CHAPTER 20
The Grace Magic Tower, the tower Rapiel belongs to, a tower comprised of Holy Mages.
And now, they were saying there was someone connected to Black Dawn within it.
I finally understood why Rapiel had been so busy for a while.
This must have been why she said the Grace Magic Tower was in crisis.
The world was already in an uproar over Black Dawn and the Deadly Sins.
If they were implicated in this, there was no telling what would happen to them due to guilt by association.
“Harua, don’t worry. The reason Master Soun and Lady Rapiel didn’t tell us is probably because they can handle it.”
As Aranseol said, Rapiel hadn’t told me about this.
She must have figured there was nothing to be gained by causing unnecessary anxiety.
She probably thought it was something she could tell me casually after it was resolved.
But the fact that the Imperial Family had begun an investigation meant this was no small matter.
The Gladion Empire was the largest nation in the entire world.
From a Transferee’s perspective, it was as if the United States government itself was moving to investigate.
“Good grief, who could it be?”
I wasn’t a member, but Rapiel was the daughter of the Grace Magic Tower’s Master. Any problems that arose in the tower would fall squarely on her shoulders as well.
I didn’t know who it was, but I hoped they’d be found and dealt with quickly.
“Other than that, it was all just talk about Cosmic Jac.”
Since she was one of the people involved in the incident, Aranseol said she was the one getting asked more questions.
“I think we can leave the Star Cluster Assembly now.”
I had already left due to my ‘injury,’ and Aranseol had used the excuse of helping me.
Sohan would surely find his own way out with the woman he had his eye on.
“Let’s go back early and get something to eat. I didn’t even get to eat properly.”
“You need to wash up first, Harua.”
I wondered why I was so hungry, and then I realized I smelled of food. Rapiel went to the trouble of preparing these clothes for me; I’d have to wash them quickly.
“Right, then let’s…”
It was the moment we turned to leave.
Click-
The lights in the hallway suddenly went out.
It wasn’t just our section.
The lights went out everywhere else, far into the distance.
For a moment, I thought it was a power outage.
But what was used here wasn't electricity, but magic lamps.
In other words, for the magic lamps to go out…
It meant someone had intentionally intervened with magic.
“Harua.”
Aranseol had already grabbed me and lowered her stance.
Across the way, through a window overlooking another corridor.
I could see someone slowly walking there.
It was a figure draped in a long, black robe.
A sinister and chilling aura.
I instinctively felt a sense of my life being in danger, a warning bell ringing in my head.
Aranseol also had her eyes narrowed, watching the figure intently.
“Who goes there!”
The guards who spotted him rushed to stop him.
But the moment the figure noticed the guards, the window turned pitch black.
In an instant, the other side of the window became invisible.
CRASH!
At the same time, the sound of something shattering echoed.
The sound came from the direction of the Star Cluster Assembly party hall.
It was loud.
The ceiling was made of glass to see the sky; it seemed that was what had broken.
While I was momentarily distracted by the sound, the blackened window returned to normal.
The black-robed figure was already gone.
Instead, something new was smeared across the window.
It was blood and flesh.
I didn’t have to think hard to know whose blood and flesh it was.
It belonged to the guards who had tried to stop that person.
This was a gathering of disciples of famous figures.
Naturally, the guards would have been chosen from among the best.
And they had been slaughtered in an instant.
I could immediately gauge the level of our opponent’s power.
I immediately grabbed Aranseol’s collar.
She was already about to run towards the hall.
This was the same girl who had stepped forward to save others even against Cosmic Jac.
There was no way she would stand back now.
“Wait, Aranseol. We need to assess the situation first.”
Which meant I had to be the brakes.
Aranseol’s gaze met mine.
She took a short breath, and her focus returned.
“You’re right. I learned that rushing in headfirst won’t do any good.”
She was talking about when we went into the forest where Cosmic Jac was.
Aranseol had learned a lot from that experience as well.
“First of all, even though the lights are out, it’s abnormally dark outside the window.”
The first step in assessing a situation is to survey the surroundings.
I approached the window and tried to pull it open.
But the window wouldn't budge.
The latch wasn't engaged.
“Harua, step aside.”
Aranseol drew the sword from her hip.

She wields a unique type of sword.
A sword that can be miniaturized at any time.
It is said that Soun gave it to her separately, saying a swordsman must always carry a sword in their bosom.
So, while she usually wears it at her waist, on a day like today, she had hidden it inside her clothes.
Aranseol swung the sword, drawing a clean trajectory.
Ka-ang!
However, the sword that struck the window bounced off without fail.
Not even a scratch was left on the window.
"......It feels like the outside and inside spaces are separated."
Aranseol realized the situation with a single sword stroke and frowned.
The outside and inside spaces are separated.
In other words, the scenery visible through the window was irrelevant.
All that could be seen through the window was the appearance of the same building.
The scenery displayed in the window from the inside, and likely from the outside looking in, would be completely different.
"Is their intention to prevent the internal incident from being known outside and to stop people from escaping?"
"Aranseol, if you keep trying, do you think you can cut it?"
"......It will be difficult."
Aranseol swallowed a groan.
If she says it's difficult, then the exits are likely the same.
It means the escape routes are blocked.
"But if it's Sohan, it might be possible."
Aranseol proposed another plan.
"Then, finding Sohan is the priority. I hope he's safe."
"It's Sohan. He will definitely be safe."
Aranseol doesn't particularly like Sohan.
However, she valued his talent higher than anyone else's.
He is a Transfer Student, yet Soun immediately coveted him.
She was convinced he wouldn't be taken down easily.
I don't know Sohan's skills well.
But if Aranseol trusts him this much, he must be quite skilled.
Then, next, we need to figure out what the intruders are after.
The answer was already there.
The disciples of the Star Cluster Gathering.
If they capture the disciples of famous figures, they can demand many things.
Sure enough, a commotion could be heard from the party hall.
It was clear that the disciples and the intruders were clashing.
Situation and objective identified.
Now, what remains is who is responsible for this.
"Black Dawn."
I could reach an answer to this surprisingly quickly as well.
Aranseol's face hardened.
The Transfer Student terrorist group.
Black Dawn.
"There was an entrance leading to the 3rd floor."
The 1st floor has the large main gate leading to the party hall.
If we go in through there, we might get spotted and suffer who knows what.
Just in time, the enemy has turned off all the surrounding lights.
Thanks to that, we can move secretly.
"Aranseol, you find Sohan from now on."
"Wait, find Sohan? Then, Harua, what about you?"
"I'll go to the assembly hall."
I won't die even if a worst-case scenario occurs.
So, going to the hall is not a problem.
However, if I encounter the enemy directly, the possibility of escaping safely is slim.
So if I went to find Sohan and got taken out, I wouldn't find Sohan, and the escape plan would fall apart.
Aranseol should be able to move until she finds Sohan even if she encounters the Black Dawn.
So, it is correct for Aranseol to handle that side.
"But."
"Aranseol, whether you or I go to the hall, we won't be of much help."
This is an unavoidable fact.
I am an apprentice Holy Mage.
Aranseol is skilled in her own right, but there is no guarantee how well she can do against the Black Dawn.
In my view, this terror attack is not accidental.
It is a planned terror attack.
That means the opponent has likely grasped most of our information.
The Black Dawn surely deployed forces that could guarantee victory.
The disciples' chance of victory was significantly low from the start.
We are not Lords, nor are we renowned heroes.
It is impossible for us to dramatically change the terror situation.
"Sohan is the method of escape. I understand the desire to save everyone, but the best method here is to inform the outside of the situation and bring in a powerful figure."
If Sohan has the ability to escape, this is the most correct judgment.
At the time of boarding the airship, we had no means of communication, so we couldn't ask for help.
However, the Star Cluster Gathering's building is built in the center of the city.
If we just get outside, there are plenty of means of communication.
"Lady Ririran is at the mansion. If we can just make contact, she will come via spatial movement at any time."
The Sword Lord and the daughter of the Grace Magic Tower Master.
Plus a master of Space Magic.
If they combine forces, they can easily crush the likes of Black Dawn.
"Above all, the terrorists have no reason to dare kill the disciples."
To a terrorist, the disciples of famous figures possess infinite value.
Terrorists are those who live for the present.
What they fear are the masters behind the disciples, not the young disciples.
So they wouldn't rashly kill valuable hostages.
Rather, they would use them more cruelly.
If they intended to kill everyone in the first place, it would have been better to just blow up the whole building.
"It hasn't been long since I became a disciple. If I wander around uselessly and get treated like a security guard or an employee, I'll be killed on the spot."
However, inside the party hall, simply being someone's disciple reduces the possibility of death.
"I'll find out the situation in the hall as much as possible. If possible, I'll try to change the situation. So, please take care of Sohan."
At my persuasion, Aranseol moved her lips as if to speak, then exhaled.
Soon, she rummaged through her bosom and took out a small dagger.
"You should have at least one weapon."
I accepted the dagger and tucked it away.
Thanks to her, I got a self-defense weapon.
"......Harua, I'll make contact and come back immediately. So."
Aranseol grabbed my arm tightly.
"Absolutely do not overdo it. You only have one life."
That is the story furthest from me.
Because Aranseol doesn't know that I don't die.
Even now, the reason I am taking this action is that it's faster for Aranseol to move alone.
Aranseol and I have different physical capabilities.
If I stay by her side uselessly, I'll just be a hindrance, so I used my best persuasion.
But looking at Aranseol's eyes, it seems she misunderstood again.
I felt sorry for lying, but I nodded to her.
Leaving Aranseol's anxious gaze behind, we scattered.
Carefully moving toward the 3rd floor, I swallowed a bitter sigh inside.
Good grief, how can life be such a continuous series of bullshit?
I came back alive from a Deadly Sin, and now it's the Black Dawn.
Why can't I be happy?
What's more annoying is that this situation was somewhat predictable.
A situation where all the disciples of famous figures are gathered.
For the Black Dawn, who have recently started to run rampant, there is no greater feast than this.
Yet, I came to the Star Cluster Gathering without thinking anything of it.
I want to beat up the stupid me of the past.
However, this raises further questions.
The same goes for the masters, just like me.
Why did they send their disciples to the Star Cluster Gathering without considering this point?
Of course, since the war, peace has lasted for the past 60 years.
People soaked in peace are bound to have complacent thoughts like, "Surely they wouldn't do such a thing."
Just looking at the Korean War, it happened only 75 years ago.
Yet, the Republic of Korea, which currently draws a cease-fire line, always underestimates the possibility of war with North Korea.
Even though the North repeatedly commits terror against the South.
That must be the same for this world.
Complacency and carelessness invite major accidents.
This Star Cluster Gathering was the result of that.
But complacency and carelessness alone do not explain everything.
Even among those soaked in peace, there are always suspicious paranoids who question the situation.
What is the reason even those suspicious paranoids felt safe enough to send their disciples?
The doubt leads to one conclusion.
The conclusion is that one of the masters intentionally created this situation.
The possibility that there is someone who has joined hands with the Black Dawn.
That possibility makes my head even more complicated.
Furthermore, the Transfer Student disciples did not come to this Star Cluster Gathering.
Why didn't the Transfer Student disciples come at the timing when the Black Dawn caused terror?
It creates a reluctance to view it as a coincidence.
The terror of this Star Cluster Gathering is not accidental.
It was clearly a massive plan close to inevitability.
And unluckily, I got entangled in that inevitability.
Kwa-aaaa-ang!
The sound of an explosion came from beyond the door.
I had arrived at the 3rd floor before I knew it.
Fortunately, I didn't meet anyone while getting here.
Even in the situation where I reached the door, my brain was spinning fast.
A plan ultimately implies the existence of the person who devised that plan.
Then, the most suspicious person comes to mind.
Someone whom the other masters could trust and who could prepare this plan.
The host of the Star Cluster Gathering.
It is a gathering held on this scale.
Surely there must be a side that hosted and opened it.
And the possibility that the host side joined hands with the Black Dawn is the highest.
The invitation shown on the way here.
Who was the host of the Star Cluster Gathering written on that invitation?
The Red Flame Lord.
A figure whom the masters could trust and entrust their disciples to.
I can't know why someone of the Lord's status would join hands with the Black Dawn.
However, that might be the key to smoothing over this worst-case scenario.
If there is a host, naturally, there must be a disciple at the Star Cluster Gathering.
I met that disciple just a few minutes ago.
Babiyen Asteria.
She is the disciple of the Red Flame Lord.
My eyes flashed quietly. A trump card came to mind.