Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Survival Competition (4)
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"What's this about?"
Namei had been summoned by the academy administration, so she had gone all the way to the academy headquarters. Students rarely had any reason to go there at the best of times, and since they'd called her during class hours, her annoyance was doubled.
Professor Selene, who had been enjoying tea time alone in that place, spoke with a smile.
"Actually, you already know where Yulius is now, don't you, Namei?"
"Yeah."
Still feeling displeased about how Yulius alone was referred to by a different title, Namei sat down in the seat across from her and tapped her foot badly.
They weren't on good terms to begin with, and this was practically forcing her to come out, so she was being a bit aggressive about it.
"So, have you gone to see him?"
"No."
"There's nothing Yulius is looking for..."
"There wasn't. Are you just trying to get under my skin right now?"
"Of course not. I don't remember getting an invitation either."
"So what? Should two abandoned women just have another tea time?"
"No. As a professor at the academy, I've heard various bits of news and wanted to share them with you. How much do you know about the Demon God Cult, Namei?"
"Almost nothing. They aim to resurrect the Demon God. There are twelve executives. The executives' power is exceptionally strong even among the demons."
"That's enough. Namei, traces of the Demon God Cult have been found near Christe Territory."
"...What?"
It was such an out-of-the-blue story, and the fact that someone other than her had learned of such an important matter first was utterly ridiculous.
Before even questioning its credibility, it was so absurd she had to ask again.
"Does that even make sense?"
"It does. Christe Territory is in the east. Demons pushed out by Lebedev into other regions is a common occurrence anyway."
"So, what do you want me to do about it? We're basically disowned."
"The Imir Kingdom as a whole will probably respond, but there's no guarantee of success or that the timing will line up."
"So."
"It means you should get in touch ahead of time and say whatever you want to say quickly."
"I don't have anything."
Selene let out a sigh as she looked at Namei, who had said that, and gazed at her with a somewhat gloomy expression.
"Timing is the most important thing in the world. There are things that never come back once you miss them."
"I agree. But I don't think that applies to the issues between me and my family."
"If that's how you feel, I have nothing more to say."
"Can I go now?"
"One more thing."
"..."
Turning her head away, Namei stared silently at her, and Selene spoke.
"How passionate are your feelings for Yulius?"
"I don't want to answer that."
"Then what if I took the opportunity of our master-disciple relationship breaking to approach him?"
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Yeah. Just kidding."
It didn't sound like a joke at all.
This time, Namei irritably ignored Selene, who was quietly sipping her tea and staring at her in return, and left.
"There are destinies in the world that can never be joined."
Leaving behind words that seemed laden with various meanings, Selene tidied up and left the academy headquarters.
It was during class time. The headquarters area, where no students would come, was filled only with silence.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Christoph rarely went outside except for classes. After being confined to quarters, he suffered from paranoia that everyone was mocking him, and he spent all his time gathering and analyzing information on Yulius.
Christoph's hands and feet were already tied by his father, the king, but even so, there were still people attending to him.
And among those people, some were well-informed, so the amount of information gathered from both domestic and foreign sources was considerable.
"Ha. After mocking and leaving me, he takes down a Demon God Cult executive? Still strutting around with his nose in the air thanks to that goddess's borrowed power."
Imir Kingdom southern Demon God Cult group annihilation.
Demon God Cult executive who invaded the academy defeated.
These two feats alone were worthy of history books, but what made him more disgusted was that Yulius had left without a care for any honors or rewards.
Strength. Yeah, strength.
It's important. But so what? I'm a prince.
The bluest blood among the blue bloods.
Just as commoners look up to nobles, nobles should look up to royals, yet that bastard Yulius always mocked and ignored him.
"Demon God-related news is from Christe... Ah, that Namei bitch. Serves her right."
He flipped through the reports organized in document form, memorizing them, and marked them one by one on the map covering one wall.
For some reason, Yulius placed considerable weight on taking down Demon God Cult executives.
Conversely, that meant if he could interfere the moment that bastard fought a Demon God Cult executive, he could get revenge even against someone with overwhelming power difference.
Predict the location of the next clash between a Demon God Cult executive and Yulius, and strike when it falls within his range of movement.
"Heh, haha."
Just imagining it made him laugh with pleasure, but he organized the materials he was reading again. Today was a day when guests would come no matter what, so he had no time to continue his deductions.
When he changed clothes and went out, there stood his younger sister and the king's third daughter, Kanila Imir. She was the idiot who had approached Yulius with her empty head since childhood and gotten thoroughly rejected.
Even punishing the brat who dared challenge royal authority by holding her head high would be insufficient, yet she acted like she would give him her liver and gallbladder.
In Christoph's mind, his younger sister had already been executed by beheading.
"It's been a while, brother."
"Yeah. I thought neither of us particularly wanted to see each other."
"True. I can't stand people clumped together with inferiority complexes like you, brother Christoph."
"Want to die?"
"You lose in fights and in influence, yet your mouth is still alive."
It was true.
Kanila, aside from her weird taste in men and shameless personality, utterly crushed Christoph in pure combat ability.
She had already reached a level of magic where she could join the kingdom's magic corps without issue, and she was also a freak who excelled in close-quarters combat.
The sight of her wielding a sword that doubled as a staff in her right hand and punching enemies with knuckles on her left was terrifying.
And considering the current royal power distribution, Christoph was overwhelmingly inferior, so her claim of losing in influence was 100% fact.
"Considering your pathetic personality and vengeful twisted mind, brother, you must know something about Sir Yulius's whereabouts and recent activities, so I came."
"Ha?"
"Information. Hand it over. For a dimwit far from wisdom, that brain of yours spins fast on this stuff, right? You must have some usable results."
"Why the hell should I!"
The moment he tried to refuse, Kanila's right hand, which had been holding a teacup, smashed into Christoph's nose. Skillfully transferring the teacup to her left hand, she stomped on her writhing brother's groin amid the shock and pain as he rolled on the floor.
"You're useless anyway, should I get rid of it? Seems like you'll just produce trash carrying royal blood."
With an expression devoid of any sadism, declaring 'inferior male seed is better off gone,' Kanila burst one side with a bright smile.
Christoph, unable to move from the shock and trembling all over, soon foamed at the mouth and passed out. Watching him, the servant nearby clutched his thighs and hurriedly opened Christoph's room door.
"Heehee. So this is all the stuff related to Yulius."
Flipping through the documents with a girlish expression unlike before, she looked at the huge map on the wall and said.
"As expected. It seems easier for him to deal with the Demon God Cult after leaving the academy."
Whether true or not was secondary; it was a fairly reasonable point, and Kanila followed the marked lines on the map with her eyes.
"He's in the empire, right? And if so, the emperor might be deliberately hiding him."
Exact information on Yulius was controlled by the royal family—specifically, her father, the current king.
Revealing it would expose various scandals, so he never told his sons or daughters.
Based on the stories Kanila had picked up so far and the information Christoph had gathered, Yulius was likely in an unofficial friendly relationship with the empire right now.
The current emperor was quite clever and competent at his job, so there was no way he couldn't find someone who stayed in his territory and went out to take down Demon God Cult executives.
And the reason for hiding him was probably...
"Because of love! Obviously!"
She had a bad habit of linking everything to love, so whenever there was some deal between a man and a woman, she tied it to romance.
Kanila genuinely believed the emperor loved Yulius and was hiding him to keep him for himself.
That thieving cat bastard. I marked him first with my spit.
Forgetting that someone had marked him before her, she fumed at the emperor and decided to start preparations to head to the empire.