Divide and Conquer - 4
With the third stage of the plan complete, I finally had some breathing room for a while.
Even though the Magic Tower had declared war, they wouldn't invade immediately. They would throw everything into investigating the arson terrorism incident on their own. But no matter how hard they tried, they wouldn't dig up a single thing. Chaos, lurking deep in the shadows, was someone even I couldn't locate.
In the end, the Magic Tower will have no choice but to fight the Red Dragon.
Even if they managed to bring the Red Dragon down, whether they would ever reach the truth that I was the mastermind remained an open question. Of course, there was no guarantee the Magic Tower would win either. Whichever side came out on top, I would simply appear midway and finish things off. The preparations for that were already complete.
"Marianne, what's the troop count?"
"Three thousand elf warriors, twenty-five hundred archers, and about six hundred druids are ready."
"Plenty of room. You can issue the sortie order anytime, right?"
"Of course. I've already instructed every elf to stay prepared to fight at a moment's notice."
Since the war against the Magic Tower was a direct order from the Earth Mother Goddess herself, there would be no dissent. I didn't need to worry about the elves' resolve. They would do an excellent job of seizing the Magic Tower's main base while its forces were away fighting the Red Dragon. All that remained was the timing of the Magic Tower's attack.
"Chaos."
"Wang!"
"For the time being, watch both factions from the shadows. If you spot any messengers heading toward each other's camps, quietly take them out and deliver the bodies to Hades, okay?"
"Wang! Wang!"
Chaos dove into the shadows without a moment's hesitation. That meant leave it to him. With this, there would be no reconciliation between the two sides. When Chaos disposed of a messenger, Hades would revive them as undead and send them back out. At that point I could freely rewrite the contents of the documents they carried. I would manipulate things so the relationship between the Magic Tower and the Crimson Scales deteriorated even further. If I was going to sow discord, I might as well go all out.
"That settles it. It'll take a good while before we move to stage four, so I should take it easy for now."
[Grrr…!]
"What's wrong?"
[Is there no moment for this body to shine? Everyone else is fulfilling their own roles!]
"Can't be helped. The things you can do are limited, and you can't leave my side."
Even with polymorph, as my sword she couldn't stray far from me. If she wandered off on her own, I would have the perfect excuse of needing another blade to protect myself and simply acquire a new one. Frach hated the idea of me using another sword far more than she valued her freedom, and her jealousy ran deep. Giving her any real orders was difficult.
[Ugh! I know that, but I still can't shake this feeling of being discriminated against.]
"Don't get impatient. Just wait. The moment for you to shine will definitely come."
[I hope that time comes soon…….]
Right now I was playing something closer to a strategist's role, so there was no turn for Frach to step up. But I fully intended to take the heads of the Magic Tower Master and the Red Dragon with my own hands. The one standing by my side in that moment would be none other than Frach. In other words, the ones who would deliver the plan's grand finale would be me and her.
"Let's focus on gathering the remaining parts."
Like it or not, once war broke out and both sides had suffered catastrophic losses, I would have to intervene. That meant the fight with Ignite wasn't far off. So I needed to gain power quickly to match the timing. And right on cue, the medicine to cure Hesha's curse was complete.
[Planning to leave right away?]
"Yeah. I've already sent word to Hesha that the medicine is ready and to come to Yuran. I can just leave the medicine and a note with Rin."
[What about the appointment with Rin in two weeks?]
"I'll be back before then. The next destination isn't that far from here either."
[Oh? Where are you headed?]
"The capital!"
The starting point of Adokchoe, and the place I had first set foot in the moment I possessed this body. It was time to return to the Academy—to monopolize every remaining opportunity still waiting there.
"I-It's off…!"
Clack—! Clatter—!
The handcuffs came undone, and the chains rattled as they fell away. In the dark, silent basement, a man's cry of joy rang out. A scrawny frame, skin filthy from days without washing, hair as messy as a dog's fur. The handsome face that had once ranked in the kingdom's top one percent now looked like a beggar's.
"I have to escape this place right now!"
His name was Kang Junhyuk. The tragic protagonist whose life had hit rock bottom thanks to Bern, and who had been locked up by Sherin as a bonus. After Hades' exposé incident, he was treated as a criminal wherever he went. To make matters worse, Sherin had knocked him out, dragged him to the basement, and restrained him.
I have to get to the Academy as soon as possible…! She'll know a way to smooth over this situation!
Though much emaciated from the long confinement, Kang Junhyuk squeezed out every last bit of strength and made it outside. Rushing out in a panic, he drew attention from passersby. But seeing how drastically his appearance had changed, people soon lost interest and went on their way. They hadn't recognized him as the criminal; they simply saw an ordinary beggar.
"Ha, haha…!"
He had expected to be caught absurdly easily, but when that didn't happen, Kang Junhyuk sighed in relief and started laughing. With the danger of arrest gone, he resolutely ran down the road toward the Academy.
I just need to get to where Beronica is…!
In the original story, Kang Junhyuk had once, through a single misjudgment, lost a great many precious people. Stubbornly insisting his choice hadn't been wrong, he had committed an irreversible mistake. That had plunged the novel's atmosphere into gloom in an instant, and countless readers had cursed the author's derailment out loud. But the author had introduced a new character to reverse the mood again.
Professor Beronica. The head of space-time research that had been passed down since her great-grandfather's generation. Even during the Demon King's invasion, she had devoted herself to her research. People had criticized her for researching instead of fighting for humanity, but she had persevered and fulfilled her role. And that bore fruit.
Beronica had come to Kang Junhyuk when he was frustrated and at his mental limit. With the words that she could turn the world back to the past just once, she had extended a hand of salvation. Thanks to Beronica's help, Kang Junhyuk had been able to reverse his mistake. And so the world had been able to reach a happy ending.
If I borrow her power, I can solve my problems easily…!
Currently, two major problems plagued Kang Junhyuk. One was the nationwide wanted status from Hades' false accusation. His appearance had changed from the confinement so people didn't recognize him now, but once he recovered, he would have to live as a fugitive for life. If he was unlucky enough to get caught, the maximum penalty was death. If he died, his story would end forever.
I'm already one step from death as it is…!
The other was Sherin's obsession. At first she had been a fresh, somewhat cute woman, but at some point she had changed. An intense possessiveness that hadn't existed in the original, and a change in her physique. Not knowing what was going on, he had kept his distance, but that choice had backfired. The greater the distance, the more tenaciously Sherin clung to Kang Junhyuk. That had led her to extreme measures like kidnapping and confinement.
I never should have approached her in the first place…!
Quickly filling the void left by Bern's disappearance had been the fundamental problem. He had thought that as the protagonist he could simply recruit every woman into his harem, but that wasn't it. By acting differently from the original, he had gotten into this mess. Thinking that, Kang Junhyuk decided to turn the world's timeline back to the day he had possessed this body.
Starting over from the beginning. If I can just carefully follow the steps one by one like the original Kang Junhyuk and become the strongest man…!
Before he knew it, Kang Junhyuk had arrived in front of the Academy. But he couldn't exactly enter the main gate looking like a beggar. He could claim he was a student, but his current status was that of a criminal, so it was impossible. For that reason, he decided to use the secret passage that had appeared in the original.
I just need to get through here!
Kang Junhyuk successfully infiltrated the Academy through the underground waterway. After that, he avoided the gazes of students and professors as he approached Beronica's private office. Maximizing his senses and moving smoothly, he finally arrived in front of Beronica's private room. Confirming the nameplate that read "Beronica," he was certain this was it. He flung the door open with all his might and went inside.
"Professor Beronica! Please help me!"
The moment he entered the room, he squeezed out a tearful voice and begged for help. He put his whole heart into the act, trying to look as pitiful as possible, like a student with unavoidable circumstances. But unfortunately, his plea did not reach Beronica.
"Interesting."
"Huh…?"
A deep, thick voice that couldn't possibly belong to a woman. Kang Junhyuk belatedly raised his head, and sitting in the professor's seat was not Beronica, but someone else.
"Hello."
"Y-You!"
It was Bern, sitting in the chair and sipping black tea.