NOVEL NEXT Chapter 131
Nicolseta Haisman.
As the fourth son of the Haisman family, who became wealthy through the sale of emotion-enhancement scrolls, he currently studies at Claris Academy alongside his third brother, Maclead Haisman, who is the assistant chairman of the Magic Department.
Since childhood, he has lived a life compared to his brothers.
– Tch. If I had just kept up with half of my brothers…
– Pfft. You’re lucky if you don’t have to cling to the family’s coattails.
– …
It’s not that he lacked talent.
Nicolseta was more interested in general combat magic than auxiliary magic, and because of the family business, he was forced to focus solely on auxiliary magic. As a result, his willingness to explore academics was completely crushed, making it impossible for him to catch up to his brothers.
And at some point, that feeling turned into an inferiority complex.
Even the students who approached him due to the Haisman family’s background all left once they discovered he was an empty shell.
This time, his engagement with Artina was also called off.
‘W-why? You all like my family anyway… So why!!!’
In the end, what he had left was an abundance of wealth from his family that didn’t match his talents and an inexplicable jealousy.
‘But… this time… it’s different!’
A chance finally came to him.
– Anyeong~ hoobae~ friend.
– Yellody sunbae…?
A senior from the Magic Department, Yellody Latashia, whom he admired. She, who belonged to the guild of top experts, Crow Pay, came to see Nicolseta.
The task was simple.
– Really simple~ For the selection test… Nicolleta? You lead to catch the monster in front of the bridge in District 3, and it’s all good!
– …Huh?
The order was to incite the students to start a fight with that three-headed dog-Cerberus.
– If you succeed~ Resilus will propose joining the guild to Nicolleta’s group!
– R-really?
– Yup! Plus, I can teach you magic 1-on-1? But you gotta keep it a secret~
It was truly an opportunity that might not come again.
To fulfill this, he had recruited sophomore students with a huge amount of money weeks in advance.
Of course, seeing that three-headed dog in person was scarier than he imagined.
But it was fine.
– If it gets dangerous, just drink this!
He also had an elixir Yellody gave him that optimized his body for escaping with a strengthening scroll.
‘I-I’ll definitely succeed….’
.
.
.
Again, at the selection test. Between District 2 and District 3. In front of the bridge.
“Is there really nothing?!”
Nicolseta Haisman said, and…
– …
Most of them fell silent.
It seemed that the giant monster, Cerberus, in front of them was in a slumber state, but it had a rather menacing aura.
“Since I reported it to the academy, shouldn’t we wait for their response?”
During the uncomfortable silence, a sophomore student spoke up.
“That’s right. It looks too dangerous…”
“We’re only on day two, and if we’re all waiting, it won’t really hinder the test.”
“Agreed.”
Some fairly reasonable folks chimed in as well.
“Ugh…!”
But Nicolseta didn’t give up.
“Wow, everyone’s so scared, huh?!”
He pulled out a scroll from his bag and held it up in front of everyone.
“?”
“Is that… an enhance scroll?”
“How much is that worth?”
The customized enhance scroll from the Haisman family was a pricey consumable.
It takes days to weeks to make such scrolls, but while their effects are certain when used, their duration only lasts for minutes.
You can power up easily, but the cost-effectiveness isn’t great.
Nicolseta made a shocking offer.
“I’ll give this to anyone who helps me…! As much as you need!”
– Murmur murmur.
The area buzzed with excitement.
“Hmm… If more than 20 people join as an attacking party, I’ll help too.”
“Me too. The academy surely checked beforehand. There’s no way a monster would just be sitting there openly, right?”
Some second-year students, confident in their skills, stepped up.
Just then.
“Guys! Everyone calm down…! Doesn’t this situation feel a bit unnatural…?”
All eyes turned to the owner of the voice.
A pure white girl. Yeriel Artina.
Though they had never talked before, she was the girl Nicolseta secretly admired and had even earmarked as his fiancée.
He had even actively used his background to arrange an engagement with the Artina family, but…
The result was rejection.
Moreover, he heard it was Yeriel Artina herself who voiced her opinion.
“Not having communication currently might be due to the monster. I doubt the academy intended something like this…”
As Yeriel persuaded, the students began to murmur.
“…That’s true. Since the committee will come anyway, waiting until then might be a good idea.”
“Right… There’s no way communications would just cut off. What if something happens?”
“Yeriel Artina. That senior is the top of the current second year. Isn’t it wise to listen to her…?”
– Crack…
‘Yeriel Artina… the head of a failing noble family whose master is a widow!’
Nicolseta clenched his teeth as things didn’t go how he wanted, moving towards her.
“W-what do you know?! If you’re scared, just don’t follow us!”
“!”
“Instead of that, as the top student, shouldn’t you set an example?!”
At that moment, when he leaned in intimidatingly,
“Pathetic. Just pathetic.”
“…?”
Blocking him was a gray-haired man.
“Who are you to talk? Someone who couldn’t hold a conversation in the academy and uses family influence to scheme behind the scenes?”
Lev Denec. The students murmured in response to his words.
– What’s that about?
– Well…
Nicolseta’s mind began to simmer with anger.
That annoying parasite that recently had been hovering around Yeriel.
As the surroundings became chaotic, Nicolseta’s shame intensified, pushing him over the edge.
“Get out of my way! You half-baked noble who’s been chased out of your family!”
He tried to shove past Lev, but,
– Thump!
– Bang!
“…What are you doing?”
Though they collided harshly, Lev didn’t budge at all, causing Nicolseta to tumble to the ground.
‘This… this…! You little A-rank fluke!’
It was a reasonable situation.
It was unlikely that an auxiliary magic student regularly trained their body.
“What’s wrong with him trying to fight when he’s so weak…?”
“Forget it. Let’s go.”
“I’m already tired from the magic pressure. Let’s just rest.”
“W-wait a second…!”
“Sorry, we’re also giving up. Kids’ reactions are bad, and it seems more dangerous than we thought.”
“I’ll give the money back once we return to the academy.”
“No wonder the pay was so high…”
“……”
With even the recruited party members abandoning Nicolseta, the situation came to an end.
– Shiver…
He completely lost face.
Then, Nicolseta began to chuckle.
“Hehehe. Hehehehehe…”
It didn’t matter.
Thinking about it, he was fine on his own.
‘I-I’ll kill you all…’
*
Meanwhile, in the 5th Legion, where Markosias was.
A subordinate of Markosias bowed his head and said.
“Great one. Caeran Hiss is nearing the sealing stone.”
“Good. What about the other side?”
“Yellody has summoned the gatekeeper monster. Although it’s in a somewhat weakened state, for now, it shouldn’t lose even if more than five of the war heroes among our creations come at it.”
“Can you guarantee that?”
“Of course. A three-headed dog is a type of monster our creations have never faced before. With its recovery speed, it would only turn into a favorable war of attrition for us with any half-hearted attacks.”
“I see. If we fail…”
“I’m willing to dedicate my insignificant soul if needed.”
Markosias smiled at the repeatedly assured subordinate.
It wouldn’t be long now.
Once Mystic Island was in their hands,
“I’m looking forward to it. Very much.”
Finally, Markosias himself could enjoy killing the creations with his full power.
*
As the sun began to set and dusk fell,
– Let’s have one from each party circle out, and let’s have two keep an eye on the monster.
The students agreed to wait outside Cerberus’s field of vision until the rear party arrived.
Everyone was reluctant to give up on the selection test, knowing that the student council would arrive soon anyway.
So, they confirmed Cerberus’s movements in turns.
In this oddly peaceful atmosphere, which was unbefitting for a selection test, I was watching Cerberus alone through my sniping characteristics.
There they are.
Two men entered my view.
Raymond, and, the suspicious individual Nicolseta’s turn to keep watch had come.
The other students wouldn’t think he’d do something weird and attack the monster, but I knew Nicolseta’s trolling level well and planned to keep an eye on him to the end.
“!”
At that moment.
As expected, Nicolseta tore up a few scrolls for himself and, ignoring Raymond’s objections,
– Grrr…?!
Charged at the three-headed dog-Cerberus.