Chapter 53

Episode 53: Truth and Cooperation

Mizuki had come to the hospital run by Mikage Academy.

Her purpose was singular: to confirm the safety of Miroku, the Student Council President of Factom General Academy and her childhood friend.

“It’s been quite a long hospital stay. The other male student has already returned to the academy.”

Last night, Mizuki had reflected on the words spoken by Solciera.

(Solciera mentioned the possibility of magical contamination when I first came to visit. Now that I think about it, that was strange.)

In the past, Mizuki had fought alongside Solciera.

At that time, she only underwent a light physical examination with nothing more done afterward, let alone being hospitalized.

Above all, Kei, who had been in the same place, had already returned to the academy.

(I was happy because my debt had decreased… Damn it, I should be protecting everyone instead of being like this in place of our teacher.)

Shaking her head to dismiss the disheartening thoughts, Mizuki was soon called by name at the reception desk.

The room where Miroku was hospitalized seemed to have many facilities, requiring various procedures even for a simple visit through the reception.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting. So, umm…”

The receptionist looked apologetically at Mizuki and continued speaking.

“Actually… Aoi Hoshi Miroku was discharged three days ago.”

“…What?”

Mizuki couldn’t understand what was being said.

Miroku hadn’t returned to Factom General Academy.

So, where could she have gone?

“There’s no way. Check again! We’re talking about Aoi Hoshi Miroku from Factom General Academy!”

“Because… as I said, she was discharged. A student came to pick her up too.”

“What are you talking about!? Toa, me, and even Kei didn’t…”

Mizuki couldn’t grasp what was happening.

Unable to comprehend the situation,

(It’s possible the hospital staff lied to prevent visits. What happened to Miroku?)

Just then, the idea of forcefully breaking into the floor where Miroku might be surfaced.

“—Oh, are you by any chance a student from Factom General Academy?”

An unfamiliar voice called out from behind.

Turning around, Mizuki saw an ordinary-looking girl standing there.

From her uniform, it was clear she was a student of Mikage Academy.

“…Yes, I am. Is there something you need?”

“Oh, not really anything important, but since you seemed restless, I thought I might help if you’d like.”

With a friendly smile, the girl approached Mizuki.

There was something peculiar about her mannerisms that didn’t provoke any sense of caution.

“I’m in Mikage Academy’s hospital, so maybe I can assist as a student here.”

“…Actually, I’ve come to visit an old friend. But they told me that the student has already been discharged.”

“Hmm…”

The girl slightly narrowed her eyes.

“Is that student Aoi Hoshi Miroku?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

“Ah, I see… okay.”

Nodding affirmatively, the girl took Mizuki’s hand and started walking away from the reception.

“Hey, wait!”

“To avoid bothering others at the reception—let’s talk over here. Oh, by the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet.”

Turning back, the girl said,

“My name is Agiri Rinka! Just your average student at Mikage Academy.”

■

Guided to the hospital courtyard, Mizuki sat down on a nearby bench.

(They’ve certainly invested a lot here. Impressive, as expected from Mikage Academy.)

As the pleasant breeze and vibrant flowers calmed her mind, her thoughts gradually became clearer.

“So, what’s going on? You said Aoi Hoshi Miroku disappeared, right?”

“Apparently, she was discharged three days ago. But she hasn’t returned to Factom General Academy.”

“That’s odd. Maybe she’s busy with some errands or exploring a dungeon?”

Rinka’s suggestion prompted Mizuki to shake her head.

“No way. Miroku is the Student Council President and someone with a strong sense of responsibility. She wouldn’t prioritize dungeon exploration over the accumulated work during her absence.”

Having been close to her for years, Mizuki understood this well.

It was abnormal for Miroku to vanish without a word.

“Hmm, I see.”

Rinka conjured a virtual keyboard from her dive gear and began typing before Mizuki could ask what she was doing.

“I spoke with Aoi Hoshi Miroku while she was hospitalized.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, it was just casual conversation. She seemed fine, so I don’t think it makes sense for her hospital stay to have extended.”

Rinka’s words strengthened Mizuki’s conviction.

Clearly, something had happened to Miroku.

“Do you have any leads? Any changes related to Aoi Hoshi Miroku?”

That question reminded Mizuki of last night’s conversation with Solciera.

“Apparently, our academy’s debts have decreased. It seems Miroku negotiated something.”

“Debts? Sounds like you go to a tough school.”

“Yeah. We were barely surviving every day… but recently, the debts suddenly dropped to less than half.”

The method was unclear.

However, the joy of the reduced debt overshadowed everything else.

Because of that, Mizuki had dismissed her doubts as trivial.

“If something happened to Miroku, that’s the only thing I can think of.”

“I see. By the way, there’s an issue within Mikage Academy’s student council right now.”

While still operating the keyboard, Rinka continued.

“Recently, there have been a lot of kidnappings. Some of our students have become victims.”

“Kidnappings?”

“Yeah. By the way, wasn’t the party responsible for your academy’s debts… Kisou Academy?”

The seemingly insightful question startled Mizuki.

After all, Factom General Academy’s debts were the result of secret transactions.

If this information became public, Kisou Academy would likely cut off their support.

This would ultimately leave Factom General Academy bearing the brunt of the consequences.

Thus, they had always avoided explicitly mentioning the creditor.

Yet, the girl in front of her had guessed correctly.

“Why do you know that?”

“Look at this.”

Saying that, Rinka projected a window from her dive gear toward Mizuki.

“I hacked into the hospital’s surveillance camera server and got this. The people shown are Aoi Hoshi Miroku and S-Rank Rokuhara from Kisou Academy.”

The window displayed footage from three days ago.

Inside the visible hospital room from the hallway stood a familiar-haired girl and another red-haired man in Kisou Academy’s uniform.

There appeared to be someone else, but they were obscured by the man.

“The targets of these kidnappings are students with a certain level of magical power. Based on Aoi Hoshi Miroku’s data, her magical power is quite high.”

“…Did Kisou Academy kidnap Miroku?”

“Rather, it feels more like a deal was struck.”

Saying that, Rinka closed the window.

Despite witnessing such a horrifying truth, she remained surprisingly calm.

“Miroku. That guy went alone…!”

As Mizuki attempted to stand, her hand was pulled back.

Rinka was looking at her.

“Ask Kei where he is now.”

“Why?”

“I was classmates with him back at Mikage Academy. I know his general patterns. We used to be good friends.”

“I see.”

That explained why Rinka had approached Mizuki upon seeing her Factom General Academy uniform.

Discovering the transfer destination of a former classmate and wanting to reconnect was understandable.

“In my estimation, he’ll move soon.”

“…You can’t mean…”

Mizuki contacted someone via her dive gear.

The recipient was Na Takikai.

Given the time, he should have been conducting dungeon rescues in her stead.

The call connected after a slight delay.

Without hearing the other side, Mizuki asked immediately.

“Kei, where are you?”

A brief silence ensued.

“…Uh…”

Was it unexpected for Kei? He seemed unusually hesitant.

From his reaction, Mizuki confirmed her suspicion.

“I see. You’re already at Kisou Academy, aren’t you?”

“…Yes.”

Kei responded reluctantly.

When he found out and why he chose to act alone remained unclear.

But one thing was certain—they shouldn’t blame him now.

Hence, Mizuki’s next words were decided.

“I’m coming too.”

“Eh?”

“Of course. I’ll bring Toa along as well. This is a problem for Factom General Academy.”

Kei had likely tried to save Miroku alone.

After a moment of silence following Mizuki’s words, he exhaled deeply.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I also failed to notice. Send me your current coordinates. I’ll head there immediately.”

“…Understood.”

Upon receiving the coordinates from Kei, Mizuki inwardly gasped.

It was the central district of Kisou Academy.

Had she been delayed by a few more minutes, he would have gone to rescue Miroku alone.

“Until later, then.”

“…Understood.”

The call ended with a somewhat gloomy tone from Kei.

Mizuki ended the call and looked up at the sky, trying to remain calm.

“…Agiri Rinka, thank you. Thanks to you, we might be able to avoid the worst-case scenario.”

“That’s great! I’m glad.”

Rinka smiled warmly.

It was a friendly expression.

Then, Rinka looked at Mizuki and said,

“Can we help out too?”

“Is that alright?”

“Yeah. After all, Kei is our friend too. Besides, kidnappings are also a problem for Mikage Academy. If we can gather some evidence, it might give us leverage to declare war on Kisou Academy… though the latter part is a secret, okay?”

Rinka chuckled mischievously.

“Alright. Thank you.”

Mizuki nodded firmly, expressed her gratitude, and left the spot.

Waving goodbye, Rinka watched Mizuki’s retreating figure until it disappeared, then initiated a call to someone.

“…Ah, Tourak, sorry. I know we were supposed to be on a date today…”