Chapter 36

[Translator – Clara][Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 36: Royal Academy (4)

After her meeting with the headmaster, Silica left the main building and headed towards her laboratory in the annex.

“Oh, right! I forgot to check something.”

Suddenly remembering something she had left behind, she turned back towards the main building and headed for the research data room accessible only to staff.

“It should be around here…”

Despite her efforts to find it, the location seemed elusive today.

As she rummaged through the books, trying to gauge the location, she eventually stopped at one point.

“…?”

An empty space amidst the tightly packed bookshelves.

There was no sign of what should have been there, just swirling dust.

“Are you looking for this?”

A sudden voice from behind startled her.

Silica quickly turned her head.

“Uh, well, um… You’re Cyan, right?”

The owner of the voice was Cyan Vert, who had just finished a long conversation with the headmaster.

He held a red hardcover book in his hand.

“This area is restricted to students only, how did you get in here? These materials are all important research data and shouldn’t be touched without proper authorization…”

Cyan remained silent, only offering a mysterious smile.

“Um… Can you give it back? It’s crucial for the research I have planned for today…”

“Oh, sure. Of course I’ll return it.”

Cyan handed her the book without any resistance.

“Thank you, Cyan.”

As Silica’s fingertips touched the thin paper, her gaze shook noticeably. Sᴇaʀᴄh the N0vᴇlFire(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

What she had grasped wasn’t the thick red hardcover, but a thin black sheet.

“Wasn’t this what you were looking for, Miss Silica? Or… should I say, Lady Silica?”

Silence fell like a storm before it hits the sea, engulfing everything in an eerie calm.

Suddenly, Silica’s eyes lost their warmth and vitality, replaced by a piercing gaze full of intensity and vigor.

“What are you?”

* * *

Silica Nigriti.

An academic instructor at the Royal Academy.

Based on her bright personality and exceptional teaching skills, she was one of the educators in the academy who received recognition from students and faculty alike, regardless of their status.

However, that was just a disguised identity.

If her true identity, which neither students, faculty, nor even the headmaster knew, were to be revealed to the public…

The Royal Academy might be closed down the next day.

Who could predict such a thing?

In an academy where nobles from across the continent gathered, the fact that the leader of an assassination organization, hunting down nobles, was among the faculty…

Her previous appearance, like a mere puppet, had disappeared without a trace.

Now, there was only one assassin standing before me.

“You might claim to have accidentally seen the secret letter, but your evidence seems lacking. How much do you really know?”

The black paper within the hardcover was a kind of secret letter used within the organization to exchange information covertly.

Other members within the academy gathered information from their respective areas and hid it here, for their leader to retrieve.

Of course, since it was written in code, it wouldn’t pose a problem even if others saw it.

But even if I knew the contents of the secret letter, I had just revealed a fact that could never be known.

That she was not just Silica the ‘teacher’, or Silica the ‘member’, but Silica the ‘leader’…

“I won’t beat around the bush. Let’s just evaluate the report.”

Actions speak louder than words.

I released the sealed mist energy that I had hidden within my robes in response to her question.

The black mist emerged from between my clothes and began to engulf the surroundings, slowly spreading throughout the entire room.

For a moment, Silica’s expression changed as she watched, then she quickly grabbed onto my robes with nimble movements.

The spreading mist dissipated in an instant.

“That’s enough. It’s problematic if it spreads any further. There are quite sensitive people here in the academy, you know?”

After buttoning up my clothes, she flashed a refreshing smile and spoke.

“Shall we move to another place?”

* * *

Silica’s personal research laboratory located in the academy annex.

Various magical tools and artifacts, including swords, scrolls, and numerous traces of research, were piled up, but they were all mere disguises.

Her mastery of disguise was truly remarkable.

Silica sat in a corner of the room, preparing tea for me.

“You seem surprisingly composed.”

“I’m just pretending to be composed. There’s no need to outwardly display surprise.”

“Your exterior and interior are truly different.”

“Don’t flatter me.”

She smiled and offered me a cup of tea as we sat facing each other.

The color of the tea was similar to regular black tea, but there was something unsettling about it.

“Why did you add poison?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not lethal. It might just upset your stomach a bit.”

I couldn’t help but marvel at her audacity, although I knew it beforehand. It was truly impressive.

“Well, since you probably won’t drink the tea, shall we begin our conversation?”

Silica leaned on the desk, wearing a bright smile as she faced me.

“There’s no need for conversation, is there? I’ve already demonstrated who I am through my actions.”

“Hehe. I had an inkling, but you’re even more audacious than I expected. Do you want to say, ‘I too am a mist’ right now?”

“Do you need further proof?”

With a sudden burst of laughter, she said.

“I can easily create such black mist with magic. Plus, we had the elemental magic examination together today, didn’t we? With a Darkness attribute of 92%… That’s not just mist, it’s at a level where it can turn bright daylight into nighttime.”

“Didn’t you see my magic grade? It’s only 1st grade.”

“You underestimate the Academy’s instructors too much. Did you think I wouldn’t know that the specialty of the Darkness attribute is concealment?”

She wasn’t easily swayed.

I nonchalantly took a sip of the tea she offered.

“Hmm!”

“You must have boiled the tea leaves for too long. Please make it lighter next time.”

To someone like me who has consumed vampire blood, this level of poison was just like bitter water.

She maintained her poker face until the end.

“It was quite chaotic in the Empire during my year on the front lines. Everywhere I went, they insisted on having guards, causing quite a fuss.”

“It seems like you didn’t really hire them. I heard you only had one accompanying knight?”

“Indeed, and even that was a servant.”

Now he’s just a seed.

“Hmm, quite confident, aren’t you? You had servants but no knights… Does that mean you didn’t need anyone to protect you?”

“Well, if the spear isn’t aimed at me, there’s no need to raise the shield.”

I countered with a relaxed smile.

Though it may seem like a cheerful conversation with laughter that doesn’t seem to cease, it’s nothing more than a false play.

I can see through it.

Behind her fierce smile lies a guardedness akin to iron bars.

At this point, I want to provoke her a bit more.

“Has the Mist really resumed its activities?”

“What activities?”

She responded casually.

“I mean the purification operations. After all, the successor hasn’t appeared yet, right?”

In the fraction of a moment between 0 seconds and 0.2 seconds, exactly two reactions occurred on her face.

A furrowed brow at the mention of purification operations,

and trembling pupils at the mention of a successor.

It might be a moment that an ordinary human eye couldn’t catch, but not mine.

“…”

[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Was it a bit too much of a provocation?

The iron-like guard broke, revealing the sharpness that was hidden within, accompanied by an unusual surge of mana emanating from her body.

“You mentioned there are many sensitive people here. Are you planning to kill me now?”

“Do you feel like the spear is aimed at you now?”

“Even so, I won’t raise my shield.”

If the spear is aimed at me, I’ll wield a spear too.

In the cramped space of about ten square meters, the two energies surged.

It didn’t take long for those energies to collide head-on.

*Clang!*

The table overturned as her hidden black dagger flew towards me.

*Clang!*

I also pulled out Kaeram from my bosom to parry her attack.

With a chilling smile, she spoke.

“I wonder what you mean by ‘purification operation’… May I ask?”

“Is it an attack first, then questioning?”

“The sequence seems a bit off, doesn’t it?”

“Purification operation.”

Although known as the continent’s top assassination group, Mist doesn’t refer to their activities as assassinations within their own ranks.

It’s merely a purification operation aimed at cleansing the dirty and depraved aspects of human society to make it slightly more prosperous.

It’s definitely not actions that transcend the ethical boundaries of humanity.

…That’s what they say, but it’s just a fancy term used as a euphemism.

Unless they’re fanatics obsessed with religion, why bother calling it a purification operation instead of simply admitting it’s killing?

In reality, even the members don’t hesitate to use the term assassination among themselves.

I conveyed all this information to her without reservation.

With a sly smile, she licked her blade like a predatory woman.

“I really don’t know how to see you anymore. You’re barely a speck in my memory, yet I can feel our power and our traces within you.”

“I’m grateful you recognize me now, at least.”

Thinking the storm had passed, I lowered my sword in relief.

“So now I want to kill you even more….”

“….?”

I quickly raised my sword again.

Her attack, filled with even more ferocity than before, came at me once again.

– Clang! Clang! Clang!

It was a strike with more force than the previous one.

“Is this level of proof still not enough?”

“No, it’s sufficient! You clearly bear the traces of our influence….”

With a smirk of malice, black mist began to emanate from between her clothes.

“But I don’t know you. There can’t be Mist members I don’t know. So, you must not exist.”

Huh, I seem to have underestimated this.

Our leader turns out, much more stubborn than I thought.

“Shouldn’t you think wisely? You might end your career as an instructor if you make a mistake.”

“Do you think I care about that? You’re in a situation where your life could end right now.”

She’s not one to be swayed by vague negotiations.

Honestly, I’m feeling quite restless right now.

It’s truly the vigor of a battle-hardened warrior that I haven’t felt in a long time.

The aura of a true assassin, not some insignificant monsters or feeble humans.

Faced with such a precious aura, how could one’s body not react?

But I am not a fool who would abandon my plans just to follow my immediate desires.

“Have you not asked your second question yet?”

“Second question?”

Silica’s eyes flickered once again.

The second word that elicited a reaction from her, following the purification operation.

“Are you trying to stall for time, even for just a second? Or perhaps, are you trying to buy time for something?”

“Just to clarify, we are the only ones who know that I am here with you. There’s no one else coming to help us.”

“Just to clarify as well, whatever you say here, you won’t leave this place alive. Even if you were the successor….!”

“The successor, you say?”

“….?”

Silica’s lips momentarily stiffened into a straight line.

“Would you even kill the successor?”

The word ‘successor’, an absolute red line as the leader of the group following Aeru.

Whether my words were sincere or false, now that they have been spoken, she cannot kill me in this place.

“Do you think I will believe that?”

“If you’re curious, why not find out for yourself?”

I showed her the black gem embedded in Kaeram, a jewel infused with the power of the dark sword and the aura of Aeru.

With such a gem in hand, there’s no way the leader of Mist would remain ignorant.

Her expression changed drastically the moment she saw the gem.

With a smile, I said.

“Please take me to your hideout.”

[Translator – Clara]

[Proofreader – Gun]