Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Chapter 98
EP23 - Hand (8)
I made an enemy of Nibelung.
It was because he was a pain in the ass.
However, it wasn't purely an action driven by such emotion. It was something I undertook because I was confident I could handle the consequences.
And so, I informed the Department about the news.
“Meow? No, Professor Dante! How could you do something like that without consulting me even once…!?”
Shaman, the Department Head of the Assassination Department, whose jowls were trembling, was furious, his chin fat jiggling like a royal chest.
“Ahahahaha! Yes, yes, that’s just like our Golden Mouse!”
Ezekiel, the Department Head of the Magic Department and a member of the Royal Mountain Shield Stand, greatly enjoyed my decision.
“For such a judgment, Professor, have you prepared your own accountability and basis?”
Valkan, the Department Head of the Warrior Department, who held honor and chivalry as his life’s creed, asked me.
“Yes.”
I replied.
After that, I explained the three reasons why it was acceptable to turn Nibelung into an enemy.
First, Hiaka Academy was currently entering an unprecedented boom, and we were sensitive about who got a share of the pie. If Nibelung were to put their spoon in at that moment, it would set a precedent, and everyone else would follow suit, demanding a piece.
Nibelung, as a Cartel, was one of the largest entities associated with Hica, but outside the Cartel, there were plenty of groups as large as Nibelung. For them, the Academy’s opening to the Empire was a sweet fruit.
Therefore, setting such a precedent was something that must not happen.
“The second reason is that we can actually use this situation to consolidate our internal structure.”
Hiaka Academy was currently in a period of transition. We were managing the massive event of the Empire’s opening with haphazard administration.
However, if we constantly presupposed a fixed crisis and planned our movements accordingly, a plausible system would begin to take shape.
This held significance beyond merely protecting ourselves from the Nibelung Family.
The reason the Kreutz incident occurred was due to lax administration and systems.
Finally, the third reason.
“Depending on the outcome of this trip to the Empire, if the Royal Family’s interest increases even slightly, we can request support. The cases of the Ksikos Count Family or the Hebrew Duke Family serve as precedent for this.”
This was one of the side stories of the "Betting Table."
While no finger is entirely pain-free when you bite them, the finger on which you wear a ring is predetermined.
The Royal Family, disappointed by the loose and unproductive Academy, would change its attitude based on the results of this Gray Assassin Daily.
Wouldn't they send their academically successful child to university? Even if it meant straining their own backs to do so.
“That is rational.”
Valkan, the Department Head of the Warrior Department, agreed.
“Are you giving me the side-eye right now? Telling me to persuade the Royal Family.”
I averted my eyes sharply from Ezekiel’s gaze.
Let the adults handle the adults’ business.
“……”
The only one left was Department Head Shaman, whose neck muscles were bulging.
He looked at me, arms crossed over his super thick arms, and then asked quietly,
“But Professor Dante, that only applies if the sales figures for Gray turn out well, doesn't it?”
I was about to retort, but I closed my mouth.
I wanted to argue that saying so was too simplistic, that it was like saying humans and chimpanzees share 99% of their genes, but no matter how much I thought about it, there was no way to phrase it indirectly.
Because he was right.
“……”
Just as the real-world 'Big Mac Index' represents the cost of living in various countries,
The 'Assassination Daily sales figures' are often used as the most authoritative metric for the recognition and favorability of assassins across the continent.
Purchasing a copy, even at a discounted price of 999 Hica (about 99,000 KRW), is impossible without intense interest backing it up.
Only if those figures turned out high, only if Gray’s external recognition was proven to be real, would my words gain feasibility.
Adults like numbers.
And the Royal Family is the biggest adult of all.
“…Yes.”
So, I readily admitted it.
“It depends on the sales figures.”
Dante’s assistant, ‘Ran,’ had a set of gears placed on her head.
Under Dante’s instructions, she was heading somewhere every day, and today was the time to go to that place again.
Once she took the steering wheel, Ran drove with extreme caution. To the extent that when a Cocky Turkey blocked the road in the middle of the street, she stopped the car completely.
“……”
“……”
The wild Cocky Turkey began a staring contest with Ran in the driver’s seat. ‘Caw… caw…’ It seemed to dare her to try something.
However, after waiting for 25 minutes and 57 seconds without even honking the horn, Ran won the battle against the turkey.
“Gawk…!!”
A loser’s lament: Just you wait…!!
Super defensive driving: ‘1 win.’
Eventually, Ran’s car entered the restricted access cemetery. She parked the vehicle somewhere and took the Symbol⧉ off her head.
Turning her head, she saw an enormous, pitch-black sphere.
“……”
She walked up Star Gazing Mountain. When she finally reached just in front of it, Ran placed the Symbol⧉ on her head and closed her eyes.
The stars above had still not fully grasped the true nature of this thing.
It might be because Systematicity⧉ was lazy, or perhaps because even knowing, dealing with it was difficult. Operating an entire world is quite arduous. Frankly, how many games in this world are well-managed?
However, it was certain that something that was supposed to die by the compulsory force of this world was alive inside, and it was certain that it was moving in human form. It was also certain that it would bring upheaval to the world someday.
Ran opened her eyes.
But today yielded no particular findings. She turned her head with vacant, dark eyes, and then—
“……?”
High above, something strange was visible.
Something was stretching out in all directions from the sky. Towards exactly seven locations.
Ran roughly calculated the perspective and azimuth of the flying objects. The continent had seven nations: the Empire, Hica, Kreutz, and four others, and those objects were heading precisely toward those nations.
In other words, one was flying toward Hiaka.
What could it be? Ran closed her eyes and thought. It was probably the Will trying to destroy the world. She further hypothesized that this thing would come periodically to this world and eventually plunge everyone into despair.
So, what specifically was it? A while ago, Jinxite had mistakenly popped out and shocked Hiaka Academy, but this was not Jinxite.
Given this size, it was probably…
Vomittekka, or Trappycche.
Next, she confirmed her own position.
She herself was an observer. She didn't care much whether the world was destroyed or not. In fact, she didn't even know what she should be interested in.
However, since she had come here to help Dante, she could inform him. Something dangerous was coming. To humanity. To Hica. And to you…
“……”
Having finished her thoughts, Ran took the Symbol⧉ off her head and decided to head back to the parked car.
Just then, she recalled an urgent piece of advice Dante had given her:
—When you are alone and separated from me, you must always affix the ‘Excalibur Headband’ or the ‘Cross Band Model’ to your head.
So, recently she had been wearing the Excalibur Headband 24 hours a day, but she had momentarily forgotten while driving.
She should put one on when returning to the car. Which one? Today’s date was even, so she took out the ‘Cross Band Model.’
It was shaped like a band applied across a wound, a slightly exaggerated model, like the kind put on sick people in cartoons.
She placed that on top of her head.
Immediately after.
Thwack—
Ran’s head exploded.
Her body tilted sideways and collapsed.
The reveal day for the sales figures is today.
Anyone interested in this situation was watching the homepage intently, scrutinizing the time.
I checked [Assassin Town].
< Sales figures dropping today lolololololololol >
< Please let it be good, please!! >
< No, shit, my future depends on this…. >
< Please 100k copies please 100k copies please 100k copies please 100k copies please 100k copies please 100k copies please 100k copies please 100k copies >
< Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >
< Meeeeeeooooowwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!! >
< [Gambling] Gray Sales Figure Point Betting currently underway Participants: 525 >
< Gray sales figures are a massive hit!!! (Evidence included) >
< [Proof] I bought 10 copies to take to my dad’s company ㅠ >
< Assassination Daily filming schedule, what is this? >
It was an explosion of interest.
But I wasn't looking at every single reaction.
I had already told Gray beforehand.
Not to check the reactions.
…Just one.
———
< Sales figures dropping today lolololololololol >
1 hour 42 minutes left lolololololololol
———
It’s only been two hours?
The members of the Hidden Dragon Society must be sweating bullets right now.
As a former Graduate Student, I have a placid nature, so I just accepted it.
Even among assassins, the younger and more sensitive ones must be on the verge of panic right now.
…Just one more.
———
< Gray sales figures are a massive hit!!! (Evidence included) >
Hello? This is Spine Fairy. The lowest price for back surgery is 300,000 Hica. The process of back surgery begins by cutting the skin on the back with a knife, holding the skin aside with forceps on both sides, and driving a finger-sized Stigmata nail into the center of the spine using a hammer and chisel…
———
I straightened my hunched back.
I earned 300,000 Hica.
———
< Assassination Daily filming schedule, what is this? >
They say they are filming at [Hidden Dragon Hall] today?
Does this mean they are filming one more time in Zone 0?
———
What?
…Is this bastard the Fishing Fairy?
So I quickly checked, and no, it wasn't. That was actually on the official schedule.
—Trash: Yes, Professor! That team just departed. I apologize for the late notice; it was an emergency filming schedule!
—Trash: It’s for additional Making Film shooting!
Making Film?
What is that?
—Trash: It’s a film recording the production process of the monthly pictorial!
Ah.
If this were a game, it sounds like a video recording the jaded developer typing code.
—Trash: To be precise, it’s filming for the ‘Reaction Video’ that will be included at the end of the Making Film….
That must be a video recording the expression of a developer whose game became a massive hit.
—Trash: Anyway, the word circulating internally is that this sales figure is quite high! So, a special schedule seems to have been added. They will probably interview the Gray Student one more time and film the reactions when the figures are released, as well as the reactions of the Hiaka Academy Students!
Oh, I clenched my fists.
Quite high?
Did it pass 100,000 copies?
But I didn't ask that far. Even if I did, he was on a different team and wouldn't know.
In any case, this was excellent news.
Meanwhile, I couldn't help but admire them internally.
These Assassination Daily bastards.
They truly are masters at making money.
This makes even me curious.
Everyone in the world who had any interest was watching Gray.
How is Gray currently portrayed to the public?
He studied alone in the countryside, became similar in skill level to those who received professional training, but he matured and speaks well, is playful one moment, and suddenly curses the next, and he even cried and got angry when the Hiaka faculty members said they didn't like him.
The image Gray presented in the monthly model feature was one bursting with the lively inconsistency characteristic of a cat.
Yet, the desperation to succeed in the very end was visible in his expression, his movements, and the trembling tips of his fingers, visible to everyone.
What would the expression of someone like that be when the ‘high sales figure’ is confirmed?
For those who have no interest, it’s a topic they wouldn't care about.
But for anyone who has ever shown even a sliver of interest, it is a topic they would definitely seek out.
‘We can’t jump to conclusions since the exact number is unknown.’
That was also something that shouldn't be uttered aloud.
But since I knew the result was positive regardless of the exact number, my anticipation grew immense.
I hurried toward the Hidden Dragon Hall.