My Disciples Grind, I Get 100x Their Progress

In the afternoon. The dark, overcast sky slowly began releasing scattered drops of rain. The wind blew hard, the air noticeably colder than usual.

Ilunia walked along with her cane, opening her palm briefly, turning it up toward the sky, feeling the raindrops land one after another.

"Oh... looks like the weather’s a bit rough today."

She hummed cheerfully, the miserable weather standing in stark contrast to her genuinely wonderful mood right now.

Ilunia followed the footpath. Not for the first time, she’d skipped Academy class, this time leaving the Academy grounds entirely. Sure, the consequences might be a little heavier, but nothing Ilunia couldn’t handle.

Besides, which professor would ever dare stop Ilunia when she simply claimed she was on her way to her part-time job helping out at a small bakery?

Everyone already knew Ilunia lived on her own, so of course she had to handle everything herself too.

"Good thing I brought an umbrella."

Ilunia raised the umbrella in her free hand, opening it above her, and kept walking calmly.

Just as expected, the rain picked up quickly. The streets turned slick, puddles slowly rising. The afternoon city buzzed with pedestrians dashing for cover, drivers slowing down for road safety.

With a small sigh, Ilunia kept walking until she reached a modest little bakery selling a fairly wide variety of bread and pastries.

After tucking away her umbrella, Ilunia stepped inside. The warmth hit her immediately, the scent of freshly baked bread and pastries genuinely mouthwatering.

"Oh, of course, who else could it be but our sweet Miss Ilunia?"

A man with a curled mustache appeared. He wore a full white uniform paired with a black apron. He wiped his hands briefly with a thick cloth and smiled.

"Coming down again today, Miss?"

Ilunia smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course, good news always needs sharing, right? Besides, there are a few things we need to handle, hehe."

The man fell silent for a moment, then nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. "Good luck then, Miss."

Behind the fireplace serving as the room’s heating, the man performed something simple. He looked like he was fiddling with some small trick or game, until finally, a small door opened on the far side of the fireplace.

Ilunia didn’t hesitate, carefully making her way over and stepping straight through that small door. She found herself inside an elevator and immediately pressed the button to descend to the floor below.

Psst...!

Once she arrived, the elevator doors opened to reveal a dark, quiet temple interior. A prayer hall lined with rows of seats, a raised platform at the front with a standing lectern for sermons and prayer.

The room sat empty, only faintly flickering candles remaining, along with air that felt warm yet heavy with a sense of sanctity.

Ilunia walked toward a changing room. She swapped her academy uniform for a simple white cloth robe, tying a strip of white fabric over her eyes, and once fully prepared, returned to the prayer hall and climbed the platform alone.

Her eyes, always kept shut, slowly opened, revealing pale, colorless eyes behind that cloth blindfold.

Her hands clasped together, her face flushed red, and her lips curled into a smile that carried an overwhelming, fanatical gleam.

"Finally... you’re here, my lord."

"The only one who will prevent this world’s apocalypse."

"The last remaining salvation."

"You are my one and only God, my one and only lord, and the one being to whom I surrender myself entirely."

Slowly, one by one, figures emerged from the elevator. Each of them arrived dressed in similarly modest clothing.

A bakery owner, a clothing merchant, a chef, all kinds of people stepped inside, taking their seats, listening to Ilunia’s voice, which sounded genuinely sacred and beautiful to hear.

Ilunia kept repeating the same words, and once everyone had finally gathered, she lifted her head slightly, following some subtle cue.

She stood before the assembled crowd, then smiled, a warm flush of red spreading across her cheeks.

"Our long wait is finally over, because ’he’ is here."

***

"...Did that actually happen?" Adelle blinked a few times. She’d only just returned to the Academy after handling some other business, and the news she’d received about Roland getting beaten up, and how Eland had apparently, somehow, chosen to back down entirely, had left her genuinely stunned.

She never would have guessed that Eland Dimne, of all people, would actually back off just like that. Was there some hidden reason behind it that no one knew about?

Adelle pressed her lips together tightly.

’Well, that’s not really what matters here, is it?’

Slowly, her lips parted, curling into a smile, and she let out a small laugh. "Wow, I have no idea why, but that man definitely got what was coming to him, haha."

Eland had been abusing his power for a long time now, and even Roland had gotten away with plenty of misconduct over the years, always slipping through thanks to his father’s considerable influence.

Because of that, Adelle, as merely the Academy’s headmaster, had always struggled to deal with this problem head-on. She couldn’t afford to suddenly take a reckless risk that might throw off the current balance of things too severely.

So, hearing this news now, she felt genuinely delighted, and relieved, after all this time.

"So Kiena really did it? That adorable girl? Oh! She really didn’t disappoint me at all? Incredible!"

Her mood immediately brightened. The more details she heard about the whole situation, the more fascinating it became.

"Kiena’s guardian even clashed with him? Wow, the two of them are seriously something else, aren’t they? Huhu."

Either way, thanks to all this, Adelle figured she probably wouldn’t need to worry about Eland or Roland for a good while now.

Besides, she was exhausted and could really use a proper rest.

’Ugh... dealing with problems in the Slums is genuinely such a headache. I think I finally understand why Odette always looks so miserable whenever she has to go down there.’

Adelle then glanced over at the vice-headmaster seated across the desk. "Anything else? Did anything else interesting happen while I was away?"

The vice-headmaster paused for a moment, then nodded. "Apparently one of the Rank-A legends showed up in the Canelo residential district recently."

Adelle blinked. "Huh?"

"I’m not joking. That legend showed up to lend a hand when Dale, a Rank-D Hunter, arrived late, letting an infiltrating Invader nearly kill a police officer. That legend just happened to be passing by and ended up stepping in to help."

"This... you’re not messing with me, right? I remember all of them being incredibly busy. You know, the far-off invaded territories out there are crawling with powerful Invaders, forcing them to fight nonstop out there every single day. They almost never come back."

That was information genuinely hard to believe. If true, it would be an extraordinarily valuable piece of news, one bound to cause a real stir, but the odds of it being false were fairly high too.

So, Adelle figured she probably didn’t need to dwell on it any further, at least, not for now.

"Anything else?"

"....." The vice-headmaster fell silent, her expression darkening slightly, a faint sheen of cold sweat visible on her face.

Seeing that, Adelle went quiet too, her face draining of color.

"I don’t want to hear it," she said, before the vice-headmaster had even had a chance to say anything at all. But judging by that expression alone, everything had already been explained well enough.

The vice-headmaster let out a sigh. "...That criminal organization reached out to us. Apparently they have documents that could, if used properly, put Eland Dimne in serious danger, possibly even bankrupt him entirely."

Hearing that, Adelle immediately felt a headache coming on.

’Of course. What on earth is actually going on with these lunatics?’

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