Chapter 75: Plotting (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 75: Plotting (1)
Propping my head up with one hand while staring at the ceiling, I realized once again how quickly time flies at the Academy.
The room had been pristine white when I first moved in, but now it bore the yellowish stains of daily life.
Beads of sweat formed along my hairline. The early summer heat, which used to be chilly at night, had vanished, replaced by a sweltering tropical night that made sleep impossible.
"Ha... what kind of dormitory doesn't even have air conditioning?"
I exhaled a hot breath and sat up. The bedsheets were damp against my skin.
I pulled off my shirt and tossed it toward the laundry hamper. The fabric landed in the basket with a wet, unpleasant thud.
"It’s hot. Too damn hot."
A night bird chirped incessantly as if mocking me. There were two distinct sounds. They seemed to be mating in the middle of the night.
I clicked my tongue and sat at my desk. A pencil spun like a pinwheel between my index finger and thumb.
The way I looked sitting at the desk, so naturally at home, made me look like a proper student now. Not that I was actually studying, though.
"...The future is what's important."
Words were scribbled in the open notebook—fragments of thoughts I’d jotted down whenever they came to mind.
『The Academy’s Council of Elders. ☐』
『The mysterious female instructor. ☐』
-------------------
『God of Sword. ☐』
『G.M. ☐』
Since I wasn't one to use a pencil often, the list was short. Still, having only the essentials made it easy to read.
I moved my eyes slowly, savoring the texture of the letters. The dotted line drawn in the middle was a boundary separating my thoughts.
Above was reality; below was a dream.
I coolly ignored the bottom half. Since I’d already given up on sleep due to the heat, I decided to postpone abstract concepts for later. I shifted my gaze back to the top and muttered to myself.
"The Auditore family said they’d look into the Council of Elders on their own."
Even among nobles, the concentration of elitism varied. The Council of Elders sat at the very peak of that ideology. In their eyes, even the Auditore family—the House of Order—would be seen as mere commoners.
And yet, they’d asked them to kill a student without any real justification? It was only natural for the Auditore family to be furious at being treated like hunting dogs.
Thanks to that, I had unintentionally gained the Auditore family as an ally.
"There’s no ally more reliable than them."
As a former player, I knew exactly what happened to those who crossed the Auditore family.
Around the mid-to-late stage of the story, there was an episode where the Auditore family’s true nature was revealed.
I couldn't remember the exact circumstances, but tracing back through my memories, it seemed to be a situation similar to this one.
Had the Council of Elders been caught red-handed by the Auditore family while plotting against the protagonist, Leon? Regardless, that was the one time they stepped out of the shadows and onto the front lines.
At first, the Council of Elders had scoffed.
They probably never imagined that a "dirty" family with blood on its hands would dare to strike at them.
But the group that championed "Order" showed no mercy regardless of status. In the end, not only the Council of Elders but all the nobles beneath them were decapitated one by one.
Because of that, no one was left to hinder Leon in the later stages of the game. With the Council of Elders—the heads of power—purged, what fool would dare to resist?
The Council of Elders being purged by the Auditore family was the developers' way of providing a "satisfying payoff."
The Auditore family shed the blood so that Leon, the player's proxy, wouldn't have to. It was a kind consideration from the game company.
Thinking about it that way, I suddenly felt a twist of annoyance.
'Dammit. I’m the one doing all the hard work here.'
My brow furrowed. My scalp felt hot in the sweltering heat.
I shook my head to clear the heat and scribbled with the pencil.
『The Academy’s Council of Elders. ☑』
I decided to be satisfied with one less troublesome worry. Since the Auditore family had stepped in, the truth would be revealed soon enough. I’d find out who was behind it then.
"The only one left is..."
『The mysterious female instructor. ☐』
Unlike the Council of Elders, this was a person with absolutely no revealed background. I had a vague idea of her appearance, but even that wasn't certain.
It was only a hunch, but I had already judged that female instructor to be a villain. The outline had started to take shape after the uninhabited island survival training.
—Honestly, I agreed to the contract because that fellow kept whining, but he’s doing a terrible job.
The words of Agor, the 5th Corps Commander, were proof of that.
If the female instructor really was a villain, she could easily change her appearance with magic. However, even that trickery had clear limits.
"She can't change her gender or the color of her eyes."
Even with magic, the variability of one's appearance isn't infinite.
This was a self-evident fact I knew from my experience playing the game.
Fortunately, I remembered this because the time I quit Miracle Blessing M coincided with the appearance of the first villain, Ray Shan.
Ray Shan had tried to backstab Leon by disguising herself as one of his female acquaintances. However, her identity was exposed because Leon noticed her iris color was different.
"Purple eyes, and definitely a woman..."
The problem was that there were too many candidates. I wanted to use the resonance of my Blessing to gauge my opponent, but I still lacked knowledge about magic.
I didn't have the inclination to rot in a library flipping through introductory magic texts, nor did I have the time.
The Holy Hero Yi Sun-sin said that if you know your enemy and know yourself, you will win a hundred battles.
But the breadth of knowledge required to "know the enemy" was too vast. If General Yi Sun-sin had known about the concept of magic, wouldn't he have retracted those words?
"I didn't get into this mess just to study..."
My head was a mess.
'Should I just wait until the enemy comes to me?'
Perhaps waiting for the opponent to move first was a strategy. In short, jonber—holding out.
If I waited, there was a high probability they’d get nervous and show themselves.
They were a difficult opponent to gauge. Poking a beehive for no reason might just get me stung.
Rather than striking first, waiting for the right moment was the "adult" way of handling things, tempered by experience and objectivity.
"What to do..."
The night deepened. My head felt heavy with the weight of idle thoughts. The moon shone faintly through the gap in the window.
Tap, tap.
I tapped the notebook with my pencil as I organized my thoughts.
The train of thought stretched long.
Whenever something crossed my mind, my subconscious drew a dot. Soon, the blank page was filled with white and black dots.
『◎●○●○●●○○●●○○○●』
The traces of my organized thoughts. It was a pattern that looked somewhat familiar.
Chirp, chirp, chir-r-r-r!
The passionate, ecstatic cries of the birds pierced my ears. Summer was the prelude to the "business of youth."
Those damn birds chirped as if contributing to the cause, filled with lust and excitement.
I let out a faint chuckle. I was annoyed at first, but thanks to them, I was able to put a period on my ruminations.
『The mysterious female instructor. ☑』
I scribbled once and tossed the pencil onto the notebook.
Failing to land, the pencil rolled across the desk and fell to the floor.
"Since when did I start rolling pencils?"
They say waiting for the right time is the wise way of adults. But right now, young blood flowed through every corner of my veins.
Recklessness and courage were separated by a thin line. Now was the time to muster courage.
I recalled memories of my past life. I used to bow deeply to customers and had to calmly endure hearing things I hated.
Perhaps that had become a habit, as I was showing a passive attitude toward everything even in this world. But this time, I planned to be the one to knock first.
Striking where they least expected. It was a chance to flip the board.
"I should go see Professor Damian soon."
Professor Damian of the Department of Blessing. He’d told me before to come to his lab if I ever had questions.
For some reason, he was a professor who showed me a great deal of goodwill.
He would surely add to my lacking knowledge. Instead of suffering with a brain I wasn't using, I’d rely on an expert.
Chirp, chirp, chir-r-r-r-it!
The cries of pleasure. They’d been hitting my ears relentlessly for a while now.
"These damn birds need to know when to quit."
I grabbed the Ten-Thousand-Year Frost I’d received from Mansur a few days ago. Perhaps thanks to the name I’d given it, the sweltering heat vanished instantly, and the bird calls stopped abruptly.
* * *
Dawn at Joaquin Academy, where all sound had ceased.
About ten people, deeply shrouded in black hoods, gathered in an abandoned building.
It was a suspicious secret meeting in a dark, musty place. Those hiding their faces in the shadows of their hoods stood in a circle. Only their eyes moved in the stillness and silence.
From a gardener covered in dirt and those in instructor uniforms to one wearing a professor’s white lab coat. They silently estimated each other's undercover identities based on their attire.
Step, step.
A man in a professor’s coat walked into the center. He scanned the number of people once before speaking.
"I’m sure you’re all busy, so thank you for joining this difficult gathering. You may simply call me 'The Professor.'"
The man's voice held a certain refinement. It sounded almost like he was coaxing them.
"Cut the crap. Hey, Professor, what’s with the sudden summons? If we get caught gathered like this, are you going to take responsibility?"
A man with a beard sticking out from under his hood spoke sharply. The others agreed with his words through their silence. The glares directed at the Professor were icy cold.
"Puhahahaha! Hahahaha!"
The Professor burst into laughter. It was so loud that it created a dull echo in the hollow space.
"Hey, you bastard! Are you crazy?! What the hell are you laughing at all of a sudden!"
The bearded man shouted instinctively. Malice flickered on his shadowed face.
Villains were beings who had sold their humanity. They had long since forgotten how to control their emotions.
He immediately rolled up his sleeves and channeled magi. Simultaneously, sharp stone thorns sprouted from his arm muscles.
"You call us here and then just laugh? Fine, my hands were feeling a bit dry anyway. Let’s get some blood on them for the first time in a while, dammit!"
His momentum was terrifying. A single blow would likely punch several holes through a person's body. But the Professor simply stroked his chin and observed.
"Ho... you must be a henchman of the 4th Corps Commander, Permush. Earth-attribute magic is certainly rare. But you are foolish. Why don't you become my specimen and prove your worth?"
The Professor smiled playfully. The others watched, seemingly intent on observing the situation.
"What are you talking about, you fake professor!"
Boom!
The floor exploded as the bearded man stomped his foot. The kicked-up fragments swirled around his body like magnets.
'I don't know what that bastard's magic is, but...'
He narrowed his eyes behind his stone helmet. The Professor's attitude was far too relaxed. But the man was confident.
'The best defense is an absolute offense.'
Even a mere lump of rock, when combined with earth-attribute magic, could rival the hardness of a diamond.
The rough calculations in his head were finished.
'I’ll just ram him.'
It would make a loud noise, but if someone came running, he could just kill them on the spot.
Keep it simple. Living by surrendering one's body to impulse and stimulation—that was the way of a villain.
The man's feet tore up the ground again.
Crash!
With a sonic boom, the man charged like a rhinoceros, sweeping up debris. The hoods of several people fluttered in the wind of his passage. They moved further away.
"I’ll put a hole in that face of yours—!"
With a line truly befitting a villain, he slammed into the Professor. His fist, bristling with thorns, reached point-blank range.
Then, the Professor's expression came into view. Dark red, shimmering pupils and a fishy smile. That was the last thing the man remembered in this life.
—Bang!
A concise sound of air bursting. Immediately after, the bearded man's body slid powerlessly to the ground.
The watching eyes widened. The chaos vanished in an instant.
With a thud, a fountain of blood erupted from the shoulders where a head should have been.
"Whew."
The Professor steadied his breathing. Then, he turned his gaze toward the witnesses of the carnage.
He suddenly placed one hand over his heart and gave a small bow. It was a formality that didn't fit the situation.
"Now that the introductions are out of the way, I’d like to get to the main point. Does everyone agree?"
At those words, everyone remained silent. Displeasure was evident on their lips, but no one spoke up.
The magic the Professor had shown made them all think of a single name.
'The 2nd Corps Commander, Kuarne.'
Fear chilled everyone's spine. A fishy arc curled the Professor's lips.
"I’m glad you’re all so quick to understand. The reason I called you here is... as you all know, because of the passing of the 5th Corps Commander, Agor."
He stiffened his expression and gestured toward a woman in an instructor's uniform.
"Please step forward, Cadet—no, Instructor. I’ve been teaching for so long that 'Cadet' has become a habit. Anyway, she will explain the details of the situation."
Having said that, the Professor yielded the floor to the female instructor. As she moved to the center, she spoke immediately.
"...I’ll get straight to the point."
There was an edge to her gaze. She moved her lips with an air of half-resignation.
"Contrary to the rumors in the world, my lord was not killed by the Sword Emperor."
"......"
Her gaze remained fixed on the Professor. The Professor, leaning against the wall, gave a small nod.
"Lord Agor was killed by a single student. His name is—"
The female instructor paused. The silence was heavy.
"—Leon von Reinhardt, the next Hero candidate."
The Professor smiled brightly.