The academy’s artifact storeroom was remarkably large.
Contrary to its outward appearance, space-expanding magic had been used. And that made it as large as the library inside the Academy.
Inside the storeroom, artifacts that looked precious were displayed in transparent glass cases.
Shane scanned these items and spoke to Benjamin.
“Can I choose anything?”
“Go ahead. Of course, you can only choose one, so you’ll need to think it over.”
“Okay.”
The uses of each artifact were kindly noted under the artifact displays. This was all for the convenience of the students who would visit.
Of course, the artifacts here were not of particularly impressive quality.
They were more than sufficient for ordinary students, yet far behind the caliber of items stored in the empire’s or kingdoms’ storerooms.
Just enough to impress the students.
Since Shane hadn’t expected more, he showed no signs of disappointment as he slowly looked over the items.
I don’t necessarily need to choose an artifact.
Various weapons, armor, amulets, and wearable accessories were on display, but among them, something particularly caught Shane’s eye.
“Are you really thinking of choosing that?”
Benjamin’s expression turned uncertain as if he didn’t expect Shane to choose such an item.
Shane answered without paying much attention to that,
“Yes. It seems like it could help with the research I’m doing now.”
A few days ago, he had seen a purple stone.
It was known as a source of magical power.
A stone called the elixir of heaven to monsters.
However, it wasn’t necessary just for monsters.
For example, this source of magical power was as vital as an elixir for spirits.
Shane’s eyes gleamed coolly as he looked at the source of magical power.
It would be useful for dealing with those pests.
At least, it would definitely perform better than most artifacts stored here.
Each time Dilaila saw the antique-looking mansion in front of her, she felt somewhat intimidated.
It’s kind of creepy.
As a home in the city at the heart of the coalition, it was inhabited by individuals from quite prestigious families.
However, since this house was being used as a holiday home, it was not very large.
A three-story building.
Dilaila entered the building slowly and managed a forced smile.
There stood a boy who could have been barely ten years old greeting Dilaila with an innocent smile.
“Teacher!”
“Ah, hello.”
The boy who was a child of a noble family had been receiving private tutoring from Dilaila since last month.
He had been raised as if he were made of gold or jewels; his appearance alone exuded an air of nobility that made Dilaila feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Usually surrounded by people who viewed her with prejudiced eyes, it was refreshing to see that his young gaze was filled with curiosity.
This made the lessons proceed more slowly than usual due to his talkative nature.
“Oh, you’re here, Miss Dilaila. Come in.”
Behind the boy appeared a man.
“Yes. How have you been, Sir?”
“Oh, no need to be so formal. Haha, please take good care of my son today too.”
“Ah, understood.”
It was not just any nobleman here, but the head of the family.
Although the authoritarian nature of humans was something Dilaila had often encountered, making her feel uncomfortable, she did not show it.
After all, she needed the money to secure her research funding for the month.
While her living expenses and tuition at the Academy were covered by the Academy’s support, there weren’t many job opportunities for Dilaila who had no connections and carried the label of being a different race.
“Speaking of which, I recently acquired some exquisite tea. Would you like to try some later?”
“No? Oh, that’s alright.”
“Haha, don’t be shy now.”
With a kind smile, the master of the house excused himself and the lesson proceeded smoothly thereafter.
“Teacher, teacher. You know, last week my toy broke… I got scolded by my father.”
“Ahaha, is that so…”
Of course, the boy’s chatter continued throughout.
“But he said to expect a new toy soon! Hehe.”
The boy’s smile was innocently joyful.
But why did Dilaila suddenly feel a sense of unease at that smile, which would normally evoke maternal affection?
She quickly shook off this strange sentiment and forced an awkward smile.
She still found it difficult to show her teeth to others.
***
Late at night at the academy.
Shane sat quietly on a tree on the hill as he gazed down at the landscape below.
The capital of Argentia, at the heart of the coalition, was always bright.
As the capital of a country formed by the leaders of five countries, its pace of development was notably faster than that of other cities.
The dark night sky.
To someone, this night might seem beautiful, but Shane knew well.
He knew that beneath this city were pests too vile to describe in words.
These pests were gnawing at the very foundation of the coalition and ready to sink their filthy teeth even into the union of the five nations.
Unaware of how this would eventually poison them.
After all, they are pests that will die someday.
If so, wouldn’t it be right to deal with them beforehand?
Shane had no intention of soaking in this peaceful era and enjoying himself at the academy.
After all, his life at the academy was merely an act to craft a reputable identity in the light.
In the shadows, he planned to move under a different identity.
A darkness much deeper than the night enveloped Shane and resonated with his thoughts.
Soon, a dark shadow without a trace of life descended the hill below.
And that dark shadow headed toward a certain mansion.
***
The middle-aged nobleman sat in his office while sipping his tea.
The tea renowned for its quality delightfully enveloped his taste buds.
“What a pity. I can’t drink it more often.”
“…It’s harmful to your health.”
The knight standing before the middle-aged nobleman spoke in a very polite voice.
“Always, the things that aren’t good for the body tend to taste the best. I lack patience, so I need to indulge in such flavors from time to time.”
“…”
The knight quietly closed his mouth in response to the nobleman’s words.
The tea that the middle-aged nobleman was drinking was made from the leaves of a plant called mahwacho.
It was a plant that injected positive energy into magical power but its venom was so strong that it distorted the drinker’s magical power.
But because of its delightful aroma, it was occasionally sold as a luxury item among the nobles.
“By the way, what happened to the toy?”
“Yes, I subdued her and moved her to the basement.”
“That’s good. We were really lucky, weren’t we? To find such a robust half-human. They’re hard to come by.”
“Isn’t it a bit dangerous, though? She’s a student at the academy, and behind her is…”
The knight did not finish his sentence, but the middle-aged nobleman had already grasped what he was worried about.
“What of it? The concern you have won’t come to pass. The academy is merely there to assist her, not to provide a pretext for protection, especially outside the academy. Wouldn’t it be better if she just disappeared? Perhaps they’d be laughing about how such an annoying pest is gone.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, after all, the backing behind that toy in this world… is already treated as dead.”
“I spoke out of line.”
“Haha, you’re always too serious, that’s the problem. Still, I’m glad. You won’t believe how shocked I was last time. I told my son to play with it because he was bored, and who would have thought it would break so soon?”
“It’s my fault for not properly attending to the young master.”
“Oh, how is that your fault? It wasn’t even a task I had left to you. But this time, we have a rather sturdy toy, so it shouldn’t break like the last one did with my son.”
With that, the nobleman smoothly changed the subject.
“Speaking of which, what happened to the guest who was supposed to come?”
“Yes. They said it might take a little more time.”
“Busy people, as expected. But they are valuable customers, so we must wait, right?”
“…”
“We’ll just show them the product for now, and arrange for the training separately. You’ll be busy.”
“I am here to follow your orders, my lord. Please command me at any time.”
“Haha, understood. There really aren’t many knights as reliable as you. Start preparing to receive our guest.”
“Yes, I understand.”
***
What was Shane most wary of?
His own corruption?
Or the organization?
Neither.
Shane had become someone who knew more about corruption than anyone else, and he had experienced the strength of the organization while sitting in command of a Legion, so he was prepared.
But there was one thing.
Even Shane was powerless against it.
It was the corruption of humanity.
In his past life, the downfall of humanity at the hands of the organization was marked not only by the unbelievable force it displayed but that wasn’t the entirety of it.
It took less than five years for the five countries, including the empire, to collapse.
Among them, the first kingdom to fall due to the organization’s invasion had the king’s head hanging on the city walls in less than a week.
And the second and third kingdoms fell in just half a year.
Only the remaining empire and one other kingdom stood against the organization for four and a half years, but by then, it was too late.
As a result, numerous humans perished and all the nations were led to ruin.
Until the First Princess of the remaining humans gathered them and declared a new nation, there was not a glimmer of hope left for humanity.
Originally, it would have taken much longer for the organization to bring down all the nations with its military force alone.
The existence of this coalition was supposed to be the biggest obstacle for the organization.
However, the organization was well aware of this fact and had spent a long time spreading cancer cells within the coalition.
By the time the organization emerged, the very purpose of the coalition’s existence had become meaningless.
This was one of the factors that hastened the extinction of humanity.
Shane had no immediate way to deal with these cancer cells.
They had already spread too far by this point.
So from now on, I must exterminate them one by one.
Of course, that didn’t mean he had the time to hunt them down individually.
He didn’t even have the power to destroy them all at once.
However, there was a possibility worth trying at least once to sever the nerve cells connecting them.
He thought about that as he looked at the antique-looking mansion.
Keep enveloping me.
[Yes, master.]
No voice echoed around Shane, but a tiny sound that only his soul could hear existed.
The sound of the dark spirit.
It was the remnant of the rotten wood spirit extinguished by Shane before he came to the academy.
It was such an insignificant presence that it took quite a while for Shane to even discover it lingering inside him.
A few days ago, after finishing the practical test and inspecting his mental world in his room, he stumbled upon it.
It was merely a residue. An insignificant being that could do nothing and was incapable of growth.
Yet as it fed on the source of magical power Shane brought with him, it became a dark spirit once again.
However, since it had been extinguished by Shane once before, it held no memories of its past and had become quite different from the rotten wood spirit it once was.
Just a lump of darkness.
Shane did not even give it a name.
It was grandly called a spirit, but to put it bluntly, it was just a conduit.
A conduit that physically manifested the darkness dwelling within Shane.
Using this darkness to conceal his presence, Shane slipped into the mansion and let out a light sigh.
“What a disgusting smell.”
Inside the mansion’s storeroom.
The noble’s mansion was understaffed with guards, making it easy to enter, and Shane understood why.
Wasn’t it just one of the ways for a noble with filthy hobbies to indulge unseen?
To Shane’s nose, the only scents were the dust in the storeroom and the smell of wooden crates.
But beneath the surface, he could sense the residue of damp and dark emotions.
There were many types: death, despair, curses, hatred, resignation…
Among these, what stood out the most was exhilaration.
It was someone’s exhilaration.
From these emotions alone, Shane could tell what was happening underground.
“A cancerous hobby, indeed.”
What is humanity’s greatest enemy today?
It was the alien races.
Most of the alien races were sealed away in the past by Akasha, and now they could only be seen in dungeons.
However, before the great sealing by Akasha ended, humanity lived lives less significant than those of insects among these alien races.
And soon as humans began to gain strength, they grew to loathe these alien races.
It wasn’t without reason that Dilaila had joined the organization in his past life.
Occasionally, some of these alien races broke free from the seal of the great binding, and in the past, they were often enslaved.
Although the Empire’s stance has changed now, recognizing independent nations for the alien races and abolishing the “alien race slavery system”.
Humans, by nature, are creatures who find a perverse pleasure in doing what they are told not to do.
Not all, but certainly a few pursue lives solely for such thrill, and the scenes they create are predictably vile.
Once more enveloped in darkness, Shane headed towards the entrance to the underground.
And there, the bronze-skinned girl he had seen during the day was chained up with a look of resignation on her face.
“Fu*k, you really see all sorts of things in this life.”
A coarse curse escaped her lips.
Yet in that voice, there was neither the pride-filled tone Shane knew from the past nor the vibrant tone of the present.
It sounded like a voice on the brink of giving up.
Shane felt he had heard this type of voice before.
[What nonsense is this betrayer of humanity anyway? I was never treated as a human being to begin with…]
It was eerily similar to the voice of a woman who, on a night in a high castle, had bitterly lamented her life while pouring down a bottle of liquor strong enough to knock out an orc in one drink.
“Dilaila.”
Beyond his round and simple mask, Shane emotionlessly called out the name of a girl from his past life, a girl who had intensely hated him.
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