Lee Jia (5)
Lee Jia (5)
I arrived in front of the principal's office. A black wooden door with gold engraving. I checked myself one last time before knocking. Was my outfit messy? Was there anything on me? I even downloaded a mirror app on my phone to check meticulously. Then, I let out a sigh.
I wanted to face her wearing the Mask of Serenity, but the last time I met her, she saw right through me.
-It's quite interesting. The freshmen entering this time are truly high-level. Beyond expectations. There are at least 6 people who could easily take the top spot even if they were alone... And on top of that, a mask that deviates from the 'Principles'.
I chewed on her words and thought. A mask that deviates from the 'Principles'.
If it came from her, who possesses the 'Insight Eye' capable of perceiving most things, there was no doubt she was talking about something very important regarding the Mask of a Thousand Faces.
But let's think about that later. Right now, I'm in front of the principal's office. I knocked on the black door a few times with the back of my hand.
Knock knock.
-Come in.
A delicate, beautiful voice was heard. And a tone that didn't match that beautiful voice.
As I opened the door at her words, the scent of grass wafted out. The first thing I saw was a woman sitting at a wooden table in the center.
Golden hair and light green eyes. Pointed ears that didn't look human. An impression that looked slightly young rather than just young. A dress mixed with light green and white, decorated with blades of grass. And an overwhelming appearance that seemed like it would overwhelm even me.
It was the Fairy Queen, Titania, who was acting as the principal of the academy as a hobby.
Her eyes turned toward me. A gaze that seemed to pierce through anything was directed at me. She looked at me with a quiet smile.
"Siwoo-ya!"
"Sorry, I'm a bit late."
I apologized and glanced around. Lee Ji-ah, who was welcoming me so intensely that her brown hair was shaking. Next to her was a girl with pink hair. Kim Harin, who was acting like she was timid. There was also Eun Sua, a girl with bleached white hair and golden eyes, making a sullen expression.
And next to them, I saw two boys and girls standing side by side.
The two boys and girls had eye-catching appearances. That's putting it nicely.
In this world where all sorts of bizarre hair and eye colors change due to physical changes from unique traits, they had unrivaled appearances.
A guy who looked so pretty you couldn't tell if he was a man or a woman. A silver-haired, blue-eyed boy yawning languidly. A blonde, red-eyed girl standing next to him with an expression that said she was bored to death. They were some of the few people who could compare to me, who was born with tremendous looks for some reason due to the correction of being dropped into this world.
Well, it was a natural story if you think about it. Because they were the heroes leading the story. They were the ones born with the destiny to save this world.
"It's good, very good."
I looked at the principal at her words as she watched them with satisfaction. A mysterious woman who uses old-fashioned speech. But she is a real elder. An elder who is estimated to be at least 800 years old, at that.
"You have grown more than I thought. Especially Ji-ah, you have grown a lot."
"No, that's because you gave me a lot of support, Principal."
Lee Ji-ah said to the principal with a giggle. Indeed, she had given Lee Ji-ah a lot of support. Mana boosters that boasted prices that would make you gasp, and magic books used by the Fairy Race... The fact that Lee Ji-ah boasted high grades that put her in the top tier of the academy in just one month was thanks to her support.
"But why did you call us?"
When Lee Ji-ah and the principal were chatting and laughing, a beautiful voice cut through them. A girl looking at the principal with an uncomfortable face. Beside her, the silver-haired boy was rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache. However, the principal laughed heartily as if her rudeness was nothing.
"Hmm, I have something to give you all."
She gestured leisurely. A woman wearing a maid outfit with gray hair tied up high appeared in the transparent space. Everyone was agitated by the sudden appearance. I was the only one who wasn't agitated. Because I knew she was existing here.
Grande Hill, the loyal servant serving the Fairy Queen who leads the Fairy Race. An excellent rogue companion who is said to be all-capable in all kinds of housework and top-tier in talent as an assassin. She was a spatial attribute ability user, which is extremely rare, so her offense was excellent and her defense was excellent. Her movement speed was even more excellent. She also has lesbian attributes, so she is one of the characters who falls for the female hero.
"You're not surprised."
Titania said, looking at me as if she were amused. For a moment, the other kids' gazes were focused on me.
"Well, there wouldn't be any ordinary principals, but in the case of a principal who leads the Fairy Race, there would always be guards like this."
I shrugged my shoulders roughly and said. As if my reaction was amusing, she smiled and said to Grande Hill.
"It's nothing else, the reason I called you is to give you a mission."
In the academy, there are largely written exams and practical exams. And the 'mission' that goes into the practical exam. It's a mission like going outside the artificial island where the academy exists to kill monsters or explore dungeons.
When you play the game, the principal gives the playable character a mission that can be cleared if you just follow the basics. It's truly like a tutorial. The rewards are very generous compared to the difficulty, and it's a mission that is hard to get even if you want to. If there's a downside, it's that it happens once a semester if you're lucky. It's right to do whatever it takes to get this.
They work you harshly in the academy where professors and they can cover you, but outside, they give you easy mission difficulties and generous rewards. And that too, only limited to those selected by the Insight Eye among the talented.
Favoritism under the guise of being a scholarship student.
It was one of the ways the principal was steadily raising the 'opponents' of the 'Demon King'.
"Unlike receiving missions outside during the mission week that starts next week, I am leading this one. Of course, you can refuse."
"Then can we choose the reward from the Fairy Race's treasure vault?"
"Then."
Eun Sua asked. At Eun Sua's words, the principal nodded quietly.
"The Fairy Race's treasure vault..."
"Heh..."
The two heroes exclaimed in a low voice. The Fairy Race's treasure vault is a place where treasures collected by fairies over 1,000 years are kept. Most of what they have collected are items related to spirits that humans cannot easily obtain.
It was good to sell them for a high price, and it was good to use them as a medium to raise spirit affinity.
"Grande Hill."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Grande Hill bowed with restrained movements and took out a scroll half her size from her bosom. Then she spread it out and placed it on the table in the center.
"There's an Orc subjugation too."
"Orcs are boring, isn't there something like an Ogre?"
The two heroes approached first and scanned the missions. Orc subjugation shouldn't be an easy mission.
Unlike the Orcs that die with a squeal in the game, Orcs here are something like killing machines. Firearms work, but it's hard to even deal damage with decent small firearms. They are monsters who are weapon masters who don't discriminate against weapons and don't hesitate to kill. They are monsters with crazy specs that run 100m in under 7 seconds while having the muscle strength to pierce even rocks as big as half a person's size with a single punch. That's only the monsters classified as warrior classes; the fighters, riders, and chieftains are even bigger monsters.
However, they are saying that because her unique trait is too specialized for killing monsters or magical beasts.
I also scanned the mission list.
'Huh?'
I was flustered while scanning the missions. It didn't come out according to the missions that originally appear in the story. Is it because there are two heroes? There is one mission where you can get huge benefits.
[Thunderbird Subjugation]
Mission Type : Subjugation
Difficulty : B
Subjugate the Thunderbird in the Thunderbird's nest located near Osan.
The subjugation difficulty is B. You shouldn't ignore it because it's B grade. It's a difficulty level that ordinary students can't possibly challenge. Even heroes would frown, and if they were to challenge it with a standard method, even that Grande Hill over there would have to struggle in her own way.
I opened my mouth for a moment and looked at Kim Harin, who was pretending to be innocent. It becomes possible to eat three birds with one stone: taking Kim Harin to clear the Dungeon of the Kirin, subjugating the Thunderbird, and gulping down both the Thunderbird's carcass and the principal's reward.
"Harin-ah, Ji-ah."
"Yeah, why?"
"Yes?"
"Let's do this."
I pointed to the Thunderbird subjugation.
"That is..."
Grande Hill was about to say something but stopped. Because the principal, who was watching me with interesting eyes, stopped her with her hand.
"The difficulty is B, will it be okay...?"
"Y, yes. This is something only top-tier heroes receive."
At their dissuasion, I grinned and said. Actually, since Kim Harin is here, the Thunderbird is just a fast bird that gives expensive rewards.
"It's fine. I have a way to catch the Thunderbird easily."
Actually, I had no lack of confidence.
Confidence that I couldn't catch the Thunderbird.
"Isn't it interesting?"
After all the scholarship students left, the space became quiet. Titania opened her mouth while staring at the door where the students left for a long time.
"Is there an easy way to subjugate a Thunderbird?"
"There probably is. He's a student who came up with a strategy to easily catch a Cockatrine."
She said, wetting her lips with the black tea Grande Hill had brewed for her.
"It was quite an absurd strategy. Throwing a mana doll imbued with curse magic at the Cockatrine, running away to drain its energy, and then catching it."
"More amazing than that was the data that seemed to have been obtained by analyzing the Cockatrine for a lifetime. From what the Cockatrine uses as its staple food, to its growth process, to the weaknesses, strengths, and habits the Cockatrine has..."
The Cockatrine is a tricky monster. Overwhelming defense and magic resistance that deflects most magic and sword energy. It's not like its attack power is weak either. The defense that deflects the sword energy used by decent heroes is synonymous with having overwhelming attack power, in other words.
To catch this tricky monster, you have to designate one hero as an attacker, have other heroes support him to increase his attack power, and attack while restricting the Cockatrine's movements.
'But that the inside is vulnerable to curses.'
The theory he put forward was this. The outside of the Cockatrine is infinitely hard, but the inside is vulnerable. And to curse-type magic at that. The paper he submitted was too detailed to deny that.
Considering that the Cockatrine is a monster that even heroes who make a living hunting monsters might see once in a lifetime, it makes you wonder where he got such information.
Indeed, the fact that Kang Han-ja, the theory professor, passed that thesis on the spot was thanks to the detailed information about the Cockatrine. Likewise, didn't the 'Hall of Fame' also acknowledge that the information fit the bill and demand a 'Gold' grade information access fee?
His fame grew even more as it became known that a region in Switzerland had easily subjugated a Cockatrine based on that strategy.
"Come to think of it."
Grande Hill opened her mouth as if she had suddenly remembered.
"A Cockatrine appeared during the civilian massacre incident that happened 3 years ago."
"......."
3 years ago? Titania recalled the memory.
At that time, the whole world was noisy with that story for a while. An incident where one of the villain alliances blocked a city to kill one hero, released a Cockatrine, and massacred citizens, killing over 30,000 civilians.
They publicly announced that they had caught and executed them all, but she knows. The beings who actually orchestrated it are alive and well, and are still working in the shadows.
"Don't tell me, did he lose someone precious in that incident...?"
"Yes, I think so. Otherwise, there's no way he would know such detailed information. And it seems he has studied 'ways to kill' the Cockatrine efficiently through a lot of research."
"......Look into it. Don't dig too deep."
"Yes, I understand."
Grande Hill used shadow movement and disappeared from her room in an instant. Titania gazed at the distant sky through the window for a while. Revenge. Revenge, huh. She fell into thought while pondering that word.