Chapter 49: Suspicion (1)

Gerard? Really?

The thief’s prowess displayed in the cemetery was still vividly etched in Karina’s memory.

His magic skills were so exceptional that one could mistake him for a mage.

Looking back now, there were many sloppy aspects, but regardless, his abilities were the real deal.

And those frenzied eyes that mercilessly beat her were branded into her mind like a scar.

But—

All of this was Gerard’s doing?

The thought that the face of that dim-witted senior was behind that horrific skeleton mask?

Honestly, it didn’t add up.

But…

Karina shook her head vigorously.

With a deep breath, she calmed her trembling heart.

This wasn’t a matter to approach emotionally.

She needed to analyze it step by step with coolheadedness.

Karina circulated her mana to clear her mind.

As her head became sharper, the clues she had gathered while pursuing the thief floated to the surface.

The thief, in her mind, was someone intimately familiar with the Academy’s inner workings.

Otherwise, they couldn’t navigate the Vault and Research Wing as if it were their own home.

It wasn’t a professor.

To begin with, professors were individuals who had built reputations across the empire, their identities, ideologies, and skills thoroughly vetted.

First-year cadets were also ruled out.

Those who had just entered the Academy were still adjusting to its system.

Excluding professors and first-years.

That naturally left the Academy’s security team, senior cadets, and a few staff members, and Gerard fell into the category of senior cadets.

“That guy knew about the pond in the eastern outskirts forest, which even the professors didn’t know about.”

And there were many odd things about what happened this morning.

She was the one chasing the thief.

Yet, in that vast forest, he found her almost immediately.

That wasn’t all.

It was strange that he knew about a trap she hadn’t noticed, and it was strange that he let the thief escape.

“And he said he was saving me? That crazy bastard.”

Thinking of the brazen expression Gerard wore made Karina grind her teeth.

All the evidence pointed to him being the thief.

The only thing that nagged at her was that he had received a medal for capturing a villain.

If Gerard truly was the thief, it would mean he betrayed his comrades to earn that medal, which seemed somewhat questionable.

But as soon as she read about the habits of thieves in the log, her doubts were easily dispelled.

To make their jobs easier, thieves often disguised themselves as the most deplorable individuals.

But there were exceptions.

Some thieves built up high reputations and trust, using that to conceal their true identities.

A prime example was “Black Knight Adgar.”

He was universally recognized as a just and honorable knight, but his other identity was the master of the Shadow thief guild.

Even the brightest fame casts a shadow, and thieves hide within it.

“That’s it.”

Gerard was the same.

As the recipient of the Honorary Merit Medal, who would suspect him of being a thief?

“They wouldn’t even consider it.”

To think he would kill a former comrade to gain fame.

It was truly a sinister tactic.

“No, it’s because he’s sinister that he’s a villain.”

Anyway.

It felt like the fog that had clouded her mind was clearing.

Karina closed the log and stood up.

Her body tingled with anger and anticipation, making it impossible to stay seated.

“How dare he toy with me…?”

Karina trembled with rage.

The brazen expressions and hypocritical tones Gerard had directed at her were unbearable.

Especially that smug face, claiming he saved her, not helped the thief.

How much must he have been mocking her inwardly?

She wanted to storm into Gerard’s dormitory right then and there.

But not yet.

No matter how fiery and impulsive her usual temperament was, she wasn’t so lacking in self-control as to act recklessly without a plan.

Besides, all this was just circumstantial, wasn’t it?

To catch Gerard, she needed definitive evidence to completely ensnare him.

“Phew. Patience. I need preparation.”

She couldn’t afford to repeat her mistakes.

Karina already knew from past experiences that confronting Gerard head-on was dangerous.

She needed allies and she had a force behind her that was stronger and more reliable than anyone.

Her family.

But even as a member of the Zain family, she couldn’t recklessly wield their power.

“First, I need to secure evidence.”

The Zain family’s support would come after that.

If she could mobilize their power, Gerard would be like a rat in a trap.

* * *

I stared at Luis with wide eyes.

[What did you say?]

[Indefinite standby.]

The unexpected news made my mind go blank for a moment.

Indefinite standby?

[Not the next mission?]

[No.]

That’s strange.

According to the original story, the beast terror incidents in Chapter 1 should occur four times in total.

Starting with the war-wolf, the attacks should continue relentlessly until the final boss battle.

But now, there was a sudden halt.

There was no reason for that.

For someone like me, who knew the original plot, this was like a bolt from the blue.

[Why the standby?]

[It seems an incident occurred within the Cult.]

[What? An incident within the Cult?]

I quickly ran through the main story of Heroes of Frey in my head, but no specific event came to mind.

Of course.

At this point, there was no such thing as an incident within the Cult.

That left only one possible conclusion.

This was a butterfly effect caused by my actions.

In other words, the future had changed.

[Find out what the incident is.]

[I’ve already investigated.]

As expected of Luis.

[Report.]

[It’s said a prisoner escaped and apparently, they fled with some crucial information.]

[Crucial information?]

[Yes. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out what that information was. My apologies.]

I waved my hand to indicate it was fine.

A prisoner escaped, huh.

It was definitely an episode I’d never heard of.

Naturally, it didn’t exist in the main story.

That meant the cause of this incident was definitely tied to me.

But how exactly was this connected to me?

The thought, Could the prisoner be someone I know? flashed through my mind.

Then, a face popped into my head.

The artifact thief.

Wow.

Come to think of it, I completely forgot about that guy.

Seeing my expression, Luis sent a Whisper.

[Do you have someone in mind, Master?]

[Yeah. Not certain, but I’m about 77 percent sure.]

[Who is it?]

I told him, and Luis nodded.

[It’s probably safe to raise that to 96 percent.]

[Oh, a 19 percent jump?]

[Given the context, it seems almost certain it’s him.]

[Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?]

[Yes.]

I swallowed a groan.

[Then this is a good thing for us, isn’t it? Whatever it is, he’s someone who disrupted our plans.]

[But he escaped.]

[It’s only a matter of time before he’s caught.]

Considering the Cult’s power, I fully agreed with Luis.

The fact that they caught him with just the clue of “a thief who exclusively targets artifacts” was a testament to their strength.

But on the other hand, a question arose.

If you flipped it around, it could be seen this way:

Who the hell was this guy who managed to pull a fast one on the Cult and escape their prison?

“Hmm.”

I recalled my brief but intense encounter with him.

Overall, he was a mediocre guy.

Average swordsmanship and an outdated One Hand Musket.

His combat ability was, at best, that of a standard knight, which made escaping a Cult branch nearly impossible.

—Or so I thought, until I remembered his peculiar movements, which I had overlooked.

“Right. That was beyond imagination.”

[Sorry?]

[Oh, that guy. I just remembered he used a strange Vision back then.]

A bizarre Vision where black smoke enveloped his lower body.

Its astonishing speed, instantaneous acceleration, and unnatural directional shifts had briefly thrown me into confusion.

[Right, that. How did I forget about it?]

[Back then, you were probably focused on obtaining Dagger Shift.]

[Oh, yeah, that’s right.]

I was on my way to retrieve a lost advanced Vision, so of course I wouldn’t have paid attention to another Vision.

[But what kind of Vision was it that’s got you so intrigued?]

I described the characteristics of the Vision I saw to Luis.

But what was this?

Luis’s reaction afterward was odd.

[…Is that true?]

[What’s with you? Why’re you lowering your voice all of a sudden?]

[If what you say is true, Master, those are the characteristics of Dark Sprint, an advanced Vision of the Shadow.]

“What?”

I couldn’t help but blurt out loud.

Luckily, no one was around, but I wasn’t even paying attention to that.

That wasn’t the important part.

“That’s the Vision we lost?”

[Calm down, Master. It’s not confirmed yet.]

Right. It wasn’t confirmed.

But it was a highly plausible theory.

No, honestly, I thought it was very likely.

I didn’t know every Vision in Heroes of Frey, but I’d never seen an advanced Vision with those effects before.

So calming down wasn’t easy.

If that really was the advanced Vision we were searching for—

I had almost handed that treasure over to the Cult with my own hands.

“Ugh, what a mess.”

It was just a throwaway excuse to distract the Cult and Narsi.

But for it to come back like this?

This was too unsettling.

I needed to act fast.

I shouldn’t create regrets in the first place, but if I did, I had to fix them as soon as possible.

[Luis, can we secure him before the Cult does?]

Luis’s eyes widened slightly at me.

[But that would mean directly interfering with the Cult’s plans.]

[Can’t be helped.]

Luis frowned but soon nodded in agreement.

A Vision was the foundation of the guild.

Even if it was just circumstantial, that alone was enough justification to drop everything and act.

[I’ll move immediately.]

With that, Luis vanished.

“If that guy escaping the Cult turns out to be a good thing for us, that’d be something.”

We had the same information as the Cult.

The guy’s appearance with an eyepatch and his ownership of a rarely used One Hand Musket.

The outcome would depend on who was better at tracking, and Luis was an expert in that field.

I’d trust and wait.

* * *

I was pondering the advanced Vision as I headed back to the dormitory.

The moment I saw a figure standing under a tree in front of the male dormitory’s main gate, all thoughts of the advanced Vision vanished.

If it were anyone else, I might have passed by without a second thought.

But when the figure was Karina Zain, that changed everything.

“What’s she doing over there?”

I quietly observed her for a moment.

Karina was hiding behind the tree, stealing glances toward the male dormitory.

Naturally, Ivan’s face came to mind.

After all, in the original story, the two were lovers.

“Has the heroine flag already been raised?”

It was still too early for them to develop feelings, but… come to think of it, with the future already altered, what did the main story matter now?

There must have been some connection between them that I wasn’t aware of.

It had nothing to do with me.

Step.

I was about to ignore her and keep going when Karina, sensing my presence, turned to me and looked startled.

“Eek! W-What?”

“Gerard.”

“Why are you coming from behind…?”

“How long have you been here…? Were you watching me?”

It seemed she wasn’t listening to my responses.

She was so flustered that her face turned bright red, and she started babbling as if she’d been caught scheming.

“You look like you’re in pain. If you’re hurt, go to the infirmary. Don’t just stand here. I’ll pretend I didn’t see that.”

As a senior, I offered concern and leniency before moving to pass her, but Karina hurriedly grabbed me.

“Wait!”

Having regained her usual haughty demeanor, Karina crossed her arms and asked,

“Where are you coming from?”

“Training.”

“Training at this early hour? Since when?”

“Three months ago.”

“Every day?”

“Yeah.”

Karina fell silent.

She wasn’t lost in thought.

Her sharp eyes were scanning my appearance.

The moment I saw that look, a chilling possibility hit me.

No. I didn’t know yet.

It could be paranoia, so I needed to gauge her reaction first.

“What? Is there a problem?”

At my question, Karina gave a faint smile and shook her head.

“But? What are you doing in front of the male dormitory at this early hour?”

“Hmm, do I have an obligation to answer you?”

“…”

“Exactly. So you don’t need to know.”

Karina brushed past me.

Then, with the clack of her heels, she disappeared toward the female dormitory.

“…Is she actually insane?”

I already knew this, but her ability to remind me of it every time we met was impressive in its own way.

Maybe I should have beaten her up more during Ged’s rescue.

“What a shame.”

The moment I muttered that, I immediately activated the thievery skill [Detection].

Karina’s presence faded as she moved out of sight, completely vanishing.

Just to be sure, I expanded my perception, but no other presences were detected.

Confirming no one else was around, I slowly moved.

Behind a thick tree, big enough to hide a person.

The exact spot where Karina had been hiding moments ago.

I mimicked the posture she had taken.

Leaning slightly forward, I looked toward the male dormitory.

“…As expected.”

Ivan’s room wasn’t visible from this spot.

The A-Wing, where the 890th class stayed, was blocked by the C-Wing and couldn’t be seen from this angle.

Thus, the building directly in front was the C-Wing.

For reference, the C-Wing was where the 888th class third-years resided.

Let’s think.

Among the 888th class male cadets, who would Karina Zain be so interested in that she’d secretly spy on them?

Who among the 888th class cadets had any connection to her?

No matter how much I thought, only one person fit the bill.

Gerard.

Me.

Conclusion.

Karina was suspecting me.

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