I Stayed Loyal When My Teacher Was Betrayed

36 – Catastrophe of Matap 6

“Hmm…”

“W-Wha… What is it?”

Judy asked with a trembling voice.

In the midst of a heart-wrenching feeling, she anxiously awaited the response from the Demon King…

Torcan examined the contents with a cold expression.

The plan squeezed out to completion just in time was simple in its own right, but she prided herself on the effectiveness.

“If everything goes according to plan, it won’t be bad at all.”

“…Sigh.”

“But if this turns out to be false, you’re finished. Keep that in mind.”

“I-Is there a p-possibility? I-I will… I will definitely succeed!”

Judy made a confident statement amidst the overwhelming feeling in her heart.

Ignoring her reaction, Torcan stood up and began to send the plan he held in his hand to where their lord was.

“If it aligns with their plan, things will surely progress smoothly… With this, we will definitively end Matap.”

*

There are times when people feel perplexed.

And among them, there were cases where apologies were received in unexpected ways.

Just like this moment right now…

“Um…”

“Cough…”

“Ugh… so… because of me, in the end, my master… cough… if I hadn’t just stayed still like an idiot… I… I would have protected my master even if it meant risking my life…”

Lokia was telling her story with tears streaming down her face.

Listening to her story, it was difficult to judge how to respond to the problem’s master, Rosemary.

“Honestly, I did want to see this girl suffering a bit… but seeing her regretting it so openly doesn’t sit well with me.”

A side conversation that happened coincidentally while continuing the story under the name of a social gathering. Starting with “It didn’t used to be like this with Matap in the past. Why is it like this these days?”

The result of the conversation that naturally flowed from that statement,

“Sob… it… it’s all my fault… my master… and Edward… if… if it was just the two of them, it wouldn’t have ended up like this… ugh… I… I wish I had died with them at that time…”

A sincere tear of regret pouring from Lokia’s eyes.

Seeing her like this, it couldn’t be denied that both I and the master felt a little sorry for the girl.

Above all, according to Lokia’s story, she was closer to being dragged unwillingly into betraying her peers rather than directly involved in it.

Considering her shy nature, it was already highly likely, and it proved to be true.

Thus, she may be a traitor, but there is room for forgiveness, and watching her, we both nodded our heads at each other with mutual understanding in our faces.

“Well… well… what’s already passed can’t be undone. The important thing is how to make up for it in the future, isn’t it?”

“Ugh… b… but there’s no way… I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’ve never been interested… s… still, there’s no one else to ask for help… ugh… I… what should I do? I can’t just leave my master’s legacy like this…”

Lokia, responsible but so lacking in ability.

In this way, foolish and incapable, but at the same time a student who knows how to admit her mistakes.

Her master, Rosemary, sighed deeply and said to her.

“Haa… if that’s the case… I might be able to help a little. I’ve had similar experiences in the past, after all.”

“Really? Thank you! Thank you so much, Rosemary!”

“…”

Lokia, bowing her head continuously, not even leaving a shred of pride.

As my teacher looked at their figure, they seemed to crack a slight bitter smile and I slowly nodded my head.

“Anyway… still, unlike the other bastards who are gone, I can’t hate this kid so much… It’s just different.”

Of course, I needed to reveal their identity and drive them to the ground once more.

But that was something to be dealt with later, and right now, the best course of action was to put out the urgent fire.

With that conclusion, we proceeded with the work to help achieve the stability of the tower, assisting in selecting the necessary personnel.

“First, let’s start by selecting the necessary personnel. Referring to existing records is good, but since we have to rely heavily on new recruits, it’s best to select personnel through a simple test for now.”

“Oh… I understand.”

“Identify the potential talents and assign them separate tasks. In the beginning, there may be quite a few mistakes, but that’s how they will learn. Besides, doing something is definitely better than doing nothing, especially considering our current paralytic state.”

“Yes, um… What should we do about the envoys from other countries?”

It’s impossible to simply accept their opinions outright. We will conduct negotiations and give them what they want in exchange, as they are well aware that without the tower, the continent will not function properly. Besides, as ambassadors from not just one but four countries, stirring up their conflict over their interests will help alleviate the burden on the tower.

“I… I see. I understand what you mean.”

Rockia absorbed the advice of the teacher like a sponge. Watching her, I suddenly recalled the way she used to cling to the teacher and ask endless questions back in the day.

In fact, since the parties involved are conversing with each other, this can be considered a similar situation. Of course, one side is unaware of such behind-the-scenes circumstances.

“Anyway, if we continue like this, the next task will also proceed smoothly… If that happens, we can truly begin our revenge… “

It goes without saying that we are not helping her for free out of simple loyalty.

There is no free kindness.

We may be keeping our mouths shut for now, but if we continue to manipulate this way, we will soon be able to clearly identify who is behind the problem.

“And then… we can just go and tear that bastard’s head off… We may not know, but with our skills, it’s definitely possible.”

Having become completely familiar with the bodies of the demons and having nearly perfected the magic based on modern science, even the worst-case scenario of dealing with ‘that thing’ was possible.

Surprisingly, the principles are simple, and once the target is located, erasing them in an instant is no big deal.

That was the time when we were slowly guiding Rockia as our ‘assistant,’ or more accurately, since without the teacher, we couldn’t survive.

“Excuse me, teacher.”

“What is it, Bernier?”

“I’m almost ready for patrol, so I thought I should come and report.”

“I see. Be careful on your patrol, as I mentioned, I have some matters to discuss with the Grand Mage here.”

“Yes, teacher. It’s not a difficult task, so I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

After giving a slight bow, Bernie dashed out of the room.

At that moment, her teacher’s words came to mind, “What about you? Have you not gone yet?”

Upon hearing this, I stood up and bowed before leaving the room. Since there was nothing for me to do at the moment, I quickly proceeded with Bernie’s request and would return after completing the task the teacher had asked of me as a “teaching assistant”.

With expectations of enjoying the results of the assistantship after finishing the task quickly, I headed outside with the others and began walking up the mountain.

*

“Squeak!!!”

The ogre collapsed to the ground, shouting like a pig being slaughtered, after Siegrun’s sword blow ended him. We began walking lightly again, feeling as though we were almost done with this area.

“Yes… If we follow the map, we should be.”

Bernie spoke while examining the map of the mountain. As we cleared the area with her guidance, we all felt a bit bored. Since it was a formal mission, there were hardly any demons or even strong monsters that came out in this area. With the exception of the relatively strong and recently defeated ogre who lost his life with one blow of Siegrun’s sword, most were just small fries or beasts that weren’t even worth mentioning.

“Then, let’s go over there next and finish it off after making one big circle around here.”

“Ugh, is it really necessary to do all that?”

“Well, of course! If you’re going to do a job, make sure you do it properly! That’s what the teacher always said!”

“Ugh, alright, alright.”

Despite feeling annoyed by Bernie’s words, we continued to move forward with the members of Valkyrie.

Suddenly, we arrived at a place that was considered quite far from the mountaintop.

“Hmm?”

“What… what is it?”

We felt an ominous feeling all of a sudden. We immediately turned our gaze, and what we saw before us was…

“! That… that

“What’s going on? How did the Matap collapse?”