Ch.186186 – Bio-Piloted Feed Raider

<186 – Organic Mount Feed Thief>

“Would you be willing to stay by the young lady’s side and keep her company so she doesn’t walk down the wrong path?”

It was an amusing request.

For an assassin to fear solitude.

-Remember, Zhang. An assassin who fears solitude will be devoured by that fear and die.

Betrayed, wounded in heart, disappointed by people.

Having grown up with such cruel training that wasn’t quite training, Zhang didn’t believe in the thing called human hearts.

Especially the hearts of those who weren’t assassins.

“I’ll do it. But it’s not free.”

“If you have conditions, I’ll try to meet them as much as possible. Please tell me anything you want.”

“Prepare the materials I need for the midterm exam. Can you do that? Since I’m spending my time helping.”

“Just write down the list and send it to me.”

But if the other person was a fellow assassin.

If it was that Oknodie, the barriers around her heart lowered a bit.

Like a weasel poking its head out from inside a fortress-like tree hollowed out by teeth.

Instead of showing hostility first, she could show curiosity.

On her way to meet Oknodie.

Zhang, who was turning a corridor corner, suddenly slipped into a nearby cabinet.

“…Huh?”

The footsteps following her wandered around, turning 90 degrees, 150 degrees, 270 degrees, frantically looking in all directions.

<Stealth – Shadow Walker>

A blonde man with a clumsy expression.

The moment his back was exposed, Zhang silently took position behind him and poked his back, saying:

“Don’t move.”

“Gasp!!”

“You know what? If I poke just a little deeper from this angle… I could pierce between your ribs and straight into your heart.”

In an instant, she had seized control over his life.

The back of the male student’s neck became damp with cold sweat pouring like rain.

Thinking what a pathetic man he was, Zhang asked:

“Who are you? Why were you following me?”

“I was following Giselle’s request. If any trouble occurred, I was to help on the scene or contact her directly…”

“Ah. So you’re the client’s eyes? Sorry for startling you~. You can turn around now.”

The man turned around.

Instead of sharp blades or eerie hidden weapons, he found Zhang playfully wiggling her fingers pointed together, asking if he was really scared by something like this.

Haaa.

I thought I was going to die.

The complaint that escaped involuntarily was that of a complete amateur.

Zhang felt cheated, having vainly hoped to see blood after such a long time.

“What’s your name?”

“Maximus Montblanc. I came to cooperate with Oknodie because my younger sibling formed a personal connection with her.”

“Hmm… Hard to believe. With those skills?”

“We don’t make friends based on skill alone. Besides, I didn’t befriend her first—my sibling got to know her before me. Is the interrogation over?”

“For now.”

A male student from the 981st batch lower class who decided to look after Oknodie after hearing that his younger sibling was indebted to her on the airship—Maximus Montblanc.

He had intended to care for Oknodie at his sibling’s request but somehow became Giselle’s collaborator.

Insufficient strength.

The demanding Academy.

It was a natural progression to join hands with like-minded individuals.

“I knew she was a dangerous young lady, but I didn’t expect her friend to be this dangerous too.”

“Spare me the trivial talk. Where’s Oknodie?”

“At this hour, she should be in the first-year restricted area. Find someone with a handkerchief attached to the front pocket of their uniform and tell them you’re looking for them on Dark Association business, and they’ll tell you.”

The association jointly established by Arcadia and Giselle.

Somehow they had already expanded their influence beyond the first-year zone, placing their people everywhere.

It seems he wasn’t a careless guardian who claimed to be concerned about Oknodie.

“I just needed the direction. I know enough about the places she would like.”

“So you two are close? To know that much.”

“I can know such things even if we’re not close.”

“Normally, people don’t know such things unless they’re interested, right?”

“I’ve done something regrettable to her, and since this is a rare occasion, shall I show you a little?”

Zhang circled around Maximus once and smiled sweetly.

“You’re left-handed, aren’t you?”

“…I didn’t think I had shown it.”

“A cold. You’ve suffered from one recently.”

“Did you research me beforehand?”

“Of course not. I only learned about someone like you today. I just know because I’m an assassin. I also know you have a habit of standing slightly askew on your right leg. And that you’re conscious of your loud breathing, so you try to make it smaller.”

What started as mere curiosity about her observational skills.

As it continued, different emotions took its place.

“You consciously try to keep your steps even, but when startled, your left foot turns backward. You fear people approaching from your left rear. You’ve had trouble reaching behind to your left, haven’t you?”

“…!”

“An animal? A monster? Yes… a person. Someone you had to protect? Someone you wanted to avoid? Or… someone you had to kill? For someone with such a straightforward appearance, you have quite a bloody past, don’t you?”

His weaknesses being exposed at a frightening speed.

Maximus’s face hardened.

“Stop.”

“I could list at least ten more.”

“Please, seriously… it’s scary. When you suddenly start reading my life like mind-reading right to my face.”

Giselle was a far more formidable person than this.

Considering the depth of darkness she harbored, it made sense that she would employ someone who wasn’t just bright but also carried darkness in their heart.

Even Oknodie, whom he was desperately trying to protect, was like that.

Purer than anyone.

Stronger than anyone.

Yet harboring deeper darkness than anyone.

Giselle was the type of person who preferred and kept close those who, like herself, harbored darkness within their inherent goodness.

‘Oknodie uses paths where people’s gazes don’t reach. From here, she must have used the path behind this wall.’

First-year restricted area.

She passed by without even glancing at the warning sign that stated unauthorized first-years couldn’t guarantee their lives if they entered.

‘Assassins don’t avoid dangerous places by nature. She’s not the type to be intimidated by something like this.’

Following the path that Oknodie would prefer.

That Oknodie wouldn’t avoid.

That she would like.

Following such a path, the <Upper Class Mount Storage> came into view through a window.

Professor Platton’s mount.

The approaching midterm exam.

Oknodie, who had infiltrated while avoiding people’s eyes.

She climbed up the 3m high side window using Web magic, utilizing the stickiness of spider webs, and opened it.

Hop.

As she lightly landed on the ground, the strong animal smell hit her.

In the interior where the animal cries that would naturally be heard in an animal pen were strangely cut off, she felt tense presences and gazes concentrated in one place.

Sure enough, the “young lady” with beautiful blonde hair wrapped in a light blue headband was there.

“Hello, Oknodie.”

“Mmphf!?”

“Is that tasty?”

Oknodie tried to hide the object in her hand behind her back with a surprised face.

However, there was no way to hide her cheeks that were bulging defenseless…

Pop.

When Zhang poked her cheek with a finger, the contents spilled out like a merchant disgorging goods.

Small, round-shaped food.

However, not something people normally eat.

Food that one might consider eating during a famine.

It was animal feed.

* *

“I received such a request. What do you think, Oknodie?”

“Giselle always worries too much. Just like a dad.”

“Is that so?”

As expected, Oknodie, the person in question, seemed tired of it, like a daughter suffering from an overly doting father, far from being lonely.

“But since I received a request, I can’t just walk away. For an assassin, a request is more sacred than a holy book. You know that, right?”

“It’s the Three Commandments of Assassins, isn’t it? Don’t take life easily. Don’t accept requests easily. But once you commit to a request, execute it without fail.”

Oknodie tilted her head as if wondering why Zhang was suddenly asking such a thing.

At her cute movement like a small bird, Zhang turned around primly, deliberately avoiding eye contact.

If their eyes met, she might reveal that she had momentarily tested the girl out of concern.

“But why were you eating feed?”

“Weren’t you not going to ask about that?”

“I was giving you time to think of an excuse in case you were embarrassed.”

Oknodie, who had been happily following the change of subject, made a sad face.

“Well… actually, it’s because of the midterm exam…”

“You’re stealing all the feed for the organic mounts to starve other students’ mounts to death?”

“That’s not it at all!”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s because of the food encyclopedia…”

“Encyclopedia?”

“Anyway, there’s something like that!”

Zhang felt the desperate gazes of the animals begging her to stop this human.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Really?”

“I just came to see your face once because Giselle was worried about you.”

“You can’t tell Giselle either. Got it?”

“If you keep it a secret. What will you give me in return?”

A question thrown playfully.

With a smile mixed with a bit of aegyo, Oknodie held out a carnation petal with a face of great determination.

“This was in the turtle’s feed container… it’s really rare for filling the encyclopedia… but I can give it up for Zhang.”

She held out the petal with her eyes closed and hands trembling.

Her genuine feeling that she didn’t want to give it away was palpable.

‘Could the hypothesis that Oknodie is an Orc hybrid, a half-Orc, actually be true?’

She had heard before.

That Orcs have omnivorous appetites and eat almost anything.

She didn’t know that included stones and flower petals.

Seeing how much she liked it made Zhang want to take it from her.

“Oknodie likes natural things, huh.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, you eat stones well, and flower petals too.”

Could the sweet smell that always emanated from Oknodie be because she ate a lot of flowers?

Zhang, somewhat curious about her eating habits that included everything without being picky, picked up a petal and put it in her mouth.

“Ugh… strange taste.”

“You can’t just eat one petal. You need to eat at least ten at once for the collection effect!”

“I don’t need that many.”

She had been so distressed when she thought she would lose them, but now that Zhang had eaten one, she was desperate to make her eat more.

‘Oknodie is really strange and interesting.’

Unlike Giselle’s imagined scenario of large rhinoceroses butting heads to acknowledge each other’s strength and deepen their friendship, the two bonded in an unexpected way.

Regardless of how it happened, as Giselle had hoped, Oknodie’s face bloomed with a smile like a child of that age.

“…Oknodie. There’s someone looking for you outside. I think we should go out now.”

“Really?”

A member of the Dark Association who had been waiting outside the first-year restricted area recognized Oknodie and rushed over.

“Miss Oknodie. An urgent message from Vice President Giselle. Isabelle and someone called Ppoi have been seriously injured in an unexpected accident during a lecture.”

Ah. This looks dangerous.

Zhang, watching Oknodie’s face from the side, witnessed in real-time as the smile disappeared.

A face devoid of expression.

Killing intent that stimulated the skin.

She had a premonition that something bigger than anything so far was about to happen.

Incidents at the Academy weren’t uncommon.

But the subject was different.

Unlike previous incidents where the principal or professors were suspected as the culprits, this time it was Oknodie who was about to cause trouble.

This certainly wouldn’t end as an ordinary incident.