Chapter 137
Translator: penny
Chapter: 137
Chapter Title: Search Thoroughly!
Lukechia.
The second chapter boss of Blaze Blood that appears right before finals season.
She's female and wields spider-like monsters that she summons herself.
Her speech has that summoner flair—she calls the spiders she summons her "babies," yet she orders them to charge headlong into battle regardless of whether they get crushed, or to latch onto enemies and inject poison.
The bigger spider monsters she keeps as elites by her side require wide-area skills or ultimate arts that hit everything to take down.
Her essential item is antivenom.
If Steel Mountain was the type to easily leave the impression of "this guy's the first real villain!", then Lukechia shows a different shade of evil—insidious, trap-setting wickedness unlike Steel Mountain's brute force.
Villains need personality and variety too.
In that sense, Lukechia was the next villain after Steel Mountain who made you feel a fresh kind of malice the moment you faced her.
She doesn't hesitate to take hostages, and the very fact that she uses venomous spiders as summons screams how sinister and underhanded she is.
For the record, Lukechia became a villain purely because of her twisted, nasty personality—no hidden backstory or excuses—so she's an antagonist you can take down without a second thought.
Difficulty-wise, she's a notch above Steel Mountain.
Well, since this is before finals kick off, the timeframe is short too. This section is more about bonding events with the heroines, student council requests, and dealing with the incident Lukechia stirs up, rather than grinding levels.
In chapter one, Isihoon's super-special first demonstration event gets handled via the Steel Mountain incident.
As the boss of each chapter, they have to be the central troublemaker, so Lukechia was bound to cause trouble soon.
'Or maybe she'll pass quietly, unlike the original.'
Since I crushed Steel Mountain so overwhelmingly, Lukechia might stay quiet until she decides to spring a trap on me.
But given her vicious nature, she might not sit still either.
Anyway, no need to agonize over it—the way to tell if she'll cause an incident or not is simple.
"Eldra. The president wants to see you."
"Got it."
And right on cue, the perfect chance to judge arrived.
The very start of the incident Lukechia causes.
It all kicks off with a student council request.
I followed the student council officer all the way to the student council room.
I was just about to knock politely and enter when...
"Why haven't you given the request to me, President Runeberg? Do you think my skills are lacking?"
"No, that's not it. I simply thought there was a more suitable cadet."
"Who the hell...!"
A woman's voice I recognized came from beyond the door, aside from President Rahisha's.
'No way she'd show up this early.'
She was supposed to visit the student council room in the latter half of chapter two.
But thanks to my meddling, her anxiety and impatience must have ballooned even more.
Knock knock!
"President, may I come in?"
"...!"
"Ah, yes. Come in."
I slid the door open and entered the student council room.
Inside were President Rahisha, the secretary, treasurer, and other officers... and...
"...Eldra."
There was Kang Seolhwa—the only daughter of the True Star Group, a heroine in Blaze Blood, and right now, someone harboring intense rivalry toward me.
She glanced at me, let out a light sigh, and turned her head away.
"Hah, I see. So there's someone even more suitable than me... The top talent who soloed a Strenzer and took first in the midterms."
"Miss Kang, it's not that your abilities are lacking. It's just..."
"Yeah, I get it. Rubelt can handle it alone anyway, so I'm not needed. Excuse me."
Kang Seolhwa made a sulky face and tried to leave the room.
'Can't just let her go like this.'
I stood in front of the door, blocking her path.
"Move."
"Can't do that. First off, President Rahisha, could you explain what's going on?"
"Of course."
President Rahisha gave a brief rundown of the situation.
Student council requests always go to the most fitting and reliable cadet.
And after sending someone to give this request to me...
Kang Seolhwa had barged in.
The reason? Why they hadn't assigned it to her.
It wasn't strange from her perspective.
As the daughter of True Star Group, word of student council requests naturally reaches her ears.
But after midterms ended, no matter how long she waited, they hadn't approached her, so she'd come sniffing around.
In the original, she was pretty laid-back about it, but now she's not, so the timing got pulled forward.
"I see."
"Now that you get it, move aside? Unneeded people can buzz off."
"No need to get so sharp, Seolhwa. How about we try getting along for once?"
"Not interested."
I ignored her piercing glare and asked President Rahisha.
"President, what's this request about?"
"Pardon? Well..."
"Tell me now."
"Understood."
President Rahisha nodded and explained the request.
"The mission I'd like to entrust is... an investigation."
"Investigation?"
"Yes. Recently, children aged 13 and under have been going missing. The police are investigating, but there's no progress."
I already knew, but I raised the obvious question.
"Why is that a student council request?"
"...Because among the missing kids are family members of our academy cadets. With no leads from the police, they came to us. Normally, we shouldn't meddle in police matters, I know. But this involves our cadets' families. We can't just ignore it."
"Got it. So the council's taking it on to assist the police even a little or find some clue to solve it."
"Yes. Resolution would be ideal."
"Hmm..."
I pretended to think for a moment, then looked at Kang Seolhwa.
"...What."
"Seolhwa, want to take this request together?"
"What?"
"Rubelt?"
"No harm in it, right? Requests don't have to be solo anyway."
Even in the game, protagonists often form parties for requests before diving into combat.
"Plus, teaming up with someone so eager for the request would be more helpful, no?"
"...True. Who you partner with is your call, Rubelt. So you're accepting?"
"Yes. I'll do my part to resolve the missing children case."
"Hold on! I never said I'd team up with you...!"
"Then you won't? Kids are vanishing—you gonna sit this out?"
"That's...!"
Refusing here brands her a cold-blooded type who doesn't care about missing kids' lives.
Even without that, Kang Seolhwa isn't the type to turn away from this.
"Fine. I can't ignore the kids."
Her answer was right on script.
Like me, Kang Seolhwa was raised with elite education and knows noblesse oblige.
Help those in need.
It's a way to give back to society.
Though it's also just that she can't abandon missing kids.
"Great. Looking forward to working with you."
I extended my hand to Kang Seolhwa. She eyed it, then grudgingly shook.
After school.
I'd gathered my collaborators for this request and headed to the city to investigate the missing children.
Three collaborators in total.
One was Kang Seolhwa.
Another was Choi Jun-gu, the client who requested this because his little brother went missing.
And the last one...
"Priest, what do I do?"
Was Chisaki.
"You've got great intuition, Chisaki. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious."
"Okay!"
"And."
"And?"
"You're Choi Jun-gu, right? Did you bring what I asked for?"
"Yeah. This it?"
Before meeting, I'd messaged him to prepare some items.
"Perfect."
"But why my brother's clothes...?"
"They'll come in handy. Chisaki."
"Yeah?"
I handed her Choi Jun-gu's little brother's clothes.
"Sniff this and watch for the same scent anywhere."
""!?""
"Hang on~ Priest~ I'm not a tracking dog~."
"But your nose is better than a dog's? Please, Chisaki."
"Fiiine~."
Chisaki snatched the clothes without a fuss and sniffed them.
"Hmm, got this scent. Memorized it. Here."
Once done, she tossed the clothes back to Choi Jun-gu.
"Huh? You... memorized the smell?"
"Chisaki's nose is top-notch."
Especially for my scent—it's so sharp it drives her crazy.
Meanwhile, Kang Seolhwa approached Chisaki.
"...You don't get mad being treated like this?"
"Nah? It's what I'm good at anyway~ Gotta use your talents right."
"Then let's start from places where your little brother might've vanished. Lead the way, Choi Jun-gu."
"Sure."
We followed Choi Jun-gu and began the missing children investigation.
