episode_0012

‘From the beginning, I had questioned the strange magical energy I kept sensing…’

I was now standing before someone.

Late in the evening, after Aris had fallen asleep, I stood quietly before the black shadow in front of me, waiting for her to speak.

“Hmm… I didn’t expect you to find me so quickly…”

Astoria wore the academy uniform I was wearing, a very troubled expression on her face.

The approaching moonlight revealed her face in detail, showing the familiar violet eyes I had seen before.

“Then, while you’re leaking magical energy and practically advertising ‘I’m here,’ did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”

“Um… yeah…”

“Haa… So why on earth are you here, at the academy? Wasn’t investigating me enough?”

I asked her, rubbing my temple.

If she continued to monitor me, I might not be able to acquire the remaining hidden pieces, or I could be mistaken for someone who received an oracle by obtaining them and be dragged away to the Demonic Cult, which would be problematic.

“Still, orders are orders… I have to investigate other people too… And you! You shouldn’t be so relaxed after knowing my identity, should you?”

Astoria pointed her finger at me and said.

“What do you mean?”

Since the finger appeared suddenly in front of me, I instinctively stepped back slightly as I asked.

“Besides me, there are other Demonic Cult members hidden in this academy! If I tell them to drag you away, you’ll be captured before you even have a chance to report to the Church!”

Astoria spoke with a confident voice, as if saying I was already finished.

“Oh, thank you for the good information. I’ll have to keep it in mind that there are other Demonic Cult members here besides you.”

I calmly and confidently retorted her words, maintaining a serene voice and expression.

Hearing my tone, she looked bewildered for a moment but then tried to press me further.

“Back then, I avoided you because I was alone, but now it’s different! I’ve requested Demonic Cult troops in this vicinity!”

‘Right, the Astoria from my memories, before she was corrupted, was like this… clumsy, but still wanting to protect her pride…’

Astoria’s violet eyes glittered, seemingly wanting to demand something from me.

“Haa… So what exactly do you want from me?”

I sighed, trying to ascertain her true intentions.

“Apologize to me and promise to help me with everything until I finish my investigation.”

Astoria closed her eyes, placed one hand over her chest, and acted as if an superior was giving orders to a subordinate.

I stared at Astoria in disbelief for a moment, thinking that the mere fact of Demonic Cult members hiding here was a significant achievement, and began to leave.

“You, you can’t possibly think of living on after knowing the Demonic Cult’s identity and its information.”

Astoria’s voice deepened as if she had been corrupted, but I knew she was just trying to sound cool, so I just let out a hollow laugh.

“Alright, go on and try it.”

I turned my body to face Astoria, moving so close that our faces were almost touching.

As I approached her so closely, Astoria’s face instantly filled with panic, and she took a slight step back.

“You’ll die acting so fearlessly! You haven’t seen the power of the Demonic Cult yet, have you?”

Astoria forced a smile and stared directly at me.

Astoria looked at me audaciously, unaware of what was about to happen to her, and finding it amusing, I continued the conversation.

“I said, go on and try it. Show me the power of the Demonic Cult you boast about. You said there were Demonic Cult troops around here, didn’t you?”

I gestured around the area with both hands.

“Whether you signal with magical energy, or fire a flare, just try something!”

*Snap!*

Astoria’s face was already flushed with a color that could be anger or embarrassment, and she seemed to have snapped her fingers, imbued with magical energy.

Then, demonic magical energy began to spread, subtly, throughout the surroundings.

The magical energy was rough, like a demon’s, making me wince.

“I clearly warned you.”

Astoria held herself with great gravitas and grabbed me by the collar.

‘To act like this, unaware that I’m trying to help… truly…’

I meticulously envisioned Astoria’s arrogant face and thought.

‘Hmm… well, it seems her claim of Demonic Cult troops wasn’t just empty words.’

Just as she said, I felt a presence from the bushes and trees around.

However, that presence wasn’t from living beings.

*Thud… Thud thud…*

Something began falling from the trees, the bushes, and on top of the buildings, and Astoria’s face, which had been pleased thinking reinforcements had arrived, turned pale.

‘[Return, Heart Sword]’

Then, the Heart Sword, which had been stuck in the back of the last person I had defeated, clinging to the building wall, returned to me.

“Clean it up yourself. You brought this upon yourself.”

“You… you… you… I’ll definitely kill you somehow…”

Leaving her behind, with a hint of tears in her eyes, I returned to my dormitory.

‘I felt something strange in the middle of the night and went out, only to find it was Astoria… And it seemed like she was just planning a strategy… Well, it doesn’t concern me…’

I dragged my sleepy body to bed, thinking.

‘Tomorrow is the practical exam, I really hope no friction arises…’

I had planted too strong a flag [a Korean idiom indicating an action that guarantees future events or conflicts].

***

Practical exam.

It usually refers to actually applying what has been learned theoretically.

Here, at the Imperial Academy, two practical exams are held before the third examination: one is a battle against other students, and the other is a spar with an instructor.

During the initial beginner stage, subjects not particularly necessary for combat, such as elementary theories of magical energy and history, are taught, so the second exam is virtually without dropouts. However, after this practical exam, students are expected to realize their shortcomings and grow strong enough to match or earn the instructor’s recognition through subsequent swordsmanship classes and more advanced magical energy classes.

‘If I don’t impress the instructor, this will also be a failure… It’s quite harsh to ask me to win while hiding my Heart Sword, and without killing them…’

“Ray, are you confident?”

Aris was still clinging tightly to my side, asking about the practical exam.

“Well, I think you should be the one worrying, Aris, not me.”

Then Aris pouted, pressed closer to me, and went to the training ground where the second exam was held.

“Alright, today is the day of the announced practical exam! Losing here doesn’t disqualify you from taking the academy’s third examination, but I hope you don’t take it lightly! The purpose of this practical exam is to identify your weaknesses and deficiencies! Now, I will announce the groups for the practical exam! Bertscholt Gerth! Doris Peter! Group 1!”

As their names were called, students left their spots with various expressions.

Some left with confident expressions, but most students, knowing there were no eliminations, simply left with relaxed faces.

“Longinus Ray! Venus Savior!”

‘Venus Savior…?’

She was also displayed in my system’s favorability ratings and was the main heroine of this game.

Her red hair, dignified bearing, and the cuteness hidden within that dignity captivated people’s hearts.

A smile naturally appeared on my face at the thought of seeing such a heroine.

I told Aris I would be back and went to the center of the training ground.

And from afar, someone who might be an important figure to me descended.

However, her gaze was incredibly cold.

‘Did I do something wrong…?’

She was glaring so fiercely that it made me think such a thought.

As the two of us entered the small training ground, Savior finally spoke.

“You, how dare you use such a frail woman as a tool. My chivalrous spirit will never forgive you.”

From the sword she drew, a massive fire erupted, as if to burn me to death.

“Uh, wait a moment? Miss Savior? I think there’s been a serious misunderstanding here?”

I broke out in a cold sweat, trying to somehow defuse the situation.

However, she had already finished all her incantations.

To reiterate, Savior was a person full of chivalrous spirit.

To be precise, the fact that Aris, who seemed so weak, kept clinging to me might have looked to her like I was exploiting a weak person.

“Make your excuses after you’re dead. I’ve watched you for a week, and you’ve continuously exploited that frail woman. I will kill you and set her free.”

Flames spreading in all directions threatened to engulf me, and naturally, the blaze gave me no time to make excuses.

I broke out in a cold sweat, staring intently at the floating system in front of me, and the favorability system displayed a red light instead of blue.

-Savior

[Current Status: Contempt -100/0]