Chapter 122

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Episode 27 - First Mission [6]

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Sitting on some wooden planks, she had listened to the entire conversation the twelve villains had with the whole team.

When the meeting ended, everyone left; some secretly exited the museum, while others simply activated some kind of teleportation circle engraved onto their bodies.

Shortly afterward, the room beneath us became empty.

’This is the first time I’ve heard this information related to Chapter Two.’

In Chapter Two, to enter the Auction, you had to find some way to obtain a Special Card and disguise yourself as that person.

It was complicated in its own way, since there were only fifteen hundred people in the entire world.

And here, in the Imperial Capital, there were a total of seven individuals.

Of course, not all of them were strong, but they were influential figures in the underworld or among villains.

’My next objective after finishing this mission is to obtain a Special Card.’

It’s going to be a headache, but I’ve been planning it for the past month.

I only needed to locate and capture a certain villainess, who was the most ideal target considering my current strength.

Anyway, snapping out of my thoughts, Zoey suddenly muttered so quietly that almost no one should have heard her.

"An Auction in the Black City..."

She frowned while seeming lost in thought.

"I need to report it to the leader as soon as possible. There are only four days left."

Well, entering the Black City is complicated, but not impossible.

Entering the Auction is extremely difficult, unless you kidnap one of the special guests.

’I think Alessia will be assigned a mission related to the Black City.’

It’s true that I’m worried about the introduction of the other main characters who are in the Club.

But thinking about it carefully, it was unlikely that they would enter the Auction.

At the very least, that would make things a little easier for me.

But then there’s what will happen after the end of the Auction.

’Well, Clana is the one I should consider the most.’

She is also the character most likely to die in the Second Chapter.

The other characters probably have a death rate in this Chapter Two as well, but it would be much lower than Clana’s.

’Alright, I just need to prepare a few things and there won’t be too many problems. If the difficulty increases, I’ll probably receive an extra reward.’

I could take the risk, but the extra reward had caught my attention.

What if I receive Adel’s Second Fable?

Or at least information about the Fables.

It was certainly very tempting, which was why I decided to take the risk, and besides, I highly doubt I’ll be able to avoid the interference of the main characters.

Especially since Alessia might assign us a mission.

’Now, all that’s left is to find a way to refuse the mission.’

I need a plausible excuse, so once this mission is over, I should think of one.

Shortly afterward, Zoey spoke through the plate.

’We’re leaving.’

’Understood, leader.’

’Yes, leader.’

I simply nodded at Zoey, and shortly afterward, we climbed down from where we were and returned to the room along with the others.

***

The train ride took exactly the same amount of time, and returning to the Academy took us hours.

It was close to midnight.

The round trip from the Academy to the old Arlumeria took longer than necessary.

Plus the half hour we spent listening to and recording the villains’ meeting, and the time it took us to find a carriage.

After returning to the Academy, we headed straight to the Club room on the third floor of the main building.

Once I sat down on the sofa, all the members had already returned.

Zoey handed the brooches to Alessia, and Alessia examined them.

Shortly afterward, Alessia nodded and said:

"What a coincidence. We also discovered a meeting in the Demonic Zone by chance. They talked about almost the same topic you all heard during that meeting."

This didn’t surprise me. I already knew that meetings were being held everywhere around this time.

Basically, they were discussing where the entrances to Black City would appear.

But the others were clearly surprised.

"Mhm, it seems this Black City will host a very important Auction, important enough that even the five villain organizations worked together."

Julian said this, and Rinna nodded as she added:

"Well, the Holy Church hasn’t told me anything either, but looking at the bigger picture, it all points to some extremely important item being involved, right?"

The leader nodded.

"Exactly. We don’t know what it is yet, but if there’s this much commotion over a simple illegal Auction, then it must be something extremely important."

Everyone here, in this room, had no idea what that important Auction item was.

Well, I did, or at least I knew three possibilities.

’In the game, there was a chance for three completely different types of items to appear.’

I wasn’t sure which of the three would show up.

For example, one of them was the blood of an Abyss Lord.

If a villain drank it, their Class would literally increase to Class 10.

Of course, such blood was nearly nonexistent, because the Five Swords dissected the bodies of three of the Five Abyss Lords.

As for the other two who died on the battlefield, it was believed that some alchemist on the villains’ side preserved the blood of both Abyss Lords.

In any case, the blood would naturally attract every villain.

Another item was the supposed Relic once used by one of the four progenitors of "evil." That item possessed absurd power and, among villains, it was far too tempting.

And as for the third item...

Well, that’s another matter.

"Well, anyway, I’ll send this to the director. Depending on her decision, she might assign us a mission related to Black City."

At the leader’s words, the other members were surprised, especially Rinna.

"Are you serious, leader?"

"Yes, but it all depends on the Director."

Well, the decisions regarding every mission in this Club fall under Director Bernice’s authority.

So, if she says no, then there won’t be any missions for us.

’It would be great if she said no.’

But I wonder, isn’t this actually a good opportunity to infiltrate the Black City?

Director Bernice probably has a couple of entry Cards to the Black City.

Of course, she wouldn’t have any more Spatial Cards, since they are exclusive to this year and are scarce.

’Well, my goal tomorrow will be to obtain one.’

In any case, I’ll be moving around quite a bit tomorrow.

"Anyway, I’ll give you your points now."

The total amount of points each of us received was five hundred points.

Both missions turned out to be very good.

The information about the Special Cards and the fifteen hundred important people, some of whom were probably under investigation, resulted in extremely valuable information and deserved a reward of at least five hundred points.

’With this, I already have ten thousand points. I only need fifteen thousand more to secure the year.’

Twenty-five thousand points are required to advance to the second year, and one hundred thousand points are required to advance to the third year.

The points were that important, especially because they were the Academy’s currency.

Without them, I would starve to death.

***

After finishing the meeting with the leader and receiving the five hundred points, everyone went their separate ways toward the dormitories.

’Today I only visited Astrid for two hours. I should make it up to her with six hours tomorrow.’

Thinking about the promise I made to that little girl, I couldn’t help but sigh.

After returning to my dormitory, I took a quick shower and went to bed.

The next morning, I got ready to leave the Academy.

I was going to use Rinna’s exit pass instead of sneaking out through the hole I usually used.

After having breakfast, I went straight to the Academy entrance, and Rinna was already there waiting for me.

"Good morning, Adel."

"Good morning. Then let’s go."

"Sure. Ah, and it seems Verónica won’t be coming. She said she was busy."

I nodded without saying anything else about it, although the part about Verónica being busy was unexpected.

’Can she really be busy?’

Well, whatever it is, I don’t care. In fact, it was better to leave without her.

Rinna handed the free pass to the guard, and shortly afterward, we were both able to leave. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The Imperial Capital came into view shortly after we left the Academy.

’Alright, now I need to find that villainess’s location.’

It will be complicated, because in the game she appears at different points throughout the Imperial Capital during these days.

’I’ll have to visit all those places. Tsk, it’ll be a waste of time, but what can I do?’

In the end, I could only search for her where she usually appears in the game.

And if I fail to find her, securing a Special Card will be difficult.

The person I was looking for was a Witch, and I remembered that I had obtained a spell Grimoire in the Golden Forest during Chapter One, Part One.

Now that Grimoire would be useful for enslaving a villainess.

’If I can’t obtain her through the Grimoire, then she’ll have brought it upon herself. I’ll have to use force or kidnap her.’

In the end, results are all that matter, right?