Death… And Me

Chapter 3928: Let’s Give It a Try

After Krue’Suan left, Roan let go of Kristan, putting him on the ground. He spread his Divine Sense, confirming there wasn’t anyone else there, so there was no need to be in a hurry.

Kristan sat down with difficulty, looking in the direction Krue’Suan left. Even now, he didn’t understand why they weren’t supposed to talk about it. First of all, with how the academy worked, pretty much all students had an allegiance to their own countries.

In Kristan’s case, he was from Lertel Country. More than reporting to the Divine Military Academy, it was his duty to report to Lertel Country first and foremost. Of course, he held himself back, not taking out his CD to make that report. "Why can’t we say anything?"

Roan glanced at him for a moment and returned his attention to his own CD. "To whom do you wish to report? The Academy, or your country?"

Kristan was taken aback for a moment. "Obviously, first to my country, then to the academy."

"Hmph!" Roan snorted. "Very nice. The very people who helped prepare this ambush and considered it didn’t matter if you die, and now you want to report back to them first. You must have lived in a fairytale until now."

"As for the academy, the principal himself sent someone to help us, so what’s the point in reporting something that he already knows? You should grow up a little."

Kristan couldn’t help but feel a chill on his back. "I... I understand the academy part. But what do you mean when you say my country didn’t care?"

Roan sighed and put his CD away. "Let’s think about it a little. This ambush for me had been prepared way ahead of time. That much you noticed, right? Please tell me you did."

Kristan’s mouth twitched. "I’m not that dumb. That much was obvious."

"Good! You aren’t completely helpless," Roan continued. "Out of the six members of our group, only two of them didn’t know about this. One of them was obviously me, the target. Who would tell that target himself he was going to be ambushed, right? So, who was the other? Yourself, of course."

"Now then, how come you didn’t know anything? Everyone knew about it; this entire situation was prepared so I could be taken down. That’s because, most likely, those who you work for didn’t believe you would accept this arrangement."

"So, there is me, who needs to be killed, and there is you, who wouldn’t go with the plan if offered. Additionally, all countries are constantly seeking weaknesses to use against one another; that’s the current state of Runia Country. They couldn’t let things that happened here be linked to them."

"Do you remember what Montre-Ui said when I kicked your butt to save your life? He said: ’Kill him, or we will die instead.’ Those were his exact words. That was the correct response. No one could know that our own side betrayed you and me so they could kill me."

"Now, we have a problem. I was going to be killed, and to make sure you wouldn’t spill the beans, you had to follow me to the grave. Do you truly, truly believe that your country knew nothing? Especially since once you saw my name on the group’s list, you, without a doubt, reported to your country about it?"

"I..." Kristan couldn’t come up with an excuse for that. "But... But that doesn’t prove my country was involved, or that they wanted me to die. Maybe they didn’t want to do anything and simply didn’t get involved."

"True," Roan nodded. "But for me, that is even worse. They likely knew what was going to happen since everyone else was involved, and they didn’t tell you. Of course, you can go back and ask them directly. Too bad, I’m pretty sure they will deny everything. Even worse, once you do put them against the wall, asking for the truth, you will actually enter their blacklist. Well, you will enter their blacklist anyway since they probably didn’t expect you to survive."

"Any chances of them not knowing about this ambush and not expecting anything to happen?" Kristan held to that little bit of hope.

"Sure, almost always there is a chance for everything, right? Few things are truly impossible," to which Roan answered. "But once again, don’t forget who was part of your group, me. Everyone had their eyes on me. I can only imagine how much the involved countries spent to have the teleport formation we used altered so that no one could check on us."

"Altered?" Kristan didn’t know that. "What are you talking about?"

Roan then explained. "The formation we used to arrive was altered as soon as we exited the fort. Well, by now, it is probably back to normal, so no one will find anything there. In the end, the enemy seems to have been pretty careful about where they showed their arses, so even the soul searches executed by Krue’Suan didn’t show any results. We are talking about soul seals and such, after all."

Kristan went silent, and Roan ignored him for a moment. That’s because he was contacting Rean, Kentucky, and Celis. ’How were things on your side?’

Celis was the first one to answer. ’Same thing as before. I saw no killing intent, and until now, my mission is going on without any issues.’

However, he was the only one. Rean reported next. ’My mission hasn’t been interrupted, but one of those guys from back in the academy was killed by someone else outside, not too far from here. Most likely, that was another one of those elders under Ximao’s command who was sent here to protect us.’

’In my case, there was a formation waiting for us when we were asked to stop a rebellion in Durfeytio Country yesterday,’ Kentucky said. ’Considering the level of those involved in this rebellion, this kind of formation shouldn’t be possible. Well, of the thirteen students who took part in this mission, including me, eight of them died before help arrived. Too bad that those involved immediately took some kind of poison and died before the guy who helped us could capture them.’

’The people in my group didn’t see who helped us, though,’ Kentucky added. ’He was probably another one of Ximao’s subordinates, but he didn’t show his face from start to end. If I weren’t here, no one would know who intervened in the end. Of course, I’m also playing dumb with them. I’m just saying I don’t know what happened and that we are just lucky to be alive.’

Roan received their reports and nodded. ’It’s not confirmed, but it seems like Celis was selected to be left alive. The rest of us were marked to die, but Ximao intervened and sent help to make sure we made it through. I truly didn’t expect anyone to act on us so soon, but perhaps it is exactly because of that that they did. The question is why.’

’Power balance?’ Rean asked.

’I think so,’ and Roan agreed. ’Four of us, all Celestial Ascendance Radiance prospects. If we join a power each, then no country will ever truly gain a definitive advantage. Perhaps those involved thought that it was better if just one of us was kept alive so they could all try to recruit him, in this case, Celis.’

’Why Celis?’ Kentucky asked this time.

’My race,’ Celis was the one to answer. ’I didn’t lie about my race in the Divine Military Exchange Program forms. If you think about it, I’m the perfect asset for large-scale combat with my World Swallowing Cedar innate ability towards energy. Of course, I’m not 100% sure, but I shouldn’t be far off.’

’Well, we only have theories at the moment,’ Roan took from there. ’Point is, this time in this academy might not be soo boring after all. Let’s see what else will transpire. If something else happens, let me know.’

Roan opened his eyes again. "Alright, guess we have some free time."

*Bang!*

Then, Roan kicked Kristan’s back, who was still trying to recover from his terrible injuries.

"W-What are you doing?" Kristan was fuming, now unable to even get up and looking back at Roan, the bleeding wound he had finally managed to stop opening again.

"I told you that form of yours is terrible. I feel like killing you myself. This mission was given a ten-day time frame to be completed, and we are only on the third day. That means we have seven days, so I can drill, very painfully, into your head, how to use that weapon of yours."

"How to use my weapon?" Kristan found it laughable. "Do you even know how to use a fan for battle? Besides, this is a treasure of my family with special features. There is no way you would know how to use it better than I do. Last but not least, can’t you see my state? If I start making any forceful movements, I will probably die in the next minutes, so try to not kick me again, will you?"

*Bang!*

Unfortunately, Roan flashed to his side and stomped the guy’s back, forcing his body against the ground. Kristan vomited a mouthful of blood, and he really thought he was going to die now. However...

’Life Style, Instant Recovery!’

Roan’s hair once again changed into a mix of White and Dark Colors as a burst of Light Element invaded Kristan’s body. In a matter of seconds, the bleeding stopped, the wounds closed, the bones mended, and there wasn’t a single sign that he was once on the verge of death, other than his tattered clothes, of course.

"So you think I don’t know how to use a fan for combat, uh?" Roan accessed the Dimensional Realm, taking out a single feather... a certain Chicken’s one. "Let’s give it a try then."