CHAPTER 66: EVIL INFILTRATION [1]

"Good work."

The ship that arrived at the island belonged to the Golden Turtle Company. Hyde, who was directly commanding the ship, greeted Gerhard.

"It seems your mission went well."

"Yes. I caught a spy."

"An evil one?"

"An evil one indeed."

"To think evil ones had infiltrated the company. That could have been disastrous."

"What about the other students?"

Though they had killed the sea serpent, they couldn’t prevent the split ship from sinking.

The ship quickly sank to the bottom of the sea, and the students were scattered in various directions by the waves.

During that time, Gerhard, Luina, and Bella had followed Aint.

"Fortunately, everyone was properly rescued."

However, Gerhard had been preparing for today’s events long before.

Seven ships placed at a distance where they wouldn’t be visible from the yacht.

The ships deployed in a formation like a siege, conducting search operations, and rescued everyone who had fallen.

To be precise, it was Hyde who had done this.

"Good job."

"Not at all."

It wasn’t just flattery.

The students of the yacht club were individually either children of influential families or talents who could stand anywhere in the Empire without shame.

If even one of them had been harmed, it could have become extremely troublesome, even if the cause was something like a disaster.

When things go wrong, humans inevitably look for someone to blame.

The ship carrying Gerhard and his party soon encountered the vessels that had rescued the other students.

"Gerhard."

"Rudger, are you alright?"

"I’m fine. Thanks to you, I survived. Since when did you have ships on standby?"

"Always."

"Always?"

"I always kept escort ships nearby in case of emergencies. I’m glad I did."

Rudger nodded without further comment at the excuse Gerhard had prepared in advance.

"It was completely unexpected. To think monsters would attack the ship on such a large scale..."

"Same here. I’ve never heard of such an incident since the academy was established."

This was also even more definitive evidence. Evidence that demons had begun to stir.

"...We’ll need to determine the cause clearly. Oh, by the way, I’ll pay for the sunken ship."

"You?"

Gerhard barely managed his expression at the unexpected statement.

"Yes. After all, I was the one who suggested changing this club to a yacht club. The ship was just rented, wasn’t it?"

"I think it was me who brought up the idea of a yacht club."

"But I was the one who made the decision."

That was true. Even among the same Margrave families, everyone had given weight to Rudger’s words, as he was on the prince’s side.

"...Well, if you’re offering, I won’t refuse."

Though the future benefits would more than cover the loss, it was best not to incur that loss if possible.

’Indeed, he’s not a bad person by nature.’

The conflict with Aint was perhaps an inevitable fate.

There couldn’t be two suns in one sky.

Of course, his intentions weren’t purely benevolent, but from Gerhard’s perspective, the one giving money was the boss.

"...I want to get back to the dormitory quickly. I’m sick of the sea now."

Rudger mumbled quietly, wrapping the blanket more tightly around himself.

***

The next day, the events at the yacht club spread across the entire academy in an instant.

Some yacht club members, including Gerhard, had to be summoned by the faculty advisor.

"It’s been a while, student Gerhard."

For any club to be established, a professor’s approval was necessary.

The professor who gave approval became the faculty advisor of that club, a system designed to control the students.

"Yes, Professor."

Professor Dominik Colsner, of the Magic Department’s "Illusion and Phantasmagoria" course, was the faculty advisor of the yacht club.

"I tried to avoid intervening as much as possible, but this time, I couldn’t."

"I understand."

A club composed of children from prestigious noble families.

Usually, the role of faculty advisor was merely nominal, but he couldn’t remain silent during such a major incident.

"I’m conducting interviews with some students to hear their stories. I’m glad everything was resolved well, but I need to understand the situation clearly."

"Yes."

Professor Dominik adjusted his monocle. Through the lens, a gray pupil with an ever-melancholic hue was visible.

"It happened suddenly. Those creatures..."

"A large-scale sea worm infestation and sea serpents. It’s unprecedented. I’m glad none of the students died. Was having ships on standby something you always did?"

"Yes."

It wasn’t a lie.

Having seven ships this time was special, but he usually had one escort ship secretly on standby in case of emergencies.

"Good. Were there any other strange or unusual occurrences?"

"None."

"That’s a relief. Oh, by the way, I heard you accepted Luina Berchef and Aint Armian as new members this time."

"I brought Luina, but I’m not sure about Aint."

"I understand. You may go now."

After the brief interview, Gerhard headed straight to the company.

Hyde, who had been waiting, welcomed him.

"Are you finished?"

"Have you found a trail of how they infiltrated as company employees?"

"Here it is."

"Interesting. No one knew those fellows were there..."

Yet they naturally treated them as fellow employees.

Despite being entities that shouldn’t exist, that they had never seen before.

"Magic?"

"It’s presumed to be mental-type magic."

"They say mental magic is the specialty of demons."

It was also written in the documents that dealing with souls was a specialty of demons.

From there, another question arose.

’The soul that tried to possess me. It can’t be seen as the work of demons.’

They wouldn’t do something that would obviously be disadvantageous to them.

But without a demon, what kind of magician could cast a spell to forcibly possess someone with a soul?

Without any clues, he had to set it aside again.

Gerhard decided to focus on the matters at hand.

"The prisoner we captured?"

"Confession magic didn’t work, so we put him in the company’s basement."

"Make him spill everything, even if it means torture."

"Yes."

"And send this to my father."

Gerhard placed pre-written reports in an envelope and stamped it with his seal.

"What time did you go to bed yesterday?"

"Time and information are money. The faster these things are reported, the more money can be made."

"I’ll send it as a top priority."

"Of course."

"By the way, may I ask one thing?"

"What is it?"

"About the priority rights for the shipbuilding business at the academy. Did you have this incident in mind?"

Gerhard shook his head.

"Don’t say crazy things. How could I have known this would happen?"

"Well, that’s true."