"If you make an enemy of the dia, your accomplishnts will all be credited to the imperial family. Do you think they’ll write favorable articles about a blackmailer?"
"Are you concerned for ?"
"......"
Leo frowned and waved his hands, signaling to just listen and move on.
"...Okay."
"I'm touched~ But we have no other way."
"Are you fine with the imperial family taking credit for your accomplishnts?"
"No, it would piss off. Really piss off."
"Damn, you really..."
Elias patted Leo on the shoulder and continued speaking.
"But right now, people are getting hurt and dying. Even strange insects are appearing. We can collect the credit later with interest. Right?"
It's true that he later collected interest by taking the execution in the end.
Knowing how well he kept his word gave chills.
"I'm not saying we should abandon the plan."
"Then?"
"First, let's clarify this. That plan was devised when we were dealing with the barrier suitability issue, right?"
"Yeah. Why? We’re still going to raise the barrier suitability issue."
That's right.
Even if we regularly manage and supervise to hinder Pleroma's experints, there will still be lingering beasts, so we need to strengthen the barriers.
"Lucas, the dia won’t report anything negative about the imperial family. If we want to move quickly without wasting ti, shouldn’t we threaten them with their lives first?"
"Of course."
I looked directly at Elias.
"But the situation is different now."
"Different now?"
The issue of ‘barrier suitability’ is about the imperial family’s mismanagent.
But if the story is about ‘Pleroma’s’ insect experints?
The focus shifts from the imperial family to Pleroma as the target of criticism.
"...Oh~"
Before I even started explaining in detail, Elias raised his eyebrows and snapped his fingers.
I felt the sa with Leo; it’s nice that he catches on quickly.
"So you asked about the timing of the plan. If we focus on the mosquitoes, the attention will shift. Got it?"
"Exactly. As long as Pleroma takes the heat instead of the imperial family, we’re fine."
Since the demand to upgrade the barriers is included in the mosquito proposal, we don’t need to highlight it to provoke the dia.
"What’s up with you guys? Do you have to think this deeply before sending anything?"
"...I suddenly feel like I'm just sitting here doing nothing."
The students chuckled awkwardly.
"Don’t feel pressured. We only have one task."
I looked around at the students and said,
"We’re going to report this issue to the dia and file a lawsuit."
***
I spent the whole day in the infirmary and warped to the eting place at night.
**〈 Chapter 4. Constant Dripping Wears Away a Stone (2) 〉**
**Quest 2: Achieve an [Impression] score of 5 (0/1) (163 hours 53 minutes 51 seconds)**
* Route 1 — 〈 Special Reward for Chapter 4 〉
* Route 2 — 〈 Chapter 5. Do Not Praise a Day Before Evening Cos 〉
‘...Hmm.’
Receiving a quest on the day I realized I’m still under my brother’s control feels fitting.
But...
Is it asking to raise my Impression score from -9.9 to a total of 14.9 points?
‘......’
And within a week?
This might be a sign to just forget about the reward and move on to Chapter 5, which already has an ominous title.
‘Wait a minute.’
I stopped self-mockery when a thought crossed my mind.
Let’s look at the status window again.
Lucas Rene Askanian
Impression:** -9.9 [ 2.0]
[ 2.0].
I had confird that my Impression score had two numbers earlier in the day.
The quest explicitly says [Impression] score, which is unusual.
When it asked to raise my Health score to zero, it didn’t specify [Health] score.
Could it be trying to make sure I know which score to raise by specifying [Impression]?
‘......’
This is really odd.
I ntioned before that I had a hunch.
It was just speculation without any evidence, but now I’m starting to understand.
That bracket must indicate Sir Nicholas’s Impression score.
There’s no way Luca's nationwide image would have a 2.0.
Considering that the new Impression category appeared only after I decided to actively utilize the “Blue-Eyed Hunter,” it’s a plausible theory.
Anyway, the rate of increase will likely decrease as the score rises.
This isn’t like raising my negative Health score to zero; I need to raise an already positive score by three points.
‘...No.’
Although the tifra is tight, there’s still a chance.
At that mont, Leo, who had warped to the eting place, spotted and approached.
"Why didn’t you attend class?"
There was no eting today.
We had already discussed the lawsuit yesterday, so there was no need for the other students to gather.
However, Narce and Leo had agreed to et here.
"I took my dicine."
"dicine? You an...!"
Leo dropped his bag and sat down.
"Did you get called out because of that?"
"Yeah. My brother sent the steward to make take the dicine twice a week."
"...Twice? Can you handle that?"
"I’ve enhanced my core, so it’s not impossible."
It was a good thing I drastically increased my Health score—albeit forcibly.
Leo bit his lip in thought before speaking.
"Let know if you can’t handle it. I’ll use healing magic."
"Thanks."
"But... Your brother is really going all out now."
I nodded.
"He wants to kill as soon as possible."
But he isn’t ready to move directly yet.
If he were serious, he’d co for himself.
Leo looked shocked, his mouth slightly open, then sighed.
"...Should I assign a bodyguard?"
"Is there a need for that?"
I shook my head with a smile.
Leo let out a weak chuckle and replied.
"Yeah, considering your skills, physical protection isn’t an issue.... So, how are you feeling now?"
"I’m okay. Narce helped ."
"Did he notice right away? He really has a great ability."
It’s a useful ability.
If I ever get another trait selection, I’d like to have his power too.
‘Can’t I have it sohow?’
“Everyone’s here~”
Speak of the devil, Narce appeared with a smile and patted my back loudly.
"Feeling better?"
"...!"
From where he touched my back, a refreshing sensation spread to my extremities, completely eliminating any remaining traces of the poison.
"...What was that?"
"The magic I used at the charity event."
So he purified .
"Thanks."
"No problem. Are we leaving right away?"
"Yeah."
“We’re heading to Bavaria now.”
There are five contaminated areas in Bavaria.
I plan to purify all of them with Divine Power.
I also want to lay the groundwork for our next plan and achieve so personal gains.
‘…After all, I am also a mage belonging to that place.’
Even if it was done without my knowledge.
Anyway, since I now have the quest to raise Nicholas's Impression score, it’s good to show my face and achieve significant results.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’s not a big deal, but it’s exciting after having to hold back since coming here!”
Narce, who can also use Divine Power, is coming along.
Narce seed quite disappointed about not being able to join us last ti, so as soon as it beca a weekday, he contacted the school and got permission.
If it were any other day, it might have been difficult, but with the insect issue blowing up tomorrow, Leo’s reasoning that he needed Narce, a Divine Power user, to purify the restricted areas was convincing.
Leo looked puzzled at Narce’s comnt.
“Hold back? Were you hunting beasts in the Papal State?”
“I did similar things.”
“Really? That’s surprising.”
Narce smiled at that.
“It won’t be surprising if you see it firsthand.”
***
*Boom—!*
Narce pulled the staff from the ground.
The Divine Power made the evening sky as bright as daylight.
“…….”
I didn’t have ti to admire it because I was busy blocking the roaring wind.
No, I just lost my words.
With a single spell, he purified an area of nearly 10,000 square ters. It felt like he could even take on a professor.
“…Ten thousand square ters of Divine Power? Exchange students are definitely sothing else.”
Leo muttered.
Not all exchange students would be like this, but he seed to be in shock, spouting random words.
“Well, Lucas could probably do it too.”
“I haven’t learned such wide-area magic casting.”
“Ah, it wasn’t about the power.”
Narce replied nonchalantly, scanning the area for any remaining beasts to kill.
He soon smirked and aid his wand at a spot, flicking his wrist lightly.
Bang—! Sizzle….
The base of a giant tree root lit up.
Contaminated rats, weakened by purification, were electrocuted and turned black.
Narce muttered with pleasure.
“I could do this alone.”
“…….”
“You guys go ahead and check the other places. I’ll handle the purification here.”
“Oh, sure.”
His voice was as kind as ever, but his expression wasn’t.
‘…Is he really from the seminary?’
Anyway, it’s a good thing he’s on our side.
And he knows there’s no other way but to exterminate the contaminated beasts for now.
By dawn, we had purified all five restricted areas in Bavaria and returned to school.
Narce handled two areas, and Leo and I handled three.
Leo couldn’t use Divine Power, so the purification was up to Narce and .
Narce looked at Leo’s account with amazent.
“Oh, the Imperial Bank reward is 1.25 million pel.”
That’s equivalent to 12.5 million won.
This made realize how unusual the previous incident was.
Clearing three low-level and two mid-level areas for a total of 12.5 million won, compared to the 12.5 million won earned from just one area last ti.
Anyway, we don’t plan to use this money ourselves.
Narce handed the account book back to Leo and stood up, grabbing his black leather bag.
“I’ll head to the special class first. You guys co slowly.”
“Sure. Good job today.”
“No problem. This was the most fun thing I’ve done this sester.”
“…….”
I warped back to the dormitory, changed clothes, and ca out casually.
I deliberately took a detour to the lecture hall and bought a newspaper.
[‘Blue-Eyed Hunter’ Sir Nicholas’s Report… ‘Pleroma, Experinting with Insects for Resurrection’]
[The cause of the unexplained skin disease in pen revealed… Pleroma’s doing]
[Honorary Professor Joseph Friedrich of Imperial Academy No. 1: “Could Beco an Unprecedented Biochemical Weapon”]
[2,000 Osnabrück citizens gather in the square within an hour of the report… ‘Demand for Swift Action’]
[Pleroma Research Institute Director Clens Graf: “In the worst case, it could escalate to a national disaster”]
[The Impact of Pleroma’s Insect Experints on Local Communities]
‘Success.’
Unlike in the original story, we managed to get dia coverage without resorting to extre asures that would harm us.
However, there was no ntion of Elias sending the report to the Security Bureau and Parliant, only to be ignored.
[Security Bureau to Use Level 1 Purification Magic to Exterminate Contaminated Insects in pfen]
Now they bring it up.
There was no ntion of continued efforts.
It was just a one-ti event, aning Pleroma would lie low for a while and then resurface.
Parliant also remained silent.
The Security Bureau provided a temporary solution, so Parliant didn’t feel the need to act.
That evening, lvin carefully opened the door to the small room attached to our eting place.
“Lucas…! We just received a response from the Federal Council.”
“What did they say?”
“They said it’s impossible to process within a month. They claid they can’t make laws that quickly….”
Despite urging Parliant to take action again, the response was still a rejection.
They shifted the focus to legislation.
Well, the governnt hasn’t requested additional funding, so there’s little they can do first.
Of course, they wouldn’t pass the budget according to our demands.
“What about the Security Bureau?”
“No reply to the telegraph we sent today.”
“Okay, thanks.”
We confird through my brother’s insane actions that the information had reached the governnt.
So we sent the demands and data again.
They sneakily accepted it and replied that they would announce asures through the official Security Bureau channel later.
But their asures were just a one-ti event.
We sent another telegraph urging proper action, but there was no response.
lvin stood there for a while, frowning, then cautiously asked,
“Are we moving on to the next step?”
“Yes. The Security Bureau doesn’t seem willing to resolve this.”
“Are you sure it’s okay? It’s still the governnt….”
“I’ve already done it.”
I held up the evening newspaper.
[Elias Hohenzollern Files Administrative Lawsuit Against Imperial Security Bureau]
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