Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: D-Day
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Time has a way of flying by.
Whether one is conscious of its passage or not, time simply flows onward, indifferent.
Before long, two days had passed, and it was now Thursday.
*Click.*
Anastasia, leaving the inn where she was staying just outside the academy, checked her attire.
She was wearing a blue dress instead of her usual officer's uniform, and looking at herself felt strange.
"I really can't get used to this."
*Rustle.*
As she carefully smoothed down the dress, even the scabbard at her waist felt unfamiliar.
Since her officer's uniform drew too much attention from instructors and cadets within the academy, she had been wearing casual clothes for the past few days, but anything other than her uniform still felt foreign.
It felt like she was wearing clothes that didn't suit her.
On top of that, the purpose of this outing was just as peculiar.
*'I can't believe...'*
She never imagined she would have to spend so much time with someone other than Glacia during her vacation.
But an appointment was an appointment, and the day they had set was today.
*'Cadet Han Cheon-seong definitely asked me to protect him.'*
Even now, she found the request rather difficult to understand.
At their previous meeting, when she told him to ask if he needed anything, Cadet Han Cheon-seong had spoken to her in a serious tone.
He had asked her to protect him for a single day.
She hadn't sensed any hidden intentions in his words, so she had believed him.
A mere cadet couldn't possibly deceive her, so she had to take his request at face value.
*'But will something really happen inside the academy?'*
With its many outstanding instructors, the academy was arguably the safest place in the empire, second only to the imperial palace.
Even if a few apostles were to appear, the place was filled with high-level individuals who could easily subdue them.
*Click-clack.*
She shook her head slightly as she walked.
*'If that's all he's asking of me, then it's actually quite easy.'*
She decided not to overthink it. All she had to do was honor his request to protect him.
Just ensure that no one could lay a single finger on Cadet Han Cheon-seong. In her current state, she had absolute confidence in her ability to do so.
"And for Glacia's sake..."
She needed to pay special attention to Cadet Han Cheon-seong.
Because to Glacia, he was more special than any other cadet. She had picked up on that subtle feeling over the past few days.
Glacia held some peculiar feelings for Han Cheon-seong, so even if it meant investing some of her time, building a relationship of trust with him would be a significant gain.
*'You could call this a kind of investment.'*
If it helped Glacia, this was truly nothing to her.
***
The first-floor lobby of the academy building.
Arriving at the appointed time, she could see cadets starting to file out of their lecture halls.
"Where should we go today?"
"I want to see the rabbits. What about you?"
"You mean the lounge where they have the animals?"
"Yeah. I saw them last time and wanted to see them again. You'll love it."
The cadets, moving in small groups, were full of life.
Untouched by the harshness of the battlefield, they were brimming with a brightness that was pleasant to see.
*Thud, clack...*
Watching the cadets pass by, she leaned against a wall in the lobby and waited for Han Cheon-seong.
She calmly met the occasional glance from cadets. How long had she waited?
*Thud.*
She saw Han Cheon-seong coming down the stairs.
"...!"
Their eyes met by chance, and he seemed to widen his in surprise. She gave a slow nod.
A small smile escaped her lips as he quickly approached.
"You'll fall if you're not careful."
"Ah, no. Lady Anastasia. Were you perhaps waiting for me?"
"Yes. I haven't been waiting long."
"I see..."
Seeing his surprised expression, as if he hadn't expected her to wait, she asked calmly.
"Shall we head straight to the training grounds? Or if there's somewhere else you'd like to go, just say so. I can accommodate that much."
"...No, that's alright. I'd like to go directly to the training grounds."
"Very well. Let's go."
*Thud.*
As she matched her pace to Han Cheon-seong's, she sharpened her senses.
She intended to detect any negative energy, malicious thoughts, or any presence targeting him, but she felt nothing.
*'I don't sense anything in particular.'*
Then, as the other cadets around them thinned out, she felt a subtle gaze from her side.
She turned her head slightly, and their eyes met again.
"Um... Lady Anastasia. Is there a particular reason you waited in the lobby instead of the park?"
"It's not for any major reason. You asked me to protect you, didn't you? I thought something might happen on the way to the park, so I waited in the lobby."
"...You thought that far ahead."
"You might think it's excessive, but I'm the type to keep my word, no matter what."
"Ah, no. I'm very grateful."
He looked surprised, but to her, it was only natural.
A request to 'protect' someone inherently meant preparing for unforeseen incidents.
And since Cadet Han Cheon-seong would be most vulnerable when leaving the academy building, her aim was to prevent that.
That was why she had intentionally waited inside the academy, so they could meet there instead of at the park, their appointed spot.
And even if she thought the possibility was slim...
*'If there really is a chance of an incident, just as he said...'*
She had no intention of letting her guard down today.
***
On the academy grounds.
The sight of a man and a woman strolling down a rather wide thoroughfare should have been enough to draw anyone's attention.
A man with sharp features and red hair, and a woman with long, waist-length black hair and a languid expression.
A mysterious aura coexisted between them.
Yet, the pair drew no attention from the vast majority of people. Even those who did glance their way felt no curiosity and simply passed by.
Everyone accepted their presence within the academy as perfectly natural.
This was all due to the influence of Azazel's power, the 'Boundary of Perception.'
Azazel's unique ability was to drastically reduce her presence, making it faint, causing others to feel no more curiosity than they would for a natural landscape.
They too were waiting for something, watching the cadets who passed by or came into view.
After some time, Sekhmet looked at Azazel beside him with a peculiar gaze.
"Azazel. We seem to have checked all the humans called A-Class cadets. Why are you silent?"
They had just finished observing all the A-Class cadets, said to be the most outstanding.
And yet, there was no reaction from Azazel.
It was Azazel, not Sekhmet, who had claimed to have imprinted upon the target—a cadet who would become a 'pillar' of the empire.
"...It's hard to believe, but it seems the one I marked as the pillar isn't among the A-Class cadets."
And Azazel, in her reply, was also surprised.
She clearly remembered the presence of the human who would become the pillar, felt through the apostle Leteia. But among the A-Class cadets, known to be the most exceptional... none of them reacted to her energy.
"Could you have been mistaken? I certainly felt 'potential' from that human named Leonhardt who just passed by."
Sekhmet glanced over, his eyes following Leonhardt as he walked nearby.
Despite passing right by them, he hadn't noticed them at all. Nevertheless, Sekhmet could feel that Leonhardt's presence was distinctly different from that of other humans.
That 'overwhelming presence' unique to humans with the potential for great strength—he could feel it from Leonhardt.
"......"
Azazel silently turned her head and also watched the slowly departing Leonhardt. She hesitated for a moment... then nodded.
"I wasn't mistaken. I imprinted his presence clearly. I'm sure of it. However... I can't deny that human has potential as well."
Having killed countless humans over several centuries, she could tell.
Humans destined to reach great heights possessed something special even in their youth. And Azazel, too, clearly felt that potential in Leonhardt.
That's why she couldn't understand it.
*'For him to have this level of presence despite not being the human I imprinted...'*
A great sense of dread washed over her, and she began to worry.
Two individuals with the potential to become pillars. It was a completely unexpected revelation.
"So two more humans who could become pillars have appeared in less than half a century... Azazel, *huff*. Then let's act separately."
"...Alright. I'll search for the human I imprinted on my own."
*Thud.*
As Sekhmet walked away toward Leonhardt after their brief exchange, Azazel watched his back and felt a sense of crisis.
*'Do heroes always appear among the humans?'*
The power of the nine apostles, which could be said to have reached its zenith in this era, was no exaggeration.
That power was meant to be revealed through the Grand Plan and swallow the human empire whole.
But if they were too cautious in executing the plan and the timing was delayed... the entire Grand Plan could fall apart.
*Rustle.*
Walking in the opposite direction from Sekhmet, Azazel couldn't shake the sense of crisis in her heart.
*'Two humans who could become pillars...'*
Currently, there were four powerhouses who could be called the pillars of the empire.
If two more were added to that number, the tide of war would shift dramatically in an instant.
Everything would have tilted before they could even act. No matter how many apostles they created, it would be meaningless if the number of human pillars increased.
"Although Leteia seems to be dead."
Looking back now, it wasn't a pity at all.
The loss of Leteia's signal, which they had cultivated for years, felt like a small sacrifice in comparison.
If they could just eliminate all the potential pillars here...
As she thought, Azazel gave a faint smile.
She suddenly found it amusing that she was even making such an assumption.
"Because I must kill them."
It wasn't an assumption; it had to become reality.
The mindset that she would, of course, kill them.
That was why they had come all this way...