Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.17 – Irene Windler is a Villainess? (5)
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Shocking statement!
Chick No. 2 was actually a villainess?
The truth was so staggering that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was the biggest shock of the year. Lee Han felt momentarily bewildered.
Of all people.
'That blowfish is a mid-boss?'
The mid-boss part was the most shocking.
Wasn't she the type who would drop dead from a single poke?
Even approaching her from an assassin's perspective, there were endless ways to kill her.
'What the hell do you even use that for?'
......An event boss, maybe?
Well, spellcasters were originally pretty good for event fodder anyway.
As Lee Han's expression twisted into something utterly grotesque amid these blatantly discriminatory remarks against spellcasters,
"U-um..."
The status window kid stammered in panic at the change in his expression, desperately offering what wasn't quite a defense but close enough.
He seemed to realize his words could be seen as stirring discord, so he hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
"O-of course, it's fr-from a long time ago. O-or maybe I misjudged the person. So please don't take it to heart, y-yes..."
"Making excuses like that just makes it sound even more like you're stirring trouble."
"...I realized that too late."
No matter what he said, the seed of suspicion had already been planted in his heart.
He made a miserable face insisting it wasn't like that, but contrary to his misconception, Lee Han had learned a new fact.
'...Now that I think about it, the situation is turning hilarious.'
This status window punk.
'He doesn't know Chick No. 2 is a possessor.'
Why else would he bring up Irene's name specifically?
It must be because the Irene he knew and the current Irene were different people.
But the status window kid couldn't guess the reason for Irene's change.
Even with that cheat key called the 'Status' skill.
This implied two major things.
'One is that the skill's performance might be worse than I expected, and the other is that it probably has a pretty long cooldown.'
Balance patch.
If an overpowered skill had restrictions or a long cooldown preventing frequent use, it made sense that he wouldn't know the chick's identity.
And that was the most likely explanation.
'If that's the case, then out of all of them—regressors, possessors—this guy came to me first?'
This punk was a riot.
What was so suspicious about a mere instructor that he'd waste his precious skill on him?
'These chicks, that arrogant black-haired young master...'
Every last one of them was a weirdo.
Afterward, the Q&A between Lee Han and Derek continued.
"Th-then, Young Master Roan too..."
"First met him at the academy. No connection before that."
"I-see."
"What's with that look? Were you acquaintances with that arrogant black-haired young master too?"
"...He's still Grand Duke Lionel's son. Is it okay to call him that?"
"Arrogant guy's arrogant—what else should I call him?"
"Hmm."
Derek scratched his cheek and shook his head, thinking there was no one as unfiltered as this guy.
Even so,
"...The Young Master Roan I know should be in the North right now. It's a crucial time for him to become the full heir to the Northern Grand Duke."
He continued answering steadily.
"He's the youngest illegitimate son anyway."
"That doesn't matter. To Lionel, only bloodline and noble souls count. Anyone fulfilling that gets heir eligibility. In that sense, the North is currently embroiled in fierce succession strife. But if Young Master Roan is in the capital, it's like declaring he's stepped down from the heir position."
"They'll fetch him later or whatever."
"...He's still the Grand Duke's heir. Aren't you taking it too lightly?"
"Light? If he gets robbed of it despite that level of talent, then that's exactly his limit."
"Y-you're ruthless."
"Just stating facts. You're the one too nosy about others' business. It's not like you can have it."
"...J-just feels like a waste."
"Waste of what?"
"Th-that's..."
"Haha, enough. No need to spell it out."
"......Yes."
From his reaction, it seemed the black-haired young master was supposed to become the next Northern Grand Duke in the original flow.
'In this world's original setting, the chicks were villainesses, and the young master was supposed to be Northern Grand Duke—but something went wrong somewhere.'
Through Derek's reactions and the info gathered so far, Lee Han roughly organized it in his own way, and the sorted info revealed much.
'Unlike what he knows, the original chick wasn't a possessor, and the regressor wasn't a regressor.'
A world with informational discrepancies, but not entirely different.
Seeing this concept,
'Multiverse, huh?'
A topic he'd seen a lot in movies back in the day.
It was intriguing, and anyone else might have been burning with curiosity.
'Could be, whatever.'
But Lee Han didn't dwell on it complicatedly.
He'd sought info originally to gauge how many more headaches awaited—not to probe multiverses.
"Alright, time to wrap up."
"...Pardon?"
"Debate's ending anyway. No point dragging the talk."
"......"
"Why the stare?"
"...You're not gonna ask anything?"
"Ask what?"
"......"
...Derek's expression turned distraught.
'......What is this guy?'
They'd clearly had a wide-ranging conversation.
Though Q&A format, Derek realized it felt more like casually venting than interrogation—since he'd been the one spilling nonstop.
'He just listened quietly.'
In truth, Lee Han's questions during the talk were minimal.
Mostly,
'You dating that purple-head?' to tease, or 'If you've learned Fighting Technique, why history department instead of swordsmanship?'—things easily answerable anytime.
Like a friendly neighborhood bro giving advice, and Derek actually felt that way.
'...Because all my questions were weird ones.'
Mentioning Irene Windler and Young Master Roan was one thing.
He'd even subtly dropped stuff about the temple and his skill.
...He had to be insane.
Why throw out such suspicious questions?
Anyone seeing it would think he was blatantly begging to be flagged as shady.
But stranger than his own suspiciousness was...
'He never looked at me weird or doubted me once.'
This guy.
Lee Han was undoubtedly the weirder one.
He'd listened to Derek's stories earnestly from start to finish, nodding along.
Suspicion?
None visible.
Even boldly naming a duke's daughter and Grand Duke heir, he never dismissed Derek's claims as weird superstition or scheming.
Hence the bewilderment.
Did this guy seriously listen to a total stranger's ramblings?
And approach so amiably?
'Like hearing me vent my frustrations.'
Maybe today Derek had unloaded more than he thought.
Said things he shouldn't have.
Might get dragged to the knights tomorrow for being suspicious.
But inwardly, he felt refreshed.
Just subtly spilling what he'd never told anyone felt cathartic.
...So he wanted to ask.
"N-no more questions? I'm a suspicious guy. And I kept spouting weird stuff—why not ask anything...?"
Before he could finish,
"Did you lie at any point?"
"...Pardon?"
"Were any of your words false? Or did you approach me with hostility?"
"N-no! Absolutely not!"
He answered frantically, and he said,
"Good, that's enough. No lies in our answers or questions. That's plenty."
"......"
"Not convinced? Fine, one more thing. I told the black-haired guy this too: sometimes you shouldn't live with too much curiosity. Curiosity can be a 'beast' scarier than poison."
"...Beast."
"And personal advice: don't live so complicated."
"?"
"Don't know your circumstances. Or what you're hiding. But overcomplicating life is a problem too. Living simply and intuitively raises quality of life—yet people try so hard to complicate it."
"......"
"I'll say it again: strive to live simply and intuitively. Don't stake your life on trivia. I just met a curious cadet with odd traits today. We talked."
"......"
"That's it."
"...Huh."
Derek was dumbfounded by the speech-like advice.
What was that?
"...Isn't that just telling me to live like an idiot?"
Live simply—or dodge hard stuff—sounded like it.
As he tried rebutting again,
"But you can live happily."
"......"
...He was speechless.
His sudden bright smile was utterly refreshing, and somehow—
'Ah...'
Living boldly without minding others' eyes.
That enviable way.
'I wanted to live like that too.'
Deeply moved by the admired attitude he lacked.
'Even I think I made a fool of myself.'
Ahem...
Lee Han, aware he'd said something cringey, cleared his throat repeatedly.
The kid's overcomplicated life must've irked him.
'Sigh, is it the instructor job?'
Not even a real educator, yet he'd launched into a passionate lecture.
The status window was clearly a young newbie fresh to society.
Someone who'd been knocked around everywhere.
His awkward speech suggested even more so.
Feeling that, Lee Han got meddlesome.
Like a company senior who'd only regretted things in life, drunk and reminiscing with bad advice.
Maybe he saw himself in the kid?
'...I was exactly like that.'
Precisely, his previous life's self.
After grandpa died, becoming an orphan.
Life unstable and desperate, enlisted, got abused by superiors, exploded young and died.
So Lee Han 'pities' his past life.
No regrets.
Had to live that way then.
But pity, yes.
The me who couldn't own my life, just fretting over others' gazes, living complicatedly, suffering pointlessly,
Never knowing what happiness was—pitiful.
'Don't live like that.'
Maybe a fellow countryman, this young junior.
Possibly tossed by others like him, living complicatedly.
Confident in more experience, he advised...
Lee Han hoped he'd change.
In a positive way.
Still,
"...Sorry, went full boomer there."
"No, it was refreshing actually."
"Don't say what you don't mean."
"I-it's true..."
"Enough flattery. Go on already. That purple-head's waiting for you."
"Hmm..."
The debate had ended, crowds swarming the girl for her stellar performance, handing flowers.
Oddly, her gaze was fixed precisely on the status window kid.
He denied relations, but clearly not ordinary.
"...It's not like that."
"Then I'll assume you're an item."
"Urgh...!"
"Enough salting the wound. Go before trouble later."
"...Yes."
So the status window kid stood and trudged off.
Like a henpecked husband yielding to his wife.
Already like that—future looked pitiful.
......Or was his own more so?
Then.
He paused.
"...Instructor."
"Not going?"
"N-not that, but... I have something I must say."
"What?"
"I know it's weird again, but... On the exam's last day, a 'Man-Eater Ghost' will appear. Be careful."
"......"
"Th-then, I'm off."
"......"
...He bolted frantically.
Aware he'd said something unnecessary, yet no regrets.
Declaring what he couldn't tell anyone seemed refreshing.
But conversely,
"...Status kid drops a bombshell at the end."
Exam's last day.
In other words,
"That's our kids' exam day..."
Of all timings, the unluckiest—Lee Han's face crumpled mercilessly.