As the round of 32 was nearing its end,
The Shadow Lord was observing Kim Ho from a short distance away.
Blending in among the spectators was as easy for him as flipping his hand.
It had become even easier now that some of the parents had started sitting with the students.
Of course, there was still some risk of being discovered, but to complete his mission, a certain degree of danger had to be accepted anyway.
Moreover, the arena was the perfect place to gather various pieces of information simultaneously.
The first, of course, was to assess Kim Ho and the people around him.
The second was to check whether any of the main tournament participants raised suspicion.
And unexpectedly, this attempt turned out to be a success.
The Shadow Lordโs gaze shifted two seats over from Kim Ho.
Go Hyeon-woo, was it?
He had watched the matches from the previous day as well and had realized that the martial arts Go Hyeon-woo practiced were based on wind.
On top of that, since he even used a sword as his main weapon, the likelihood that he was connected to the Blood Wind Sword was meaningfully high.
Should I change the plan even now?
Wouldnโt it be better to dig into Go Hyeon-woo rather than Kim Ho?
At first, such thoughts crossed his mind, but the Shadow Lord soon changed his mind.
By closely observing the two, he had come to grasp a rough understanding of their personalities.
His gaze locked onto Go Hyeon-woo.
Outwardly, he seems gentle and kind, but in truth, he must have a stubborn nature.
Extracting anything from someone like that would be close to impossible.
Even if he attempted a negotiation, it was obvious heโd be flatly rejected.
Next, the Shadow Lord looked at Kim Ho.
Still, that guy seems relatively flexible.
Even if he revealed his identity when approaching, though he might show hostility, at the very least he could expect a conversation.
Nine times out of ten, he’d even agree to a deal.
There was another reason why the Shadow Lord focused on Kim Ho.
That guy is the center of the group.
The two girls sitting on either side of him and Go Hyeon-wooโ
All of them were paying close attention to Kim Hoโs every move.
Especially the two girls, who seemed indifferent to most things but reacted in some way every time Kim Ho so much as opened his mouth.
โฆโฆTheyโre head over heels.
Anyone, not just himself, would reach the same conclusion.
Being the center of a group was a surprisingly important factor.
The fact that it would be hard to approach Go Hyeon-woo through the two girls beside him meant that it would be relatively easier to approach Kim Ho.
The Shadow Lordโs gaze flicked left and right.
Using the red-haired girl would be better than the gray-haired girl.
The gray-haired girl looked like sheโd already lived her whole life and that she found everything bothersome.
If the approach went according to plan, it would be possible to gather information not only on Kim Ho himself but also on Go Hyeon-woo.
Since it would mostly have to be done through conversation, it wouldnโt be easy, but in his subspace was an item perfectly suited for this situation.
Good thing I brought it.
With this, the once-vague plan had become much more complete.
The Shadow Lordโs eyes glinted with a chilling light.
For now, Iโll wait and watch.
Because when he acted was just as important as how he acted.
And with that, he vanished from the spectator stands without a trace.
But no one noticed.
***
Around the same timeโ
The principal, vice principal, and the Sword Queen were standing in the middle of a large room.
The room felt extremely empty, as there was practically nothing in it compared to its size.
All that was there was the thick wall in front of them.
It looked like something ripped straight out of an ancient ruin or temple.
And in fact, it was.
Watching the letters that appeared and disappeared continuously on the wall, the Sword Queen spoke.
โSo this is what they call the Wall of Wisdom.โ
โYes. Itโs our trump card.โ
โAnd youโve been hiding something this good all this time without a word?โ
โIf I talk about it lightly, itโs no longer a trump card. And if I go blabbing, Iโll get fired.โ
The principal responded curtly.
As an outsider, the Sword Queen wasnโt supposed to even know about the Wall of Wisdom.
However, right now, they were in a situation where they had to capture the Witch of Exhaustion.
If they hesitated too long, who knew what kind of madness she might unleash. Madness that would certainly result in massive casualties.
So just this once, theyโd made an exception.
The principal added,
โAnd since I told you about it, weโre splitting the cost.โ
โFine, Iโll just empty out my inventory.โ
The Wall of Wisdom answered any question, but in exchange, it required a fitting offering.
Usually, it demanded items.
Even for the principal, that was a burden. Hence his slight hope of getting โhelpโ from the Sword Queen.
She asked,
โBut we have to pay items just to ask a few questions?โ
โYes. And it wonโt even glance at anything below A-rank.โ
โItโs like a wall version of Kim Ho.โ
โWas that an insult?โ
โMhmm. Just made it up.โ
Since it sounded plausible, the principal didnโt bother arguing.
Heโd also gone through quite a bit of trouble recently to get some items for Kim Ho.
He stepped closer to the wall and pulled something from inside his coat.
It was a grotesquely shattered and crumbling bracelet.
An item dropped by the Witch of Exhaustion while fleeing during the raid on the [Falsberry Great Plains].
โIโm going to use this as the medium.โ
โSo weโll be able to track her?โ
โBetter than asking vague questions.โ
With that, the principal held the bracelet out toward the wall.
The symbols across the wall gathered together, forming the shape of a giant eye, which stared closely at the bracelet.
Then a single word appeared.
[Observe]
โโฆโฆโ
โโฆโฆโ
After they waited a while longer, a few more words surfaced.
[Confirm]
[Offering]
[Large]
Noticing the unusual appearance of an extra word, the principal protested.
โWhy โlargeโ today?โ
[Target]
[S-Rank]
[Difficult]
In other words, because the Witch of Exhaustion was a high-level entity, tracking her would be harder.
The principal scratched the back of his head.
โKnew it was going to turn out like this.โ
โSo I have to pay more too?โ
โOf course. We agreed to split everything, remember?โ
โKim Ho-like wall bastard.โ
Ignoring the Sword Queenโs swearing, the principal turned back to the Wall of Wisdom and asked,
โAlright, so what exactly do we need to give?โ
[S-Rank]
โIt costs that much just to figure out where she is?โ
[Affirmative]
โWhat kind of Kim Ho-like wall is thisโฆโ
Even the principal couldnโt hold back a curse.
It already hurt to part with an A-rank item. Now it was asking for an S-rank?
S-rank items were irreplaceable assets. They were practically tactical weapons.
Even he, a former hero, didnโt own many.
Even if stabilizing Dragon Slayer Academy was the top priority, it wasnโt something he could just toss out lightly.
And all that for just one location?
No matter how he looked at it, the trade-off didnโt seem worth it.
Still, it wasnโt like he could just walk away now. So the principal decided to negotiate.
โS-rankโs a bit much. Isnโt there a cheaper option?โ
[Yes]
[Drawback]
[Passive]
The Sword Queen looked at the wall and asked,
โWhat does that mean for us?โ
โUntil now, weโve always gone and smashed things ourselves once we knew where they were. This time, since itโs cheaper, Iโm guessing weโll have to sit back and wait.โ
โDonโt like the sound of that.โ
โStill better than not finding her at all.โ
While trying hard to rationalize it all, the two of them each pulled an item out of their inventories.
The principal brought out a helmet adorned with demon horns, while the Sword Queen produced a jade-crafted ornament.
Both were A-rank items.
Soon after, the symbols on the Wall of Wisdom gathered to form the shape of two open palms. As if waiting to receive the offerings.
Fssshk,
In the next moment, the A-rank items were accepted as offerings, disintegrating into powder and vanishing.
However, the hands on the wall remained.
They wiggled their fingers and displayed new words.
[Insufficient]
[More]
The Sword Queen twitched, seemingly at the edge of her patience, and reached for her waist.
But just as she was about to draw her sword, the principal hurriedly stopped her.
โLetโs not. Iโll use mine instead.โ
โJust let me slice off the tip.โ
โNo! If you cut it, Iโll get cut too!โ
The two bickered back and forth for a while.
After finally calming the Sword Queen down, the principal offered up one more A-rank item.
Then, new words appeared on the wall.
[Yum Yum]
[Tasty]
Muttering Buddhist teachings in his head to calm himself, the principal asked,
โSo, what exactly happens now that makes this a passive response?โ
[Kim Ho]
At the unexpected name, the two turned to look at each other.
โDid it just insult us?โ
โ…I hope not.โ
Then, the principal turned back to the wall and asked for confirmation.
โYou mean, the Witch of Exhaustion is targeting Kim Ho?โ
[Affirmative]
At first, it felt sudden. But the more they thought about it, the more it made sense.
Kim Ho had been one of the key figures in the campaign against the Witch of Corruption.
Just the fact that heโd granted [Poison Immunity] to the entire expedition was monumental.
Thanks to that, there had been zero casualties.
And word was, even in her final moments, the Witch of Corruption tried desperately to eliminate Kim Ho.
Which meant sheโd seen him as a major threat.
If that information had been passed along to the other witches, then it made perfect sense.
The Witch of Death clashing with Kim Ho in Hye-seong New City,
And the Witch of Exhaustion chasing him all the way to Dungeon Island.
After hearing that explanation, the Sword Queen spoke.
โGuess their relationship is worse than we thought. Coming all the way out here for an expedition says a lot.โ
โMy thoughts exactly.โ
And the worse their relationship was, the more they had to protect Kim Ho with everything they had.
But before that, another question came to mind, and the principal turned back to look at the Wall of Wisdom.
โJust one more thing. You’ve already taken three A-ranks.โฆโ
[Generous]
[Go ahead, ask]
โThere havenโt been any other casualties yet, right? I mean, human casualties.โ
[None]
Well, of course. For now, she’d be focusing on recovering her wounds.
Using her main skill Drain would speed things up, but going back into the dungeon or creating more victims would be too risky.
If she left any trace, they’d track her down before she could fully recover.
โCan you tell us when the attack will happen?โ
[Additional charge]
[S-rank]
โForget it, you bastard.โ
If it was going to ask for an S-rank, it shouldโve said so from the start.
The principal let out a sigh.
โLooks like our only option is to guard him around the clock.โ
โSeems so.โ
โโฆโฆโ
When the principal silently looked her way, she immediately caught on and grimaced.
โ…You want me to do it? No way!โ
โI canโt exactly do it myself.โ
If the principal started hanging around a first-year student, it would draw attention from students, parents, and everyone else.
They needed to handle this quietly. Having the principal trailing around would only stir things up.
Besides, he was the principal. He had plenty of responsibilities to take care of.
And since they had no idea when the attack might come, he couldnโt just stay by a studentโs side indefinitely.
On the other hand, the Sword Queen, thanks to her youthful appearance, wouldnโt attract nearly as much attention.
She didnโt have any pressing engagements either, so she was free to move around.
Still, the idea of spending that free time on Kim Ho clearly didnโt sit well with her. Her face twisted in displeasure.
โCanโt you use some of your kids? You’ve got plenty of them.โ
โTeacher Lee and Teacher Seo are both A-rank. They wonโt stand a chance against an S-rank.โ
โโฆโฆโ
โJust a bit more help, please. Iโm asking you.โ
โ…That damn Kim Ho.โ
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