490 Chapter 490: A Teacher’s Responsibility (1/2)
”Brother Richie!”
”Sensei!”
At Adrian and Melina's shouts of joy and relief, I glanced back at them and smiled reassuringly. Now that I was here, I wasn't going to allow any of these bastards to lay their filthy paws on my charges. Placing myself between them and the enemy, I brandished both of my swords.
”You…!”
Henry James gritted his teeth, and then threw out his hand, roaring out and order even as his whip uncurled to strike at me.
”Forget the kids! Kill that summoning mage!”
His subordinates responded, the hooded kidnappers charging forward with their swords while the Jack O'Lanterns pounced on me with gleaming claws. The other masked criminals fired off their muskets in my direction, hoping to overwhelm me with a concentrated volume of firepower.
Without any hesitation, I cut apart James's whip with Hei Yue. Bai Ri glowed before unleashing a torrent of azure mana that engulfed the approaching kidnappers and Jack O'Lanterns, freezing them in their tracks. Before they could break free from the ice, Aries and Taurus smashed into them, shattering the poor Jack O'Lanterns and trampling the unfortunate kidnappers. As for the bullets from the muskets, they bounced off Scutum Sobiescianum.
The survivors retreated, along with James, who had recoiled when his whip was sliced apart by my black sword. I raised my head to glare at him.
”You really think you can kill me?”
”What are you waiting for?!” James roared. ”Get him!”
More of the kidnappers and Jack O'Lanterns charged at me, but my Constellation spirits met them. I defended against the next volley of shots from the musket-armed kidnappers, and was about to turn to cleave apart the couple of Jack O'Lanterns who sought to eviscerate me from behind.
Neither they nor I had the opportunity to engage each other. Nan Gong Zhao Yan had appeared and slashed them with her sword. The monsters screeched as the fell apart – literally – and collapsed onto the ground in pieces.
”I'm here to help,” she informed me coolly. She glanced at the kids apologetically. ”Sorry. It was my sister who caused this mess, so I'm at least responsible for you getting into trouble.”
”You say that, but where is Ji Yan?” I asked dryly. There was no sign of her at all. Zhao Yan had the temerity to look embarrassed.
”Well, this situation is dangerous, so it's just as well that she isn't here. Even though she's my sister, quite frankly…her skills are lacking.”
”Yeah, she'll only get in the way,” I agreed wholeheartedly. Zhao Yan winced at that.
”I wouldn't go that far…”
The kidnappers with muskets fired at us again, and Zhao Yan dove forward to slice the bullets apart with her sword. While she was busily dispatching the bullets, I had Capricorn erupt from the ground behind the kidnappers and trample on them. The gunners shrieked and yelled before they were thrown about, their guns mangled and their bodies broken by horns and hooves. Taurus smashed through another few Jack O'Lanterns before bathing the broken line of gunners in flames. Ammunition cooked off and the muskets exploded in their arms, causing terrible injury.
”…doesn't seem like you would need any help either…” Zhao Yan shook her head when she saw the carnage that my Constellation spirits were wreaking in the enemies' ranks. However, she stepped forward to defend me from a few Jack O'Lanterns coming at me from my flank while I dispatched a few more masked kidnappers with my swords.
”Nah, I appreciate your presence. It definitely makes things a lot easier.”
Zhao Yan was incredibly skilled, and I found that I could rely on her a lot. While she guarded my back, I focused on the front, the two of us fighting back-to-back and eliminating a huge number of our enemies. While they thinned out, Zhao Yan surged forward to finish the retreating enemies.
I sheathed my swords and summoned Orion. A few of the kidnappers had turned around to focus their musket fire upon Zhao Yan, but I shot them with my arrows, the azure projectiles embedding themselves deeply in their foreheads before they could fire a shot. Under my cover fire, Zhao Yan got into the thick of the retreating kidnappers and cut them apart. My three Constellation spirits accompanied her, coming from the sides to help her rout the rest of the forces.
And just like that, they were gone.
”Amazing…”
Adrian and Melina were watching us in admiration, their fists clenched.
”They are exactly what we aspire to be!”
”Are you guys all right?” I asked, crouching down next to them and checking their injuries. Given that there weren't many enemies left, I could leave the rest to Zhao Yan and my Constellation spirits. Besides, my priority was the safety and wellbeing of my students, not the extermination of the enemy. It would be counterproductive to pursue enemies, and then return to discover that my disciples had been slain or abducted by stragglers.
”Yeah, I'm fine,” Adrian sighed in relief as he rose to his feet. Melina nodded as she scratched her head, but she remained on the ground, despite Adrian's attempts to help her up.
”I…I'm okay. I'm just so relieved that I can't stand…my legs refuse to listen to me.”
”I'm glad you guys are fine.” I heaved a breath of relief as well. ”Sorry for being late.”
”Not at all!” Melina shook her head frantically.
”Yeah! Better late than never I'm glad that you came at all, Brother Richie!” Then Adrian frowned. ”Wait a minute…how did you know we are here? How did you find us?”
”I read Assassin's Pride and watched the anime adaptation,” I replied seriously. Both Adrian and Melina gaped at me.
”HUH?! You guessed that we were here because you read a light novel and watched its anime adaptation?!”
”Actually, I didn't read the light novel. I only read the manga adaptation after watching the anime version.”
”Please tell me you're joking, Sensei…”
”Nope…knowing Brother Richie, it's entirely possible that he's telling the truth.” Adrian was shaking his head, already used to my nonsense by now. ”I hope we won't get sued for plagiarism or something.”
”Don't worry, there's enough of a difference between the stories that they can't tell this arc was completely ripped off from Assassin's Pride,” I assured him. Adrian raised his hands and groaned.
”All right, stop breaking the fourth wall and tell us seriously what happened. I don't care if you need to resort to a flashback to do it.”
”Okay, flashback time.” I raised a hand, and suddenly we were back in the past. I was still wandering about in the place where I found the box of octopus balls lying on the ground, right after both Adrian and Melina were kidnapped.
”Damn it,” I muttered, staring around, but to no avail. Even when relying on the hi-tech sensors in my glasses, I couldn't pick out their silhouettes at all. This was not good. I couldn't believe that they were gone the moment they left my sight.