Chapter 90: Back to the Academy (2)
Chapter 90: Back to the Academy (2)
“Why don't we start a secret organization while we're at it?”
If I don't have a backer or a mastermind behind me, can't I just make one?
Even I thought it was a bit of a crazy suggestion, so I could only imagine how it sounded to others.
It was enough to make even Carla—who usually makes a fuss and showers me with praise just for breathing—tilt her head in confusion.
“Master… are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious. If I just push the narrative that ‘Actually, there was a secret organization all along!’, won't it work out somehow?”
“Uh, well. The thing is…”
Carla mumbled, unable to bring herself to say the next words.
In truth, no such thing as a secret organization ever appears in H&A.
And for good reason—the main villains, the Cultists, are a secret organization themselves. There was no reason for another one to exist.
It was the same now that this world had become reality.
Unless it was a simple criminal gang or an intelligence network, there wasn't a single group acting as a proper mastermind.
Of course, it was possible one existed that was so secret even I didn't know about it.
After all, I wouldn't know about things that didn't appear in the game.
However, I truly believed there were no secret groups other than the Cultists.
Right now, the Cultists were in the stage of preparing to step into the light.
In about two years, they would rise up all at once and turn the continent upside down.
Without a player, they were the ones who would have smoothly brought about the end of the world.
There was no way such people wouldn't have cleared out their surroundings.
Even if a fairly solid secret organization had existed, they would have long since been massacred or absorbed by the Cultists.
That’s why, at this point, there were no noteworthy secret organizations besides the Cultists.
Thanks to that, whenever something suspicious happened, you could attribute it to the Cultists and be right more than half the time.
Well… the people here were once individuals of considerable status.
Even if they didn't know the future where the Cultists would soon stage a massive uprising, they must have heard plenty of things.
They would know that it was difficult for a powerful secret organization to exist.
Perhaps that was why Iris spoke up cautiously, her eyes like an adult who didn't want to shatter a child's illusion.
“Master. A secret organization is not as grand as you might think. It is an entity that makes enemies of everyone—from neighboring criminal groups to the Cultists hiding in the depths, and even the public authorities glaring from the light.”
“Master is right, Yandel. That’s why even criminal organizations are said to receive protection from noble houses or giant merchant guilds. Though it’s a loose cooperative system so they can cut ties at any time.”
“Mmm… I can’t think of a good way. The idea of getting involved in the underworld bothers me too. Of course, if Master commands it, I will follow gladly, but…”
They were all skeptical. The elf family, who were still watching me with cautious attitudes, didn't speak up, but they seemed to feel the same way.
No, wait. Everyone seems to be missing the point.
“Who said anything about actually running a secret organization?”
“Oh? Didn't you just say you were going to create an organization that would look like your backer?”
“Think about it. If such an organization existed, it would have been known long ago. If it suddenly pops out of nowhere, people will be suspicious first, right?”
“…Yandel, you said you were going to make one!”
I let Elisha’s somewhat indignant shout go in one ear and out the other as I continued.
“I am going to make it. But we don't actually have to do anything. The important thing is that it looks impressive.”
“You mean we only need to give the impression that we shouldn't be trifled with?”
I nodded at Iris, who was patting the huffing Elisha.
“Exactly. We don't even need to get our hands dirty. We just need to keep up appearances.”
“I don't think it will work as easily as it sounds, though…”
“Right. That’s why I’m bringing this up now to ask if it’ll be okay before I go ahead with it.”
The reckless spending at the auction house was the decisive trigger, but I had been agonizing for a long time over how to explain my abilities and the Gold I possessed.
It was a bit of a forced fit… but there was a way.
The setting I had indirectly fed Carla before to plausibly explain the System Correction: being a descendant of a dragon through atavism.
I decided to actively utilize this.
“I told you earlier, right? The Gold I have was brought from a Dragon Lair.”
“…Even coming from a Master who just spent 100,000 Gold in one sitting, that’s still hard to believe.”
“I know. But it’s the truth. One day, a strange landscape suddenly appeared before my eyes, and feeling like I had to go there, I just started walking. It turned out to be a Dragon Lair.”
“Hah. What on earth…?”
Iris looked dumbfounded. Well, it was an absurd story.
But for Carla, it seemed to be incredibly persuasive.
“I knew it! Master’s blood… no, his mana must have guided him!”
“What are you talking about, Carla? Wasn't Yandel just a commoner?”
“I told you to call me Big Sister, didn't I? Actually, I was unsure until now, but hearing that story just now confirmed it.”
Carla looked at me with slightly dreamy eyes.
“Master is someone who has manifested the Dragon Factor. …Specifically, someone who has awakened the same Dragon Mana as the progenitor of the Lindelheit family.”
As in most fantasy worlds, the dragons of the Eurelia Continent were a very special race.
Infinite mana, magic engraved into their instincts, a lifespan longer than even High Elves, and so on.
Dragons were, without a doubt, a race at the absolute pinnacle.
Though they had the minor problem of low numbers due to a strange habit of being more attracted to humans than their own kind for some reason.
Because dragons polymorphed into humans and spread their seeds all over the place, there were quite a few people in this world born with dragon blood.
And among them, on extremely rare occasions, there were those who manifested the Dragon Factor flowing in their blood.
Such individuals would possess at least one extraordinary trait.
Whether it was immense strength, radiating transcendent charisma, or handling Aura as naturally as breathing.
It was because they inherited a portion of a dragon's power.
However, as an exception, if one was born with Dragon Mana, a fragile human body could not handle it, resulting in becoming a mana cripple with a short lifespan.
The one who solved that on his own was the progenitor of the Lindelheit family.
…I just happened to get Mana Insensitivity Constitution as a random penalty after picking a few good traits at the start.
Regardless, to Carla, I must have looked like the same case as her ancestor.
It was the reaction I had induced, but my conscience pricked me as the lies kept piling up.
Still, I couldn't think of any other way.
For now, I feigned ignorance and tilted my head nonchalantly.
“I have… dragon blood?”
“Master, you said that even when you use magic, you instinctively know what to do, right? That’s normally impossible! Plus, having so much innate mana that it ruins your body? That’s also impossible unless it’s a special case like our ancestor!”
Carla was completely excited. I gently stroked her under the chin.
“Calm down a bit. You seem more excited than I am, and I’m the one involved.”
“How can I stay calm! Anyway, if you say you’ve been to a Lair…”
“I still remember the location, so do you want to go there together during summer vacation?”
“I’d love to!”
“Good. Then, since we keep getting sidetracked, shall we get back to the main point?”
“Yes!”
A smile naturally escaped me at the sight of Carla becoming instantly well-behaved.
Well, it was true that I knew the location of a Dragon Lair.
I had never actually been there, but there were several Dragon Lairs you could visit in H&A.
The place I intended to go was empty except for one key item… but I could just say that was because I had taken all the Gold.
“Alright. Where was I… right. I said I’d been to a Dragon Lair, right?”
“I still find it hard to believe, though.”
I gave a smirk to the still-skeptical Elisha and continued.
“From now on, our setting is that we are a secret organization… no, a secret society that inherited that dragon’s will, created solely to annihilate the Cultists and the Evil God.”
“…Huh?”
I explained in more detail to Elisha, who wore a blank expression.
Dragons are a powerful race. More accurately, they were powerful.
Those great lizards were now fallen and on the brink of extinction.
The cause, of course, was the Great War 300 years ago.
Usually, dragons viewed the Eurelia Continent as little more than their playground, but when the humans they cherished so dearly began dying in droves, they belatedly joined the war.
The dragons swept through the battlefield with overwhelming force… but the power of the Evil God was a bizarre thing that defied common understanding.
Once the Evil God discovered the dragons' weaknesses and personally manifested to hunt them, their already small numbers began to dwindle one by one.
To make matters worse, just as humans turned into Cultists, one among the dragons surrendered to the Evil God.
With the appearance of a turncoat known as the First Demon Dragon, the situation spiraled further into chaos.
In the end, most dragons lost their lives, and the few survivors fell into a slumber to recover from their wounds, their hostility toward the Cultists burning bright.
In the final stages of H&A, there was an event where you could wake those dragons and make them your allies…
The rage the dragons showed back then was chilling enough to be felt even through the monitor.
The fictional organization I was about to create would be based on this.
If I was going to bullshit, I might as well go big.
“A secret society created by a dragon who sensed his own death as his wounds worsened. Those who inherited all of the dragon's legacy, but use it solely for the subjugation of Cultists.”
It wasn't just some big-shot criminal organization.
They were those who had been crushing Cultists from the shadows and gathering information on them since long ago.
Seekers without faith who, despite possessing such formidable power, did not interfere with the world unless it involved the Evil God.
Anyway, an organization that looked secret, impressive, and traditional.
But an organization that had recently revealed itself for some reason.
“That is the shell of the secret society I’m going to create.”
“““……”””
Even after I finished speaking, everyone remained silent.
The one who broke the silence first was Carla.
“Master, you already knew the identity of the Cultists and the dungeon that was hidden deep beneath Gepp City, didn't you?”
“Oh? Come to think of it, during the dungeon practice, you knew everything about the attacking Archbishop Edmerec—the penalties of his Authority, his personality, and even the tactics he frequently used.”
“Now that I think about it, Master knew of the existence of the Boiling Silence sect, which was said to be operating in secret without anyone knowing.”
The atmosphere suddenly turned strange.
Once again, it was Carla who spoke up.
“Master… was what you just said really just a simple setting?”
“Uh, well.”
Would you believe me if I said no?