Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 20
>Chapter Title: A Status Window on the First Day of School (4)
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*
“After filtering and filtering… it’s down to three.”
It had taken three days to narrow it down this far. Ivan pressed his tired eyes and stood up.
The criteria for selection were as follows:
Individuals who suddenly showed remarkable talent, those whose personalities or tendencies had changed drastically, and those exhibiting strange speech and behavior.
This was information that would have been impossible to obtain without the support of the Counter-Intelligence Command, as it required digging into the House of Nobles directly.
“The problem is… these people.”
One was an orphan, admitted through a practical skills scholarship.
The other two were from the House of Nobles—in other words, members of the Crown Prince’s faction.
They were difficult to touch. No matter how much Ivan’s employment was a cover, tracing his roots would inevitably lead back to the Counter-Intelligence Command.
And the Counter-Intelligence Command was Elizaveta’s right hand. Rashly provoking the House of Nobles and getting caught would damage Elizaveta's political influence.
“Would it be a problem to kidnap all three…?”
Ivan tapped the table, muttering something that would have made Dmitry foam at the mouth (a comment that would have made him and Elizaveta foam at the mouth together).
One was a hot-topic freshman admitted on a full scholarship. Although an orphan, this one was a talent already being scouted by various organizations. Provoking them rashly would not end well.
The remaining two noble scions were both from families holding seats in the upper house of the House of Nobles. Naturally, he couldn't just abduct them without a thought.
If they were truly ‘Possessors,’ he would act more boldly, but for now, it was all just suspicion; he hadn't confirmed any hard evidence.
Therefore.
“I’ll mark these three and watch them for a while.”
Killing them could be done at any time.
Even kidnapping wouldn't be difficult.
But to handle the situation as cleanly as possible and without any repercussions, preparation would be necessary.
And so, Ivan decided to return to the academy after three days.
From that day on, a strange rumor about a fiend haunting Saint Yansk University began to spread.
*
Trapped in the cycle of being an outcast by some incomprehensible, malicious twist of fate, Esidis was left with few choices.
Fortunately, the semester had just begun. No matter how much first impressions mattered, there had to be ways to turn the situation around.
For example, finding someone ‘even her uncle would be hesitant to mess with’ was one of them.
‘Dad’s friend’s daughter…!’
Whether it was an agreement between their parents or a surprising coincidence, the children of the Hero’s Party were all gathered in the same year.
No matter how thoughtless her uncle was, he wouldn't dare approach the Hero's child so carelessly.
That was how this lunch gathering came to be.
“It’s nice to meet you. Miss Einarsdottir…? Is this… how I should address you?”
>“Ah, that just means I’m my dad’s daughter. Please, just call me Esidis.”
>“Hmm… but still, you’re a… princess, aren’t you?”
>“Ahaha, a princess, she says. I’ve never been treated like this before, I think I might actually cry….”
Esidis’s eyes welled with tears as she shook the pretty girl’s hand vigorously.
“Ah, was I a bit rude…? I’m sorry. I already knew Isabelle… you’re a freshman in the Knight Division, right? May I ask your name…?”
>“I’m Yuri Franck. Miss Esidis. Please, just call me Yuri.”
>“Esidis, stop fawning and back off. Don’t you know she’s a very precious person?”
>“I’m sorry! I don’t know the list of Krasilov’s court nobles…!”
>“No, what are you talking about…! It’s not that! A noble? Heavens, no!”
Isabelle chuckled and nudged Esidis. Who did she think was more precious than royalty?
As Esidis hesitated, unable to understand the situation, Yuri blushed and said.
“I’m just an orphan. The name Franck… honestly, it’s not even my real dad’s name.”
>“Besides, Yuri is a boy’s name.”
>“But it’s hard to survive on the streets with a girl’s name.”
Yuri replied with a charming smile. Isabelle smirked and turned her head to Esidis.
“She’s the full scholarship student in our division. She’s really good with a sword.”
>“Wow, better than you, Isabelle?”
>“She’s better than me, and even Oskar. I was honestly surprised. Where did someone like her come from?”
>“You’re too kind. I was just lucky.”
>“If you beat us with luck, then that’s skill.”
Esidis felt a warmth spreading through her heart.
Yes, this was it. This was right.
The vibrant spring, the warm sunlight, eating together while praising each other’s skills, and engaging in friendly competition—this was the romance of it all….
She sniffled without realizing it and forced the image of her uncle, who was probably chatting with the Knight Division students right now, out of her mind.
*
Isabelle, Esidis, and a freshman.
Ivan, perched on a tree, looked down at the chatting group and flipped through his notes.
He couldn't get close enough to hear their voices. But he was capable of highly accurate lip-reading.
The conversation was ordinary. The name was Yuri or Yulli.
Both names were on the freshman roster, but if it was a name on his ‘suspect list,’ it was more likely Yuri.
That created a problem. The ‘suspect’ was in contact with the Hero’s Party. And of all things, her name was ‘Yuri.’
Of course, in Krasilovian culture, that was a male name.
>But in Korea… and to broaden the scope, in the ‘Northeast Asian’ cultural sphere, it was used as a female name.
If there was a woman with the name Yuri, the probability of her being a ‘Possessor’ was high.
He drew a red line under a name on his suspect list.
*
“What is that bastard doing?”
Enrique, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, stared blankly at her student.
Normally, he was so sensitive that getting this close would be difficult, but he was so focused that he hadn't even noticed her approach.
She shifted her gaze in the direction Ivan was looking. In the distance, a few freshmen were chatting on a bench.
A perfectly normal scene.
“Hmm… is that Isabelle…? That one looks like Esidis… they were always close… I don’t know who that one is.”
The Counter-Intelligence Command had begged her to check on him, and what she found was him tailing freshmen like a field agent.
“He doesn’t seem to have lost his mind. Was it just them making a fuss?”
His emotionless eyes, his near-perfect concealment even while off-guard. It was the usual Ivan. The one who was almost paranoid about his posture and bearing.
Enrique shrugged and hid herself behind a shadow.
*
“Yevgeny! Wait up! What afternoon class are you taking? I-I’m going to the orientation for Biblical Exegesis!”
>“I have Readings in the Original Gospel. Sorry.”
>“Oh, it’s okay! See… see you later! Have a good class!”
After smilingly sending off a student whose name he couldn't even remember, the young man called Yevgeny hardened his face and walked down the lecture hall corridor.
It was annoying. And confusing.
If he had known there would be this much to learn, he would never have chosen the Theology Division… but at the time, it had seemed like the best option.
‘I can’t do physical work.’
This was a natural conclusion. He had never even held a kitchen knife in his life, so there was no way he could start swinging a sword at monsters or demons now.
But choosing a specialization completely removed from combat was also problematic. He had to choose a field that at least involved going out onto the battlefield.
Hence, theology. The priestly path would allow him to learn various buffs and healing skills, as well as holy smite-type spells.
‘On top of that, this body has a talent for swordsmanship.’
The protagonist of *The Sword Prodigy Scoundrel of the Northern Ducal House*, Yujin, was a genius of the sword. This had been clearly proven by the system.
While all the surrounding freshmen showed sluggish growth between levels 8 and 10, with combat skills that were nothing to speak of, this body had achieved the incredible feat of [Sword Mastery 5Lv] on the very first day of possession.
That was just a step below the first-year instructors of the Saint Yansk University Knight Division. In other words, he had already surpassed the level of a freshman.
The problem, however, was that knowing the techniques of swordsmanship and using them to slaughter people were two entirely different things.
For a modern Korean who had never even wrung a chicken’s neck, this was too much to handle….
“That’s why being a priest is the best….”
A rear-guard position that didn't require being on the front lines. A simple class where, at most, all you had to do was cast some heals. And if you could handle a sword better than average on top of that, you had the picture-perfect overpowered character.
They say you should make your true talent a side job. Wasn't it natural for a talented idol-actor to be more popular than a traditional talented actor?
The only two problems that arose from this were:
One, the theology curriculum at Saint Yansk University was as demanding as any in modern Korea, if not more so.
Two, he was being followed by a crazy-eyed, catapult-wielding Santa Claus.
‘What in the world is that guy…!’
There was no such event in the original novel. In fact, this was a completely different world from the original novel. The original wasn't some strange, reddish empire, nor did it feature a Demon King or a Hero's Party.
It was just a normal ‘noble family saga’ where they fought against a bad wizard family for about 1,000 chapters…!
The only similarities between this world and that novel were the familiar skill tree, the familiar status window, and the familiar family situation.
A Northern Grand Duke…? This country called ‘Krasilov’ was already in the north, so how could a Northern Grand Duke even exist!
‘And why can’t I see his level…!’
He knew that once the level difference surpassed a certain point, the display would change to ‘???’.
But there had to be a limit. Why was the academy gardener’s level like that? He despaired, recalling that even his own family head was only level 59.
As he tried to look away, in his peripheral vision, he saw a bearded fiend with glaring eyes staring at him from a tree.
No one else seemed to have noticed, so he had been trying to ignore it, but it was visible, albeit faintly, thanks to his [Expanded Intuition 3Lv].
*
“He’s tailing three people in total.”
Enrique was certain. At first, she thought he had been ordered to protect the children of the Hero’s Party and was about to let it go, but something felt off, so she followed him.
The problem was… there was no common thread among the three.
One was from Theology, one from the Knight Division, and the other from the Magic Division.
Looking at their statuses, they were a duke’s son, an orphan, and a viscount’s youngest daughter. Nothing seemed to match.
And then there was that killing intent.
The way he was snarling and glaring like a tiger crouched in the bushes, as if looking at a sworn enemy….
“Aren’t those kids off-limits?”
The orphan girl had practically smashed her way through the scholarship system and was apparently receiving love calls from all over.
The two noble kids were from the House of Nobles, clearly aligned with the Crown Prince's faction. There was nothing to gain from touching them, and to make matters worse, they were in the Magic and Theology Divisions. The commonality between both was that their department heads were not from Krasilov.
The Theology Division was, of course, headed by the Saintess, and the Magic Division was run by the elves of Kalion. In other words, attacking a student would lead to major problems.
“No way. C’mon. Surely he wouldn’t go that far?”
Enrique chuckled, but deep down, she thought that madman just might, for some reason or another.
The thief of the Hero’s Party, the vampire who had reigned over Pricheonka’s back alleys for a century, prepared to intervene in any emergency, stalking the student-stalker.
*
‘He saw my eyes.’
He had been tailing him from quite a distance from the main Theology building, yet that kid had noticed him.
Ivan stared with dry eyes at the young man on his ‘suspect list.’
Yevgeny Novikov Karamzin.
Yevgeny was an ordinary name. Nothing special.
But the name Yevgeny was also used as Yujin in Asian cultures. This, of course, had a different meaning from the Catholic saint Eugenius.
In other words, it was a name that worked in both Asia and Europe.
Therefore, this person recorded on his list also had a high probability of being a ‘Possessor.’
Ivan drew two red lines. Detected stealth, suspicious movements, suspicious name.
*