episode_0107

*At first, she was embarrassed, but the conversation returned to the main topic nonetheless.*

“Ahem.”

*With a clearing of her throat, Violet wiped away her awkward expression and gently crossed her arms.*

*Then she raised her eyebrows as if in thought.*

“The Moonlight Cult Leader, you say…”

“…”

“Right. To be honest, I don’t know much about that woman myself. Though I did have a personal connection.”

*Even though she had worked under the Moonlight Cult for quite a while, indebted to them, she hadn’t had many direct encounters with the Moonlight Cult Leader herself.*

*Violet added, letting out a short, thoughtful hum, “Hmm.”*

“She maintained an almost suspiciously extreme level of mystique. I bet most of the executives haven’t even seen her face once.”

“…Is that so?”

*I gave a sour reply, tinged with a bit of disappointment. I had expected an S-class villain to be in a fairly high position.*

*Even if she held an executive position among the Moonlight Cultists, it was all for naught if she knew nothing.*

*‘This isn’t helping at all.’*

*Naturally, I couldn’t help but give her a less than favorable look. I subtly glared at Violet with a hundred times my displeasure.*

“Th-that said, I do know a few things to a reasonable extent. Please don’t look at me with eyes like that, alright? It’s a bit too chilling.”

*She shuddered, her chained arms and shoulders trembling, and turned her head away from me.*

*Again, she cleared her throat, seeming to organize her thoughts before speaking.*

“Let’s see, yes. I don’t know why you want to know the personal details of that monstrous woman, but asking about it probably won’t get you a straightforward answer…”

“You know me well.”

“…Would you mind not agreeing unnecessarily?”

*Violet reacted with disbelief at my affirmative nod. It seemed she meant she knew without me saying anything, but I simply shrugged.*

*Why should I care?*

*Lee Hyunjin’s first principle: Don’t necessarily show kindness to villains. Even if that person has shared affections with me.*

*‘Hmm.’*

*Of course, it was a new principle I’d adopted this year. Living a life without such principles feels a bit awkward.*

*Anyway.*

*I gestured to Violet for her to continue, and though she showed signs of wounded pride, she didn’t resist.*

*After all, I was in the position of power now. Even an S-class villain is powerless without mana.*

“…Her name is Haru. I don’t know if that’s her real name, but that’s what she publicly uses as a designation.”

*Soon, Violet, hiding her grumbling, continued in a displeased voice, and unexpectedly, her words were quite helpful to me.*

*It was clear that these weren’t details I could easily pick up just anywhere.*

*For the first time today, I adopted a listening posture, and Violet, pretending not to notice, began to speak animatedly, seemingly excited by my attentiveness.*

“Her age, well? Outwardly, she looks like a young woman, *ahem*, with a youthful appearance, not even twenty, but she’s likely lived for quite a while.”

“Her goal, as you probably know, aligns with the Moonlight Cult’s doctrine. She’s the kind of woman who habitually shouts ‘Go to the Moon!’…”

“If there’s no pretense, then yes. She’s just genuinely, well. A crazy woman who obsessively loves the moon.”

*And I couldn’t prevent my expression from gradually souring.*

*The longer the conversation went on, the more uncomfortable I became. It was only natural.*

*Of course, I knew. The Moonlight Cult Leader was ‘crazy’ in a different sense than the old man or the black mages who tried to resurrect Jormungandr this time.*

*Just as Violet said, she was someone who showed an abnormal obsession with the moon…*

*And under the influence of that fanatical obsession and faith, the Academy was once almost seized by her followers.*

*There was no way I couldn’t know. Especially not if it was me, not just any other student—.*

*If it was me, who had personally dealt with the Moonlight Cultists who infiltrated the Academy as faculty members.*

*I had to know.*

*In fact, my current interrogation of Violet for the Cult Leader’s identity could be seen as an extension of that incident, a part of my preparations.*

“…”

*I.*

*I know what she desires.*

*More precisely… I know the individuals who are understood to be the ingredients for achieving her desired ‘ultimate goal.’*

*Indeed, I heard it directly from the mouth of a faculty member who had been privy to the Academy infiltration plan, so it couldn’t be wrong.*

*A total of two faces came to my mind now.*

*First, there’s a female student who has been coming to find me off and on recently.*

*‘Kanzaki Rie.’*

*Lately, it seems she’s completely thrown away her demure lady facade, as she’s been pestering me, demanding a supply of semen packets if I’m not going to meet her often.*

*Of course, I refuse her outright. Why would I do such a troublesome thing for her benefit?*

*‘And, Jinyong.’*

*Next up is a male student who is both the Dragon King’s successor and ranked within the top 20 of the ranking matches.*

*In terms of ability, he should be considered on par with Baek Ayun or Kim Yijun.*

*But he has such a flawed personality that I could count on one hand the times I’ve seen him truly put his heart into an intermediate evaluation or a ranking match.*

*I’m not even sure what he’s been up to lately. I did hear a sighting report that he was just sleeping on the school’s back mountain during the Cheongsong Festival.*

*Anyway, the commonality between Kanzaki Rie and Jinyong was precisely that they were the kind of talents the Moonlight Cult Leader so desperately sought.*

*In fact, the attempt to seize the Academy was, I understood, for the purpose of kidnapping them.*

*It might seem a bit puzzling.*

*Because it’s a rather unexpected combination.*

*But if you shift your perspective slightly, you can quickly find another commonality.*

*Provided you know both of them well.*

*Kanzaki Rie.*

*Jinyong.*

*The former was pulled into a Gate Break during her high school days and merged with a succubus.*

*The latter was a guy who wielded the power of the Dragon race through a ‘tattoo’ inherited from his father.*

*When you put it all together, isn’t it simple?*

*Ultimately, it’s like this.*

*What the Moonlight Cult Leader desires… are cases of individuals who have ‘seamlessly and successfully’ integrated with otherworldly power, without side effects.*

*It was the existence of such awakened ones.*

*****

“…”

*My thoughts were all sorted. I suddenly turned my head to look at Violet, and she was watching me, her eyes tinged with a subtle impatience.*

*There was no way I couldn’t know what she must be thinking. It was simple.*

*With a grunt, I pushed myself up from my seat.*

*I deliberately let out an unnecessary grunt as I rose from my seat.*

*Having been deep in thought, I had sunk down in the middle of the stone chamber.*

*Sitting too long on a stone floor inevitably made my back and waist ache.*

*There was no reason to stay here any longer, so I turned my body without hesitation.*

“…!”

*Naturally, it was Violet who grew anxious at my unhesitating attitude.*

*Her eyes widened, and her lips parted, but the sounds that escaped were merely mumblings like ‘Ah,’ or ‘Uh.’*

*I turned towards her, doing my best to hide the corners of my mouth that were trying to curl upwards.*

*Her fluctuating expression, her wavering eyes.*

*Feigning ignorance with a mischievous demeanor, I tilted my head.*

“Is there something else you wanted to say?”

“…Ugh.”

*And Violet’s expression twisted. Her face, flushed with anger at whatever displeased her, she snapped at me.*

“W-what about you? Don’t you have anything else to say to me?! Your expression is so annoyingly serene…!”

“Hmm…”

*What was wrong with my expression that warranted such a comment? A sudden curiosity struck me, but it wasn’t a terribly important issue.*

*I feigned a moment of deep thought, stroking my chin lightly.*

“…The sex was truly pleasant?”

*I immediately spoke the first sentence that came to mind, without filtering.*

*Violet’s reaction was immediate.*

“…Y-you…!”

*Her face flushed red and purple, and she repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, seemingly at a loss for how to respond.*

*It was exactly the reaction I had expected, so I inwardly cheered.*

*It’s rare to find someone whose exterior and interior are so perfectly aligned. I secretly hoped our connection would continue, but—.*

*Would things really go according to my wishes?*

*She was a dangerous element, an S-class villain in custody, and I was merely a second-year Academy student.*

*Meaning, even if I wanted to do something for her, I didn’t have the ability to.*

*She was a rare villain, one who even pursued non-lethality, and her actual crimes amounted to merely campus intrusion and assault on a great mage (?).*

*But there was no need for me to go out of my way for her.*

*But I could wish her luck.*

*I gave her a thumbs-up.*

“If fate allows, we’ll meet again. You won’t get the death penalty, though. Korea is a much softer country than you might think. Probably?”

“…You son of a bitch!”

“I’ve heard that a lot, so it doesn’t sting. My wife-nim has quite the foul mouth.”

*Creak, I opened the iron door of the prison again, and at that moment, Violet’s complexion turned truly ashen, drained of all color.*

“W-wait, just a moment, hey. At the very least, couldn’t we talk a little longer before you go—”

“If I go home late, I’ll get my scalp scratched [a proverb meaning to be nagged/scolded].”

“What?! What twenty-one-year-old talks like a newlywed husband?!”

*It was a valid point, but what could I do when it was true? Since the Cheongsong Festival ended, Cheon Soyul had been mooching off my bed in my room, using the sole excuse of being worried about me.*

*If I go in late and hear something like, ‘Which woman is it this time?’, it gets a bit awkward.*

*It was pretty funny to be thinking these thoughts right after committing adultery (?) or physical infidelity, but…*

*Anyway, wasn’t it permitted? This time, it would be ‘act first, report later,’ but well…*

*Surely, going in early would get me a better reception than going in late.*

*With the thought that I truly had to leave this time, I half-closed the iron door.*

“Haa…”

*It was then that Violet let out a deep sigh.*

*She looked up at me with hollow eyes.*

“I give up. I concede.”

“…?”

“Alright, just come back in.”

*And then, with a resigned, somewhat compromising tone, she continued.*

*The next words from her lips were precisely what I had been hoping for.*

“The Moonlight Cult Leader’s location.”

“…”

“If you promise to release me from here, I’ll tell you. And—”

*As a bonus, something extra was added.*

“…I’ll even be your sex slave under a temporary contract. Deal?”

“Deal.”

*I strode forward and immediately grabbed Violet’s hand. The purpose of the small jolt of lightning that formed in my hand was, of course, to cut the chains.*

*…Oh, and just so you know.*

*I accepted her offer solely because the former condition was appealing, and absolutely not because I was swayed by the latter.*

“…”

*Probably, truly.*