Chapter 75

Chapter 75. Test Subject (3)

I was startled when my mana suddenly stopped, but there was no reason for me to lose to an opponent who was not even knight-class.

“That is absurd…….”

He was an impressive man capable of creating inherited abilities, but it seemed he did not know much about knights and mercenaries.

An inherited ability that stopped mana.

Because of what he had said in my previous life, I had been tense, but fortunately, it was an ability I could handle.

No, perhaps an ordinary knight or noble would have found it difficult to face.

In any case, he had no more ways to stop me now.

He frantically rolled his eyes, but he was soon subdued by me.

This time, there had been no hostage because of my sudden surprise attack. I had been startled by his brief counterattack, but for once, things proceeded step by step according to plan.

After tying him up with rope, I infused mana into his throat to reduce his voice, then cut the tendons in his limbs.

“Ugh, do not even dream of hearing anything from me.”

He spoke with spirit even as his tendons were cut, but unfortunately for him, I had already heard a great many things from him.

“I already know that you like to talk. Is that not right? Master of Piar and Mirisa? No, you are a test subject too, are you not?”

As if forgetting even his pain, he opened his eyes wide and stared at me.

“W-Who are you?”

I was a new student at the academy and the illegitimate son of Duke Gresia, but I did not answer his question.

Instead, I laid out the tools I had prepared.

“The sun has not even set yet, so there is plenty of time to talk.”

I also had a dormitory room to myself, and as the illegitimate son of the ducal house, no one would come to check on me. Tonight—no, until dawn tomorrow—I had free time.

When he saw the tools I had laid out, his face turned pale.

“To be honest, I am not confident in torture, so I hope you will understand even if I make a few mistakes.”

I did not intend to hear many things. It would be enough to hear a few important pieces of information.

I spent the night listening to him speak, and before dawn, I was able to hear a message.

[The crisis situation has ended. A new ‘save point’ has been set.]

---

The corpses were discovered two days later.

The owner of the shop next door became suspicious of the store that had remained closed for two days, forced open the shop door, and discovered the bodies on the second floor.

The guard force was dispatched immediately.

The public-order knight and the guards saw a scene where blood had splattered in every direction, with unmistakable traces of people stabbing one another with swords.

After confirming the scene, the knight spoke in a stiff voice.

“Bury it.”

At those words, the guards who had come with him opened their mouths with uneasy expressions.

“Will that be all right? This happened right in front of the academy. I heard the princess enrolled this year too.”

“That is why I am saying we should bury it. In any case, this was a knife fight that broke out among the shop employees. Something like this happens every day in the slums.”

“That is true, but…….”

“The atmosphere in the capital is no joke right now. There are even rumors that something happened during the academy entrance ceremony. Now imagine this matter bursting out on top of that. You understand very well what will happen then, do you not?”

It was a murder case that had happened in front of the academy.

As the person in charge of public order in this neighborhood, this was not merely a case that could block his promotion. If things went wrong, it might be a case that cost him his head.

Perhaps if he were a knight who loyally served the royal family and protected justice, it would be different. However, he was a professional knight who lived a stable life with his family in the capital.

There was no reason for him to dig up a needless matter and create trouble.

The knight and the guards quickly cleaned up the shop, then went around the neighborhood and silenced people.

And so, the murder case that had occurred in the shopping street sank beneath the surface.

---

To be honest, I had not expected much.

I had staged the scene just in case because it reminded me of a thriller movie from my previous life.

It was such a shoddy trick that I naturally thought it would be discovered, but no news of the murder case reached me.

Even when I asked the princess’s guard knight and Katrine, they did not even know such a thing had happened.

I had thought the matter would at least be reported to the royal family before being buried, but I never expected a low-level official in charge of the actual work to bury it outright.

Was it easier to bury things because media had not developed?

On the way back, I had suffered until dawn burying the corpse I had left beside the main road, so if anything, this was fortunate.

That night, I was able to hear various things from the man who called himself their master.

This time as well, he talked a great deal, but unfortunately, he did not know much.

He did not know exactly where the organization he belonged to was, nor did he know the future plan or the contact line.

However, I was able to hear where he had received his training and where he had to return.

A powerful country in the north.

It was the Tsar Empire, the homeland of the people who had caused the incident involving the Marquess of Hierro’s House.

‘I do not know whether this was done by the imperial government or by some other organization within the Empire.’

I strongly felt that the people who had caused the incident at the Marquess of Hierro’s House and this man belonged to the same organization.

Still, I was able to hear some of what I wanted to know.

“Th-That is right. Those necklaces are mediums that make mana run wild. Inherited ability users who handle mana can use those necklaces to make other people’s mana run wild.”

I heard about the necklaces too.

“I obtained my ability in a laboratory like an underground dungeon. There is an item that finds and awakens latent abilities. The tests ended, so they took it back.”

I heard how he and Piar had obtained their abilities as well.

“They were going to dispose of us because the tests had ended. Perhaps it should be called the final test. I did not know what would happen to me after I returned, but this may be the proper end.”

I was also able to hear why he had carried out the terror attack. The reason was far simpler than I had expected.

“It is disposal. In any case, we were planning to withdraw entirely. If everyone dies, no one else will come. Without the necklaces, a runaway is impossible anyway.”

I was also able to hear about how to handle the aftermath, so I could finish things comfortably.

‘He had the feeling of someone who had given up everything, so it did not seem like a lie.’

After finishing the matter, I watched for a few days and then quietly stole Piar and Mirisa’s necklaces.

As for Piar, I secretly entered his room at night, knocked him unconscious, and took his necklace.

As for Mirisa, I pretended to bump into her in the hallway and swapped her necklace with Piar’s necklace after removing its gemstone.

Since the two necklaces were identical, Mirisa thought only the gemstone had fallen out of her necklace.

Because of the necklaces, the two of them made a fuss for quite some time, but I spent an extremely peaceful period.

No other person appeared around Piar and Mirisa, and no one targeted the princess either.

The liberal arts classes attended by all the new students were terribly dull, and the Knight Department classes were only frustrating because I could not reveal my true ability.

I could only wait for the practical training time to arrive as soon as possible.

One day, as I was spending such peaceful time, one new student enrolled.

“She enrolled late because of family matters. Since she has enrolled later than the others, please help her catch up.”

It was during Fundamentals of Inherited Abilities, one of the liberal arts classes. The female professor introduced the female student standing beside her.

“I am Valea de Messesia. My enrollment was delayed because my father suddenly passed away.”

An extraordinarily beautiful girl introduced herself to everyone.

She made eye contact with each person as she spoke, then looked at me and smiled slightly.

However, I could not smile at her.

I knew her well enough to exchange greetings with her, and if one called us close, we were close.

But she had once killed me.

And I had killed her father too.

One month after the academy entrance ceremony ended, the daughter of the baron I had killed enrolled in the academy.

“Go in and take a seat.”

Once the introduction ended, the teacher sent Valea to a seat.

Valea looked over the lecture hall, then walked toward me.

As always, the space around me was empty, but she did not mind at all.

“Hello.”

She greeted me warmly, as if we had parted yesterday and met again today.

“Yes. Hello.”

I greeted her as well.

“Did the funeral go well?”

“It was a sudden funeral, so everything was hectic, but for my father, that much should be enough.”

Others might not be able to tell, but I could tell that there were thorns hidden in her words.

“By the way, you came alone.”

“The previous baron died, so someone has to become the new baron. Until the royal family’s permission is granted, he will live in the territory as the acting baron.”

She was talking about her brother, but it felt as though she were speaking about a stranger.

“It was difficult for me to remain there because I felt too conscious of everyone’s eyes. If my father were alive, I could at least stay in the territory as a baron’s daughter, but my half-brother is the acting baron now. I quickly fled to the academy so that I would not be sold off cheaply to some other noble house.”

She tapped the desk with her finger and spoke cheerfully.

“Then the baroness…….”

“My mother is also planning to return to her hometown. She will probably live while being mistreated by her maiden family. Well.”

Although she had not become entangled with me in this life, her fundamental nature itself had not changed.

I could feel the deep disillusionment toward her family permeating her words.

“So, you see…….”

Strangely enough, the conversation continued without pause.

It felt odd that I was speaking so comfortably with a woman who had killed me, but I also enjoyed talking with her.

However, it seemed we had become too absorbed in the conversation.

“You two there, class has started. Save the chatting for later.”

Along with the professor’s words, chalk sticks flew toward us.

Was the professor’s ability telekinesis?

TAP!

The chalk stick that flew quickly wrapped in mana was caught between my fingers as it trembled.

CLACK!

The chalk stick flying toward Valea quietly settled onto the desk right in front of her.

It was Valea’s ability, commonly called ‘domain declaration.’

It seemed she had already activated her ability during our brief conversation.

Seeing that it seemed to have developed even more than before made me more tense.

The professor seemed a little surprised by the sight of us catching the chalk sticks, but the students laughed at us for being scolded by the professor.

“Look around you. Nothing good will come from talking with me.”

At my whispered words, she looked around and grinned.

“From what I can see, speaking with you, Young Master, seems far more helpful to me than forming connections with those fools.”

She also leaned toward me and whispered softly.

If I had not known her true nature, I would have been deeply moved by her words.

No, if I had been my original age, I might have fallen for her.

However, right now, I was racking my brain so hard over what she was plotting that it almost gave me a headache.

Thanks to her acting as though we were close, that day’s class was ruined.

The one student I could at least have a conversation with was someone who had killed me, and whose father I had killed.

The incident that the baron had caused that day, along with her unusual ability.

If not for the matter looming immediately before me, I might have lost all my hair from worrying over Valea’s issue.

However, the princess’s Awakening Day was approaching before my eyes.