Chapter 48
Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: A Month to the Thief?
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The auditorium was packed with crowds of people.
Students.
Faculty.
Even guards and staff.
Footsteps and voices tangled together, creating endless clamor.
It was bustling like the middle of a marketplace.
I hated crowds and commotion like this in every way.
They were just noisy and chaotic.
Of course, my sister...
She loved places like this, saying the scattered attention made it easier to steal.
She'd probably already slipped her hand into a few pockets.
Thank goodness.
She wasn't here.
Thanks to that, I could enjoy my life in perfect peace.
'This is... liberation?'
The corners of my mouth lifted on their own.
This noisy, chaotic atmosphere would normally annoy me to no end.
But not today.
For the first time, I felt grateful for the academy.
A place without family.
A place where I could catch my breath in peace, without watching my step.
A world that was purely mine, my time.
Paradise itself...
"Ruena..."
No, not quite.
For a moment, the thrill of freedom from my siblings had made me forget.
Forget that something even more annoying than them might be lurking.
I glanced toward the source of the voice.
More precisely—
Toward the blonde girl.
She was still glaring at the stage where Ruena would appear.
My life was suddenly getting exhausting.
'How the hell does she know Ruena's waiting up there?'
Among the new students, Ruena had the highest status.
So—
It made sense that she'd have the highest chance of giving the entrance oath before the exam.
But this was the academy.
On the surface, it pursued equality beyond status.
Sometimes they assigned the oath regardless of rank or family.
In fact—
Last year, like with Eliad,
When the heir of Aurel—a grand ducal founding house—entered,
Someone else, not the heir, gave the oath.
A commoner, no less, not even low nobility.
The entire noble society was in an uproar over that shocking decision.
'Though Aurel itself stayed calm.'
House Aurel.
One of the seven founding houses.
A grand ducal family that even the imperial house couldn't ignore, just like Eliad.
If Eliad, the house of metal, symbolized wealth and military might,
Then Aurel, the house of the sun, inspired awe in everyone with the divinity of light and healing.
'Unlike our family's overhyped "sacred prophets."'
Well...
Aurel might not be what it seems on the inside either.
Just like our family: prophets on the outside, thieves within.
"Isn't that House Noir? The sacred prophets who can see the future..."
"They have such amazing power but no desire for authority at all. Truly admirable."
"That's why they're even more mysterious and untouchable."
I chuckled, recalling the words I'd heard right after arriving at the academy.
Anyway—
Even if Ruena had a high chance, last year's precedent meant it wasn't set in stone.
'Plus... the academy sent a letter beforehand asking permission, and the grand duke signed off saying it was fine.'
In other words, it was ambiguous—Ruena might or might not give the oath.
We'd only been notified who it was right before the start.
Yet that girl,
Had been staring at the stage from the moment she entered the auditorium.
As if she knew Ruena wouldn't be anywhere else.
'This is too weird.'
Maybe she could see the future like us.
No—
Impossible.
That was House Noir's unique ability alone.
The auditorium.
The girl.
The waiting area for Ruena.
I scattered my attention and senses everywhere, lost in thought.
Her inner thoughts from moments ago.
「What's this? What's going on? Ruena's never paid attention to some random servant before.」
「What? A variable? Another random encounter we don't know about? Or...」
Ignoring the useless nonsense about yanggaeng or whatever,
Her other thoughts contained unfamiliar, alien words.
'...Some backwater dialect?'
I considered it, but something still felt off.
A sense of incongruity.
Abnormality.
And a mindset that nailed it all with conviction.
I quickly calculated the timeline in my head.
Recalling when we'd been told about the oath speaker by the faculty while waiting in the auditorium,
And the moment I spotted her entering amid the crowd.
At that time—
We'd arrived first.
A special courtesy.
They'd seated us early to avoid the rush.
While waiting up front, the faculty approached.
Asking her to give the oath.
Ruena went to the waiting room as directed,
And only then did the girl squeeze through the crowd into the auditorium.
Her gaze...
Even jostled by people, fixed on the stage.
Unnaturally so.
'Too short.'
It had all happened almost simultaneously.
If someone had tipped her off beforehand, there'd have been some sign of hearing it, some hesitation.
But—
Nothing.
That somewhat dim girl wouldn't hide it so flawlessly.
'Which means...'
It was absurd, but the most logical assumption.
The forces targeting Ruena knew the information before it even happened.
'There are ways that could be possible, but the most logical ones...'
An accomplice inside the academy.
Or truly grasping future events.
Maybe neither, or both.
'Hold on.'
I focused on Ruena's waiting room.
It might not be safe either.
I probed carefully for presences.
Fortunately, no alien sensations.
Ruena's presence felt as stable as ever.
'What to do. Go? Watch?'
After a moment's hesitation, I decided to hold position.
Ruena was from Eliad.
Clumsy or not, she had plenty of power to protect herself.
She'd hold out until I joined her.
Unlike my worries, the event proceeded smoothly.
At least on the surface—no threats aimed at Ruena appeared.
Not even when she took the stage.
I looked at the girl again.
She was still just glaring at the stage.
Her gaze clearly fixed on Ruena, nothing else changed.
My eyes narrowed.
There were too many oddities.
'Why's she just sitting there?'
People—
Assume nothing will happen in a crowd.
Responsibility disperses,
Gazes scatter,
And the masses become a shield.
But assassinations often happened in such situations.
Especially when the target was isolated and visible.
'She judged now as a chance but held back? Cautious? No. Guessing forever is pointless.'
I pulled a mana potion from my subspace pouch.
Stealing mana from Ruena right now was too risky.
So, the next best option.
Sip the potion and steal the girl's inner thoughts.
'This'll be choppy.'
Honestly, I hated this method.
Mana potions only restored up to my max mana.
And my mana was pathetically low.
So her thoughts came in fragmented bursts.
Unlike stealing directly from her own,
Or using stolen mana from others.
With others' mana, I could take as much as I wanted, as the toll built up.
Even beyond my max.
But excess evaporated after use.
Both ways were far less efficient than direct theft.
Though others' mana came clearer, without breaks.
'Gotta build tolls on others besides Ruena.'
To avoid this hassle again.
I eyed mana-rich targets while stealing the girl's thoughts.
「This time... definitely...... one month... first... event... target...」
Words dropped in brokenly.
I couldn't grasp the full meaning,
But the intent was crystal clear.
'...Targeting?'
A nuance of waiting for a specific date.
Why?
A group assault that day?
Her thoughts fragmented again.
「Variable... again... route... messed up...... last time... trouble...」
What was she even saying.
My eyes narrowed, but I caught the essentials.
She followed a fixed schedule.
And hated disruptions to it.
Meaning... she wouldn't make any big moves for a month.
I chuckled.
For a thief chased every second,
Granting a whole month of leisure.
「Ugh... hungry... skipped... breakfast... up all night...... overslept... alarm...」
I didn't know how far their knowledge went,
Or what plans they had.
But while they stayed still, I'd catch up on everything.
Make them regret giving a thief—not an instant, but ample time.
'First target: you, blondie.'
I smirked, watching her clutch her stomach while glaring at Ruena.