For Sen, the competition within the Chokugen Faction, which was intense yet strict, wasn’t particularly difficult.
Not only did she showcase overwhelming talent compared to her peers, but even against the seniors who were five or six years older.
Assassination, dueling, intelligence gathering, stealth, and so on.
In areas deemed essential for the Chokugen Faction, Sen stood out and was regarded as a future talent to lead the next generation.
Coming to the Academy was also evidence that the leader of the Chokugen Faction intended to properly nurture her.
‘The leader.’
There were often instances of 1:1 duels with the leader within the Chokugen Faction. If you could endure for one minute, you passed; if not, you failed.
Failed kids simply vanish without a trace.
And now, Sen felt a similar, endlessly daunting emotion as when she was dueling with the leader.
Grrr!
Unable to overcome Daniel’s momentum, Sen was continuously pushed backward.
‘I can’t win; I have to aim for the sword.’
Fortunately, his sword was quite in poor condition, so it was wobbling without much swinging.
Thus, she aimed to deliberately break the sword, and the effects appeared sooner than expected.
Each of Daniel’s strikes was so heavy that eventually the sword couldn’t withstand it and broke.
‘Now.’
Seeing the broken sword flying in the air, Sen rushed forward and swung her dagger, but—
Thud!
Her vision blurred, and she felt the cold rooftop floor against her cheek.
Amidst the dizzying view, a powerful shock radiated through her temples.
Ugh, I was feeling dizzy from all the hopping around, but it’s finally calming down.
Although the sword was shattered, it was her own blow with the hilt.
“So, do you plan to tell me what Demalico said?”
“……”
Knowing Sen’s fate, I understood she wouldn’t talk no matter what kind of torture she would endure.
So what I had to do was not just torture or extract information but negotiate.
What I was doing now was merely seating Sen at the negotiating table.
‘It was a bit harsh, but…’
Once she accepted her defeat, I plopped down in front of Sen and asked,
“Are you curious about how I know you’re from the Chokugen Faction?”
“……!”
I chuckled as I saw her turn her head sharply and glare at me at the bait.
“I think I know something about that organization you’re chasing after as well.”
This was purely instinct.
If the Chokugen Faction and the Tudogs were opposed, then the organization personally chasing after them would likely be the Tudogs.
Moreover, the raw materials used for making that potent cigarette that messed up Demalico could only be found outside the Forest of the Demon Realm.
So I wondered if the thugs making cigarettes had to rely on the Tudogs related to the Forest of the Demon Realm.
“I want just one thing. What information did you gain from Demalico? Where are those thugs?”
Anyway, knowing about the Chokugen Faction was of no use to me.
“I won’t tell anyone you’re from the Chokugen Faction. I’ll treat you just like usual. How about it? This is actually more beneficial for you.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Sen slowly opened her mouth.
“Why do you want to find the thug organization?”
“Because I’m a bit interested in the cigarettes they make.”
To be honest, since returning to 18, I’ve been bombarded with bewildering events.
‘How the heck does an academy have so many incidents?’
A completely unfamiliar organization called the Tudogs emerged, and students smoking cigarettes were rotting away.
Plus, it all tied back to the Forest of the Demon Realm, sparking my curiosity.
Under normal circumstances, at this time, I’d be furiously training to forget the trauma of being expelled from the entrance of that forest.
So the fact that someone before me was extracting raw materials from the Forest of the Demon Realm really piqued my interest.
Furthermore, I was curious how the Tudogs used the abilities of the magical beasts in the Forest of the Demon Realm.
“What will you do when you find out?”
“Hmm, I have a lot of curiosity. I’ll just figure it out roughly and hand it over to the guards. What else would I do?”
I didn’t need to wipe out the thugs or anything. From now on, it was the guards’ responsibility.
At that, Sen displayed a strange expression and slowly stood up. It seemed her head was finally clear.
“Alright, I’ll tell you. The locations of the thugs and what Demalico said about the cigarettes.”
In reality, Demalico, as just a guest, didn’t have much information about the products.
However, what I did learn was that they were cheap, highly addictive, and caused excessive fatigue and strange body reactions when kept in the mouth for long periods.
Successfully pinpointing the location, I smiled contentedly, and then Sen asked me.
“How did you know I was from the Chokugen Faction?”
“Your hair is white, and your name is a single character. That’s a characteristic of your Chokugen brat group.”
“……So how did you know that?”
“Dunno?”
“……”
From Sen’s expressionless face, emotions that never existed began to display deep anger. I felt a sense of pride, thinking, I’m making a doll into a real person!
“So you told me you would tell me how you knew, but I just told you.”
“You……”
Her grip tightened around the dagger, visibly wanting to argue something, but she realized there was nothing she could do, so she moved on.
“What do you mean you know about the organization we’re chasing?”
“Tudogs, right? The one who caused a commotion last time, Hare, was from the Tudogs. She came to scout me at night.”
“……!”
With wide eyes, Sen looked at me.
She seemed to be trying to ascertain the truth in my words, but I had nothing to hide in this matter.
It would be better to lay it all out there so it would help me when I used Sen later.
“Got it? Then I’m leaving?”
“What the heck are you?”
This time, it was a pure question filled with Sen’s curiosity. Until just now, she felt like a simple assassination puppet, but now she seemed to have turned into a real person in a blink of an eye.
“Hmm.”
Whether I personally found her interesting, I scratched the back of my head.
“Just a natural person?”
It wasn’t wrong, right?
*
“So you came with me?”
Hare, who had a strange expression furrowing her brows, asked with discomfort, and I hesitated unnecessarily before replying yes.
After school.
Hare and I were strolling down the street.
I intended to confirm things quickly without stretching out the time but thought it was better to take someone along than go alone, initially planning to bring May.
However, May refused.
She made the excuse of caring for the bedridden and immobile Demalico, but it seemed Sen’s words had quite an impact on her.
The way she fled without even glancing at me.
‘I have to manage on my own.’
Still, she understood she wasn’t in a position to ask me for mercy, as back then, May had used every trick to get me expelled.
Having brought Hare as my contingency plan, she had seemed displeased upon hearing I had asked for her instead of someone else.
“Well, either way, it’ll be over soon. You have nothing to do, and just call the guards when it’s confirmed.”
“No way, I’ll fight too.”
Hare replied, gripping her sword at her waist.
When I briefly explained about the thugs selling cigarettes with severe side effects, she was filled with righteous anger and brought her sword along.
I also wore the sword my sister bought for me as an entrance gift.
“But lately, you seem to have a brighter expression?”
I asked, trying to tease her, and Hare asked if it was noticeable, giving a slight smile.
“Actually, I’ve been disowned by my family.”
“……”
Honestly, I was quite surprised inside but maintained a stoic expression as I looked at her.
“I confessed to Ares and got rejected. After saying I wouldn’t be swayed by my uncle anymore, I was disowned the next day, and they cut off my support.”
“Then what about the academy?”
“For now, I can attend until the end of this year, so I’m aiming for a scholarship.”
“……”
“The Dean said I just need to prove myself worthy for that part.”
“Really?”
I thought immediately that they would cut her off so as not to be associated with the Hare family, but it turned out the Dean had a misunderstanding. Upon later finding out, it was because the Leiros family had a close relationship with Hare’s family, and since the relationship was already damaged, it was like “have fun with that!” regarding Hare.
I pictured the Dean’s mischievous smile, thinking, “enjoy this!” and thought how some people really never change.
“How about we grab dinner at the tavern we went to last time?”
“Sure, I had a menu I wanted to try there.”
When I tried to change the mood, Hare nodded in agreement.
“I also want to eat together.”
Then came the girl’s voice from behind us.
Surprised, both Hare and I turned around to see Rin smiling back at us.
“Where you going? A date?”
“No, nothing sweet like that.”
“Sure, it’s not.”
Due to Rin’s gaze, Hare looked at me with somewhat unsettled eyes, likely because of the strange atmosphere Rin was giving off.
Something about her seemed friendly yet with an odd sting that jabbed the heart.
I almost asked how she knew we were going but, looking at Rin’s smile, felt it was better not to ask, so I smoothly let her merge into our party.
“We are going to fight some thugs, so it might be dangerous.”
“Thugs?”
“……It won’t matter.”
Hare expressed her concern to Rin, but knowing that with Rin’s skills, she could defend herself just fine, I let it slide.
If anything goes wrong, I could protect her anyway.
Then Rin walked beside me and whispered quietly so Hare couldn’t hear.
“Didn’t I tell you? It’s really annoying, and I feel angry, and I get those bad thoughts too.”
She smiled, but somehow her voice sent shivers down my spine.
Pinching my side lightly, I glanced at Hare while asking.
“Or is she the one?”
If I said yes, I had no idea what would happen, so I quickly shook my head.
“Right……”
Rin looked genuinely regretful, licking her lips slowly; then she drifted back gradually.
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