my destined death.

But honestly, I doubted it very much. Reaching 11 Stars was something unknown to me, and I didn’t believe I could achieve it in time.

’Ugh, seriously, there’s too much to think about.’

I decided to continue this train of thought on the train heading to Arlumeria.

A short while later, I arrived at the Academy’s entrance.

Both teams were already gathered, so I joined mine.

"You arrived just in time, Mr. Unknown."

"Sorry, I’m not very good at keeping track of time."

"It’s fine, it doesn’t matter."

Yesterday, the leader had explained that we could choose a codename according to what our masks represented.

Julian chose Kindness as his codename; Rinna chose Obsession; Diana chose Hope; Charlotte chose Need; and Veronica chose Tranquility.

So, in short, they would now be called things like Mr. Kindness, Miss Obsession, Miss Hope, Miss Need, and Miss Tranquility.

The leader clapped once, drawing our attention.

"Alright, then remember the uses of the Magic Items I gave you. It’s necessary to stay in communication with each other during a mission."

"It’s advice based on my experience."

"And use your codenames when you’re surrounded by many unfamiliar people and when speaking out loud during missions."

Both teams nodded.

"Good, then let’s head to the train station. We have a journey of several hours ahead of us to the city of Arlumeria."

***

After leaving the train station, Team B, led by Zoey, took the lead and guided us through the city.

We took a few carriages, and about an hour later, we left the city and headed toward Old Arlumeria.

Team A had taken a different train. The Demonic Zone they were heading to was in the opposite direction from the city of Arlumeria.

In any case, after splitting up, our team wasted no time and headed straight for the Malovia Museum.

Meanwhile, inside the carriage taking us to Old Arlumeria, Zoey began to explain:

"In recent weeks, some villains are believed to have been spotted inside the Malovia Museum. As the leader said, we have two options depending on the enemy’s strength."

"If they’re stronger, we’ll only act as spies. If not, then we’ll kill them directly and leave about three alive to obtain information."

"Once inside the museum, make sure to stay alert, keep both Magic Items active, and follow my orders without questioning them."

Julian, Diana, and I nodded without saying anything.

"Uh, Miss Longing, what exactly are we supposed to record using this magic item for?"

Julian asked curiously while looking at the brooch on his chest.

Zoey’s mask represented longing, sadness, and helplessness.

With a faint smile on her mask, the codename she had chosen was Longing.

In response to Julian’s question, Zoey answered:

"It’s evidence. Without it, there’s no solid proof that the mission was successful. Besides, it helps keep a record of any kind of action we take, from obtaining information to capturing an important scene, etc."

Julian didn’t ask anything else after that. Shortly afterward, the three of us activated both magic items.

Then, Julian’s voice reached my mind.

’Hello, can you hear me?’

’Yes.’

’Everything’s fine.’

Diana and I replied without much enthusiasm, though I had to admit the brooch was actually quite interesting.

I didn’t know such a magical item existed.

’In any case, this is very useful.’

I could choose whether or not to speak to others using the brooch, so it didn’t matter if I suddenly thought about something.

Unless I decided otherwise, the voice in my mind wouldn’t be heard by the others.

’We’ve arrived. It’s time to work.’

Zoey’s voice reached the minds of the three of us.

After a few seconds, we stepped out of the carriage, and one street away, white lines outlined a museum that was practically in ruins.

There was rubble everywhere, parts of its structure and façade had collapsed, and above all, nature was slowly reclaiming its territory.

Old Arlumeria was called that because, more than a century ago, it had been abandoned due to the failed experiments of some Warlock hiding there.

He unleashed a corrosive energy that lasted for several years before finally disappearing.

By then, the inhabitants of Old Arlumeria had moved several kilometers farther away, where the new Arlumeria now stood.

Back then, Old Arlumeria wasn’t that large, and there wasn’t even an Arcanist Tower like the one that existed today.

That was why Old Arlumeria wasn’t very big, and the most imposing structure in that place was the Malovia Museum.

’Do people actually live in this place?’

I could sense the presence of a few people inside certain houses that had been partially rebuilt.

In any case, we headed toward the museum and soon arrived at its entrance.

The entrance was unexpectedly clean, so to speak.

It didn’t take long for us to enter the interior.

The museum had two floors. Both were quite spacious, with different artistic exhibition halls.

Rubble, several collapsed columns, and above all, dust covered a large portion of the interior.

’It looks like the entrance was deliberately cleaned.’

Zoey said through the brooch to inform everyone.

’Ah, superior, look here. There are footprints that seem to be from a few hours ago.’

Zoey approached Julian.

’That seems to be the case. According to the reports, no one has entered this place in the past few months, so only the villains secretly operating here could have come inside.’

I agreed with Zoey’s words.

Because, in reality, there were several presences on the museum’s second floor.

There were at most twelve people, and to my bad luck, all of them were between Class 5 and Class 6.

They were stronger than all of us combined.

’I had a vague hope that this would be simple. Just kill them all and that would be the end of the mission.’

But I guess they weren’t going to make it easy for me.

And even though I had been thinking about the fine line between preventing the discovery of the Auction and revealing nothing to the team...

In the end, I couldn’t reach any answer.

I was going to leave it to luck.

But I was probably unlucky today.

’Ugh, well, whatever. Better to take the risk for an extra reward.’

Walking toward the stairs that weren’t too far away, I pointed upward as I turned toward Zoey.

’There are twelve Class 5 and Class 6 villains upstairs.’

"...?"

’What...?’

Zoey asked, somewhat surprised.

’There are villains upstairs, and they’re stronger than us.’

Zoey snapped out of her confusion before nodding.

’Alright, if that’s true, then let’s go.’

The team slowly began moving toward the second floor.