Last Gun Alchemist

The movement of the ballots continued for another few minutes.

Even though the Craft & Research Seekers Club had gained several new members after the Royal Academy’s first-year students joined, its total number of members was still small compared to many of the other clubs in the academy.

Even though their club was considered amongst S+ Clubs, the Craft & Research Seekers remained the third smallest club in terms of membership.

Because of that, the process of handing out the ballots still took longer than expected.

The senior members had to move from one row to another, making sure every student received a ballot and that nobody was accidentally skipped.

Students sat in their different rows, some looking into their ballots with curiosity while others casually shook the small numbered balls inside, trying to guess which number they had picked.

Eventually, the last student received a ballot.

Time passed.

Once everyone had finished picking, Latisha walked back toward the front of the meeting room and placed the ballot box on the table.

The seated club members were already holding their numbered balls.

Latisha and the senior club members who had helped with the distribution also held their own numbered balls, making sure they were included in the arrangement.

"Now, let’s all raise our numbered balls."

Latisha said while looking around the room.

Her gaze eventually moved toward a female club member who was in the same year as her.

The girl immediately understood what she wanted.

She reached toward the glass board beside her and switched it on.

A faint light spread across its surface before the holographic screen materialized above it.

The floating display appeared in front of the club members, showing a blank arrangement screen.

The second-year student then picked up the Zphone tablet resting on the table.

She tapped the screen several times before opening the camera application.

The camera view appeared on the tablet.

"I’m ready, guys."

She said while giving a thumbs-up to Latisha.

"Alright."

Latisha raised her numbered ball.

The small ball rested between her fingers, displaying the number two.

"Everyone, show your numbers."

As soon as she finished speaking, the club members raised their hands.

One after another, the numbered balls were lifted into the air.

Students leaned slightly to make sure their numbers could be seen clearly by the camera.

Ezra’s number was five.

Vera’s number was three.

Diane’s number was seven.

Cyrus’s number was three.

Maxwell’s number was five.

Cherry’s number was three.

Kane’s number was one.

The rest of the club members revealed their own numbers as well, filling the room with raised hands and small numbered balls.

The second-year club member slowly moved the Zphone tablet from one side of the room to the other, scanning the students one by one.

She first scanned the members seated in the different rows.

After that, she turned toward the senior club members who were standing at the side and scanned them as well.

Once everyone had been recorded, she turned the camera toward herself and scanned her own numbered ball.

Then, she lowered the tablet and began tapping through the information.

Several members watched the holographic screen while waiting for the results.

The second-year student clicked a few more options on the Zphone tablet.

Then she dragged the completed file from the tablet’s screen into the blue holographic display.

The information, immediately transferred.

The blank arrangement on the holographic board changed.

Names began appearing beneath the different numbered groups.

One by one, the seven groups were arranged across the screen, with every club member’s name placed under the number they had drawn.

The students immediately began looking through the results.

A few seconds later, one male first-year suddenly raised his voice.

"Yes... I’m in Lady Vera’s group!"

His face brightened as he looked toward the holographic screen.

"Lucky you."

Several boys standing near him replied, their voices carrying obvious jealousy.

"Damn, you’re lucky."

"Why couldn’t I get that number?"

"You’re going to have a good team."

More noise spread through the room as students reacted to their groups.

Some were pleased.

Some were disappointed.

Others simply looked relieved after seeing who they had been grouped with.

Because the students had been seated in different rows, several people had drawn the same numbered balls.

However, that didn’t automatically mean they would all be placed into the same group.

The ballots had been arranged according to the seating positions, and the different ballots contained seven numbered balls, with the numbers ranging from one to seven.

As long as students had selected the same number while being positioned within the correct row and column arrangement, they would be placed into the same group.

The system had been prepared that way to make sure the teams were properly divided.

Before the students could continue discussing their groups, the door to the meeting room suddenly opened.

"I’m back."

Luke stepped inside with a pleased smile.

"President."

Latisha looked toward him and returned the smile.

The other senior members also turned their attention toward him.

Luke held the door open instead of immediately closing it.

"And guess who I brought."

His smile widened.

Someone walked in behind him.

Professor Nine entered the meeting room with an assistant following behind him.

The assistant carried a large pile of documents, while Luke himself was also carrying several documents in his arms.

The moment the professor appeared, several upperclassmen straightened slightly.

"Good afternoon, Professor Nine."

Many of them greeted him at almost the same time.

"Yeah... yeah... good morning."

Nine waved his hand lazily.

A few first-years exchanged confused looks.

"But it’s afternoon."

One of them whispered.

The upperclassmen, however, didn’t seem surprised.

They were already familiar with Professor Nine’s absent-minded replies.

"Good afternoon, Professor Nine Declan."

Several of the first-years greeted him again.

Nine waved at them this time without saying anything.

His expression remained relaxed as he walked farther into the room.

Then his eyes moved toward the table.

"Clear this table, Latisha."

He snapped his fingers and pointed toward the table.

Latisha immediately understood.

She didn’t complain or ask questions.

She began gathering the ballot boxes one by one while several of the senior club members moved over to help her.

Luke and Professor Nine’s assistant placed the documents they were carrying onto the table.

Once the table was cleared, Nine stepped closer.

"So, this is the seven grouping."

He looked toward the holographic board while adjusting his glasses.

His dark-yellow eyes moved across the names displayed on the screen.

He scanned through the groups quickly.

It was clear that he wasn’t looking at the team arrangements randomly.

He was searching for someone.

His eyes stopped.

"Ezra Ashenlocke."

Nine pointed toward Ezra.

Ezra looked at him.

Then Nine’s finger moved toward another name.

"Jeremy Godwin."

He pointed toward the third-year upperclassman who had been placed in Ezra’s group.

"Come, please."

Nine’s voice became slightly hurried.

The professor’s expression changed into an excited smile.

"Hehe... I got something good for you guys."

Luke couldn’t help but look at him helplessly.

He already knew what was about to happen.

Ezra slowly stood from his seat.

Jeremy also stood.

The two boys walked toward Professor Nine.

The other students watched them as they approached.

When they finally reached the professor, Nine didn’t even look directly at them.

He simply picked up one of the documents from the table.

"Take."

He handed the document toward Ezra and Jeremy.

"This will be your theme and mission for your research."

Jeremy’s eyes widened.

His hand stopped halfway toward the document.

"Damn..."

He swallowed.

"My first time receiving the death flag."

He looked genuinely hesitant to take the document.

Ezra glanced at him.

Death flag?

The phrase caught his attention.

He looked at Jeremy’s face before shifting his black plain eyes toward the other upperclassmen.

There were several similar expressions among them.

Some looked relieved that they hadn’t been selected.

Others looked bothered.

A few were even trying to avoid making eye contact with Professor Nine.

Ezra eventually took the document.

Jeremy looked at him almost as if he was silently asking him to put it back.

Professor Nine noticed.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked toward Jeremy.

That single look was enough.

Jeremy immediately stepped closer to Ezra.

The two began checking the document together.

Their eyes moved across the words written on the first page.

Then they reached the mission.

Hunt and cleanly catch or kill a Ghost Crawler.

Jeremy’s face froze.

"Professor Nine!"

He suddenly shouted.

His mouth opened wide as his expression turned into one of pure fear.

"Ahh... what?!"

Nine shouted back, placing his pinky finger into his ear.

He rubbed it casually before looking at Jeremy.

"Why are you reacting like you just saw a ghost?"

Jeremy’s expression changed.

He pointed toward the document.

"Ghost is in the name, though."

His voice became calmer for a moment, almost as if he was trying to reason with the professor.

Then he pointed more aggressively at the mission.

"But that’s a freaking Ghost Crawler, Professor!"

He tapped the document with his finger.

The name of the monster was written clearly on the page.

A Ghost Crawler.

"A Ghost Crawler of all freaking things."

Jeremy repeated the words, his expression showing exactly how unreasonable he thought the mission was.

Many of the upperclassmen and first-years who had heard of Ghost Crawlers immediately understood why Jeremy was reacting that way.

This wasn’t an ordinary creature that could simply be found, attacked, and dragged back to the academy.

And the mission wasn’t merely asking them to defeat one.

They had to hunt it.

Then kill or catch it cleanly.

"And we are to kill or catch it cleanly."

Ezra said while looking at Professor Nine.

His expression remained plain.

He read the mission again before looking back at the professor.

"Is that even possible?"

He finally understood why Jeremy had called it a death flag.

Professor Nine looked at Ezra.

"It is."

His answer came without hesitation.

Nine removed his pinky from his ear and casually blew the dirt away.

Then he looked toward Jeremy.

"First of all, Jeremy... you are an Illusionary Alchemist."

His tone became more serious.

"And I’m sure your main reason for being scared about the Ghost Crawler is because of its illusion feature."

Jeremy swallowed again.

His eyes slowly moved back toward the document.

Professor Nine was right.

The problem wasn’t simply the creature itself.

It was what a Ghost Crawler could do.

And for an Illusionary Alchemist like Jeremy, that was exactly the kind of opponent that could turn a simple hunting mission into a nightmare.

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