Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Pioneer
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Who in the world could slap my cheek hard enough to wake me from sleep?
'Ah, right. This guy could definitely do it.'
When I opened my eyes, Veratir was looking down at me.
"Hurry up and get out of the academy, or you'll die."
He pointed accusingly at me, who had only just woken up, without explaining a thing.
Moreover, judging by his flushed face turning red and purple, something must have happened.
Swish.
I drew back the curtain, and the sun was just beginning to rise.
That meant the academy students would soon gather in the training grounds for morning assembly.
Was there someone here dangerous enough to kill me? Of course, I couldn't say there wasn't, but in a one-on-one fight, no one could beat me.
'Does that mean there's more than one internal enemy?'
While I hesitated for a moment, Veratir packed my belongings and thrust them into my arms.
"You know the way out, right?"
I nodded lightly.
"Who exactly is targeting me?"
"I don't know that either. But the academy director has ordered the instructors to bring back your head."
"My head?"
"Yes."
"Does that mean Luines is declaring war on the Strange Family?"
Veratir shook his head.
"No. He ordered them to deal with the one who caused the disturbance inside the academy. And that's been pinned on you, the outsider. They probably need someone to take the blame, so they're using you—someone not too close—as a sacrificial pawn to eliminate."
This was absurd.
I had entered through Lulu and Lara, the academy's caretakers. So everyone from the director down knew who I was. How could they try to kill someone bearing the Strange name?
This was a grave matter that could sow the seeds of destruction—a clear casus belli for war—and they decided on it so easily, in just a few hours.
'No way.'
I looked into Veratir's eyes.
I couldn't read his mind precisely, but I could gauge his intentions to some extent.
"Did the academy director really give such an order?"
For a fleeting instant, his pupils wavered briefly. It wasn't a shift in gaze but a reflexive tremor from something mental prickling his nerves.
'He's lying.'
Siegfried chimed in from the side.
"That bastard's lying."
'I know.'
"My disciple! While you were sleeping, I kept watch on this guy. He doesn't seem like a good person."
'Why?'
I tilted my head slightly in silent question.
The surprisingly perceptive Siegfried answered right away.
"There's killing intent mixed in the way he looks at you. It's so faint that an enemy wouldn't notice—he's hiding it well—but a battle-hardened veteran like me can see right through it!"
I hadn't noticed at all.
He was just drunk with bulging eyes; his heavy double eyelids and unfocused gaze didn't look sharp in the slightest.
Veratir nodded vigorously in response.
"Of course!"
I'd thought he was a reliable ally, so why was he doing this?
Even in my past life, he had helped me climb the tower so easily. Not just strategies for floors I couldn't conquer, but whenever I needed help on the battlefield, he'd rush to my side no matter where—a true benefactor.
And now that same man was trying to deceive me? The one who'd fought alongside me just hours ago to fend off enemies?
'This doesn't make sense.'
Why go to such lengths to drive me out of here?
"I'm sorry, but I've decided to stay here one more day. I'll meet the academy director in person and get an explanation."
"You'll die before then. The instructors are going crazy right now, searching everywhere for you. Even your brothers were just captured and dragged off by them."
"Then I'll explain things to them as well. After all, you can vouch that I wasn't the culprit behind last night's incident, can't you, Veratir?"
Veratir turned his head with a troubled expression.
It was a rare sight—him sober.
"That's true, but..."
"Someone's scheming to force me out of here. If I leave for Legion now—"
What would happen then?
Katarina had sent me here, even using my father as leverage. I couldn't fathom why she'd now want me back so quickly. If she'd given me a two-day deadline, surely she expected me to accomplish something in that time?
'Or perhaps...'
Maybe two factions were targeting me.
All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind. But I had no answers.
The only fact I knew for sure was that enemies surrounded me on all sides.
'...Hold on a second?'
What if I, the enemy and target, left for Legion now? Who would benefit?
Without overthinking, reasoning from common sense, a path began to emerge.
'They're targeting me on the way back or in Legion.'
An enemy whose identity I couldn't pinpoint.
So what should I do now?
I already had a plan.
"Veratir, I'm sorry, but please help me stay here until tonight."
"Until tonight?"
"Yes. Either I meet the academy director and explain as I said, or I hide somewhere remote so they can't find me. I just want to stay until dark."
"...Why?"
"Moving in broad daylight is too dangerous."
Veratir tilted his head.
Usually, the safe path was in the light, not the dark, right? He looked at me as if wondering why I was saying the opposite.
But he didn't press with more questions. He simply answered what I asked.
"Got it. Then let's do this: I'll arrange for you to meet the academy director away from the other instructors' eyes."
"Is that possible?"
"We'll see. If the chance comes, you explain everything to her, and I'll stand by as your witness."
I looked into Veratir's eyes again.
This time, they were clear and steady, without a hint of faltering.
It didn't feel like a lie at all.
'What the hell?'
Then why had his pupils shaken earlier?
"...Understood. I'll wait here then."
While hiding, I did a lot of thinking.
Clearly, in my past life, no one had checked me this aggressively.
I knew the reason perfectly.
'The absence of Gunter and Hysteria.'
No matter how talented I was, eight years old was far too young to lead the family.
That's why I hadn't realized in my past life just how many people were holding the Strange Family in check.
'Of course.'
Even if I'd known, there was nothing I could have done.
'Besides, I'm different now from back then.'
No matter how prodigious my past self was, compared at the same age of eight, my current self was incomparably stronger—so they'd try to end me before I grew any further.
"I wonder how many are targeting me."
I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, murmuring to myself.
A few faces flashed across the pristine white wall.
The most likely ones gunning for me now were remnants of Monestier, or people connected to Marquis Pierre.
And the top suspect among all I could think of was, naturally, the mother of those blockhead triplets and current master of the Alchemy Guild: Duchess Katarina.
'These three probably have the highest chance of wanting my head.'
They might even be teaming up to take me down.
Not just me—they seemed to be after my father's head too.
"Hmm—"
Based on what they'd done to me so far, if they failed to kill me here at the academy, they'd head straight for my father next.
No—they'd probably already set out. Having failed to take me out last night, they'd rush to kill him before he got word.
'But they're too late.'
My side had already moved first.
My orders would outpace their decisions.
I was certain of that. If the enemy operated as an organization, tasks would cascade down through their chain of command.
'Though it wouldn't matter much if they moved first anyway.'
Knock knock knock.
Someone rapped on the door.
As Veratir had instructed, I didn't open it. I quietly gauged the reaction of whoever was outside.
If it was Veratir, he'd come in on his own. Otherwise, they'd assume the room was empty and head elsewhere.
"Berddin, it's Tony."
"It seems the Strange Family is trying to swallow up this Luines."
Veratir said to the academy director, looking sober and composed for once.
"Is that true?"
A sturdy old man in a purple robe and pointed hat furrowed his brow.
It was an expression of disbelief toward the report he'd received earlier.
"Yes. As proof, the incident last dawn where Tony, Jony, and Rony—the three brothers—attacked Philip's lab, and..."
"I've heard."
"Even the youngest of the Strange Family, Berddin, who hid instead of explaining his involvement as an outsider... His purpose for coming here isn't clear either, is it?"
"......"
"He claims he came just to greet his brothers. Would he really travel all this way for that alone?"
"So, Instructor Veratir, what exactly do you think they're planning to do with Pablos Luines Academy?"
The academy director condensed mana in both hands, pulling dozens of books from his study shelves in an instant.
Whoosh!
He continued, showing sections recording the Strange Family's history.
"The Strange Family has always been guardians of this continent's history across generations. The idea that they'd try to swallow Pablos Luines now is an absurd hypothesis."
"Then why did they do such a thing?"
"We'll look into it. I heard there was a loud explosion from Philip's lab."
"Yes, they used a guardian spirit to try to capture Philip."
"Where is Instructor Philip now?"
Veratir hissed air through his clenched teeth.
Hiss—
"I don't know that either. It seems one of them took care of him before I arrived."
"Any evidence?"
"Right here. After chasing off the Strange kids, I recovered one of Philip's arms."
Shiiiik—
Space warped above Veratir's palm, and from within emerged a hand with pale white skin.
"?!"
"Isn't this proof enough to drag them in? Murdering an instructor within the academy—surely an unforgivable capital crime."
This was evidence so clear even the director couldn't protect the children.
The director closed his eyes and pondered deeply for a long while before letting out a long sigh, as if having made a decision. He asked Veratir,
"If all this is true, we can't avoid war with the Strange Family."
"I'm prepared for that as I report it."
"If I turn my back on them... can you sever your old ties with Roys?"
Veratir slowly scanned the books fluttering around the room with a meaningful expression, then knelt on one knee before the director and replied.
"Just give the order."