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Bellus looked around with a fascinated expression.
“There are so many people, right, Un… I mean, Luna.”
“Yeah, a lot of people really came.”
Deep in the forest on the outskirts of Elton City.
A clearing surrounded by tall trees was already crowded with people gathered in small groups.
“We came right on time, but there are already this many people?”
“It’s not just freshmen who came.”
As Liber said, not all of the hundreds of people gathered here were 17-year-olds planning to enter the academy.
There were several attendants among them, and some people, like Bellum, were wearing academy uniforms.
“They seem to have contacted everyone individually, but to gather this many… How many spies are there?”
Bellum, who was following behind, shook her head.
“Not all of those people might be spies.”
“Then?”
“They might have hired some kind of day laborers.”
“Maybe.”
The group made their way forward through the crowd, chatting.
As people got closer, they focused on their roles and continued the conversation.
Davian had warned them to be especially careful, as they didn’t know who might be a spy.
“It seems like the entrance packages are piled up over there, Miss Luna.”
“Oh, I see. Let’s go take a look.”
“What do you think, Luna? Am I right to say it's worth coming here? Just imagine all these new students looking at the family history. Only those who didn't come here today will lose out!"
“You’re right, Bellus. Thanks to you, I got some very good information. Thank you."
"We didn't have anything like this back in our day. How many freshmen are gathered here? A hundred? Two hundred?"
Bellus looked around and replied.
"Thank you for coming with me, Bellum unnie. Aside from the people who came with us, there seem to be well over a hundred freshmen?"
“Right? If there had been an event like this before I entered, I would have definitely come.”
In front of the clearing, hundreds of bags containing entrance packages were piled up.
Next to them, hundreds of fairly thick books were prepared.
“This must be it!”
The moment Liber ran forward to touch the pile of books.
Thud.
A fairly large man grabbed Liber's wrist.
Squeeze.
The hand slowly tightened its grip.
"Ouch! It hurts!"
The man scanned Liber up and down.
“You don’t look like a freshman. If you’re just an attendant, stay quiet.”
“Let go!”
The man loosened his grip on Liber's wrist.
In that short moment, her wrist turned bright red and swollen.
Liber held her wrist and huffed.
"Who are you! I was just trying to show the family history to my lady!"
The man glared at Liber.
"I'm a staff member. Just go away and stay out of trouble."
"Do you even know who our lady is...!"
Who she is?
Luna Fuerida disguised as a freshman.
Wearing a bright pink dress.
The large man leaned down and whispered in Liber's ear.
"Get lost if you don't want to die first."
Liber's eyes sharpened for a moment.
'Die first?'
Liber, with her palms open in a gesture of surrender, backed away from the man.
Bellum whispered.
"What's that jerk saying?"
"He said to get lost if I don't want to die first."
"First?"
"Yeah. He definitely said that."
"These guys are definitely up to something."
"I think so too."
Liber, who was whispering with Bellum, pointed to the bags and books piled up in front.
"What's piled up there might not be entrance packages or family history. They wouldn't even let me touch them."
"Let's watch a little longer."
"Okay."
As time passed, even more people gathered in the clearing than before.
"Okay, everyone, please pay attention."
A voice filled with magic echoed through the clearing.
Several people came forward and stood in front of the piled-up items.
"Thank you for coming all this way. Let's skip the small talk and start distributing the items quickly. For a smooth process, those who came with them, please step back, and only the freshmen should come forward. Those who want to buy items other than the entrance package, come this way. Those who want to buy the entrance package, come this way."
People in black clothes, who were scattered here and there, began to guide the freshmen.
"Okay, the people in black clothes are our wholesale store employees. Please follow the instructions of the employees. There are so many people, so we need your cooperation to proceed quickly."
Bellus turned to Bellum and Liber and whispered.
"What do we do?"
"Follow their instructions for now, and stand in the back as much as possible. We'll try to go to the front as much as possible. Let's stay close."
Bellus nodded.
Meanwhile, a person in black clothes approached Bellus and Luna.
"Please come this way."
Bellus tried to put on a bright expression and said.
"Unnie! I'll be back. Wait here."
Bellum nodded.
Luna also greeted Liber.
"I'll be back, so wait here."
"Yes, Miss. Have a good trip."
After Bellus and Luna left with the guides.
Bellum said to Liber.
"Let's go to the front as much as possible."
"Okay."
Hundreds of people were tangled up in a mess, but it didn't take long to sort them out.
Seven wholesale store officials stood in front of the clearing.
And right in front of them, the freshmen were divided into two groups.
The number of freshmen gathered was about one hundred and fifty.
After finishing the guidance, the employees in black clothes stood in a line behind the freshmen.
It was as if the employees in black clothes had separated the freshmen from their companions.
"Now that everything is sorted out. I'm late with my introduction. My name is Fabes. As you all know, I run a large wholesale store. Thank you for your hard work in coming all this way."
The man who introduced himself as Fabes gestured.
After a while.
People in black clothes poured out from the side of the clearing again.
Bellum whispered.
"What, there were more? More employees?"
"It seems like it's not just day laborers, as you said, Bellum."
"I know, right? How many staff members are there? What are they planning to do today..."
"The people in black clothes. How do they walk?"
"How they walk?"
"You inspectors can tell just by looking at their gait whether they know how to use a sword or not."
"Ah... well, I don't know? And if they're all really spies, as Davian said, wouldn't they be able to hide things like their gait?"
"Maybe."
The men in black clothes who were pouring out were holding lunch boxes.
"You must be hungry from coming all this way and waiting for so long, so let's have a quick bite to eat. We've prepared simple lunch boxes. If you sit where you are now, we'll hand out a lunch box to each of you. Unfortunately, we only prepared enough lunch boxes for the freshmen. Companions, please bear with us even if you're hungry."
Perhaps because they were already hungry, the freshmen began to sit down in their places.
The men in black clothes handed out lunch boxes one by one.
Bellus and Luna looked back with bewildered eyes.
Liber nudged Bellum's side.
"Bellum, go!"
"Okay!"
Bellum stood up and tapped the back of a man in black clothes in front of her.
"Where's the restroom?"
The man in black clothes silently pointed towards the forest.
Then.
He moved his arm and circled around the forest.
Meaning to go and take care of it anywhere.
'These guys.'
Just now, when one of the freshmen got up and said he was going to the restroom, they told him to wait a moment.
But they don't care if the companions go to the restroom or not.
'There's definitely something going on. Are they really planning to kill all our juniors?'
Bellum, feeling desperate, darted towards the forest.
Bellum is now about to start her second year at Elton Academy.
Her skills in the swordsmanship department are about average.
Her feet, imbued with inner power, moved quickly.
Before long, she arrived at the spot she had promised Davian.
"Davian! Hah, hah."
Davian and Nubes, who were sitting, jumped up.
"Just like you said, hah, they're handing out food."
Nubes asked.
"Food?"
"Were you sleeping when Davian was talking yesterday? He told us to strike as soon as those guys brought out food!"
"Ah, right."
Davian said in a low voice.
"How many of them are there?"
"Lots. More than I thought. Over a hundred."
"That's a lot of them. There's no time. Let's go quickly!"
The dormitory poisoning quest from around this time in the previous iteration disappeared, and the Protect the Freshmen event appeared.
If the guys are targeting the freshmen before they enter the academy because they're having trouble operating inside the academy.
He thought they might use the same method as the dormitory incident.
So he told Bellum to rush over as soon as the guys brought out food.
'It's poisoning again!'
Whoosh.
Davian created a giant fireball and launched it into the sky.
The fireball, which rose high into the sky.
Boom!
It exploded with a tremendous explosion.
Cooper Karun, a mid-level executive of the Marino Empire spy organization with a base in the Exituum tavern in Kanzar City.
Here, he introduced himself as Fabes.
'Okay, everyone, eat your lunch boxes quickly. In thirty minutes, you'll all be dead.'
It was a really tough year.
He had dedicated his entire life to climbing the ladder in the organization, one step at a time.
But this year was a very difficult time.
None of the missions he planned and carried out were successful.
The plan to awaken the Gray Witch and reduce the number of first-year students exploring the northern ice region by half.
The plan to attack the Amandria trading company passing through Elton City to obtain a large amount of magic stones.
Even the fact that he mobilized a fourth-year student to kill the freshman who had defeated the Gray Witch.
And the bomb attack at the festival to deal with him more certainly.
All failed.
'Davian Naone...'
It wasn't just Cooper Karun's base.
Other operations that had been prepared for a long time at other bases were also thwarted by Davian Naone.
At the magic stone mine, which had been prepared for decades, he took all the kidnapped and imprisoned workers and ran away.
He said that he had blocked the Byzantium-Arondt Count's war, which was the operation with the most manpower mobilized last year.
So he kidnapped his lover and set a trap, but he appeared confidently, rescued his lover, and disappeared.
Later, he heard that they weren't even lovers.
After that, he even sent the fire wizard Obses, but that also failed.
The detective who suddenly appeared and killed Obses has not yet been found.
And the Behemoth summoning plan, which he had been preparing for a whopping five years.
He succeeded in summoning 12 Behemoths, dimensional creatures that don't respond to magic, to a place where only wizards were gathered.
There were no casualties.
The number of first-year students this year should have been reduced to less than half, but.
In the end, everyone completed their first year without any problems and moved on to the second year.
'This year will be different from last year.'
The beginning.
The freshman poisoning plan.
He prepared more calmly than ever before.
To prevent rumors from spreading, he contacted the prospective students individually.
This required a lot of manpower.
He reported to the higher-ups and received a large-scale support request.
'This time it's a success.'
The foolish kids sitting on the floor begin to open their lunch boxes one by one.
'This time, I'm going to reduce the number of freshmen by half and start.'
At that time.
Boom!
A huge explosion was heard in the sky.
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