Science/Magic

After the meeting finished, Bloed, Regina, and Eres left the Mission Hall.

On the way back to Machine Revolutio, Bloed kept a pensive expression.

"Master, what is wrong?" Regina asked curiously.

Bloed thought for a moment before replying.

"… I just think that this mission is strange."

"What do you mean?" Regina furrowed her brows. At the same time, Eres walked closer to Bloed to hear his words more clearly.

"Think about it," Bloed said as he walked through the streets of Academy City. "Academy City has enough teachers and guards to take care of any criminal that infiltrates the city. Why did the headmistress ask for our help then?"

Regina and Eres were startled after hearing that question.

"What do you think, Brother?" Eres asked.

"If I'm not wrong, Headmistress Wave can't trust the teachers and guards completely. That is the reason she asked for our help."

Regina and Eres's expressions turned grave immediately.

They could understand the meaning of Bloed's words. In other words, he was saying that there were traitors in Academy City.

But Bloed was convinced of his guess.

He had learned a bit about the current situation of the city from his conversations with the headmistress and Eve, and he knew that currently, the city's situation was far from good.

Many people were eyeing the resources and location of the city with greedy eyes, and more than one party could not wait for the day Academy City's fall.

Under such circumstances, the existence of traitors was normal.

And there was another reason that supported Bloed's guess.

None of the clubs with strong ties to the races were invited to the meeting.

Neither Wings of Liberty (Humans), nor Elf Garden, Beast Brotherhood, or Demons Glory.

Moreover, the clubs invited to participate in the mission didn't receive much information about the situation.

Headmistress Wave only said that there were criminals inside the city and that they needed to keep an eye on suspicious people.

As for the identities of the criminals and the reason why they were in the city, the headmistress did not reveal it.

Bloed was sure that Headmistress Wave knew about their identity; or at least, she had a good idea about it.

As for the reason why she said that the identities of the criminals were unclear, Bloed was sure that it was as a precaution.

Most likely, she was wary of one of the club leaders having ties to the 'criminals' in the city.

However, that was not the only problem with the mission.

"Don't you think it's strange that our club was selected for this mission?" Bloed asked Regina and Eres.

The two girls frowned; and one second later, Regina nodded.

"Right, [Machine Revolutio] is a small club. This kind of mission needs a large number of people. It's not suitable for a club with around ten members like ours."

"Now that I think about it, Miss Regina is right." Eres furrowed her brows. "I don't understand, why the headmistress selected our club for this mission then?"

"It should be a test," Bloed said.

"A test?" Eres was confused, but Regina nodded in understanding.

She immediately understood the Headmistress's goal.

She wanted to test Bloed's capabilities to see his approach to this mission.

"… But brother, if the mission is so suspicious, why did you accept it?" Eres could not help but ask.

"The mission is suspicious, but it doesn't mean that we should not accept it." Bloed smiled. "This mission is good for us. Just the points that we can get from this mission plus the points we get from creating golems are enough for our club to keep a stable ranking in the top 100. We won't need to do any other mission. It's perfect for our current situation."

"How are you planning to complete the mission then, master?"

"Let's wait until we return to the club. I'll tell you then."

Before leaving the Mission Hall, Bloed had asked Headmistress Wave if he could reveal the information of the mission to the members of his club.

Headmistress Wave did not mind it. In a certain sense, most of the members of Bloed's club was very trustworthy.

The only exceptions were perhaps Elwha, Prince Calisto, Toby, and Eres, but due to her curiosity towards Bloed, she had investigated them and was certain that they were clean. Even Eres was not likely to reveal it, considering her relationship with the royal family of Alterna.

Even so, the headmistress still limited the number of people that could know about the mission to five (Besides Bloed, Regina, and Eres).

Bloed chose Liu Ying, Aya, Gina, Sara, and Princess Elwha.

Fifteen minutes later, Bloed, Regina, and Eres returned to the club. But when they were about to enter the tower, Bloed abruptly stopped.

In the next instant, he turned around and looked at their surroundings warily.

"Master?"

"Brother?"

"Someone was observing us," Bloed said with a dark expression. "And he carried ill intent."

Regina and Eres's expressions changed.

"Where is him? Should I try to find him?" Regina asked, but Bloed shook his head after hesitating briefly.

According to his senses, whoever was observing them had already left.

In fact, he left as soon as he felt Bloed's gaze.

Bloed did not even manage to see him or determine his location.

Obviously, this person was very cautious.

Without knowing where that person was, Regina would be unable to find him.

"… You can try, but I don't think you will find anything. We will have to keep an eye on our surroundings from today onwards."

As someone that grew in the Exiled Lands, facing bloodthirsty beasts and powerful monsters daily, Bloed was rather sensitive to killing intent and ill will, even more than Regina, who was much stronger than him.

Due to that, he was sure that the person that was observing them just a moment ago carrier clear ill will.

Such a person was definitively an enemy.

Despite Bloed's words, Regina flew around the tower and tried to find the owner of the gaze. But just as Bloed expected, she failed to find him.

Bloed was slightly disappointed, but he did not mind it much.

He tried to deduce the identity of that person. But unfortunately, there were too many suspects.

It could be the people of the Church of Slaughter coming after Elwha, or the people of Returning Dusk coming for Gina. Perhaps it was someone from the Daemon Empire that came to investigate Liu Ying, or even an assassin sent by the king of Alterna to kill Bloed.

Without enough clues, Bloed could not come to an answer. He could only remind himself to be careful.

After that small episode, Bloed, Regina, and Eres entered the tower. Bloed immediately gathered Liu Ying, Aya, Sara, Gina, and Princess Elwha for a meeting.

During the meeting, he explained to them about the mission he got from the headmistress.

After they heard his words, the girls put on pensive expressions.

"My lord, although this mission is good, it's not suitable for us." Sara was the first to speak. "We don't have enough men for it."

"Sara is right." Liu Ying agreed with Sara. "Actually, I can't understand why the headmistress selected us for this mission. She should know about our circumstances."

Elwha, Aya, Gina, and Eres nodded.

Only Regina was indifferent, standing behind Bloed with a deadpan expression.

At that moment, Bloed smirked.

"Actually, this mission is rather simple."

"???"

Bloed smiled and looked at the girls.

"It's a bit sooner than I expected, but I guess it doesn't matter."

With a mysterious expression, he took out a small object from his storage device and showed it to the girls.

"Girls, let me show you the power of security cameras."