Chapter 7: The Academy is not easy (3)

The great hero families defeat their main enemies under the sun, earning honor and consolidating their status with the admiration of the public.

However, behind stagnant waters, there is always an internal enemy. The powers with vested interests use their authority as heroes to pursue and exploit those who are not.

When public power became so corrupted that it could no longer judge these forces, one of the hero families took the initiative to become the shadow that would eradicate them.

A family that followed the motto, “Working in the shadows, aspiring to the light,” combining the maintenance of order with assassination.

– Auditore da Sicilia.

Superficially, a small noble family located on the southern coast of Italy. In reality, it was a house of assassins tasked with purging internal enemies and eliminating corruption.

Those born into this family were raised as assassins before they even reached maturity. Adolescence, the period when emotions bloom, was suppressed with mental reprogramming from childhood to turn them into emotionless killing machines.

Chloe was fifteen when she stained her hands with blood for the first time.

She remembered the sticky feeling of blood on her fingers as the knife slid, splattering the blood of corrupt nobles.

At an age when she should have been enjoying her youth, Chloe’s life was marked by the darkness of the night and the bright red of blood.

“Chloe, don’t deny your talent as an assassin.”

It was a phrase she constantly heard from her family members, to the point where her ears ached from hearing it.

The family, having identified Chloe’s potential as an assassin from an early age, pressured her with expectations, suffocating her fragile heart. To harden her weakness, the Auditore family imposed brutal training on her.

Chloe accepted it. In fact, she didn’t have many options.

The constant and ruthless training distorted her psyche, cloaking her inner self in a dense shadow.

By the time her sense of self had almost completely worn away, and only traces of emotion remained, Chloe was old enough to enter the Joaquin Academy.

The three years at the academy would simply be another step in her bleak life. She was destined to become an assassin, with no escape.

Following the style of the Auditore family, whose motto was to live in the shadows, Chloe was assigned to the common class.

Even though the skills of each of her family members were at least at the Dragon level, the agreement between the Auditore family and the Joaquin Academy was that they would go unnoticed for those three years, thus robbing her of free will.

It was the class assignment test at the Joaquin Academy. Chloe knew the content of the test because her family had told her.

Auditore gave her a hint but added that she shouldn’t stand out. If that was the case, she wondered why they had told her the contents of the exam, but Chloe passively nodded like a wooden doll.

Anyway, in the end, nothing would change. That’s what she thought.

Until she met a student.

During the class assignment test, Chloe was placed on the same team as the infamous “Cursed Twins,” Mao Jin and Mao Shun. Every punch they threw with their iron fists broke their opponents, who fell amidst screams of pain.

Chloe, however, felt nothing. She was an assassin. She was more than used to the sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking.

No matter how cruel the Mao twins were, their acts didn’t compare to the blood Chloe had spilled.

Moreover, the exam took place in an illusory dimension, a space where no one could truly die. The lives Chloe had taken thus far had been real.

When the Mao twins turned their attention to her, with cruel smiles, Chloe decided to simply accept their blows. She knew she would be placed in the common class anyway.

Though a slight tremor ran through her body at the proximity of death, she was able to suppress her fear. It was the result of her training in the Auditore family.

—“You bastards, don’t touch her!”

Suddenly, someone cursed at the twins. Instinctively, both twins followed the direction of the voice.

The resonant shout left Chloe’s mind blank, and she dropped the weapon she had been holding.

It was a student with black hair. In his hands, he held a kitchen knife, yelling fiercely at the twins.

The curses he threw at them stirred something deep within Chloe. She felt as if her insides trembled, as if an earthquake had shaken them.

It was as if the sun had broken through the clouds that covered her cold heart. She felt something warm stirring inside her.

Then one of the twins turned triumphantly towards him. He let out a bitter laugh while tightening his blood-covered iron gauntlets.

The hand holding the knife was trembling. In that state, the boy would surely be torn apart.

Although it was an illusion, the experience of death could deeply scar a person’s mind.

‘I have to stop them.’

Chloe picked up the weapon she had dropped, while the black-haired boy, in an awkward stance, drew his blade from its sheath.

Chloe’s eyes widened when she saw that the boy’s small knife was cutting through flesh with every movement.

A sword raised to protect someone. The boy was using his knife to protect her. Her heart pounded in her chest.

In less than a minute, the Mao twins, who had previously seemed invincible, were decapitated.

Chloe remembered the fairy tales she had secretly read, about a prince rescuing a princess locked in a castle. Suddenly, that prince’s image overlapped with that of the boy.

Her cheeks blushed, and a strange tingling sensation bloomed in her chest. Covering her cheeks with her hands, she looked at the young man, feeling an unknown emotion blossoming inside her.

Chloe decided that this must be love.

***

Chloe watched me in silence for a long time.

Her hands were still covered with rubber gloves, bits of soap clinging to them.

“…”

“…”

I smiled at her, as if I didn’t know anything.

Then, she turned her head without moving her body, her gaze fixed on me.

I leaned against the railing silently and looked out the window.

I was on the fifth floor.

‘I’m in deep trouble.’

Where did things start to go wrong?

Was it when I peeked at the diary of a teenage girl? Or when I foolishly followed her when she invited me to dinner?

I swallowed hard and pushed my thoughts aside. For now, the priority was to find a way to stay alive.

I glanced over at her out of the corner of my eye.

The soft, sweet expression was gone. Her cold, vacant eyes stared at me with a chilling intensity.

With a shaky voice, I scratched my head and spoke.

“Chloe, don’t you think the moon is beautiful tonight?”

“…”

No response.

“Thanks to you, I had a delicious dinner for the first time in a while.”

“…”

“Well, I think I’ll head out now. See you tomorrow.”

As I tried to move, Chloe slowly began taking off her rubber gloves.

Feeling a chill in my gut, I gripped the railing with my hand. Her small lips, which had been tightly closed, finally opened.

“Did you see it?”

“Huh? See what?”

“That.”

Chloe gestured with her chin toward the diary I had placed on the desk. I responded, lifting the corners of my mouth slightly.

“Oh, you mean the study notebook? You really study hard…!”

“The diary.”

Chloe looked at me with narrowed eyes and a cold expression.

My body tensed.

The sweet tone she once had was gone, replaced by an icy coldness. She seemed like a completely different person.

“I didn’t see it.”

“Liar.”

“Well, okay, I saw it.”

Chloe leaned against the wall and grabbed the katana she had left there. Even from a distance, I could tell the blade was razor-sharp.

Shling ⎯

She drew the sword from its scabbard, and I could see the wavy pattern along the blade. Her eyes, sharp like a snake’s, were filled with murderous intent. The thin muscles in her wrist bulged with tension as she gripped the sword tightly.

Chloe took a step forward.

I was trapped.

In front of me was a girl with obvious murderous intent. Jumping out the window wasn’t an option; the impact would shatter me. I glanced back at her.

Her eyes were empty, almost devoid of consciousness. She approached slowly, dragging the tip of the sword along the floor.

I knew what kind of person she was.

A yandere.

She’d probably follow me to the ends of the earth if she had to. If I didn’t take control of the situation now, my life would be in constant danger.

Her change in tone and the shift in her eyes made it clear that she was no longer the Chloe I knew.

‘Could this be a split personality?’

Perhaps reading her diary had triggered some sort of personality switch.

As if dealing with a yandere wasn’t enough, now I had to handle a split personality too.

…Life at the academy isn’t easy.

I rolled my eyes and looked around. The kitchen knives lined up on the counter caught my attention. But if I rushed over and reached for one, I’d lose an arm or a leg.

I searched more quickly, and then my gaze stopped at the desk.

As Chloe approached, I instinctively felt that her murderous intent was stronger than that of the Mao twins. Then why did you hide it? Thoughts were piling up, making it hard to judge the situation clearly.

I shook my head furiously. For a moment, my eyes settled on the desk.

A box cutter trapped in a pencil case.

“…”

Chloe was getting closer, faster.

I had 9 seconds left.

‘I wanted to solve this by talking, but…’

Click-

The small blade of the tool protruded with a metallic sound.

[You have used your wit to raise your mental fortitude.]

[Your words and actions will now carry an intimidating presence.]

[Synchronizing skill with the user.]

Bip⎯

At that moment, I felt a pressure on the back of my neck.

And then, an extraordinary sense of calm rapidly cooled my heated heart.

[The Blessing of the Sword God has been activated.]

+++++++++++++++++++++++

《May the blessing of the gods be with you.》

+++++++++++++++++++++++

I looked into her eyes and spoke softly. A night breeze caused strands of her red hair to stick to her cheek.

“Chloe.”

Her chin quivered slightly under the weight of my gaze.

“Your hair’s gotten a bit long.”

The moon, which had been shining brightly, hid behind the clouds.

“I’m going to cut it.”