episode_0122

“The first qualifying match, you did well.”

Surprisingly, Jane was the first to approach me.

“Yeah, thanks.”

I accepted the towel she offered, but just holding it felt a little awkward, so…

I pretended to wipe the sweat, rubbing the soft towel vigorously across my face.

“The match… seemed rather easy.” “Well, yeah.”

That “Charles something” didn’t even make me break a sweat.

“Unless anything comes up, I’m going to go.”

Returning the still-fluffy towel to Jane, I was about to walk past her when…

She whispered softly.

‘As you know, there’s a bit of opposition.’ ‘Right. You be careful too.’

Jane’s back disappeared down the quiet corridor of the auditorium.

“…”

Certainly, there’s nobody around right now. However, considering the power of , there was a possibility that even this brief conversation might have been noticed.

I shook the black onyx pendant.

“Nix, wake up.” “Mmm—”

Poroong-

A black mist swirled and rose, and Nix’s upper body emerged from within.

“Keep an eye on that guy for a while. If any of the approaching ones show any suspicious signs, contact me immediately.” “Ugh… so bothersome—”

She was practically lying suspended in the air, eyes half-closed.

Well, what can I do? I shoved my hand into the black mist below her, touching ‘somewhere’ on Nix’s body.

“U-w-wait a-a minute… n-not here- uhh-” “Behave, and I’ll finish what we didn’t finish yesterday.”

The mist was damp to begin with. The slightly damp and sticky sensation on my fingertips wasn’t anything strange.

Nix smiled brightly.

“Khihih- uhng!”

Then she hid herself in the spirit form again and flew down the hallway.

With that, I’ve dealt with one major problem for now, but there are still eyes everywhere.

Today is the preliminary round. Both the officials and the audience are all cadets and staff, in other words, only people from within the academy.

The main tournament begins the day after tomorrow, and then people from all over the kingdom and indeed the whole world will come to watch.

Seeing how they’ve set up this elaborate scheme, might really appear during the main tournament.

That’s the biggest problem.

They know who I am, but I don’t know them. Nobles from the kingdom, ambassadors from the empire, merchants from the free trade city. I can’t know what form they’ll appear before me in.

The only clue is, as always, ‘magic.’ I don’t need to detect insignificant minions, and anyone strong enough to cause problems will definitely exude a powerful magical aura.

For now, I can only keep my senses on high alert.

Ah, one more thing. If I use what I learned from Nix all over my body, it will be much better.

That is, the perception-obfuscating magic.

It’s magic that artificially mixes and muddles the information emanating from me, making it difficult to recognize me.

By slightly covering the outer part of my body with the Muyeonggab and infusing it with this [Perception Obfuscation] attribute…

If someone sees me, they’ll perceive me not as Narias or the Princess, but as an ordinary H-cup girl. Truly convenient magic.

“Ah, there she is! Unni—!” “Ugh-”

What? How did she know?

From afar, Yuri waved her hand, rushed towards me, and jumped into my arms.

“Kyaak-” “Ah… yes, Yuri. It’s over?” “Yes—! But, I’m sorry… I really wanted to watch your match.”

First… first, I stroked her head.

“No, it’s okay. There’s nothing we can do about overlapping schedules. I really wanted to watch your match too.” “Next time, we’ll definitely have different times, so let’s definitely cheer each other on!” “Yeah, yeah.”

Watching Yuri rub her cheek against my chest like a puppy, I felt my tension completely melt away.

“But, hey…” “Yes?—”

I whispered in her ear. I asked how she knew it was me.

“How, you ask? Unni is Unni~”

She added an explanation. That I had cast a perception-obfuscating spell.

“Huh—? That’s a completely bogus spell. It’s clearly Unni.”

Then Nix’s warning came to mind. She had said that the effect might not work sufficiently against those who clearly recognize my presence.

I understood. To others, I might only be perceived as eyes, nose, mouth, hair, chest, hips, academy uniform, shampoo scent, and that’s about it. But Yuri seems to have recognized me instantly based on that information.

Still, it’s fortunate.

“Eek- what is it, Yurias? Did you switch to someone else already?” “What nonsense, it’s my Unni—!” “…Really. From afar, for a moment I felt like it wasn’t Narias…”

With Yuri beside me, I approached the cadets of Class 1-A, and they all reacted in surprise.

Even those who know me reacted like this, so it would definitely work on those who don’t know me well.

“Come quickly and sit. The match of our class’s second-in-command is about to start—” “Come here! I saved you a seat.”

Shouldering my way into the audience with the others, I quietly looked down at the auditorium.

“First-year magic student, Eve Ista, entering!”

And just when I was finally about to properly watch the match…

Tuk—

Someone touched my shoulder.

“Just look, if you don’t want to see your friends get hurt.”

. . .

I couldn’t help but be extremely tense at that moment.

I didn’t know what was going to happen, and it was right after Jane’s warning.

It was only natural to be cautious.

I followed the person who called me, and several cadets in academy uniforms surrounded me.

Judging by the color of their ties, they were all third-years.

“What is the meaning of this?” “…You should know best.”

There’s malice in their tone.

I know best… Honestly, nothing else came to mind.

It’s not like they’re here for revenge for the “Charles something” I used earlier, just because they’re third-years.

Wouldn’t that be too childish? To seek revenge for easily losing to a junior by using sheer numbers to bully them. There has to be a limit to how petty one can be.

So, of course, they had to be… .

“We’ve been informed of everything you’ve done. Truly… incredibly audacious.” “Are you the leader?”

A woman walked out from the group, trampling on the lawn of the courtyard with her high heels.

Her twisted expression and intense gaze, as if she wanted to kill me, made me slightly tremble… well, not really.

“It was all my fault… If I had dealt with it properly from the start, such needless trouble wouldn’t have arisen.” “So what’s your point?”

However, you never know what tricks they might be hiding. I didn’t let my guard down and stared her down.

“Huhu… don’t be so afraid. I just want to give you a little taste of bitterness. It won’t hurt for long, right?” “…Would you let me go if I said I need to use the restroom?”

The woman’s lips curled up.

“Puhut- It’s fine to just… you know… here. it might be quite the sight…” “It’s… big.” “…Endure it.”

I thought I heard one of the men surrounding us shout ‘possible-’, but let’s ignore it.

“Well, from this moment on, you won’t be climbing back up… but remember this, ‘Crimson Rose’.” “Is that… your codename?” “Well, yes. Huhu-”

Yes, I can’t afford to be careless. The high-ranking members of who have codenames all possess troublesome powers.

Revealing all my cards would be a bad move, but that doesn’t mean I have to hold back my strength.

I just need to adjust it a bit. I can’t have a bloody festival inside the academy, so the best course of action would be to knock them all unconscious, extract information, and then quietly dispose of them.

I first drew in a lot of mana and assumed a fighting stance with the wind-attribute Muyeonggab.

“W-wait- Captain… this is dangerous…” “This… this person is strong…!!”

The men began to slowly retreat.

“What are you doing—!! Kill her right now—!!” “Kuuk… sorry-!”

But of course, they can’t refuse the orders of their superior.

They all drew their swords and lunged at me.

“Haaat—!!”

At the speed of academy cadets, it’s impossible for me to react.

“At the speed of academy cadets…”

I immediately crouched down and dodged the first attack. They’ve probably coated their swords with poison, so even a small scratch would seal my defeat.

Extending my leg, I tripped their legs with a low roundhouse kick and quickly slipped away as their posture faltered.

Of course, I successfully avoided all their swords.

“Ueek- wh-what- wait a-”

Then I rushed toward ‘Crimson Rose.’ Closing the distance is playing into her plans but as long as I’m careful around poison and curses, I can win this.

Paat-

Immediately grabbed the woman by the nape of her neck and slammed her face into the ground.

“Keuhk- Keuhuk-” “Now, quickly, reveal your next move!! Show me everything, be it a spell or whatever you have!!” “Th-that’s… Keuhuk-”

Damn it, stalling. I have no choice but to be even more wary.

Crimson Rose trembled, pretending to be in agony, her neck caught in my grip.

And the moment I tensed my nerves in anticipation of her next move…

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Robin—!!”

Charles something came running from a distance.