Thanks to Nox's ice wave, the group arrived at the academy in just a few hours. The faint smell of ozone lingered in the air, making the mission hall feel alive with energy.
"Hey, doesn't that mean we accidentally accomplished that mission?" Beatrice asked, pointing at the paper about the Elf negotiation. Luckily, it wasn't declared as taken.
The students exchanged brief glances, uncertainty mixed with relief. Beatrice's fingers twitched as if she wanted to clap but held herself back.
"I'm not sure if that counts. We should talk to the principal about this," Alma said, walking back toward the entrance hall.
"Look, it's Mister Berr," Lina whispered.
The teacher nodded at them from a corner.
"He's our class teacher, but what does he even do when everyone's on a mission?"
"Maybe he does missions too? After all, they're here for every adventurer," Nox replied, walking along the short corridor, the blood-red carpet beneath them radiating a soft light.
They ascended the broad golden stairs leading to a small corridor.
Knock- knock-
"Come in," a deep voice rang out.
As the door closed behind them, the tension Nox hadn't realized he was holding finally loosened. Only now did the weight of the past week sink in - the forest, the cult, and the elven king's words pressing in on him.
For a moment, no one spoke, each quietly processing how close things had come.
"Hello, Mister Winkelhouse," Lina said politely.
"What a special composition. Two fourth years with four first years? Have a seat," he replied, without looking up from his newspaper. On the very first page was an article about the discovery of two new monsters.
"The reason we came is that we accidentally completed a mission, while focusing on a different one," Nox explained.
"Like a subjugation quest or something?"
"No… the one involving the elf negotiation."
"That's quite impressive. So, you managed to find one of the outskirts and build a neutral relationship?" Principal Albrecht asked.
"No, I would call it friendly. And it was in… Vinar."
The principal froze, his eyes glancing over the newspaper.
"You accidentally entered the capital of the elves and befriended them?"
"Y- Yeah."
As Lina recounted the whole story, the principal's eyes narrowed.
"A crazy woman? This sounds very… believable," he muttered, looking at the students' helpless expressions.
"If you had any proof…"
"Yes," Lina said, handing him the map of the elven forest.
"Wow… but that still isn't definite proof that you've established a friendly relationship. I could give you confirmation for the neutral-"
"Wait, is this proof enough?" Nox asked, putting his arm into the dimension bag.
The air immediately shifted, mana compressing to its maximum.
"D- Don't tell me-"
The principal's body trembled as he saw the branch of the Tree of life in Nox's hand.
"Y- You stole his branch?" Regea shouted.
"No, he gave it to me," Nox said firmly.
A short silence lingered as Albrecht moved closer, his finger approaching the branch. But just as he was about to touch it, an invisible force stopped him.
"He's right. The Tree of life can only be touched by someone who has the allowance to do so," he explained.
Lina placed a hand on Nox's shoulder, nodding encouragingly. An unfamiliar sense of pride surged through his chest.
"This is definite proof. But about the other mission… you're lucky, because it was confirmed as well."
He scraped his white beard, his eyes flickering between the students.
"Bunnies will get 55'000 points, Pros and Swifties 20'000 each."
"So many points!" Beatrice gasped, eyes widening as she subconsciously leaned toward Lina, imagining all the effort it took to earn this. Regea muttered under his breath, tallying their advantages against other teams.
But the good mood wouldn't last long.
"You didn't tell me why that woman attacked you," the principal realized.
"We found out there's a cult called Oblivara with a white flag on their cloaks. They extract monster energy for something," Nox explained. "And they need certain humans for sacrifices."
"Her name was Evetka, right? Seems like a fake name," the principal said thoughtfully.
"This is only a theory, but the demonic crystal we found… I think it might be connected," Nox added.
"Which demonic crystal do you mean?"
"That red crystal we gave Mister Berr. I think he said he'd give it to you."
Albrecht hesitated for a moment; his gaze swept over his table as if searching for something that wasn't there.
"Looks like Mister Berr forgot. But that isn't important right now. If you see any of those people again, flee immediately. You were lucky to encounter only number eleven."
Nox frowned. What if they had run into someone from the top five? He shivered, imagining how quickly they'd be defeated.
"I have another question," Lina said, swallowing nervously.
"Was the mission to check the Black Dragon's Nest taken?"
"Yes. The group 'Unstoppable' received the king's allowance yesterday."
"Will everyone get the photos of the nest?" she asked.
"It depends. You can always ask the group personally when they return," Albrecht whispered, almost as if doing something forbidden.
"It'll probably take a few weeks, though. We can't build a teleportation gate in the Dragon glades. The dragons would just destroy it.
"Alright, thank you, Mister Winkelhouse."
The six students quickly rushed out of the office.
"Amon and I are going shopping. You wanna come with us?" Alma asked.
The four glanced at each other briefly.
"No, it's okay. Our goal is to beat you in the overall ranking after all," Lina said, waving at them.
As they descended the broad golden stairway, the mission board glowed faintly, almost magically.
"Do we really have to go on another mission today?" Beatrice whined.
"We've rested for a week. What are you talking about?" Lina countered. She grabbed Beatrice's waist and tickled her stomach where the wound had been.
"H- Hey! S- Stop…"
"Let's compromise," Nox said, pointing at a small brown paper in the corner.
Permanent C-rank Mission: Magic Ore Occurrences
Reward: +1,000 points per ore vein, +10,000 points per ore cave
Description: Search for ore occurrences in the desert. Report them to village leader Ambre Gasak.
Warning: The ore caves are usually inhibited by a level 6 boss monster
"Ambre Gasak? I think I've heard that name somewhere."
"It's that fat village chief from the des-"
Lina instinctively put her hand on Nox's mouth, while Beatrice rolled her eyes.
"You can't say that!" she scolded.
"But he is."
"W- Well…"
"Another thing… we're not miners!" Beatrice realized. She put her hand above her mouth in shock, as if she just realized.
"Yeah. And?"
"How are we supposed to find these ores? Even the mana detection item won't last forever."
Without a word, Nox pulled the empty map from his bag.
"Wait, we'll need that!" Regea shouted, as Nox grabbed the detection item as well.
"Don't worry."
After briefly checking to see if anyone was watching, he combined the two items.
A tingling sensation ran through his hands, up to his shoulders. The black screen warped, forming a round rock.
"Shit, that cost me 30 mana? Better be worth it," Nox thought.
Name: Rune of Detection
Grade: Artificial
Type: Rune
Description: Shows every mana source in a 50-meter radius before the subject's inner eye. Warns the subject of strong sources nearby.
The rune pulsed faintly in Nox's hands. The vibration sent a prickle down his arms, reminding him that even minor magic has a cost.
"Wow, that's good," Lina said, glancing over his shoulder.
"It's decent," Nox muttered.
"Greedy boy!"
"Almost all my mana was drained just now, so let's leave tomorrow," he suggested.
"Yay!" Beatrice jumped for joy. She put her arm around Regea's shoulder but instinctively pulled it away again.
"Then let's meditate," Lina said, grabbing Nox's wrist.
"It's been a long time since I've tied you up," she added, licking her lips.
She gave up on trying to act like a normal woman, but something told her that this decision wasn't so wrong.
Nox's expression shifted from excited to terrified in an instant.
"No. Beatrice, Regea, help me!"
The two laughed heartily, as Nox was dragged along. He struggled briefly, pulse racing, before realizing he wasn't in serious danger. The contrast made Beatrice and Regea's laughter sound sharper, teasing rather than comforting.