Chapter 25 - The deadman do not speak

Minutes before Silvers lost his life, the students and teachers heard rumbling outside the classroom in which they were locked.

Cid wondered what the commotion was.

Then.

"Hello everyone!"

The door burst open due to the body of a man bleeding to death alive.

It was dark outside, but a shadow was approaching in that darkness.

Step after step echoed.

The invaders moved into attack position.

"Has Silvers gone mad?"

"Maybe!"

"In that case call in the chief."

"It's useless to make any effort."

The invaders watched a person covered in black enter the room.

One of them shouted.

"That look of a total black... you, motherfucker. You're Licht aren't you!"

The students and teachers muttered.

"Licht? They're talking about the mysterious criminal who eliminated several nobles and temple people?"

"Wasn't that just supposed to be a lie to hide a secret proxy war?"

"I-I'm scared."

The faces of the students and teachers were one of confusion and panic, but only one of them did not show that expression.

It was Cid who only showed curiosity.

(For some reason I feel like I've seen that pose?)

Licht was stretching his arms to the sky and his voice echoed in that room.

"Students and teachers of the academy! Don't be afraid of me! I'm not your enemy, I'm your ally in a way!"

"Huh? They all said as the last thing he said left them intrigued."

"I am the shadow that hunts other shadows. A guardian that watches over this country from the dirtiest corners you can imagine. I am..."

A wicked smile appeared on his face.

"An ally of the dark justice!"

"Justice..."

"Dark, you said?"

Cid's mouth spoke unexpected words that no one heard.

"That's the most childish thing I've heard since Razel and his ramblings..."

His mouth stopped and he looked around.

(Huh? Where is he? Did he...?)

"Enough chatter! Kill him!"

Shouted the invaders as they drew their swords.

They were all heading to cut him down, but....

"Your opponent is not me."

He disappeared the moment he should have been cut down.

The invaders didn't notice that he had disappeared.

"Now..."

Instead, they didn't notice a real problem.

"It's time for you victims, make your captors pay for your frustration."

Some teachers and students were released, the swords of the enemies were stolen and left near their feet.

They were seized and the attack began.

Upset students and angry professors charged the invaders in a fierce battle.

Those who were not fighting went to heal the wounded or untie everyone.

One girl untied Cid, he grabbed a sword, before heading off to fight, he half turned to see Licht who disappeared.

◇◇◇

After entering a nearby room, Licht found the director on the floor.

He was drugged.

Beside him was a vial with mysterious liquid similar to the one dripping from his mouth.

After checking him for injuries, he looked at the open door.

"How dare you!"

An enemy was behind him.

But using only a pen that the director had in his pockets, he embedded it in his enemy's neck.

He walked calmly while the man left behind was bleeding to death.

◇◇◇

Director's office.

It was one of the largest personal rooms in the academy.

Not even the teachers' lounge was this big.

A hooded man cluttered the place.

"Damn!"

"Where is it?"

Drawer after drawer was pulled from everywhere.

The desk, a nearby table, hidden bookcases.

There wasn't a single place unchecked.

"You said it was a red envelope, but there's none around here."

"Did you check behind that painting?"

The man in the black raincoat quickly raised his head and as he looked back.

"Hello."

He found a mysterious jet black figure drinking freshly brewed tea.

He didn't know what this meant, but he reached behind his back to pull out a poisoned dagger.

"Check in that painting over there."

Licht pointed to the wall.

A small picture that had a diploma was hanging there.

Volg didn't check it because it looked insignificant.

Without taking an eye off Licht who was still drinking his tea, he walked over to the painting.

He picked it up and then threw it on the floor.

He noticed how a red envelope was hidden there, the diploma was nothing more than a feint.

Taking it, he turned to Licht who had already finished his tea.

"How should I take this?"

"Just open that envelope."

Without taking his eye off him again, he opened it.

"Is this...?"

The contents of the red envelope were a map leading to a specific address.

Volg didn't know its meaning.

But Licht told him.

"You are wasting your time."

"Excuse me?"

"They're wasting their time, was what I said."

"What do you mean by that?"

He crossed one of his legs as he relaxed.

"I went to that place once before. According to the game, there was treasure there. The treasure was nothing but stolen junk."

"What?"

"They wasted their time in coming, they wasted their allies and the students' revolt with the teachers must be culminating by now."

Volg listened to the shouts of his men.

"Your mistake was to come when we were present, please take a seat..."

Licht's mouth moved to say something that surprised Volg.

"Professor Lloyd."

Volg didn't respond, just sat down across from Licht.

He gave a small chuckle as he pulled off his mask.

There, a man who should be dead appeared.

"How did you know?"

"You moron, anyone would notice if your corpse disappeared."

"I don't know how you did it to survive, but taking you to the students so that no one would discover your identity after you died, leave yourself for dead and steal what was found here, was a good plan, but it failed because I was here."

"And who are you to know all that?"

Licht lowered his hood and removed his mask.

"Bartlet!!! This is a surprise, not long ago you were suffering so you could copy and now you're a hired assassin."

"I'm not."

"What aren't you?"

"I'm not an assassin. I'm a guardian in the shadows."

"...I'm sorry if I don't understand what you're saying."

"Never mind. Tea?"

"Thank you."

Razel who revealed his identity poured tea for his former teacher.

"For us to have this quiet conversation and you removed your mask, it means only one thing doesn't it?"

"For what a good teacher you was, I would like to give you a small comfortable last supper."

"With tea?"

"There are cookies in that cupboard."

"I'll settle for tea."

Lloyd took a sip of the tea.

"Delicious, did you make it?"

"No. It's what the scary professor made before he was taken away crying."

"Hahaha, classic for Clement."

Razel placed his feet on the low table.

"I'd like some information from you."

"About?"

"...Am I really saying that?"

"I'm playing?"

"What would you like to know?"

"Everything."

"I wish I knew all about black crows. They are a pain in the ass. A very, very big pain. So much so, they should be called black hemorrhoids."

"Hahaha, looks like you've been having fun."

"Well, first let me start from the beginning."

Lloyd proceeded to tell the truth that no one in the game knew.

◇◇◇

A millennium ago the Arklight Empire was founded.

The first emperor unified seven duchies under his wing.

The problem came when the territory grew until it became impossible to do it alone.

The dukes were unhelpful and the other nobles were petty.

Help was scarce to control the newly established empire and avoid revolts.

It was then that the first emperor said.

"I will form a group of watchmen."

Those watchmen consisted of commoners with minuscule power.

They were all allies of the emperor when he was still king.

This group was called "black crows". Creatures that keep watch during the day and at night.

Thus, the emperor was aware of what was going on for years.

The commoners went unnoticed as they were people without power and influence.

They wore black masks that only covered their nose and mouth. Their eyes were the same color, so it was impossible to tell who was who without knowing more features.

Their hair was black, and that didn't help either.

This was how the black ravens' organization guarded the empire even after the demise of its original founder.

They went into different places such as the temple, merchants and even the palace to watch that no one stepped out of line.

Their lives were joyful to serve the empire.

It was that very reason that started with the darkness.

"Why should I do it?"

Because they had a dual identity, their daily lives that were in the public eye suffered for their secret work.

Many were slandered, framed and even banished by those who were no threat to the empire.

Just people who despised them for being commoners.

Another question arose there.

"Why am I still a commoner? Even if I were a baronet or a baron was enough."

The treatment of commoners was always bad, but it was worse for those who punished those of their own status just for speaking the truth.

One day, a few went secretly to tell the emperor that they wished to be rewarded.

The emperor belonged to the previous dynasty of the current dynasty. He laughed in their faces and showed his fangs.

"Come!"

A group of hooded men who came out of the shadows surrounded the men who were asking for a reward for their hard work and only met their end.

But fortunately for them and unfortunately for that emperor, they were being watched by an infiltrator who hid their presence and slowed their heart rate.

The other members knew that, it was there that the first rebellion of the commoners took place.

At the same time, a revolution against the current dynasty took place.

There were almost ten years of secret and internal wars.

In the end, the palace won.

The black crows were destroyed.

Or so they thought.

But one day, they reappeared.

No longer as an organization that guarded the empire from the shadows.

But like a virus that enters its host to take over the body.

Several years passed until the change of the new dynasty.

The old dynasty lived in a secret place, the members who knew about what happened long ago, decided to take justice into their own hands.

No one was left alive.

But it was not enough.

The punishment of the imperial family did not end there.

They wanted more, they wanted to get what was theirs and they cared for it as if it were their child.

The empire itself.

The organization grew to be one big honeycomb. There was almost no place in the empire that was not controlled by them.

They were invincible, the conquest of the empire was assured before the end of the current school year.

But... a mysterious figure has been crumbling that.

That figure is Licht.

◇◇◇

"You are you our problem."

Lloyd said.

"The reason we can't take over the palace is because of you."

"You murdered influential people and many of our executives."

"Fear has gripped those old men, that's why they sent me to find that treasure. To see if it was of any use to us, but according to you, it's not worth doing."

Razel raised his hand and his finger entered his nose.

As he poked all the way down, he said.

"Wow. What a garbage story."

"I'm sure it would make an excellent franchise like those bad movies about handsome teenagers and zombies that aren't zombies."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing you care about. Just that your resolution sucks."

"Look, I don't give a shit about the future of the empire, I don't give a shit about the empire's dark past, what I care about is you telling me where their headquarters is and killing them all."

"You're a pretty weird kid you know?"

"The weirdos are you."

Lloyd laughed as he watched Razel behave in a very disinterested manner.

"Let me tell you this. To get to the leader, the two headed raven. You need to go through the yatagarasu, which are the three right hands chosen by that person. One of them is the Iscariot family which no longer exists, another right hand is me, Volg."

"Truth be told, I'm just an imposter."

Lloyd tore off part of his face, revealing a totally different face.

"Lloyd von Exceed, eighth son of a viscount. His family is a close friend of the director, that's the reason I infiltrated here."

"I see..."

"It must be time already?"

"Time?"

"Yes. For my escort to come, a very strong and annoying boy who just wants to fight."

"Is he by any chance a redhead?"

"Yes, why?"

"He's rotting in a locked room."

"Lloyd" he swallowed spittle as he heard how his trump card was being eaten by maggots.

"Go on, tell me who is the last of you."

With a long pause he continued.

"The chief benefactor and right hand man of the second prince, Minister Olgren."

Razel put his hand to his chin.

"Wow, this is going to be annoying."

"Lloyd" heard footsteps approaching.

He quickly moved his hand behind his back and then....

◇◇◇

The principal was accompanied by a large group of teachers and students.

They were running at high speed straight to his office.

(Please don't be late.)

They were just a few meters away from arriving.

When suddenly the door was shattered by an object that flew outward.

Once the dust disappeared, someone shouted.

"P-Professor Lloyd!"

The bloody, neck-twisted body of their professor was in front of their eyes.

Footsteps were coming right at them.

As they stepped outside the room, Licht was covered in blood and had something in his hands.

The director saw it.

"You, that there!"

"Easy old man."

Licht tossed the red envelope toward the director.

"That over there is equally useless. It's absurd that they want to use stolen art treasures for evil purposes."

"Treasures? Art? What are you..."

"You should tell the palace about that, I've already been there, so I know there's no risk of anything. I'm just saying that so this won't happen again."

Before Licht left in a blue glow.

"Inform the students that Professor Lloyd was an imposter, they should take serious action next time."

With those words, he disappeared.

That day ended with the palace invading the academy and interrogating the students.

The professors graded the students with excellent marks and everyone passed.

Except Razel who locked himself in the bathroom and had to take only the remaining exams the same day.