Chapter 109: Fay's Plot (Not in a Dirty Way)
Chapter 109: Fay's Plot (Not in a Dirty Way)
After Yandel’s duel ended, the Academy was turned completely upside down.
A cultist had been hiding right inside the Academy, of all places, and no one had known?
The shock was even greater considering that a first-year group had recently been attacked during their dungeon practice.
Anxiety spread as fast as the rumors about Yandel—no, even faster.
The Academy responded swiftly.
With Yandel’s help, they went around stabbing everyone in the Academy with a Relic.
The results were staggering.
From students and staff to shopkeepers and even a professor—though only one—people from all walks of life were identified as cultists.
It might have been manageable if they had simply caught them.
However, sensing they could neither run nor hide, some cultists carried out suicide attacks in the name of martyrdom.
Of course, with the enraged professors watching with eagle eyes, there wasn't much additional damage, but…
The sight of the cultist threat, something they had only heard of, unfolding right before their eyes left the students visibly shaken.
Before the students could even process the shock, it was the professors' turn to be stunned as they interrogated the captured cultists.
Thinking there must be a massive conspiracy since so many spies from different cults had infiltrated, they conducted high-intensity interrogations.
The result? It turned out the captured cultists didn't belong to different sects at all; they were all members of the Boiling Silence.
It was the moment the secret of Authority Copy was finally revealed to the world.
Once this news broke, the Academy’s problem was no longer just the Academy’s problem.
While the entire continent fell into chaos—either trying to catch cultists hiding nearby or using the "cultist" label to clear out political rivals—what was Fay, the starting point of all this, doing?
"Hwaaa… so shiny…."
Gold. Bags full of it. She was letting out constant gasps of admiration at the brilliant luster.
"Junior is amazing. Junior is the best."
The sum of this month’s sponsorship and the promised performance bonus was beyond her wildest dreams.
Fay had received sponsorship once before, but back then, she had spent it all immediately on necessary equipment.
As a result, this was the first time she was actually feeling the weight of such a large sum of money in her own hands.
Regardless of what was happening outside, Fay, holed up in her workshop, could only think about what to buy next.
She had bought the urgent equipment last time, but to make gear for a mage like Yandel, she needed more specialized tools.
"I definitely need to buy a Mana Extractor. A Mana Stabilizer… can I replace that with chemicals? I’ll buy it if there’s money left after the other stuff. Oh, right. I need to buy materials too. Since it’s the first time, 15% Manadite should be enough, right? Yeah. Success is the most important thing for now."
Fay hummed as she lay on the workshop sofa, drafting a list.
The usual hesitance, the wandering eyes, and the timidness were nowhere to be found; she looked confident.
And why wouldn't she? This was Fay’s domain.
It was an impregnable fortress, a kingdom. Inside her workshop, Fay was a god—invincible!
"Heheh… I should learn the basics of enchanting too. The important part is the circuit drafting anyway, so if I engrave the intaglio during the process and then flow mana over it… hehehe…."
It seemed her ingrained gloominess was inescapable, though.
She spent her time joyfully jotting down items to buy, peeking into the gold pouch, writing more, and then peeking again with a creepy giggle.
If anyone had been watching, they would have been slightly repulsed by how happy she looked.
"…Ah."
But then, she froze as if someone had hit a pause button.
There was no special reason. She had just suddenly thought of Yandel.
Fay’s expression grew dreamy, as if she were drifting into a trance.
She remembered the dark alleyway.
Pelop’s frivolous laughter. The snap of a neck. The delayed flare of pain. The words that pierced her like thorns: No one is going to protect you.
Just as the familiar despair and resignation began to rise from deep within, staining her heart black…
Yandel appeared.
His usually playful, smiling face had been frozen hard.
His voice, spitting out words, had been a savage growl like that of a beast.
However, something else remained most vivid in Fay’s memory.
Those eyes that always held deep trust in her. Those purple eyes that would occasionally crinkle in a joke.
The way they had glowed with a terrifying mana light, as if he were the one who had been deeply insulted.
That image was burned into Fay’s heart, resurfacing at the most random times.
"Ugh… Kyaaaaah!"
Feeling strangely suffocated, she eventually let out a scream and kicked her feet in the air.
But did she realize that she was grinning in spite of herself, not hating this feeling?
She probably didn't, which was why she kept flopping around on the sofa for a good while.
Worrying about what to buy, grinning like an idiot at the gold, and then feeling embarrassed while thinking of Yandel, who made all of this possible.
This had become Fay’s daily routine lately.
Even while distracted, she had been slowly getting her work done.
But today was different.
If it had been the Fay of yesterday, her brain would have reached capacity just by thinking of Yandel coming to save her….
But even embarrassment becomes familiar with repetition.
Today’s Fay had the mental leeway to think about what came next.
The events after the alleyway.
Yandel, whom she thought was just a wealthy and talented junior, turned out to be a junior who was suspiciously wealthy and talented.
"???"
Fay tilted her head, wondering if that really changed anything, but she soon shook her head as she recalled the duel.
The flames that scorched the entire arena and the agile movements that seemed on par with the Knight Department were far beyond her imagination.
And that wasn't all.
He had suddenly started catching cultists, and as soon as the issue went public, he had cooperated with the Academy to root out the spies as if he had been waiting for the chance.
Thinking of Yandel, who was likely busy running around handling the aftermath of the incident, Fay voiced a fundamental question.
"Just what is Junior’s true identity?"
There were too many things about Yandel’s actions that she couldn't understand.
For one, it was certain he wasn't a commoner… was he really the heir to some underworld tycoon like the rumors said?
Everyone hated cultists, but seeing how extreme he was about it, maybe he was the hidden child of a high-ranking clergyman.
Fay let her imagination run wild for a while.
But soon, her face turned pale, and she slammed her pen and paper down on the table.
She sat up straight from her reclining position.
Boing.
Her chest swayed violently just from her raising her upper body, but Fay roughly held them still with her arms and continued her serious train of thought.
"I… don't actually know anything about Junior…?"
All Fay knew about Yandel was his name, his handsome face, his deep pockets, the strangely deep trust he placed in her, the lecherous way he stole glances at her chest whenever he had the chance, the fact that he surprisingly got along well with slaves, and his ridiculous magic skills.
…It seemed like she knew a lot, but in the end, these were all superficial things.
Anyone who spent a little time with Yandel would know them.
What Fay wanted to know was something much deeper.
Why Yandel was so rich, why he cherished her so much, why he was so close with slaves, why he hated cultists so intensely, and so on.
Fay wanted to know Yandel’s motivations.
She wanted to understand the real him, not just the image he showed on the outside.
…And she wanted to be understood by Yandel in return.
However, Fay knew nothing about him.
"Ah."
That realization felt incredibly bitter.
It was as if someone were raking her heart with sharp claws.
Fay was incomparably happier than before, but perhaps because that happiness had come so suddenly…
She began to worry: what if he left as suddenly and silently as he had first appeared?
What would happen to Fay then?
Shiver.
"Ugh…."
Fay trembled reflexively at the brief thought.
Now that she had tasted this kind of life, she could never go back to the past.
Being cold, hungry, scavenging through waste disposal facilities for materials, being treated like a ghost in class….
She didn't want to live such a pathetic life anymore.
Even though it had been the result of her own choices, it didn't mean it hadn't been hard.
At this point, Fay’s long-standing trauma began to rear its head.
After her mother, a brilliant alchemist, lost her life in an accident, her father had taken her in.
Lokan Yarnshard.
He hadn't been cold to Fay from the start.
In fact, he had been a kind father who was considerate of Fay as she struggled to adjust to a new household.
But what about now? They were now in a relationship worse than strangers… he didn't even acknowledge her existence.
Fay still remembered the shock of the first time her father ignored her.
What if she had to go through that again with Yandel?
Would she be able to stand back up then?
It would probably be impossible.
Fay began to shake so hard her teeth literally chattered.
She had been happy lately because every day felt like a dream… but Fay was naturally a very negative person.
In the midst of her spiraling negative thoughts, all Fay could do was repeatedly wipe away the rising tears.
"Hic…."
Fay, who had been giggling to herself, then flailing, and finally starting to sob, added another line of self-deprecation, thinking she looked like a total madwoman. Then, an inspiration struck her brain like a bolt of lightning.
"…Huh?"
From the first day, Yandel hadn't been able to take his eyes off her chest.
Just a few days ago, he had even joked about asking to touch them.
Given that he always traveled with two slaves and teased them constantly, it was certain he liked women, even if the rumors were exaggerated.
He also seemed to have a strong sense of responsibility.
Then, what should she do to hold onto Yandel?
It was simple.
She had to create a reason why Yandel couldn't easily leave her.
For example….
A fait accompli.
As her thoughts reached this point, Fay suddenly ripped up the list she had been writing.
Rip, tear.
Then, on a new page, she wrote the most necessary item in large letters.
'Aphrodisiac'
A truly wicked plan was being constructed step-by-step in Fay’s mind.