Chapter 104
As Kraush turned away from the fallen muscle-bound pig, he caught whispers floating from behind.
“That was just now.”
“That hair color, Valheim?”
“Was there another Valheim coming in?”
“Aren’t you talking about that dimwit youngest?”
“I heard he’s not a dimwit anymore.”
“Isn’t that just a rumor?”
The voices filled with various opinions collectively reflected the current image of Kraush.
Perhaps it was due to the 1st Prince working hard for six months, but the scale of rumors about Kraush had significantly diminished.
The lingering mention of the “dimwit” was evidence of that.
‘Those that matter have surely figured out that all the rumors related to me are true by now.’
The confusion of information often leads people to refuse to accept it as truth prematurely. Unless one sees the source of the rumor with their own eyes, skepticism reigns.
Thanks to this, even if they realized the rumors were true, they hesitated to act swiftly. They wouldn’t want to end up bloodied for poking at Valheim, after all.
Meanwhile, Kraush entered the Martial Arts Hall.
True to its name, a massive statue of crossed swords and axes greeted Kraush as he stepped inside.
The place where Kraush stopped was the training ground of the Martial Arts Hall.
It resembled a giant dome arena.
Just the sight of the training ground hinted at the vast scale of Rahelrn Academy.
The problem lay with those occupying such an arena.
The Martial Arts entrance exam was open for spectators if current students wished to attend.
After all, the Martial Arts entrance exam was merely a display of one’s prowess; students couldn’t really assist in that.
So, to boost the motivation of incoming students, they opened it up for observation.
Among those attending, Kraush spotted several familiar faces.
‘Sigrid.’
The most striking among them was Sigrid Ephania, with her sea-blue hair.
She was the 3rd Princess of the Ephania Empire, a descendant of the White Dragon, and like Kraush, had retained memories from the previous cycle.
She was also the woman Kraush disliked the most.
Sigrid was surrounded by a number of remarkable characters, all of whom were anything but ordinary.
Their strong personalities made them stand out.
They were all destined to make names for themselves in the Empire.
Among those prominent figures was a young man with black hair who gave off a naive impression.
‘Felray.’
He was an idol hailed as a hero among the common folk, who would later belong to the Sky Generation.
Kraush had encountered him during the martial arts tournament finals.
But Felray’s eyes were anxiously scanning the surroundings.
He looked as if he were searching for someone.
Kraush had a hunch about who he was looking for but chose not to react.
‘Looks like Sigrid dragged him in.’
Felray had reached the academy by having made it to the semifinals in the Empire’s martial arts tournament. Naturally, it would be easy for Sigrid to pull him in.
For someone without any backing, Sigrid was a powerful connection to have. Though he wasn’t the type to care much about such connections.
‘That guy is too naive.’
If Sigrid were to charm him into caring for the commoners as peers, Felray would join her faction without hesitation.
‘That woman really amassed quite a crew.’
In the previous academy, the group Sigrid associated with were mere sycophants worshipping her.
However, the current crowd she gathered consisted entirely of individuals related to the Sky Generation, each one more troublesome than the last, yet Sigrid managed to keep her crew intact.
In other words, it was evidence that she was actively utilizing her memory inheritance.
Kraush quickly scanned the surroundings.
‘If Sigrid is here, then Arthur should definitely be around too.’
To Kraush, Arthur was currently the most uncertain presence.
Arthur, who had lost his skills to him, surely wouldn’t possess his original memories.
Naturally, he was curious.
‘Which cycle of Arthur is standing before me now?’
And how did he, having met Sigrid, react when confronted with someone possessing memories?
‘…Not here?’
But Arthur was nowhere to be found.
Kraush frowned.
In Kraush’s memories, Arthur had enrolled alongside Sigrid last year.
Yet, Arthur’s presence was absent from anywhere.
‘Did Sigrid have him watch the entrance exam and he just decided not to show up?’
Both Sigrid and two others had all retained their memories.
Why hadn’t he?
After pondering, Kraush realized it could be that Arthur was likely playing it safe.
‘Tsk, there’s no way to know without confirmation.’
Kraush clicked his tongue and shifted his gaze away from Sigrid.
At that moment, Sigrid and everyone else’s eyes shifted toward one side.
Following their gaze, Kraush turned and spotted someone he recognized.
A woman strode in with black hair interwoven with shades of blue, exuding an aura that overwhelmed everyone despite there being only one of her.
“Shal, Charlotte Valheim!”
“The Sword Saint? Is she here for the entrance exam?”
“Wow, it’s my first time seeing a direct descendant of Valheim!”
Even the kids who had been tense just moments ago started to utter gasps of admiration as they all focused their attention on Charlotte.
To the aspirants of the Martial Arts entrance exam, Charlotte was like a dream.
Proving one’s strength was the ultimate dream.
Charlotte was a prodigy who had acquired such a title before reaching adulthood.
Naturally, it was an easy cause for admiration.
Walking in while getting everyone’s attention, Charlotte ambled to the end of the spectator seats.
Then, she boldly lifted one foot over the obstacle presented to her.
As everyone watched her,
“Kraush!”
she called out a name with tremendous volume.
Kraush, caught off guard by Charlotte’s sudden action, wore a look of disbelief.
While everyone fell into an unexpected silence, she curled the corners of her mouth into her trademark smile.
“Do your best to come in first!”
Saying what she wanted, she spun on her heels and walked away.
There was no mistaking that it was a typical Charlotte move – solely focused on herself.
“K-Kraush?”
“That kid’s the youngest? Even a direct descendant of Valheim is here?”
“Hah, coming in first is out of the question.”
“But they say he’s a dimwit.”
Among the murmurs of the kids, Kraush felt the shifting gazes upon him.
They were the ones who recognized the distinct hair color of Valheim.
Gradually, folks around Kraush began to step back.
They must have concluded that associating with him wouldn’t lead to anything good.
Thanks to that, Kraush found himself with an open space of one meter radius amidst the crowd, as no one approached him.
Being treated this way without having done anything particularly wrong felt absurd.
The names Valheim and Charlotte hit home harder than before.
‘I ended up gathering attention without meaning to.’
However, even more relevant to him was Sigrid’s gaze.
She looked at Kraush with half-lidded eyes.
Sigrid previously hadn’t even attended the entrance exam.
So she didn’t know how Kraush had managed to enter.
But this time, there were variables galore.
From the incidents Sigrid herself triggered to the disappearance of Abela, the detention of Mary Diana, the escape of Evelas, and even Charlotte’s admission to the academy.
Any number of variables could have influenced the situation.
So she was surely reflecting on various thoughts as she looked at him now.
‘I was planning to showcase my skills during the entrance exam anyway.’
If it could give that woman a headache, then he was all for it.
“Direct descendant of Valheim! Kraush!”
In that moment, Kraush spotted someone rushing into the circle created by the kids.
A boy with gray hair resembling the feathers of a peacock, marked with a leopard-like pattern on his skin.
Balak Hogma.
One of the Triumvirate of Staron and one of Anix’s subordinates.
This was the first time he had seen him since they all met at the sanctuary of the stars. He was the same age as Kraush.
So he must be here to take the entrance exam too.
“Wow! You’ve grown a lot!”
“You’re still short.”
“Right? I must have a slow growth phase.”
Balak responded to Kraush’s words in a remarkably composed manner.
“But you seem a lot stronger now. Let’s see how we fare against each other later.”
“Looks like you still haven’t recovered from the last thrashing.”
“This time, I want to use a weapon!”
He was quite an indomitable character in many respects.
Still, however, it was beneficial to have at least one person affiliated with Staron amidst the isolation from others.
Better to have one than none at all to accompany him.
‘Better than being lonely thanks to my wayward sister.’
Kraush sighed as he recalled Charlotte’s sudden act.
＊ ＊ ＊
After Charlotte created a storm and disappeared from the entrance exam,
conversations began circulating among Sigrid’s group.
“Is that Charlotte’s younger brother?”
“We should be cautious, right? If Charlotte’s his sister, he must be quite skilled.”
“There’s been recent info suggesting that Staron has been deliberately distorting information.”
As they chattered, Sigrid stood solitary, her eyes fixed on Kraush.
The reason Sigrid was here today was singular.
She was searching for Arthur.
Arthur had not enrolled in Rahelrn Academy last year.
Realizing that shocking truth had initially struck her hard, but she thought there might be circumstances surrounding Arthur, so she diligently focused on her own responsibilities.
Then, this year, one of the associate professors she had planted gave her the news of Arthur Gramarte’s enrollment.
Finally, the thought that Arthur had appeared made her barely restrain herself from rushing out of the academy in anticipation.
And now, as she had hoped, she could meet Arthur.
But instead of him, there was someone unexpected gaining all the attention.
‘Is that rumor about the cursed one getting stronger true?’
Sigrid’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
To her, Kraush was nothing more than the cursed one, neither more nor less.
Other than the unpleasant things he’d said, she didn’t even pay him any mind.
He was merely a tool necessary on her path forward and nothing more.
Yet the Kraush she saw today was entirely different.
Sigrid had traveled through countless battlefields, possessing an eye able to gauge people.
In her view, the Kraush before her had evidently entered the Master tier.
‘How? That idiot’s talent was a joke at best.’
Besides being able to handle a curse, what advantages did he even have?
Suddenly, that fool, who had barely a spark of talent, was now showing up as a Master.
Sigrid was thoroughly displeased by that fact.
After all, he had a knack for uttering annoying things to Arthur as well.
‘He should just stick to being cursed! Why is he suddenly appearing as a variable?’
Sigrid exhaled briefly, then pinched her wrinkled forehead with her thumb.
She had advised Arthur on a few points when he had inherited her memories.
Whenever the cycle changed, somehow chaos always spewed out like a butterfly effect.
Thus, rather than concentrating on why those variables emerged, she suggested they consider how to resolve those variables.
Sigrid guessed that Kraush was this cycle’s variable.
From her findings on Evelas, there were whispers suggesting she was heading toward Staron.
‘Mary, that foolish girl’s blunders must have had some impact.’
She was certain a variable had emerged because of that.
Kraush must have somehow played into that as fate twisted around.
‘Huh, whatever. For now, this isn’t my pressing concern.’
However, Kraush’s role wouldn’t shift from what it was.
His ability to steal curses was a necessity on Arthur’s path.
It was evident that’s why Arthur had dragged him along to the bitter end.
‘As he grows stronger, I can just manipulate him for my gain. All I need to do is align the right cards.’
They didn’t know anything about her.
While she might not remember what Kraush liked, she knew well enough what he detested.
Avoiding that in her actions should be all it took to bond with him effortlessly.
‘Sigh, but the thought of befriending a cursed being is ridiculous.’
There was no alternative.
Everything was for the sake of the greater good of saving the world.
Sigrid shook her head, clicking her tongue, as she leaned back in her chair.
If things had to come to it, she could resort to extreme measures to bring him along.
Kraush was a valuable tool.
‘But first, it’s Arthur we need to focus on.’
With that, Sigrid set aside thoughts of Kraush and busily directed her eyes in search of Arthur.
Little did she know of the grand mistake that was about to unfold ahead.
“Greetings, everyone! I am Kairan, the overseer of this entrance exam for the Martial Arts division. We will now commence the Martial Arts entrance examination.”
And thus, the entrance exam began.
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