---

Chapter 1 – The First Week of May

As the first week of May approached, we reveled in the fading scent of spring.

“It’s a warm spring!”

“The sun has come out!”

The second semester was already speeding by.

I had lost track of how much we had learned and enjoyed in that time.

“How about going on a picnic? Outside the Rust Room, I mean!”

Surprisingly, the experiential learning for first-year students in the second semester was a bit bland.

For newly admitted freshmen at Aegis, it might be a beneficial and fresh experience, but for us Violets, a clown troupe of lethal geniuses, it was just around the neighborhood level of excitement.

“Shall we head towards the continent?”

In the north, where most of humanity resides, Lumaria has the federal and clan forces in a stalemate.

Although the law and order there is somewhat more unstable than in the academy city, it still has a fairly dense population.

There should be plenty of interesting tasks to create.

Also, there are many dungeons to explore.

Suddenly, the stream of thoughts that flowed effortlessly came to a halt.

“No! That’s boring. It’s just checkpoints everywhere, and if you mess up a little, they demand a bribe. The continent’s soldiers are full of old geezers!”

The Violets who lived on the continent expressed their fierce opposition.

“They say there was another martial law declared by the regional command yesterday!”

Hmm, how annoying. The Federal guys are so frustrating.

If clans are thugs in techwear suits, the Federal Army are the goons in sweaty uniforms.

At least the clans or corporations can delegate administrative tasks to existing public institutions, and they also leave law enforcement to the donut-loving police, so there’s less direct entanglement.

Sometimes, when you visit public offices, you can see assassins dispatched by the clans ordering public servants around, but I’m not a public servant.

But the regional command governing the Federal jurisdiction is different.

“Stop! You, open that bag!”

Unit 321 was blocked by soldiers while walking down the main street.

From the weaponry at their waists and the faint ether flowing from their bodies, they seemed to be Awakened Ones.

Every day here, you only encounter checkpoints. The garrison at every block constantly harasses people.

“Where’s your ID?”

“Here it is.”

Even though they had crossed the sea to secure a base, the neighborhood managed by the Federal Army was more desolate than the Rust Room.

I understand now why the academy is rare. In a place like this, I wouldn’t want to study either.

After passing the checkpoint inspection, I continued my boring stroll.

When I looked up, the Federal news flashing on the electronic billboard caught my eye.

[Senator Lemar, who achieved 60 consecutive wins, embroiled in an unexpected doping scandal… ‘Clear defamation’]

[Commander of Restraid to meet with Chief Administrator Arshit and Secretary-General Luminexa to discuss the recent Erosion Zone incident]

As today’s news drudged on, a striking phrase quickly scrolled across the screen.

[…To commemorate the 3rd Expedition, a memorial service will be held. ‘To be remembered as the great failure’]

The mention of the 3rd Expedition drew my attention, associated closely with Rugilinn’s Iron Fist.

That wording, ‘great failure’, felt rather jarring.

“Are they just trying to spin it positively? From what I gathered, the expedition was a disaster. There were more than four digits of casualties, and a ton of missing persons.”

Even after the 3rd Expedition, expeditions continued, but large-scale ones no longer take place. From the Federal’s standpoint, it must be an embarrassment.

It’s highly likely that Iron Fist was a soldier who fought there.

What on earth was he doing, anyway?

I grew even more curious, especially since he had seemed so gloomy lately.

“Hey, Iron Fist? Answer me, yo, tank fairy!”

“…”

Ignoring my call, what could be going on?

The answer regarding Iron Fist’s current state came from Irene at the private maintenance shop.

“If he’s been selected as a crew member for the Super Medium Tank, he must be a capable person. The Super Medium Tank has been engineered with immense resources and care to face colossal monsters that even hunters find tough to deal with, you know. It’s not cheap, so the number deployed isn’t small either.”

Hearing it was expensive made me slightly uncomfortable. I began to worry about my friends.

“Don’t look at me like that. Helios’s budget should be more than enough for maintenance costs! My father’s body is way more costly than this, you know? There’s nothing wrong with the finances at all. In fact, it’s become incredibly sound thanks to you!”

“Really? That’s a relief. I was thinking of asking Sister Adela if it seemed too much!”

“…Please don’t do that.”

Irene’s response turned somewhat dark.

I wasn’t sure why, but it did us no good to extend the conversation, so I shifted to another topic.

“By the way, how’s the repair of Rugilinn’s Iron Fist going?”

“I’ve removed rust and foreign substances clinging to it, and some parts are scheduled for replacement. It had been left inside a dungeon for decades, but strangely, perhaps due to magical power, the main drive units and chassis remain intact.”

As I shifted my gaze, I noticed the engine room cover at the rear of the chassis was open. Technicians hurriedly moved in and out, with wires and various hoses extending back and forth in connection.

“We decided to install a new reactor. We’re also modifying the interior to a high-tech system. They said the weapons were damaged beyond any use, so we plan to replace them with compatible other armaments. It’s fortunate that the components are relatively easy to find.”

Rugilinn’s Iron Fist is a second-generation Super Medium Tank.

Considering that some elite units of the Federal Army are testing the fourth-generation Super Medium Tanks, it’s a bit outdated, but that also means components can be easily procured.

Apparently, many parts are piling up in warehouses or circulating in the market without anyone realizing it.

“To sum it up, by the time the semester ends, you’ll be able to see Rugilinn’s Iron Fist dashing around.”

“Wow!”

I’m really looking forward to that day, the day I’ll ride into battle alongside the tank fairy.

With that tank leading the way, no one would dare come near.

I should take up some quests with it too.

“…With a tank?”

“Huh? What’s the problem? It’s invincible, right?”

“…We should think about how you’d even fit that huge monster into a dungeon aside from all that, and consider the potential elimination of the target monster or any collateral damage. Have you thought about why there aren’t many clans utilizing tanks?”

Oh boy, I was left speechless by Irene’s critique.

As I scratched my head, I realized it was quite a valid point. After all, tanks aren’t cost-effective.

The operating costs are high, yet it’s a high-power weapon with ambiguous usage.

Imagine being in narrow rooms, caves, or underwater; they would be utterly useless.

“What a pity…”

The world was far too harsh on us Violets.

I need to invite Iron Fist for some fun once he’s feeling better after all this gloom.

“By the way, Violet. I’ve brought the records regarding the 3rd expedition. Want to take a look?”

“Records?”

When I tilted my head in confusion, Irene stepped away from the tank and motioned me closer.

As I got nearer, she whispered in my ear.

“Definitely read it sometime. Especially the highlighted parts! You must!”

“Why?”

“It’s just a guess, but it might tell us what Iron Fist used to be like… So be nice to the tank fairy. I need to leave now.”

Irene trailed off for some reason.

I noticed her biting her lip slightly.

Taking her time, Irene walked slowly towards the Super Medium Tank.

“Um, Rugilinn’s Iron Fist…?”

The chassis made no response.

It wouldn’t reveal itself unless I called for it multiple times via the network.

It seemed it was being cautious about appearing in front of others in the maintenance shop.

“I apologize for treating you like a monster the last time. I thought you were just a common Fusion Creature. I hadn’t even listened to Violet’s full story. But that’s no excuse.”

The chassis creaked.

“I don’t know how much you were hurt. But I’ll say this clearly: you are an excellent being. Truly brave and wonderful. So don’t be too gloomy. And…”

Irene seemed to hesitate, trying to say something more but fell silent.

Lost in deep thought, Irene sank into silence for a long moment, then reopened her mouth.

“We deeply appreciate your devotion.”

In that instant, the chassis trembled ever so slightly. Irene bowed briefly before stepping away.

Still not understanding the situation, I finally began to look through the materials Irene had handed me.

The page marked by the bookmark was likely the section she indicated.

As I opened the highlighted part, the face of an unfamiliar officer and a group picture of the Super Medium Tank and its crew came into view.

This must be Rugilinn’s Iron Fist.

There, I read the parts that were underlined heavily.

[…The top tank ace commander. Deployed for defeating numerous threatening large monsters.]

[…At the end of the 3rd Expedition, supported civilian evacuation during retreat, went missing while covering the escape route alone.]

[…Afterward, awarded the Federal’s highest honor, the ‘Indomitable Star.’]

**

While solving various tasks, the animal experiments for detecting the Violet Network were continuing steadily.

“Experiment concluded, recording finished… The output adjustment was excessive.”

Unit 321 wore a forlorn expression. The sight of the limp white mice in the acrylic box was too much. When poked with my finger, they didn’t budge.

“Ugh! The mice that were destined to become geniuses in the future! No way!”

“You’re a bad uncle!”

Violet’s dreams of teaching these excellent rodents close combat skills and the spirit of democracy shattered along with their demise.

“Oh dear, they’ve perished… It’s only natural that such small creatures can’t endure the output.”

Albert, seemingly unfazed, checked the state of the mice and reviewed various statistics on the device.

It had been anticipated that small mammals would not withstand being exposed to the network above a certain threshold. Given that even humans risk the erosion of their ego, there was no way rodents could hold up against such massive waves of information.

“Though they seemed adequate for dogs. That’s true. Ideally, we would rescue monkeys for experimentation.”

“Right! We confirmed remarkable intelligence increases once again.”

The two researchers seemed intrigued as they analyzed the data and marked a few things on their chart.

Despite being a repetitive task, they didn’t appear to lose interest. Violet, lying on the experimental bed, felt the same way.

In fact, all three of them were half-giddy.

Anyone would feel that way upon seeing a dog that walked on two legs with its arms crossed.

“Come here, come here. Wait right here.”

The dog understood Albert’s words, nodded its head, and scurried over to sit on a chair, raising its front paw as if showing off.

It was signaling for a treat.

The professor chuckled briefly, finding it amusing, yet produced a dog biscuit from his pocket and tossed it.

While the dog chewed down on the treat, the researchers quietly exchanged their opinions.

“We couldn’t identify any Violet traits in the animals that accessed the Violet Network. The erosion phenomenon seems to apply only to beings equal to or greater than humans.”

“We should bring a monster in for an experiment with network contact. We need to determine what kind of control group a lower-grade monster, like a Skullcat, would serve. As you know, Violet’s brain…”

The two paused for a moment. Fortunately, Violet was busy playing with the dog. After chatting a bit, they decided to take a brief break from the experiments.

“Uncle! The mice are dead! They were fated to be heroes!”

“I’m sorry. I’ll order different experimental mice. It seems that using just the network alone isn’t enough for long-term intelligence enhancement in rodents.”

“No, it’s fine!”

Violet felt disappointed at Yurik’s words but decided not to argue any further.

A dog with Violet-like intelligence was way cooler than a mouse with Violet intelligence. Even so, feeling down was inevitable.

Climbing up the stairs, Violet warned once again.

“Alright. But this time, it has to be done right. I’ll be mad if the dogs die!”

“That won’t happen… Where was it?”

As soon as Yurik stepped into the office, he began rummaging through the desk.

The cluttered desk was piled high with books, documents, and printouts to the point of being unrecognizable.

“What are you looking for?”

“Oh, it’s nothing big. I’m looking for a letter. I need to mail it later. Do you remember Ms. Ennis?”

Hearing the familiar name of the mana staff creator, Violet’s ruby eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Sometimes, they wished they hadn’t let that relic magic engineer go.

“Oh right, that Slave 1 lady? By the way, what’s she up to lately? She used to visit the detention center often, right?”

Although the word ‘slave’ made me slightly flinch, Yurik continued speaking.

“According to Ms. Ennis, it seems the federal government has shown her some degree of goodwill. After attending a hearing and giving critical information related to Magnavis, they reduced her sentence a bit. But a few months ago, she suddenly got transferred to another prison. They didn’t tell me the location. Now I can only contact her by letter. Ah, found it! It was tucked in here.”

“Ah, I see.”

I was fully aware that the man before me had been visiting the detention center frequently. It seemed there was a reason for that. Violet replied without much thought.

“Well, it shouldn’t be anything major, right?”

The Federal guys are notoriously strict and inflexible. But since she had confessed and cooperated with various tasks, I figured she wouldn’t face too many hardships.

“She’ll surely be just fine! The federal fellows should treat her decently. I wonder if she’s repenting properly?”

Yurik smiled at Violet’s words.

“Yes, I’m sure Ms. Ennis is handling the remaining sentence well. No doubt about it.”

**

I was mistaken.

Having only stayed in the laboratory, the post-doc researcher offered a naive response that made sense, given his ignorance about the darker sides of the world.

Ever since Restraid – The Federal Army Joint Research Institute opened, the overwhelmed Federal Army wouldn’t leisurely allow highly-educated Awakened Ones as prisoners.

“Um, I can’t see again…”

Ennis whispered weakly, her strength drained, feeling her way around her eyes. As her ten fingers, all of which had their nails ripped off, brushed over her eyes, a nearby federal agent leaned over to check.

“Hmm, let’s see. This is already the fourth time, huh. Pupillary response seems normal. No sign of bleeding or other abnormal symptoms. Is there anything itchy? Should we visit the infirmary?”

The Armored Knight, who had been waiting nearby, hastily approached as well.

“Yes, that’s fine, but… Yikes!”

The agent nodded but then stuffed something resembling a pistol into her neck.

Suddenly, darkness lifted. Even after regaining the light, Ennis had no time to rejoice before a rough hand gripped her face.

The Armored Knight muttered in a serious tone, “Hey, do you hear any hallucinations? Something about destroying the world, or burning it all down…?”

“No, not at all…”

The Armored Knight and agent exchanged glances.

The messaging through their eyes was clear: ‘No abnormalities, confirmed.’

In no time, the agent wore a sunny smile.

“That’s a relief. It was just temporary synaptic paralysis due to the artifact. Let’s take a short break!”

With a vacant expression, Ennis sat down, and several voices passed around her. When she turned her head, she sighed.

“Wow, Team Leader! Look at that? It’s a star! I see a star, is it a comet? Hahaha? No, not at all?”

“Hehe… The universe is talking to me…!”

Ennis mumbled as if she was intoxicated. Where am I? Who am I?

The artifacts left behind by Code Omega acted like poison on both body and mind just by staring.

Malicious meme attacks had paralyzed and dulled her nerves.

Like tetrodotoxin flowing through the bloodstream.

In fact, Apostles and pufferfish share some surprising similarities.

All by-products carry lethal poison to humans, yet if handled meticulously with that in mind, they can be used rather beneficially.

Of course, the same goes for a novice who carelessly meddles with them and faces disaster.

Unfortunately, the Federal and Restraid were just like inexperienced chefs handling this gourmet named Apostle for the first time.

Until the main chefs who would cook this pufferfish arrive, someone had to taste the toxic dish.

For they needed to check which parts of the pufferfish contained toxins and which did not.

Fortunately, there were plenty of volunteers to serve as tasters. The prisoners had to analyze everything about Code Omega as if they were ancestors discovering the culinary methods for cooking pufferfish.

In the end, the tasters succeeded in resolving the issue.

Eckhardt and the main chefs summoned from various agencies elegantly entered the kitchen and began their formal work.

This was two weeks ago.



“Aaaah! Let there be destruction! I shall curse and curse again, you human scum! To the throne of Monad! Aaaah!”

However, despite the small hiccup of the chef not being able to withstand his dazzling knife skills, yielding some minor screams, it was ultimately a beneficial event for humanity and a contribution to the world.

“Um… I can hear it… the screams…”

“You misheard it. Ignore it.”

“I really did, though?”

“I said ignore it.”

“Yes…”

Though there is still plenty of poison to eliminate, that is the responsibility of the artifacts team.

Amidst the chaos left by the meme toxin of the Apostles, Ennis suddenly thought of a person’s face.

‘…I wonder how Yurik is doing?’

A kind-hearted and diligent person. Since he’s not guilty of anything, I truly believe he is still living healthily.

With that thought, Ennis returned to her research.

The Apostle Joint Research Institute continues to operate day and night today.



“Aaaah!”

**

“Growl!”

“Help me!”

Yurik was knocked to the floor by the dog.

“Bark! Growl!”

The dog swung its front paw repeatedly.

“Argh! Get away! I have no treats! None? Please!”

The dog, now equipped with Violet’s intelligence, lunged to stomp the young researcher with its paws in frenzy over treats.

This disaster was the result of a dog’s gluttony combined with its newfound intelligence.

“What the heck! Bad dog! Come here!”

As the dog noticed Violet, it quickly prepared for a confrontation.

“Woof!”

With rapid movements, the dog danced around, and Violet bounced around, dodging.

“Doctor? Are you alright? What on earth is that…”

“Pro, Professor! I think we made something we shouldn’t have…”

As Albert rushed in, surprised by the scene, the chase between Violet and the dog continued.

The malicious dog eyed Violet with disdain. What was the reason I was being chased by this girl?

It must be because of that man!

A sneak attack from the dog’s hind legs came charging in again.

-Whack!

The hind paw struck Yurik’s face ferociously, causing his glasses to tumble across the floor.

“AHHHHH!”

The researcher met a humiliating end at the hands of the wicked experiment he had created.

It was springtime.

---