172. Will vs Cardinal

Moreover, it was not just one.

The Cardinal threw three heads. All three had faces I didn’t know.

「Isn’t this good news for you? Will Wolms.」

「What are you talking about?」

「Didn’t you expect them to be traitors?」

The Cardinal said that, but I didn’t know who these people were.

But judging from the Cardinal’s tone, I can guess who they were.

Jema shouted, as if to support my guess.

「YOU! SON OF A BITCH!」

「You’re noisy.」

The Cardinal said, turning towards Jema with an uninterested gaze.

「How dare you! How dare you kill my subordinates!」

「Are you the boss? You trained them well. They didn’t open their mouths even when tortured. It was difficult.」the Cardinal said, and laughed.

「I’m gonna kill you, bastard!」

As Jema seemed about to jump into battle, I connected with her via telepathy.

『Please calm down, Jema-sensei.』

「…」

『We can fight after Tina is done healing. The enemy is quite strong.』

「…………」

Jema contained her anger, but still glared at the Cardinal.

Tina had just begun to heal Jema after finishing treating the students.

The students were in a situation where they barely survived.

Looking at Jema, the Cardinal said.

「You’re not gonna come? How boring.」

「Rather than that, those three were killed here, right?」I asked.

The three were probably the missing teacher and assistant.

Then, it wasn’t until they came here that the three were killed.

「Your complexion didn’t change, Will Wolms. It’s boring.」

「I’m glad I didn’t please you.」

After saying that, I continued talking.

Just a little bit more until Jema’s healing is done.

「As I asked previously, how did you know I was coming to this camp?」

「You really want to know that? Didn’t you want to know if there was a traitor?」

「You already told me there are no traitors.」

「Oh right!」

The Cardinal said, laughing happily.

「It’s nothing really. I changed my strategy when you left the academy in a carriage. That’s it.」

「Is that all?」

「Yeah, that is all.」

If he knew that I would participate in the training camp for the first time after I left the academy, then their response was way too quick.

「Do you have so much free time? The Cardinals are the highest rank in the Cult, right?」

「Well, there are many reasons.」

As I expected, he’s not going to tell me that.

「All right, then. I think you have bought enough time.」

The Cardinal said, and looked at Jema who was behind me.

「Yeah, thanks. I’m ready to kill you now.」

Jema slowly walked to my side.

『Jema-sensei, you have still lost a lot of blood.』I said.

『I know.』

『Tina, Rosetta, join the fight when you see an opportunity.』

『I understand.』Tina replied.

『The Cardinal seems to be underestimating the two of you.』

『Leave it to me.』Rosetta replied.

『Arti, Rubeum. Can you join the attack?』

『Of course.』Arti replied.

『I can. Kyuru.』

『All right.』

When I was giving out instructions, Jema said in an impressed tone.

『Will, are you really a student? You are as calm as Regina-sama.』

『Thank you.』

And then I pointed my dagger at the Cardinal.

「You were very helpful in helping me buy time.」

「Don’t mention it. I just wanted to talk to the child who killed a Cardinal before killing him.」

「I hope you’re stronger than the previous Cardinal. It’ll be boring if you die too soon.」

「What a load of shit.」

Even though the Cardinal’s mouth said that, his face was smiling happily.

I wonder if he likes fighting? Or is he just that confident?

In actuality, the mana cladding his body seemed large and dense.

『Rubeum, I’ll leave the first move to you.』

『Leave it to me.』

『Once Rubeum launches an attack, everyone else join the flow of battle.』

Two seconds after my instructions.

――GOOOOOOOOOO

Rubeum spewed flames. The flame appeared white instead of red.

The surroundings became bright like midsummer daytime.

「Hoho!」

The Cardinal raised his voice happily while shielding the flames with magic.

He was still acting carefree. How irritating.

I wanted to quickly peel off that carefree expression.

「HAAAAAAA!」

As if cutting through Rubeum’s flames, Jema rushed to attack the Cardinal.

Her being the top of the combat department of the Salvation Organization wasn’t just for show.

Jema is weak compared to Regina and Xenovia, of course, but she is strong enough.

Jema cut through the flames and rained an onslaught of slashes on the Cardinal.

The Cardinal defended against Jema’s onslaught. There was still carefreeness in his expression.

The Cardinal made gestures with his right hand as he fought.

As he did, the two tails of Tenebris that had been on stand by, started to move.

The two tails of Tenebris jumped at me.