Brain's answer left everyone present in silence.
They had expected some deeply serious reason, and it turned out to be... just that? Was Brain actually the one who came up with the name "Seven Kin of the Holy Knights"?! Are you actually the most chuunibyou person among us?
Though... "Seven Kin" does sound a bit better than "Eight Kin."
After a long quiet spell in the Dean's Office, the group pulled the conversation back on track.
"So, what is your final decision? Are you in or out?"
Descartes and the others exchanged looks and gave their answers one by one.
"I'm in!" "No problem here!" "Me too..."
Not a single person among the seven refused. Helping justice strike down darkness was something they would have done even without a reward, let alone with one. Besides, they were the most talented figures of the younger generation, each possessing high-level strength. Throughout the entire Kingdom of Fiore, you couldn't find a group of partners who provided a greater sense of security.
Seeing things progress so smoothly, Chris's expression gradually relaxed.
"Very good, very good... You are all good children. I'm quite gratified! Since you've all confirmed you're joining, the next step is to take action."
With that, the old lady gave Brain a look. Brain understood and immediately raised his magic staff, waving it in the air to create a virtual display panel.
During his time at Fairy Academy, Brain hadn't just been idling. With Chris's permission, he had located various records left by Weston regarding the uses of Archive magic and studied them diligently. After all these days, he had made significant progress—at least enough to conveniently use "presentation slides" during meetings.
"Your first enemy is them!"
The virtual screen displayed a group labeled as the "R-Organization." Everyone, except Gildarts, wore an "I knew it" expression. Gildarts had just returned yesterday and knew nothing about the intelligence regarding the R-Organization.
Seeing his bewildered look, Brain elaborated: "The members of this organization are all cultists of Zeref. For several years now, they have been kidnapping civilians across Ishgar to build the R-System, attempting to resurrect the legendary Black Wizard, Zeref."
Gildarts' face immediately filled with shock. "Resurrecting someone? Is such a thing actually possible?"
His doubt was natural. From ancient times to the present, the resurrection of a human being was unheard of—at least, it was never clearly recorded in history.
Brain replied, "Regrettably, according to intelligence gathered by the Council, this dark magic was designed by Zeref himself hundreds of years ago. Its purpose was for people of the future to bring him back. So, even if the R-System sounds like a fairy tale, the possibility of success is very high!"
No matter how magic history described Zeref's evil, his talent in dark magic was undeniable. A simple phrase like "magic left behind by the man himself" was enough to make people believe in the R-System's effectiveness.
"Continuing on," Brain said. "Also according to Council intelligence, the R-Organization has existed for over ten years. In that time, they have built over fifty R-System devices across Ishgar, and that number is still increasing. And among them, one is located right within the Kingdom of Fiore!"
"Your mission is to destroy that stronghold, wreck the R-System there, and liberate the enslaved people!"
Hearing Brain's explanation, everyone's faces turned grave.
"Those bastards actually managed to extend their claws into Fiore?" "They've sneaked into our borders and built an R-System, yet the Royal Family and the Council knew nothing?! What is the investigation unit doing? Are they just a bunch of guys who hug their paychecks and play cards all day?!" "I wonder how many villages, towns, and civilians have suffered so far..." "We have to move immediately!"
After learning the general situation, everyone was quite proactive about taking action.
"One question!" Descartes suddenly raised his hand. "What exactly is the R-System?"
Everyone looked over at him.
"Don't joke around at a time like this, Descartes. Isn't it clear in the files? It's a device to resurrect people!"
What a bunch of brainless idiots! Am I blind?
"I'm not joking; you just don't understand what I mean!" Descartes rubbed his temples helplessly. "I'm asking: what kind of thing is this resurrection device?"
"What kind of thing?" Everyone looked back at the materials Brain displayed and realized there was indeed no description of what the "resurrection device" actually was. They turned back to Brain for an answer.
However, Brain just shook his head. "Regrettably, even the Council doesn't know exactly what the device is."
They don't know what the resurrection device is?! Then how are we supposed to destroy it?
"I have a guess!" Descartes' voice drew everyone's attention again. "I've been researching dark magic lately, so I have some understanding of this area."
Uh... is it really okay to just openly admit you're researching dark magic? Everyone's expressions stiffened, but they chose to keep listening.
Descartes ignored their looks and spoke plainly: "Assuming this resurrection magic is actually feasible—or at least feasible enough for those fanatics to believe in it—the theoretical knowledge involved must be vast, the magic circles required must be incredibly complex, and the magic power consumed must be enormous!"
"In that case, it's not something a wizard can just cast with a wave of their hand. Following the logic of dark magic, to resurrect someone, you first need a suitable human—for instance, a young and powerful wizard like me—to act as a Sacrifice!"
"That's why the R-Organization keeps kidnapping children; they need to pick out those with enough magical talent and raise them to be 'sacrifices'! At the same time, it's highly likely they need a container to store the magic power required to revive the dead."
"This container must be massive—so massive it requires gathering a huge amount of labor, time, and resources to build. That's why the R-Organization has only built fifty devices in all these years and placed them in different countries! Because the resources and labor in one region are limited, they must ensure all local resources are concentrated on that container used to store magic power!"