NOVEL NEXT Chapter 106
EP.106 The Runaway of the Group Project (3)
Oh, she wants perfection.
Once she possessed it, once she lost it, and once she dreamed of it. She would accept anything that could give it back to her, whether it be light or shadow, she did not care.
Oh, she always wanted the light.
The brilliant light that could not be concealed by anything. A greater light that could swallow the light. The brilliant light that would make him turn to her.
Yeah.
The child who will inherit the name of Ashen.
Pity the first woman who sinned.
“······.”
The first Ashen closed the book.
As she brushed the dust off the book, old memories faded in and out. Memories worn down by centuries exist only as fragments.
There was a day when the light was brilliant.
There was a day when the light, which she thought would never go out, extinguished.
Recalling the tragedy that she had to face on a certain day, at a certain moment, the first Ashen wiped the cover of the book. Dust came off her fingers.
“···I miss it.”
The words she uttered sank heavily.
Ashen lifted the old, tattered scales. The scales still maintained their balance. The contract made centuries ago is still intact.
When will the balance collapse?
Do I wish for the balance to crumble?
Do I hope for the day I can be liberated from this heavy burden?
“······.”
She couldn’t tell.
Because she didn’t know, she could no longer comprehend. The first Ashen let out a laugh. The laughter that escaped sounded like it was crumbling apart.
*
In the depths of an alley.
Succubus Queen Refe let out a long sigh and plopped down onto the piled boxes.
‘It took longer than expected.’
It shouldn’t have taken this long.
After all, it was just about kidnapping a girl who hasn’t even reached adulthood yet. She thought it would be easily resolved with just her charm…
‘It didn’t work on her.’
It was strange.
Those who made eye contact with Refe, the Succubus Queen, lost their reason. Unless they were superhuman, they couldn’t resist her allure.
However, the girl resisted.
She showed no signs of falling under her spell.
Of course, it didn’t mean that the girl was particularly powerful. Refe managed to easily subdue her. The annoying part wasn’t the girl.
Crunch.
Hearing the sound of teeth grinding, Refe lowered her head slightly. At her feet was a boy.
“What the hell is going on?”
Refe let out an irritated sigh, crossing her legs.
Her gaze was directed at the boy, who had his head buried in the floor, subdued by the Dark Knight, Daike.
“···Tough one.”
The Dark Knight Daike spoke briefly.
Daike bore no injuries. However, he looked weary around his eyes.
The boy’s resistance had been fierce.
The moment he tried to kidnap the girl, the boy sensed their presence and began to attack. Though he couldn’t pierce Daike’s black armor… it was an incredibly bothersome assault.
Magic mediated by shadows.
It was a form of spell unlike any Daike had seen before.
“He used a unique kind of magic. To be honest, if it hadn’t been a surprise attack, I think we would’ve had a bit of trouble. Refe.”
“···Is that so?”
“I’m not sure, but something feels off. He doesn’t strike me as the type to fight normally. It’s best to subdue this kind quickly.”
Because they don’t know what tricks he might pull.
Mumbling to himself, Daike tightened his grip.
“So, Refe.”
Daike looked at Refe and asked.
“What are you going to do with this guy?”
“···Let’s wait and see.”
Refe waited for the command.
Eventually, a parasite moved her mouth.
“You’ll bring him over… she says.”
“Is that so.”
It was somewhat expected.
Ever since ancient times, the Apostates have had a penchant for the ‘unique.’ Refe felt a bit of sympathy for the boy.
‘Receiving that person’s attention…’
It’s not a good thing at all.
It’s something to be feared. Refe clearly remembers what form those who were loved by the Apostates took on.
Among the four calamities, the one they should never get involved with.
That is the Apostate, Gletus. Feeling the parasite squirm along her spine, Refe frowned.
“Let’s finish this quickly and go back, Refe.”
“Got it.”
She would have done so anyway without saying it.
Refe flicked her fingers. The humans under her charm grabbed the girl.
“Get out through the sewers.”
At Refe’s command, they nodded.
The ones carrying the girl ventured deep into the alley.
“······.”
Watching the scene, Refe got down from the box.
“Daike.”
“I got it.”
Daike grabbed the boy by the hair and lifted his head. Refe knelt, matching her gaze with the boy’s.
“Hang in there.”
Refe let out a short breath.
A sweet scent filled the alley.
‘So far, I avoided drawing attention and didn’t have a chance to use my charm…’
But as long as I hold on to him, it will only take a moment.
Refe closed her eyes and opened them again. Her pink eyes shimmered mischievously.
Crunch.
The boy ground his teeth.
His black eyes trembled violently. Facing those eyes, Refe internally exclaimed in admiration.
‘What kind of eyes…’
They exuded an aura of danger.
Even as he was losing the light of his charm, those eyes held an unsettling intensity.
Killing intent.
Even amidst a clearly unfavorable situation where the disparity in power was glaring, the intense killing intent exuded by the boy did not falter. Refe unconsciously licked her lips.
‘…Shall I just have a little taste?’
There’s nothing quite as pleasurable as breaking and crushing those with intense wills. Refe imagined the sight of those intense eyes becoming painted with ecstasy.
‘Just imagining it is enjoyable but…’
That wouldn’t do.
“Ugh.”
Refe sighed and shook her head.
Definitely, it’s a delectable prey, but… he is a boy who’s in the Apostate’s gaze. Touching him would not yield good results.
“Chomp.”
Refe absentmindedly smacked her lips and blew her breath onto the boy’s face. The focus left his eyes.
“······Take him away.”
At Refe’s command, the enchanted ones moved.
As they began to disappear beyond the alley, Daike asked Refe a question.
“Why not use a Beast and have them do it? Don’t you have one given by the Apostate?”
“Beasts are easy to detect. And all of that has its own uses.”
“Uses?”
“Yeah.”
Refe nodded.
“It’s no coincidence that I left traces in Kadinak.”
“Are you talking about corpses? The ones you drained?”
“Rather than drained… I offered them to the Apostate. Those corpses are all mediums.”
“…What?”
“It should be starting about now… we can slip away amidst the chaos.”
What is about to start?
To Daike’s question, Refe replied.
“Things that cannot be overlooked.”
Hee hee, she chuckled.
“It’ll take a while to sort things out, won’t it? At least, it’ll be impossible without bringing in a Hero party from the battlefield.”
And right now, the Beasts released by the Apostate are rampaging on the battlefield. Beasts that cannot be handled without the powers of Heroes.
‘By the time we return after dealing with that…’
It will already be after all the incidents conclude.
Refe moved along with a sardonic smile.
“Let’s get going too.”
There were no variables to be found.
It was a perfect plan without a flaw.
*
“What?”
Hearing the story, Professor Rania blinked.
“Could you repeat that?”
The three students who visited her professor’s office all belonged to Belnoa’s group. They observed Rania’s demeanor.
‘Not sure if I should say this…’
They found it difficult to speak up.
After all, the group project was meant to be solved by the students themselves. Even if there was an issue with one member’s participation, it wouldn’t be something the professor would intervene in.
‘Resolving that might very well be one of the scoring criteria for group projects.’
So, they planned to resolve it amongst themselves as much as possible. However, while looking for Belnoa… they felt the situation was becoming increasingly strange.
‘He’s not responding. He hasn’t come to school.’
They were out of options.
They had no choice but to inform the professor.
“Umm, Belnoa hasn’t shown up for the group project meeting… so I checked the dormitory, but he wasn’t there either.”
When one of them spoke up, the other two followed suit.
“It seems he didn’t come back last night.”
“Yeah, I asked the Battle Magic students, and they said he wasn’t in class all day…”
The three students spoke in unison. Listening quietly, Professor Rania stroked her chin.
“Hmmm…”
After pondering for a moment, she spoke.
“Would you like to proceed among yourselves? As for Belnoa, I’ll contact the Master of the Dark Tower.”
2.
There is a boy who grew up in the slums.
Like those who live in dirty places typically do, the boy’s life had no value. No value meant no meaning. He lived like that.
A life without purpose is nothingness.
But a life for survival has no worth.
What remains in a life without purpose or value?
It was something that the boy could not understand.
A human’s life becomes radiant when it has purpose. The boy wanted to shine, too. He desired his life to have value. The boy who lived in shadows looked toward the light.
– What’s your name?
And then, the boy encounters it.
The light he has so long desired.
– Chloe. That’s my name.
The light he met was more dazzling than the midsummer sun.
– And you?
Even in the dirty place, the girl shined.
The boy saw the girl extend her hand to him, bloodied and dirty. He grasped her hand.
The first time he held another’s hand, it was warm. Within that warmth, the boy remembered his name.
‘Belnoa.’
A name that meant ‘abandoned child’.
– Belnoa? So that’s your name?
He spoke the name he had once discarded.
Belnoa’s life gained purpose that day.
Looking back now, it’s a comical thing.
How such a girl ended up in the alley, he didn’t know. A fragile, kind, and unnecessarily naive girl was different from Belnoa. She didn’t belong in the slums.
Those who do not fit in stand out.
Untainted innocence shines amidst the dirty things. It wasn’t only Belnoa who longed for that innocence. Longing can sometimes warp into greed.
There were those who sought the girl’s purity.
There were those who coveted the girl’s talents.
Many sought after her. A great number. To protect the girl from those people, Belnoa learned spells. He borrowed magical books from the old man in the rundown shop and for the first time studied something.
His life filled with purpose became fulfilling.
Thus, Belnoa lived on, relying on the girl’s light, day after day. To him, Chloe was everything. The value and meaning of his life.
There was a moment when he lost that.
It was a long time ago.
Recalling that moment, Belnoa opened his eyes.
“······.”
His body shook.
Someone was carrying him somewhere.
Drip, drip, drip.
He heard the sound of water drops. If he listened closely, he could hear the sound of water flowing. His vision was blurry.
‘I feel dizzy.’
Dizziness struck.
His thoughts wouldn’t connect properly. It felt as though he was dreaming with his eyes open.
‘Fleeting memories.’
Belnoa pieced together his faint memories.
He had been wandering around the plaza with Chloe. Then someone had tried to kidnap Chloe.
‘I tried to stop it, but…’
I failed. Chloe fainted, and he fell victim to an unknown magic. Thus he lost consciousness… and now he found himself in this situation.
The situation was clarified.
It was time to move his body.
However, his body wouldn’t budge. Deep inside his heart, anger surged but did not break free. Something was binding him.
‘Where is Chloe?’
He couldn’t see her.
All that was visible were walking corpses and puppets that followed orders with vacant eyes.
······There was no light.
Belnoa felt fear from the loss of light.
It was a fleeting moment when fear morphed into resolve.
‘Is that so?’
Belnoa closed his eyes.
His fingers began to move. However, they weren’t moving according to Belnoa’s will.
Snap, snap.
His fingers bent.
Yet, no spell was cast. This wasn’t an offering to unleash a spell. It was an offering for a more perfect transaction. The Star answers the offering.
“Do you seek a transaction?”
Though his eyes were closed, the scales appeared in Belnoa’s view. The scales spoke to him. It was a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time.
······Belnoa had always controlled himself.
He was aware of his own talents.
He was also well aware that it was a consumptive talent that wore him down.
“I seek a transaction.”
Therefore, Belnoa always placed constraints upon himself. He made minimum offerings. He never dared to covet things he couldn’t reach.
However, there are occasionally those moments.
When he breaks the constraints he set for himself.
There are definitely times when he must destroy himself to reach the unreachable. And Belnoa recognized that this was now.
“Offer your offering.”
There was a day many years ago when the slums were stained with blood.
On the day when lightless ghosts rampaged, the darkness that had ruled the underworld for decades disappeared without a trace. Those who witnessed that day all spoke in unison.
They said they encountered a ghost that day.
At least, it wasn’t something one could call human.
“······I offer.”
Years have passed since then.
“The transaction has been established.”
The ghost of the slums opened its eyes once more.
3.
It has been two days since Belnoa went missing.
The Faculty of Apuria contacted the Black Tower, but there was no connection. Some professors from the Battle Magic Department visited the Black Tower.
Yet, the tower’s door remained closed.
Sometimes, mages poured through the opened door. The mages from the Black Tower rampaged through the Royal Capital. They were accompanied by knights.
The Royal Capital buzzed with an unexpected commotion.
No one knows what happened. Only rumors abound about the Black Tower searching for something. Apuria quietly awaited a response from the Black Tower.
Not everyone felt the same.
“······.”
Some professors did not wait for a response.
In the Apuria professor’s office, Raniel was writing a letter. She pronounced what she had written.
“A student isn’t coming to school. What should I do?”
– What do you mean, what should you do, Professor?
– You should drag them by the hair and seat them properly. The atmosphere around here is already tense, so it’s best to resolve it as quickly as possible.
“Oh······.”
She unconsciously nodded at the response she received. It seemed like quite an attractive option. Folding the letter, she stood up from her seat.
“Shall I go search for him?”
If he wasn’t attending class, it was right to go fetch him.
‘Especially since there’s a group project going on.’
It shows he deserted during an assignment. That was like finding a deserter.
‘And deserters deserve punishment.’
Raniel made that judgment.
“Master, I’m going out.”
“Where are you going?”
“······Um.”
As she put on her gloves, she spoke.
“I’m going to catch a deserter.”
“······Deserter?”
“Oh, is it not a deserter?”
Raniel tilted her head.
“Isn’t that similar in meaning?”
“······Just don’t cause any trouble.”
“Yes, Master.”
Author’s Note
A nightmare from Apuria heading to catch the ghost of the slums.
Domeh ancha! Belnoa!
Be sure to check out the special illustration celebrating 30k favorites in the announcements!
The subtitle has been changed to The Runaway of the Group Project!