The sun had set. Knights from Cerevisia and other professors were already at the winery, while my carriage, followed by the academy carriages, moved in the dead of the night.
After some moments, our carriages came to a halt.
The gates of my carriage were opened by a young woman.
She had shoulder-length black hair and bright golden eyes. She wasn't wearing fancy clothing, but the way she had dressed, tied her hair, and had her nails done in the dead of the night suggested she was probably a commoner, put up to this act by either her parents or herself.
"Greetings, Count Rile," She said, holding the hem of her skirt in a humble bow.
"Are you here to guide me?" I asked, stepping out of the carriage, as cadets followed, stepping out one by one.
There were seven selected students for the expedition. Ailsa Krell and Hedgehog- I mean, Hedge Estravo, the same child whom I first met in the academy.
Apparently, Ailsa was ranked one among the knight cadets, and Hedge was ranked one among the magicians. Hedge, however, was not a part of the student council. He's an independent child from a fallen noble household.
Three knight cadets and four magicians. Each specialises in varied legacy magic and sword arts.
"Yes, My Lord. Name's Hannah," The woman said, and gestured for me to follow her. The rest of the students also did.
"Who's the owner of this winery?" I asked, observing the woman, Hannah.
"My father had poured his lifetime's work into this winery, My lord, but he died last year. I'm the sole inheritor of this winery, and I handle the staff too," She replied, walking in front of me.
The gates of the winery were open. There were five knights, all emenant ranked. Some were either sitting on the vacant desks or leaning on the pillars of wooden wine barrels stacked.
Curved silhouettes of the barrels caught the faint glow of lanterns, and the air had a thick scent of fermenting grapes with a mix of earth and sweetness that clung to the nostrils
"What a fine night, isn't it, Count Rile?" The knight who was leaning on the stacked barrels spoke up, and straightened up. He was middle-aged, with silver hair and beard, his eyes had a slight touch of ocean blue, and of course, the attire of Cerevisia knights was definitely a fancy one.
White long coat, white jogger pants, a silver vest with an emblem of Cerevisia's lusting woman, golden linings and a sword carved out of titanium, with a hilt made of gold.
"Thomas De Clare. Count of the Clares, and an emenant ranked knight just like you," He said, bringing his hand forward for a greeting.
"Pleasure meeting you, Ser Thomas," I replied, accepting his hand.
"The one sitting on the row above with his eyes closed is Robert Hasting. Don't mind his ignorance, he's a lazy guy, but lethal in combat, I assure you," Thomas gestured to the top row as I looked up at the corner of the winery and then introduced me to the knights under his wing.
"Henry FitzAlan, sharp-minded for a knight, I must say, he just turned a father. You should definitely meet his child; he'll make you feel like a servant." Thomas continued, pointing at a brown-haired, middle-aged knight.
"Edmund Neville, he's a womaniser…He just got rejected by one of the professors who're waiting for you near the rift." Thomas said, gesturing at a clean-shaven man with a lean body and sharp eyes.
"Lastly, Geoffrey Montfort, our brute, he has five wives, and a lot of children, I doubt he even remembers all of their names," Thomas pointed at a muscular man who was the tallest among us, and he held a long sword.
"I do remember their names, Thomas," Geoffrey replied.
"Oh, we all saw that list of pages with the names of your children, and three of his wives are pregnant again." Thomas waved his hand and looked back at me.
"Impressive…I guess," I murmured.
"Two, not three…" Geoffrey countered.
"Thomas fucked the third one," Robert, who was sleeping on the desk up until now, spoke.
"Watch your wor-"
"Pff-" All of the knights then glanced behind me, looking at the cadets giggling among themselves.
"That's one hell of an impression. Come follow me," Thomas laughed it off, as I nodded.
Robert's sword stabbed into the ground with a loud resonating noise.
Then he jumped off the top of the winery and landed gracefully with his feet touching the hilt of his sword.
He looked at Hannah, the woman who guided us here, "Leave this winery to us for now," he said.
We followed Thomas deep into the winery, and the scent of wine got stronger the more we walked in.
Just after a short walk, we arrived at the centre of the winery, and I observed the empty storage compartment.
Barrels were moved out from here. There were tables of equipment and mana tech to analyse the rift.
Chronos Manometer. A brass-caged gauge with three vibrating needles and hissing steam valves. If the needles hit the red zone, the rift is about to collapse or expand, based on the different measures.
Spectral Oscilloscope. A glass tube filled with neon coloured mana gas, a compressed and purified form of mana. It maps out the incursion pulse. Tells us how much demonic energy is being poured into the rift from the other side.
There were several rods impaled around the corners of the room, and just below the black special rift that absorbed the light itself.
These rods were connected to a amplifier type device which acted as an anchor to stabilise the rift in case it's about to collapse when people are inside.
This is a pretty important tool, because it can open the rift again even after it's forcefully closed from the other side. But it takes time, a lot of mana crystals, and concentration to open it again. And that spatial gate in itself is temporary.
I looked at the woman standing behind the manometer. Curly blue hair, tied back with a pink ribbon. She wore a pink kimono, a silver-rimmed spectacle, and a butterfly ornament hanging through the ribbon strap of her hair.
Roxana Carrascal, professor of alchemy, potions, and mana tech.
"That's the one Edmund tried his shot with," Thomas whispered, leaning next to me.
"She's going to be a tough one," I muttered as Roxana looked at us and waved.
"Professor Marcus, finally here huh~" she said, as I walked next to her, while cadets met Professor Jose and Basil Thorne.
"What's your take on this, Roxana?" I asked.
"It's a normal rift…There's no intense incursion of demonic energy from the other side; I doubt any demon has even discovered it. Most likely natural," She replied, reading her notes and analysing the readings.
"It's probably in a dead zone; there aren't any demons around, so it's an easy in and out expedition. Go in, kill some demons, take their corpses, and whatever you find useful for analysis," she said.
"That sounds easy," I murmured.
Cadets were all getting prepared with their swords and armour. Magicians were stacking their potions and storing some for the knight cadets, too.
"I, along with Professor Basil, will stay here, Jose, knights of Cerevisia, and you will be accompanying cadets, and Professor Marcus…don't fool around with children, remember, stay strict, okay?" She looked at me, fixing her spectacles.
"…" Is she nagging me? I'm the head professor…