Chapter 221: The Less People That Know About This The Better Inside the Mistral Weave Forest, a week before the Inter-Class Battle Royale... "Good job everyone," a Third Year said with a smile. "We’ve finally finished everything." "Man, that was a lot of work." Another Third Year massaged his shoulder. "I can’t believe it took us two weeks to plant these talismans all over the forest. Certainly the most digging I’ve done in my whole life. The First Years better have a lot of fun this year." "It wasn’t that bad. I’m glad the Student Council hired us. And they weren’t stingy with the pay at all, so we really shouldn’t complain." A young lady sighed. "Though burying nearly a thousand talismans around the forest in specific locations was indeed hard work." "Let’s just go and eat. I’m hungry." "Yeah. A break sounds good right now." "What are we waiting for? Are you also coming with us, rookie?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚 "No," a young man replied. "I still have a few more talismans to put in place. You guys go first. I’ll catch up later." "Just make sure you finish this quickly, okay?" "Of course. See you later, Seniors." After the Third Years bade him goodbye, the young man—whom many mistook as a young lady—smirked. "Finally, it’s almost complete," Vaan Damne said softly. "I can’t wait to see the look on the Headmaster’s face after he sees the fate of his beloved students." The young man gave the red crystal in his hand one last look before burying it in the ground near his feet. His hand moved, rapidly forming a series of various signs. A faint ripple of magic soon spread across the entirety of the Mistral Weave Forest as he successfully imbued Rune Magic into the ground. After finishing his work, Vaan visited three more locations and did the same thing. He then left the forest in a good mood, looking forward to the most anticipated event that would serve as the grand welcome for the First Years. After Vaan left the location where he buried the last crystal, Dim Dim and some of its monkey friends came out of their hiding places on top of several trees. Dim Dim and the monkeys bit on the cookies that Fran had baked for them earlier today. They chewed thoughtfully as they observed the faint ripples of magic that were spreading on the ground. After the Dim Sum God finished eating, it jumped off. A few of its monkey friends followed. Vaan was long gone by now, so they started digging into the ground to locate the red crystal. Dim Dim eyed the red crystal with distaste before taking out a blue magic crystal from its dimensional storage and casually tossing it into the hole. The monkeys then covered the hole once more, patting the ground properly to make it look even. Lotte then appeared beside them with her hands resting on her waist. "How did Alex know about this, Dim Dim?" Lotte asked. "Dim Dim!" "He’s a Seer?" "Dim!" "He doesn’t look like one." The Dim Sum God giggled, knowing that Alex was not really a Seer. Still, it was the perfect cover to justify him knowing many things in advance without being suspicious. Besides, Seers did not have a particular look that made them easily identifiable. "Is that really the last one?" Lotte asked. "Dim!" "Okay." Lotte’s relief was evident. "But I can’t believe he has so many magic crystals. Alex must have spent a fortune buying them all." Dim Dim shook its head and explained that the magic crystals Alex used had been farmed inside the Chrono Maze. The young man had originally planned to auction them for gold coins, but he changed his mind. In order for his plan to work, he needed the magic crystals to build their trump card for the Battle Royale. "Well, then. Let’s go back, Dim Dim." Lotte picked up the little bun, who waved to its simian friends and bade them goodbye. The Crimson-Furred Throwing Monkeys waved back and promised to keep watch for any more disturbances in the forest. When Lotte and Dim Dim arrived at the clock tower, they saw Alex looking at the magical map of the Mistral Weave Forest, lost in thought. "Dim Dim!" "We’re back." Dim Dim and Lotte announced their arrival, breaking the young man out of his daze. "Welcome back," Alex greeted. "Good work, the two of you." "Ahem!" Dim Dim raised its body proudly, making Lotte giggle. She then glanced at her original body, who was currently wearing pink pajamas as she slept peacefully on the bed. "Alex, I know there might be some Professors, as well as academy staff, who are demon worshipers or underlings working for them," Lotte began. "But shouldn’t we at least report this to the Headmaster? If he knows about this, he will certainly put a stop to it." "He won’t," Alex replied with confidence before turning back the map of the Mistral Weave Forest. "Lotte, do you really think that the Headmaster isn’t aware of the existence of Demon Worshipers and their spies in the academy?" "He’s aware?" Lotte frowned. "Yes, he’s aware of them," Alex answered. "Although he doesn’t know their real identities, he is aware that they are currently in the academy." "Then why is he not doing anything? As the Headmaster, shouldn’t he be protecting his students?" "He is protecting them. In his own way, at least." "Huh?!" Lotte stared at the young man, who seemed certain about what he was saying. But she couldn’t understand it. If the Headmaster truly knew about the Demon Worshipers, then why hadn’t he kicked them out of the academy already? Seeing that Lotte looked troubled, Alex decided to clarify a few things. "The Headmaster is protecting the academy from forces the students cannot defeat," Alex said. "Demon worshipers and spies occasionally managed to infiltrate, slipping through the cracks of his protection. Fortunately, he has caught and eliminated most of them. Those who have managed to escape his grasp are the minority. "You see, the Headmaster trusts the students of the academy very much. He believes that all of us have the ability to face the dangers that may appear when we least expect it. He isn’t wrong, is he? So far, the students have solved most problems on their own and are functioning well. And with that, we gain precious experience and learn valuable lessons. "Lotte, this isn’t the first time the demon worshipers and their followers have tried to target students here. They have done it many times in the past, and they will do it again and again." Lotte’s expression turned grim after hearing Alex’s explanation. "But it’s more serious than ever in our generation," she pointed out. "Students might actually die in the Battle Royale." "You’re right," Alex agreed. "But if we were to expose the demon worshiper’s plan, they would think of other ways to harm the students and the academy. And this time, we might no longer be aware of their actions, leading to more casualties. We would be revealing ourselves to them prematurely even as they could continue operating in the dark." Alex had played the game, so he knew what he could do in order to stop the incident in the upcoming inter-class event. But if he tried to expose the demon worshipers at this point in time, he had no idea what they might be pushed to do. That was the real problem. If the situation deviated from what he knew would happen based on his knowledge of the game, he would not be able to come up with a plan that could definitely stop it. So letting the demons execute their plan in the Battle Royale was safer than letting them do sinister things in places where Alex couldn’t see. "Don’t worry, Lotte," Alex said. "The demon worshipers will not succeed. We have worked hard to prevent it from happening." "But are you sure that only Nessia, Lavinia, and I should be aware of what’s really happening behind the scenes?" Lotte inquired. "Yes," Alex answered. "The less people who know about this, the better." Alex had also informed Lavinia about the demon worshipers since the Clawford Tribe were partly demon hunters. As such, the young Catkin also did her own preparations, which would be effective against their enemies. Alex eyed the map of the forest again and narrowed his eyes. He had three goals for the upcoming Battle Royale. The first goal was to prevent the demon worshipers from executing a one-sided slaughter of the students, which would, mildly put, land the academy in a lot of trouble. The second one was to let his club members, as well as a select few, become the last survivors. And last but not least was to save the real Vaan Damne, who was currently possessed by a demon worshiper. The second goal could be ignored to a certain extent. Alex was prepared for the possibility that it might not come to pass. But the first and third goals were of utmost importance. And just like the Demon Worshiper who was possessing Vaan, the president of Endless Horizon was also looking forward to the upcoming Battle Royale. A Battle Royale between the Endless Horizon Club and the Demon Worshipers led by the demon wearing the form of a pitiful young man from a fallen noble family.