Charlie's expression darkened as he stared blankly at the air.
But Ibaan knew exactly what he was looking at—the school system's fusion notification.
Charlie stood frozen, completely forgetting Ibaan's presence, even forgetting where he was. Ibaan stayed silent too, though the situation was painfully awkward. Dozens of eyes were on him as he stood there, blocking the doorway like a lost statue.
'Hell, this shit…' he thought, trying not to look at anyone.
Charlie finally coughed, still looking dazed and confused. Then he turned to Ibaan and said, "You go inside the class. I'll be back after the bathroom."
'Oh, take your time.'
"Alright," Ibaan replied quietly.
Entering the classroom, Ibaan let out a quiet sigh and opened the relic—just to see that Charlie had finally acquired the gang's relic.
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[Servants of Will]
Status:
Name: Ibaan De Light
Codename: Mask of Dusk [Leader]
> Members: Mask of Dawn [Vice-leader]
Mask of Shard
Mask of Shadow
Mask of Star
Mask of Sun
Mask of Moon
> Discussions: |Open□ Close■|
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As he scrolled through the relic, Ibaan was amazed. How had Selpe managed to handle all four members at once without them becoming suspicious? It seemed almost impossible.
Selpe had truly exceeded his expectations—she was someone who needed his attention now. Although Ibaan's main goal was still to find a way out of this world after completing his mission, now he found himself curious about Selpe as well. The journey to return home would be long, and he figured learning more about her wouldn't hurt.
While walking toward his bench, the students in the classroom stared at him, but he ignored them, settling into the bench that was now his own.
He was about to check the status of the other gang members—starting with Charlie—when, before he could do so, Charlie returned, along with the homeroom teacher.
Charlie sat down and gave Ibaan a sheepish smile. "I guess those bees gave me a stomachache."
'Huh!'
"Oh?" Ibaan muttered, unsure how to respond. Talking to people had never been his cup of tea.
Before they could talk further, the homeroom teacher spoke, taking the attention of the class. Her voice carried a hint of sorrow and something that couldn't be explained in words.
"Students, sorry to inform you again that today there will be no classes for the Mark Practices and others as well. On behalf of our staff, I sincerely apologize for informing the school's group late. It was sudden for us too. Suddenly, our defense security had an abnormal situation, and we are trying to figure out what's happening."
Ibaan's heart beat faster, he guessed that it might be the same as the inspectors on the morning in the Singing Street, and a conclusion formed in his mind.
'Huh? Is it a serious matter? Hell. We are in terrible trouble if it's just because of that private detective. I have to discuss it with Selpe.'
Although the teacher was Class A's student, she still wore a sorrowful expression, making Ibaan wonder what was really going on—and why he needed to find out.
The whispers among the students stopped as she continued, "So, my dear students, I prefer you take care of yourselves these days, and try your best to stay home and stay safe! You may go back home or stay here until noon. Thank you."
With that, she left the classroom, keeping the same calm demeanor without giving any more details. Some students were confused, while others were clearly happy about the news.
'It is serious. I guess I'll open the gang's discussion. Should I? I don't have a way to talk individually…'
After a moment of thought, he gave up on the idea of opening the discussion.
He stood up, looked at Charlie, and said, "I think I'll head back home."
Charlie, still looking exhausted from the earlier incident with the bees after Ibaan had fused the gang's relic, replied, "I'll go too."
They left the classroom. Charlie went to see his sister, while Ibaan headed toward Selpe—his wife. He really didn't want to go since she was in Class A. As a member of Class A, she could have been a teacher, and she had even had the chance, but she had refused for her own reasons—reasons that even Ibaan didn't know.
But there was a problem: Selpe's classmates and her friends never met or knew about Ibaan and about their relationship so it may ruin the reputation of Selpe, he couldn't go, not like this but he had got an idea. An interesting idea.
He went to the school washroom, climbed out through the window, and reached the back of the building. There were no surveillance cameras here.
He summoned [Mask of Dusk] from the relic. A dusky glow appeared, and a dense shadow coiled out—smoke forming shape, darkness solidifying into matter. The [Mask of Dusk] materialized in his hand, cold and almost weightless. It looked like blackened glass, veined with patterns like a serpent. A long, black horn extended from the extreme upper left edge, and its eye sockets glowed amber.
Although it wasn't especially powerful, he hadn't poured any energy into it—he couldn't even if he wanted to. It was just a mask, meant to hide the wearer's identity. Still, he could feel the Chikara emanating from it. It made sense—everything that exists has Chikara; without it, nothing could exist.
However he still had felt some unknown feeling while crafting the programmed system but he couldn't explain it.
Well the only thing was left now to ignore these thoughts.
And following that, he lifted the mask to his face and put it on.
The moment he did, he felt a connection to it. His vision sharpened slightly, and everything around him seemed to slow a little, even though he could still move normally.
It was absurd. He had only created it using the Concept of Create Threads while programming the relic—how could it contain any powers?
There were no answers.
But right now, pondering that wasn't his priority.
He ran toward the main entrance of the other building of the school, which was supposed to be for students of higher classes from B to S.
Everything around him seemed to move in slow motion, as if time itself had been slowed—but it hadn't. He was simply able to analyze everything in detail in less than a second. Perhaps it was the effect of the [Mask of Dusk].
On top of that, his physical abilities had been enhanced during his ascension to the [Apprentice Branch], allowing him to run faster. Since time appeared slower to him, it seemed even faster to the unsuspecting, low-key students around.
Even in [Mask Of Dusk] amber vision he could still see the surroundings flashing around him even though the world seemed to slow down.