The Academy's Deceased Ate It All

“You’re always a pain in the ass, Professor.”

Isaac’s face flushed and trembled at my words.

Please just attack me

He closed his eyes and let out a small breath to calm himself.

“…Very well, then, I’ll see you later when I’m free. I wish you well.”

Isaac McDowell seemed to take a step back.

As I stared at his back, Svengali whispered.

[You’re not going to kill him?]

I replied in a low voice that the other two couldn’t hear.

“If I had to, I’d kill him right now.

But Myung-joon Lee, Evangeline, and Lee Ye-Eun had spared him, so I’ll do the same.

Something is holding them back, making them not want to touch him.

Perhaps, they had problems that they had to think about and calculate because they were leaders of a faction, unlike me.

‘Of course, it would be easier for me if I didn’t care and just killed him now….’

Unfortunately, I can’t do it now.

It could gain the wrath of the other three.

Their influence and help would be essential to gathering the power of the Ten Strongest and preparing for Minerva.

There was no need to make a big deal out of it and add to the problems they already had.

It was inevitable.

‘…I can’t let innocent people die to make my life a little easier now.’

[…But won’t he get in the way?]

He was right.

But I only said I wouldn’t kill Isaac McDowell right now, not leave him alone.

Finished with my thoughts, I glanced over at Shin.

“Shin Woo-Seok-ssi.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Make someone watch him and the two other Urea professors.”

“Yes.”

To Shin Woo-Seok, who immediately bowed his head, I added.

“And tell them to observe and do nothing more than that. Tell them to report back on time, and if they get cut off, or anything happens, pull back immediately.”

“Understood.”

“Because if I think they’re up to no good, I’ll kill them myself.”

I muttered.

“I can’t let them humiliate you. I will protect your honor. Furthermore, the other two have insulted you as well. That should be enough justification for us to move.”

“Make sure you don’t let them get away with it. I can be a witness if you want.”

Professor Grossman said as if to advise me.

I stared at her, slightly dumbfounded.

“I know you also hate him, but shouldn’t you scold a student for planning to murder someone?”

“You’re not a child, and I’m sure you’ve thought it through and come to your conclusion.”

She muttered nonchalantly.

“Besides, who am I to take their side? You’re my student, and they’re the ones who touched my student’s body.

If anything goes wrong, I’ll vouch for you.

Professor Grossman’s eyes were cold as she said that.

Her student, Yoon Yong-hoon, had left for Urea.

…Apparently, she had discovered that Isaac McDowell was a pretty shady character.

[You just said you weren’t going to kill him]

Not without a plausible excuse.

I muttered to myself at Svangali’s words.

I’d deal with them immediately if they made any strange movements or did anything suspicious.

Even if they didn’t move, stayed quiet, and kept their heads down, there was no need to keep them alive as soon as the preparations for Minerva were complete.

Just a little.

Just a bit longer.

[Hmph….]

Svengali made a sound as if he was thinking.

I described the situation and my thoughts, asking him for advice.

‘There’s nothing he can do about it now. Dmitri and the other apprentice, whose name I can’t remember anymore, are dead, and all the bases we’ve been able to find out about from picking their brains have been raided by now, nearly twenty off the top of my head. This raid will destroy Isaac McDowell’s position and tear his faction apart.’

Unlike other factions, the Big Watch was more of a coalition.

The foremost members of the factions were humans, led by Isaac McDowell, and monsters, known as the Intelligent.

The monsters must have been unhappy to be under the command of a human, Isaac.

Surely this raid would raise suspicions about him.

A raid of this magnitude couldn’t have been pulled off without a confession from someone with inside knowledge.

It was clear that Isaac McDowell would now be stripped of all his power, save for his two apprentices and the personal forces he gathered.

‘He’s got no clear numbers now that he’s been stripped of his most important vein, and Milited is in no position to interfere with us now that their power has been halved.’

By agreeing with Lydia, Red Case was able to coordinate their actions.

The Thorn Cross Society was now all but wiped out, so there was no need to worry about it.

The Big Watch, in its current state, would naturally disintegrate.

The Children of Milited were infighting, their power halved, and their numbers dwindling.

Now all I had to worry about was Minerva.

[I think you’ll be fine… but remember, I’m looking at you through the eyes of the Seven Evils]

When Svengali had finished listening to my story, he replied.

[I don’t know the ins and outs of human interaction and power relations, so I would have just gotten rid of that Isaac guy. But from what you’ve told me, it makes sense, and I suppose there’s a good reason for that since the three leaders of the great factions have decided that he’s too difficult to kill or subdue right now.]

He made a hard, clacking sound.

[I’ll also give you credit for taking out as many other possible variables as possible because the whole point of a plan is to reduce the number of unknowns to succeed. Wasn’t the reason my plan failed because of you?]

After a chuckle, he quietly adds.

[…If only you were half as careful in handling your relationships]

“Could you repeat the last part?”

[Nothing, it was me talking to myself]

Svengali replied.

[Well… I don’t think there’s any more advice I can give you at this point. Just stick to what you’re doing]

[If I had to offer advice….]

[Create multiple hiding places to escape to]

“Hiding places? Why?”

[If the plan to intercept Minerva fails, we’ll have to run for our lives]

Svengali muttered in a tasteless tone as if he had already concluded it would fail.

[Of the Seven, Ariman was always nowhere to be found, and me and Margot were at each other’s throats…that moody bastard. Also, that fellow you call Milited is doing nasty research to grow his faction. But do you know what Minerva does?]

She fought.

She was always fighting.

[Minerva, Venus, and Yuno. These three could destroy a nation if they wanted to. Practically speaking, Venus is too lazy to do it, and Yuno isn’t the kind of guy who would do it.]

[But…]

[Minerva’s powers are, as you know, impervious to any attack. Minerva, Venus, and Yuno. They fought steadfastly, never letting up, and there was even a time when Milited, angry at the loss of his men in their fight, came to visit. He was torn to pieces and almost killed in the aftermath alone.]

Svengali made a clicking sound.

[This is taking too long.]

I felt as if his inorganic eyes were staring at me.

[Unlike me and Margo, who are not suited for combat, Minerva is a warlike creature with great combat savvy and experience. Few can match her in terms of sheer brute force. Above all, she can break the will of those who oppose her.]

Svengali asked me.

[She can burn countries to the ground, and given time, she can bring down continents. Do you think you can defeat her by fighting her head-on?]

“Why not?

[Heh….]

At his incredulous sound, I muttered to him not to worry.

”I was just going to find him to prepare for that.”

But first, it was time to head to the Five Streets with Jin Ye-Seul.

* * *

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen the four of us walking around like this.”

Choi Hyun-Woo, who was walking next to me, muttered that.

His words made me glance ahead, and I saw Han Soo-Young and Jin Ye-Seul walking a bit apart, talking about something.

He had already handed Jin Ye-Seul the Nidhogg’s Fang.

I had told her to sneak out and wound the statue the first chance she got, so all I had to do was wait for her to finish her work.

“We should have a day off like this occasionally.”

“We should.”

Choi Hyun-Woo muttered with a chuckle.

“You were busy for a while, though. Is everything going well?”

“Uh, well… yeah.”

Choi Hyun-Woo nodded as if that was enough.

He hadn’t asked or prodded me for anything else until now.

If Han Soo-Young was right, he should have realized that Esmeralda had been imitating me for a while, but he was treating me like he didn’t know anything about it.

“…….”

I felt terrible that I couldn’t tell him.

Thinking about it, he’d always had my back, but I’d never done anything for him.

At most, I gave him a sword.

On the other hand, Choi Hyun-Woo rushed to my rescue, even at the risk of death.

“Hey, Hyun-Woo….”

I apologized to him and opened my mouth to explain the situation.

“Uh… Ji-Hyuk, can I ask you something?”

Choi Hyun-Woo spoke up first.

I immediately nodded and replied that he could ask me anything.

Then, instead of asking me directly, Choi Hyun-woo sneakily looked around.

More precisely, he was looking warily toward Han Soo-Young and Jin Ye-Seul.

“Well, there’s someone I’ve been thinking about a bit….”

“…What?!”

“Shhh, shhh. If Han Soo-Young finds out, I’ll be in trouble, man…!”

Choi Hyun-Woo jumped up and covered my mouth as I was startled by his words.

Luckily, Han Soo-Young and Jin Ye-Seul didn’t seem to notice.

He sighed and removed his hand from my mouth.

“You’ll never tell a secret, right?”

I nodded with a solemn expression.

Choi Hyun-Woo muttered, still wary of the two of them.

“If Soo-Young finds out, she’ll probably start prying and interfering like a mom.”

“Still, don’t you think Sooyoung would be more helpful than me?”

“Well…?”

Choi Hyun-Woo looked at me and tilted his head.

“Ji-Hyuk, I can’t think of anyone better suited to deal with women’s issues than you.”

What the hell is he talking about?

As I thought that, I heard Svangali burst out laughing.

“…Anyway, what do you need help with?”

“Well… They’re not interested in me at all. I’ve tried to talk to them a few times, but they’ve always given me short answers or seemed annoyed.”

Choi Hyun-Woo muttered that in an unconfident voice.

I could only stare at him in amazement, surprised by his behavior.

I couldn’t believe that he was suffering from unrequited love because, in the original, he didn’t react to other people’s advances like a stone.

I wanted to help him purely as his friend.

“So, who is it? Is it someone I know?”

“Maybe?”

“Could it be Lee Hye-Lin…?”

I cautiously said the girl’s name. He shook his head as if he didn’t know what I was talking about.

“I don’t want to be taken by the police.”

“She’s only two years younger than us.”

“Is that so? Anyways, it’s not her.”

Choi Hyun-woo waved his hand in disbelief.

“Then, is it a professor or a senior?”

“Wait, let me just show you.”

He pulled out his cell phone and showed me the texts.

When I saw the content of the texts, I couldn’t help but let out a short sigh.

It was apparent that he was interested in the other person.

On the other hand, the other person seemed to have picked up on it, responding only minimally or ignoring it altogether.

At the very end, he received a text telling him he shouldn’t contact her anymore.

“This is….”

“I know. I suck.”

Choi let out a small sigh.

“But this is the first time I’ve ever done something like this… and if I miss it, I’ll regret it.”

“So who is the opponent…huh?”

The name on top was Ms. Hyun-Ah.

Ms. Hyun-Ah.

…It was a name with a certain ominousness to it.

“…Can you explain who she is?”

“Uh, well… I’m sure Ji-Hyuk has seen her before. She helped us at the World Tree Festival and has beautiful silver hair and equally beautiful sword skills.”

Choi Hyun-Woo muttered that, sounding slightly embarrassed.

I could only stare at him blankly.

Ms. Hyun-Ah.

Hyun-Ah.

Nam Hyun-Hwa.

The person he referred to, Ms. Hyun-Ah, was his teacher, Nam Hyun-Hwa, from when she changed her appearance.