Chapter 149

【 Academy Competition 】

“Goodness, Rage. My apologies. The chair suddenly shook.”

“Ah… no. It’s fine.”

Nazar looked flustered.

But Rage looked even more flustered than Nazar.

He quickly hid his startled expression and brought his hand toward his chest.

To be exact, he covered the black pattern faintly visible through the back of his shirt.

“Thank you for bestowing such a precious wine.”

“It’s nothing, don’t mind it. When Dilug retires five years from now, you’ll support me as the head of the Isrinbloom Family. This much is the least I can do.”

Nazar raised his wine glass high.

“Anyway, thank you all for gathering here today… and I hope for your continued support. For our Empire…….”

Nazar’s toast continued for a bit longer after that.

But none of the Emperor’s words entered my ears.

All that dominated my attention and filled my head was the pattern I had just witnessed on Rage.

More precisely, the black pattern engraved on his chest.

I hadn’t seen what the pattern actually looked like.

After all, not much wine had splashed onto Rage’s shirt.

So I only managed to glimpse the upper edge of that pattern—just a tiny part of it.

But what mattered was… the very fact that some kind of pattern was engraved on Rage’s chest.

‘And he keeps hiding it.’

Rage kept covering his chest with his hand from earlier.

The area where the shirt clung wetly because of the wine.

‘…Hey, Siri.’

– Woof?

‘Did you Hellhounds ever… get massacred by Ancient Beings or something?’

– …Woof?

From within the shadows, Siri barked once, sounding like she truly had no idea.

Now that I thought about it, Siri had probably acted purely on instinct.

For now, I set aside thoughts about Siri……

‘Did Jason notice it too?’

Jason had also been watching Rage the entire time.

When our eyes met, Jason quietly nodded.

He seemed to be thinking the same thing as I was.

Just in case, I looked toward Andrew as well…….

‘…This man, I can never tell what he’s thinking.’

Still, he must have sensed that something felt off. Andrew was also staring at Rage.

To be exact, he was staring at Rage’s hand desperately covering his chest.

But since he simply watched silently, I had no way of guessing what Andrew was thinking.

“Alright then, everyone! For the Empire, raise your glasses!”

While my mind wandered elsewhere, Nazar’s toast came to an end.

After Nazar, the dukes, and Rage emptied their glasses—

Nazar stood up from his seat and looked toward me, Lisa, Jason, and Layla.

“From here, I’d like to speak privately with the dukes… Layla, could you take your friends and show them around the Imperial Palace?”

“Okay, Dad. But Dad—don’t drink too much, alright? If you’re drunk when we come back, I’m telling Mom everything.”

“Hahaha, alright. I’ll drink in moderation.”

Nazar replied with a laugh, then turned back to Rage.

“Rage, what about you? Will you tour the palace with those kids?”

“If it wouldn’t be rude, I’d like to take my leave first. I want to spend a little time with my younger siblings this evening.”

“Ah, right, your siblings… Sara and Eisen? Both of them said they were entering this competition, didn’t they?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Hoho. Very well. I’ll look forward to the Isrinbloom Family’s performance.”

“Thank you.”

After bowing to Nazar, Rage slowly rose from his seat.

Even then, he continued to hide the wet part of his shirt with his hand.

Noticing this, Nazar opened his mouth again.

“Ah, about spilling the drink on your shirt—my apologies once more. I don’t know why a perfectly fine chair suddenly shook.”

“It’s alright. Please don’t worry about it. Then, I shall take my leave now.”

With that, Rage headed straight toward the exit.

Our eyes met briefly as he passed, but… he showed no particular reaction toward me.

He simply glanced at me indifferently.

Then he quickly exited the room.

‘A pattern on his chest. A pattern engraved on his chest…….’

Roy had told me before.

That the Apostle of the Evil God Bedir carried patterns—brands—engraved on their bodies.

Usually on the chest or back, patterns like burning marks.

‘There’s definitely something on Rage’s chest… but I didn’t confirm if it’s that pattern.’

Honestly, it could just be an ordinary tattoo.

But… it all felt far too uncanny to be coincidence.

The Evil God Bedir had once dwelled in ancient Muktaba… and now, a member of the Isrinbloom Family—who currently ruled that very land—had a mysterious pattern engraved on his chest……

“Alright, everyone! Follow me! Lisa and Jason have toured the palace many times, but… Gideon, this is your first time, right?”

“Yes? Ah, yes, that’s right, Princess.”

“I’ll show you every nook and corner, so hurry up!”

Layla grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the exit.

“This is the garden built inside the Imperial Palace……”

For about an hour after that, we toured the palace.

Thanks to Layla guiding us, it was easy to enjoy the palace sightseeing.

If it were any other day, I probably would have admired everything in awe—the place was that magnificent.

But right now, I simply couldn’t.

My mind was entirely elsewhere.

Layla seemed to have noticed that to some extent.

“Hm, Gideon. Are you okay?”

“Yes? Princess Layla, what do you mean all of a sudden?”

“Your expression since earlier… do you have something on your mind, some kind of worry?”

“…Nothing like that.”

I smiled as I answered Layla.

But Lisa tilted her head, grabbed my hand, and stared at me quietly.

“Are you really okay? There isn’t something going on, right, Gideon?”

“…It’s not that there’s nothing.”

I knew well that lying didn’t work on Lisa.

But it was also difficult to be fully honest with her.

Still, for now, it wasn’t something I needed to talk about yet.

If it was the Lisa I knew…

“It’s hard to talk about it right now, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah. I’ll definitely tell you later.”

“Mm, you have to tell me later, okay?”

Lisa trusted me.

So much that I almost felt sorry for it.

“I won’t pry, but I’m really curious. For you to hide something even from me, what on earth could—uh? Uh… mmm……”

Lisa’s voice trailed off, and her eyes slowly closed.

I blinked in confusion—

Jason had brought a small vial containing some liquid close to Lisa’s nose.

The moment she inhaled the scent, Lisa collapsed instantly.

“…Jason?”

I quickly caught the fainting Lisa.

When I looked toward Jason, he was already carrying the unconscious Layla on his back.

“There should be a bench over there. Let’s move them.”

“What… what is this?”

“Ah, don’t worry. They’re just asleep.”

“That potion just now… was it a sleeping potion?”

“Yeah. A very potent one. Just a whiff of its scent is enough to put you to sleep instantly.”

Jason gently laid Layla down on the bench, and I carefully placed Lisa beside her.

“Is this… really okay? Even if it’s you, Jason, using something like that on the Princess……”

“I told you, don’t worry. It just puts them to sleep. Completely harmless to the body. They’ll wake up in about thirty minutes.”

“Well, if that’s the case… But judging by how far you went, I suppose you really wanted to talk to me alone?”

“That goes for you too, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, the same for me.”

I let out a small laugh and looked at Jason.

“Did you see inside Lord Rage’s shirt earlier?”

“…Yeah. There was something drawn there.”

Jason spoke with a deeply troubled look.

“Well… it could just be a tattoo. Or maybe a branded mark. But… you told me before, didn’t you? That the Apostle of the Evil God Bedir has some kind of pattern engraved on their chest.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And Bedir was a god who once resided in Muktaba.”

All I could do was nod at Jason’s words.

“This doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”

“I agree. Of course… it’s possible we’re mistaken. Like I said, maybe that guy just happened to have a tattoo on his chest.”

Jason paused for a moment, then continued after collecting his thoughts.

“Looks like we’ve got something to do during the competition.”

He let out a faint chuckle and nodded.

“For now, focus on the competition. I’ll look into Lord Rage myself.”

“Understood. But if the pattern on Lord Rage’s chest really is……”

“If it’s what we think it is… we’ll deal with that when the time comes. For now, we just need to confirm whether Rage is truly the Apostle of that Evil God we’re searching for.”

“Yes, understood. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Count on me. This kind of thing is the Hawkbat Family’s specialty.”

I nodded along with him.

Just as he said, this was best left to an expert. I needed to focus on the upcoming competition.

“Oh, and Gideon.”

“Yes?”

“What did you do back there?”

“What do you mean?”

“The chair. The Emperor’s chair. The one that suddenly shook. It’s the very seat His Majesty sits on. There’s no way something of that quality—checked regularly by his attendants and the Head Butler—would just shake on its own… and the timing was too perfect. Almost like someone caused it on purpose.”

I hesitated, unsure of how to respond to Jason’s question.

But then, I nodded.

“We’re already in the same boat. No reason to hide it now. I was planning to tell you eventually anyway.”

“So there is something?”

“Yes. But I’d appreciate it if you kept this secret. Especially from Lisa Noona. She doesn’t know about this yet.”

“Another secret even your future fiancée doesn’t know…? Wow, now I’m curious. What is it?”

“It’s nothing too special. Alright then… Siri, come out for a bit.”

“Woof! Woof woof!”

At my call, Siri suddenly leapt out from my shadow.

Jason’s eyes widened as he looked at her.

“This black dog… wait a second. A black dog emerging from a shadow—Gideon, since when have you been raising a Hellhound?”

“It’s been a few months—ah, hey! Siri! Sit! Stop licking my face already!”

“Woof! Woof woof woof!”

Siri had grown quite a bit.

Now closer to a small wolf in size, she lunged at me playfully like she did when she was a pup… and I was starting to struggle to keep up with her strength.

“Sit.”

“Whine.”

“Paw.”

“Woof!”

“Good girl. Well done……. Ahem. Sorry. What were you saying just now?”

“…You’ve been raising this Hellhound since it was a cub?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I see. Maybe that’s why she’s so tame? Incredible. I learned Hellhounds were all violent.”

Jason carefully stepped closer and gently patted Siri’s head.

Siri barked happily, wagging her tail with immense energy.

“Well then, as you said, I’ll keep this Hellhound a secret. So go ahead, tell me your story.”

“You mean… about Siri?”

“Ah, so her name’s Siri. Anyway, yeah. Can you tell me before Lady Layla and Lisa Noona wake up?”

“I can. Like I said, we’re already in the same boat now—ah, hey! Stop licking my face already!”

“Woof woof!”

As always… my Siri was full of boundless energy.

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