I Planned a Su*cide Mission and Got Kicked Out of the Party

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Count Harker did not hesitate to accept Jeongjae’s request. It seemed that the Count certainly disliked the situation of having a vampire rampaging near his territory. Moreover, who would be pleased if that vampire was actively targeting his well-being?

Since the Count filled almost an entire carriage with books about vampires and sent them over, Jeongjae and Jenis had to spend quite a bit of time reviewing those texts.

In the fishing village where they couldn’t fish, there wasn’t much to do, and that was a fact. The two wizards, who had always had a knack for reading and absorbing information, could spend their days leisurely just eating and reading.

While reading about “How Stone Age People Fought Undead” in the office, Jeongjae looked away from the book and asked Jenis.

“Did you grow up buried in books like this, Jenis?”

“Books like these, or the magic books I bought myself? Hah, it’s not surprising that I turned out a bit peculiar.”

“Kind of ordinary, if you ask me.”

Jeongjae said as he scrutinized an illustration of primitive people stabbing a vampire with a stone spear. It seemed that people in this world had to confront supernatural evil even before the establishment of civilization.

“Ordinary, you say? Me?”

“Among my friends, you’d be so ordinary that you wouldn’t even stand out.”

“If being mixed in means being ordinary, then that’s actually quite bizarre, don’t you think…?”

The friends Jeongjae mentioned could hardly be anything special. Considering Park Jeongjae’s easy-going personality, he was remarkably isolated even in this world. He didn’t get along well with those in the Magic Tower and wasn’t particularly popular among the students. He never even made an effort to befriend other professors during his time at the school.

Since arriving in this world, his only friends had been the Hero party. It wasn’t unreasonable that he called Jenis “ordinary.”

“You need to make more friends, Professor. Just ordinary ones, like you can manage, right?”

“And you? Do you have even one ordinary friend?”

At this, Jenis’s eyelids fluttered, and her mouth opened slightly. Jeongjae realized he had unwittingly touched on a sore spot for Jenis.

“How can I be friends with those foolish brats? They’re not on my level, so I don’t hang out with them.”

“Well, at least we have one common point between us.”

“That’s different. I can’t make friends, while you refuse to do so.”

“Typically, isn’t it said that one doesn’t make friends by choice? What you just said contradicts that.”

At Jeongjae’s words, Jenis shrugged.

“If I wanted to play word games, I would’ve said that. But it’s not true; I’ve messed up at making friends. You can tell by how I stick with you.”

“Well, if you had friends, would you have followed me to hide out in a place like this? I figured that out when you didn’t mention friends at all during normal conversations…”

“The path of a genius is a lonely one. But Professor, please don’t ignore what I’m saying. Why don’t you make friends? That’s the real problem here, and even if you have friends who could get closer to you—”

“Let’s drop it, Jenis.”

Jeongjae’s voice suddenly deepened. Jenis was taken aback by the sudden shift in atmosphere and clamped her mouth shut. Jeongjae’s hand gripping the book was trembling.

“I don’t know what you heard from Margaret and what you think about me, but…”

Jeongjae took a breath, trying not to reveal too intense an emotion.

“There’s something within me that you shouldn’t carelessly pry into. There’s something like that for you as well, and everyone I’d say. But be a bit cautious; you never know when you might accidentally touch it.”

“I understand, Baron. I’m sorry.”

Seeing Jenis’s sulky expression, Jeongjae felt a twinge of concern. Though Jenis possessed notable political acumen, her social skills lacked somewhat.

Whether she wanted it or not, as the heir to the Harker family, she was bound to her position. It was a formidable authority, but it wasn’t absolute like that of Rose or Margaret, born into power. It was rather precariously ambiguous and challenging to compare.

Even if Margaret ascended the throne with Richard’s death, the royal power of Eramenia wouldn’t be shaken. Even if Anton died, and Rose donned the Emperor’s crown, the royal family’s authority wouldn’t diminish.

These two positions were firmly established within a perfect system and law, and already the heirs of the two great nations had excellently proven their qualifications to take those positions.

But what about the heir of the Harker family, the young genius wizard? The Harker family’s dominion was not guaranteed by a fixed system but was effectively swayed by Arthur Harker’s charisma. While Jenis Harker could currently act as the daughter of the most powerful noble family on the continent with her father’s authority, would that continue in the future? Could the ‘Harker’ she leads be the same as the ‘Harker’ led by Arthur?

In her intelligence, Jenis failed to realize her precarious position. It was common for descendants of noble families to distrust those approaching them, thinking of them as “obvious.”

But how fortunate would it be if such intentions were transparent? A bright and self-assured Crown Princess like Rose would merely shrug off the hidden motives of those trying to gain her favor. Who would dare to challenge the absolute authority of the royal family and scheme against Rose? Unless they were directly connected to the Demon King’s army, such a thing would be impossible.

Jenis didn’t have that luxury. Anyone approaching her, if they were merely looking to take advantage of Harker’s status, would be no different from a wandering beggar. What if someone plotted to undermine Jenis’s position in anticipation of Arthur Harker’s death?

What if the royal loyalists considered Count Harker a traitor and concocted schemes against Jenis?

It was likely that Jenis had sensed all these possibilities at a very young age.

Thus, she was desperate to prove her worth and had done it far better than anyone else. Friends? How trivial must that problem have seemed to her?

Reading the desires of those before her to guide negotiations and adeptly using the Harker family’s influence while even bending slightly before stronger opponents—compared to simply making friends, how insignificant and burdensome must that have been?

As such thoughts crossed his mind, a strange empathy bloomed in Jeongjae’s heart. In a sense, she was also an outsider in this world. Feeling pity for the daughter of a wealthy noble could indeed be a way to disregard those who are truly unfortunate, but hadn’t Jenis not been living a life of luxury and indulgence?

“Uh… Professor, are you okay?”

“Oh, no. I’m actually the one who should apologize. I overreacted. My friends often said I’m too sensitive. So, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s really me who is sorry.”

The previously tense atmosphere calmed to some extent, but now a stifling silence lingered where they both hesitated to speak. Jeongjae, unable to handle the awkwardness, reached toward the pile of books.

“Oh dear, what a mess.”

Perhaps due to his distracted mind, Jeongjae was unable to concentrate properly, and as he reached out, the stack of books collapsed, spilling them all over the floor. The moment Jeongjae bent down to pick them up, Jenis rushed over to help.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“I’m just glad it didn’t come crashing down on me this time. I got hurt badly the last time that happened.”

“Oh.”

Knowing how Jeongjae had died in his previous world, Jenis let out a short sigh. Jeongjae chuckled as he gathered the scattered books and placed them back on the desk.

“You know, when something like that happens, you might think you’d never want to look at books again, right? Honestly, I’d think so.”

“For a while, it was pretty scary, but after seeing far scarier things, I got used to it. Who knows when I might die by being crushed under the body of an ogre flying at me… oh?”

As Jeongjae was tidying up the books, a strange note fell out from one of them. Jeongjae quickly checked the title of the book that had dropped the note.

“A Study on the Relationship Between Divine Power and Undead – How the Church Deceived People with Lies”

It seemed to be a light paper written by a strong anti-religious author associated with the Magic Tower or the School of Magic. The paper, being faded and old, did seem like it could be an artifact-level book.

Jenis picked up the note from the ground, frowning as she read its contents.

“What does it say?”

“I don’t know.”

“What? Is it a code or something?”

Jeongjae asked. Jenis shook her head and handed the note to Jeongjae.

“Perhaps. But for some reason, I feel like you might know about it, Professor. The patterns and letters look somewhat similar to the family crest.”

Upon hearing Jenis’s words, Jeongjae hurriedly examined the note. Jenis was right; the letter on the note, clearly written in cursive, was definitely in the alphabet.

“Is it English? I can read English. But if it’s another language…”

Jeongjae exclaimed, unable to hide his excitement. After a long time of not encountering the Latin alphabet since coming to this world, it was, as Jeongjae expected, definitely in English upon reading the first sentence. He tried hard not to crumple the note as he sorted through the scattered books and checked its contents.

“Can you read it? What does it say?”

“Just wait a moment, I’ll interpret it for you…”

Jeongjae gulped. Going by the structure and feeling of the sentences, he got the impression that the person who wrote this was an Englishman, even more so one from the past.

“Glad you read the book I lent you, my friend. However, it doesn’t seem this book has the information I was looking for. What the Church in this world is lying about with their divine powers is probably unrelated to ‘our’ divine power. However, it’s clear that our actions have made a significant contribution to saving Europe, no, the world. Yet, at the same time, I wonder if we’ve brought about a great disaster in this world, so I must think again.”

“Is it written by a former Hero?”

“It seems so. The language used, the vibe, all fit perfectly.”

“Looks like it’s a letter sent to a friend who can understand his language. In this world, that alphabet is practically a code.”

Jenis pointed out sharply. Jeongjae nodded.

“He might have taught his language to others… but… but… We can’t rule out the possibility that it wasn’t just the Hero crossing into this world over 120 years ago.”

“In that case, the likelihood of it being my bloodline increases even further. These books have been kept in the Harker family for a long time. That means there’s a high chance the recipient on this side is a member of the Harker family. No, the more I think about the recent events, the more likely it seems.”

Jenis said solemnly. Her voice was grave, but beneath it was an unmistakable hue of excitement. Perhaps she was not just pleased with the revealing facts but also thrilled at the potential connection to the Grand Mage she idolized, the common thread of having Earthling blood flowing within her.

“Well… it’s too early to be conclusive, but the possibility is quite high. However, what I’m curious about is the content of this note.”

At Jeongjae’s words, Jenis nodded.

“Divine power? Great disaster? What on earth is it trying to convey?”

“Funny enough, I was just wondering the same thing.”

Of course, no one had any kind of answer that resembled a solution.