Chapter 135: The Hour of Fate

Evan, the 3rd-year dedicated professor who had returned to the Academy after a long absence.

The first thing he did upon his return was to meet the Vice-Dean and submit his resignation letter.

Soon, Department Head Pirion and Section Chief Baron were summoned to the Vice-Dean’s office, and the three of them tried to persuade Evan for a long time, but in the end, they had no choice but to approve his resignation.

It was decided that the lecture he was in charge of, <Situations and Tactical Judgment>, would be replaced by another professor.

Finally, Evan came to find me.

“Are you really quitting?”

“I have to. It’s a nuisance to stay when there’s no reason to.”

He might be right.

A rumor that he was resigning was already spreading throughout the school.

The Vice-Dean, Department Head Pirion, or Section Chief Baron wouldn’t have blabbed, so it must have been one of the staff in the personnel department.

For a professor, an honorary position, to resign without fulfilling their contract period was an unprecedented matter, unless a war had broken out or they were urgently summoned by their home unit, that is, their affiliated knight order or magic corps.

Therefore, the rumor spread quite quickly and both professors and cadets seemed to welcome his resignation.

“You’ll come back, right?”

“Why? Are you worried I’ll go around revealing secrets?”

I laughed.

“No way. I’m probably the one here who knows best that you’re tight-lipped, Professor.”

Hmph, Evan laughed along with me.

“……I owe you a great debt.”

That was enough of an answer.

I already knew the reason Evan was leaving.

To lay his mother to rest in her hometown.

And after finishing that farewell journey, he would return to us again.

As we walked and talked, we were already approaching the Academy’s main gate.

Just then, Evan called out to me and stopped me.

“Gerard.”

“Yes?”

“If you ever get the chance, go to ‘Binhawk’.”

Binhawk?

“That’s in the western part of the empire. A border city that touches the Naimus Empire.”

“You know it well. Have you been there?”

He, who had asked, immediately realized and opened his mouth again.

“……It would be strange if you didn’t know. Huhu.”

“Excuse me, Professor? This is the Academy. You should watch your mouth.”

“That’s right.”

“But why there?”

“I met a man there two years ago. Like you, he doesn’t use an Aura Sword, but he was an incredibly strong man.”

Aura Sword.

If the Aura Heart was the most basic condition for becoming an apprentice knight who could skillfully handle aura, the Aura Sword was a stage one level above that.

But though it was said to be one stage, there was in fact a vast gap between the two stages.

To narrow that gap, one needs to shed a lot of blood and sweat, or invest a huge amount of time, or if not that, possess overwhelming talent.

As such, being able to use an Aura Sword meant that one had the minimum qualifications to make a name for themselves as a swordsman in this world, and they were also considered to be strong.

The Sword Expert was the stage where one could use this Aura Sword.

However.

“So?”

I answered nonchalantly.

Strong, but can’t use an Aura Sword?

It’s surprising, but from my perspective, it’s not that strange.

Because I have a few around me.

There’s Evan right in front of me, and the members of our Shadow are the same.

And our seniors in Shadow are the same as well.

Well, it’s true that I and those around me are the exceptions.

Anyway.

Looking at it this way, the Aura Sword was not necessarily a clear standard of strength.

But the next words that followed were very surprising.

“I lost.”

I thought I had misheard and asked again.

“……Pardon? What.”

“When I met him, we met as enemies. So we fought and I was defeated by him.”

Evan lost?

Putting aside all the talk about the Aura Sword, this was the hardest thing to believe.

“Were you wearing your armor?”

“Of course, I was.”

“You weren’t poisoned?”

“Nothing of the sort. I was in top condition at the time and was defeated cleanly.”

I wanted to deny it.

The armored Evan was, by name and in reality, a top-tier powerhouse.

A master of a higher class, embarrassing to even compare with Narsi or Bishop Papamus, whom I had struggled to defeat.

My conclusion was that he wouldn’t lose even if he fought anyone from the 1st division of the Central Knights, the strongest knight order in the empire, where only the elites were gathered.

Only someone like my supervising professor, Chaser Idna, could be compared to him.

For reference, Chaser Idna was mentioned as the next commander of the Central Knights and it was known that there was no one among the young knights who could match him.

But he said he had defeated someone similar to Evan, without an Aura Sword.

“Why did you fight?”

“It was the same as when I first met you. Our prey overlapped.”

I thought it was a strange fate.

“Tell me. How did you lose? It couldn’t have been a complete one-sided loss, right?”

I asked with anticipation.

Putting aside all the facts, this was a matter of pride.

Evan was now a talent who would become a member of our Shadow.

Among them, the biggest core power in terms of martial strength.

A reliable ally, and I didn’t think such a person of mine would have been defeated one-sidedly.

In fact, the desire to not believe so was stronger.

“It wasn’t like that. I and that man both received one big wound each.”

“And then?”

“Do you remember? The last move you used on me during the first lunch special lecture. The one I called a gamble.”

“……The ultimatum?”

“Yes. That vision.”

I had a sour expression.

It’s not a vision, I just randomly gave it a name.

“He used an ultimatum on me, and at the crossroads of dying together or not, I had no choice but to choose the latter.”

I understood.

Because at that time, Evan had a reason to live.

“Then it must have been a close fight. That vision…… I mean, the ultimatum is a last resort that you don’t use unless you have to.”

“Still, it’s a fact that I was defeated. As a price for avoiding the ultimatum, my shoulder was severely cut, and I barely managed to save my life thanks to giving up the prey.”

Since he wanted to think of it that way, it was hard to deny, so I just stayed quiet.

Instead, at this point, I became curious about the man’s identity.

And the reason why Evan had brought this up to me.

“Who is he?”

“I don’t know either.”

I closed my mouth in disbelief.

No.

If you don’t know, why bring it up?

“But I can’t know. Because he was wearing a face mask, like you guys.”

My mouth, which had been closed, slowly opened.

“Gerard. Knowing you and your identity as a thief and with yesterday as an opportunity, I even came to know of the guild called Shadow. But, thinking about it, he naturally came to mind. Isn’t it strange? How many points overlap.”

“……”

“I see, from your expression now, it seems someone comes to mind.”

Evan was right.

Just in time, a person came to mind.

Those who can’t use an Aura Sword and hide their identity with a face mask are only thieves, and among them, only our Shadow.

And if he had skills comparable to Evan, there was a high probability that he was one of the Four Stars who protected Shadow.

That is, an executive.

One moon and the four stars that guard it.

The second seat, Rendal.

The third seat, Kanabi.

The fourth seat, Magello.

All of them have been confirmed dead, either directly or through the journals they left behind.

There was one left.

‘The first seat, Yugen.’

He was also Luis’s master.

‘But Luis definitely said he died protecting the Master, Adgar.’

Of course, considering the urgency of the situation at that time, where every moment was touch-and-go, there was a possibility that he had been mistaken.

Since we hadn’t seen his body ourselves.

‘Then. Is it really him?’

But if it was Yugen, why hadn’t he returned to us until now?

‘No, wait. There’s nothing I can be sure of. This is all just an assumption right now.’

Assuming it was Yugen was just because he was the most probable among the people I knew, but there was also a sufficient probability that it wasn’t him.

Since there must have been many other outstanding thieves in Shadow, which was at its peak at that time.

‘Whatever it is, I have to go and see.’

The executive meetings that exist in every guild.

Among them, the ones who assist the master, decide the direction and future the guild should take, and even participate directly when a major event occurs, that is, the real core are these elders.

Whether it was Yugen or not.

For Shadow, which lacked visions, money and talent, if a senior thief could come, that alone would be a great help, that much was a clear fact.

“Thank you. I’ll be sure to go, Professor.”

“Alright.”

Evan, who smiled and left through the main gate.

Watching him get farther and farther away, I thought about asking when he would be back, but I decided against it.

Because no one would know how much time it would take to sort out his empty heart.

Probably even he himself wouldn’t know.

‘Well, he’ll come back when he wants to.’

“Gerard.”

Just then, Evan suddenly turned around and called me.

“Yes? Why.”

“Don’t call me Professor. I’m not a professor anymore.”

“Then what?”

When I asked, Evan tapped the leather jacket he was wearing and answered.

“Evan.”

“……”

“If you need me, don’t hesitate to call.”

──Master.

Evan, who had quietly finished his words with that, turned his back with a meaningful smile.

And he slowly moved away beyond the main gate.

A smile had formed on my lips as well.

The gold coin of Shadow, the ‘Eclipse’, inside the jacket that I had glimpsed, was shining red in the sunset light.

***

The issue of Evan’s resignation cooled down as quickly as a heated kettle.

Because an even bigger issue had come up.

The huge event that shakes the Academy around this time of year.

The final evaluation.

I also erased the matter of Evan from my mind and focused on the final evaluation.

I had to.

Putting aside the grades, the time when my, that is, Gerard’s, death flag occurs in the original work is during this final evaluation period.

In a way, I had worked so hard and ran all this way for this moment.

Survival.

I trained relentlessly to become stronger.

To move away from the list of suspects and thus not be suspected, I raised my grades, solved various incidents at the forefront, built up favor with professors and cadets, created a public reputation, and laundered my trashy image.

But I also had to solve the cult’s requests.

So I had to be mindful of the situation between the two giant forces of the Academy and the cult.

‘How did I endure it?’

I felt a sense of pride in myself, and now I was facing the results.

‘Has fate really changed?’

I recall the trigger that sets Gerard’s death flag in my mind.

The final evaluation, which is held over a total of 3 days.

In the original work, Gerard’s death flag was set when he was caught in the act while working during that period.

The problem is that this day is ‘random’.

It was different in each playthrough.

There were times when Gerard appeared on the first day of the final evaluation and there were times when he appeared on the second day.

Of course, there were also times when it was the last, the third day.

Even I, who had played ‘Heroes of Frey’ well over 70 times, didn’t know which day Gerard would appear.

‘Still, if my plans worked successfully, the death flag will not occur.’

But if they failed──.

‘I’ll have to fight an unavoidable decisive battle with the Academy. Just like in the original work.’

I had trained for that as well, but honestly, I wanted to avoid it.

Still, a positive sign was that I had experienced a changed future several times due to the butterfly effect.

Also, in the original work, there was suspicion about me from a long time ago, but in this world, it wasn’t.

Instead of suspicion, my name was spreading for a completely different reason.

Who will be the top of the 1st semester?

Many people mention Ivan, Karina, Gwyn, and others, but my name is mentioned the most.

And so, the final evaluation, which was important to everyone, was just around the corner.

And in the morning I faced it.

I looked at the approaching Luis in the distance with nervous eyes.

Will Luis have brought a request from the cult?

……Will the death flag occur?

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