Chapter 158

‘…Did he leave?’

Near the athlete waiting room of Muktaba Academy.

The restroom located nearby.

I slowly walked out from there and looked around.

I didn’t feel any presence nearby.

‘I made a sound while eavesdropping earlier… I thought I was caught.’

Fortunately, Rage didn’t seem to notice me.

I headed back toward Muktaba Academy’s athlete waiting room.

There was no one inside.

Those three men of the Isrinbloom Family had apparently left.

“Whooo…”

After confirming that no one was around,

I let out a breath and sank down on the spot.

I guessed that as the tension left me, the strength in my legs left as well.

‘Secretly hiding and eavesdropping… it really made my skin crawl. I can’t do that.’

Still, it had been worth coming all the way here to eavesdrop.

Because I had heard extremely important information.

‘Rage discovered someone’s remnant in Muktaba, met that being, and gained power. And using that power, he’s planning something to overthrow the Empire. And on top of that…….’

I recalled the conversation I had overheard earlier.

I hadn’t seen it directly, but Rage seemed to have used some kind of magic on Dilug.

From that magic, it looked like he had cast mind manipulation—basically, some kind of hypnosis.

‘Ancient Dragon Tongue Magic… the power given by a dragon, he said.’

I had heard about it before.

Akkion’s Evil God, Bedir… and the evil dragon Suiroti who had followed Bedir.

A dragon that wielded ice, and at the same time, the one known to have established and systematized Dragon Tongue Magic, the magic said to belong to dragons.

‘Right, now I could be certain.’

The Evil God Bedir and the evil dragon Suiroti.

Centuries ago, they had clashed with the ancestors of my family and with other races.

And now, those ancient beings seemed to be trying to reveal themselves again through the Isrinbloom Family.

‘If the Isrinbloom Family is truly connected… this might be a far bigger matter than I thought. It might be something I can’t handle alone.’

Whatever the case, I didn’t feel like I could solve this on my own.

I needed the help of several people.

The first among them—Jason.

I had to contact Jason quickly, the one who went alone to investigate the Isrinbloom Family.

‘But… will he even answer?’

Since Jason had left about a week ago, I hadn’t contacted him once.

No—more precisely, I hadn’t tried.

I figured he would be busy.

But what happened today, and what I had just overheard, absolutely needed to be shared.

‘Please pick up.’

I contacted Jason through the Crystal Sphere.

Honestly, I didn’t expect him to answer…

— What? Gideon? Why’re you calling all of a sudden?

“Oh? Jason, sir? Are you available to talk for a moment?”

— I am. But what—ah, wait. A guard is passing by. Hold on.

Jason’s urgent voice came through the Crystal Sphere.

After a short moment—

— Hoo… this place should be safe. As expected of the Isrinbloom Family. Their mansion has… so many weird hiding spots.

“Jason, sir… are you inside the Isrinbloom Family mansion right now?”

— Yup. I entered three days ago… and I’ve been secretly eating and sleeping inside this mansion for three days straight.

“…How have you not been caught?”

— I have my ways. I told you, I’m a specialist at things like this. Anyway, why did you contact me so suddenly? Today’s the day of the swordsmanship tournament, right? What, did something happen?

“Yes. Something very serious happened.”

I told Jason everything that had happened today, and everything I had just overheard.

After listening to all of it, Jason remained silent for a while.

Then—

— Is Sara… alright?

“I haven’t had the chance to check her condition yet, but… she looked very bad. If she doesn’t receive proper treatment, she might never use her right hand properly again.”

— …Those damn Isrinbloom bastards. Did they feel better after doing that to Sara?

I had never once heard Jason get angry.

Not in reality, and not in the game.

But just now, I could hear fury in his voice.

Before I could say anything, Jason quickly continued.

— Ah, sorry. Pretend you didn’t hear that. I spoke without thinking.

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

— So anyway. Eisen handled lava brilliantly in today’s match, and Rage used power granted by some being. And he hypnotized Lord Dilug, who came to question him?

“Yes, that’s the summary.”

— And Rage is planning to overthrow and seize the Empire… well, that’s very like him. He was always pretty ambitious. But overthrowing the Empire isn’t easy… hmm, or is it? If he received power from an ancient being—the Evil God—maybe Rage decided it was doable.

“Whatever the case, this is much bigger than we expected. I think we should secretly inform Lord Andrew first……”

— No, don’t tell my father yet.

Jason cut me off.

I felt puzzled and asked,

“But Jason, sir. As I said, Lord Dilug is under hypnosis. A duke being in that state……”

— If it’s my father, he’ll notice immediately that Lord Dilug is acting strange. So even if we don’t tell him, he’ll soon start an investigation on his own. But if you run to him right now and tell him everything, he’ll mobilize our family in full. And I… don’t want that. Not yet.

“May I ask the reason?”

— No matter how secretly we move, once our family takes large-scale action, the Isrinbloom Family—and Rage—will definitely notice. Then, instead of gaining information, we might lose it.

I nodded.

It was indeed a reasonable explanation.

— It’s better to investigate as much as possible now, while they’re off guard. And Gideon, you have to fight in the tournament tomorrow, right?

“That’s true, but in this situation, the tournament isn’t—”

— No, it is important. Did you forget your promise with Eisen?

“What promise… ah.”

I remembered.

The promise I had momentarily forgotten.

— Right. Eisen said he would tell you something if you won.

“Yes, that was the promise.”

— It could be a trap Eisen set, sure… but the Eisen I know isn’t like that. Like he said back then, he’d genuinely want you to win because he wants to ask for your help.

“Yes, I’ll make sure to win.”

— Yeah, definitely win. Eisen might tell you something very important.

With those words, Jason went quiet for a moment.

And then he brought up another topic.

— You said you still haven’t checked Sara’s condition yet, right?

“Yes, that’s correct. I was planning to go right after this call.”

— …Check how she’s doing, and send me a short message.

“Understood.”

I could feel genuine concern in Jason’s voice.

As expected, the person who cared most about Sara was Jason.

“When will you return, Jason, sir? Lady Sara has been looking for you quite a lot.”

— Probably two or three days after the tournament ends? I originally planned to go back earlier, but I think I need to find out as much as possible here in Muktaba.

“I understand. Then… I hope everything goes well.”

— Yeah. And you make sure to beat Eisen tomorrow.

With that, the communication with Jason ended.

I stared blankly at the Crystal Sphere for a moment, then finally began walking.

I planned to do what Jason had asked first.

“Uugh, ah… uuh? Uu…….”

A hospital near Benetic Stadium.

Sara had been moved there and was being treated.

Numerous healers gathered around her arm, casting healing magic.

But somehow, it didn’t seem to be healing very well.

“Lady Sara’s injury… seems extremely severe.”

“Yeah, the healers even seriously thought about amputation.”

Luke let out a sigh as he looked at Sara.

Sara’s arm had been completely charred black.

And as if the pain was unbearable, Sara trembled despite the healers’ magic.

“They’re suppressing the pain with magic—that’s why she’s like this. Without it… Sara might’ve died from the pain alone.”

“So Lady Sara… can’t use her right arm anymore?”

“If they’re even considering amputation… the chances are high.”

It seemed I would only be able to deliver bad news to Jason.

Luke watched the injured Sara for a moment, sighed again, and stepped out of the room.

I followed after him.

“…Gideon.”

“Yes, Instructor.”

“The Eisen I know isn’t someone who would do that to Sara. And when I faced him earlier… something was off. It didn’t feel like Eisen standing in front of me.”

I silently nodded at Luke’s words.

He continued, sounding bothered.

“And there’s more weird stuff. Even though Sara ended up like this, Lord Dilug hasn’t shown himself at all… and Rage, that guy—he also seemed like a completely different person when I saw him this time. So, Gideon.”

“Yes, Instructor.”

“Do you… know something?”

“…Why do you think I’d know anything?”

“No reason. Just a gut feeling.”

I gave a small laugh.

I guess someone who had lived through countless situations would naturally have good instincts.

“Yes. As your instincts say, I know a little.”

“Jason suddenly disappearing—does that have something to do with this too?”

“Something like that.”

“Then can you tell me what you know?”

“Hmm.”

I thought for a moment.

I planned to tell everyone around me what I had uncovered soon anyway.

Including Luke wouldn’t cause issues.

“Yes. I’ll tell you. But it’s a long story—so could it be after the tournament tomorrow?”

“Oh, right. Tomorrow is your match. Sure, I don’t mind. I can wait a day.”

As I had agreed with Jason earlier, I wasn’t planning to tell anyone until after my match with Eisen.

And speaking of my match with Eisen…

“Instructor, I heard something on my way here—apparently Eisen might be disqualified, is that true?”

“Yeah. The injury Eisen inflicted on Sara is something that could absolutely justify disqualification under tournament rules. It’s not strange that people are talking about it.”

“Then… I won’t be able to face Eisen in tomorrow’s representative battle?”

That would be troublesome.

I needed to fight Eisen to get information from him.

“There’s a real chance of that. I asked Lisa to look into it, but knowing Lord Dilug, he would definitely—”

“Instructor.”

“Oh? Lisa? You came faster than I expected.”

Speak of the tiger and she appears—Lisa showed up just as we mentioned her.

“Did you check? Is Eisen getting disqualified?”

“No. They said they’ll proceed with the tournament without any disqualification. They’ll start the Swordsmanship Tournament finals soon, and tomorrow’s academy representative match will also proceed normally.”

“…I need to meet Lord Dilug. The Lord Dilug I know would never overlook what Eisen did.”

With that, Luke immediately hurried off.

Lisa watched him leave for a moment before turning to me.

“They said the tournament finals are starting soon. Want to go watch?”

“Hmm, no. I’ll stay by Lady Sara’s side. Someone should be with her. And Eisen will win anyway, so I don’t think I need to see it.”

“That’s true. Then I’ll stay with you.”

Lisa and I waited outside Sara’s room.

We planned to go inside after the healers finished their treatment.

But while waiting, I bumped into a female student walking down the hallway.

“Oh! I—I’m sorry!”

“No, it’s alright.”

The student bowed and quickly walked away.

But just now… I didn’t see her face well, yet her voice sounded familiar…

“Hmm?”

A small note was in my hand.

It hadn’t been there before… so she must have slipped it to me when we bumped into each other.

I secretly checked the note without Lisa noticing.

[Tonight at 10 p.m., please come to the address below. I will give you the item my father entrusted to me.]

After reading it, I immediately looked toward the girl who had passed.

Now that I could see her from behind… her short hair looked very familiar.

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