Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: Boredom (1)
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Seeing how she handed over the Gale Bracer while visibly regretting it the whole time, it must be one hell of a valuable item.
After that, Koko left after telling him to find the Gale Core.
As if she had no intention of answering any more questions.
‘The Gale Core, huh….’
Something necessary to properly use the Gale Bracer.
But he only knew the name—he had no idea what it actually was.
He could only guess it was some kind of special mana body technique.
‘In any case, until I find that thing, this is just an insanely heavy piece of protective gear that’ll get me killed.’
No, to be honest, even without the Gale Core, the Gale Bracer was pretty damn useful.
Just channeling mana into it allowed for automatic attachment and detachment, and the fit was incredibly comfortable to boot.
On top of that, it was sturdy enough to serve well as armor.
The only problem was its stupidly heavy weight, but….
“This counts as training in its own way.”
Moving around with 100 kg strapped to his legs turned out to have a bigger training effect than expected.
Of course, that didn’t mean he could skip finding the Gale Core.
‘I need information.’
Exactly what the Gale Core was.
Where in the Cradle it might be.
He needed concrete details.
And the information Yuri needed wasn’t just about the Gale Core, either.
Crystal Shell, Mana Crystal, White Night, Elion.
He had to look into the rewards he’d obtained this time—stuff he’d never even heard of before.
Otherwise, how could he put them to use?
And luckily for Yuri, he had a smart, pretty all-purpose dictionary who’d answer anything he asked right away.
‘Guess it’s time to see her face again after all this time.’
He needed to register his grade points before it got any later anyway.
Plus, he had to deposit the points he was holding, so he could kill several birds with one stone on the way out.
Yuri quickly got ready and stepped outside.
But he didn’t make it out of the Demon King’s Castle before he had to stop in his tracks.
“You, what are you doing there?”
The reason Yuri stopped was the person pacing back and forth in the passageway connected to his quarters.
It was Teresia, circling around like a dog desperate to poop.
“Ah…!”
She flinched when she spotted Yuri.
“Tessha, what’s up? Something you want to say?”
At Yuri’s question, Teresia hesitated a little.
She seemed to have something to say but was waffling.
It was so unlike her that Yuri tilted his head.
The two stood there facing off for a good while.
Finally, Teresia spoke up.
“It feels kinda weird saying this to someone I haven’t seen in ages, but….”
“Then don’t.”
“…Hearing that just makes me want to say it more.”
“So what is it?”
Under Yuri’s sullen gaze, Teresia asked in a small voice.
“Hey… how long do you plan on sticking around in the Founding Council?”
“The Founding Council?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you mean, how long?”
“Don’t you plan on leaving?”
“Leaving? Why would I?”
Yuri looked at her like she’d said something totally bizarre.
And understandably so—Yuri had no real complaints about the Founding Council right now.
‘Well, there’s nothing to complain about. I’m not doing jack shit anyway.’
He’d joined the Founding Council originally to keep an eye on Kwantor, but since Kwantor hadn’t shown his face, Yuri had no reason to stick his neck out.
The existing Founding Council members didn’t want the new powerhouse Yuri turning into another Kwantor figure, so they didn’t nag him about not participating in council business.
If anything, they seemed glad about it.
Which was how Yuri ended up gobbling down a top-grade elixir and turning into a ghost member.
The reason he hadn’t left the Founding Council yet was the council’s warehouse, which he planned to raid someday.
‘Even if I’m not doing anything, I need to keep at least a loose connection so I have something to fall back on later.’
Teresia let out a sigh as she saw Yuri’s baffled expression, like he had no idea why she was suddenly bringing up quitting.
“You’re not doing anything anyway, so why not just quit?”
“I’m not doing anything, but it’s basically the same as doing something.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s a thing. But why bring it up all of a sudden?”
“If you leave, I can leave too. No… I have to wait for you to leave first.”
“Huh? What’s that about? You need me to leave for you to go?”
“Of course… wait, you?!”
Teresia, about to explain, noticed something off in Yuri’s blank stare and hardened her expression.
With a sliver of doubt, she asked cautiously.
“No way… you didn’t know I was in the Founding Council?”
“Nope, just heard it now? When did you join?”
“It’s all because of you…!”
“Me?”
Teresia, who’d been fuming, deflated at Yuri’s innocent question.
“…Forget it. I’m going.”
She turned on her heel, resigned.
‘Yeah, who am I even mad at?’
It was her own fault for assuming Yuri would never join the Founding Council and running her mouth.
Still, she felt a little wronged.
‘I’m stuck here because of him, and the guy himself hasn’t poked his head into council business once!’
It felt like she’d been abandoned or something.
And even if she wanted to quit the Founding Council, it wasn’t that simple.
The Founding Council was a mini-society within the Cradle, a cesspool of vested interests.
If you hadn’t dipped your toe in, fine—but once you were in, shaking it off completely wasn’t easy.
And the bigger problem was that Teresia was already covered in a huge glob of mud.
Namely, Andres Cheish, the council chairman.
‘If he’d just clung on persistently, I could use that as an excuse to bail.’
Teresia could clearly sense what Andres wanted from the way he looked at her.
But he only ever let slip the tiniest hints of emotion, always so gentlemanly.
In other words, his subtle vibes were burdensome and creepy, but if she rejected him outright, things would get awkward.
That’s why she’d planned to use Yuri quitting as an excuse—since she’d tagged along as his plus-one.
‘But the idiot doesn’t even know I joined because of him.’
Feeling a surge of petty resentment, Teresia quickened her steps as she walked away.
Yuri blinked as he watched her retreating figure.
“So… what was she here for?”
Tilting his head in confusion, Yuri resumed walking.
* * *
The Ability Assessment Office, where grade points were registered.
Five people sat in a circle.
Nelly Blanc.
Ivan Baskin.
Pana Taylor.
Clarice Van.
Schleman Hans.
The top rankers among the 50th Cohort’s grades.
They exchanged serious glances.
Then Nelly cautiously spoke up.
“Anyone… seen that guy?”
The other four shook their heads at her question.
“I’ve been waiting since the afternoon… no sign.”
“I waited from the morning. Didn’t see him.”
“I’ve been here since yesterday.”
“You guys are amateurs. This is my second day.”
Ivan, Pana, Clarice, and Schleman chimed in one by one.
Even after registering their own grade points, they hadn’t left the office—they’d been waiting this long for one reason.
To see when that one person would show up.
And with about an hour left until the grade registration deadline,
The five had huddled together because ‘he’ still hadn’t appeared.
“That guy… you think he’s really dead?”
“Who said dead?”
“No way, right?”
“But we can’t just dismiss it—he hasn’t shown up in a whole month already.”
“True… at this point, it’s fair to assume something happened.”
“Not showing by now? Odds lean toward him being dead.”
They each tossed in their two cents.
“But if he really is dead… hmm….”
“What? Happy he’s gone?”
“Dunno? I think I get what Nelly means. It’s complicated—good or bad? I’ve wanted to kill him myself, considering everything….”
“Kinda feels weird imagining a guy who wouldn’t die even if you tried suddenly dropping dead.”
“Guess we’re all feeling the same. That’s about how I feel too.”
“But doesn’t that mean… no one’s sad he’s dead?”
Everyone straightened up at the final question.
“Sad? Why would we be?”
“Not glad he’s dead, but not sad either?”
“To shed tears over the death of the guy who tormented us? That’d make you a saint at least.”
“Given how much he messed with us… he’s basically our parents’ enemy. How do you forgive that? Hell no!”
“Yeah, and honestly, we should be happy rather than sad. Our biggest rival just eliminated himself.”
“Oh ho? Is that how it is?”
Everyone nodded slightly in agreement.
At the same time, they started sneaking glances at each other.
The five, ready to bolt at any moment, were all thinking the same thing.
‘Him being gone means….’
‘Our chance to reclaim the top spot has finally come!’
It was closing in on their second year now.
A lot had changed, and aside from Yuri, the 50th Cohort’s grades had mostly evened out.
Yuri had been so overwhelmingly dominant that it turned into a battle for second, but now that the top dog was gone, it was time to compete for number one again.
And there was just over an hour left until registration closed.
‘Some of us here are definitely planning to re-register points.’
‘Including me, five left… knowing these guys’ tendencies… wait, hold up?’
Pana, who’d been gauging the room before deciding to re-register, suddenly noticed something off.
“One, two, three, four… five?”
Everyone gave her baffled looks as she started counting heads.
“What? What’s with you all of a sudden?”
At Nelly’s question, Pana replied with a face drained of color.
“There’s… five people.”
“Can’t even count? Five, not ten?”
Ivan smirked and jabbed at her.
Pana would’ve normally snapped back, but she just trembled as she spoke.
“There were… six. Definitely.”
“What nonsense is this?”
When Ivan scowled slightly, Pana shrieked, pale as a ghost.
“There’s five people… but six voices!”
“……?!”
Only then did the others catch on at Pana’s scream-like cry.
‘Huh?’
‘Huh?!’
‘Gasp?!’
‘W-Wait a sec?!’
Thinking back, there had definitely been six voices in the conversation.
Pana swallowed hard and started.
“O-One….”
The others caught on and joined in.
“Two.”
“Three.”
“Four.”
“Five.”
No problem up to there.
But then.
“Six.”
A random extra voice chimed in.
Everyone whipped around to look at each other.
“No pranks!”
“Who said six?! Ivan, you?”
“I said three! Clarice, was it you?”
“I said two!”
“Then who the hell?!”
As bewildered stares flew around, the sixth voice rang out again.
“Me, you idiots.”
No sooner had the words landed than a black shadow dropped from the ceiling.
Thud-!
One person landed smack in the middle of the five.
With hands in pockets and legs crossed casually, a cocky voice drawled out.
“Your nemesis, crawled back from hell.”
Irritated, slacker tone dripping with it.
And the moment they clocked the lopsided smirk,
Their legs gave out, and they stumbled back.
“You?!”
“H-How?”
“Th-That’s….”
“Uh….”
“N-No, I mean….”
Yuri tilted his head the other way as they stammered.
“Man, these guys are useless no matter how nice you are. After all I did for you, this is the thanks? A knife in the back? Huh?”
“…….”
“Human decency says condolences might be too much, but at least some condolence money, right? Isn’t that basic courtesy? Huhhh?”
“…….”
“Listen, I took a trip to hell, but they kicked me out for not paying the toll! You feel the misery of a penniless ghost getting rejected even in hell? You get it? Huhhh?”
“…….”
The more he spoke, the more Yuri’s whole face twisted in annoyance.
At the same time, their faces went ghostly pale.
‘Ah….’
They had no clue what crazy shit this bastard was spouting.
Didn’t want to know, either.
But there was one thing the five learned for sure, whether they liked it or not.
‘We’re screwed.’
They—and the entire 50th Cohort—were totally fucked.