Chapter 85 : Disappearance
Added 2022-10-02 04:00:14 +0000 UTCTL:SummerPeanut
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1 April 2030.
On my way to school after my usual routine, the top floor of the female dormitory is under construction. I wonder what they are doing......
From today onwards, I'm going to belong to the student council.
Clarice will also join the student council.
This surprised me, but what surprised me more was that both Clarice and I became members of the public morals committee.
I'm not proud of it but I'm conscious that I'm probably the worst offender of the public morals in this school.
And it's Clarice who's disrupting the public morals with me...... This isn’t something we can boast about, and we certainly are not ones that can pay any attention to public morals......
But Ike didn't think so, apparently.
Are we breaking any school rules? Is there anything in the school rules saying we can’t have numerous fiancées? Is that against the law? and so on and on.
It's not against school rules nor it's against the law. I understand that.
But rather than the thing about morals......the eyes full of jealosy are a bit...... Ike seemed to really want me and Clarice to be members of the public morals committee so I and Clarice had no choice but to accept the idea.
And with me and Clarice often being put in charge of things together.
This was also Ike's plan to impress upon others that Clarice and I are always together.
I thought it was too late for that but it seems that Clarice's popularity is so incredible and there is no end to the number of people who keeps asking Ike about the relationship between me and Clarice.
Within the compounds of Lister Empire School, the length of the skirt is fixed.
It's no good if it's too short after all. Incidentally, the length of the skirt doesn't matter in the dormitory.
Clarice is on the very edge, or rather, anyone with a skirt shorter than Clarice’s is an instant out. My point is that Clarice is on the very line with the school rules.
The reason why her skirt is this short is that it is more convenient to have a standard that can be quickly compared when measured, and also because of the school days back in Japan.
Incidentally, it is surprising that the school skirts back in Japan were even shorter.
Even now it's so short that you can see it if you peek at it from the bottom of the stairs......
When I returned to the classroom after finishing my student council work, six students were already sitting there.
Both I and Clarice are allowed to be late to homeroom to some extent because of student council works. Well, that's on the assumption that we're doing student council work.
If anyone else is later than us, they are considered late.
Joseph and Johan have not arrived at school yet.
Come to think of it, yesterday I saw them escaping from the dormitory when I was looking outside while I doing my magic training......
Lorenz asked.
“Has anyone heard anything about Joseph and Johan?”
But no one replied.
“It's quite unusual for both of them to oversleep at the same day… Well, I'll ask the teacher in charge of the male dormitory later...... We'll start the morning's classroom.”
It was during the magic class that I found out that Joseph and Johan had disappeared.
During magic class, Lorenz called me into the principal's office.
“I’m sorry to always trouble you. Cutting to the chase, do you know anything about Joseph and Johan?”
Duke Regan blurted out her words rapidly to me.
“No, not in particular...... Is something wrong? I believe they didn’t come to school today?”
“We lost track of them...... and I have even searched their room...... there's something very strange going on and I'm currently,to be frank, taken aback”
“What exactly is going on? If you don't mind me asking, I'd like to know......”
“Their belongings were not in their room...... The only things that were there were the beds and other daily necessities provided by the school. Not even a single hair fell out of the bed....... Mars, do you have any clue about the two of them?"
I told him about the two of them escaping from the dormitory every so often.
“I see, then do you know where they went?”
“No... But it's surprisingly difficult to get out of the school from inside the school, isn't it? If there's a hidden passage or something, they should be able to get out but I don't think you can fool the gatekeeper's eyes, so I assumed they'd be somewhere within the school grounds.”
“Do you know when did they start their escape from the dormitory?”
“Err......as far as I know, it was around the time Teacher Reiner first came here but it seemed like they are very used to it so maybe even before that.”
When she heard my words, Duke of Regan fell silent.
Then, after a few moments.
“Why don't the three boys from the first year S class live in a room together for a little while? There are 5 girls too......it’ll be too small for 5 people, so 2 of you, Clarice and Ellie, and the other three will be Karen, Misha, and Minerva. How about that?"
“Yes. I'll inform them about this arrangement.”
“Also, tell Ellie that the room for the party ‘Reimei’ is due in June. I'm sure she'll be delighted.”
“I'll also let her know about this then. If there is nothing else, please excuse me. Teacher Ryner will be very angry if I’m late for the martial arts class. Please call me if you need me again.”
I bowed and immediately left the principal's office.
Cyrus disappeared in January and pieces of his corpse were found in March.
And this time Joseph and Johan disappeared......
I suddenly remembered what Cyrus said to me four years ago.
“Always make sure you know who you are up against.”
I wonder what exactly Cyrus wanted to say? .....let's consult to the always reliable Ike after school.
I'm enjoying my martial arts classes these days.
If I am to say the reason, it will be because fighting Ryner while using wooden swords is very addicting.
Let's be honest. I can't beat Ryner at all even though I'm overwhelming him in terms of status.
I never thought he could go so far without that red sword.
I tried to land a single hit on Ryner using the gap where he was withdrawing his sword but he used the momentum of the withdrawn sword as if drawing an arc to counter me.
I then tried to catch his wooden sword with mine but it slipped through my receiving sword and instead struck me with a powerful blow.
I can't use heal so it honestly hurts a lot.
I knew it. I have to build more practical muscles instead of those muscles built from muscle training... Muscular athletes in physique and bodybuilders cannot withstand a boxer's attack.
But boxers with slimmer figures than above can withstand a boxer's attack.
I must get someone to beat me up every day from now on... I swear I'm not a M...... maybe.
He’s not a Sword King that boasts level 10 Swordsmanship in appearance only......
Baron and Dominic seem to agree with me, and the three of us are always talking about how great Teacher Reiner is.
Ryner too perhaps is getting more used to us as he’s talking quite friendly to us lately.
However, there is still something suspicious about Ryner.
He seems to be treating Clarice very cautiously.
His reluctance to get involved with Clarice is very apparent.
Clarice also seemed to know that she was the only one being avoided, asking everyone, ‘Did I do something wrong?’.
After school, I went to the student council room and found Ike there so I immediately asked him about this.
Then Ike replied irritably.
“Damn it! They got me again this year...... Just what am I doing year after year after year!”
“What's wrong? What do you mean this year again......”
“I told you the other day about the Holy magic users being kidnapped, didn't I? Most likely Joseph and Johan are also Holy magic users......”
Oh, I only told him about the fact that they had disappeared... Then I informed him how the two of them had been escaping from the dormitory night after night, that there is not a single hair in their room, and also about how there were no hints of them living there, and all their possessions were missing. After that, Ike opened his mouth.
“Isn’t the female’s place the only place that they’ll go after escaping from their room? But with their belongings disappearing too or that their room turning into a clean state…just how is that possible?"
Ah, I didn't realize it because I've built a harem myself but normally at this sensitive age, normal boys would want to break out of a dormitory that's only for males.
The two of them going to a woman's place at night... hmmm. Maybe because we are not close, the Joseph and Johan I saw are kind of suspicious... If it were Baron and Dominic, I'd be completely convinced by the reasoning of them visiting some woman’s place... I mean, in their case, it's definitely Clarice's place...
Come to think of it, those guys were running in the same direction every time... I'll do some checking when I go to the town...
I left the student council room and went back to class.
I invited everyone to go out for dinner after school to talk about what Duke of Regan had told me.
First I told the class about Joseph and Johan's nightly dormitory escapades.
Then Baron and Dominic also noticed that and thought it was strange.
We walked out of the school building to the spots where we often see Joseph and Johan, and from there we walked out of the city.
As we walked while keeping an eye on the ground, we could barely make out footprints that belonged to Joseph and Johan.
“Maybe we can follow these to see where those guys were going...”
The footprints led them to a statue of an elf at the edge of the school grounds.
“This is where the footprints went missing, right?”
I asked everyone and they all nodded.
I look around for now but there's nothing.
So I guess the ground is the most suspicious......
I stepped down hard near where the two footprints had broken off and found what appeared to be a cavity underneath.
“What to do... I think I found something.......”
So I said, and Clarice replied to my words.
“Do you want me to get Duke of Regan?”
I actually don't trust Duke of Regan very much.
I can't help feeling that she's hiding something from me and that I'm being deceived.
“Well... I'd actually prefer Brother Ike... but I also have to give everyone a message from Duke of Regan today......”
I’ll waste my time if I continue to hesitate here.
“All right! Let's all go back to the student council room once. On the way back, I'll give everyone the message from Duke of Regan. If some of us stay here and keep watch, the mummies hunter might turn into mummies so let's move together.”
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and followed my lead.
As we walked toward the student council room, I relayed to them the request for some of them to stay together and everyone gave their OK immediately.
Everyone got excited as they think it’ll be a fun experience. Well, that's just the way it is.
But I added that, just in case, they should remember that they are living together because of the risk to their personal safety.
And when I told Ellie that she was told to look forward to the room dedicated to Reimei because it will be ready around June, she nodded in satisfaction.
When I returned to the student council room, the members of the Red Lotus party were all there.
They were about to go to the Adventurer's Guild.
When I told Ike about the cavity in the ground earlier and that I wanted him to come with me, he agreed to come with me easily.
Eight first-year S class students, five fourth-year Red Lotus members.
There couldn't have been better group members.
When we came to the statue of the elf from earlier, Ike examined the ground and found what looked like a switch.
Ike pressed it without hesitation and a hidden staircase leading underground appeared on the ground.
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Author’s note:
It’s totally OK if you don't remember them all.
Below is the Red Lotus] party members.
While all members of the Red Lotus are 13 years old, all the first-year students are 10 years old.
The strength of the current year's first year students is abnormal.
Only the third ranked Eda will come out every now and then(I think?).
She is also known as the glasses senior.*1
Student council president, 4th year, S class, ranked 1st
Name: Ike Bryant
Title: -
Status: Human race, Count Bryant's heir
Condition: Good
Age: 13 years old
Level: 24
HP: 74/74
MP: 1022/1022
Strength: 55
Agility 48
Magic: 30
Dexterity 30
Endurance: 50
Luck: 10
Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/C)
Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv8/B)
Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv6/C).
Special ability: Wind magic (Lv1/G)
Equipment: Flame Lance
Equipment: IfrIt’s Mail
Equipment: Flame Bracelet
Equipment: Disguise Bracelet
Equipment: Ring of Protection
Student council vice president, S class, ranked 3rd.
Name: Edain Alistar
Title: -
Status: Human race, eldest daughter of the Count Mesalius
Condition: Good
Age: 13 years old
Level: 20
HP: 49/49
MP: 178/178
Strength: 11
Agility: 16
Magic: 38
Dexterity: 15
Endurance: 12
Luck: 10
Special Ability: Magic Eyes (Lv/Max)
Special Ability: Archery (Lv2/D)
Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv6/C)
Equipment: Gnome's Staff
Equipment: Magic Robe
Equipment: Ring of Protection
4th years, S class, ranked 2nd.
Name: Galar Gadget
Title: -
Status: Dwarf race, commoner
Condition: Good
Age: 13 years old
Level: 21
HP: 65/65
MP: 20/20
Strength: 34
Agility: 20
Magic: 6
Dexterity: 40
Endurance: 32
Luck: 1
Special Ability: Axemanship (Lv6/B)
Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv1/E)
Special Ability: Earth Magic (Lv2/C)
Equipment: Banded Axe
Equipment: Dwarf Mail
Equipment: Wood Shield
Equipment: Ring of Protection
4th year, S class, ranked 6th.
Name: East Rajika
Title: -
Status: Human race, commoner
Condition: Good
Age: 13 years old
Level: 20
HP: 48/48
MP: 28/28
Strength: 25
Agility: 22
Magic: 15
Dexterity: 19
Endurance: 22
Luck: 1
Special Ability: Spearmanship(Lv5/D)
Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv 2/E)
Equipment: Mithril Silver Spear
Equipment: Mithril Silver Light Armour
Equipment: Mithril Silver Shield
Equipment: Ring of Protection
4th year, S class, ranked 7th.
Name: Yuri Bil'anx
Title: -
Status: Human race, second daughter of Baron Artharaim
State: Good
Age: 13 years old
Level: 20
HP: 42/42
MP: 122/122
Strength: 9
Agility: 18
Magic: 35
Dexterity: 18
Endurance: 17
Luck: 10
Special Ability: Knifemanship (Lv 2/D)
Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv6/C)
Equipment: Magic Wand
Equipment: Magic Robe
Equipment: Ring of Protection
TL’s note:
- I know it’s very hard to read the author’s note, his sentence doesn’t connect at all. I tried to rephrase his paragraph below. As to why I rephrase it here instead, it is because it is more likely for me to miss out or misconvey what the author wanted but this author’s note is really chaotic in structure and hard to read imo.
“Below are the members of Red Lotus and it is totally OK to not remember them all. Only the 3rd ranked Ede that is also known as the glasses senior from Red Lotus will appear once in a while(I think?). All of the Red Lotus members are 13 years old whereas the first-year students are all 10 years old. By the way, the current first-year’s students are abnormally strong compared to the first-year students in the past.“
