“Imeve, let me speak.”
“Alright.”
At this moment, an elderly man wearing the uniform of the Titan Prosecution Office walked in.
Imeve flashed a slight smile at Ain and obediently stepped back behind the old man.
He was the Grand Chief Arbiter of the Titan Prosecution Office, Lance.
“Lord Grand Chief Arbiter!”
Finn bowed respectfully and said, “How may I help you, sir?”
“There shouldn't be any issues regarding yesterday's team assignments, right?”
Last night, Finn had represented the academy's faction to discuss the team assignments with the other forces.
Regarding last night's meeting, Finn had nearly had a heart attack.
Almost all the participants in that meeting were the leaders of their respective factions.
The Titan Prosecution Office had sent Grand Chief Arbiter Lance.
Representing the Church was the current Archbishop, Noctis.
As for the chamber of commerce and the mercenaries, they consisted of noble factions with ties to the royal family, as well as a Tier 6 Sword Saint.
Only the Golden Branch Academy had sent a mere Tier 4 Mage, Finn.
It could be said that under the pressure of those heavyweights, it was already a massive victory that Finn had managed to hold his ground and secure the academy's basic interests during the meeting.
Seeing the arrival of the Grand Chief Arbiter, Finn instantly had a bad premonition. At this moment, he could only pray in his heart that his dean would arrive quickly.
After all, this operation was originally supposed to be personally handled by Loretta.
However, for some reason, Loretta had not shown up, leaving Finn to temporarily take on the role of lead instructor for the operation.
Currently, the academy was the easiest target among all the factions.
Lance smiled and nodded, then said, “That was indeed the case.”
“However, a minor accident has occurred.”
“Late last night, the Church's Saintess detected a Holy Light spell originating from Cassandra.”
“The location it was cast from happens to be the heart of Cassandra...”
Finn looked at Lance in surprise and murmured, “The heart of Cassandra?”
“Yes, the great rift valley that runs through the entire city-state.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, many students began whispering among themselves.
“I heard that's the area with the most chaotic mana, right?”
“Apparently, even monsters can't enter...”
“Isn't that place classified as a forbidden zone?”
Finn asked in confusion, “So, what does this mean?”
Lance replied, “That Holy Light spell was highly unique. Based on the frequency and practical effect of the signal...”
“It was a distress signal.”
Finn was shocked. “A distress signal? In that place? That's impossible, right?”
Lance handed Finn a Magic Letter. The magic runes on it were pulsing continuously, outlining data sets and textual descriptions.
“It is indeed highly improbable for someone to be in the forbidden zone. However, a few days ago, the aftermath of the battle between the Church's Archbishop and an unidentified monster to protect the city-state happened to strike that very area.”
“Most of the mana instability has dissipated, and quite a few monsters are even gathering there now...”
“Furthermore, that happens to be the crash site of one of the transport ships.”
Lance chuckled. “It's just that the location is a bit remote.”
“Therefore, after our discussion this morning, we have unanimously decided to split a new squad from the main column to head to that transport ship and carry out a search and rescue operation.”
“Currently, the rescue team already includes Church nuns, arbiters from the Titan Prosecution Office, and mercenaries from the chamber of commerce...”
“All we're missing now is the academy.”
Finn's expression turned somewhat grim.
He knew absolutely nothing about any of this.
Moreover, the “we” Lance had just referred to clearly did not include the academy.
The teams and missions had already been assigned, yet this piece of information was suddenly dropped on them.
This was a blatant attempt to target the academy.
The students began whispering again.
“What does that mean? Does someone from our side need to join that rescue team?”
“Who would dare to go? There are even mercenaries from the chamber of commerce in there. Didn't you see how badly that guy was beaten yesterday? He was spitting blood all over the floor!”
“Who would dare go to a place classified as an imperial forbidden zone...”
“What distress signal? I bet it's just a trap set by scavengers.”
“It's not our main mission anyway, so it should be fine if we don't go, right?”
Finn also found the situation highly troublesome.
This was not within the academy's scope of duty at all.
Assisting the auction and the royal family in recovering the auction items was merely the academy's surface mission.
And there was another layer of the hidden mission that only Finn knew about: obtaining information related to the compass from the auction items.
“Lord Grand Chief Arbiter, will this rescue operation delay our main mission?”
“As far as I know, that area might be contaminated by monsters. Furthermore, once inside, the terrain is narrow, making it extremely difficult to retreat...”
Finn's face darkened as he continued, “Not to mention, the density of monsters there is extremely high...”
“And isn't there also a Tier 5 sandworm lurking there?”
Hearing this, the students were all taken aback.
A Tier 5 monster was simply too far beyond their league.
“A Tier 5 monster?”
“That's basically no different from suicide...”
Lance smiled slightly and said, “The Church's nuns excel in healing magic, so you don't need to worry. Furthermore, we are well aware that those present here are the elites of the academy.”
“They only need to cooperate with members of the other factions. The students will only need to act in critical moments, and most of the time, they will just assist with the team's logistics.”
“As for that Tier 5 monster, it is currently in hibernation, so there is no need to worry too much.”
After saying this, Lance paused slightly and waved his hand, finally baring his fangs.
A transparent magic barrier expanded between him and Finn, shutting out all external sound.
Finn's gaze sharpened. Only now did he realize that Lance's previous words were all meant solely for the benefit of the students.
“So... what is your objective?”
Lance's smile did not fade.
“To carry out a rescue operation for a ‘commoner’ in imminent danger, of course. It's as simple as that.”
Finn pondered for a moment and replied, “The difficulty of this mission is too high. As an academy instructor, I have the right to refuse this operational request.”
Lance unhurriedly handed over a Magic Letter bearing the imperial royal seal.
“As an academy instructor, you certainly have the right to manage the academy's actions.”
“But please do not forget that this operation is an order from the royal family.”
“We have already made the greatest concessions for this operation. Each faction is required to provide at least ten percent of its combat strength to participate in this rescue mission.”
“If you wish to refuse...”
Lance sneered contemptuously.
“You will be deemed as refusing to execute a royal command and deliberately obstructing the operation.”
Now, Finn finally understood the other party's goal.
They wanted to completely push the academy out of this operation!
Rate on N.U.
