Chapter 64

The second day of the festival.

Not wanting to slack off unnecessarily, I sat on a bench on the central street with the heaviest foot traffic, intently observing the people.

‘Still no changes today.’

To be honest, it was just a baseless suspicion. Logically speaking, there was no reason for the party targeting Yoo Hyejin’s inauguration ceremony as Dean to suddenly move up their attack timeline.

Because of that, I was checking the situation periodically with a somewhat relaxed mind.

“…Junior. What are you doing here all this time?”

Yet another uninvited guest came to me unexpectedly. It was Arietta Morgan, faithfully enjoying her last festival as a third-year student.

“You’ve been going around every single food stall since yesterday. Have you eaten enough to be satisfied?”

“It’s not nice to judge people by their eating habits. I was just sampling the flavors.”

“Yet there were complaints about large orders, so that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Perhaps it was my assigned area, so I was contacted about it too, which was troublesome.

I looked at Arietta with an indignant gaze.

“…I like people with broad minds.”

“It’s already in the past, so I’m not particularly concerned.”

Anyway, seeing as she sought me out like this, she must have some business too. When I asked, Arietta made a request with her characteristic expressionless face.

“There’s a prize I want, but it was impossible for me.”

Following Arietta, we arrived at a shooting gallery located in Zone B, the same as yesterday.

Seriously, why does everyone come to me for this sort of thing?

“Junior, you give off the image of being surprisingly capable at anything.”

“I personally think that’s not the case at all…”

Was my image like that? Honestly, I don’t really know. But when it came to shooting, it certainly wasn’t an area I lacked confidence in.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

“F-fifty points. That’s the highest score…”

And so, I handed the prize, a raccoon doll, to Arietta.

Arietta looked at me with a triumphant expression, as if she knew this would happen.

“See.”

“……”

I had a feeling it might turn out like this again, but since the result was good, there was no harm.

Just as I thought today would pass similarly, Arietta suddenly said something unexpected.

“…Come to think of it, earlier, the fox sensed something impure. Did you do something, Junior?”

“Impure, you say?”

“Probably a curse-like type. It was only for a moment, so I’m not sure.”

Given that White Yang possesses the power to repel impurity, it probably wasn’t a simple misconception.

If so, the likelihood was high that it was the group targeting Yoo Hyejin’s life.

‘Are they starting to prepare to execute their plan?’

It’s a plan they’ve also poured their heart and soul into, so of course they’d want to check the site in advance as much as possible.

Sending subordinates to look around the festival wasn’t that strange.

‘…Wait, maybe this isn’t bad?’

Right then, I took Arietta with me, found Shin Sora who was enjoying the festival, and brought her to a quiet place.

“What’s this all about? I was having a good time.”

“There’s something you need to help with. You haven’t forgotten the promise from yesterday, right?”

“It wasn’t a promise to call me within a day, but well, I said it with my own mouth, so I can’t help it.”

As an apology for the past misunderstanding, Shin Sora decided to grant one of my requests someday without asking or questioning.

Of course, it was within possible limits, but for something like this, there shouldn’t be any particular problem.

“I want to borrow that ability you used on me.”

“In what way?”

“There are people among the festival attendees I want to find.”

I conveyed to her, briefly and with appropriate modifications, the information that there might be people carrying the seeds of discord.

“I see. So you want to check just in case, even if it might just be a feeling?”

“Exactly.”

“If it’s something like that, of course I’ll help.”

With that, I, Arietta, and now Shin Sora joined forces and began tracking the traces of Yoo Hyeyeon’s group.

I thought it would be difficult because of the large crowd, but surprisingly, the situation progressed quickly.

There were more conspicuous people than expected, to a bewildering degree.

“Over there, the person in the gray cardigan. That one over there gives off a similar feeling too.”

Perhaps because they shared a desire for revenge and dabbled in Forbidden Arts, the feeling or essence emanating from them was mostly the same.

Thanks to that, Shin Sora was able to distinguish them relatively accurately among the people.

“Are you properly noting their appearances?”

“I’ve confirmed everything you mentioned.”

“By the way, at this point, it’s really suspicious… There’s not just one or two similar people.”

Even counting only those discovered so far, there were as many as seven. Shin Sora also judged that the situation was unusual.

Whoosh.

As the situation unfolded, Arietta, who was beside me, swallowed the fish-shaped pastry she was eating and quietly invoked her Spiritual Power.

“…What are you doing?”

“If their identities are specified, we should capture them.”

Addressing Shin Sora, who was making a face that seemed to question if that was right, Arietta continued with a serious expression.

“If it were me, I could secure all of them without any losses and without missing anyone.”

It probably wasn’t a lie. The existence known as Arietta Morgan had more than enough ability to do so.

However, for me, who knew the full story of the incident, that wasn’t a good choice.

“Taking immediate action isn’t good. Let’s report first.”

“What if we miss them?”

“These aren’t all of them anyway.”

Of course, Arietta’s judgment wasn’t wrong either. First, secure those in front of us, then extract information by any means and chase the ringleader.

If I were in Arietta’s position, I would undoubtedly have taken the same action.

But if that happened and the remnants, including Yoo Hyeyeon, went into hiding, it was obvious they would reappear anytime and try to repeat the same thing.

Now that we know the opponent’s information and plan, we must definitively end it.

“Given that they’ve been holding external events like this for many years, there must have been similar incidents several times. Surely the upper echelons can handle it much more skillfully, right?”

At that statement, which was close to a sound argument, Arietta and Shin Sora also nodded reluctantly.

After conducting a bit more exploration from there, we went to find the responsible professor, Baek Jieun, and conveyed all the related details.

“…It’s certainly suspicious. I understand well what you’re trying to say.”

As the homeroom professor of Class 2-A, Baek Jieun also had a certain grasp of Shin Sora’s Discernment Eye Trait.

Of course, this alone wasn’t enough.

Even if Baek Jieun reported this to the upper echelons, it likely wouldn’t be easily accepted as is.

So, from here on, it was my turn to step in, as I knew all the ins and outs.

“Can you arrange a meeting with the Vice Dean?”

“You want to talk directly? It’s a busy period in many ways, so I can’t promise anything.”

“If you convey that I have something to say about her biological sister, she’ll probably make time.”

After some time passed, as expected, contact from Yoo Hyejin arrived through Baek Jieun.

[Please come to my office. Alone, without any companions.]

At that unusual message, I organized my thoughts in my head and moved my steps toward where she was.

‘Is this the first time meeting privately?’

To be honest, Yoo Hyejin is quite far from being an absolute good person.

However, on the other hand, the person whose principles of action most closely resembled my way of thinking as a player was precisely Yoo Hyejin.

Surely, she would try to conclude this incident by any means during this opportunity. That’s why I came to her.

Knock knock.

Knock.

“Are you there?”

“Yes. Please come in.”

Click.

Creeeak.

Opening the office door, a young woman with long silver hair flowing down appeared within the sophisticated interior.

“It was Han Kangyoon, right? This might be the first time meeting face-to-face.”

A young achiever, merely twenty-eight years old, now about to ascend to the position of Academy Dean.

In her gaze, a bit of curiosity and wariness were simultaneously visible.

“There’s a lot I’m curious about, but shall we hear the most urgent matter first? Apparently, there are subversive forces eyeing the festival.”

“Yes. That’s correct. I assume you know the details from Professor Baek Jieun, so I’ll omit them.”

The subversive forces appearing just before her own inauguration ceremony as Dean, and the name Yoo Hyeyeon that I brought up.

She probably could roughly guess the full story of the incident from that alone. So there was no need to beat around the bush.

I believe the target is the remnants of the Yoo Family, and I also believe they have you, Vice Dean, as their objective.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I think you yourself know that better.”

Returning the question with a plausible question.

It was the most efficient method when wanting to gloss over a troublesome part.

Staring at me like that, Yoo Hyejin pondered for a moment and then continued.

“That’s probably true. I was convinced as soon as I heard it too. But how did you identify the opponent?”

“Among them was someone I was acquainted with in the past. With sufficient information gathered through Student Shin Sora’s power, it wasn’t difficult to guess the connection.”

“It wouldn’t be polite to pry further. Yes. Then it’s fine.”

In reality, there was no such person I was acquainted with, but saying it this way meant Yoo Hyejin had no way to verify it from her position.

It was an invincible logic that could be executed precisely because Han Kangyoon was from an orphanage.

Stroking her own flowing hair, Yoo Hyejin muttered with a bitter face.

“What a foolish thing. I thought they were finally accepting the past and moving forward, but in the end, they’re driving even themselves to ruin.”

She pretended to look sad, but the Yoo Hyejin I knew wasn’t someone swayed by personal emotions.

“Understood. I will take appropriate measures on my end. Tonight will be extremely busy.”

After receiving that confirmation, I left Yoo Hyejin’s office and returned to the dormitory.

And that evening, I received contact from the responsible professor, Baek Jieun.

The news was that Yoo Hyeyeon and the other remnants of the Yoo Family had all been captured, evidence secured, and were awaiting punishment.

‘That was possible?’

Honestly, it was hard to believe. I hadn’t even considered that the incident could be resolved in one fell swoop like that.

‘This woman, could it be…?’

No matter how excellent her abilities, it doesn’t make sense. Perhaps Yoo Hyejin, while not having certainty, might have already had some suspicions beforehand.

‘Was she already somewhat prepared in advance?’

Only then could I understand the meaning of her final monologue that appeared in the original work.

[Surely this was the right conclusion for both sides.]

In the original work, she had predicted this situation to some extent but didn’t prevent it in advance.

I couldn’t be sure, but somehow I felt that way.

‘……’

Honestly, it was a complicated feeling.

There was bewilderment at the fact that she had observed the situation despite seeing through everything, endangering many people, but on the other hand, I felt pity at the fact that she still held enough attachment to family to harbor such thoughts.

‘…This time, it must be because I intervened that she changed her mind.’

It wasn’t something I could comment on, but perhaps this was a better ending.

Hiding my complicated feelings, I collapsed onto the bed as if falling.

Thud.

But at the same time, this thought also occurred.

Is this really the end of the incident?

‘Especially since this is a Hell-difficulty world that wasn’t even revealed in the original work?’

Suspicion remained, but there was nothing I could do immediately. I surrendered to the approaching drowsiness and slowly closed my eyes.

Deep down, I felt an unresolved ominous sensation.