Chapter 290 - 290- Festival 21-A ticking bomb

Words : 1710 Updated : Oct 7th, 2025

The Lecture Hall had never been as busy as it was now, with the constant movement of the Lecturers to and fro in handling the sudden situation. The reason for the commotion, though, Raph was about to find out. He walked into the building, locking the door behind him as the tension brewing within the walls of the Staff Building struck him like a baseball bat. He looked around in confusion, noticing the large screen in the middle of the building showcasing the Treasure hunt. 'They have one in here too?' He wondered as he walked up the lane towards one of the cubicles. There, a lecturer, a blonde female with blue eyes in a female suit, turned towards him in startlement, puzzled by his appearance. "Why are you here? Raffaello Jun?" Raph scoffed, his gaze shifting to the screen. "I actually came to see Professor Katherin concerning her pupils?" He stated. The Lecturer raised a brow. "We are on the case, Raffaelo. You don't have the right to come over here just because you witnessed a participant breaking the rules". She clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned away before continuing her paperwork. Her attitude left little to take note worthy of but her statement did make him confused. He turned away and continued down the lane, ignoring her remark. He was going to find her anyway, so why let that bother him? 'What does she mean by breaking the rules...I'm more concerned about their origin....and their connection with the System Uprisers. Who gives a fuck about breaking rules?' Just then, an image caught his attention, drawing him to the screens. The magic screens were arts of magic crafts, that replayed the fight scenes and events that unfolded live. The image of Andrej showed vividly on the screen in his boosted transformation, causing Raph to narrow down his gaze at the sight. 'Hah....this is familiar'. The sight looked natural at first glance, but with his heightened visual prowess, and after taking a more detailed glance, he could tell it wasn't. 'An artificial booster? But...that only...' It seemed like the clogs of time turned in his head as he recalled a past memory from his past life. A frown formed on his face at the thought, his gaze narrowing as he turned away from the screen and looked around. 'Oh, so that's why here seems so....motivated?' He thought in amusement as a light chuckle escaped his lips. 'Katherin will be the best suspect on how our students got that.....but for now, let's have a chat, shall we?' His eyes suddenly flicked with a malevolent hue, a whitish glow shimmering within them. He looked around, focusing on the people around him as the image transcribed on his eyes transformed into a new zone. Humans seemed to be see-through, laying their internal flow out in the open for all to see....or, in this case, for him to see. He looked around for a while, noting down their energy flow and pathways while taking images on their status screen at the same time. 'I already know how Katherine's mana flow looks like....now, all I need to do is locate'. Walking down the lane between the cubicles, he held his head high as he ignored the commotion around him. Why wouldn't there be commotion when the staff were trying to offset the public from getting the news of one of their students resorting to that? A drug used since ancient times thought to be lost had resurfaced. This may seem like a little incident for the younger generations, like Raph and his peers, but the adults knew what this implied. And Raph did as well. After walking about for a while, he stopped at a locked cubicle, which seemed to have been alienated from the rest. His gaze saw through the hard exterior of the room, unable to lock its contents away from his grasp. There seemed to be mana blockage of some kind as what he saw after peering through the walls were magical circles with locks imprinted on them. He narrowed his gaze, strengthening it with aura as he peered further into the mana circle. It didn't take a minute, but it broke, shattered, and gave way for him. A solemn silence suffused around him as a smirk formed on his lips. What he saw was a confirmation of his theory. 'Katherin will get in trouble, wouldn't she?' In the room were four figures, three with familiar mana flow and one, he had never seen before. He walked over to the door, his hands slowly reaching out for the knob when a firm grasp clenched his shoulder, snapping him from his focus. With a sigh, he turned around to find the source. "Professor Cadwin, fancy meeting you here". "....Raph, this is the Staff Building". Professor Cadwin replied with a raised brow, his gaze flickering to the door. "What were you doing at Katherine's door?" He asked. "Oh, nothing! You know...her two students seemed intriguing so I just wanted to find out more". Cadwin stared at Raph for a moment, as if trying to peer into his soul, but something like that would be more difficult than putting a tin can into a sardine. "find out about what?" His thoughts reeled in, but for some reason, he avoided jumping to conclusions. Cadwin was well aware of the stakes Katherin and his former childhood friends were going through to reach their goal. And a member of the Great Household finding it out wouldn't be much help to them. Raph remained silent for a moment, reaching his hand for Cadwins and holding it firmly while it remained on his shoulder. "I hope, Professor Cadwin...that we are on the same page?" Cadwin raised a brow, a shiver running down his spine. "You're a kid, Raph. Don't talk like you're all that. Why would I need to be on the same page as a kid?" "Hah...it's nothing. Just, a lot of uprisers these days, don't you think?" Cadwin internally sighed, a heavy feeling descending upon him. Despite his best efforts to control their activity, it wasn't working as efficiently as he had hoped. "Uprisers huh? If anything like that was even possible, I'm sure the Great families would have whipped them off by now". Raph sighed as he took steps back while he dropped Cadwins arm off his shoulder. "Oh, trust me. We will". He replied with a smirk, his gaze shifting to the screen. "You guys should do something about that child, Andrej was it? What he used was a crimson puff wasn't it?" Cadwins eyes bulged open in shock, his surprise palpable by the width of it. "Those things boost your power for a moment, but the after-effects are tedious.....other than the fact that they've gotten from the scales of a Demon King, of course". He turned around and walked away, a tune blowing from his lips as he did so. Raph had not accomplished what he came to do, but he at least confirmed a few things. 'Cadwin isn't one of them....but he's trying to defend them? At the end of the day, one must choose between a hard place and a rock....both will cause you pain; you just have to choose what kind of pain is worth suffering for.' Cadwin watched Raph walk towards the exit, and with a sigh, he turned the doorknob on Katherine's door and walked in. The sudden intrusion grabbed the attention of the others by surprise, but Katherine's chirpy voice broke through it. "Cardy dear, you decided to show up?" She said excitedly. "Enough of the bullshit. Your crappy student just used a Crimson Puff in front of the whole Academy". Cadwins tone was sharp and daring, a testament to his bottled-up emotions. "The principal has had enough, and he'll handle the System Uprisers himself". Katherin laughed out loud while the others looked away in disgust. "Did he know? Well, that's too bad". "You have to choose a side, Cadwin". Crown Bishop interjected with a distasteful tone in his voice. "Why do you warn us still?". Cadwin snapped his gaze towards Crown, a frown on his face as he clenched his fist in anger. "Did you not think for a second that I was bothered by all this?" He asked, his tone laced with repressed rage. "How many times do you think I've gone to the Principal for your sake? I am the reason you all are still here alive! Without me, this group would be dead!" A tense silence ensued, the individuals gathered in the room staring at him with insensitive stares. "Did we ask you?". Cadwin froze up in shock, the question hitting him like a thunderbolt as he bent his head low, his frown easing up into a wry smile. A tense silence ensued, his memories reeling in as his meeting with the Principal played out in his head. FLASHBACK A few days ago at the onset of the Festival, Cadwin was on his desk as he always was, busy with paperwork and the likes of Academy school works. The exams were three days after the Festival ended, and that was a whole different drama compared to the festival so he had been busy like every other Professor and Lecturer during this period. As he sat silently while taking a look over at a file, a distant voice rang in his head. "Cadwin, can we speak?"He flinched for a moment, then looked up. "Yes, Principal?" "Come here for a second. I need you to remind me why these Uprisers are still kept alive in my school". Cadwin sighed, a distasteful taste in his tongue as he stood up from his desk. "What did they do now?" "Sending a message to a Kingdom Wanted Cult Group was not part of the deal, Cadwin". Cadwin stopped in his tracks, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as he held his head with the palm of his head. "Hah....they've done it this time".

Chapter 290 - 290- Festival 21-A ticking bomb

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