Chapter 138
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: The Prasia Dispatch
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“A golem! A golem like that can’t possibly exist!”
The leader shrieked, denying Wooden’s existence. His despair was all the greater because, if not for Wooden, their infiltration would have been a guaranteed success.
“…Even though we failed, you won’t be able to achieve what you want either.”
That was the end.
With the capture of the assassin who had been attacking Aria, the situation was resolved, but in the end, they had failed to take any prisoners.
They had removed the poison pills from all three, but those were not their only means of suicide.
“Keuk…!”
Aura reversal. It was a technique that used a restriction placed on their Aura Halls to reverse their aura, twisting the vital channels throughout their bodies.
The three assassins died coughing up blood.
Pernyan, who had held out a sliver of hope, clicked his tongue in disappointment.
“Sunbaenim, wasn't that a bit much? You too, Aint! Seriously, how could you just ignore me once you were done with your own fights!”
“She was an opponent you could handle sufficiently on your own.”
“That might be true, but there’s such a thing as camaraderie!”
“Though the dagger was coated in a lethal poison that would have killed you with a single scratch.”
“…Excuse me?”
Aria’s face turned deathly pale.
“Then you should have helped me more! I could have died!”
“You were fighting assassins who were trying to kill you, so of course you could have died. But he couldn't even get near you because he was too busy playing with the spirits.”
He wasn’t wrong, but for some reason, she still felt a sense of indignation.
Aria forced herself to swallow her anger.
“Now that it’s come to this, there’s nothing we can do.”
“For now, at least.”
“That sounds like there might be something later?”
“It’s not certain yet, so just consider today’s events as if they never happened.”
Pernyan recalled Ludger’s reaction, which he had seen through Wooden.
Ludger Schwaben, coveting the imperial throne he had supposedly given up on completely.
Human greed knows no bounds, and those who know how to exploit that greed are the true merchants.
There was nothing to be done for now, but he was certain he could use it when the time was right.
First, though, he had to diligently lay the groundwork.
“Anyway, I’m leaving, so finish your practical well.”
“Where are you going?”
“I was merely acting as a temporary teaching assistant, checking to see if the practical was proceeding smoothly.”
Pernyan vanished.
“…Should we move, for now?”
“That sounds good. I can’t sleep in a place where there were dead bodies.”
Whether it was due to another poison besides the one that twisted their Aura Halls, the assassins dissolved into puddles of venomous ichor that seeped into the ground.
Thanks to that, there was no need to clean up the bodies.
Aint and Aria roughly covered the traces with dirt and left the area.
- *Something is strange. The Schwabens aren’t fools. It’s unlikely they would try to assassinate you while demons are on the move…*
Gardner’s question was a valid one.
It would be one thing if demons hadn’t appeared, but the 66th demon, Kimaris, had already manifested in Bercefe territory.
With vigilance against demons and the hero-worship of Aint growing ever more intense, would they really try to kill Aint without any alternative plan?
No matter how threatened they felt, the Schwabens would never do something so foolish.
‘Then doesn’t that mean they have an alternative?’
- *Indeed. But there can’t possibly be an alternative to the Armian’s secret swordsmanship…*
Gardner trailed off mid-mutter.
- *Don’t tell me. Aint, when did you say the Armians lost their secret swordsmanship?*
‘When we lost the throne to the Schwabens and were driven out of our original domain.’
- *And that place is now Schwaben territory?*
‘Yes, that’s… Ah…!’
Aint, too, realized it belatedly.
- *So those sons of bitches were the culprits.*
‘I had my suspicions, but at this point, it’s practically confirmed.’
It was frustrating, but there was nothing he could do for now.
It was merely a suspicion without clear evidence, and the assassins had all vanished.
- *For now, it’s best to do as Pernyan said and let it go. Words without power carry no weight.*
‘Yes.’
- *But do not forget. The day for revenge will surely come.*
Aint had no intention of forgetting. He would reclaim his family’s stolen swordsmanship and have his revenge.
Aint made a vow.
* * *
“…Hah, and they were so confident.”
Ludger scoffed.
There had been no further contact from the assassins. His suspicion that they had failed turned to certainty after the second-years’ practical exercise ended.
Aint Armian, who should have been a corpse, had returned perfectly fine, taking second place.
He turned and walked back to his dormitory.
The target being alive meant there was a high probability the assassins were dead.
Ludger had a gut feeling he would never see them again.
‘Did His Majesty underestimate Aint Armian, or is Aint’s growth steeper than expected?’
Or perhaps, had someone intervened?
Ludger recalled someone who had been among the teaching assistants.
‘Was that really a coincidence?’
Honestly, even Ludger hadn’t expected the assassination to fail.
Aint Armian’s growth had been frighteningly rapid lately, but those were the best assassins the Schwabens had ever produced.
They even possessed a lethal poison that could kill with a mere scratch; frankly, failure was the more surprising outcome.
‘Fools.’
But fail they did, and now all they had accomplished was putting Aint on high alert.
The only silver lining, if there was one, was that their identity as the perpetrators likely hadn’t been revealed.
‘But he’ll have a rough idea. And he won’t reveal it for now.’
As long as they aimed for the throne, the Schwabens and the Armians could never maintain a good relationship, but this was tantamount to an open declaration of war.
A sigh escaped him automatically.
Because of this, what feelings would Aint now harbor toward the Schwabens…
“…No, forget it.”
His Majesty will handle it.
Even if something happened to the Schwaben family because of this, it wasn’t his place to worry—he was a nobody.
The crown prince was his brother, not Ludger.
At least for now.
* * *
At dawn, as the sun slowly began to rise.
“Ugh…!”
Gismond Erdt’s eyes flew open.
He clutched his head, a vicious headache pounding against his skull. Cold sweat dripped down, soaking his clothes and bed.
“It hurts, it hurts so much…!”
Gismond writhed and groaned for a long while.
Along with the headache, pages from a book he had once read were unfolding in his mind.
[“The Prasia Kingdom has made a formal request for cooperation to the Academy, and the Chancellor has accepted it.”
At the professor’s words, the students wore expressions that said, ‘It’s finally happened.’
They had eyes and ears.
They knew that Prasia was currently in utter chaos due to Vile Breeds and demonic beasts, and that the kingdom’s true objective was Aint Armian.
“With the war against demons and Vile Breeds now a reality, he judged that this would be a good experience for you all.”
“……”
“Considering the risks, only the top 10 students from each department, excluding the first-years, will participate. This is not a choice; it is mandatory.”]
The Prasia Kingdom, thrown into chaos by Vile Breeds and demonic beasts, leading to a total of sixty Academy students being dispatched.
[“We have intelligence that a large-scale horde of demonic beasts is advancing from the south.”
“There are well over two thousand of them! If they follow their current path, they will reach Peius Fortress!”
The appearance of thousands of demonic beasts threw the Prasia Kingdom into an uproar.
“We will join the battle. You are here to experience a war like this. Hiding out of fear and terror will accomplish nothing.”
Instead of retreating for safety, the Academy chose to fight alongside them.
“As this is a war, we cannot unconditionally guarantee your lives. However, should the worst happen, no student will die before a professor does.”
And among them, of course, were Aint Armian and Ruina Bercefe.]
The Academy, choosing to make a stand together instead of retreating.
[The sky was as red as blood.
In the distance, he could see the demonic beasts slowly approaching. Aint stood atop the fortress wall, watching them in silence.
“Aint.”
Ruina came to stand beside him.
“Sunbaenim, to be honest, I’m scared. But you said it before, didn’t you? A knight is the sword that vanquishes the lord’s enemies and the shield that protects the lord.”
“…You didn’t need to remember that.”
“No. Thanks to you, I feel a little more at ease.”
*Just knowing you’re by my side*, Aint thought, a smile gracing his lips.
“I’m only telling you this, Sunbaenim, but I want to raise my family up.”
“You…”
“Someone once told me. The emperor is the knight of the Empire.”
So I can’t just turn my back on the Empire and run.]
Aint and Ruina steeled their resolve, and the war against the demonic beasts began.
No, it was just about to begin.
[It had the body of a man and the head of a leopard.
Though it stood only two meters tall, it felt like gazing upon a mountain two hundred meters high.
The foul demonic energy, the overwhelming pressure it exuded, made it feel that way.
“…A demon. This is impossible…”
“A real demon? Haha, we’re all going to die…!”
“We have to run!”
The appearance of the demon sent the soldiers on the wall into a panic.]
It had appeared.
Gismond’s hands and feet began to tremble.
“A demon, a demon is descending…! A demon…!”
And it was the 64th demon, Flauros.
“Can Aint stop it?”
He would. He had to.
Though he’d forgotten most of what he’d read in the book, he knew it definitely didn’t end here.
But the problem was that war inevitably produced casualties and victims.
Even with the professors risking their lives to protect the students, there were no absolutes in war.
“Thank goodness. I don’t have to go…”
Thanks to the elixir, the duel at the Bercefe estate, and the practical exercise, his skills had improved significantly, but he was still only in the top 20.
According to his memory, only the top 10 were going, so thankfully, he was exempt.
“…I should go to Pernyan first.”
He knew Pernyan could also see the future, but just in case.
If he was the only one who had seen this, it was a great chance to score points with Pernyan.
After a quick shower, Gismond got dressed and headed for the La Vie Douce Dormitory.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I’m here to see Pernyan Fallenberg.”
“I will contact him. Please wait in the reception room.”
He was guided by a maid and took a seat in the reception room.
“Whoa, damn, this place is nice.”
He had thought the Bless Dormitory was nice after his rank increased and he moved from the de base Dormitory, but La Vie Douce was on another level entirely.
Even to his untrained eye, every piece of furniture was clearly of the highest quality, and the presence of maids was a novelty.
“Could I ever get into La Vie Douce?”
“You can.”
Just then, the door opened and Pernyan walked in.
“Hey, I hope I didn’t come too early…? I came because something important came up…”
“Yes, it’s fine. This is when I normally wake up.”
Pernyan’s day had always begun at dawn.
“Ah, that’s a relief. But do you really think I can get in here?”
“Yes, I will make it so.”
“…Huh? Th-thanks.”
Gismond was a little flustered by the unexpected answer but nodded meekly.
“Oh, right, the reason I came to see you this early in the morning is…”
“I have a general idea. It’s about the matter in the Prasia Kingdom, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, so you also…”
“Yes.”
Pernyan nodded. He, too, had just confirmed a new prophecy at dawn.
The previous prophecy had contained no mention of Flauros, so he had thought it might happen next year, but he was wrong. The realization had him grinding his teeth first thing in the morning.
“Then I suppose I don’t need to tell you.”
“No. So you should prepare as well, Sunbaenim.”
“Huh…? Prepare for what?”
“To go to Peius Fortress, of course.”
“…But I’m not in the top 10.”
“Even if you were ranked 100th, it wouldn’t be impossible for me to take you if I wanted to.”
“Uh…?”
At the mention of having to go to the site where a demon would descend, Gismond’s face gradually turned white.
“W-wouldn’t that be unfair?”
“Matters of fairness can usually be resolved with money. And I can arrange for you to participate as a mercenary, separate from the Academy group.”
“Is that really necessary…”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to get into the La Vie Douce Dormitory?”
Pernyan smiled faintly.
“But with my skills, wouldn’t it be too dangerous? That’s why the Academy is only taking the top 10. Haha…”
“Don’t worry. I will take care of everything.”
Therefore, I refuse your refusal.
“……”
Gismond’s face looked as if he were about to cry.