Early Ranking Battle (2)
Alteration activated.
Han Ijun is the sole survivor of Etoma's shogun family, Mikadowji.
Alteration proceeding.
Itsuki Karasuno's perception altered upon completion.
Perception: Surveillance Target → Someone to truly serve? Changed.
With the activation of Alteration, Itsuki's perception had shifted.
"Surveillance target?" I frowned at the words in the alert window. "Was she watching me? Must be Yujin's doing."
I hadn't noticed a thing. And why would I? Itsuki's stealth was beyond most people's detection. Especially for a total scrub like me with all G-rank stats.
Meanwhile, Itsuki's heart wavered the moment I revealed myself as a survivor of Mikadowji.
"The survivor of Mikadowji?"
They were said to have been wiped out in the slave hunt—and she'd witnessed it firsthand. She was only five back then, but that moment was burned into her memory forever.
"Come to think of it..."
An image flashed in her mind: a boy from the branch family, steadfast despite constant scorn. He'd always talked to her, never losing his smile... Mikadowji Yuto. His mother was from Han, the neighboring peninsula nation to Etoma, which made him a target for even more ridicule. Overlapping that face with mine, they matched.
"Is this man Lord Yuto?"
Itsuki's heart pounded. The boy she'd failed to protect, a constant chain on her soul—he was alive.
"She's coming around."
I read her emotions. She was definitely starting to come around. Even if those feelings were falsified by my lie through Alteration.
"But I already have a lord..."
Itsuki began to struggle. Could a kunoichi abandon her current lord for a new one?
But that conflict dissolved with a single sentence from me.
"Your name's Itsuki, right? My memories are fuzzy, but I remember playing together as kids. You're agonizing over it right now, aren't you?"
"That's..."
"No need to agonize. You're not forcing me to make you change lords or anything, since you're with Keruspal now."
"......"
Itsuki clamped her mouth shut. My words—no intention of forcing her—blew away her inner turmoil like a gale.
"Just keep supporting Yujin like you are, keep watching me if you want. But I'd love it if you could be my ally."
"An ally, you say?"
An ally... What on earth does he mean?
I answered her unspoken question. "Just someone who helps me out when I ask."
"Ah..."
She was in a position where I could've demanded she abandon her lord and follow me—but I didn't need that. Just her help. Those words began to sway her heart. Serving two suns was taboo for a kunoichi, but Itsuki decided to break it.
Assuming the seiza position—used in Etoma when a subordinate pledges loyalty to a superior—Itsuki declared,
"Itsuki Karasuno, head of the Karas clan, pledges to her new lord, Mikadowji Yuto. I shall become your shadow."
Itsuki Karasuno's perception has changed.
Perception: Someone to truly serve? → Lord
Itsuki Karasuno's disposition altered due to perception change.
Disposition: Wary → Loyal
"She broke the taboo?"
I kept a calm face, but inside I was stunned. I'd only aimed for a simple ally. But Itsuki had shattered the taboo and pledged full loyalty.
"This is an unexpected windfall."
Securing the head of Etoma's kunoichi clan, Karas, meant I had the whole clan. A force that could accelerate my plans to screw over Muksirok. A satisfied smile tugged at my lips.
"Alright, Itsuki."
"Your command."
"Can you look into something for me? Someone challenged me to a ranking battle—I'd like info on him."
"Who dares challenge Lord Yuto to a ranking battle? Shall I eliminate them?"
I panicked at Itsuki's sudden extremism. "N-no, no need for elimination. Just gather intel."
"Understood. But who challenged Lord Yuto?"
"Rohan Leos from first-year C-Class."
"Rohan Leos... I know of him. Briefing now."
Of course—Itsuki already had the dirt. I trusted her.
Itsuki's briefing on Rohan Leos began.
Rohan Leos: Second son of Viscount Leos, a central imperial noble house. Personality just as I figured—petty, arrogant, total slimeball.
But separate from that, he'd hit 2-circle two years ago at sixteen, and now at twenty, he's eyeing 3-circle. A genius type.
"Eyeing 3-circle at twenty?"
In this world, forming a circle isn't just talent. You weave mana into a ring, an effort beyond words. And hitting 2-circle at just eighteen? That nagged at me.
"Is that even possible?"
Possible? In my opinion, no. Even with top mentors and mana-boosting elixirs, forming circles that young is impossible for a human—unless you're a demon. The age requirement starts at sixteen post-adult rite. So Rohan hit 1-circle at sixteen, 2-circle in two years? Even Fluros, the continent's greatest genius, the only human to reach 7-circle Great Mage and Sage, couldn't manage that.
"Suspicious as hell..."
I told Itsuki, "Can you keep tabs on Rohan?"
"Something troubles you?"
"Yeah, just a bad feeling."
"Understood. Your will be done."
Itsuki melted into shadow and vanished. Alone now, I realized I'd need to tweak my plans.
"I was gonna lose on purpose and play the nobody, but this calls for changes."
Just a hunch, a suspicion—but maybe Rohan, or the whole Viscount Leos house, were Satan worshippers. Suspected tendrils of Muksirok spread across the continent.
"Demonic humans..."
Demonic humans: beings with shards of the 666 fragments embedded, half-demonized flesh. If Rohan was one, it explained the rapid circles.
"Even that talentless hack Yuda hit 5-circle."
If Rohan was demonic, Muksirok had likely infiltrated the academy with more spies, evading Liv's eyes. No way just one.
"What a headache. Muksirok bastards are pros at being annoying."
With Itsuki's intel network, I'd have a report by tomorrow. Plenty of time to decide.
Following my orders, Itsuki began tailing Rohan.
"Where's he headed?"
She slipped from the dorms, shadowing him.
"Here?"
Behind the men's dorms, in the woods: an abandoned house Rohan entered.
"Was there a ruin here?"
Itsuki knew the academy grounds around Yuna well, but this was new. Odd.
"No tails?"
"Don't worry, sire. Thoroughly checked."
"Who's that? Body looks wrecked all over."
Peering inside, she saw Rohan talking to a battered man.
"But Lord Yuda, what's with your body?"
"Don't ask. Bad memories."
"Yuda... Yuda... Yuda Iscariot!?"
Itsuki pieced it together from the name. Swollen face threw her, but it matched.
Yuda Iscariot: Ringleader of Etoma's slave hunt. Publicly blamed on the continent, but her investigations revealed Muksirok, the cult. Yuda had raided under orders from their leader to secure demonic human test subjects.
"Yuda... No, Lord Yuto ordered surveillance on Rohan."
She ached to dagger the enemy, but as a kunoichi, personal grudges had no place. Duty first. Calming herself, she eavesdropped.
"Why eliminate that special transfer student?"
"He has some irregular Abl like Perfect Copy. Could interfere later—better preempt variables."
"Your judgment, Lord Yuda? Or the cult's?"
"I'm an apostle. Mine is the cult's. Just obey, Rohan."
"Understood. But it's a ranking battle—no life-or-death rules. How?"
"Don't worry. Intentional murder's banned, but accidents are different."
Rohan nodded, grasping it. "Right. An accident, then."
"Yes. Succeed, and I'll give you a fragment. Enough for 3-circle."
"This must succeed."
"Indeed. But..."
Yuda conjured a fireball and hurled it her way.
BOOM!
A wall crumbled in a roar.
"What is it, Lord Yuda?"
"Just nerves. Felt a rat snooping. Anyway, succeed and the Viscount Leos house gets the leader's high praise."
Rohan's lips curled at "leader's praise"—a huge reward for cultists.
"I won't fail."
Meanwhile, Itsuki dashed through the woods back to the dorms.
"Didn't spot my stealth—just good instincts?"
The fireball had spooked her, but since he didn't know who, probably just sharp senses.
"Must report to Lord Yuto fast."