Science/Magic

I'm posting this announcement together with five chapters of both series. In this announcement, I plan to explain detailedly my current situation as well as my plans for the future.     

Firstly, sorry about the irregular releases, but I was very busy with work. I was working on a very important project in RL, and it meant that I could not put as much time as before into writing.     

Actually, writing is not a problem. I love to write very much, and even when I was tired, I could write one or two chapters easily.     

The problem is editing.     

As many of you probably noticed, English is not my native tongue. It means that there are some nuances of the tongue that I find hard to understand. Due to that, I dedicate a lot of time to edit each chapter (around twenty minutes to half an hour) to make the chapters as readable as possible, and even so, it's normal to see mistakes in the chapters.     

However, editing is boring and tiresome. For the ten chapters I'm posting today, for example, I used almost four hours to edit them. That is a lot of time and the main reason the chapters take longer to be posted.     

Actually, I finished writing the ten chapters yesterday, but only edited half of them, and the rest were edited today.     

Well, changing the topic, the busiest time at work already ended. From this week (last week actually), my work hours will be until noon, so I can use the rest of the time to write. In other words, releases should return to normal this week.     

Of course, if there is something urgent at work, I will have to work the entire day, and most likely I'll be unable to post, but I'll make sure to announce it beforehand (In P4TRE0N).     

I'll be posting the chapters I owe from last week (three for S/M and five for FP), plus the chapters of this week.     

And nope, I'm not planning to drop the novels. As I told you, I like to write a lot, plus, Fourth Prince is close to the end, and I'm going to end it.     

Also, my schedule should change next year. Wait for the news (Good news).     

With love, Aidka :p     

...     

"Headmistress, something bad happened! Another student disappeared!"     

A young woman barged inside the top floor of the Great Library with an anxious expression.     

Wave frowned. She glanced at Bloed briefly before looking at the young woman.     

"Again? When?"     

"Y-Yesterday. H-He went out on a mission and was then kidnapped!"     

"These bastards." Wave's body flashed and appeared in front of the young woman, grabbing the papers she was holding.     

Bloed also stood up and followed after her. The young woman was slightly surprised when she realized there was someone else on the floor, but she did not anything.     

When Headmistress Wave finished reading the information about the student disappeared, her expression sank.     

"Can I read it?" Bloed asked.     

Wave hesitated slightly, but in the end, she passed it to him.     

"Anyway, this information is not a secret."     

When Bloed read the information, he realized the reason behind Wave's dark expression.     

According to it, the student kidnapped was a beastman. He was kidnapped when he was doing a mission together with four students else.     

The team of five was attacked in the middle of the night, and although the enemies were repelled, the beastman was kidnapped and taken away.     

Bloed furrowed his brows when he finished reading the information.     

This incident… Seemed awfully strange.     

Just when he finished reading, Headmistress Wave asked something to the young woman.     

"Did anything else happen?"     

"W-Well…" The young woman hesitated and bit her lips anxiously. "The representatives of several countries, including two beastmen countries, are asking us for an explanation. They want to know how we are going to resolve this problem."     

Wave thought for a moment and nodded. "I understand, you can leave."     

"Understood."     

Bowing respectfully, the woman left, leaving only Headmistress Wave and Bloed behind.     

Before Bloed could ask anything, Headmistress Wave smiled at him with an apologetic expression.     

"I'm sorry, Boy. I think that we will have to end our chat here."     

"… I understand. Don't worry."     

"How about this? We will meet again once later. That way, both of us will have time to digest what we learned."     

"I'm fine with that."     

"Perfect. I'll teleport you to the entrance then. By the way, the War of Clubs will start soon. I wish you luck."     

Smiling softly, Wave waved her hand, creating a magic circle below Bloed's feet that flashed and teleported him away.     

Immediately after that, Headmistress Evelyn's expression turned ice cold.     

"Hmph! It looks like some people are underestimating my Academy City."     

Then, her eyes flashed, and her powerful mana spread outwards, covering thousands of kilometers in an instant.     

With a smile full of killing intent, the dragon headmistress disappeared from the Great Library.     

"It's time to catch some rats."     

…     

When Bloed left the Great Library, his expression was somber.     

He kept remembering the information he read in the report about the student disappeared, thinking about it carefully.     

'I'm sure of it. Something about it is fishy.'     

Even when he returned to Machinery Revolution tower, Bloed continued thinking about it, convinced that something was wrong.     

Just at that moment, he noticed a fox girl lazing on a couch in the hall of the tower.     

"Eve…"     

The fox ears of the golden-haired girl twitched when she heard her name. She then looked towards Bloed and tilted her head expressionlessly.     

"… Is anything wrong? You look worried about something."     

Bloed fell silent for a moment, thinking about what he just read.     

A few seconds later, he opened his mouth.     

"… Another student disappeared today." He said.     

"Is it so?" Eve's ears perked up, obviously interested in the topic. "It looks like Returning Dusk is very active lately."     

But Bloed shook his head.     

"I don't think it was returning dusk."     

Eve stiffened.     

She then stared at Bloed with a deep gaze, her expressionless look emitting a feeling of utmost seriousness.     

"Tell me about the situation."     

Bloed nodded and repeated what he read.     

When he finished speaking, he looked at Eve intensely.     

The ex-saintess of Moonlight Glow looked down and sighed.     

"So it finally happened, huh."     

"It was not Returning Dusk, right?" Bloed asked. "Until now, Returning Dusk has been incredibly careful with its actions. This kind of badly-executed plan where four students escaped doesn't sound like them."     

"… You are right, it was not Returning Dusk." Eve confirmed Bloed's guess. "It's something worse. The ones behind it were some rulers of the four races."     

"The four races?"     

"Yes… Bloed, what do you think about Academy City?"     

Bloed was startled and fell silent.     

He did not know why Eve jumped topics so suddenly, but understanding that it was somehow related, he replied after thinking carefully.     

"It's a great place. To be honest, it is much better than I expected. I have never seen so many people of different races living together."     

Eve nodded. "It's indeed a great place. Wave built it in the center of the continent, a place bordering the territories of the four races and the beasts' wilderness. It's in a perfectly neutral place, showing no preference for any of the races. Due to it, it managed to become a city where the four races can live together almost without prejudice.     

"Back when Wave built it one hundred years ago, Academy City became a symbol of peace. A banner of hope after the disaster caused by the war against the Blight. It was something like a promise to a ceasefire.     

"... But unfortunately, one hundred years have already passed."     

Bloed was startled, but then, his eyes flashed with realization.     

"I see… In other words, Academy City stopped being useful and instead became an obstacle." Bloed said with a sarcastic smile.     

"You are smart.�� Eve did not deny it. "One hundred years have passed, and some parties have grown strong and are not happy with the status quo. The most ambitious ones are waiting for the moment perfect moment to start a war. You have noticed it, right? How the chaos around the continent has increased greatly in recent years…"     

Bloed fell silent. Of course, he noticed it.     

He was present during Diadel Duchy's coup d'etat, and participated in the conflict between The Great Savannah, The Sun Kingdom, and The Boerner Elven Forest for territory.     

However, he never imagined that the situation had reached such a critical point.     

"In truth, students have disappeared in Academy City since forever," Eve said with an indifferent look. "It can't be avoided. No matter how great Wave is, she is unable to stop all the crimes in the city. It's normal for someone occasionally to die or to disappear, and nobody will make a fuss for it.     

"But now, many parties think that Academy City is unnecessary. It's an obstacle to their ambitions. But unfortunately for them, Academy City has existed for a very long time, and its foundations are firm.     

"Thus, they can only move like termites, silently chewing off the foundations of the city and crumbling it from the inside. And for them, Returning Dusk's incident was the perfect excuse."     

"It created an opening." Bloed sighed.     

"Yes, and now they want to expand it. Make the problem as big as they can and then find an excuse to intervene in the city, and if they can, take control of it."     

Bloed's expression turned dark. Listening to Eve's words, he could not help but feel disgusted by the greediness of these people.     

He felt disgusted when he learned that Returning Dusk kidnapped students for their nefarious plans, but he felt even more disgusted when he learned that the rulers of the four races took advantage of that to harm the city.     

Understanding Bloed's thoughts, the usually expressionless Eve put on a small smile.     

"Don't worry, Bloed. Academy City is not so fragile as you think, and Wave is much more capable than most people believe. They will not fall so easily.     

"Instead, you should worry about your club. The War of Clubs will start soon."     

Bloed nodded with a pensive expression.     

Just like Eve said, it was not his place to worry about whatever is happening to the city.     

Instead, he should finish his preparations for the War of Clubs.     

...     

And the start of the War of Clubs arrived.