Volume Three: The Academy Goes on a Rampage - Caught in the Crossfire

Are they both alright?

"There are no obvious external injuries, they were just knocked unconscious." I carefully examined Little Butterfly and Evelynths' bodies.

"Just knocking him unconscious... Even so, it's unforgivable! That guy shouldn't have died so quickly!"

"Don't you think he died a horrible death...?"

They used all ten of the most brutal tortures of the Qing Dynasty, leaving the victim shattered beyond repair, and they still weren't satisfied? How cruel!

Well... I'm not really qualified to comment since I remained calm and observed the whole thing.

On the other side--

"I see. I understand what happened. You've all been frightened. Go and rest."

"""""Yes...""""

Xiao Wu with her arms crossed, her face serious, while Shino stood beside her, panting. Like us, Shino had rushed here as soon as she heard that World's Little Corner had become one of the new Top Fifteen Societies. However, she needed a book as a medium to use her powers, and the thick book she usually carried with her was not allowed to be brought into the opening ceremony, so she couldn't use it to summon characters from the book for transportation. Therefore, she had to run all the way here.

The girls were still recovering from the shock, their faces all pale, especially Monet, whose already thin face looked even more haggard.

"Hey, Monet, are you alright?"

"Sister Sakura Dance..."

Monet's lips trembled, and her small hands, tightly gripping the hem of her skirt, shook violently.

"I'm sorry... I... was too cowardly!"

"Monet..."

"I'm supposed to be everyone's older sister... but I can't even be their shield! One glare from him and I'm so scared I can't even stand! I'm so... so... useless!!"

"There's nothing we can do about it... The other party is an adult, and a very powerful and evil one at that. It's normal for you to be afraid."

"After all, they are the weaker party"—neither Xiao Wu nor Shino mentioned the remaining part of the sentence.

"Listen to me, Monet, you should know that without us, you have absolutely no chance of winning against a powerful enemy. Not just a chance of winning, you don't even have the ability to protect yourself."

"I understand that too..."

So let's run away.

"... ah?"

"Run! If you can't even protect yourself, then run as fast as you can. At least there's a glimmer of hope."

"But! I'm the older sister, I have to protect everyone when you're not here!" Monet shouted unwillingly, her eyes filled with resentment as she looked at Xiao Wu.

"If you can't even protect yourself, how can you expect to protect others?!"

He was immediately yelled back.

"... sorry."

Monet quickly apologized, lowered his head, and ran away, his sobs faintly audible.

"Xiao Wu... aren't you being too harsh?"

"You know I'm not good at being gentle with people. Gentleness and tolerance can lead people to their death. What keeps people alive is often criticism and encouragement."

"Even so, you probably don't want to be too harsh, do you?"

"... You're overthinking it."

"Hey, Xiao Wu, find some time to comfort her, don't be shy."

"Who would be shy!"

"Report, Doctor."

"Oh, come in quickly."

Fiaz welcomed the spy in the black suit and sunglasses into the house and carefully locked the door to prevent their conversation from being leaked.

"What's wrong? Is there something new happening with our little Evelynths?"

Almost simultaneously with the announcement of the new Top Fifteen Societies, World's Little Corner was attacked by the Martial Arts Society that had been squeezed out of the top fifteen.

"The Martial Arts Society? They reacted quickly! They must have received inside information beforehand."

"And it was the Martial Arts Society president, Amod Pansen, who personally led the attack."

"Amode Pansen? Let me see this man..."

Fiaz rolled up his sleeves, revealing a gadget that looked like a watch, with a small display screen and many buttons. Fiaz pressed a few buttons, and immediately, a screen made of blue light appeared in front of him.

"Let me check... Amode Pansen... Pansen... that's him!"

The scout watched silently as Fiaz fiddled with the "watch," looking quite interested.

"Doctor, what is this form for?"

"Huh? You mean this?" Fiaz raised the watch on his wrist. "This is a portable mobile terminal I made; data storage is just one of its many functions."

"... I don't quite understand, is it Spirit Artifact?"

"Spirit Artifact? What a joke! This is technology! It relies on the power of science!"

Science and technology?

The scout scratched his head. As far as he knew, the world's current technology was at best limited to building large factories and the like. The most cutting-edge technology was limited to world-class racing cars. In other areas, Spirit Artifact and Treasure Artifact could completely outclass technological products. And this little thing in Fiaz's hand... could it really be made with current human technology?

No, it would be strange if Fiaz couldn't build it.

Eight out of ten rumors circulating within the League of Scholars are about Fiaz.

One of them is that Dr. Fiaz possesses unparalleled intelligence; his ideas are at least a hundred years ahead of their time.

Fiaz, however, paid no attention to what the scout was thinking and continued to review Pansen's information.

"This kid's got some serious achievements at such a young age, and there are rumors of connections with the underworld. He's extremely indulgent and ruthless... Not bad, not bad, not bad. So what happened? This World's Little Corner was brought down, wasn't it? Evelynths must be heartbroken, right?"

"Uh... actually, it's the opposite. Everyone in the Martial Arts Society, including Pansen himself, is... dead."

"... ah?"

"And it wasn't just that they were dead... none of them left behind a complete corpse... in fact, not even a large piece of their body was left."

"... Who did it? Has it been found out yet?"

"Mikael Girls' Academy's rebirth, Bright Moon Tartaglia."

"What a weird name!"

Fiaz made a strange comment.

"The name isn't the point... Besides, there are three other people in that department who deserve attention. We really underestimated it back then."

"Who?"

"Si Nan Xiao, the Chief of the academic year at Changting Liberal Arts College; Liu Ye, the combat driver of the champion team in the Northern Realm Rally; and... the Scavengers, Urahara Sakura Dance."

"Urushihara... Xiao Wu?" Fiaz didn't react much to the first two names, but showed surprise when he heard the name Xiao Wu.

"Yes, Urahara Sakura Dance, daughter of the Shura Martial Asura Martial God Urahara Mai Ryu, former Mikael Girls' Academy student, currently dropped out of school, and she--"

"--Among the 160 Scavengers in the entire Central United Academy, she ranks first in both strength and combat achievements. I've heard about her, although I've never personally assigned her any missions. Hmph, I thought she was just a small, insignificant organization, but it turns out she has so Big Figure involved. This is getting a bit troublesome."

"So... Doctor, what do you plan to do? Are you perhaps going to... take action yourself?"

"What nonsense are you spouting, you idiot? It's pointless if we don't wear that club down little by little. The longer the process, the more despair will build up. What will become of our little Evelynths then? Heh... Haha... Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!"

With 10,023 points, it ranks last among the Top Fifteen Societies, just one point lower than the fourteenth.

"This... is absolutely a blatant conspiracy."

"Just one point short, and we're guaranteed to get into the Top Fifteen Societies."

"Who did this?"

"If we could guess, we wouldn't be wandering around like headless flies."

How do I talk to the children?

"There's no need to hold back; just tell them everything."

"This club will definitely become a target of attack in the future, and it will be difficult for just the few of us to defend it."

"The difficulty lies not in holding on, but in whether we can hold on at all."

What do you mean?

"The three of you are all top students at the school, and your courses will become increasingly demanding, making it difficult to find the time. Although I dropped out of school a long time ago and have long considered the club my home, I still have to go out from time to time... to take care of some things," Xiao Wu said helplessly.

"The Scavengers' job?" I asked.

"... So you found out after all."

"There's no way anyone else could have legs that beautiful."

"... a lecherous woman."

"Stop talking nonsense, we need to formulate a strategy as soon as possible. I won't say anything more, I believe in the abilities of the three of you, the key issue... is still those brats."

"Little Butterfly and Evelynths have some fighting ability. Although they can hardly protect themselves, they can still escape. The key is the others."

"Having become one of the Top Fifteen Societies, those with ulterior motives will soon be able to thoroughly investigate the membership lists in World's Little Corner."

"In other words... we'll become targets no matter where we go."

"It doesn't matter to the four of us who are older, but it's different for them. Let's leave Evelynths and Little Butterfly aside for now, the other kids... they're already having a miserable and unhappy time out there, and now this 'wanted notice' is practically pushing them to their doom."

"If it's not safe to stay outside... then stay with the club? I mean, stay there long-term, until the Club Hunt season is over."

"That's the only way... and we must ensure that at least one of the four of us can stay by their side."

"It sounds easy, but it's quite difficult to implement..."

For a moment, we fell silent.

After a long silence, Xiao finally spoke.

"... Actually, if I try hard enough, it's not impossible for the school to agree to let me live off-campus for an extended period. Besides, I've already earned enough credits, so I don't need to worry about that."

"Xiao..."

That means she can stay in the club as a parent for a long time... So so can I!

"Why don't I give it a try? Maybe if I work hard, I can stay away from home for extended periods," I said.

"..."

"Huh? Why is everyone looking at me with such a strange expression?"

"Ye... you actually don't want to go to school, do you?"

"--Well!"

Damn it, I was found out so quickly.

After all, my purpose in coming to the Central United Academy wasn't to experience the stale school harem life, but to find something. So, going to school would be a complete waste of time. And since the Central United Academy is an educational institution, it's difficult to sneak in with any identity other than that of a student. If I rashly apply for withdrawal, I might be expelled from the Central United Academy, which would be a big problem.

However, Evelynths is the only character I've found so far who might be related to the Boundary Breaking Armor, and she's the only clue. Although the hope is slim, we absolutely cannot let this clue die out.

In other words, students should try to stay in clubs while retaining their student status.

Okay, actually there's a third reason, which is—I just don't want to go to school, so what if I say something to the principal?

"But it's okay, Xiao Ye. If you don't go to school, I won't either. Let's go see the principal tomorrow."

"Okay (*^◎^*)... Wait, wait, wait, wait... we're going to challenge the big boss? I'm not mentally prepared at all!"

"It's great that you're so kind. It's settled then. Starting tomorrow, everyone will move into the department offices. Bring your own personal belongings and handle your own school matters. If you can avoid going to school, then don't. Understand?"

"Oh my gosh~ This delinquent girl is trying to corrupt us good students. Is she going to teach us to smoke, drink, rob, do drugs, and engage in prostitution?"

"You're a bad girl, my foot! You're rotten to the core even without my guidance!"

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The CET-6 exam is coming up soon... I'm currently doing practice papers and also need to cram for MATLAB...