Chapter 86
<Main Quest (3) ‘The Ominous Foreboding’ has been completed!>
<The title ‘Academy Dark Knight’ has been awarded.>
“Phew.”
This time, it was truly close.
Although the festival wasn’t ‘soaked in blood’ as the quest described, it almost failed to end peacefully.
It would’ve been great to prevent the incident beforehand, but I failed at that.
Still, I somehow managed to conclude the closing ceremony safely.
It probably wouldn’t have been possible without Yuria’s help.
Thanks to Yuria’s efforts behind the scenes, the festival was successfully ‘concluded.’
Though, in reality, there were barely any events after the second day.
“Hey, did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“You know, about the Undead Wyvern being defeated?”
Hearing a mention of my Yongyongi, my ears perked up involuntarily.
Since that day, various rumors had been spreading throughout the academy.
Professor Cassis Sinclair defeated the Undead Wyvern single-handedly.
Behind Yuria Prisis’s ice wall, countless Undead were frozen.
It wasn’t a professor but a third party who intervened and protected the academy, and so on.
“There’s a rumor it was the Black Shadow Corps?”
“Huh? The Black Shadow Corps?”
“Yeah. You know, the ones who stole the Dragon Heart from the O’Neill Kingdom before.”
“Oh, those guys. Aren’t they wanted by the authorities?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Apparently, they fought against the Undead Wyvern?”
“What?”
“Someone who was on the second floor of the party hall that day saw a person in black clothing wearing a mask, and the Undead Wyvern followed them out. They say the description matches the Black Shadow Corps exactly.”
“Come on. How could the Black Shadow Corps infiltrate the academy?”
“Hey, if they could break into the O’Neill Kingdom’s treasury, why couldn’t they get in here?”
“Well… that’s true.”
Listening to their conversation made my chest feel tight.
It seemed like just baseless rumors were floating around, but the fact that the name ‘Black Shadow Corps’ came up was concerning.
‘I thought I left without being noticed.’
“They say the vice Principal is connected to the Black Shadow Corps…”
“That’s not true.”
“…Huh?”
“Ah.”
I unintentionally interrupted while listening quietly.
As someone lingering in the background suddenly jumped into their conversation, the two students turned their gazes toward me simultaneously.
I made a mistake.
“Well, that doesn’t make sense, right? Haha. If they were on the same side, the Black Shadow Corps wouldn’t have fought the Undead, would they?”
“…”
“Haha.”
“Well… that does make sense. But, who are you?”
Thud—
Awkwardly laughing, I quickly left the scene.
As if I didn’t already have enough on my mind, now even the name of the Black Shadow Corps was being whispered among students.
Could I really continue attending the academy without being discovered?
I hurried away from the scene and made my way toward the lecture hall.
It had been several days since the incident with Randgar Bayel, and I was finally heading to the lecture hall again.
The academy had been on a brief hiatus since then, and it would be my first time seeing Elaine and the others in days.
“Sigh.”
Although it was nice to see everyone after so long, I couldn’t feel entirely at ease.
Ever since discovering that the recent incidents across the continent were tied to black magic, the Black Shadow Corps had begun a full-scale investigation into it.
Yuria was interrogating Randgar personally, and Erica had headed to the western part of the continent.
While I wanted to go somewhere and take action myself, I couldn’t leave the academy.
If I left the academy, I’d fail the quest.
And that meant the game would end, followed by a reset.
“Ryu, Ryu.”
“Huh?”
Lost in thought as I walked slowly, someone called out to me from the side.
A female student with blue hair and large glasses.
It was Emily.
Now that I looked closely, her hair color was an exact match to Yuria’s.
“Oh, Emily!”
“Yeah. Feels like it’s been a while. Hehe.”
After learning that Emily was Yuria’s niece, she started to feel a bit different to me.
I felt like I should take better care of her, and there was a newfound sense of closeness.
“How’s your aunt doing?”
“Yuria? Oh, you mean Lady Yuria.”
“Yeah.”
Emily looked at me with a face full of curiosity.
Emily now knew a bit about my true identity.
Not that I was the leader of the Black Shadow Corps, but at least that I was working alongside Yuria.
I didn’t tell her directly, but Yuria must have mentioned it to her.
At this point, Cynthia and even Professor Amilion already knew, so it didn’t matter much.
Besides, they didn’t know everything.
In return, I also learned Emily’s true identity.
She wasn’t Emily Franz but Emily Prisis.
A member of the Prisis family, one of the Six Great Houses.
“She’s doing fine. She’s been really busy with work lately, so I barely see her.”
“Oh, I see…”
“Why?”
“No, it’s just… I haven’t been able to reach her since yesterday.”
Emily muttered, looking a bit disappointed.
Though I didn’t know all the details, one thing was certain.
Yuria and Emily were extremely close.
“She’s probably just busy. She’ll contact you as soon as she gets a chance.”
“You think so…?”
“Yeah. And if she tries to run away, I’ll catch her for you.”
“…Hehe.”
Emily laughed aloud at my teasing remark.
It was rare to hear Emily laugh like that.
“Oh, you two!”
“Cynthia, hello!”
The next to appear after Emily was Cynthia.
It seemed Cynthia had already arrived at the lecture hall.
Stretching as she exited the building, she greeted me and Emily.
Cynthia started to say something, but after glancing between me and Emily, she closed her mouth.
I instinctively knew what Cynthia wanted to ask.
She probably wanted to talk about what happened that day but held back because Emily was there.
“You can just ask. Emily already knows.”
“…Huh? Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
Emily adjusted her glasses awkwardly and nodded faintly.
Cynthia muttered in surprise before speaking again.
“Then, tell me. What happened that day? The rumors about the Black Shadow Corps and the Undead are everywhere!”
“The Undead? They’re real!”
“Whoa! Really?”
Before I could answer, Emily enthusiastically responded, sounding as proud as if she were sharing a great achievement.
“Yeah. My aunt took care of all the Undead.”
“Your aunt? Who is she?”
“Yuria Prisis!”
“…Huh?”
Cynthia tilted her head, confused.
Her reaction was similar to mine when I first learned they were related by blood.
After a moment, Cynthia seemed to grasp what Emily meant and looked utterly shocked.
“What? She’s your aunt?”
“Yeah. Actually, I’m from the Prisis family. Sorry for hiding it until now.”
“…What?”
Cynthia stared in disbelief, unable to close her mouth.
I hadn’t even been that surprised.
“Really? You’re from the Prisis family?”
“Yeah, but I’ll keep using the Franz name for now.”
“Oh… I see. Ah.”
Cynthia’s expression shifted rapidly, from surprise to confusion, then curiosity, and finally understanding.
“Anyway, the Undead showing up that day is true. My aunt froze them all and blocked the scene with an ice wall.”
“Wow, really? Undead again this time?”
Cynthia’s focus quickly shifted from Emily’s identity to the appearance of the Undead.
“So the rumors were true. No one believed it, but for some reason, I felt like it was credible. After all, Undead appeared during the Tournament too.”
Nodding as if she had expected this, Cynthia placed two fingers on her chin and seemed deep in thought.
“Then, are these the same Undead from the Tournament? If so, that means someone interfered in academy events twice. If the vice Principal was behind it, that makes sense…”
Even though we said nothing, Cynthia continued muttering to herself.
Emily, meanwhile, looked proud, nodding continuously as if everything Cynthia said was correct.
“Then, is everything resolved now that Randgar has been captured?”
‘I wish it were that simple.’
“Well, who knows?”
“…By the way, Ryu.”
“Hm?”
“Who caught Randgar? Was it you?”
Cynthia looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
Should I tell her the truth or not?
“Well, someone caught him.”
“Was it you? Or was it Lady Yuria?”
“My aunt only fought the Undead…”
Both Cynthia and Emily turned their gazes toward me.
I hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say.
Claiming credit for capturing Randgar felt too much.
If they knew I was strong enough to take on the academy’s vice Principal, it might create more distance between me and the others.
“Of course not me. How could I beat the academy’s vice Principal? Even Lady Yuria might struggle against him.”
“Really?”
“And Lady Yuria has a lot of people working with her.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. You can ask her directly if you meet her later.”
I deflected the topic, shifting the burden of explaining to Yuria.
Just as our conversation was wrapping up, someone new appeared as if tagging into a match.
“Ah, everyone’s gathered here.”
“Elaine…!”
“Elaine, hello.”
The last to arrive was Elaine, who for some reason couldn’t raise her head properly.
Instead of the glamorous dress she wore a few days ago, she was back in her usual knight uniform.
Pfft—
The sight of Elaine reminded me of that night, making me chuckle.
“Mr. Ryu, w-why are you laughing?!”
“Elaine, didn’t we agree to speak informally like in our class that day?”
“Th-that was…!”
Elaine stomped her foot and raised her head, her cheeks flushed red as she glared at me.
It was kind of cute.
“Alright, everyone, let’s head inside.”
Elaine’s arrival quickly settled the situation, as she had no idea what had been discussed.
We couldn’t continue talking about the incident any further.
‘Should I tell Elaine too?’
I briefly considered whether I should share more about myself with Elaine.
After all, Cynthia and Emily knew, and Elaine was the only one left in the dark.
“Urgh…!”
Elaine groaned, unable to lift her head, either out of frustration or embarrassment.
I decided to think about it later.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Click here -> https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment