NOVEL NEXT Chapter 374
<374 - Library Expedition Team 1>
“It happened like this!”
I saved a friend who was being beaten by a spirit in the professor’s research lab and handed them over to Jezel.
“Whoa.”
Jezel sighed.
“I can’t blame you for being kidnapped by the professor… But I’m impressed you made it back alive. Anyway, you must have gone through a lot. I’ll cover the medical fees as a worker’s compensation of sorts.”
“Thank you, Jezel!”
“You must be exhausted from getting beaten by spirits all night. You can go back now.”
Jezel, with a kind heart, sent the tired student off to get a good night’s sleep, but the timing was not right.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t go back~”
Dobi, who was about to leave the office while casually throwing out luck, suddenly screeched to a halt like a broken machine.
“W-Why do you say that…?”
“You promised, right? To the spirits.”
“I will keep that promise.”
“The spirits have a different sense of time than humans!”
“I heard they can sleep for ten years at a time.”
“That’s why every minute and second awake is precious! If you quietly wait for the promise to be kept in that time, you might run out of patience in just one day!”
“Then if I sleep right away tonight…”
“Wouldn’t the spirits, having run out of patience, come to escape from Weird Professor’s research lab and cut off your head?”
“Eeep!”
Ziang, who had been listening, was dumbfounded.
“Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“You didn’t ask!”
“…”
I would’ve told you if you asked!
“A gift, I could give anything, and you’d like it, and a good night greeting, Princess, would work, but a fairy tale book would be quite difficult, right?”
“Can’t I just order one from outside for delivery?”
“It won’t arrive within a day.”
“Gah! Then, am I supposed to wait for a spirit to come and chop off my head like this!?”
“Dobi, you fool! But there’s a library at the Academy!”
“Oh! Right. If I don’t have a book, I can borrow one from the library.”
“That won’t be easy either.”
Jezel interjected with a serious face.
“The actual location of the library has yet to be revealed to the first-year students. You can only ‘order’ the exact title of a book from the snack bar and rent it for a certain period.”
“!!”
“Even if you are lucky enough to find the library, when it’s time to return the borrowed fairy tale book, the spirits might throw a fit and refuse to return it. Then all late fees will fall on you, Dobi!”
It was a classic case of the mountain growing as the problem thickened.
Dobi’s face turned pale in an instant.
“…I shouldn’t have fallen for the professor’s temptation… Uhuhuh. Now my life is over!!”
Even though it wasn’t his fault, perhaps feeling a sense of debt because of the task he had assigned that twisted one student’s life, Jezel gently patted Dobi’s back with great sympathy.
“Ziang. Oknodie. I need your help. Please assist Dobi in regaining his freedom. I’ll pay you in gratitude.”
“We can’t pay the rental fee!”
“There’s a location presumed to be the library collected by the Dark Trading Company. All you need to do is break through there. I’ll cover the rental fee, and later I plan to purchase the fairy tale book from the outside and submit it to the library.”
It was a feasible plan, given Jezel had plenty of money.
To be honest, what happened to Dobi was of little concern, but they had to break through to the library at some point.
Good for good, they decided to help at the same time.
*
Hector’s Organization.
Unlike other first-year organizations, Hector’s being the head of the organization and not being a member of the upper class nor possessing clear military strength was a significant weakness.
However, the passion of those who continuously devoured the marginalized and abandoned, persistently holding onto their hostility towards the Oknodie, surpassed all organizations.
“Is it true that the Oknodie faction is recruiting a party to break through the path to the library?”
“Absolutely. I heard it with my own two ears.”
Upon hearing the news from his loyal subordinate, Deipobos, Hector felt nervous.
“The Oknodie faction is steadily gaining momentum. If they break through the path to the library and can freely borrow books, the difference in benefits that the organization’s members will enjoy will become even greater, unlike the previous system of indirectly borrowing a limited number of books through the snack bar.”
“Enough! I know that already. If you don’t understand the importance of the library, you’re a talent who has never been overwhelmed by assignments. If you possessed such tremendous talent, you wouldn’t have joined Hector’s Organization.”
Hector understood.
They were still lacking.
In skills, talent, and in every aspect, they were greatly overshadowed by the organization that played with Oknodie, which Oknodie had created like a game.
However, seeing that this gap was not closing but rather widening, they couldn’t just stand by doing nothing.
If they did, they would end up as ashes burned white by the lost passion for revenge against Oknodie.
Just like in a baseball called game, not being able to finish the ninth inning and receiving a heavy score would be meaningless.
“Issue the summon. We must form a library expedition team immediately. This time, we must pursue Oknodie, no matter what sacrifice it takes.”
“…Understood.”
There were enough members gathered.
Students suffering disadvantages in assignments due to not being able to borrow essential reference books were everywhere.
What they needed was reference materials, not the pain and self-harassment of struggling to squeeze out insufficient wisdom to forcefully write extended answers to the assignments.
“By the way, I got the information you needed. The cost was higher because I sought it avoiding overlap with the Dark Trading Company…”
“That’s sufficient, Yui.”
“With this, I’ll get back at that wicked Dorothy. That girl took my place!”
Hector knew the past when Yui approached the capable swordsman Rockbell to use him for her own purpose.
He chose not to point out that disgraceful past, nodding in agreement to meet Yui’s expectations.
“I heard they’re making Dorothy their guide. If we achieve results, it’ll serve to get back at Dorothy too.”
“…Isn’t it a bit odd for Dorothy to directly lead as a guide in a place that’s not the forest? Leave the guiding to me.”
“You don’t have to overdo it.”
“Overdo it for me. The one who understands the information I brought best is me. I can’t miss the chance to beat Dorothy in my specialization who took my Rockbell, my upper class, and my popularity!”
Well, if you insist that much, I guess I have no choice.
Hector assigned the guide role of the expedition to Yui.
“Yui has a record of being outperformed by Dorothy in the entrance exam. While the desire for revenge can be a strong motivator, do you think you can win against Dorothy, who is supposedly the guide?”
“I never expected to win.”
“Then…”
“I just wanted to see for myself.”
“Yui’s desire for revenge?”
“No. The information power of Oknodie, and the Foundation.”
Hector’s bigger picture was looking beyond the immediate battle.
“If there’s information that they know that we don’t, then after this expedition, we can find out who has access to that information. Then we can narrow down who the Foundation’s collaborators are.”
“Truly, Sir Deipobos, I’m sincerely impressed. Your wisdom surely guarantees Troy’s future will be filled with light!”
Hector chuckled inwardly.
Is the light of a doomed nation in following the steps of the Foundation’s Agassi?
Even if such a country does have a tomorrow, isn’t that tomorrow a future shown by the Foundation?
Could that future truly be the right future?
This was a sentiment he couldn’t voice to his loyal follower, who had been with him since before entering the academy.
*
Dorothy was startled upon hearing the scale of the expedition team.
It was safe to say that it was a massive gathering of more than a hundred members, virtually the entire organization had come together for the library expedition team.
As the one who leads the way, the wellbeing and happiness of many depend on how she guides.
“Really? Can I be the guide?”
“Yep. Dorothy’s 500% buff has a cooldown, but its performance is decent enough!”
“I don’t really understand, but is that a compliment? I’ll do my best!”
Dorothy, jumping around, prepared supplies and adventure gear for a hundred members through the organization’s funds.
Ziang was not pleased with Dorothy’s actions, looking too excited.
“Is she really that good at navigating?”
“As far as I know, she usually follows the paths I take?”
“If that’s been verified, then I trust her skills, but… can she handle such a crucial job of being responsible for the path of an expedition of this scale?”
Ziang’s worries had some grounds.
“This expedition isn’t going to end in just an hour, is it?”
“Yep!”
“Although it’s planned around the weekend, it will start in the late afternoon and continue through the night.”
“Right!”
“If the schedule gets delayed or if they catch us from a patrol of instructors, we will receive penalties for wandering in a forbidden area or penalties for sneaking out of the dormitory.”
“Once, Jezel said she’d let it slide.”
“Sure, she might, but if we receive orders to go back to the dormitory, what then?”
There’s a fear that all the effort everyone put in time and again to prepare for this expedition might go to waste if they’re forced to return midway.
Ziang imagined a scenario where everyone pretended to return while cleverly avoiding the instructor’s gaze, and a handful would discreetly proceed with the expedition.
If such a situation arose where those few succeeded, the murmurings of those who didn’t make it to the library would be aimed at Dorothy.
‘If I make a mistake even once, I’m guaranteed to be blamed. Can I truly take on such a burdensome duty in a place that’s not a forest, where everyone is finally adapted to the terrain?’
Most people wouldn’t withstand the pressure and would crumble, making mistakes or getting so scared they’d give up midway.
However, Oknodie’s answer was refreshingly clear enough to make Ziang’s worries seem unfounded.
“If we get caught, we just knock out the instructor and carry on!”
“…”
That sounds like something you’d do when you’re low on strength!