Chapter 50: Same boat
Things moved fast after that. Since the others were standing, Severin didn't answer any questions and immediately put them to work.
They complained, especially Derrick, and even though they were tired, he still squeezed the remaining strength from their bodies.
They left Lucas in the main cave and went into the others, the ones that the two teams explored.
Severin dragged the wooden chest with him, and then they began to gather the resources left.
The White Fire had burned the other monsters' bodies out of existence, so they had to settle for plants and crystals they could find. He secured all the resources until he reached the place where the first incident of House Draconis happened.
It was a bloody spot, meat scattered on the ground as if it was a butcher's place.
On one side was a giant black ice stab that was still melting.
They left the bodies as they saw them and returned to the place where House Solarin also fought, reaping all the resources on the way as well.
They took the unconscious body of Seris and the bleeding one of Jade with them.
And when they reached the main cave, they were met with the Academy representative and guards who heard what happened from Talon.
Severin and the others were immediately detained and questioned.
All the teams that went suffered some serious harm, and what happened to House of Chains? They came out unscathed. It was suspicious.
But it didn't last. They were placed under a truth spell, and every member was questioned differently.
They all spoke the truth, although with some misdirection.
Julius had predicted something like that might happen when Severin first told him he expected some crisis to happen in the dungeon.
They were all grilled on how to lie without lying.
Misdirection.
By joining two unrelated truths together, they created another thing in the mind of the questioner.
Severin told them he fell into a trap and was lost in the dungeon, and so he didn't know what happened outside. It was the truth but not the truth as it was.
But it was enough.
By the time they left the guard station, it was night, and everyone returned to their place to sleep, too tired to worry about food or any other things.
But not Severin.
Although he was tired, he still stayed up to think.
His biggest weapon and strength at the moment was his knowledge and his strategic mind.
"...I went with two objectives for today and failed one... but I also learned something. I think the future will only change for big things, but the ripple effect seems to be too big and it's affecting everything..."
"...I need to get my Pandora Box back, but for now I also need to lay low... I've been involved in too many things too fast... I would be suspicious of myself too..."
"...let's look at the gains... I am now an E-rank... my perception has increased to a terrifying level, and I now have a Stigma and Evasion technique... really, today wasn't all that bad..."
"...I also have enough resources to start the proper building of the House..."
Severin yawned, but then he stiffened, and the hair on his body raised.
Someone was watching him.
He didn't know from which direction, but he felt an attention on him.
Scar spies? He knew there must still be some remaining in the Academy, but he didn't think they would begin to move that fast, not with all the tension in the air.
He stood up and went to the window. He looked out at the silver-lit environment but didn't find anything, and the feeling had disappeared as well.
"Is it a skill?" Severin muttered, closing the shades. His eyes darkened. "I really want to destroy those bastards. Maybe a trip to the black market is in order. I can't rely too much on the information I know about the book. But going to the black market now is like putting fire on fuel."
He would bide his time.
He had a lot on his plate.
But strangely, Severin was enjoying himself.
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"He detected me?" Darius Faulkner muttered.
The Head Instructor stood on the roof of a building close to the Class Four dorm where he could see into Severin's room through his window. But to think he would suddenly close it.
"Sir, we haven't found any evidence that directly links him to the terrorists," a man that wore a black mask on his face said.
Darius Faulkner looked over at the man who was part of the school elite guard, those that worked in the shadows. "Is that so? I want you to trace his background. I want to know everything about him. Be quick about it."
The man bowed and then he jumped away, blurring into the darkness.
A woman dressed in a bright red robe who had been observing the Head Instructor since sighed. "Should we just kill him? Or take him in and torture him till he tells us all he knows? It would make things easier."
She was the Captain of the guard, in charge of security in the whole Academy.
"Don't be rash, Captain. He might be someone you dare not touch," Darius Faulkner smiled.
The Captain scowled. "Stupid politics. You think he came from a special background?"
"Think of it. Three major things happened and he's in the middle of it all. Everything could be linked back to him. And those subordinates of his... isn't it amazing how he turned them from trash to something? Not Ethan though."
The woman's scowl only got bigger. "I don't care about all of those. I'm only worried about security. That guy definitely knows something."
Darius Faulkner sighed. "Even we can't carelessly torture students unless there's absolute evidence. And as you can see, in the dungeon, they only got lucky because of Lucas Dawn." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
"Lucky, but he was in the research facility and came out alive, just weeks after he left the Class Five dorm they were all kidnapped. Lucky, and now..."
She didn't need to finish it.
It was suspicious, yes, but then...
Darius Faulkner's eyes were gleaming. "An anomaly. He rose so fast, so suddenly. It was as if a switch was flipped. I want to know if he's a fraud."
The Captain frowned because she knew the Head Instructor had seen something to play with for a while. "If he's not dead by the time you're done with him, then can you give him to me?"
"Sure, sure. We're in the same boat after all. How many deaths now in just one month?"