Ch.68Chapter 3. Riders Aren’t the Only Ones Who Transform! (5)

After hearing some shocking news from Yoon Yi-seon.

I had no choice but to reconsider my plan to go out as the Goblin and “find Dueoksini.”

I was worried about causing trouble for Yoon Yi-seon, who had suddenly fallen into the clutches of dirty adults.

I was worried about causing trouble for Ymir, who seemed to be preparing some plan of her own.

I was worried about causing trouble for Baek Seol-hee, who was participating in a major event as a faculty member for the first time.

…No.

In truth, those were all just secondary reasons.

What I really want, what I’m really aiming for, is to “observe” a certain woman.

“Hmm, hmm, hmmm.”

I spot a blonde woman walking while humming to herself.

Not just any blonde, but one with her hair in two buns, what you might call “young lady hair,” carrying something in a black plastic bag as she walks alone down the street.

It’s almost 1 AM.

All the neon signs are off, and even most of the streetlights have been turned off.

That woman walking alone in the darkness is my target.

‘The connection to the protagonist.’

Why hide it?

That blonde lady confidently walking alone with a black bag is none other than the cover heroine of volume one, “Ermina Sternfeld.”

You know the type of character that appears in academy light novels.

“I cannot acknowledge you!”

“Ohohoho!”

The type who speaks like a young lady and gets under the protagonist’s skin, causing trouble with him, but after some incidents occur and the protagonist saves her, she develops infinite affection for him.

In light novel terms, she’s the first-volume heroine, the character the author initially tried to push.

But readers considered Baek Seol-hee and the chairman to be the true heroines, and as the story progressed, Ermina was relegated to just another Heroine A.

In terms of status, she’s probably the granddaughter of the chairman of a major German corporation.

And now this woman is walking alone without any attendants at nearly 1 AM, trying not to be noticed by others with a black hat, mask, and scarf wrapped around her, carrying something she bought and heading somewhere.

She’s not going toward the dormitories.

It’s probably either a private apartment, the German embassy, or a mansion on Sejong Island purchased by the “Stern” corporation for an enormous sum.

“……?”

Or so I thought, but after checking if anyone was watching, she slips into a park.

And she’s heading toward the women’s restroom in the park.

‘What is she planning to do in a public restroom at this hour?’

I’m curious.

But no matter how much I want information, I’m not a pervert who would secretly follow someone into a women’s restroom.

[Maybe she just needs to use the bathroom.]

Especially not while in my “Goblin” form.

[This is troublesome.]

I need to know why she’s there.

More precisely, I need to know what state she’s in.

“Ugh, to subject me to such humiliation! I cannot forgive this!”

Because right now, that woman is probably plotting to kill the protagonist!

“Wait, what kind of heroine tries to kill the protagonist?”

“A foreign woman trying to kill the protagonist? At an academy? That seems weird?”

“A woman who tries to kill the protagonist can’t be a heroine. She’d be killed before becoming one.”

“Yeah, no matter what, Ermina is an attempted murderer~ If the protagonist wasn’t secretly strong, he would have died~”

A heroine who tries to kill the protagonist shouldn’t exist.

But the author set up Ermina as such a heroine and developed the story from there.

In the end, followers of other heroines kept pointing out her actions in volume one, and the author gradually shifted more focus to the true heroines that readers supported—a woman with an unfortunate fate.

“R-run away! I’ll try to hold them back!”

“I-I tried to hurt you…! You could have died! Why are you saving me?”

“Because… I’m a hero…? That’s so… stupid…!”

If she hadn’t fallen for him like that, she probably would have continued to slander, envy, and be jealous of the protagonist, eventually becoming a villain or demon.

After volume one, she was also the woman the Goblin tried hardest to persuade and brainwash after his plans were thwarted by the protagonist.

‘Come to think of it, the Goblin appeared here too.’

He was just poking his head in, going around trying to corrupt the general public.

More precisely, another villain from the Syndicate was carrying out an operation when they were half-killed by the protagonist, and the Goblin came to support them, which started the bad blood between the Goblin and the protagonist.

Just like how I came here to persuade talented women to join the Syndicate, the Goblin and the Syndicate members in the original work tried to recruit those who were eliminated from the treasure hunt.

Those who were angry after having their treasures taken by stronger people.

Those who were too weak and had to form groups, only to be cast out even from there.

Ability users with complaints and rebellious attitudes toward the nation.

Recruiting such people was what the Syndicate mainly did during the treasure hunt in the original work.

And that overlapped with Ermina’s attempted murder….

[The original work has already been thrown in the trash, so why should I care about it?]

I collected myself.

The story has already changed since the Goblin became an S-class villain.

The original work has been twisted since before I came to the academy, and the major flow of the original story I know might not proceed at all from its very foundation.

Still, if there’s one possibility and hope, it’s the personality of that woman who tried to set up the protagonist who became her “teammate.”

I have no choice but to rely on her personality as an attempted murderer who deserved to die before becoming a heroine.

If there’s someone she wants to kill.

If there’s someone who becomes her teammate.

If that person is a “man,” there’s a high possibility it’s the protagonist.

‘She should be coming out soon.’

What is she plotting?

Ermina Sternfeld.

‘Should I just go in as Do Ji-hwan? Pretending to be crazy?’

I’d probably get reported, but it’s frustrating that it’s taking longer than expected.

‘She was 17 years old, right?’

She looks like an adult because she’s a foreigner, but strictly speaking, she’s not legally an adult.

“S-stop! You’re not an adult!”

“In Germany, I am an adult! Ohohoho!”

“What kind of nonsense is that?!”

“It’s true. Where do you think the bill to lower the legal age for ability users in Korea started? Ohohoho! You are a Korean adult! I am a German adult! Therefore… it’s legal!”

“S-stop it!!”

In this world’s Germany, they’ve already lowered the age of majority for ability users.

Of course, from my perspective, she’s still a minor.

‘No, I shouldn’t think too conservatively.’

Isn’t this the kind of thing that appears in the news all the time?

Using secret social media to commit truly heinous and atrocious crimes….

Creeeeak.

The glass door opened and someone appeared.

She clutched the black bag tightly, then pushed it into a trash can at one side of the park before quietly disappearing.

[…….]

Even I don’t want to check through garbage, but there might be traces of assassination tools meant to kill the protagonist in there.

‘Reveal your true nature, Ermina.’

Whether she’s trying to kill the protagonist as in the original work, or if she’s planning to kill him through other means.

Clunk.

I pulled out the plastic bag.

There was something rustling inside, and I carefully opened the bag.

[……Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.]

The contents of the bag were.

[Before you become a heroine, you’ve given me a justification to deal with you.]

It was something worse than I had imagined.

* * *

Friday dawn.

As the morning sunlight gradually brightens.

“What’s going on so early in the morning?”

“Preparing for an operation, Tavern Owner.”

I visited the Tavern Owner’s house as soon as dawn broke.

“I thought you’d come after work on Thursday or around 9 today, but you came at such an odd time?”

“Isn’t this the perfect time to have some soup before heading out?”

“Why would you hit soup?”

“Make me one. Even instant is fine.”

“I figured as much, so I prepared some broth during the week. Sit down. I’ll make you a bowl.”

The Tavern Owner immediately put a stone pot on the gas range.

“So today you’re going to wander around looking for Dueoksini?”

“Yeah. And while searching, I want to take care of some other things too.”

“Other things? Like what?”

“Demons who turn evil after being eliminated. More precisely, those who will be hunted as Goblins.”

I took off my Taegeuk Watch and placed it on the table.

“It seems like people aren’t trying to find the Goblin, but rather hunting those who might be the Goblin.”

“…Huh?”

The Tavern Owner, who was scooping broth from something like a kimchi container, frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“As I heard from Baek Seol-hee over the phone, and as I gathered from official documents and informants, they’re trying to find the Goblin in this treasure hunt, right?”

“That’s right?”

“But the way the situation is unfolding seems a bit strange.”

“In what way? I don’t have any particular information about the Goblin?”

“Then let me ask this. Something that has nothing to do with the Goblin but might spread during the treasure hunt.”

I took a pinch of salt from the salt shaker on the table.

“Do you know how much drugs are on this Sejong Island?”

“……Of course I know.”

The Tavern Owner spread his arms and laughed helplessly.

“This entire Sejong Island is filled with drugs. Enough to be found in trash bags lying on the street.”