Chapter 62

As mentioned, the Cheonghwa Academy festival is held on a fairly large scale.

Accordingly, the surrounding Guard Units are deploying surplus personnel to strengthen safety measures, and the three major families also send support, making it an area that always receives careful attention.

And I, through my connection with Cheong Soha, one of the Cheong Family Elders, requested an increase in that support force last night.

‘…This should help deter the attack a bit more.’

The origin of this plan to assassinate the Academy Head is related to the family of Vice Academy Head Yoo Hyejin and her past.

To be precise, the cause was the tragedy surrounding Yoo Hanseong, the head of the family Yoo Hyejin belonged to and also her father.

‘After all, the identities of the attackers are also members of the now-defunct family and Yoo Hyejin’s older sister.’

Despite being the head of a family with considerable influence, Yoo Hanseong meddled in forbidden arts strictly prohibited in the Cursed Arts World.

Furthermore, he was collaborating with low-quality Forbidden Arts Masters behind the scenes, so in fact, his death could also be seen as reaping what he sowed.

However, the problem was that the one who exposed his misdeeds to the world and spearheaded his expulsion was Yoo Hyejin, who was an Executor of the Headquarters at the time and is now the Academy’s Vice Head.

By reporting her own father’s crimes and driving him to his death, the family was completely shattered.

Thus, the simple story is that her older sister Yoo Hyeyeon and the surviving family members came to hold a grudge against her.

‘Their primary goal is to kill Yoo Hyejin, but they will inevitably try to cause a major disturbance in the process.’

Even if they fail, they would not mind any sacrifice as long as they can leave a blemish on her future.

That was their operating principle.

‘There are two troublesome points.’

First, compared to the reason of causing a disturbance out of mere personal resentment, their combat power is quite formidable.

Just the ringleader, Yoo Hyeyeon, is a 1st-Rank Exorcist, and among the family remnants, there are quite a few Exorcists at the 2nd or 3rd-Rank level.

And these guys, just to capture Yoo Hyejin, unleash the dangerous Forbidden Arts their former family was involved with inside this Academy.

‘Yoo Hyeyeon’s group is one thing, but honestly, when I played it myself, that side was more problematic.’

And the second troublesome point.

Because Yoo Hyeyeon’s group has been involved with Forbidden Arts for a considerable period, most of them have accumulated some level of Forbidden Technique Value.

In short, they are not in their right minds.

‘Since it’s the festival period, it’s noisy and there are many outsiders. Amidst that, under the influence of the Curse, they run amok without even distinguishing friend from foe, so of course, the damage can only be significant.’

In the original work, the clear condition was to protect Yoo Hyejin and keep the overall damage below a certain level, but based on my direct experience, even that was not easy.

‘…Since they harbored other intentions but their identities themselves were not problematic, it’s also impossible to block their entry in advance.’

Anyway, my current goal isn’t that different either.

Protect Yoo Hyejin, who will soon be appointed as the Academy’s new Head, and minimize the overall damage as much as possible.

And in the process, back up Yoo Haon’s group who will get entangled at the center of the incident.

For that, preliminary investigation was indeed the top priority.

Since I had also received information from Baek Jieun, I called Adrian and Cheong Haram, who were grouped in the same Escort team, and decided to personally survey the scheduled Field Observation course.

“…They’re places we see every day anyway, is it necessary to go through this hassle?”

Though her words were sharp, Cheong Haram still couldn’t properly meet my eyes.

To such Cheong Haram, Adrian chattered away.

“You also only go to the same places every time, don’t you? If you hesitate in front of the Field Observation students on the day, it would be truly embarrassing.” “You talk well. For someone known throughout the grade as having no sense of direction.”

“……”

Adrian, who brought it up for no reason and got nothing in return, approached me with a dejected look and muttered.

“Even after seeing her for over a year, she’s really a difficult person to get close to. Don’t you think so?”

“…It can’t be helped. Only people with that much personality were gathered, after all.”

“Sh, shut up! I can hear everything!”

Ignoring the fuming Cheong Haram, we carefully went through the scheduled course step by step, thinking about what we needed to do on the day.

Of course, during that process, I was imagining something else.

‘This surrounding area is the Barrier Technique exploration booth, right?’

If I keep the festival programs and their locations in mind, I’ll be able to move much more smoothly on the day of the incident.

Finishing the tour while bickering with each other, we saw Sophia’s group who were doing the same task.

Sophia, who spotted me, greeted me with a bright smile.

“Hi, Kangyoon~”

“…Hi.”

That unique cheerfulness never gets familiar no matter how many times I see it. From behind such Sophia, someone with a different vibe popped out.

“Haram? What’s up? I thought you definitely wouldn’t come out.”

“Tsk. I’m not that uncooperative.”

The red-haired girl with a meaningful smile was none other than Shin Sora, who held the 4th place ranking in the second year.

‘Come to think of it, there was a setting that Cheong Haram is weak against Shin Sora.’

Seeing it directly, her energy had subsided enough to be obvious at a glance.

“Heh. Anyway, good. You should come out sometimes and get some air too. If you stay cooped up too gloomily, you’ll go bad.”

“…Don’t say weird things. It’s just that there’s no reason to go around.”

After finishing their conversation, Shin Sora trudged over to my side and began sending glances as if observing me.

“Hmm…… As expected, it’s hard to figure out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just this and that?”

After uttering that, Shin Sora thought about something for a moment and then spoke again.

“Can you spare some time later? Let’s train together.”

“…There’s no reason I can’t.”

“Then it’s settled. Come to the 4th Training Hall behind the lake after dinner.”

After making such a sudden promise, she left with her group.

‘……’

I was curious about the matter, but I’ll find out when I meet her anyway. I took Cheong Haram, who looked visibly tired, and toured the course a bit more, returning to the Dormitory around the time I had satisfactorily gathered information.

‘Since I’ve roughly memorized all the geography, I can minimize movement.’

As I organized the information I had filled my head with by drawing it on paper, I felt like I could grasp how the entire festival flow worked.

It felt somewhat bitter to be putting so much effort into such trivial details, but there was no choice.

This was strictly a reality where someone could die or get injured by a single misstep.

‘Considering the difficulty was Hell mode from the start, what else could I expect?’

As I pondered repeatedly for a while, evening soon arrived.

Not particularly hungry, I skipped the meal, finished preparing, and headed outside the Dormitory.

‘Let’s see what she wants to talk about.’

The 4th Training Ground.

Shin Sora was waiting there.

The Academy is equipped with various facilities, and the Training Grounds are also composed of many different types.

Among them, the 4th Training Ground was an A-Rank exclusive facility where each room was perfectly isolated, boasting high protective power.

It was a place specially prepared for them, who possess high basic firepower.

“Ah, you came. Good to see you, though we just met earlier.”

“Choosing this Training Ground specifically, are you planning to Sparring Match or something?”

“I’d be happy to, but no, it’s just a good place to talk. The soundproofing is solid, you know.”

The reason was more abrupt than expected. However, such a description was indeed mentioned in the original work, I think.

Wasn’t it one of the places suitable for holding secret conversations?

“So, what are you curious about?”

“A lot. A whole lot……”

Shin Sora, stroking her chin as if deep in thought, soon took a stance and, wiggling her fingers, said to me.

“Let’s have a go first, after all.”

No. Didn’t you just say we weren’t fighting?

I looked at Shin Sora with a bewildered expression, but she seemed to have no intention of backing down.

‘Appraisal.’

Ding!

【Shin Sora】

▶Level 37

▶Stats

【Stamina : B-】

【Spiritual Power : B+】

【Art Formula : A+】

【Mental Strength : A】

▶Traits (5/10)

【Star’s Blessing (S-)】

【Discernment Eye (A)】

【Growth Acceleration (B)】

【Improvisation (B-)】

【Agile Hunter (C+)】

A respectable stat line befitting the 4th place in the grade.

As expected, her basic specs are much higher than mine.

‘But it’s no longer an overwhelming difference.’

A mere 3-level gap; while my stats lag considerably, my Traits are not inferior to hers.

“It’s training, so it’s fine, but I don’t plan to make it long.”

“That’s enough. Then, here I come.”

Shin Sora took three Talismans from her bosom and threw them in different directions.

Then, with a time difference, she formed two Art Formulas and shot them at me.

“Soul Blaze Rending Wave. Clear Chain Binding.”

Whoosh.

Clatter─!

From the front, an Offensive Art of considerable power, and from the side, blue chains approached to bind my body.

I evaded the Spiritual Power wave from the front as if brushing past it, and similarly used the Clear Chain Binding Art to deflect all the chains.

Ting!

Clang!

“Clear Chain Binding? Did you have exchanges with the Cheong Family?”

“I learned it from Haram. Can’t you use it too?”

Even while speaking, Shin Sora kept moving.

One Talisman still fluttering in the air.

Just as I shifted my attention there, Shin Sora reinforced her body with an Art and charged rapidly.

Whoosh!

‘Was it a feint?’

Since the distance was already close, I summoned several Black Birds from the shadows and quickly leaped into the sky.

Swoosh.

Flap!

Flutter!

[Keeek!]

[Kreek!]

As I landed a short distance away, Shin Sora spoke admiringly.

“Skilled. That just now. Haram would have definitely been hit.”

“It was flustering. If I didn’t have a Shikigami, I would have taken a hit.”

There was no excess in Shin Sora’s movements. She seemed more accustomed to combat than expected.

In the somewhat heightened atmosphere, Shin Sora wiggled her fingers and made a proposal to me.

“Your specialty is Curses, right? Try shooting one.”

“It might be more dangerous than you think.”

“That’s all the more reason to experience it.”

If she says that much, there’s no choice.

Since I didn’t plan to prolong the Sparring Match anyway, I drew up Spiritual Power and formed the Art Formula right away.

Whoosh,

“Fear-Bringing Delusion.”

Fsssh!

A strike imbued with a strong Curse was shot at Shin Sora, and she, having prepared in advance, quickly deployed a Defensive Art.

“White Transformation Advancing Channel.”

Fsssh!

A clear energy seemed to swallow the Curse in an instant, but as time passed, it gradually exhausted its power and began to be consumed instead.

Zzzzong!

Noticing this, Shin Sora kicked off the ground with her reinforced legs and quickly retreated backward to land.

Then, she made a stiff expression and glared at me.

“Yeah. That’s enough now.”

“You mean there’s no need to continue?”

“Yeah. I’m convinced by that just now.”

Somehow, the atmosphere felt ominous. At first, I thought it might be my imagination, but seeing Shin Sora’s gaze containing hostility, it wasn’t that either.

“It’s flustering. I expected it, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.”

“What do you mean?”

“It wasn’t a misconception after all. Well, with it packed so densely, it couldn’t have been seen properly.”

“What?”

“You, just how many people have you killed?”