Chapter 87: Start of Winter (2)
S1NIPg“Hua Ran. Looks like you would have to go back first.”AQwdR
9Q1rXtThe meeting with the spiritualist ended earlier than scheduled. The spiritualist placed the prepared talismans on the chains and that was it.BWajjZ
xm49z1Thanks to Ran, there was no need to put that many stabilizing talismans anymore.EZ3hki
pz8RjhIn the first place, the most crucial factor of the restriction was the chains of the New Faith, the Chains of Zeon that were forced by the prayer of the Saintess.zwAUDBb
X7q10L1“Conference?”tQ5w5
cqwL7bA“Yes. Do you want me to drop you off?”nOcY
3nv“…Un.”gzVuM
YwnNF7The normal Hua Ran would have replied to Josephine that she would go back by herself, but for some reason, today, she wanted to go back to the dormitory as quickly as possible.sXQkXLH
ny4N‘If we go back now, we might be able to have lunch with oppa!’gnXwz
riQ2Ran hurried her but that had nothing to do with the actual decision – at least that was what Hua believed.ltkaliY
Xv4tvd7– Jiiing!0AHY
VgC2HTuIn front of the dormitory, Hua Ran jumped out of Josephine’s dimensional spell.QzHlf
EiPOI“Bye.”x0GlsgQ
Gust“I should be back by dinner.”HIF
Ll7vThe dimensions cracked open once again as Josephine disappeared into the fissure.0ILXMp6
NaBAD‘Let’s go. Let’s go!’zLXkazy
CTMy6WbEven though she wasn’t being chased by anything, Hua Ran walked at a speed that was 1.3 times faster than her normal speed. Opening the front entrance, she was met with a savory fragrance that was permeating from the backyard.8E2
4GnhR“…Potatoes.”u46
FYMzNW‘Let’s go!’m7fR1
8cFiShe walked across the grass to the backyard that no longer had any leaves. It seemed that Korin and Marie had finished cleaning up the yard.6Ks05
XzXAfter arriving at the backyard without going through the building, Hua Ran found a large dog cooking potatoes using a campfire of dry leaves.1eVZ5
wkctGH– Woof.VIbnLd
cXT0QrSeeing her, Doggo gave a short bark. Before long, Hua Ran reached far enough to see what was happening inside the sunroom.MzIB
JC4U‘…’OyZTk
p1z1QSThrough the glass, she saw the silhouettes of the two familiar people.jDXYpQ
uR8JbWvKorin Lork and Marie Dunareff – they were tightly hugging each other.ve9Ym
JnckHt“…”5re
MIh2liHua Ran blankly watched that happen from the backyard. Their chests were aligned together and were so close that they would be able to hear the heartbeats of one another.mqhEa
qoF7Burying her face into his neck, the girl with water-colored hair gasped for breath while craving the boy’s neck. Meanwhile, the boy repeatedly tapped her on the shoulder and gave her a tight hug.VQvj02
Q0OHow special and unique of an action was that? How much bond and connection did they have to build up to do such a thing without any hesitation?Em36KUG
ZeONBh‘…She’s just drinking his blood. It’s nothing strange.’Yad
IDeH5W“…”pWcM
V6rHua Ran already knew that Marie Dunareff had to drink blood due to the characteristics of her race. The act of drinking the fresh blood of a human was linked to her getting stronger, and Hua Ran could also understand why she would specifically borrow the blood of that boy, considering how he excelled in regeneration.qrM
2IcLljBut…myZttt
OI3e6lEUnderstanding was different from acceptance.tyV8N
1kZajjzDespite the necessity of the action itself, she found it to be very unfair, but had no idea about the reason herself.GvUASIS
Z0e“…”LKgL
a0TgVacantly, Hua Ran watched the two of them. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the girl who was indulging herself in the boy at a very close proximity.ojxCel
uzgV6Didn’t he say he will look for ways together? Didn’t he say he would help and stay with her…?PnNba
okdXiFCA myriad of emotions budded inside her… but she knew. She knew that she wasn’t the only recipient of the goodwill of this boy who liked to stick his nose into other people’s business.z8I
OzUSOGThat vampire girl was one of the other recipients.h76LRn0
ehhw0vShe thought she knew it already, but her heart was still in pain. Was she too arrogant, thinking that she was special?JRr1vC
jykFi03In the first place, why was her heart in pain just from looking at the two of them? She couldn’t understand. Unable to find answers to all the questions in her mind, Hua simply watched them like a candle in a blizzard.EM4Maqo
bH6And,vhbpVW
MrcYUTheir eyes met.C4RQQxf
vX7pXeThe crafty reddened eyes of the vampire girl turned towards her.3bHGWy
KKT0CTtMarie had already noticed her presence. Her red eyes were showing off to her that she was ‘already different’ from her.Vmksq7
BjhSBLicking the remaining blood off of her lips, she then licked the side of his neck that was still dripping with blood.SDS4NoP
2bV1g6The two pairs of red eyes looked deeply at each other.FXxV0Y
hH6nTheir sharp and squinted gazes were clearly not that of a person looking at their senior or a junior.4GhnMT
Jfnc6S0****AXC
fQrRbWhen it comes to intelligence, people might link them to a group of well-educated elites, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. In this world, the only source of long-distance communication was the communication spell between priceless mages, so most news had to be shared through people’s hands and feet.zKx
jAmKThe primary collectors of such pieces of information weren’t elite agents but the hostesses and bartenders. Even determined people tended to lower their guards around hostesses when drunk.DZUj8
chHC“Sister…!”Af7zU8h
dq9jicA fountain pen paused from its rhythmical pace.KO5ZQNQ
vNs“What is it?”2ZB
NKAoAsking that, was a lady who seemed overly intelligent to be working at a bar. Renya Claire looked at the barmaid that barged into her office.shpv
IXZ“We have a pushover! He’s loaded!”DmeAIR7
8uPtOPushover was a term they used to refer to people with a lot of money that wasted a bunch on gambling. By nature, bars tended to have all sorts of things, so brothels and gambling dens were nothing out of place.yCCZK
yw94However, bars in the backstreets were sometimes far from the reach of legal measures so wealthy nobles and merchants generally stuck to their own home grounds. In other words, the only group of pushovers that would blatantly use a lot of money at a backstreet bar instead of a bar for aristocrats would be…CTX8kbx
ut5“A guardian?”P3y
aCH“He looked like a knight.”UkBm7C
g7c6oY3“That’s going to be annoying. Don’t make him lose too much money.”gr4ph
qkpKnights were literally superhumans. A single punch from them could blow away human heads. If he decided to go on a rampage after losing money, the backstreet ruffians wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.DW7A
P1wL8“Uhh…”36ebvS2
Dm8“What is it?”mY7XQa
8fvdfh9“We already ate up a purse of gold coins.”AjvMfAL
YcA2“…”u5E8Hmb
8NH9Okay. At this rate, they could only hope that the pushover was someone with a gentle personality.wsL42Aq
QLKiaG9– Kwang! Kajik!IBd8gaT
2vCi– Get your boss out right now…!S7N53I
1ZSqm3Damn it.qJy
2NbOQIt seemed that she wasn’t in luck today – heaving a sigh, Renya walked out of her office.enWqzV
mxgq6“Bring the siblings, Ren and Ron, just in case.”6MK
zDkMShe had been teaching a sibling of wolf beastmen for a ‘long-term commission’ that she recently undertook. She was told to teach them how to sneak in and gather information, but she still called them, thinking that this much should be okay.lfU
bPLRenya headed to the illegal gambling den underground and found the knight that was wreaking havoc there.ZG2
5Ej“Who do you think I am, huh?! Do you know me!? Listen…! I am friends with your boss, you know that!!”rdyao
WzUoA“Ahhk. Sir! First off, please let go of your…!”zcR
0y4He indeed was a knight – a knight that Renya was very familiar with.zs0Pb7
pubPq88The boy with a wild appearance had his hair in a ponytail. He looked so mature at a glance that no one seemed to have asked him for an ID card.bTf
OJZ11e8“…What is he doing here?”aCCdl
pQGzMC1Korin Lork, a student of the Academy, was going on a rampage while grabbing onto the wrist of the professional cheating dealer that Renya put in the gambling den as a fake customer.vgyw2
krnB“Haa… Guide him to my office.”JDDf
H75“Umm, Sister? What if he punches me to death?”GECYZca
Q7sTfo“It’s fine so just go. Tell him I’m calling him.”Dz8DBM
fq6ZfAfter a little while…yZocH2T
7XBL“Yoo~ Miss Re. Faring pretty well, aren’t you?”VRRSp17
KCtQ“Haa… this is not a place for underage students, boss.”srANu7r
YtZpMZRenya Claire; she was one of the executive officers of the intelligence guild, although a low one, who was now climbing up the ladder to around the middle in the list of executives. The only person she should be calling as her ‘boss’ was the guild master of the intelligence guild, but Korin Lork was neither an executive nor even a worker of the intelligence guild.YqB
iCP1esHe was nothing but a named knight that was doing decently at Merkarva Academy and yet Renya was calling him ‘boss’.n6o
97HH“I heard you started a business so I came to have a look. How were the things I told you; pretty decent, right?”bowV
Ut51“Yes. Things like the secretive cross-dressing hobby of Count Maniosika of the west and the equipment honing fraud of the famous master craftsman, Kiri the Ladybug… They were quite nice.”XYfFyt
HfrKorin Lork, after contacting her around August, had given her an offer. It was about how he would give her valuable pieces of information that would make her rise to the top position of the intelligence guild in return for working under him for 3 years.a5O65
QfJe5fBuying information with information. It was a strange concept but there was something else that was puzzling for Renya.NWM7in
XoSEvery piece of news shared by Korin Lork was so priceless that they would be ranked at either Grade 1 or Grade 2. With so many of them under his belt, he would have been able to strike a deal with the higher executives of the intelligence guild from the start, so… she couldn’t understand why he would try to raise someone like her up to the top in the first place.yLXvk2
bigFfJq“How much authority do you have as a medium-level executive?”i0ids
Fp0“I can access pretty much every piece of information related to this city. For example… like the teddy bear craftsman that Josephine Clara is sponsoring in secret.”pVfhcF0
HxHw8“I know that already.”1K84XI
3LE2“…That’s semi-Grade 1 information by the way.”QV0FD8g
cfRLzIt was related to the privacy of a semi-Unique Grade mage, the Dimensional Witch, who even appeared in textbooks. Renya had no clue how he even knew about that.97V9
o33ECHy“This is something that will increase your contribution. According to your standard, it would be at least Grade 1, and it might even be a semi-Unique Grade info.”NEM
4pbMry“…Are you serious?”yOt
o90bFMY“Royal Courtroom’s Grade 4 public officer, Edna. Her last name is Ilusan.”lWfIPUu
MuR4hOF“Just a normal officer, no?”h5toP9b
NuT4“What if that officer was the SM Queen with dozens of higher officers and even nobles under her command?”HoREa85
cBY“……”A9hCz8k
y8FQThe silence went on for a long time. It was easy to come across pieces of information that were related to inexplicably odd sexual orientations of nobles but this was in a whole different league.xTmO
CyWaA dominant that whips nobles and high public officers?NIbx
7wUljqMThis was an astounding scandal that had all sorts of possible uses depending on the approach. If this was true, that meant there would be all sorts of ways to threaten those higher-ups.4CUD8qC
tLn90V“If this is true…”BtfW
MTsf“Of course it’s true. I experienced it myself.”LUC
0ikSO“What?”7PEA
Q5qjyh7“She was like a leopardess. Even I almost got ‘eaten’.”efZj
ARO0OY“…Seriously, what kind of person are you, boss? If you can even find out things like this, do you even need me?”U8SkS2
yyv“I only know some stuff.”trQGp9s
ZImFor now, Renya engraved that shocking piece of news into her mind. Something this big was better monopolized – instead of reporting it to the upper executives, she was going to swallow it and digest it alone.905
9k7ihzZ“You should officially report this to your higher-ups,” said Korin.eBypM4b
9GlTzEm“…Why is that? It would be more beneficial to swallow this by myself.”wW3Cwwk
6Hw“No. You should just get your contributions acknowledged for reporting this. Someone else can use this for themselves.”lysMx
Crt“That’s a shame… And why is that?”tXrGHOx
tKQCca“She’s a literal queen that can whip the proud officers and nobles. If you approach them from the wrong direction, you would just get destroyed by them.”NPa8J6
QzgPk6He shared a spooky prediction, that there was a high chance of the intelligence guild being half-demolished due to their greed.ysorLz
jksPu9“I see. If something like that happens, most of the higher executives would be wiped and…”kvnq
6qL4Oq“And you will be taking their spot.”2xhK
sopvhyC“What a crazy boss. So… what are you trying to find out after making me the highest executive?”0qL
j1Mr4D8“It’s something you can’t even access right now. Just do what I tell you to do for now.”uXj
B8zkc“Okay. Also, I did receive the official application form of the ‘Guardians’.”3upm
eUPvf“I told you to make a fake merchant group right? Officially, you’ll be the one in charge of supplying our Guardians with munitions.”AZnG4W
N1HRSw“Won’t they be suspicious about our connection though?”juhb
8sE“That’s exactly why we’re doing it. I’m telling them that you are officially under my protection. Honestly, it wouldn’t have been enough with just me but…”mGEqnt
HTr“Marie Dunareff – the oldest daughter of the Potato Empire of the south. There’s no idiot in the world that would touch one of the members of her guild of guardians.”2Jeket
6cUI“Damn it. Why was I the only one that didn’t know about it? This is why relying on only one source for information is terrible…”htROoW
fZz0ahcHer boss lamented by himself. There’s no way that he wouldn’t have known about Marie Dunareff being related to the Dunareff of the Potato Empire so it must be about something she didn’t know about.SxXBX
CsmU“…What do you mean?”50GO6w
KwBILqy“Nothing. My next request… is about the east.”fvqJ
AMhJ—-e0gjML
isFtAfter a while, Korin stood up to leave the office. Renya would organize all the information he shared with her and faithfully abide by his commands.0Hd
xt1H“Oh right.”uUL
AOmr“What now?”9TzPfjs
KbTs6p“You need to train your dealers again. They were way too obvious with their moves.”Fd0A
Bjkuj3“Just go.”wwkpG8
fvp“And you can use the money you got from me for the repairs!”T1LJt
DnPIM“…”ZBr
YV1hD****3plDt
TlG2QDLate at night, Josephine changed her clothes for bedtime. Undoing her hair, she changed to a comfortable set of lingerie and removed her makeup at the dressing table.DZkrC1y
Ikm2pIt was when she was about to finish her day off.MsGhl
EOc7R– Knock knock.BkHPkC
ftnHSomeone knocked on the door of her room. Hearing how rigid the sound of the knock was, she thought it might be Korin Lork but soon remembered that he had requested for an overnight stay this evening and was currently out of the Academy.UglwuZy
3CRWjO“Student Marie?”MAu9M
YB1BL“…It’s me.”RG3RAJZ
VAtIt was a very unexpected guest, because this girl had never visited her room this year.5Bs7aD
xi6“Please come in.”WO5L
aOSNWConsidering how they were both female, Josephine didn’t feel the need to hide her bare skin and let her in. Even a strict dorm master like her was a lot more slack at night.Omnf3M
fSNoRT– Creak.74dXHQr
zBAjzAyHua Ran walked into the room in large strides after opening the door. She was wearing cute pajamas that were vastly different from her normal nun clothes.C3aNaZ
q00JBz“I wasn’t expecting you to visit this late at night. Did Ran request something from you?”Kp0J
QCRp“…No.”UQcSBe
bTo7LWas it based on Hua’s own intention then? Josephine was becoming more and more lost over time.gdTLVp
mM6k07“So what brings you here?”7PE2
off4V2v“…”GMxzIKv
XgEvjVcHua Ran didn’t reply for a long time. She was silent as always, but what felt out of place was that her mouth kept on opening and closing while her eyes constantly rolled and gazed across the room.esdSR
iDC6xI“…”Kulh
AmUCJosephine had been a professor for a long time, and therefore had a lot of intuition and experience. When students came to discuss and consult about difficult topics, they tended to find it difficult to open their mouths even after taking the courage to visit her.B4LliDI
w6k5Even though it was very common for other students to do so, it was very surprising that Hua Ran was doing that herself. But despite her surprise, Josephine acted as the mature professor she was to make it easier for her to start her story.ZabM
GfdfSoftly walking on the carpet with her bare feet, Josephine sat down on the side of the bed and tapped the mattress next to her.KATVard
9hRHy0Y“…”dj33upP
0FJRUnderstanding that signal, Hua Ran carefully walked up and sat next to her.f7Gs
7ePJmB“Are you here for a consultation? Don’t worry and let it out.”bH0O
vJuz“This is about my friend.”QtC5WtI
DsE1h5“…”ZnxdB5
Avg10GXJosephine wasn’t cold-blooded enough to stop her and say, ‘You don’t have any friends though’.I65l
eS4P6“Right… and what did your friend say?”WlXxi4
sJFY“Apparently… staying with someone makes their heart feel light.”GapE
r2eU“I, is that so?”Dbjl
rSsRfNGThe steel-blooded hero, Senior Professor Josephine Clara, maintained her poker face that didn’t crumble even during the witch hunt and focused on her story.yaoUohE
2ShV“Un. It’s as light as if they’re riding on clouds. Hugging him makes their heart beat fast and sometimes, her heart aches and it feels like she’s in a quagmire.”NnFXV
eos7IQa“I… see.”UzwYU
onZGbTIt was a very serious consultation. Well, it was obviously going to be serious considering that Hua Ran was the one consulting but in any case, it was so unexpected that Josephine couldn’t even find the right words to return her with.0rA
AZfCThe image of Hua Ran in her mind was still that of a Unique Grade demi-human; a time bomb that could explode at any given moment.JFjt3
ZB8eHNBut here, looking at the girl who finally met her first love, Josephine realized that even Hua Ran was just a young girl.wxex5Nm
VZ4sKDs‘I have no right to be an educator.’29tFDka
YAKzEJosephine noticed that she was still far too lacking to be a proper educator. Removing the preconception in her mind and calming herself down, she tapped Hua Ran’s shoulders with a warm smile on her face.ZypHj
3HVnqz9“I see. Hua Ran, you… I mean, your friend has such concerns in their mind, is that correct? So, she doesn’t know what to do about that person… Am I right?”jTr9
0izlvE“……Un.”HktV
irret7She was looking for dating advice.K5xqIns
wo1A request for help that was painstakingly raised by a girl who finally found her first love.9RNEav
7wnIn order to best decorate the first page of the girl’s youth, Josephine used 100% of the knowledge she accumulated over her 100 plus 17 years.0ePf
rqf‘The person… well, it’s probably Korin Lork.’nN2g
EU3kThat spear-wielding boy who was mysteriously popular with girls was the only one Hua Ran had any interaction with.hrSc
3lvg9vqDespite being a mature and diligent student, that freshman student was an innate player, and there had even been a report from a female 2nd year student that he might be a gold-digger and a scammer.KWXXK
EyuyikOf course, even Josephine acknowledged his morals and ethical personality but the wolf-like boy probably had a lot of experience with girls, and for a new baby-chick-like girl like Hua Ran, he would serve to be a very tough nut to crack.EIAu
EvCyK4“And that person that your friend likes…”LYe
LbjF“I didn’t say she likes him.”hWYO
GcP5“Anyway, that person probably has a lot of girls around him, right?”DmVt
g8a3bu“…”hOAEjW
WXZj7xbHua Ran recalled through her memories. Even after putting aside the shocking scene she saw during the day, she remembered him having a lot of female acquaintances everywhere regardless of what lesson they were listening to.eDPP3S
idDhDuring cooking, he would nonchalantly talk to girls and take a bite of their results and in the city, he would be amiably greeted by young and mature ladies.YPn7Lq
bcsKShe couldn’t really remember him… spending time without any girl next to him.Xub0
QXpa– Nod.9WP68D0
TlOcG1IAs expected.5xcku
mKMibrWEven though Josephine was somewhat expecting it, it seemed that Korin Lork was indeed a player. Josephine lamented at the fact that she was sending a furry kitten to a wolf, but focused on the task at hand.yPq
h9Z“This is important, Hua Ran. Opportunities won’t come by that often. Males with a lot of females next to them don’t tend to approach girls themselves, because girls come to them without them having to do anything.”iOfh
hnfoCI5About 100 years ago, the young witch aspiring for youth had read the popular romance novel, 『101 Ways to Capture that Man』 which had been the go-to textbook for girls back then.Ti3w
vT8h“You must be daring, bold, and fiery. Otherwise, you will not be able to attain love. Get rid of all the hindrances and march forward.”bSaM
P1xcbnWhat was unfortunate for the two young girls in their youth, was that the ones they were asking for advice from were a debaucherous dog playing around with the female dogs of the town and a 117-year-old witch who had no experience whatsoever except for the book she read 100 years ago.3lzh
jKweBoth Hua and Ran were girls with ridiculously little experience so they believed everything they were told, even though it was based on a very questionable novel.zaOOR
Fw6‘You heard that right? Romance is about being straightforward. Straightforward!’c6Ka4
Nea“…Romance?”nsop9
EpsHua tilted her head and asked what she was talking about. Ran beat her chest out of frustration, but all she got in return was Hua asking her if her chest was in pain just like hers.r1QPpfw
z6HxzKr‘Look, look. Read through the 101 Ways to Capture that Man, that we borrowed from Professor Josephine…!’OKtJ0js
0qyBJx“… ‘Capture’?”z2W
CQozqAIt’s not like she wanted to punch him or bash him up. Besides, she didn’t even need more than 100 ways to beat him.p3J
5hLey“I can just go and push him down. I’m stronger than Korin.”c5CTU
LNUH‘Push him down?’7xO3jY2
YBBafb“What’s wrong?”KLHz0
UhX‘Hmm… that might not be a bad option either. Turn the page to Page 117.’9VZm
bsq8mpAAfter hearing that from Ran, Hua turned the pages of『101 Ways to Capture that Man』that they borrowed from Josephine to Topic 33.t0BQgJ
itP『If you must, then be coercive. Push him down on the bed.』PX2eld
PW1PKLFThat was the text written under the topic title.CRZe
ii1Ht‘But we can’t be hasty with this.’dt4oU
BYF“Why?”Uj8
7Jz2cWasn’t their goal to capture the castle called Korin? All she needed to do was push him down with force, so what was the problem?VpTre6n
4XCy4During their group assignment, she had already pushed him down on the bed once. Her memories of the time were hazy but she remembered Korin caressing her hair in joy.lVxrkhb
ZUI2x‘Look look. The female protagonist is saying it’s for last resort.’l4rhCu
Kyy“…Last resort.”FE4OS
66l1je‘So let’s leave this till the end. I will leave it to you when the time comes.’alcLye3
3Fc“…Okay.”CCp
CgbyAfter reading through the book, Ran said after raising her nonexistent glasses.LSWE
nopT‘When capturing a castle, we must first go for the walls. And Sister Marie is the gatekeeper.’xeEyLc
0x1OLp9“…Gatekeeper.”P7r9UZ
U39AV5vIn order to capture a castle, they had to defeat the gatekeeper and the gatekeeper was Marie Dunareff.cZ7Onk1
Fdi0dN“Should I punch her?”apzg
BWx‘Oppa will hate it if you do that.’Gqxi
0QIMQ“Then what do we do?”ihBngs
gAvEHn‘Leave it to me. I will deal with her.’xLXXvx
1LMF2The decisive moment wasn’t that far off.5nuSk
tNU“Sister. You don’t like me, do you?”Vrul
11Pw112That was the start of the 1st war.w2RWc7
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