Chapter 618: The Season is Autumn (7)
Chapter 618: The Season is Autumn (7)
Neris was a monster of reason.
For a long time, she had never lost her composure, and it was rare for her to make a mistake in judgment by being swept away by emotion. If she had a single weakness, it was perhaps her low tolerance for pain.
Even that was gradually improving after Ian’s appearance. This was because the previously abolished torture resistance training had been reinstated. Of course, the intelligence agents often wore tearful faces because of it.
It couldn't be helped.
Neris was inwardly encouraged by the results of the torture resistance training. The pleasure of erasing a weakness in a self she had believed to be perfect was bound to be greater for someone with such high self-esteem.
Furthermore, the fact that the pain of the torture resistance training was surprisingly manageable played a part.
The Empire’s history was long. Naturally, the same applied to the Intelligence Agency, and the intensity of the training, systematically established over hundreds of years, was truly exquisite.
It wasn't quite enough to kill her, but it certainly made her want to die.
It wasn't quite enough to make her quit, but she desperately wanted to quit.
It was a perfect tightrope walk. Literally, a succession of intensities that felt 'just barely bearable.'
A masterpiece blade is born only after long forging. There was no longer any concern that Neris, having overcome her final weakness through training, would lose her reason.
At least, that was what Neris thought.
Until that day came.
“The recent trends among the Academy students are strange.”
Tap, tap, tap.
Neris was in a bad mood that day, repeatedly tapping the desk with her finger.
Why was that?
Was it because she didn't like the conduct of the intelligence agents? Was it because she hadn't slept well last night? Or was she just not feeling well today?
No matter how much she pondered, no answer came.
In the meantime, the intelligence agent's report continued.
“The number of cases showing extreme behavior driven by emotion has become abnormally high. Fortunately, the intelligence agents carry items to protect against mental manipulation, so the severity isn't that great, but…”
“Not that great?”
“Pardon?”
It was the intelligence agent who was flustered by Neris’s blunt retort.
He blinked as if he didn't understand the intent of the question. Only then did Neris realize her slip, clearing her throat and blurring the end of her sentence.
“No, never mind… continue the report.”
The intelligence agent tilted his head, but a superior's command was absolute.
He soon shook off his doubts and decided to focus on his duty.
“Anyway, the atmosphere within the Academy is restless because of it. In particular, love letters addressed to Lord Ian are pouring in…”
“Love letters?”
“Yes, romantic letters.”
As soon as Neris heard those words, she let out a short, scoffing laugh.
Who was Ian Percus?
A historic psychopath who would sever a finger for not following orders, a cold-blooded man whom one would doubt a single drop of blood would emerge from even if his fingertip were pricked with a needle.
Love letters to him?
They were acting with a complete lack of self-awareness.
Of course, Ian wasn't just a bad superior.
Sometimes he was kind, he had saved her life last time, and her heart had fluttered slightly then.
But thinking about it now, she felt incredibly foul.
Who did they think they were?
How much did they even know about Ian to be writing letters, babbling about love and affection as they pleased? Neris found the fact unbearably unpleasant.
The woman’s body trembled.
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, the intelligence agent lowered his voice slightly and continued the report.
“Well, it seems the emotions of those who already held favorable feelings toward Lord Ian have been magnified…”
“Block them.”
A simple, short sentence.
The instruction couldn't have been clearer. Nevertheless, the intelligence agent who was reporting couldn't answer for a moment.
He only wore a look of confusion on his face.
It was before he could even let out a dumbfounded sound.
Slam!
Neris’s hand struck the desk hard. Hard enough that several sheets of paper stacked on either side fluttered and scattered.
“Mobilize everyone in the branch if you have to, but block them. Who do they think they are… are they insane? Lord Ian is extremely busy; do you think he has time to waste on such trivial womanizing?”
I heard he’s been womanizing for quite a while now, though.
The intelligence agent barely swallowed the words rising to his throat. Neris’s mood looked that bad, and if he said anything unnecessary, he might have to endure a massive lecture.
Instead, he selected the most rational argument he could muster.
“Um, Branch Manager? As you know, most of the branch personnel are currently busy escorting His Majesty the Emperor and his party. To move those personnel based on personal feelings is…”
“…Personal feelings?”
Uh-oh.
The intelligence agent realized he had stepped on a landmine. Anyone would have felt the same under that cold, sharp, deep-green gaze.
A drop of cold sweat formed on the man’s forehead. This was the first time in his life he had seen Neris this angry.
“Are you saying I’m mobilizing the branch personnel based on personal feelings right now? Based on what feelings, exactly? What, are you saying I like Lord Ian or something?”
“N-no, that’s not it…”
“Aha, so I’m jealous of those bitches? And that’s why I’m being unreasonable like a girl in her first love… is that it?”
“T-there’s been a misunderstanding.”
The intelligence agent tried to fix it belatedly, but it was already too late.
Slam!
Striking the desk once more, Neris slowly stood up. Her burning gaze was so terrifying that the intelligence agent ended up taking a step back.
The sound of teeth grinding echoed.
“Our direct superior is Lord Ian. No, not just that—Lord Ian is the Divinity of the Continent and a hero everyone is watching! Can we just leave a precious asset of the Empire neglected?”
“But the possibility of Lord Ian suffering meaningful damage from mere students’ affection or jealousy is…”
“Hey.”
Her tone lacked even a shred of formality.
It meant she was angry not just as the Branch Manager, but as the individual 'Neris.' Of course, the intelligence agent wasn't unaware of this.
It would have been better if he had just quietly complied.
But his damn 'loyalty' kept holding him back. And the end for a straight-talking subordinate before a tyrant was usually predictable.
“Do you catch gnats because they’re dangerous?”
“Well, no, but…”
“If you understand? Then shut up and chase those bugs away.”
He was dealing with someone who wouldn't listen to reason.
In the end, the intelligence agent gave up on speaking his mind and bowed his head.
Even after the man left, the woman couldn't suppress her anger and had to grind her teeth.
“How dare they, those hussies…”
It was obvious, but looking back now.
One could say she was the very definition of a woman crazed by love.
Thud, thud, thud!
This was the backstory of why the woman was now incessantly banging her head against the wall.
‘I’m crazy, I’m crazy, I’m crazy!’
It was fatal.
A reaction so extreme that anyone watching would find it strange—though anyone who knew the inner circumstances would have guessed.
The fact that the woman was finally realizing her uncontrollable feelings.
But did she know?
That this was only the beginning.
After that day, Neris began to dream of Ian every single day.
The types varied. There were sweet dreams and bitter dreams, but they had only one thing in common.
Ian stood at the center of every dream.
Neris found it incredibly hard to admit. What was there to love about that cold-blooded man?
Although she had shown some loss of control on the day the Curse of Jealousy descended, she thought it was merely a temporary phenomenon. At least, she thought so until she faced the man himself.
Then one day.
“Could you investigate the secret history tied to the Haster family?”
The man she had tried so hard to forget and shake off came to her and made a request.
An abrupt proposal with no practical benefit.
Neris intended to scoff as usual.
“Lord Ian, that matter is influenced by extremely complex power dynamics. If a small branch like ours gets involved for no reason…”
It was then.
Ian looked dejected, his eyes turning sorrowful.
Meeting that gaze, Neris reflexively let out a curse under her breath.
This was insane.
“Is it really impossible?”
“Well, uh…”
Of course it was impossible.
That was the rightful answer, but those words simply wouldn't come out of Neris’s mouth as she stood before the man.
He was so handsome.
She felt like a fool. Every time she looked at his face, she felt the illusion of being intoxicated, losing her mind.
Until now, she had defined herself as a monster of reason. She had sworn she would never be swept away by emotions.
Yet, before she knew it, the woman was speaking with a slight tear in her eye.
“I-I will try my best. Since, well, it’s a request from none other than Lord Ian…”
“Thank you! Neris Senior!”
With that, the man grabbed the woman’s hand and shook it.
I’m such an idiot.
Neris thought so, trying to calm her heart, but there was no way to stop the corners of her mouth from creeping upward.
However, there was one thing she sensed instinctively.
She was screwed.
The monster of reason could not defeat her first love.
That was the extent of the story.
*
And so, night fell.
The girl from the distant future swallowed hard. She had come only because she wanted to see her first love, but she knew he might not want this.
However, the tragedy did not last long.
The man, who had drunk heavily, suddenly turned around, and the woman caught the hem of his clothes.
The girl asked.
“…Hey.”
With tears in her eyes, she asked the question she could never deny.
“Are you… tired of me?”
It was a question that even the man, who had been forcibly summoned, could not help but freeze at.