EP.121 Rescue (5)
Nairel's rescue operation took much longer than expected.
That long, drawn-out operation finally came to a successful end.
'I don't know why this day feels so long.'
The kidnapper leader must have used sealing through his eyes, because once we blindfolded him, he couldn't resist.
Fran healed him just enough to keep him alive.
"Since the sacred artifact was enhanced, controlling my ability has become easier. I can heal exactly as much as I want to."
We hadn't had time to examine what abilities were strengthened after upgrading the sacred artifact to +11, but we finally discovered one of its enhancement effects.
"Haeshi!!!"
"Nairel!!! Waaaaaah!!!"
The two best friends burst into tears as soon as they reunited.
They kept crying until their eyes were so swollen they looked like frogs.
The knights and teachers cleanly captured all the remaining gang members without missing a single one.
And they were very surprised that we had captured their leader.
"We thought we had no choice but to let him get away. His men were determined to ensure their leader's escape."
According to Rebecca, the leader had placed seals on their side and escaped while his subordinates held them back.
"There must be a limit to how many people he can seal. It's probably at least three people, and he does it through eye contact."
Apparently, both the knights and teachers were thrown off balance by the ability sealing, which led to their downfall.
"The ability sealing was honestly very disconcerting. We'd never seen anything like it..."
"It really felt awful."
As luck would have it, Rebecca was one of those who got sealed, and because of that, she couldn't do anything and was just a burden at first.
"But later on, she contributed a lot even without her abilities."
While losing one's ability was shocking, it didn't affect physical capabilities, and Rebecca quickly adapted to help the others.
The other sealed awakeners were too panicked to be of any help.
Rebecca was the only one who managed to be useful.
"Then our abilities came back, and from there, well, we subdued them quickly as you can see. Though we were all dejected about losing the leader until we found out you had caught him!!"
The knights nodded and gave thumbs up from the side.
The kids grinned from ear to ear at the adults' praise.
"Hehe... it was nothing!"
"Actually, we didn't do much, the mister did most of it."
"We'll talk about the details later, but get ready to receive your medals. With this achievement, you might even get decorated."
"What???"
"Medals?"
"Yes, not from the Academy but from the state. And you'll be getting one too."
"Me too?"
"Well, you caught the leader, did you think you wouldn't get one?"
Along with Ariane, Vine, Shine, and Fran who made great contributions to rescuing the kidnapped child, I would be receiving one too.
State medals carried much more weight than Academy medals.
Academy medals don't put food on the table, but state medals do.
I heard the monthly pension that comes with them is quite substantial, depending on the medal's rank.
'Well, there's no reason to refuse if they're offering.'
I just nodded and went along with Rebecca's words.
Afterwards, Nairel left the Academy to recover.
Her parents came to pick her up personally.
It seemed we wouldn't be seeing Nairel for a while.
She would need at least a few months of rest at home.
"The lockdown has finally been lifted."
The lockdown that had been imposed on the Academy city was finally lifted.
Those who had been trapped in the city, frustrated with all sorts of complaints, rushed out in droves, while those who had been waiting outside streamed in.
As the blocked supplies started flowing again, the soaring prices dropped sharply.
"I didn't expect things to return to normal in just three days."
Three days.
In just three days, the city regained its normal appearance.
A week later, I heard through Rebecca about what happened to the kidnappers.
"Seems they were a large group that relied heavily on their leader's ability. If they had succeeded in kidnapping Nairel, they would have become an even bigger headache later."
The leader's sealing ability was particularly special.
Ability sealing is especially lethal in the world of awakeners.
"After experiencing it myself, I understand how terrifying that ability is. Just imagine if he had money too."
What if they had taken Nairel and manufactured awakener drugs to sell?
They would have been rolling in money and could have rapidly expanded their influence.
'I wonder if they were that criminal organization from the main scenario?'
Maybe I prevented an incredibly important incident without even knowing it.
"How did they get the Academy's internal information?"
"They blackmailed an administrative staff member. That employee went to prison too."
Even if they were blackmailed, leaking student information was a serious offense.
They were blackmailed so they had no choice?
Instead of handing over the children's personal information, they should have told the headmaster and asked for help.
And.
"When we traced the finances, we found they had taken money after giving up the children's information. They were probably persuaded after being blackmailed. They probably wanted to keep using them."
"Pretty clever."
Usually, those who harm others tend to be more intelligent.
They not only use their good abilities and intelligence for their own benefit but also think nothing of harming others if it benefits them.
"It'll be tough for them to survive, won't it?"
The parents of the kidnapped children definitely won't let this slide.
And the Academy probably won't go easy on the employee who leaked internal information either.
"Of course. They'll definitely be executed. But at least they won't be lonely on their way to the afterlife."
"Have their punishments all been decided?"
"Yes, all the criminals involved will be executed, every last one."
"Execution? All of them?"
I didn't expect the Academy to come down this hard.
"It's satisfying, but no exception for the leader?"
"No, he's no exception either."
Honestly, I thought they would use the leader as a test subject since his ability was so good.
But it seems the Academy handled things decisively.
'Or maybe... they'll publicly say it's execution but secretly spirit him away.'
I figured I didn't need to worry about such detailed aftermath.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
In front of the general store.
Knights in formal uniforms surrounded the entrance of the general store.
The knights hadn't surrounded the store for any bad reason.
"Thank you so much for your cooperation and help with the rescue operation."
"...It's nothing. I only did what needed to be done."
They had just swarmed here to give me a medal.
The problem was that even in this sketchy back alley, people still lived here.
The neighborhood residents were stealing glances at our store, surprised by the sudden appearance of knights.
Since no neighbors had ever approached us warmly before, this attention was uncomfortably burdensome.
"You could have just called me to come receive it."
"How could we casually summon our benefactor? Actually, we wanted to present the medal following more formal procedures, but hearing that you might find that uncomfortable, we prepared this simplified version."
"Oh no, I hate that kind of thing. This is already too much."
Just thinking about the knights' behavior during the medal ceremony still made me dizzy.
'As soon as I opened the door, they started the ceremony, and I ended up receiving it before I knew what was happening...'
The knights in silver armor knelt on one knee to form a path, and a knight wearing an ornate helmet approached me holding a medal with both hands.
I had to kneel to express gratitude to an emperor I'd never seen in my life, and had to receive the medal respectfully with both hands.
As soon as I received the medal, the knights rose from their kneeling position as if they'd been waiting for this moment, and raised their swords forward to form an 'X' shape by crossing them.
Bwooooo—!
The grand instrumental music, which I can barely remember now, woke up everyone in the neighborhood.
'This is terrible.'
Even thinking about it again, it's something I never want to experience twice.
"I just helped out a bit with what the kids did, this is too much."
When it became known that without me, they would have lost both the criminal leader and failed to rescue Nairel, the medal I received ended up being several ranks higher than expected.
The knights' display of courtesy and discipline wasn't without reason.
The medal I received was gleaming silver.
Somehow, the area around my chest where the medal hung felt incredibly heavy.
"Now I'll explain in detail what benefits you're entitled to with this medal."
All the other knights withdrew, and a man who appeared to be a civil servant remained to continue explaining various things to me.
I decided to ask what I'd been curious about, now that all the knights had left.
"But isn't this too much just for catching some criminals?"
It was just taking down one criminal organization.
Although it was an unusual situation with an Academy student being kidnapped, the treatment I was receiving now seemed like excessive compensation.
"While I can't explain in detail, if we had lost the leader, many people would have been in serious trouble, and this is an appropriate and justified reward. Moreover, since you, Sir Suhan, made the greatest contribution to capturing the leader, this level of medal is only natural."
"I guess the state also considered ability sealing to be dangerous."
"Yes, it's an extremely dangerous and rare ability. His Majesty showed unusual interest in the fact that we had missed such an ability."
"....."
His Majesty...
Such a distant existence.
That's when the civil servant brought up something unsettling.
"Before awarding the medal, we noticed some peculiarities and went directly to the Duke to inquire about the situation."
"......"
This is why I hate standing out.
"You have quite an unusual background."
"Well... I haven't lived an ordinary life. Do you perhaps doubt my credentials?"
Was he talking about the fact that I only awakened after 30 years?
Or was he referring to my mercenary background?
In truth, if the civil servant had decided to investigate thoroughly, there was a high chance he would have uncovered everything.
"No, we believe you. We shouldn't be prejudiced just because something has no precedent."
"......"
Damn, they must have noticed.
I thought the Duke's family had taken care of it, but I didn't expect it to be exposed so easily.
"However, we investigated your background to confirm the truth."
The civil servant boldly admitted to investigating my past.
"It's a bit nerve-wracking, but I haven't done anything bad in my life, so I'm not too worried."
"Haha, of course. I heard you spent 14 years as a mercenary hunting monsters. If you were afraid of enlisting, you wouldn't have chosen being a mercenary as your livelihood. Moreover, we found that you took an awakening assessment test when you were 16."
"Your investigation goes that far?"
This is fascinating.
This isn't even the modern era, yet they could find out about what I did when I was 16.
These civil servants' investigative skills are quite impressive.