Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Duke Victor's Gift
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“Oh.”
“Why did you do that?”
Why, indeed. He knew better than anyone.
Victor had pulled numerous talents from the academy to his side in the original story.
The result? A civil war within the academy.
As the story progressed into its latter half, the Evil God’s followers began wreaking havoc even inside the academy. Amid the chaos, Victor would start stirring up real trouble.
His approach to me this time wasn’t just out of simple goodwill, either.
If word got out that I’d received his help, other students would flock to him more often, hoping for their own opportunities.
Of course, I had my own excuses.
“Aren’t you with the Imperial Faction, Your Grace?”
Victor was publicly aligned with the Imperial Faction, after all.
“I thought you’d welcome the princess gaining more renown.”
In other words, he had no business disliking me crediting the princess.
But Victor tilted his head at my words and asked back.
“What are you talking about? What I want to know is why you gave up the top spot.”
‘...I messed up.’
His conversational trap.
This was exactly why I didn’t want to get involved with him.
I’d jumped the gun and brought up the princess first.
It wasn’t even proper military speech—just that obnoxious tone like “Do you know what you did wrong?”
I was never dealing with this guy again.
“The conditions were different, weren’t they?”
“But didn’t Eugene have a point?”
When the top rank was announced after the exam, Eugene’s name was called.
But he refused it at first, claiming he’d lost to me and wasn’t qualified.
Frustratingly stubborn personality, but that’s just who he was.
Anyway, he insisted I should be top rank, but since we hadn’t taken the same exam, I lacked the justification.
“Were you not tempted by the prize?”
Of course I was.
That’s why I’d aimed for top rank from the start—the prize.
In the original story, Cecilia, who took first in the entrance exam, received a Rank 2 Shard from Victor as her reward.
During sparring class, she fought equipped with that Rank 2 Shard. If you chose her as a companion later, you could start with it right away.
So I’d aimed for it too.
“I’m fine. It wasn’t mine to begin with.”
After oversleeping like an idiot, I’d already resigned myself to giving up the prize.
I’d already planned ways to get a Rank 2 Shard after enrollment anyway.
More importantly, as the scenario progressed, not just the protagonist’s stats but every student’s would matter.
So Eugene taking it wasn’t a huge loss for me.
Victor fell silent for a while after hearing that.
His eyes still scanned me, clearly sizing me up.
“…In any case, as I said before, your enrollment application will be officially accepted. No one will object.”
“Thank you.”
“But it’s still a shame. Even if you’d taken top rank, no one could’ve objected.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Victor pulled two small boxes from his pocket and held them out.
“So take these.”
“This is…”
“A personal gift for the impressive performance you showed in this exam.”
Looks like he had no intention of letting me off easy.
But I wasn’t about to blindly swallow a Holy Grail boiling over with poison.
As I stared at the boxes, Victor spoke up.
“You’re not thinking even this is ‘not yours,’ are you?”
“…”
“Fine. Test your luck then. One is the same prize Eugene received this time, and the other is worthless junk.”
The duke playing three-card monte.
His bluffing attitude clearly screamed, “I’ve yielded this much—take it nicely.”
‘Sigh.’
No point backing down further here.
Worse than maintaining ties would be earning his enmity.
He was practically shoving it into my sleeve—what could I do?
Thinking positively, I picked one at random.
A Rank 2 Shard would be great; if not, no big deal.
“Oh dear. Looks like it really wasn’t yours.”
“Seems that way.”
Opening the box revealed a colorless, transparent Shard.
He’d said it was junk, but actual junk?
[Strike]
“It’s a byproduct from the Imperial Technical Development Division’s Shard research.”
“Is that so?”
“Have you seen one before? You’re not surprised by a colorless Shard.”
‘Should I be?’
Maybe I should’ve faked surprise.
But I already knew what it was, and with the disappointment piling on, it was hard to muster a reaction.
Special Shard [Strike].
Otherwise known as Blank Shard.
A trash item with no options whatsoever—a byproduct from the Shard development process, per the lore.
In the original, it auto-sold when you hit the all-sell button, worth about as much as carrot tops or radish peels. Barely more valuable than a slightly sturdy cubic.
Of course, you could equip it. Along with the massive downside of wasting a whole Shard slot.
‘But it’s a Special Shard—maybe it has some ability?’
“May I try equipping it?”
“That thing?”
Victor sounded surprised at my intent to equip junk.
It looked powerless at a glance.
And it was.
As I opened Rene’s socket, he spoke again.
“Aren’t you wary of me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Opening your socket so casually in front of me.”
Opening a socket meant disarming.
Something Victor would never do, probably.
But I didn’t care.
I was already in the tiger’s den—whether I held the knife or not in front of the tiger, death was the same.
What good would showing caution do here?
“You’re the benefactor who helped with my enrollment. No reason to be wary.”
“…Is that so?”
I removed the green Shard and slotted the Strike in its place.
[Special Shard equipped. Ability unlocked.]
[Special Shard: Strike]
[Special Ability: Escape]
‘What? Even Blank Shards have abilities?’
[Escape - Allows the user to flee from battle.]
I stared blankly at the description for a while.
Escape as the ability name.
Brutally honest, in a way.
Maybe the abilities I’d gotten so far were too overpowered.
This time, my fault for expecting something amazing. Or maybe it fit a Blank Shard perfectly.
“How does it feel?”
“I feel one green Shard worse off.”
“Hahaha. Thought so.”
Unlike Black Cloud, Adamant, or Compassion, this felt underwhelming.
After risking my life so many times already, when would I even use it?
‘Maybe I can find a clever way to use it.’
With that thought, I removed the Strike and pocketed it.
“Shame. I wanted to indebt you.”
“You’ve indebted me plenty already. I’m at a loss how to repay it all.”
Of course, I had zero intention of repaying.
My eyes drifted to the wall clock.
Night had deepened; dawn was near.
“We’ve talked so long it’s gotten late. Have I kept the famed Mourning Sword too long?”
“No. I’m glad to have spoken with you, Your Grace. Who knows if we’ll have another chance.”
“Haha, no worries there. I’m on the Luidel board of directors too, so we’ll meet a few more times during your studies.”
Just polite words.
No plans to see him.
“Ah.”
As I headed for the door, Victor called me back.
“When will that burn scar heal?”
“…”
“The Saintess mentioned three years… Isn’t it about time?”
“…It was supposed to fade tomorrow or the day after anyway, but thanks to you, it’ll be gone by tomorrow.”
That, I was a bit grateful for.
Truth be told, the burn—supposed to fully heal a month ago—had been delayed by skipping doses a few times.
If Victor hadn’t mentioned it, I’d have forgotten again and put it off till tomorrow.
And he even knew Mine had given me three years and that I needed consistent meds.
This was why he pissed me off.
I popped the vial right there and downed it. A warm energy condensed below my navel.
‘I can finish up in the barracks.’
Victor waved with his usual relaxed smile.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Take care, Mourning Sword.”
I didn’t look back.
⁎⁎⁎
Back in the barracks, I immediately sat cross-legged.
In wuxia novels, meditation scenes always showed this pose.
But with my joints creaking in pain, it didn’t seem healthy at all.
Maybe it was designed to distract from the pain by focusing elsewhere.
‘Mine said to draw up holy power in this state.’
Closing my eyes and focusing near my dantian, I felt the condensed holy power stirring slowly.
Waves of holy power began tickling from my abdomen toward the burn, step by step.
The sensation of new flesh budding in earnest. When it hit all at once, it went from itchy to stinging.
But the damn holy power jammed up near my solar plexus, refusing to rise.
Mine had healed with a snap; I thought it’d be easy.
No wonder Saintesses were special.
Forcing the reluctant holy power up brought a flood of stray thoughts.
Maybe that was the point of the pose. My mind raced unusually, thoughts organizing too quickly.
‘Maybe sort out the derailed parts of the original scenario.’
First, my very existence.
Haribal was supposed to be captured by the church.
Second, rescuing Senia.
She was meant to die.
Third, the duel with Cecilia and assignment to the Stormstrike Squad.
Which kept Adelin from coming to the academy.
Fourth, me clearing the beast dungeon Aren was supposed to conquer. This one would snowball biggest; no clue how it’d play out.
And fifth, today’s entrance exam.
Honestly, almost everything was off the rails now. More like Doomsday Academy Royal Edition.
But more dizzying than these changes was Rene’s existence.
A standard-issue Abyss Core awakening as special, plus seeing some mystery girl.
The girl called Rene definitely wasn’t in the original.
‘What the hell happened?’
Lost in thought, the holy power finally broke through my solar plexus and rose to my chest.
“Ugh…”
Pain surpassing the sting hit full force. I gasped and opened my eyes.
But the barracks weren’t before me.
“Where…?”
A place I’d only seen once, unforgettable.
A blue-gem altar just big enough for one person, backed by a massive throne filling the space.
Reclining on that throne against a backrest far larger than herself was, naturally, Rene.
Using her own wing as a pillow, she gazed down at me casually.
‘I was definitely in the barracks…?’
Then Rene’s voice echoed in my head.
『You’re awfully impatient too, huh?』
She pointed behind the throne.
『Look at this. Only six left already?』
I turned to where she indicated.
Last time, a large, dazzling blue gem had been embedded there.
Now it was gone, like it never existed.
In its place sat a small statue with a buffalo head.
Seeing it, the name sprang to mind.
“…Barhatan.”
Rene half-opened her eyes and yawned lazily.
Her expression was so drowsy she could nod off anytime.
But I had no intention of letting her sleep.
Chances to talk to this enigmatic girl wouldn’t come often.
“What exactly are you?”
『Rene.』
“I already know the name.”
『That’s all I know too.』
Her gaze shifted to another blue gem beside the Barhatan statue.
『But I can’t stay like this forever. Someday I’ll recover memories bit by bit… And you already know how.』
“…Know what?”
Rene’s eyelids drooped slowly.
『Next time we meet… I hope something fills that spot too.』
“Hey, wait—”
『By then… maybe I’ll have more to tell you?』
As I approached Rene, the ground seemed to crumble beneath me, vision swirling wildly.
‘This is… like when fighting Barhatan…!’
Opening my eyes again, I was back in the barracks, still cross-legged.
Looking around, morning sun filtered through the window.
Meaning I’d pulled an all-nighter in this pose.
“Ughhhh…!”
My whole body ached like a stiff ball-jointed doll.
Yet the warm energy swirling in my dantian was gone, as if never there.
Then I caught my reflection in the mirror.
No trace of the burn scar that had been there yesterday.
I locked eyes with my mirror self, fingering the spot repeatedly.
Definitely fine.
But more than the healing sinking in, Rene’s drowsy voice lingered in my ears.
What the hell was that just now?
Then footsteps approached outside the barracks.
“Come in.”
“Hey, Haribal! Still sleeping agai…”
Adelin burst through the door energetically, then froze upon seeing me.
“…Oh.”
Short exclamation and all.