Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: A Pretty Crest
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"A pretty decent crest."
Fayan ran her fingers over the item that had arrived in the parcel addressed to her, smiling.
That thing Adelian had called a seal. She had no idea what a seal even was, but it was certainly no ordinary pattern.
"This will be our crest from now on."
Not the crest of the Kruger family, but one representing Adelian himself.
And one that had yet to be properly revealed to the world.
*Fun?*
Fayan let out a soft giggle. A sense of belonging she had never truly felt while holed up in the labyrinth city of Raviin.
Even when someone treated her well, she had always denied it from the depths of her heart—*it's just because of my trait, or they want something from me*—but in the end, it was the one thing she desired most.
A bond. A sense of belonging.
The fact that a single drawing like this could bring it all filled Fayan with ecstasy. Her cheeks flushed as she smiled languidly, only to suddenly make a puzzled face.
*Huh?*
"But at this point, don't we need to come up with a name for the organization?"
Adelian had offhandedly mentioned something about a covert group or a shadowy cabal, but that wouldn't do.
Fayan muttered to herself that she'd bring it up later when she spoke with Adelian and Siren over comms, then shifted her gaze to the mirror.
Thanks to the makeup, her face looked more mature and approachable than the students here, complete with those sharply arched eyebrows and tear mole that would stand out vividly in their memories.
The slightly loose-fitting clothes and lavender perfume laced with a cozy scent.
Even if someone came looking for her much later, they would never peg her as the sharp-eyed woman who scattered rose petals everywhere like Rubina, or the fresh, innocent type like Lily.
"I've picked up quite a few interesting rumors and secrets already."
Her mouth itched to report back to Adelian right away, but she held herself back.
What spy bombarded their master with constant updates? Besides, the more she gathered, the more praise would come her way.
*And I haven't even properly struck that girl yet.*
Whether she knew it or not, she and that girl named Verbut were sharing the same pie.
They were both earning secrets and information on the foundation of trust and affection while building up followers at the same time.
But while Verbut had spent a long time here as a student—attending classes and daily life together, solidifying her position as a peer—Fayan as Violet was still a latecomer, only just starting to follow in her footsteps.
*I need to be even more cautious and discreet.*
She'd play the role of the kind big sister or cool older sibling to the kids. The instructors, drunk on their arrogance from teaching nobles and royals, would be tough nuts to crack for now, but the academy was full of others besides students and teachers.
The cleaners, the gardeners tending the grounds, the cooks preparing meals, the ones patrolling the halls.
*I need to bring a few more people over to my side.*
So that anything she said would spread subtly through the academy within a single day and be accepted as fact.
That was the power of Fayan's own trait, after all.
*Click.*
At the sound of the door opening, Fayan whipped around from where she had been smiling at her reflection in the mirror.
"Miss. You're back?"
Fayan greeted Gadia, whose naturally cold face looked even more pallid today, but Gadia hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.
"...I have something to ask."
"Go ahead, miss."
Gadia stared at Fayan's beaming face, hesitated a bit longer, then slowly spoke.
"...Are you one of Adelian's women too?"
"Pardon?"
"I want to know if that guy's so short on options he's even throwing advances at royalty like you."
"Pardon?"
Fayan tilted her head at Gadia's words.
* * *
The moment we got word that Kane had returned to the dorm, we blew off the restaurant and bolted straight back.
"Open up! Open the damn door!"
*Boom! Bang! Bang!*
Rachel pounded on the door like she was trying to break it down, and it swung wide open.
I stepped through the forcefully flung-open door first and spotted Kane swigging a potion like it was fine wine.
"You!"
"Head's ringing."
"You little..."
Can't even raise my voice?
A few empty potion bottles were scattered across the table. No visible wounds thanks to them, but he looked overall parched and gaunt, his bones showing through. Everyone's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Why no contact? What the hell have you been up to this whole time?"
"Hey! You the only one who gets to have fun?"
"Senior, we were really worried. This is too much."
―Detected traces of nearby mana that had been separated from Kane's body.
Even as the kids kept talking, Kane just turned sideways, set down his empty potion bottle, and picked up an apple. Watching him like that...
*No intention of explaining a damn thing, huh? True to the origins of our no-comm party.*
It had been ages since I'd felt that floating sensation, and now my blood pressure was spiking. I massaged the back of my neck and eyed Kane before slowly opening my mouth.
"Kane, come to my room. The rest of you, eat first. Head to the restaurant or have the inn send something up, whatever."
*Leave some for the two of us.*
I nodded toward my room for Kane.
"I have stuff to say too!"
"...For now, Rachel, just do what the young master says."
"I'll head downstairs and have them send food up."
―You two talk.
A crunching sound followed, along with the door closing.
I sat on the sofa in my room, and Kane plopped down across from me with that oblivious look, his eyes fixed on me while his mouth worked on the apple.
*Must've been starving. No point worrying about a guy who's an aura master, though.*
I slouched back crookedly and fixed Kane with a piercing stare before speaking.
"Explain."
"Hmm."
*This guy's gone and wrecked the communication link I worked hard to set up?*
My forehead felt like it was about to vein out. I pressed my temples hard and tossed out another prompt.
"Report."
Suppressing my anger, I forced the kindest smile I could muster and sank deep into the sofa. One of Kane's eyebrows twitched.
"...Lost."
The way he said it, all irritated, had me rubbing my forehead.
*Don't get mad. Don't get mad.*
Kane wasn't even twenty yet, and if he was admitting it like this, he'd really gotten wrecked bad.
*Who's strong enough for that these days?*
"...What'd he look like."
"Old man."
*An old man?*
In the original story, Kane didn't tangle with any real heavyweights until late-game, when the evil god cult was rampaging everywhere.
So based purely on the original plot, no one immediately came to mind. Plus, the Innocent Saga didn't even kick off until after Kane got sold to that assassin group and escaped.
*...Tricky.*
"Give me the details."
"Hmm."
It was just me acting like a know-it-all because of my info edge over Kane. The guy was a straight-up genius.
So the reason he was hemming and hawing like this instead of spilling...
*No point in me telling her?*
But you know, even if no solutions popped out, sharing information and just talking it out was crucial.
That's why I wasn't flipping on User’s Eye right away. Even if I did, a guy with Kane's traits wouldn't show much change anyway—but before that, I wanted the full story straight from his mouth.
He wasn't the type not to get that, but what good was a brilliant brain if his personality got in the way? Hell, if he only chased efficiency and textbook plays, I wouldn't even be here.
"Kane, you know exactly what I'm getting at."
*Why dig in your heels like this for no reason?*
As I grinned at him, Kane let out a faint sigh.
"Was gonna tell you. Just organizing my thoughts."
"Oh, I see. Our Kane was just organizing his thoughts to tell me."
I laid it on thick in that teacher-about-to-pull-out-the-thinking-chair tone, and Kane's face soured.
"The day we reached the imperial capital."
I started sorting through the details spilling from Kane's mouth in my head.
A powerhouse guarding the palace. But he'd only held Kane for a few days before letting him go.
Something impossible if he had real loyalty to the Taterria imperial family. An old man so overwhelmingly strong that Kane's sword had barely managed a graze.
*No way.*
I slowly lowered my gaze and stroked my chin with one hand.
Someone with no actual appearances in either the original story or the game, but occasionally dropped in character dialogue.
The continent's strongest guardian. The undisputed top powerhouse.
In the original, he was already dead from old age, I think.
No real role regardless of size—just a name that got dragged out now and then in minor fan gallery brawls over who was the strongest.
"...Learn anything?"
"Nothing to learn."
*Oi, talking like you've already slain the demon king. Typical.*
"He was stronger than you, right? Called you out during an unauthorized palace intrusion, fought you, and just sent you packing? No strings attached?"
"None."
"Bullshit—don't lie."
"He just spewed crap about joining up under him. I refused. And he didn't send me back—I left."
Right, the guy had separated the space somehow, not with magic.
Makes sense—with a trait like that, maintaining it for too long might've been tough, so Kane probably just toughed it out until it wore off.
Traits that went beyond pure talent into superhuman or esper territory tended to come with harsh conditions.
Even Fayan had to catch her target in a moment of total carelessness to use hers properly, and that adjutant of Reinhardt's I'd seen at the border needed the target's consent first to sort truth from lies.
"Didn't say anything about meeting again?"
"Not right now. But I plan to face him again once I'm stronger."
Watching Kane say it coldly, like he wouldn't get off with a graze next time, I finally cracked up laughing.
*Such fighting spirit.*
*User’s Eye.*
[Kane Reyners—The Leader]
Representative Traits: [Unforgettable(SS)] [Perfect(B)]
Hidden Traits: [Longing(S)] [Miracle(A)]
Not a single trait had changed, but the title he'd earned at the border—"The Riser"—had shifted to "The Leader."
Probably from that mass battle at the border with all those troops, plus communicating with the party on the way into the palace, and feeling that wall from the imperial guardian. Sounded like a mindset shift.
Less focus on powering up solo, more keeping others in mind.
That was the kind of tree you got from being slotted as squad leader and running ops.
He was stepping onto the monarch path one title at a time, but the next one was key.
*The next title splits two ways.*
*The Trampler and The Ascender.*
I looked at Kane and reached out to pat his shoulder.
"Good work. And yeah, I was worried."
"No clue why."
Kane shoved my hand away and stood up.
"Didn't I say I'd become the strongest on the continent?"
*Trying to provoke me, huh, you protagonist punk?*
I smirked—just the corner of my mouth—for the first time in ages, striking a shadowy overlord pose as I drawled lazily.
"You said you'd become it. Doesn't mean you have. Still a long way off. Don't disappoint me again."
"As if."
But my words bounced right off him. He just snorted and walked out, and I mentally flipped him the bird at the back of his head.
"Let's eat."
He looked fine on the surface, but with no proper healer in our party, he'd need a few days to recuperate.
Once Kane's body was somewhat patched up, we'd head straight for the Southern Sea Archipelago. With that thought, I stepped out to where the food was laid out.