The Academy's Doomed Side Character-Chapter 147: Special Quest [1]

Velkova Republic was massive.

Not in the "you’ll get lost without a map" way—though that too—but more in the "every city feels like its own weird planet" kind of way. At the very center of it all stood Novagrad, the capital. It was a sprawling metropolis of steel, marble, and neon, where towering skyscrapers met ancient stone courtyards and air trams buzzed just above your head like lazy wasps.

And right in the middle of Novagrad—literally at its beating heart—stood Velcrest Academy.

It was heart of Velkova Republic country.

But if Novagrad was the heart, then far out west—some 300 or 400 kilometers, give or take—was Dreswyn.

Dreswyn was different.

Where Novagrad thrived on tradition and prestige, Dreswyn was a city with its head in the clouds and its hands full of blueprints. It was the hub of innovation and scientific research, the place where techies, alchemists, engineers, and probably one or two secret mad scientists gathered to do whatever it was they did all day.

Floating railways. AI-run bakeries. Holographic museums. Magical energy fields so unstable they had to be monitored by their own sentient golems. Dreswyn didn’t mess around.

And at the moment, in the vast forest of Dreswyn hidden meeting going.

And at that very moment——a secret meeting was underway.

Deep underground, beneath the glittering skyline and humming monorails of Dreswyn, hidden beneath a forest thick with centuries-old trees and automated drone nests, a door opened where no door should exist.

To the untrained eye, it looked like just another patch of moss-covered rock. But with the right code—five precise knocks, one pause, then two more—the illusion peeled away, revealing a passageway that spiraled down into the earth like the throat of some ancient beast.

The air was colder there.

Still. Pressurized.

And at the bottom, in a domed chamber pulsing with arcane circuits and dim blue lights, they were waiting.

Three silhouettes stood around a circular table. No greetings. Just the hiss of enchanted ventilation and the faint hum of protective wards woven into the very stone.

"So, is this your hidden based?"

Ethan, the phycopath killer Professor who was managed to escape Lock prison with help of Kai Foster couldn’t help but ask.

"Yeah it is."

"And is this the person you were talking about? The one you are working with?"

Kai Foster looked at the third person, who was still hiding his ...face beneath a hood that shimmered with distortion magic. Not enough to look suspicious—Dreswyn had its share of odd-looking folks—but just enough to make your eyes slide off the details.

The figure didn’t move at first. No nod. No hello. Just stood there, cloaked in a silence that felt heavier than the air itself.

Then he spoke.

His voice wasn’t deep. Wasn’t high either. It had that hollow echo, like he wasn’t speaking from inside the room—but from behind it.

"You don’t need to know who I am, Ethan. Just what I can do."

Ethan chuckled. That unhinged little chuckle of his that always made the temperature drop a few degrees.

"I’ve heard that line before," he said, cracking his neck. "Usually right before someone ends up in several pieces."

Kai Foster stepped between them before the tension snapped into something messier. He didn’t say anything—just gave Ethan a look. The kind that said, Not now. Not yet.

The hooded man raised a hand, and the wards in the room shimmered. A giant projection bloomed in the air above the table—blueprints, maps, student profiles, mana readings, and a dozen classified files, all linked to Velcrest Academy.

Ethan’s grin widened.

"Ah," he said, eyes glinting. "So that’s your target."

Kai nodded. "Phase one begins in few days."

The hooded figure leaned forward, just slightly. The distortion around his face flickered—but not enough to reveal anything solid.

"It’s time for revenge, don’t you think so?"

He asked both Ethan and Kai.

After all, both of them were humiliated by their defeat.

"Of course, It would be nice If I would get spent some time with my students and teach them about harshness of the world but how do we get inside Velcrest Academy? As far as I know they doubled their security system after they kicked me out of their."

"Don’t you worry about that.".

It was Kai who said that.

"What?"

"He’s someone who worked inside of Velcrest Academy, in fact, he has same position as you once had."

"...A professor?" Ethan repeated, one brow arching upward. The grin hadn’t left his face, but now it was laced with something else—curiosity, maybe. Or calculation.

The hooded figure didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he lifted one gloved hand and tapped the side of the projection. The image shifted—blurring through a half-dozen layers of restricted data before stopping on a personnel file. The photo was blacked out. Name: Redacted. Position: Faculty—Advanced Magic Theory. Department: Special Projects. freeweɓnøvel.com

Ethan let out a low whistle. "Special Projects, huh? No wonder you walked out clean. They never put those freaks on the public payroll."

"You’re not exactly subtle either," Kai muttered.

"I’m effective," Ethan said with a wink.

The hooded figure ignored both of them.

...And with that their planing how to destroy Velcrest Academy began once again.

---

Velcrest Academy, Dorm Room 101.

The lights were off. The room was a mess. And on the bed, tangled in sheets like a half-mummified victim of sleep paralysis, Rin Evans snored softly—blissfully unaware of the chaos brewing both beneath the ground and in the skies.

The system notification hovered just above his head, blinking with mechanical urgency:

> [17 hours until the Special Quest begins.]

[Warning: This quest is mandatory.]

[Warning: Failure will result in consequences.]

It blinked once more. Then twice. Then, as if it gave up on Rin ever waking up on time, it faded into the air with a soft sigh of digital particles.

Rin stirred a little.

Mumbled something about "joining a baking club next time" and rolled over, pulling the pillow tighter over his ears.

Completely, utterly unaware.

That the world was about to shift beneath his feet.