NOVEL NEXT Chapter 117
Claris Academy, the bustling main street filled with many students, is located next to the dormitory.
Under the blue evening, the many streetlights set on the brick path began to light up in vivid colors.
“Did you hear they’re picking beginner warriors among the first years?”
“Isn’t that usually from the second year?”
“Well, the situation is what it is. They’re probably trying to pick early.”
As the new school term began and the schedule for the second semester was released late, first-year students gathered in restaurants and cafeterias, chatting away.
“Being a warrior means tackling dangerous stuff. I wonder if many will apply.”
“Ha, are you an idiot? Look at all the senior warriors now—they’re living it up, right? Is some demon army gonna come marching in?”
“True… So are you gonna apply?”
“I mean, I should at least test the waters. I’ll probably get sorted out in adventure practice anyway…”
“Uh…? Wait a second.”
“What?”
“Isn’t that kid Caeran?”
The students’ gazes focused on a point.
Soon, a red-haired man opened the cafeteria door and walked in.
Ignoring the stares around him, he headed directly toward the restricted area beyond the glass wall.
And there, he was met by Sara Cervantes, formerly known as the viper of Crow Pay.
Upon seeing the large square band-aid on Sara’s cheek, Caeran remarked, “Good to see you again, senior.”
“…”
Senior.
Sara was no longer the vice-administrator of Crow Pay.
After being brazenly robbed by Lev Denec of items meant for Rezilus, the guild leader, she had been demoted to Caeran’s personal errand girl.
Tick tick.
As Sara instinctively tried to light her cigar, Caeran smiled and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to smoke in front of me?”
“…”
The chilly, coercive tone stopped Sara’s hand mid-motion.
Thud.
As Sara dropped what she was holding, Caeran gently reprimanded her.
“Above all, we’re at the academy, aren’t we?”
Caeran played with his teacup while speaking.
“So, what brings you to the academy like this?”
“…Just tell me how things are.”
“Well, I feel like I’ve completely blended in now…”
Caeran held his left wrist with his right hand, squeezing and relaxing it repeatedly.
“…”
Watching him, Sara felt pure fear toward the man before her.
Yeah, Caeran Hiss was definitely human.
‘He’s not your ordinary tough cookie…’
He had just endured the demon circuit magic enforced in Crow Pay.
Even though Sara had tried to provoke him by mentioning Aveline Melissa, he focused solely on accepting the circuit in silence.
As she dared to speculate, he had probably learned to control the mana’s power that was originally supposed to go out of control.
‘Not dying is a miracle…’
That alone could be considered an extraordinary talent of Caeran.
In fact, during the break, he had crazily repeated mock training.
He had fought against almost all types of Crow Pay members and accumulated maximum information.
Anyway, since he had completely blended in now, Sara continued with half admiration and half fear.
“Well, that’s a relief…”
“By the way, why are you so short on words?”
“What…?”
“Have you lost your touch since you haven’t seen me in a while?”
“Oh, um…? It’s just… Someone might be listening in… that could happen…”
“Sara. Shall we do that thing again after a long time?”
At his words, Sara’s whole body tensed up.
She shrank.
Then her loose switch clicked into place.
“I’m sorry…”
Suddenly, her knees went weak.
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Get to the point if you know the topic. You called me out for a reason, right?”
“Yes…”
The woman who pretends to be strong on the outside would easily crumble once broken, and Caeran knew this all too well.
Sara, completely cowed, stuttered as she spoke.
“First of all, Yellody wants to register you, Caeran, as a candidate for the warrior… Yellody is affiliated with the Magic Department, so… until you’re officially selected as a warrior, you need to adjust your courses to focus on magic and refrain from causing trouble, per Rezilus’s orders…”
“Hmm.”
Yellody Latashia, the demon girl who had lifted the unknown curse placed on Caeran.
It was a situation where he had no choice but to follow her words, not even the guild elder of Crow Pay could ignore her; thus, Caeran felt a hint of irritation.
“And?”
“As you probably know… during the raid practice that took place in the break, Aveline Valantes and Princess Melissa de Prominence…”
“Ah, that’s enough.”
“Y-yes?”
“I’ll handle it myself. Just drop it. The point is to weed out the bothersome ones in the selection test and only gather those who’ll be loyal to me.”
“T-that’s right…”
‘How should I do this…’
Rizilus’s ambitions and Yellody’s schemes…
And being caught in between them.
‘Edwin Gwynn… Lev Denec…’
These two can wait for now.
And Aveline and Melissa will slither back to him on their own.
‘So what’s left… Lily Forget. And maybe… Violet de Crescent? I wonder what their flavor is…’
The red-haired man wore a smile that seemed quite intrigued.
—
*
*
*
*
Splat. Splat.
The autumn rain was tapping against the window of the café where I sat.
“Thanks.”
I replied, watching Caeran’s silhouette emerge from a distant building.
“N-no more of this! Really! Anything else, just don’t…!”
“Yeah, thanks for your hard work.”
They say modern warfare is information warfare.
The place where Caeran had a secret talk with Sara Cervantes was an exclusive meeting room only available for outstanding circles.
Since I wasn’t part of any circles, I had to enlist help.
So I asked Hazel the Wonder from the Alchemy Circle to trail Caeran.
Thanks to my influence, the Alchemy Circle was thriving, contrary to the fanfic, and although Hazel initially refused, she eventually agreed out of a sense of debt.
The following situation was just like during the last eavesdropping.
Since I grasped the plot, I could deduce a bit just from that level of conversation.
‘Their objectives are roughly outlined.’
So, as in the fanfic, Caeran seemed to be planning to stir up a commotion during the warrior candidate selection test, that is, [Adventure Practice].
And behind the scenes backing him up were,
First, Yellody Latashia, who began revealing her ambitions from Chapter 5.
Her motive might be to use Caeran to become the Demon King, even though she’s not the 72nd ranked demon.
To create chaos in the demon hierarchy, she intends to use the capable Edwin and Caeran as long-term pawns.
And among the Human side, the figure tangled in this was the villain guild [Crow Pay]’s Rezilus.
Formerly the captain of the royal knights, he had grown disillusioned with humans and, at the end of the war, concluded that the demon race had the advantage and teamed up with Yellody Latashia to push this direction.
‘Nothing seems to have changed much here.’
According to the original content of Chapter 4, Caeran would clear out the good-hearted Yeriel and Aria and form a party with the more manageable Melissa and Aveline.
Then, Violet would be the one to connect Edwin, Yeriel, and Aria, leading to a fierce battle.
Eventually, under the pretense of an accident, Violet would be killed by a demon, causing Edwin to be devastated and leading to the tragic end of House de Crescent.
Whoooosh…
The rain intensified.
I needed to change course.
‘But… if other demons join in…’
As I stared at the falling droplets and recounted the dark details of the fanfic,
“Lev! I’m sorry…!”
At that moment, a pure white girl appeared before me.
Yeriel Artina.
She wore a perfectly fitted uniform blouse, jacket, and skirt…
Her hair, slightly tied back with some left hanging, made her look particularly dignified today.
Yeriel had asked me to wait here as she had something to say.
‘…’
Since Neldaran, every time she saw me, she fidgeted, and I felt an urge to tease her again.
“What a surprise. Yeriel is late.”
“I’m sorry…! It’s just… with the new semester, there were all sorts of things….”
It seemed the professors were reaching out to her, causing her tardiness.
“I know. It’s fine.”
“Yeah… Thanks for understanding.”
As I noticed raindrops forming on Yeriel’s silky hair, I stood up.
“You’ll catch a cold. Let’s go back to the dormitory.”
“Huh? No, no! I’m fine.”
I spoke in a low voice to the hurriedly protesting Yeriel.
“Then this way.”
Slide.
“…”
As I pulled out the chair next to me, Yeriel quietly approached without answering.
“Following obediently, huh?”
“Are you just trying to dry me off…! I know everything now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Yeriel, speaking so clearly, truly showed her expertise as a second-year student in the Magic Department.
As she plopped herself down next to me, a sweet and affectionate scent greeted me.
It was enough to calm all the thoughts I had just moments ago, enveloping me completely.
Indeed, the approachable Yeriel from during the break felt very different from the composed version at the start of the new semester.
—
“That’s enough.”
“…Thank you…”
After I dried off the last piece of her attire, she sat blankly beside me.
Her gaze, fixed affectionately ahead, and the strands of hair brushing against her neck gave me a certain sense of delight.
I lightly whispered behind her,
“What are you thinking about now?”
“?!”
Only now did Yeriel start to respond.
“Uh, um? Nothing…!”
“Neldaran?”
“…”
So today… just for today…! Even if Lev is somewhere else… I’ll understand.
The words dredging up my memories seemed to strike Yeriel at her core.
Her lips twitched, and she looked a bit sullen. I whispered once more in the same tone.
“I’m just getting permission from Aria to go.”
“…That’s right.”
Yeriel answered calmly, as if resigned to the outcome.
Seeing her seem a bit off-balance only made me want to push further.
“Thanks for considering me.”
“…Yeah.”
“Yeriel really has a big heart.”
“…No.”
“Thanks to you, I managed to wrap things up with Aria.”
“…You did well…”
For some reason, that made her ears turn even redder.
If I poked her lightly, she seemed like she might cry.
After all, being a mage, she was skilled at manifesting what she imagined.
Slide!
Eventually, Yeriel stood up abruptly.
“Sorry, that was a joke…”
Zing,
Yeriel shot me a glare, as if displeased, but instead of leaving, she sat down across from me.
Her cheeks looked puffed up for some reason.
“It was just a joke. You know nothing happened.”
“…Yeah, I know.”
Given her reaction, she sure looked upset for someone who knew.
The perennial honor student who could do no wrong around the academy always seemed to malfunction in front of me.
‘That’s why it’s so hard to resist teasing you…’
Swoosh.
As if to shake off her thoughts, Yeriel spread several papers before her.
It looked like a registration form with challenging courses written all over it…
Having consumed the Elixir of Immortality, she would grow at an accelerated pace, but… would she be able to handle it?
Her tone took charge as if declaring she was going to take control.
“…Lev, show me your course registration.”
“Uh? Sure.”
As I handed over my course list, Yeriel began comparing it carefully with hers.
It seemed she was trying to catch both my courses and her own at the same time…
“…Are you really going to attend all of that? Isn’t it a bit too much for you?”
“It’s fine. I need all of it…”
“…”
“Starting from the second semester…”
“…”
“I decided I won’t leave Lev alone… So this time, I’m doing it my way…”
I nodded to Yeriel’s unusual display of whining.
‘I think I’m getting addicted.’
Every time she was worried about me, it felt more enjoyable to be immersed in this world.
“…”
I couldn’t let her be swept up in the chaos I created…
At that moment, as if she read my mind, Yeriel’s delicate brows furrowed, and she warned me again.
“Dangerous actions are prohibited…!”
“…Okay.”
—
…
So quietly,
“Sorry, this time I really might have no choice.”
I swallowed those words along with a sip of tea.