TheMangaGod

So we begin with two people that are surprised at all the changes to the city, two people that probably would have been able to at least help out during the crisis. Where were they? Next is some glimpses at the reaction of the spies to this turn of events and their reaction going forward, what is the Church's plan? And we finish up with a stop in Crossroads that will be an overnight stay, they'll be heading to the Dwarven City of Kels next, what waits for them there and who is watching them now?

 

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- Abelis Academy Library, Restricted Section - Mid-Day After Rose Leaves - Gilgamesh's POV -

[What the hell happened?!?] - Gil

It had been over 15 hours since I entered the Restricted Section of the library, my search for answers to the crisis facing my first disciple in nearly a thousand years pressing me forward. Getting access to the Restricted Section had been easy, almost too easy, with Principal Night almost immediately granting it to me when I came to ask. Her malicious smirk while doing so only serving to worry me more. Whatever she had planned was most likely not in my best interest.

The next 15 hours passed slowly as I worked my way through a mountain of books far larger than the ones available in the general reading area. It seemed that the Academy deemed a lot more knowledge as forbidden than they did freely available. Not exactly a good stance to have as a center of learning, in my opinion but one that I would rectify in the future. Now that I was a teacher, even if it was only as a result of that bitch's scheming, I'd do my best to change this Academy for the better. Plus it seemed like a good thing to pass the time for a few decades; after so many years of immortality it was difficult to find truly fresh experiences but somehow, in nearly 2000 years, I’ve never acted as a teacher. Strange.

Of course I wasn't alone, as part of my agreement with Principal Night I’d also gotten permission for that Samurai person, Kurata, to accompany me. The swordsman, newly awakened to the joy of reading, had become a voracious consumer of books in the last few days and presented with a much larger pile to focus on his face had lit up and he’d vanished into the rows, leaving me alone with my own research as he searched for... whatever he was looking for.

And so this is how the time passed, with Kurata only visible when our book searches brought us near one other, and after feeling like I'd learned everything I could for now I felt it necessary to take a break. Kurata, having passed out several hours prior, was laying against a wall hugging his sword as if he had fallen asleep while on watch.

Smiling at the second disciple that I'd found myself in charge of I left the library, only to stand shocked when I saw the state of the city.

[Rose!] - Gil

Seeing a city that seemed to still be reeling from a massive attack my immediate concern wasn't the wellbeing of the city itself, instead what worried me the most was that first disciple of mine, the one that resembled my own child so much. I needed to find her first. Whatever had occurred in the city was at least a day old considering the relative lack of panic in the streets, so it was likely she was fine. That thought did nothing to quell the heavy feeling in my stomach however as I rushed to the only place I knew that she might be, the Arena.

- Holy City of Fos, Grand Cathedral - Pope Francis X POV -

[...] - Pope Francis X

I was livid, more so than I ever remember having been in my entire life, and it was all because of a certain Cardinal.

Cardinal David. Originally I had assigned him as the manager and contact for our ageing Summoned Hero as well as the upbringing of the younger one. His job was to utilize their talents in the best way possible and to train the newest military asset so that we could get use out of her as quickly as possible, unlike the previous attempt.

Keitaro, that old fool, had been an attempt to ingratiate a glory-seeking moron to our cause and subsequently our control. Unfortunately it hadn't exactly succeeded. We had sold the immature brat on the idea of fulfilling his "destiny" or some such nonsense but actually using him for combat had been... subpar.

Luckily however this had been while I was still just a Cardinal myself and the one previously in charge of the cowardly old man had been punished for his failure accordingly. The truth was that despite that fool being a Summoned Hero he was only about as useful as a mid-range S-Rank Adventurer, certainly a war asset but only on a minimally important scale. This new hero however, she was amazing! Her instinct for slaughter ingrained in her body and her obsession that was refocused on "our" goals by use of a newly acquired technology called a Control Collar had been an ingenious idea. One that was pioneered by our idiot of the day Cardinal David and was honestly the only reason he wasn't missing his head by now or at best assigned to the most backwater congregation they could find. But only just, after all he had already had his innovative idea and it could be argued that there was no merit in letting his past accomplishments clear the air of the most recent blunder. Especially when it involved the two that I was most afraid to awaken.

[Pope Francis I-] - Cardinal David

[Did I say you could speak, Cardinal David?] - Pope Francis X

[B-But I-!] - Cardinal David

[Silence.] - Pope Francis X

[...] - Cardinal David

[Umu. It seems like you've forgotten just who is the one chosen by God to rule. Doing whatever you please at a time like this, are you insane?!?] - Pope Francis X

Of the 9 Cardinals presently squirming under the pressure I emanated, the one to finally break was the one in question. The fool that had lost us a significant buffer territory as well as a military asset that would have remained as a secret if he hadn't openly used that senile moron in such a blatant attack.

The man, his voice cracking with nervousness as his fatty jowls rippled disgustingly, immediately tried the foolish act of defending himself despite being present during many other inquiries for his past disgraced colleagues. Somehow, in spite of his personal knowledge of previous similar proceedings, despite being the instigator for several of those exiles and executions, he had still fundamentally misunderstood the process of these hearings. No excuses will be accepted, no evidence will be reviewed, there is no Jury and only one Judge and Executioner. It was the pinnacle of stupidity to rely on such things when God saw all things, after all. He was the ultimate Judge and Executioner for the disgraced sinner and I, as his worldly voice, was the only person capable of truly understanding his Will. For not understanding that simple fact it seemed that the idiot Cardinal was sorely lacking.

But still, considering the use, albeit limited, I had gotten from this fool in the past it was in my best interests to keep him productive. That didn't preclude reminding him of his role however, the rotund fool had been making moves too ambitious for his station for many years now and while I'd mostly turned a blind eye to them over the years I still needed to remind him of his place.

[I-I would never! I only meant to remove an obstacl-] - Cardinal David

[By antagonizing two of handful left among those Heretics that could pose a serious threat to us?!? Are you a fool?] - Pope Francis X

[B-But Your Excellency! That girl, that "monster", we have confirmed that she is-] - Cardinal David

[That she is what? The Demon Lord's Successor? Ha! What nonsense! You of all people should understand that the one we choose as the next Demon Lord is just a pretext to convince those of little faith of our righteousness at ridding the world of those inhuman freaks!] - Pope Francis X

[But Your Excellency our most recently captured sourc-] - Cardinal David

I was incensed by this fool's idiocy. Not only did he attempt to defend himself in a Holy Inquisition he even brought out superstitious nonsense as his shield. A true Demon Lord's resurrection? In this day and age? Absolute nonsensical fantasy. As if our supreme God would allow such an inferior product to antagonize his chosen people! It was stupid to consider and only the lowest of peasants truly believed in such a being coming back. Some of them even touting it as some kind of Armageddon, a crisis that our God would be forced to remedy in person. As if any event could corner the Divine in such a way!

Of course even more ridiculous than the claim that the freak we had chosen was special in any way was the source of said knowledge. That Court Mage from that backwater Anguis. Those barbarians having a mage at all was nearly a miracle, the only truly powerful ones being that old couple, but the fact that it was actually some traitor made much more sense. A human possessing such power was only right, after all. Of course his chosen employer probably spoke to his actual talent but regardless of how weak he was it was true that he was privy to many useful pieces of intel that we could use. Unfortunately the only thing he had done since being captured was repeat some nonsense about the end of the world and that God would fall before her if we didn't act now. Truly a pitiful excuse for one of the superior race. Regardless it was surprising that one of the cardinals would fall for his honeyed words, one never knew those around them it seems.

[The former Court Mage of that Anguis bitch? I'm sure he would say anything for us to protect him from his former employer. Focus on obtaining tactical information from him instead of that nonsense! Am I understood?] - Pope Francis X

[I-I!] - Cardinal David

[I said AM I UNDERSTOOD?!?] - Pope Francis X

[...yes... Your.... Excellency.] - Cardinal David

Well, whatever the case it seems I would have to silence this idiot before his foolish ideas spread to the rest of the group, Cardinal Maria seemed a good choice to take over his position but I'd have to think about just how to push him out without antagonizing the allies that he had built up over the years. Hmmm... I'd have to think on this one for a while.

- Crossroads, Midway Hotel - Several Hours Later - Rose's POV -

It was amazing! Sure, I'd previously ridden the train to reach Abelis Academy City nearly a year ago but during that trip I'd been so nervous about the upcoming arrival I'd exhausted myself and slept nearly the entire way. And since the Academy City and Amchier City were both on the same line I didn't even need to change trains to reach the school. Apparently we'd stopped in Crossroads for about an hour but I'd slept through the whole thing according to Annabelle at the time.

Speaking of...

[When did you follow us?] - Rose

[Ara ? I thought the Young Miss would have known by now that all personal helpers and subordinates of students were also invited to attend this little trip. I believe it was a way of completely emptying the Academy for some sort of change in response to the events of yesterday.] - Annabelle

[...okaaay? So you'll be looking after our group then?] - Rose

[Oh yes but not any more than usual. Just the normal cleaning of your room, washing, drying and ironing of your clothing, testing your foods for poison, coordinating with your teacher for living arrangements and just some bodyguard duties. Nothing major, Young Miss.] - Annabelle

Following our group of rowdy pre-teens, or I guess single-digiters? as if it were natural was my personal maid, Annabelle. At first I'd been so involved in discussing the colorful and enticing sights of Crossroads I hadn't even noticed when she just slipped into our group naturally, her stealth skills coming in handy in a surprising way.

What surprised me the most was learning that she had actually been the one taking care of all of our chores and room maintenance. I hadn't even noticed that anything had changed from how my home was run which I suppose was the point. Thinking about it now it seems I've become fairly accustomed to being the daughter of a noble family, my 5 month stay in the forest being an anomaly in so far as how many modern comforts I had gotten used to. It was to the point that even thinking about going that long without a bath disgusted me to no end which was why it had gotten to the point that I literally forced Master Gil to gouge out a bit of a nearby river to create a private bath for my sanity's sake. Fire spells have a lot of applications.

[Wait wait wait! "You're" the one that cleaned our rooms and made sure to do our laundry? I thought the school did all that!] - Veronica

[You would be correct. However that service is funded by your parents’ contribution and as such it is generally recommended that your family send someone to take care of that for you if possible. Many of the more powerful or wealthy families have done exactly that. And it goes without saying that I would never trust a group of amateurs with the protection of the Young Miss.] - Annabelle

[It was Veronica that asked the question but whatever... Anyway since we have a few hours should we go out and see the sights? Lolianne Sensei said something about the rest of the day being free time so I was thinking...] - Rose

Smiling at the antisocial behavior of my personal maid I lightly corrected her habit of ignoring anything not directly pertaining to myself while suggesting that we go have some fun in an offhand way. We were here until tomorrow, after all and we had several hours until the curfew that Legal Loli Sensei had given in one of the few times she'd addressed the class as a whole. As she did so I could see several other groups of people that seemed to be from the same school, some of them our age and others a lot older. Most of them were being subjected to the same speech but others had already wandered off, their increased age affording them a greater degree of freedom.

[Yeah! Girl's Night Out!!!] - Karen

[W-Wha-?] - Rose

[Hmmm... I quite like that idea personally.] - Malaise

[Girl's Night Out is it? If the Young Miss is participating then I would be happy to.] - Annabelle

[...dress-up.] - Shade

[Woohoo! A night on the town! Let's get lai- OW!] - Veronica

[Is the only thing in your head s-sex?!?] - Malaise

Of course the one that reacted the most to my proposal was our nerdy resident tomboy slime girl, Karen. Growing cat ears on her head she perked up immediately while jumping into a hug that nearly enveloped my entire body. My blushing face drawing smiles from the rest of the group as each of them agreed in their own way to our little excursion.

The yelled complaints of our perverted succubus member rose over the crowd as we wandered towards the colorful lights and interesting sights of the city, Annabelle in tow as she kept an eye out for any dangers. The unpleasant eyes of a group of upperclassmen following them unnoticed.