The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 107
A password.
Rachel couldn’t hide her shock.
She hadn’t anticipated this at all. Her fists clenched so hard her palms ached, yet the pain barely registered through the haze of her panic.
“The password. Now.”
The soldier guarding the back entrance spoke with impatience.
‘What do I do…?’
This situation had never existed in the scenario.
Rachel bit her lip and turned toward Lucas, holding her breath to see how he would navigate this impossible predicament.
Lucas opened his mouth slowly. She wanted to read his expression—to know what he was thinking—but the darkness concealed it entirely.
“Last checkpoint. The password.”
“Anareо of Zik.”
Lucas spoke the password as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The soldier nodded in acknowledgment.
“The headcount matches those who left. You know the password. You’re clear to pass.”
Thanks to Lucas, they slipped through the back entrance without incident. Rachel exhaled with relief.
‘How did he know the password?’
For Rachel, this situation was entirely new. But Lucas had been seasoned by the continental war—versed in every aspect of warfare. Anticipating that the back entrance would require a password, he had sent a spy to obtain it beforehand.
Rachel would learn this detail only later.
‘Focus on the present for now.’
She exhaled quietly and pushed the cart forward with renewed force.
Lucas, pushing the first cart, seemed to know exactly where to go. It occurred to her that he must have already studied a map of the castle’s interior.
Rachel kept her head bowed, concealing her face as much as she could. No matter how dark it was, showing her face openly would do nothing to help.
All five carts arrived at the water storage building. Lucas gave a hand signal, and Henry surveyed the surroundings carefully before quietly picking up a torch. He then hurled it into a pile of straw.
“Fire!!”
Henry’s shout echoed across the space. In the same instant, Rachel and the Commoner Mages gathered Mana in their hands. They hurled the crystallized orbs of Mana at the roof.
The building collapsed, and Anareо soldiers who had been deep in sleep came pouring out defenseless. Rachel and the Commoner Mages gathered Mana once more and struck what remained of the roof.
“Retreat immediately!”
Lucas issued the command. Rachel, Henry, and the Commoner Mages fled toward the back entrance under cover of darkness and chaos. Fortunately, no one was guarding it.
They escaped Zik Castle without further incident.
* * *
It was a perfect victory. Lucas, Rachel, Henry, and the Commoner Mages celebrated their triumph.
According to the spy’s report, more than half of Anareо’s forces had sustained injuries.
Crucially, two of the three Mages who controlled the Ancient Magical Beast had been gravely wounded. If things continued as they were, the Ancient Magical Beast would no longer pose a threat.
“I’m so relieved everything went according to plan.”
Rachel sighed with relief. To be honest, it had been an audacious operation. She had faith in Lucas and pushed forward with it, but if asked whether it was safe, she would have to answer no.
“Without the Commoner Mages you selected, this operation would have been impossible.”
Lucas credited Rachel for the success. She let out a small laugh at his words. How could she not love a man who always thought of her first?
“Lucas, did you perhaps receive a letter from Theo and Noah?”
Rachel asked. Lucas nodded in response.
“I was worried about how Theo and Noah were managing, so I’m truly grateful they’re doing well.”
“It’s remarkable that those children have grown enough to write and send letters like that.”
Lucas spoke from the heart. Rachel shared the same sentiment. How astonishing that those boys had grown so much.
“Now we simply need to do our part well.”
Rachel smiled brightly. At that, Lucas stepped closer to her.
She knew what he meant to do. With that knowledge, she closed her eyes.
Lucas’s lips brushed against her forehead and withdrew. Rachel felt the warmth of him completely.
“Rachel.”
“Yes… Lucas.”
“Even if arrows and spears fly toward me, I will always be at your side. I intend to protect you.”
His words reminded her once again that, no matter what anyone said, Lucas was on her side. She nodded in response.
As she took his hand, she thought the war was drawing to a close. Arrogantly so, perhaps.
* * *
“Does that make any sense?!”
The Emperor of Anareо shouted. He could scarcely believe that half his forces had been consumed in infighting.
“Those cursed Tirnes fools.”
He ground his teeth and hurled the documents he held onto the floor. They detailed the extent of his army’s losses in meticulous, damning detail.
“There’s no point reading these! The bottom line is that we Anareо are now in dire straits!”
The Emperor of Anareо ground his teeth once more.
In all his life, he had never known such humiliation. During the continental war, he had held the position of Crown Prince. He had only watched as his father returned defeated from battle.
Never having experienced defeat firsthand until now, every moment of this catastrophe suffocated him.
“What of the Mage Corps?”
“They’ve sustained heavy casualties as well….”
The soldier’s voice trailed to a whisper. The Emperor of Anareо brought his fist down against the table with a resounding bang.
“Does no one intend to formulate a single countermeasure?”
He shouted the words, but there was no knight or mage present who could offer an answer. This silence only deepened the Emperor’s fury.
“Your Majesty.”
It was in that moment, as the Emperor of Anareо fought to master his rage, that a soldier arrived from the Imperial Palace.
“A letter, sent by the Crown Prince.”
The Emperor of Anareо had always placed absolute faith in his son. Certain that the letter would contain good tidings, he swiftly broke the seal.
As he read, his expression hardened with each line. What could it possibly mean? The knights and mages seated around the chamber could scarcely conceal their curiosity.
Moments later, having finished the letter, he spoke.
“All of you—leave. I shall summon those I require later.”
Moments before, he had raged. Now he was composed in a way that seemed almost unnatural. What could that letter contain? The knights and mages exchanged glances as they departed.
The council chamber emptied the instant the Emperor’s command fell. He read the letter again.
‘So that is how it stands….’
The Tirnes camp was meticulous in its operations. Even with spies, reliable intelligence often failed to arrive.
The Emperor of Anareо had learned that moving troops on faulty intelligence would only invite disaster. He did his best to trust his own judgment and instinct.
‘If this information proves accurate….’
But the contents of the letter were grounded in intelligence from his spy in Tirnes.
The intelligence was simple.
Rachel Swan, the fiancée of Tirnes’s Crown Prince Lucas Maxim, was present on the battlefield. If she were abducted, Anareо could gain leverage in any negotiation with Tirnes.
‘He brought his fiancée to the battlefield.’
There could be only two reasons. Either he could not leave her unguarded in the Imperial Palace, or she possessed an ability that rendered her invaluable to the war effort.
The Emperor of Anareо stared at the letter, then turned his thoughts to the question: why would the Crown Prince’s fiancée be on the battlefield?
‘It must be the latter. She is indispensable to Tirnes’s war effort.’
Not only did she serve the Tirnes Army in some vital capacity—she was also the Crown Prince’s betrothed.
There was more than reason enough to abduct her.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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