<149 - The Interferer of the Visitation>
“Did you hear? Oknodie is just sitting in the visitation room.”
“Where’s their guardian?”
“Isn’t it someone from the Wiheomhae Foundation? If they knew what they did to Oknodie got revealed, they wouldn’t want to get beaten up, would they?”
As Jiang walked down the hallway, he thought to himself that the rumors he heard were downright foolish.
‘What if an assassin shows up for a face-to-face meeting? Even if they say they’re coming, they won’t actually come, and if they’re told to come, it’s not like they could.’
Given that Oknodie was still a little child, such recklessness was overly foolish.
Surely, today’s events would serve as a lesson.
They wouldn’t bother to give meaning to empty promises that would only leave both parties in a bind, nor would they try to make such promises.
That’s how everyone gets stronger.
While Jiang liked Oknodie’s bright innocence, he fervently hoped her naivety wouldn’t lead her to harm for too long.
He didn’t want to see his newly formed comrade friend suffer in distress.
Thunk.
“…!”
Still, maybe it would be good to see her face once.
With that thought in mind, as he stepped foot into the hallway, a strange sensation of alertness expanded outward.
Unique techniques of powerful beings that twist internal laws to create their own small worlds.
New student? That’s not a power of that low level.
Teaching assistant? Not even close for second or third years.
Instructor? Even that is insufficient.
Professor.
It was a boundary established by a minimum of a professor-level powerhouse.
‘Whatever it is, I’ve stepped into a place I shouldn’t have.’
The force felt from that boundary was one of cognitive distortion and sensory disruption.
The result of such an influence is expulsion beyond the corridor.
“Wait, where was I going again?”
A student caught up in the boundary and turned back with a blank face, exiting the corridor.
As they went up the staircase, they likely thought they were just momentarily lost, without any realization that they had entered the boundary.
[Advanced Special Technique]
[Bypassing the Boundary - Unity]
Thanks to his quick awareness, he barely evaded recognition by the boundary, hiding his presence.
Carefully moving without alerting the boundary, Jiang was able to sense an additional layer of boundaries stretched out in a double formation.
Unlike the boundary that expelled others, beyond this double boundary was a boundary of a different nature.
A small thread pulled gently by hand.
Whoosh.
As the thread floated lightly on his palm and crossed the boundary, it plummeted vertically.
‘The gravity is different.’
A tremendous pressure dominated that space.
Now, Jiang understood.
The meaning of the double boundary.
The outer boundary was a safety measure to prevent strict students from getting involved.
The inner boundary was in battle mode to achieve its true purpose.
Within, someone was fighting a professor.
‘Who could it be? Who’s trying to block whom?’
If it were before he entered the academy, he likely wouldn’t have cared about such matters.
Relationships with others typically conclude in betrayal and pain, disappointment and detachment, indifferent revenge.
He’d expected nothing from any relationship.
He didn’t want to forge any relationship.
But since meeting Oknodie, everything changed.
There was a child like him in the world.
One who was born into the fate of an assassin yet lived an entirely different life and aimed to survive.
As much as that child resembled him, perhaps he could also become more like that child.
He harbored such foolish hopes.
He knew.
The current him was weaker than his former self.
The knowledge, skills, and connections learned at the academy.
Those things didn’t hold a candle to an assassin’s mindset.
Do not step into danger.
Live only thinking of yourself.
Do not interfere in private grudges.
All the countless pieces of advice his mentor left him bound his feet.
However, a single suspicion denied him the chance to turn back.
If the fight beyond involved Oknodie.
If it had something to do with her guardian.
Could he really just ignore it?
Crack.
Jiang heard a sound akin to a fracture.
It was the sound of the shackles left by his mentor that had bound her feet for so long.
‘Oknodie is not a stranger.’
Hadn’t he often acted smugly toward Hestia and Titosso?
An assassin doesn’t make friends recklessly.
Those who betray their friends should brace themselves to receive the pain of betrayal in return.
‘I shouldn’t be doing this. I really shouldn’t.’
Though he thought this inwardly, he took a step forward.
The pressure bore down like it might snap his neck.
The strength in his thighs felt as if it were about to explode.
He forced his back to hold against the urge to bend.
Before his eyes, more earnest than at any time before, including the entrance exam, the hidden scene within the double boundary unfolded.
A long-haired man, standing with his back turned, arms crossed, his cloak fluttering at his sides.
Another man, in a dress suit, stepping forward with a bloodied body from bearing the full brunt of that pressure.
If he were to express their identities…
‘A thief… and a butler?’
Two men, a combination that made no sense, glared at each other.
*
*
Jonah Wahyhiemhai.
He had been counting down the days until this moment.
The day of the guardian’s observation.
“That young lady has caused quite a lot of trouble. Please pass along a word or two of reprimand from my part.”
“I’m sorry, Reap. I’ll let her know your message.”
“Delivering a candy basket to her would be enough. By now, she must have built quite a resistance, and it’s time to treat her to carefully selected various poisonous candies.”
Although he regretted not being able to see her face directly, Reap understood that it couldn’t be helped.
Recently, the eyes and movements of the academy’s investigators toward the Wiheomhae Foundation had been alarming.
With news of artifacts being stolen from one of the key strongholds established across the central continent headquarters, he couldn’t ignore the academy’s intentions.
“To break through the academy’s interference from taking the lady from the foundation, it would be impossible without some means. Leave it to our assassination maid squad.”
Assassins disguised as maids revealed themselves behind Reap.
As they scattered, explosions erupted throughout the banquet hall, and alerts rang out, signaling an emergency.
More than half of them wouldn’t escape alive, but that too was an investment from above for the foundation’s ‘special scholarship student.’
‘Live, Reap. I don’t want to see the lady sad because you die.’
Jonah and Reap.
They didn’t want to cause a ruckus from the start.
However, once the ‘small guardian clearing’ masquerading as a pre-visit banquet began, they had no choice but to act.
“Everyone knows that there’s a set amount of time allowed for visits per visitation ticket. Isn’t it a pity to have to part from the children who are anxiously awaiting their guardians?”
Due to the actions of a nefarious individual, a betting game for visitation tickets began in the banquet hall.
Though it appeared as a game on the surface, it was actually a scheme to extort tickets from powerless guardians.
Jonah too might find it difficult to safely hold onto his ticket if he became a target of those in power.
‘You brought this upon yourselves.’
Due to the explosion orchestrated by the assassination maids, the previously scheduled banquet got canceled, and those holding visitation tickets had to rush to use the teleportation magic circle.
With influential figures from various nations gathered for the students’ visits, it was impossible to delay the schedule or complicate the procedures.
“Let’s hurry to move to Gift Island. Those with visitation tickets, please gather quickly in front of the teleportation magic circle.”
Seizing the chance amidst the chaos, Jonah felt the immense mana surrounding the island shake his very being as he arrived naturally at Gift Island.
It was a long-awaited return, but it remained as monstrous as ever.
“It’s truly magnificent, fitting for an island where dragon veins flow, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. The money spent on admission pays off. If our child grows up in a place like this, it wouldn’t be impossible for our family to produce a swordmaster for the first time.”
The most notable magnate of the country.
The head of a family expanding its influence in martial arts.
High-ranking officials from the noble elite and the empire, and other distinguished guardians visited the academy.
Once the identities were confirmed through the mana board, one by one, they were permitted to move towards the visitation building.
‘It seems I’ll have to wait a bit longer.’
Due to prioritizing those who were powerful and influential, Jonah would have to wait a significant time.
Yet he did not complain nor show any signs of losing his composure.
His every move could tarnish the reputation of the Wiheomhae Foundation and the lady.
“……”
Before he knew it, Jonah was the last one remaining in the inspection room after all the guardians had departed.
The price of waiting was nothing but cold neglect.
“Since there’s no one else, could you please proceed with the inspection process now?”
“I’m sorry. Due to a malfunction of the mana board, inspections are currently impossible.”
“The board appears to be functioning well enough.”
As the employee smiled and exerted pressure on the board, it crackled and the circuits ignited.
“Now it’s broken.”
“……”
“Don’t worry. Per regulations, all inspections must be completed by 6 PM at the latest, so somehow we’ll ensure the board gets repaired by then.”
What a childish ploy.
Malice flickered in Jonah’s eyes at the brute insolence of the employee, who smiled outwardly but dared him to challenge them with his gaze.
That was indeed what they desired.
Unlike Reap, Jonah had revealed his identity.
If he caused any trouble, he would be expelled immediately.
If he wanted to meet Oknodie, he couldn’t get his hands dirty.
No matter how dirty and petty they provoked him.
“…”
Before long, dusk descended upon the evening.
“Identity confirmed. Have a pleasant visitation.”
Jonah entered the corridor, leaving behind the employee’s brazen mockery.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, the atmosphere shifted dramatically, causing him to chuckle lightly.
This was far too much.
To set up a boundary that added increasing pain with every step he took.
“Pleased to meet you, Oknodie’s guardian.”
“And who might you be?”
“I’m a professor who plays the role of Oknodie’s teacher. People call me the Destroyer.”
“The Destroyer… from the former hero party?”
“I’m afraid you’ll need to leave now. This corridor has a special barrier in place for specific reasons, making it accessible only until the visitation ends.”
“According to the regulations, a bearer of a visitation ticket should be allowed to visit upon verification of their guardian’s identity.”
“What can be done about an unforeseen accident? Luckily, the accident happened only after all the other guardians passed through.”
As he endured the audacity in the shamelessness of the words, Jonah felt a chuckle rise instead of anger.
“Doing this won’t make our lady yours.”
“Isn’t that just what you do? Gathering talented children under your wing and using their lives as hostages to threaten?”
The Destroyer spoke.
“Today, we’ve just swapped roles.”
The professor in charge of the [Tales of the Retired Hero] class.
Chosen by the sun’s Sofemia, a companion of the hero.
Member of the former hero party, the Destroyer.
He stood in the midst of the double boundary stretched across the corridor, blocking Jonah’s path.
“Leave. If you wish to preserve that worthless life.”
Without hesitation, Jonah took a step forward.
