A Mighty and Malevolent(?) Entity
The Ein Academy entrance exam.
It was a screening process designed to filter through the gifted and select only those with the greatest talent on the continent.
Whenever the exam season approached, the attention of the entire continent focused on this single event.
And this year, the public's interest in the Ein Academy entrance exam was exceptionally high.
This was due to rumors that a massive influx of renowned prodigies—individuals whose reputations already preceded them despite not having even entered the Academy yet—would be participating.
Drin Libringer.
A genius said to possess a talent rare even within the long history of the Libringer family, the continent's preeminent clan of swordsmanship. She occupied a massive portion of those rumors.
"Come to think of it, isn't the young lady of the Libringer family taking the exam this time?"
"I looked into it, and she's a genius who will rewrite the history of continental swordsmanship."
"Man, you always say someone's going to rewrite history. Just leave the continent's history alone for once."
"Besides, don't you not even know the continent's history?"
"Do you even know what the Eight Great Families are?"
"Does that even matter?"
"Then what the hell does matter, you lunatic?"
Drin felt the weight of those rumors firsthand as she walked the streets of Erein.
As she strolled along, snippets of conversations about herself drifted over to her at irregular intervals.
She thought to herself.
It is a relief they only know my name and not my face.
Regardless, Drin was already drawing plenty of attention.
Her flawless, radiantly golden hair and brilliant blue eyes caught the sunlight, making her presence impossible to ignore.
With every disciplined step she took, her silver half-plate armor clinked rhythmically against the sword sheathed at her waist.
Whenever Drin passed by, people found their eyes drawn to her as if by a magnetic pull.
But that was all.
Intimidated by her overwhelming aura, they quickly averted their gazes.
It was a familiar occurrence, and since it didn't cause her any real trouble, Drin paid it no mind.
Where should I go first?
She wanted to explore Erein—the city where she would reside until her graduation from the Academy—freely and without interruption.
It was a sightseeing trip born of pure curiosity, under the pretext of a preliminary survey to ensure a smooth transition into academy life.
Drin wandered aimlessly through the streets of Erein, thoroughly soaking in the atmosphere.
"Hm?"
It was then, just as she entered the market streets of District 4.
Drin's highly refined intuition picked up on a suspicious undercurrent.
A street bustling with countless people passing to and fro.
Drin's gaze cut across the crowd, tracing an invisible line.
A man, presumably a city noble, strolling with an escort.
And a figure clad in a black robe, looking like just another face in the crowd.
The line connected the two.
Instantly, she read a malicious intent in the robed figure's movements.
An assassin.
It might have been a mere misunderstanding.
Furthermore, it had nothing to do with her.
Yet, Drin began to tail them without a moment's hesitation.
Her intuition, which played a massive role in her genius talent, was sending her a clear signal.
It told her that she had to stop that assassin.
That she must prevent the assassination.
Besides, she was simply not the type of person who could turn a blind eye after witnessing such a scene.
The moment the noble turned into a secluded alleyway, the assassin made their move.
Slithering through the crowd like a snake gliding across the ground, the figure moved with fluid grace.
I knew it.
It was unmistakably the movement of someone trained in the Assassination Arts.
Drin kept her eyes locked on the assailant's path.
She couldn't slip through the crowd as effortlessly as the assailant did.
But then again, she had no need to hide her presence either.
"Huh? What in the—"
A nearby merchant's eyes went wide as he watched Drin move.
Leaping from where she stood, she stepped off a railing and vaulted upward once more.
In just three swift movements, she had ascended from the street to the rooftop of a two-story building.
It was a display of agility entirely different from the stealthy lightness of the assailant.
Tap, tap.
Tap, tap.
Leaping across the gaps between buildings, she threw herself down into an alleyway.
Thud.
Her landing was incredibly soft.
At the same time, her posture remained perfectly balanced.
"What...?!"
For the assassin, it was an utterly baffling turn of events.
A person had literally dropped out of the sky right in front of them.
Drawing her sword, Drin fell into a stance, blocking the assailant's path.
The noble's guard was already down.
Given that he was hired to protect a noble, the guard must have possessed a decent level of skill, yet he seemed to have been incapacitated instantly without putting up any notable resistance.
As Drin had suspected, the assassin was highly capable.
"..."
Drin wasn't the only one measuring her opponent's strength.
"Tsk!"
The assassin stared at Drin for a brief moment before clicking his tongue.
Whoosh!
He hurled a dagger toward the noble.
"...!"
Clang!
Hummmmm!
"Hieeeek!"
Taking advantage of the split second Drin spent deflecting the dagger to protect the noble, the assassin fled without hesitation.
The speed and power of the throw were absurd for a simple dagger.
Even Drin, who had been on high alert, had barely managed to react in time.
No wonder the guard was taken down in a single blow.
The dagger had been coated in aura.
Imbuing an object with aura...
He was at least a 3-Star practitioner.
An assassin of that caliber had failed his mission and was now on the run.
If she let him escape now, it would undoubtedly lead to a greater tragedy in the future.
"I will pursue him! Call for the city guards!"
"What? Ah! Yes, of course!"
Leaving behind the noble, whose eyes were shining as he stared at her, Drin dashed after the assassin.
Slipping into the alleys, the assassin chose the most labyrinthine paths possible, heading deeper into the slums.
Drin was a newcomer who had only just arrived in Arien.
Compared to the assailant, who likely made his home in the depths of the city's underbelly, she was practically blind when it came to the local geography.
Yet, relying on her superhuman physical abilities and reflexes...
...as well as her sharp intuition, she managed to keep hot on his heels.
He's fast!
Despite her efforts, the distance between them was gradually widening.
Drin was more than a little surprised.
To think she was being outpaced.
Perhaps the assailant was far more powerful than she had initially estimated.
She might sustain significant injuries in the process of capturing him.
Was it still right to pursue him?
"..."
Her hesitation did not last long.
In the Libringer family, honor was a virtue just as important as strength—if not more so.
To them, power was merely a tool to uphold honor, and honor was the ultimate path that power should strive toward.
As Drin of the Libringer family...
...an assassin was an utterly dishonorable existence that she could never tolerate.
To possess such strength and yet use it to harm the innocent for something as trivial as money.
She could not allow such a despicable person to roam free.
Even if it meant she would get hurt in the process.
Or so Drin thought.
This was despite the fact that she had no idea what the assassin's true motives were, nor did she know what kind of person that noble actually was.
In this regard, Drin's perspective could occasionally be rather narrow-minded. Fortunately, however, her intuition always guided her decisions, meaning she was rarely ever wrong.
"Is it this way?"
Even when the assassin vanished from her sight, Drin pressed forward, relying entirely on her gut feeling.
A considerable amount of time passed in this manner.
"!!!"
Just before she rounded a corner, Drin's feet ground to a halt.
Rumbleeeee...
Suddenly, her intuition screamed at her.
Danger.
A dangerous, malevolent entity was approaching her from just around the corner.
This is...
It was the first time her instincts had ever sounded such an intense alarm.
Drin was absolutely certain.
She could never hope to stand against whatever was on the other side.
She dared to surmise that even her father—the head of the Libringer family and the greatest swordsman on the continent—would be unable to match this presence.
In other words, her intuition was telling her:
An evil entity, possessing power far greater than the continent's strongest swordsman, was drawing near.
No way...
It was hard to believe, but her instincts were unwavering.
Drin drew her sword and fell into a defensive stance.
Without a moment's delay, she summoned every ounce of her aura.
"Haa... Haa..."
Her breathing, which had remained perfectly steady even during her high-speed pursuit, completely broke down.
Cold sweat poured down her face like rain.
The subtle tremors shaking her body gathered at the tip of her blade, vibrating violently.
Step.
Thump.
Step.
Thump, thump.
Drin's heart pounded so violently she feared it might burst. With every approaching footstep, the rhythm grew more frantic.
Step, step, step.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!
As if completely indifferent to her terror, the owner of the footsteps rounded the corner without a moment's hesitation, finally revealing himself.
Whoosh!
For a split second, a suffocating darkness seemed to swallow Drin's world.
And then, just as quickly, it vanished.
"Huh? Whoa, aaagh!!!"
And standing before her—or rather, tumbling backward in sheer fright upon seeing Drin radiating her intense aura—was...
...a squinty-eyed young man who carried an aura so light he looked as if a gentle breeze might blow him away.
"...Eh?"
A dumbfounded sound escaped Drin's lips.
This was the entity her instincts had warned her about?
"P-please, spare my life! I'll do whatever you say!"
This man, who had fallen flat on his backside in surprise, was now prostrating himself and begging for mercy in absolute terror?
"..."
No matter how she looked at it, it made no sense.
Setting aside his incredibly weak presence, she couldn't sense even a speck of power from him.
This must be...
Her intuition wasn't infallible.
There were rare occasions when her gut feelings were wrong, and it seemed this was one of those times.
She had likely overreacted due to the tension of being in an unfamiliar environment.
"Sigh..."
Reaching that conclusion, Drin let out a sigh that was half relief and half disappointment.
"H-here! This is everything I have!"
Now that the tension had dissipated, she finally took a proper look at the man.
He was frantically pulling out all of his belongings, trying to offer them to her.
To any onlooker, Drin would have looked like a mugger and he the helpless victim.
"What on earth... What do you think you are doing right now?"
Drin stared at the man, utterly bewildered.
Perhaps because of the situation, his squinty-eyed expression made him look like he was smiling obsequiously.
Even upon second thought, Drin couldn't comprehend it.
How on earth could she have mistaken a man like this for such a terrifying entity?
She felt her absolute faith in her own intuition begin to waver.