Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Typhoon
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[Who are you?]
"I know you know."
...How did she figure it out?
[I don't know.]
I try to play dumb.
"Is that so?"
[Yes.]
Oh! Right answer?
"Is that right...."
Oh... guess not.
That was a massive, enormous wrong answer.
"Well... here I go?"
Veronica points her index finger at me.
'Uh... hold on a sec.'
Something begins to gather at the tip of Veronica's finger.
'...What the hell is that?'
One is a refined energy.
The other is pure and radiant energy.
'Mana and magic power?'
Is this the effect of 【Laplace's Eye】?
"Pew."
With that cute yet devastating sound effect.
A laser shoots from Veronica's fingertip.
'No, you crazy bitch...!'
No time to fully grasp 【Laplace's Eye】's power—I quickly weave the surrounding mana into a hook shape.
- Stab!
I jam it into my body and rocket into the sky.
―――!!
"...Mana?"
Veronica looks utterly shocked at the sight.
"...How did you do that?"
The guy who shocks the headmaster?
That's me.
"Are your mom or dad maybe an elf?"
...What the hell, random elf diss out of nowhere.
I shake my head.
Neither.
"Ugh... whatever."
She hits me with a sneak elf diss and now it's whatever?
"...Come to the entrance ceremony next week."
Oh?
Sounds good?
'...Wait a minute though.'
Did she mark me?
Dragons are arrogant by nature.
Greedy bastards with egos as huge as their bodies—they take what they want, no exceptions.
'And Veronica the dragon is no different.'
The prime tragic example... Vice Principal Kaus Ostris.
[Please let me down quick.]
I grab Veronica as she was turning to leave.
Gotta stab mana into myself again to get down.
That shit really hurts.
- Thud.
I land safely on the ground.
Warm-up's done.
[Don't do that again, dean.]
I finish the likability ploy, activate 【Walker in Silence】, and bolt.
***
The entrance ceremony was right around the corner before I knew it.
- Stab.
I pierce the slime's translucent body and destroy its core.
Stats
: Vitality: 10 (E)
: Strength: 1 (F)
: Intelligence: 26 (B)
: Mental Strength: 30 (A)
: Magic Power: ■ ()
'Well... no changes.'
Not a single point up since possession day.
I could raise stats with achievements or fortuitous encounters, but whatever, gotta get into the academy for those.
Or boost with elixirs, but no money.
"Ah...."
My eyes hurt.
Symptoms worsened after running into Veronica.
【Laplace's Eye】's side effect.
Its power is undeniably strong.
Too strong, that's the problem.
Remnants of magic power could be seen in the slime's dissolving gelatinous body.
Natural mana was flowing by like the wind right in front of my eyes.
I see it all too clearly.
- Pop!
One slime leaps at me.
'Not all caught yet.'
I grip 【Leviathan】's handle.
Strength 1—this pathetic stat makes even holding a sword a challenge.
Even that requires weaving mana to barely secure it in my hand.
- Stab, stab!
I jam hook-shaped mana into my body again.
- Whoosh!
The force pulls my body, spinning me around.
The sword gains centrifugal force.
- Slash!
The slime's core splits cleanly in two.
'Oh.'
Clean.
Makes me proud for no reason.
'Inventory.'
[Opening inventory.]
A small rift opens in the air before my eyes.
Ta-da~
The inventory perk from possession.
I can store all sorts of stuff.
Whiteboard comes out of here too, of course.
'Lemme see.'
I dump all the slime cores into the inventory.
***
"Hey, Adel, you here?"
[Hello, Uncle Beru.]
Uncle Beru's general store, laid-back as always.
But....
'Ah.'
My eyes were hurting again.
And my vision stings at the same time.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Beru ]
Attribute
: 「Fire」
Skills / Traits
: 【Stealth】
Unique Skills
: 【...】
Unique Traits
: 【...】
Stats
: Vitality: 25 (B)
: Strength: 29 (B)
: Intelligence: 21 (B)
: Mental Strength: 31 (A)
: Magic Power: 11 (D)
Talents
: 【...】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
'...?'
Not my status window.
'Does it show others' too?'
【Laplace's Eye】 effect? Or just the system?
Context points to 【Laplace's Eye】.
"Slimes again?"
[Yes.]
I dismiss the status window and pull slime cores from inventory, stacking them on the table.
About ten.
"Here's one silver coin."
[Thank you.]
One silver.
Equivalent to about 10,000 won pre-possession.
Slime cores usually fetch seven coppers each.
About 700 won.
'Ooh, generous pricing?'
Uncle Beru is the best.
"By the way, how'd the entrance exam go?"
[I passed.]
"Oh, really? My girl's passed too—treat her nice if you run into her."
Uncle Beru points to the twitching cat ears atop his head.
"Same hair color, same ears—you'll spot her right away."
[Got it.]
I didn't know he had a daughter.
"Alright, see ya. Congrats on the admission."
[Yep.]
I leave the store and look around.
Streets are pretty crowded.
Many students gathering in Yoram for the entrance ceremony.
'Hmm....'
There were a few inns nearby... but they were pricey.
Not that I can't afford it....
'Just feels like a waste.'
Ceremony's tomorrow.
Gotta kill time for a day here somehow.
I activate 【Walker in Silence】.
'Any fine nobles around?'
A broke guy's dream: eat well, sleep well.
Please be my wallet.
***
"Hee hee! Maintaining public order is a student council duty, of course!"
"So why are you maintaining that order outside Yoram?"
"Outside Yoram is still Yoram!"
The city's called Yoram.
The academy's also called Yoram.
So it was not wrong... technically.
...But not exactly right either.
"Ah, sure."
Just minutes were left untill Yoram's entrance ceremony.
Carnel and Violet head out on a brief patrol of the city.
"Yesterday! Right here, there was a pickpocketing!"
Carnel points to a neat-looking, fairly pricey inn's front entrance.
"From a new Yoram student, no less!"
"I see...."
"And intel says pickpocketing's been rampant around here lately!"
From exam day to this morning.
It was a hotspot for pickpocketing.
Right here!
"Thus! The suspect's likely pickpocketing to cover inn fees!"
"How do you even get there...."
As Violet gives her a pitiful look.
- Creak.
The inn door opens, and someone in a mask steps out.
"...."
"...."
Silence.
The three freeze, eyes locked.
"We've spotted the suspect...!!"
Carnel shouts.
Vigorously pointing at the masked Adel.
***
"We've spotted the suspect...!!"
Suspect out of nowhere.
What?
"You! It's you again!"
'Again?'
Do I know you people?
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Cornelia von Delbar ]
Attributes
: 「Time」
: 「Star」
Skills / Traits
: 【Multi-Casting】
: 【High-Speed Synthesis】
: 【Reflux】
Unique Skills
: 【Foresight】
: 【Akashic Records】
: 【...】
Unique Traits
: 【Walker of Magic Paths】
: 【Dispel】
: 【...】
Stats
: Vitality: 25 (B)
: Strength: 20 (C)
: Intelligence: 35 (A)
: Mental Strength: 29 (B)
: Magic Power: 40 (S)
Talents
: 【Magic (S+)】
: 【...】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Huh.
'...Cornelia?'
No, why's the student council president here?
'....'
She was a Top-tier broken character in 'Akareang'.
Cornelia von Delbar.
Heir to the Duke Delbar, famed for magic.
Just a second-year, yet S+ talent, first student to hit S-rank magic power—insane specs.
"You! Not escaping this time!"
Have I ever met Carnel?
[I think you've got the wrong person.]
I pull out the whiteboard.
"No! I saw you clear as day!"
So what did you see, noble miss?
[What?]
"You!"
So what did you see?
"I saw you pickpocketing!"
Pardon?
"You even picked my pocket!"
Huh?
"You zero-score thief!!"
Wait, no way...?
'White hair.'
The girl who spotted me using 【Walker in Silence】....
She had white hair too.
'That was Carnel?'
Holy shit.
My jaw drops.
[That wasn't me.]
But whatever, it wasn't.
'No choice.'
Shamelessness is survival.
'Better a solid innocence claim than half-assed conscience.'
And look as wronged as possible, convincingly.
'Oh right, they can't see my face.'
Forgot about the mask for a sec.
'Tch....'
Anyway.
[I'm squeaky clean.]
My heart's pure and clear—no greed here.
'Plus, no evidence?'
No CCTV, no witnesses—even time magic replaying the moment is useless against 【Walker in Silence】.
'Game over.'
"That's not him."
Violet butts in.
'Oh, an ally appears.'
A sturdy NPC.
"Eh...?"
Carnel turns blankly.
"E? Eh?? E???" error sounds playing.
Soon accepting reality, she yells at me again.
"And you! you're super suspicious! With a mask, no talking, such shady looks!"
[Isn't that a personal attack?]
"No! I'm just stating facts! Shady-looking guy!"
That's a personal attack, miss.
[What about you then?]
"...I'm a 100-pointer!"
"What's your scale?"
Violet butts in again.
"My scale!"
...No comeback for that.
[Okay.]
"...Ugh, come on, let's go. The ceremony's starting soon."
"Wha? Wait, stop...! Not yet—!"
Violet casually grabs the sniffling, flailing Carnel by the collar and drags her off.
"You just wait!!"
'....'
What is this?
Feels like a typhoon just blew through.
***
"Headmaster, it's about to start."
Behind the stage podium.
Veronica lifts her head from her thoughts.
"...Headmaster?"
Even at Kaus' cautious call, she stays silent a while before speaking.
"Hey, Kaus."
"Yes, Headmaster."
"How'd you feel when I put you at the top of your class?"
Kaus blinks.
"You mean when I enrolled?"
"Yeah. It was a few years back? Fifty?"
"...If I recall that time."
"Recall it."
"It was fucking awful."
"Yeah? Just awful?"
A commoner at the top spot.
Nobles' jeers, complaints, pressure back then.
But Veronica pushed through.
She wanted to prove talent ignores birth.
And test that talent.
And the result: today's Kaus.
She figured he'd be grateful.
"Just fucking awful."
Guess not.
"...Oh yeah?"
...I did all that for you.
And I took all the shit for it.
"Why ask?"
"...Huh? Nothing."
"No way...you're not going to do it again right, Headmaster?"
Kaus glares.
His instincts scream warnings.
"Hmm... hope you last a while...."
I'll raise you good.
"Hee hee."
"Oh god...."