A series of casualties caused not by a terrorist attack, but by the malfunction of a Training Dummy.
“...Good heavens.”
The soldiers of the 23rd Security Brigade, staring at the collapsed ceiling and walls of the training ground as though a terrorist attack had occurred, fell completely silent as they did everything they could to assess the situation.
However, all of that effort crumbled because of a single man.
“...Tch.”
The moment they saw Jin Crow standing amidst the split remains of the Bishop T.D., wearing a smile so sinister it bordered on horrifying.
Perhaps it was not that strange.
Everyone knew that Jin Crow's appearance had never once been gentle.
But this was different from simple intimidation.
This was something far more primal...
Yes.
It would be easiest to describe it as the feeling of prey standing before an enraged predator.
“......”
Someone unconsciously swallowed.
And it was not only Jin Crow.
Ideale, who had quietly descended behind him at some point, was no different, glaring colder than ever at the Bishop whose vital signs had already completely vanished, as though she too were swallowing her fury.
The mingling current of Psionic Energy created by Jin Crow's killing intent and Ideale's icy aura was enough to leave even the instructors and Special-duty Officers who had rushed over after hearing the commotion struggling to breathe.
If even they felt that way, what about the cadets and ordinary soldiers?
...Click.
The sound of chattering teeth echoed through the silence.
The soldiers instinctively raised their rifles before forcing themselves to lower them again.
Their fury was so tangible that it seemed to wrap itself around everyone's throat.
‘I grew complacent.
No...
Did I settle?’
Unfortunately for those around him, Jin Crow was no longer in his right mind.
A bitter sneer kept forcing its way onto his lips.
The mangled remains of the cadets filled his vision.
‘Adel, Ryn, Decart...’
They were not cadets he had paid particular attention to.
Nor were they among those he cherished.
As far as he remembered, they had all ranked near the bottom, or at best barely within the lower end of the middle ranks.
But one thing was certain.
Those cadets...
Those children...
Were never meant to die in something so meaningless and futile as this conspiracy.
Lowering his gaze, he stared at his trembling fingertips.
‘Even while telling myself not to rush...
Did I compromise?’
Perhaps he could have stopped it.
Or perhaps, deep down, he had allowed himself to relax because things had never reached the absolute worst-case scenario.
Throb.
The headache that had remained quiet ever since taking Viper's medicine struck his mind once again.
Grinding his teeth so hard they nearly cracked, he poured Psionic Energy into the sword in his hand.
At that very moment—
“...Jin Crow!”
Ideale's voice cut through the headache, the self-reproach, the rage, and the aimless killing intent filling his mind.
Only then did his blurred vision clear slightly.
Looking around, he finally realized what he had almost done as he saw Obia and the Military Police surrounding him.
‘...I almost cut down the Military Police.’
Apparently deciding he was no longer sane, every Military Police officer except Obia had already drawn their Special-duty weapons, watching him with expressions full of tension.
Perhaps because of that...
Jin Crow finally understood the trap into which he had fallen.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
‘Checkmate.
They got me good.’
No matter what the truth was...
Whether he himself had killed the Bishop or not...
He was the instructor responsible for this lecture.
He had also been the one who insisted on conducting the class using the Training Dummy.
“Instructor.
I really don't want to fight you, but I think I'll have to put you in handcuffs this time.”
Hearing Obia speak with the same cheerful smile as ever finally brought him fully back to his senses.
The emotion reflected in her crimson eyes was competitive excitement.
Perhaps...
Deep down, she was hoping he would attack.
But Jin Crow had no intention whatsoever of allowing either Obia's childish amusement or the vermin orchestrating this entire incident from the shadows to use him any further.
“Headmistress.”
Without lowering either his killing intent or his sword, Jin Crow called to Ideale.
She looked at him with trembling eyes for a moment.
Then she squeezed her eyes shut before speaking.
“Major Obia Timist.
Take Instructor Jin Crow into custody.
If he refuses... you are authorized to use force.”
She bit her lip as she issued the order.
Jin Crow inwardly felt relieved.
At the same time, he barely swallowed the curse that threatened to burst from his mouth.
“H-How can this be?”
“Why Instructor...?!”
Naturally, a handful of cadets such as Dokgo Ran and Miel protested.
But before long, even they were forced to realize something.
The way everyone else was looking at Jin Crow.
And the one who could view it most objectively was none other than Famiyu.
‘Resentment.
Suspicion.
Jealousy.
Satisfaction.
Mockery...’
Reflected in her blue eyes were not only the expressions of the cadets.
Given the situation, quite a few instructors had also gathered nearby.
Many of them looked at Jin Crow with the latter emotions plainly written across their faces.
It was hardly strange.
There were never few instructors dissatisfied with his authoritarian methods and the way Ideale seemed to subtly shield him.
Whether it stemmed from ordinary jealousy...
Or from petty factional struggles over influence...
Either way...
They were unquestionably Jin Crow's enemies.
Meanwhile, completely unfazed by everyone's reactions, Obia continued smiling as she spun a pair of handcuffs around one finger before asking him,
“So?
What'll it be, Instructor?”
She almost sounded like she was deliberately provoking him.
Perhaps because of that...
Jin Crow glared at the Military Police as though he intended to kill them all.
Then, without a word, he tossed his sword onto the floor.
Seeing that, Obia licked her lips with visible disappointment before walking over.
As she fastened the handcuffs around his wrists, she whispered softly,
“I've finally managed to put handcuffs on you.”
“......”
With a heavy metallic click, the cold restraints locked firmly around his wrists.
Click.
Looking down at her with open contempt, Jin Crow replied in a voice mixed with the sound of steel.
“You've got terrible taste.
In more ways than one.”
Thus, branded as the person responsible for the bloodshed, Jin Crow was escorted away by the Military Police under Ideale's orders.
Immediately afterward, standing alone at the center of the devastated training ground, Ideale gazed at the corpses with eyes full of guilt before issuing her next commands.
“...Recover the casualties.
Detain and investigate the researchers as well, beginning with Chief Researcher Naomi.
And every Senior Instructor is to suspend all duties and report to the conference room immediately.”
It was the moment an upheaval unlike anything before swept through the Central Special-duty Officer Academy, which had remained quiet for months.
Strictly speaking, Jin Crow was closer to a witness than a perpetrator in this incident.
There was neither sufficient motive nor evidence that he had intentionally manipulated the Training Dummy.
Moreover, he had been the one who stopped the Bishop T.D. before the situation grew even worse.
The real problem, however, was his shattered reputation.
The only people even somewhat favorable toward Instructor Jin Crow were a handful of cadets, several instructors and Military Police officers who had personally experienced the Mercato Incident.
In other words...
To everyone else, Jin Crow was still nothing more than an arrogant and overly sensitive instructor.
“Instructor.
Are you angry?”
Inside the Military Police interrogation room, Obia set a cup of tea before him while he remained handcuffed and smiled awkwardly.
“You know why we had to do it this way.”
“...Tch.”
Jin Crow looked at her with exhausted eyes.
Listening to her, it almost sounded as though she had deliberately acted harshly to help him from the very beginning.
Yet the competitive excitement he had seen in her eyes back at the training ground had unquestionably been genuine.
Now that they were alone, however, she had completely changed her attitude, making it rather difficult for him to deal with her.
Perhaps because of that...
After moistening his lips with the tea she had served, he held up his restrained wrists and spoke coldly.
“Take them off.”
When had he started speaking to her so casually?
The thought crossed his mind briefly.
He did not care enough to dwell on it.
And Obia, completely unconcerned by his commanding tone, simply smiled.
“Alright.”
Click.
The handcuffs slid free.
They were no ordinary restraints.
Made from Carbene Alloy and equipped with Anti-Psionic technology, they were designed specifically for restraining superhumans.
In other words...
Simply wearing them was unbearable for someone like him.
Perhaps because they had finally been removed...
Jin Crow's expression softened ever so slightly.
Taking a cigarette from his coat and placing it between his lips, he asked,
“What is the current situation?”
“Pretty bad.
In every possible way.
Yep.”
She casually took one of his Blackstar cigarettes, placed it between her own lips, and lit it.
Normally, he would have made some sarcastic remark about her shameless behavior.
But right now, her rudeness was hardly important.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Smoke drifted through the interrogation room as the man and woman silently smoked together.
After a long silence...
Obia finally answered.
“The researchers insist there was nothing wrong with the Training Dummy, so the Research Building is conducting a full inspection, but they've found nothing.
There's still no response from Professor Lillian either.
On top of that, the families of the deceased cadets and soldiers have submitted petitions to the Ministry of National Defense demanding a full investigation into the incident.
...Headmistress Ideale is in a very lonely position right now.”
Although there were those considered pro-Ideale, they were not an actual faction.
Their influence was weak.
Furthermore, Assistant Instructor Ginnatio, who had held the situation together until the very end, had completely exhausted his Psionic Energy and remained unconscious.
Several cadets who had watched people die before their eyes were now displaying classic PTSD symptoms, with some even considering dropping out.
Ideale had immediately convened a meeting with the Senior Instructors of every faction.
But nothing had come of it.
Sizzle.
Having heard enough, Jin Crow crushed the half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray as though he no longer wished to listen.
Obia merely shrugged.
“Want some privacy?”
Jin Crow nodded.
Humming softly to herself, Obia left the interrogation room.
Before leaving, she gestured for the Military Police watching through the specially treated mirror to step away and even shut off every CCTV camera inside the room.
“...Sigh.”
She truly was impossible to understand.
In every sense.
After watching everything she had done, Jin Crow irritably searched his coat, pulled out one of Viper's headache pills, chewed it without water, swallowed it, and continued thinking.
‘Three possibilities.’
With his mind considerably calmer, he forced himself to view the situation objectively.
The overall picture gradually became clear.
‘An internal purge within the Rosen Faction.’
It was the first possibility that came to mind.
It was also the first one he discarded.
The Rosen Faction was undoubtedly ruthless, eliminating anyone they deemed useless without hesitation.
But they had absolutely nothing to gain from this incident.
To begin with, they had always been relatively cooperative regarding Creature lectures and had consistently maintained an attitude of passive observation.
Moreover...
Both instructors and cadets alike knew that Jin Crow himself belonged to the Rosen Faction.
No matter how much blame this incident placed upon him, some of that filth would inevitably splatter onto Rosen as well.
Therefore...
The Rosen Faction was ruled out.
That left only two possibilities.
‘The minor factions...
Or Kukenhauzen.’
For a brief moment, he wondered whether it might simply have been an individual's misconduct or a mistake made by Lillian's research team.
But the possibility was effectively nonexistent.
The scale was far too great for the actions of a lone individual.
Furthermore, with Lillian, Naomi, and Ner all involved, a simple mistake was impossible.
He could be certain because the original story had also featured Training Dummies going berserk.
‘The Training Dummy Crazy Virus (T.D. Crazy Virus).’
No matter how accurately a Training Dummy replicated the appearance and behavior of a real Creature...
At its core, it was still a machine controlled by a computer.
If a virus infiltrated it, taking complete control of the system was entirely possible.
‘In the original story, it happened when Baek Hwi-young was a third-year cadet.’
The real problem, however, was something else entirely.
‘...The Empire used it as a tool of terrorism.’
The fact that such a virus...
Could not possibly have been technology currently possessed by the Allied Nations.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter