Chapter 97: Night Invasion (4)

When a pre-planned course of action falls apart, the first thing to do in order to salvage the situation is to ‘let go of attachments.’

There are exceptions, but most failures tend to unfold step by step.

What this means is that everything doesn’t collapse at once.

Nevertheless, many people experience irreversible ruin because, even after failing, they try to recover their losses at all costs.

They get so attached to the sunk costs, or the efforts they’ve invested so far, that they miss golden opportunities to resolve the situation.

However, this is not the way.

If you truly want to minimize losses, paradoxically, you must not dwell too much on the loss itself.

You give up something small, but you desperately hold onto the larger goal.

This is the key strategy for dealing with failure.

Let’s analyze the current situation from this perspective.

The most important goal for Sion is ‘to swap the exam papers without getting caught.’

And the latter part of this—changing the papers—is already done, so there’s no need to worry about that.

The altered exam papers are safely locked in a magical vault and were unharmed even in the explosion.

So, all that matters now is ‘not getting caught.’

However, by this point, the ideal form of ‘not getting caught’ that Sion had in mind is already out of reach.

She cannot cling to this obsession any longer.

She must quickly acknowledge what is impossible and move on to the next step to minimize the damage.

The next step is, ‘If I must get caught, what’s the best way to do so?’

Of course, the most important thing is to preserve her honor. In other words, the intent of ‘coming to swap the exam papers’ must never be discovered.

It’s best if she can be seen as entering the teacher’s office for some other noble and self-sacrificial reason, ideally one that makes her appear like a true hero.

And as soon as she reached this conclusion, a brilliant idea struck Sion’s mind.

She came up with an ultra Plan B that would allow her to escape the situation without damaging her reputation.

Although her body would endure some pain, if she could endure the pain for a short time, the problem could be easily solved.

The plan was none other than to ‘create a fake intruder and fake her collapse after fighting them!’

“Damn it. It’s been a while since I was injured, and this hurts like hell…”

Sion grimaced in pain as she looked at the black smoke coming from the window where a sword had pierced her side.

Although she could block the pain with a pain-relieving spell, she knew that doing so this time would be a mistake.

The most difficult thing to mimic is the expression of someone experiencing pain.

There’s a big difference between genuinely gasping for air in pain and pretending to do so—it’s obvious to anyone who can see.

Therefore, in order to make her acting more convincing, she had to endure the pain as it was.

Of course, she knew that theoretically, but actually putting it into practice was not easy.

-“S-Sion?! What are you doing?! Are you crazy?! Why are you stabbing yourself?”

-“Stop overreacting. I’m doing this for a reason…”

Saying this, Sion began to dig at the wound, making the blood spill out more violently.

The sound of flesh being torn was terrifying, and red blood sprayed out.

Naturally, Exia, who was watching nearby, almost fainted from shock.

-“?!?! Why?! Really, why?!”

-“Well… Huh… Ugh… It’s to give the impression that I’ve been hurt for a while, so there’s blood pooling on the floor…”

Sion gasped as she explained.

As much as she would have preferred to use magic to create blood with Major Creation, casting a spell in a situation where she didn’t know when the teacher would return was too risky.

So, she had no choice but to physically create the wound and make the blood pour out.

Even if it meant enduring more pain.

Although it wasn’t an easy thing to do.

-“Ha, ha… Huh…! Ugh!”

Sion exhaled heavily in pain.

Fortunately, thanks to quick thinking, she was able to finish the task while the teacher was still turned away.

Now, all that was left was to call the teacher over in this condition, dressed as a ‘poor girl on the brink of death.’

“Te-teacher…”

Sion called out to Sally, trying her best to sound pitiful.

At the sound of that desperate voice, the teacher turned around without thinking.

And then…

“!? Sion?!”

Sally was horrified by the sight before her.

In a corner of the teacher’s office, beyond the moonlight spilling through the window, Sion was lying on the floor.

Her left side was covered in blood, her breath coming in ragged gasps, and blood was pooling on the floor.

More than that, there was a dark, cursed mist swirling around the wound she was holding.

It was obvious to anyone that this was a life-threatening injury.

“What… What is this?!”

“An intruder… was here…”

Sion said, her voice shaky with convulsions.

“We need to… hurry and chase them… otherwise, the school is in danger…”

She coughed several times, with red blood splattering from her mouth each time.

She looked like someone who had received a fatal injury, and the realism was overwhelming.

‘Please, please let it work… Let it work!’

As Sion put on her best performance, she silently prayed.

Meanwhile, Sally McAdams was in a state of utter confusion.

“What… What is this? Does this make any sense at all?”

She muttered to herself in shock.

The very fact that there had been an intruder was beyond her comprehension.

This was Anatolia Academy—the place where the world’s greatest wizard, who defeated the Demon King, had personally set up magical defenses.

There were numerous security devices in place, both magical and mundane.

But somehow, these defenses had been completely bypassed, and the intruder had neutralized all security measures?

Could such a person really exist in the current world?

Even that was beyond comprehension, but the scene in front of her was even more unbelievable.

Sion, the next-generation hero and the continent’s greatest swordswoman, had been defeated by an unknown assailant and was now lying there gravely injured.

Some might say, “What’s so strange about that?”

After all, even a hero chosen by the Holy Sword is still a young and inexperienced child.

It’s not impossible that she could lose to a stronger opponent.

But…

Even the legendary hero Lier, the First Hero, did not awaken as a true hero until after overcoming countless trials.

But Sally knows.

She knows that the seemingly harmless girl is actually a part of the heroic group that saved the world 500 years ago.

The power she—no, he—possesses is at least on par with that of her teacher.

Naturally, his combat experience must be immense.

He is not, by any means, an inexperienced rookie who has never seen battle, as others might say.

Yet, he lost?

Sien Lenos lost?

A hero from the myths, unable to even land a blow on someone he doesn’t even recognize?

How is that possible?

‘Could it be that the Demon King has truly revived? Just like the unfounded rumors floating around?’

But if that’s not the case…

Various unresolved feelings of unease swirled in Sally’s mind like seaweed.

It’s strange. Something doesn’t add up.

Let’s assume the opponent is strong enough to defeat Sion in a head-to-head battle.

If that’s true, why are they sneaking around like this?

With that much power, a direct assault would have easily destroyed the school by now.

Not to mention, the attack Sally just received was suspicious as well.

If someone could defeat Sion in a 1v1, hurting her would be no problem. Sion is at least on par with her teacher,

and Sally herself is still far from her teacher’s level.

But the attack that came at her was so weak that she could block it with a single shield, and there was no follow-up.

Not only that, the attacker’s presence seemed to vanish completely. Based on the circumstances, it seemed like they had fled…

Sally couldn’t understand it.

With that much power, why would they run away? Wouldn’t it make more sense to take her out and then leave?

Why?

‘Could it be that Sion is lying?’

But that interpretation didn’t make sense either.

What would Sion gain from sneaking into the teacher’s office and threatening self-harm?

Surely not to steal the exam papers, like the other students who had been caught doing so.

‘But then, what is the truth…? There’s something very suspicious going on here…’

Sally thought deeply, her face furrowed, forgetting Sion’s plea to ‘chase the intruder.’

Her curiosity and investigative nature as a mage were clearly working against her.

Meanwhile, Sion, who had been watching all this, was in a panic.

‘Damn it, this is bad! She’s starting to suspect me!’

Watching Sally, deep in thought, Sion screamed internally.

Thanks to True Sight, Sion couldn’t use any mind-detection magic, but it was obvious enough.

Sally was starting to doubt the current situation.

It seems that a hastily made-up excuse has its limits, after all.

Whatever happens, this cannot continue like this!

She needs to be more convincingly injured! Only then can she remove any suspicion that might come her way!’

However, using magic secretly or making her wounds worse was impossible at this point.

Sally was watching her closely.

So, Sion needed another way to worsen her condition.

Fortunately, Shien knew a way.

‘Hoo, okay… Let’s do this.’

Sion braced herself, slowly channeling magic through her body.

Normally, the magic that flows through the human body follows a set direction.

There is a correct, well-established route for strengthening the entire body without side effects.

But if you reverse this flow, the magic will become poison, interfering with life functions and severely weakening the body.

This is why so many knights emphasize the importance of learning the right training methods—it’s a mistake no one should make once they’ve reached a certain level of skill.

And Sion was deliberately making that mistake now.

She reversed the flow of magic in her veins.

As a result…

“Kuhk?!”

Sion coughed up blood.

Even though she only reversed the flow for a moment, her whole body screamed in agony.

Her internal organs felt like they were twisting and contorting.

Anyone would think she was truly dying.

Of course, this pain wasn’t a fake.

Sion’s body was genuinely teetering between life and death.

-“AAAHH!!! No!!! Please don’t die, Sion!!!”

“S-Sion?!?”

Both Exia and Sally, who had been deep in thought, were startled and rushed toward Sion when they saw her coughing up blood.

Right.

This wasn’t the time to investigate anything.

The hero was seriously injured.

They needed to take her to the infirmary immediately.

Everything else could be dealt with later.

Thinking that, Sally quickly hoisted Sion onto her back.

“Just hang on!! I’ll take you to the healer right now, okay?!”

“Hh… Ugh…”

Sion, carried on Sally’s back, let out a pained groan instead of a response.

It wasn’t a joke.

She really felt like she was dying.

Her vision was growing blurry, and her consciousness was slipping away.

The pain in her side seemed to fade away, growing more distant.

Suddenly, Sion let out a bitter laugh.

‘This is ridiculous. The first injury I’ve gotten since reincarnating into a new body is self-inflicted…

And the reason for that is absurd, too. I got caught trying to cover up my poor exam results and had to do this to hide it.

If the me from three days ago had heard this, I’d have laughed until my stomach hurt.

How did everything go so wrong…?’

But, even so…

Hearing Sally’s fast footsteps as she ran, Sion thought faintly.

With a faint smile.

‘With this, I’ve definitely gotten rid of the suspicion.’

That certainty was the last thing she held onto before losing consciousness.