Chapter 192

So it shows up like this after all.

The fact that Pierre Chauvin raised a death flag despite it being our first meeting meant that the possibility of him killing me in the future had already been established.

It meant the trigger of death aimed at Winter Winslet had already been pulled.

Now that the bombing terror attack had occurred, every person and every place in the royal capital would become a subject of investigation.

And during that investigation, the wrongdoing committed by Winter Winslet might come to light.

I had been trying to erase the traces of Caraphine manufacturing at the Academy all this time, but there was no guarantee that evidence I failed to remove wouldn’t appear, or that an anonymous informant wouldn’t show up.

I’m not the culprit, yet if they dig around, it’s not like I’m completely innocent either.

In short, it was a checkmate situation.

Now that I had possessed the body of Winter Winslet, it seemed that conflict with Pierre Chauvin, the protagonist of the original game Candela of Judgment, was an unavoidable fate.

But what felt a little unfair was that Pierre wasn’t the only one who had raised a death flag against me.

Jamie Frawley and Koyo Miller as well.

Every transfer student except Princess Estelle had raised a death flag against me.

Did they all enroll just to kill me?

The whole world is a death flag.

***

The transfer students’ entrance ceremony was long and boring.

Most of it was simply stretching out congratulations for the princess’s enrollment.

But because it was boring, it actually helped.

Pretending to fight off drowsiness, Pierre Chauvin observed the inside of the auditorium.

Especially the golden-haired man sitting on the stage.

So that’s Professor Winslet. The supervisor of the Candela Knights said he’s a person of interest.

He was a man considered one of the top two mages in the kingdom, and possibly the culprit behind the recent bombing terror attack.

He was staring at the transfer students with a blunt expression, which made him look arrogant, as if he were appraising people’s worth.

Perhaps he had stared for too long.

Pierre’s eyes met with his.

He felt the cold gaze sweep over him.

The moment he almost shuddered, but Pierre quickly regained his confidence.

No one knows that I enrolled in the Academy for an undercover investigation. At least not here.

Even so, Professor Winslet’s gaze was so sharp like it could see straight through something that Pierre eventually ended up looking away first.

The supervisor told me to approach that man naturally… but that seems difficult for now. Maybe I should aim for an easier target first.

Thinking that, Pierre turned his head to the side.

Three transfer students were seated with him in chairs below the stage.

Among them, two were enrolling in the Magic Department.

Princess Estelle, with the noble pink-blonde hair that symbolized the royal family, and a girl named Jamie with short golden hair.

It’ll be easier to approach that one than the princess. She’ll attract less attention too.

The reason he wanted to approach a student from the Magic Department was obvious. It was to search for traces of Caraphine production at the Academy and uncover the culprit behind the bombing terror attack.

Originally, the supervisor of the Candela Knights had also ordered him to enroll in the Magic Department.

However, Pierre had absolutely no talent for magic, so he had no choice but to enroll in the Knight Department first and then gather information by creating a collaborator in the Magic Department.

Fortunately, when it came to using a sword, he had more than enough confidence, so he passed the Knight Department’s transfer exam in a single attempt.

Because mages were such a valuable human resource, transfers into the Magic Department were fairly common.

But the Knight Department was different.

Unlike magic, swordsmanship could be improved to a certain degree simply through teaching, and the Knight Department already had a strong culture emphasizing rank and discipline. Unless someone possessed truly exceptional skill, they generally refused to accept transfer students.

Yet this time, two people including Pierre had passed the transfer exam.

It was extremely unusual.

Then does that mean this one is also someone with skills comparable to mine?

Pierre looked at the black-haired girl sitting to his right.

Her name was Koyo Miller.

She looked about his age or perhaps younger, was quiet, and didn’t give the impression of being particularly strong.

She wasn’t very tall, and her frame was slender. He wasn’t even sure she could properly use strength.

But perhaps it was a swordsman’s instinct.

From the girl, he sensed a sharp presence like a finely honed dagger.

If he had to compare it to something, it felt like the aura of an assassin.

It’s probably just my imagination. Why would an assassin disguise themselves as a student and enter the Academy? It’s not like cases like mine are common.

In any case, since he would leave the Academy once his mission was over, Pierre had no real business with students from the Knight Department.

Pierre turned his gaze the other way.

Right then, the short-haired female student he had decided to befriend was sitting in the seat directly to his left.

Pierre smiled and greeted her.

“Hi. I’m Pierre. You’re Jamie, right? Do you happen to have time after the entrance ceremony?”

“……”

“I couldn’t really focus during the explanation earlier. Could you show me around the campus? I’ll buy you a drink or something. What do you think?”

“……”

Instead of an answer, he was ignored.

She didn’t even turn her gaze toward him.

In the end, Pierre scratched the back of his head and backed off.

Wow, that’s pretty cold. Was making new friends always this difficult?

Still, there was no need to be this disappointed.

The person he befriended didn’t necessarily have to be a transfer student.

For now, if he adapted to academy life and blended in naturally, an opportunity would come someday.

If possible, it would be more helpful to get close to a student who takes Professor Winslet’s class… Maybe I should look into that.

Afterward, they listened to explanations about the Academy’s academic schedule, important rules, and things to watch out for, and the entrance ceremony finally ended.

After waiting seated for a moment, someone came to guide them to the Knight Department.

A tall male student greeted Pierre and Koyo Miller and held out his hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Christopher, the class president of First Year Class A. You two are the new transfer students, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“You’ll be assigned to Class B. Originally the class president of Class B was supposed to guide you today… but as you know, that guy ended up stuck in the infirmary.”

Christopher said this while glancing subtly at Pierre.

Pierre shrugged and defended himself.

“Why are you looking at me? It’s not my fault he got hurt. He brought it on himself. If he wasn’t prepared for that outcome, he shouldn’t have started a fight in the first place.”

“Even so, I didn’t expect you to break three of his ribs… Well, honestly, I’m not planning to blame you. If I had to take a side, I’d say I’m actually on your side.”

“Really?”

“Craig has a bad habit of being too rough on people who look weaker than him. Maybe getting beaten once will fix that personality of his.”

The two boys looked at each other and grinned.

Christopher spoke.

“More importantly, I’m interested in your skills. The swordsmanship you showed during the transfer exam was really impressive. Where did you learn it?”

“Just… from a wandering swordsman who stayed in our village.”

It wasn’t a lie.

He simply didn’t mention that the wandering swordsman was actually a former captain of the Candela Knights who had been on a secret mission, nor that he had undergone six months of brutal training at a frontier training camp right before coming to the academy.

“With your level of skill, we might see you in Class A before long.”

“Classes can change?”

“Of course. We take a skill test every month. The classes are decided by ranking.”

“Then you, as the Class A president…”

“It’s the seat that receives everyone’s challenges. Of course, I welcome your challenge too.”

“Hah.”

Christopher had the appearance of someone diligent and kind, but it seemed that wasn’t all there was to him.

Then again, anyone without at least that much fighting spirit and competitive drive wouldn’t be able to endure the daily training and physical conditioning.

“But be careful. Something might happen before you make it into Class A.”

Pierre furrowed his brows at Christopher’s words.

“Something?”

“Yeah. The Class B you’re about to enter is, how should I put it… full of guys who are dying to show off their skills. And you basically beat their leader even before enrollment, right? They’ll think you stole their turn.”

“So you’re saying they’ll come at me?”

“Most likely.”

“Hmm.”

Just then, they arrived at their destination.

It was the outdoor training ground of First-Year Class B, located on the eastern grounds of the Knight Department.

The boys who had been sweating profusely while swinging their swords suddenly stopped moving.

Then they turned their heads toward them and shot fierce looks their way.

Looks that clearly meant, “You’re dead meat.”

“I actually like this.”

When Pierre voiced his honest impression, Christopher laughed and lightly patted his shoulder.

“Good luck.”

***

It’s not only the students who get busy once the semester begins.

Professors become just as overwhelmingly busy.

As I prepared lectures for the newly started semester, my mind was complicated.

The chaotic political situation of the kingdom and the major incidents it would trigger, the death flags that were still scattered everywhere, and even the demon’s curse and the dragon’s binding prohibition.

To survive all of this, I needed power greater than what I had now.

And that power didn’t simply mean my magical ability.

The more I used mana, the more the demon parasitizing the fate of the Winslet family would try to devour Winter Winslet’s body and soul. So what I needed now was a different kind of power.

That was why I posted two notices on the central bulletin board on the first floor of the Magic Academy.

One of them read:

One of the main storylines in Year 2 of Candela of Judgment is the International Swordsmanship Exchange Tournament and the Magic Academy Competition held by the Empire.

Among them, I planned to create a magic dueling club with the goal of participating in the academy competition.

By doing so, my first plan was to secure time and a place to train companion NPCs.

For now, Shannon Quinliburn and Jacqueline Dogwood would be the first companions to join.

And the other notice I posted on the bulletin board was this.

<Announcement of New Course Opening Course Title: Understanding Dimensional Magic and Familiar Contract Practice>

Securing a powerful familiar that would fight in my place.

That was why I was looking forward to the second semester.