Mesugaki Tank Enters The Academy

Chapter: 61

Alsatine, who heard what I wanted, paused for a moment and then spoke.

“Are you sure you can save him?”

‘Yeah.’

“He’s an information peddler, so you should at least have that sorted out.”

You’re the one who got that item for me when the Soul Academy was just a game.

I don’t know how long it will take, but I believe you’ll retrieve it eventually.

Alsatine shrugged at my words and clasped his hands under his chin.

“If I manage to find that, how do you plan on paying me? It’s related to the Duke’s family, and without any clues, it could be quite pricey.”

‘I’ll pay with information.’

“I’ll give you the info you want.”

“To me? This information peddler won’t be swayed by any usual info, you know.”

‘Your…’

“It’s information about your master, you know? Don’t you really need that?”

As I mentioned the word “master,” cracks appeared in Alsatine’s expression.

His master is the central figure in the story related to him.

This man, who wouldn’t bat an eye if his lover died in front of him, has only one weakness: his master.

“What do you mean by master?”

Right, as a merchant, he wouldn’t want his weakness exposed, so he’s denying it.

But you know,

I saw you crying and throwing a fit with my own eyes, so what’s it going to change if you deny it?

‘Karia…’

“Karia. The one who took you in when you were an orphan. Do you remember now?”

As I mentioned his master’s name, Alsatine stood up and faced me.

His glare is fierce, but after spending time with scary folks like Possell and Benedict, I’m nowhere near scared.

“How does the Young Lady know that name?”

‘Does that matter?…’

“Information peddler. Does it matter? I know the information you want, and you can retrieve what I desire. Isn’t that enough?”

I’m sure he must be curious how I obtained information even though I’ve never left my mansion.

But why should I tell him that?

Shouldn’t you figure it out yourself if you’re that curious?

Of course, despite all the effort, he won’t even come up with a clue, but that’s not my problem, right?

“Lady Allen. I’m sorry, but your words alone can’t confirm that you have information about my master.”

That’s true.

He’s a suspicious guy, so with just this much info, I can’t expect him to trust and act.

How much should I say to make it suitable?

‘The Magic Empire’s…’

“Try to dig for information over at the Norta Territory in the Magic Empire.”

If you search around there, you might find information about your master, right?

Of course, you can’t directly approach your master, but you could at least check if what I said has any credibility.

Alsatine, who had been glaring at me intensely, slightly retreated and put the mask of a smile back on his face.

“Understood. I’ll go check it out.”

‘As for retrieving the item…’

“Information peddler. How long do you think it will take to find that item I mentioned?”

“I can’t give you a definitive answer since I don’t even know the item’s location, but I will do my best to retrieve it as quickly as possible.”

Since it involves his master’s whereabouts, Alsatine would undoubtedly work to find that item with all his strength.

At most, it can’t take longer than a month.

If I can get the item within that time, I can boost the favorability of the inferior noble significantly.

Hearing a satisfactory answer, I nodded and stood up.

‘I’m expecting a good answer.’

“I hope to hear a good answer when we meet next time, information peddler.”

*

Alsatine, left alone in the room, pulled out a cigarette from the drawer and put it in his mouth.

As he exhaled the smoke and saw Lucy Allen leaving the shop, he mumbled in a tone that sounded like he could chew it up.

“Lucy Allen, huh.”

Alsatine was well aware of the Young Lady named Lucy Allen.

He couldn’t possibly not know, since she was infamous in the social circle for all the wrong reasons.

Recently, there had been whispers that people had changed around her, but…

Remembering the condescending gaze she cast on him when she referred to herself as an information peddler, he was sure her personality hadn’t changed.

However, that doesn’t mean she’s some hopeless person, either.

Lucy Allen had a bad personality but showed the spirit typical of the Allen family.

Stepping confidently before those chilled by the tavern’s ambiance and casually saying what she had to say to his face bore testimony to that.

Above all, the way she looked at him while bringing up her master showed that she wasn’t incompetent.

The social circle doesn’t have discerning eyes.

They probably didn’t realize what lay beneath her chaotic behavior.

“Master Alsatine.”

“Come in.”

The person who entered after Alsatine’s permission was the one he had just knocked down, who was now kneeling.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s just a play, but please hit me a little softer. I think I’ll bruise.”

“Come on! Just apply some ointment on it, and you’ll be fine.”

The atmosphere in the tavern when Lucy first visited was tense, but Alsatine’s arrival intertwining with that was all a perfectly planned act.

It was a strategy to intimidate the noble visiting the place to make things easier.

Although it seemed it didn’t work at all on Lucy Allen.

“So how did it go?”

“About that…”

Alsatine’s head was entangled with thoughts.

The biggest problem was the information concerning Lucy Allen’s master.

The Lucy Allen he knew never left her mansion.

There was no way she had connections in the social circle, where she acted like a hoodlum, so it was impossible for her to hold such information.

Yet, she knew.

She knew that he was looking for his master and the stories about him.

How on earth did she get her hands on that information?

Is there a route common people don’t know in the Allen family?

But that place is just a typical martial family.

There’s no way they could have a better information network than him.

Lost in a chain of questions, Alsatine watched the ashes fall from his cigarette and sorted out his thoughts.

No matter how puzzled I was, reality won’t change.

I can worry about this later.

Right now, I need to focus on what I have to do.

“First, I need to find an item related to the Duke Burrow family.”

If a young lady from the Allen family is looking for something in a back alley, it must be something precious.

Even if the deal with Lucy Allen doesn’t go through, it wouldn’t hurt to have that item.

So, to prioritize finding this item.

“And I should send some people over to the Norta Territory.”

I need to confirm whether what Lucy Allen confidently claimed was true.

I’ll send people there to find information about his master.

Reflecting on the thoughts of his master, Alsatine frowned with a cigarette in his mouth.

The best way to verify this would be to kidnap Lucy Allen and extract information from her.

Those with a domineering attitude often surrender easily under the pain that digs into their flesh.

However, using such methods would jeopardize her status.

The Allen family.

A martial family that contends for the first place in the kingdom, led by the iron-blooded white-haired Benedict Allen.

If I touch Benedict’s daughter, wouldn’t I provoke his wrath?

At that moment, it would be better to take my own life.

In other words, if I don’t have to worry about the aftermath, it wouldn’t matter if I touched Lucy Allen… but not now.

“For now, that’s the end of the two matters. Let’s get to work.”

*

After the entrance ceremony at the Soul Academy, there is a week-long trial period.

You try various classes at your leisure and decide which ones to take.

Usually, during this period, you would hang out with people you feel drawn to and build friendships, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for me.

[What are you thinking about?]
‘I’m not thinking about anything.’
[Then why are you staring out the window with such a melancholic look? ]
‘Being alone gives off this vibe because it’s a cliché.’
[What the heck does that even mean?]

The grandpa probably wouldn’t understand, anyway.

It’s a story from where I originally came from.

Since the day started, I had been all alone for almost the entire day.

People would get startled and distance themselves when they saw me, so there was no choice but to be alone.

Joy frowned at me, probably from last night’s incident, whenever she saw me,

Phoebe would wave as she passed by, but that was it,

And Frey? She’s too unpredictable and busy wandering about to care about friends or anything.

Naturally, I ended up living as a loner from the very first day.

The moment I was most concerned about was meal time.

Though I’m used to eating alone, the feeling is entirely different when doing it at school compared to outside.

When eating outside, no one cares if you’re alone.

Unless you’re the one who’s overly conscious about it, nobody pays any mind.

But at school, it’s different.

Eating alone draws stares like, “Why is she eating alone? Is she being bullied?”

Of course, given my notorious reputation, no one would stare openly or gossip where I could see.

But I have a bad feeling that it won’t be long until that happens.

Bad reputations spread like wildfire in a communal environment like school.

What? The infamous Lucy is living as a loner at school?

That’s just the perfect setup to become entertainment, isn’t it?

Ugh, I anticipated I’d face this situation, but it feels different once it becomes a reality.

I have to go through this life for several years, and already the future feels bleak.

“Today’s class explanation ends here. Next time…”

After class, I immediately left the classroom and headed to my next destination.

Normally, I’d be wandering around confused about which way to go or debating on what classes to attend, but I didn’t need to do that.

I’ve experienced that confusion when I first started at Soul Academy.

There’s no way a veteran like me would get lost in a place like this!

Next on my schedule was Combat Studies.

I had to take this subject to build my proficiency in close combat from my position at the forefront.

Arriving in the classroom, I found Karl, the so-called escort knight and a stalker, preparing for the class.

“Lady.”

‘Karl…’

“Sloppy. What are you doing here?”

Shouldn’t a different professor be in charge of this class?

“I’m serving as an assistant to Professor Anton.”

Oh, is that how it is?

They can’t just hand over a class to a rookie professor right off the bat, so it makes sense.

“Perfect timing. I actually had something to tell you.”

‘What is it?’

“What is it?”

“Lady, didn’t you ask if a female student needed help the other day?”

I did, because I had a quest to complete.

But how do you know about that?

“I’ve brought the request from that female student.”

… What? Wait.

What?!

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