Chapter 42

“Professor!”

Torono shouted at the ceiling with a bright smile.

“Professor, you can hear me, right? I think I’ve done enough, so I’ll just give up! I don’t mind losing some points! No, you don’t even have to give me any at all, just let me out! Right now! Quickly!”

“Shut your mouth, Torono.”

Nixie growled.

Silence fell, and the first to open her mouth was Elined.

“I’m sorry. That was clearly my mistake.”

The Princess answered Elined, who had bowed her head.

“No, it isn’t just your fault. It was hard to predict that the enemies would be this many.”

I looked at the hourglass attached to the hilt of the sword.

If all the sand ran out, the barrier would vanish and the monsters would rush back in.

There wasn’t much time left.

We needed to hurry.

Elined raised her head again.

“……Then I’ll draw up a new strategy.”

It was too soon to give up.

Everyone present agreed.

Elined didn’t hesitate.

She immediately tore her uniform jacket and used it as a blackboard.

「│Stairs│

Hallway┓ ┏Hallway

│Lobby ╋Spiral Stairs」

She quickly drew a diagram and used magic to make it float in the air.

“The monsters are confirmed to enter from five places: both hallways, the central stairs, the spiral stairs, and the lobby.”

In both hallways were ghouls in armor.

At the central stairs was the black mist.

On the spiral stairs was the Weeping Man.

In the lobby were the small ones.

In total, five locations where the wraiths appeared.

“If the enemies are many, instead of forming ranks and defending in the lobby, it will be more efficient for each group to take the zones that suit their strengths.”

That was the standard method.

She, who had been trained with a focus on ‘strategy,’ could not have been ignorant of it.

“If you have an opinion, please raise your hand.”

The first to raise her hand was Nixie.

“I didn’t see clearly, but I remember the Noble Lady Wraith appearing in the right hallway.”

“Then we need to reinforce the right hallway. I’ll take note of that. Any other comments?”

Several opinions were voiced.

Elined gathered those opinions and was assigning responsibilities to each zone.

“You know a lot, don’t you? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Karin whispered to me.

I answered indifferently.

“Nothing special to say.”

Everything was according to the original storyline.

I had no reason to step in.

‘Yes, if it just goes this way, it will be fine.’

The Rekorox raid was divided into a solo mode and a multiplayer mode.

Multiplayer mode was about teaming up with other users and strategizing together.

Solo mode had the distinctive feature of following a ‘fixed story.’

‘Solo mode is a story-driven content.’

It was a method where you planned the strategy with NPCs and carried it out.

In a desperate situation, the protagonist would use a skill called ‘Holy Light’ to turn the tide and defeat the boss—that was the main flow.

‘Of course, since this is the story-focused solo mode.’

It was supposed to proceed according to the original storyline.

All I had to do was keep my mouth shut.

“Then, I’ll announce the assignments.”

If it went as written, while Elined was explaining the strategy—

“Left hallway: Luga, Karin, Villed.

Right hallway: Torono, Nixie, Lapin.”

Ren would decide that he could deal a critical blow to the small ones with the skill ‘Holy Light.’

“Central stairs: Curio, Ren.”

So Ren would then insist on joining the group facing the small ones.

“Spiral stairs: Heidel, Keirin, Verdi, Arowell, Shia.

The small ones: I, Elined, and the Princess Arlhardt. That will be the formation. Any objections?”

“Ah, yes, of course! We can do it this time!”

“Good. Then it’s settled.”

As I watched them nod in agreement, I fell into thought.

‘……When is Ren supposed to speak?’

Strange……

I checked if my memory was wrong, but no.

The moment for Ren to speak had already long passed.

“Then, let’s move to our zones.”

As Elined stood up, the meeting was already coming to an end.

‘It ends like this?’

It was clearly diverging from the original storyline.

It had to be corrected, even now.

The mouth I had firmly kept shut from the start moved instinctively.

“Hey, Ren.”

He stopped before standing up.

All eyes in the room gathered at that moment.

When Ren met my gaze, I replied in a cold, mocking voice.

“I heard you became a Schuler. You must have a skill to deal with the small ones.”

“……”

Ren looked at me and stayed silent for a while.

At length, he blinked and asked back.

“……It’s true I became a Schuler, but what does that have to do with this?”

“Didn’t you learn the skill from Ruber?”

“I haven’t received any particular training from the Professor yet.”

“……”

I didn’t open my mouth.

Hearing Ren’s words left me with many thoughts.

‘……Was the storyline twisted from the start?’

It wasn’t that he was hiding it.

Ren truly seemed not to have learned the skill.

‘But why?’

Did Professor Ruber postpone teaching him?

Or was it because Ren had been recruited later, delaying the training?

No matter how much I thought about it here, I wouldn’t reach a conclusion.

That aside, the present was more important.

‘If that damn skill isn’t available in this situation……’

Not having the key skill ‘Holy Light’ to stop the small wraith Lucy was a massive gap.

It meant the episode couldn’t be cleared in the solo mode storyline way.

Even if we failed to resolve this episode, no one here would suffer any physical harm.

The story would continue normally without issue.

‘But that’s only what looks normal.’

They say the frail flutter of a butterfly’s wings can create a typhoon later.

Right now it might seem like nothing is wrong, but the closer to the ending, the bigger the problem becomes.

Enough to heavily influence the bad ending.

‘That’s why I must resolve this episode no matter what.’

The strategy was already in my head.

All I had to do was speak it aloud.

‘If I step up, I risk drawing attention from the key figures.’

But there was no choice.

I had to put out the fire in front of me first.

After deep consideration, I opened my mouth.

“I have an opinion.”

As I raised my hand, the focus returned to me.

There was no more time to waste.

It was the time to speak directly.

“This strategy is complete trash.”

“What……?”

“……”

Everyone present wore expressions of disbelief.

Elined, who looked at me in silence, radiated killing intent, but I didn’t care.

‘In solo mode, Ren’s skill is essential.’

Without ‘Holy Light,’ Ren could not be used properly.

That was why a flawless, error-free strategy had to be executed.

The Princess Arlhardt asked me in a puzzled voice.

“……Are you just making meaningless criticism in this situation?”

“Your Highness, what I’m trying to do is present a countermeasure.”

I replied so and rose from my seat.

I stood before the diagram Elined had drawn.

First, I pointed to the spiral stairs where the Weeping Man was.

In some ways, it might have been the most important area.

“You placed five people there, including two of the strongest…… but that’s a waste of strength. Only one should go up the spiral stairs.”

After saying that, I turned my gaze toward the ‘man with narrowed eyes.’

“Luga, you’ll be the one to go up.”

As soon as I said it, the room grew silent.

The atmosphere was one of sheer disbelief.

“Luga?”

Only the Princess blinked and asked back.

Elined objected.

“I was wondering what nonsense you’d spout, and from the start you’re completely wrong. The spiral stairs are the most dangerous spot here. And you want only one person to…….”

With a frustrated sigh, Elined continued.

“To face the Weeping Man, you need to form a formation of at least three: top-tier fighters Heidel and Keirin, with Arowell as support.”

“No.”

I fixed my gaze on Elined.

“You’re concentrating too much strength there. And more than that, look closely.”

I shifted my gaze to the spiral stairs.

The sides were narrow, allowing no more than one person to climb at a time. It was structured in a single file.

“The stairs are too narrow. Sending many up is inefficient. No matter how many you send, in the end, only one can actually face the Weeping Man.”

Elined responded with an incredulous look.

“Even so, Luga’s strength is ranked only 22nd. Even Torono, who’s 9th, wasn’t enough—he won’t be able to hold out at all.”

“Hold out? What are you talking about?”

I shot back at Elined with cold eyes.

“I’m telling him to kill it.”

At my words, silence filled the room.

“……Puhah!”

The squinty-eyed Luga suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Aren’t you overestimating me far too much?”

He was grinning shamelessly.

‘Don’t spout nonsense.’

I almost wanted to smack him.

At this point in the story, the strongest person in the entire world was ‘Luga the squinty-eyed.’

The only ones who knew that fact were the Princess and her guards.

“……”

When I looked at him silently, Luga smiled with a crooked grin.

“Oh dear, how scary. Well, I’ll try it…… but don’t blame me later if it goes wrong, alright?”

Elined shouted urgently.

“No, that’s absurd! How can…… everyone, are you going to follow such irrationality?”

“For now, let’s hear him out to the end.”

Princess Arlhardt quietly sided with me.

It was only because she knew how strong Luga was.

“……”

Though dumbfounded by the Princess’s words, Elined fell silent, which gave me the chance to continue the plan.

“And there’s one fact all of you have overlooked.”

I picked up the pen Elined had left and added to the diagram.

「│Stairs│‖Dressing Room

Hallway┓ ┏Hallway

│Lobby ╋Spiral Stairs」

I drew a space called ‘Dressing Room’ on the right hallway.

“As Nixie said, there’s one more area. I’ve confirmed the Noble Lady’s Dressing Room in the right hallway.”

I pointed to the sixth space.

When a new location appeared on the diagram, not only Elined but everyone else stared in silence.

“This is where the Noble Lady Wraith appears. Since closing the distance is advantageous, I’ll assign Nixie’s team, who excel at breakthrough combat, here.”

No objections were heard.

Next, I pointed to the central stairs, where the Black Mist Wraith was.

“When the Black Mist Wraith obscures the light, all the wraiths, including the ghouls, speed up.”

“Indeed……”

“So it wasn’t just our imagination.”

I overheard Torono and Nixie mutter quietly.

The others remained silent but seemed to agree.

“This area can be handled by Heidel alone.”

Again, there was no objection.

Heidel was one of the top-tier fighters and could use the light attribute, which directly countered darkness.

It was judged more than sufficient.

“The ghouls emerging from the passage are weak monsters, but occasionally, irregulars appear.”

The problem was the ‘irregulars’—abnormally fast ones or absurdly durable ones.

But with two or three assigned, they could be dealt with through concentrated firepower.

“I’ll assign forces to completely block such risks.”

On the right hallway: Elined, Verdi, Shia.

On the left: Arlhardt and Keirin.

In truth, Keirin alone could have handled it.

‘But from Ren’s perspective, Keirin was important in this episode.’

To ensure Keirin’s emotions followed the original storyline, I added the Princess alongside him.

“Lastly, for the small ones, Ren, Torono, Karin, Lapin, and I will hold out.”

“Hold out, you say……?”

The Princess asked, and I answered as if it were obvious.

“The five of us can’t defeat them outright, so we’ll literally just endure. Luga defeats the Weeping Man, Nixie’s team defeats the Noble Lady, and then they join us.”

“So once eight or nine of us gather, that’s when the real assault on the small ones begins.”

The Princess nodded as though she understood the plan.

Along with her, everyone else here understood.

But.

“Even so…… trusting that guy’s words is a bit much.”

Torono frowned and answered.

In this room full of top-ranked cadets, it was hard to convince people like Torono or Elined.

‘Because I’m the underachiever.’

It wasn’t easy for them to listen to someone they considered far beneath them.

Then, breaking the uneasy atmosphere, the first to speak was Princess Arlhardt.

“……I agree with Villed’s strategy.”

She cast the first vote in favor.

After that, other cadets began to speak up.

“Indeed…… it sounds like a workable plan.”

Ren also voiced his agreement.

“Eh? Well, if Her Highness says so……”

“The spiral stairs assignment is questionable, but if Luga finishes it before getting hit, it won’t be a problem.”

Torono, flustered by the Princess’s stance, agreed as well.

Nixie gave partial approval.

The rest nodded in silence, which, of course, meant agreement.

In the end, it was decided by the law of majority.

“……Understood.”

Elined swallowed her frustration and answered quietly.

The Princess looked at the hourglass and spoke.

“It’s time. Let’s move to our respective zones.”

At her words, we moved to our assigned places.

As the last grain of sand fell, the radiant barrier gradually faded.

Kwooooom!

An ominous sound echoed through the mansion.

Thus began the second raid of the Rekorox Mansion.

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