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Chapter 32: Prevent the Assassination

After finishing my work with the student council, I began walking back to the dormitory.

I spotted a familiar figure in the distance as I made my way there.

With hair resembling a dry, scruffy broom, it was Foara, the first-year student and Spirit Lord’s contractor.

It seemed like he had just finished school and was heading somewhere.

“Foara.”

When I called out to him, Foara turned his head towards me.

He greeted me with a bright expression and bowed his head.

A polite junior is always a good thing.

“Hello, Senior Hannon!”

“Yeah, are you heading to the dormitory?”

“Oh, no, I’m on my way to the Grand Forest of Spirits.”

Even after school, he was heading to the Grand Forest of Spirits.

He was certainly devoted to spirits.

“Diligent, huh.”

“Haha, it’s not that I’m going to study, actually. The Spirit Lord said something peculiar.”

Something peculiar, coming from the Spirit Lord?

My interest was piqued.

“Is it something you can share with me?”

“Yes, actually, I wanted to consult you about it.”

“What is it about?”

“It’s about the Mystery that once shrouded the Grand Forest of Spirits.”

The Iron Empress.

The Mystery that had granted me my most significant ability—my Steel Skin.

“What about it?”

“The Spirit Lord says they have sensed the presence of another Mystery.”

My eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Mysteries are inherently dangerous beings.

They are wayward entities that, for some reason, failed to ascend to godhood.

The fact that another Mystery was being sensed meant there was potential for something dangerous to occur.

“But something about it is strange.”

“Strange? Explain.”

“Yes, the presence of the Mystery is faint, as if it’s cloaked by some kind of barrier.”

“Faint, you say?”

Mysteries are typically uncontrollable manifestations of power, spilling out endlessly due to their inability to contain themselves.

Such a faint presence of a Mystery didn’t make sense.

“I don’t fully understand it either, but that’s how the Spirit Lord described it.”

Foara, being the Spirit Lord’s contractor, was likely knowledgeable about Mysteries as well.

It wasn’t surprising if he felt something was amiss.

“You sought my advice because I’ve defeated a Mystery before.”

“Yes, Senior, you wield the power of a Mystery, don’t you?”

Foara, the contractor of the Spirit Lord, must have heard from them about my deeds in the Grand Forest of Spirits.

I didn’t deny it and simply nodded.

“My ability to fight barehanded during that battle was thanks to that power.”

“I thought you might know more about this, so I wanted your opinion. The Spirit Lord seems quite uneasy.”

It was understandable.

The Spirit Lord had once lost control of the forest to the Iron Empress, a Mystery.

“Alright. I’ll look into it personally as well.”

“Wow, thank you so much! You’re amazing, Senior!”

Foara’s eyes sparkled with genuine gratitude.

Perhaps it was because I’d only ever shown my best side to him.

It seemed I’d become a highly trusted senior in his eyes.

“Well, I’ll be on my way now.”

“Take care.”

After seeing Foara off, I fell into thought for a moment.

A Mystery suddenly appearing?

Was there any event connected to Mysteries scheduled around this time?

‘Nothing comes to mind.’

If that’s the case, what coincides with the timing of this Mystery’s appearance?

Only one thing.

The arrival of someone new at Zerion Academy.

‘Nia Cynthia.’

My eyes glinted coldly.

At the same time, I recalled what Iris had told me about Nia’s assassination.

Why had Iris mentioned Nia’s assassination to me?

‘Iris knew about my involvement with the Iron Empress.’

Among the student council members, one was loyal to Iris.

That person must have revealed the secret of the Iron Empress incident to Iris.

In other words, Iris knew I was connected to Mysteries.

I reached a conclusion.

‘Somehow, the assassination of Nia is linked to a Mystery.’

Mysteries are unpredictable entities.

Assassinating Nia—framing it as an accident—was plausible with their power.

My expression hardened.

‘Damn it.’

I immediately set off after Foara.

It didn’t take long to catch up to him as he headed toward the Grand Forest.

“Foara, I’ve realized something about the Mystery. Can I meet with the Spirit Lord?”

I didn’t know what kind of Mystery could be behind Nia’s assassination.

I needed to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.

Fortunately, Foara readily agreed.

In the Grand Forest of Spirits, Foara began his preparations.

In response to his spirit sensitivity, a faint figure began to appear above the forest.

What emerged was a massive jade-colored bird.

With its arrival, the winds swirled as if dancing.

The blessing of the wind seemed to envelop the entire area.

However, within the wind,

my instincts—etched into my very being—caused my body to shiver.

My hands and feet trembled.

Even with my Steel Skin, goosebumps ran across my entire body.

I suppressed the reaction with effort.

The Spirit Lord’s presence was overwhelming.

【 It’s been a while, child. Thank you for helping our forest back then. 】

A belated expression of gratitude.

【 Your lack of spirit sensitivity meant you couldn’t even see me at the time. 】

So that was why I hadn’t seen a single spirit during that incident.

My near-absolute lack of spirit sensitivity had rendered them invisible to me.

‘But they must have lingered near me briefly after I defeated the Mystery.’

Even my memories of that time were faint.

Regardless, the Spirit Lord now showed me great kindness.

Although I couldn’t speak to them directly without Foara’s help,

they were well aware of how I had saved the Grand Forest.

Thanks to that, I was able to ask the Spirit Lord a few questions.

【 The Mystery is being sensed within Zerion Academy. 】

The Spirit Lord said the Mystery was already within the academy.

However, as mentioned earlier, Mysteries are uncontrollable eruptions of power.

If one had entered Zerion Academy, someone should have noticed immediately.

“Does that mean it’s taking a form similar to mine?”

My Steel Skin was imbued with the Mystery’s power.

Although the consciousness of the Iron Empress was gone, her Mystery remained a part of me.

【 Indeed, now that you mention it, there is a resemblance. 】

The Spirit Lord agreed with my question.

It seemed more likely that the Mystery’s power had been embedded in something or someone rather than the Mystery itself appearing.

‘Is the assassin aiming to kill Nia imbued with the Mystery?’

However, there was no record of any new individuals entering the academy besides Nia this year.

Given the risk of Nia being targeted, I had thoroughly reviewed the student council’s records.

But in those records, Nia was the only newcomer.

‘If it’s not someone new, then among the existing individuals, who could be targeting Nia?’

Frankly, no one came to mind.

As someone who had played Firefly Butterfly countless times,

I knew the personalities, traits, and pasts of the key characters inside and out.

‘Of course, it could always be an extra I don’t know about.’

But Nia was an active, magical knight.

Even if someone imbued with a Mystery existed, it was hard to imagine an extra successfully assassinating him.

‘That leaves one possibility.’

I raised my head.

“Spirit Lord, I’m sorry, but may I ask one last question? When did you first sense the Mystery?”

【 A week ago. 】

A week ago.

That was the same time Nia arrived at Zerion Academy.

“Thank you.”

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Realizing this, I immediately left the Grand Forest and started running.

Just as my body was imbued with the Steel Skin,

there were objects in this world infused with the power of Mysteries.

It was just a hunch.

But there was a high probability that Nia himself possessed an item related to this.

And one specific item came to mind.

That staff.

The staff that Nia had recently acquired through an acquaintance.

Even Nikita, usually unfazed, had reacted to it—an exceptionally well-crafted staff.

Was it mere coincidence that he obtained a new staff at this point?

Nia’s original staff was broken.

At the same time, the staff artisan had an accident and was injured.

An acquaintance recommended a new artisan.

A sense of foreboding crept over me.

Nia’s assassination was inevitable.

If that was true, then something must have been at work to create that inevitability.

The result of coincidences layered upon coincidences so that even Nia didn’t notice.

Realizing this, my legs moved faster.

Before I knew it, the magic studies building of the Jerion Academy came into view.

I didn’t know when Nia would be assassinated.

Even if I stopped it this time, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t die later.

And considering the storyline of the main narrative, it was right to let his assassination happen.

Even so, my legs didn’t stop.

A person was going to die.

Now that I knew, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.

‘I said I’d do anything for the main story.’

But when faced with the situation, my body moved on its own.

What a fool I was.

I was supposed to be ruthless for the sake of the ending, but I couldn’t do it.

If the story failed to follow the main narrative, the world would almost certainly face destruction.

And I would die too.

If I didn’t want to die, I had to steer the scenario back to the main storyline somehow.

However.

There was someone who would mourn Nia’s death more than anyone else.

During my Flame Butterfly Arc playthroughs,

No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop Nia’s assassination.

And that led to Nikita’s descent into darkness.

The following acts, and the ones after that, hinged on this event.

Nikita became the Act 3 boss, destined to be defeated.

Once Nia’s assassination was set in motion, her descent into darkness became an unavoidable route.

My fists clenched tightly.

I was someone who had replayed the Flame Butterfly Arc countless times.

I was undoubtedly a veteran of veterans.

‘With Lucas already dead…’

The direction of the main storyline had diverged at twilight, and I was desperately soldering it back together.

Yet here I was, struggling to avoid the world-ending bad ending.

Striving to create a happy ending for the Flame Butterfly Arc, even without the protagonist.

‘If Nia doesn’t get assassinated, can’t I still steer this world toward the main story?’

No.

I could.

I could definitely do it.

I’d seen countless endings of the Flame Butterfly Arc.

I had patched things up countless times, over and over.

If something was missing, I’d just patch it again.

‘Since I’ve already decided on a happy ending as my goal.’

Determination filled my eyes as they flashed fiercely.

‘Even in the Flame Butterfly Arc, surely…’

A happy ending where every character could smile wasn’t too much to ask for.

Today, I revised my objective.

If I was going to see this through without the protagonist,

I might as well create the most ideal happy ending.

Resolving myself, I pushed more strength into my legs.

With my resolve solidified, my pace quickened.

As I climbed the stairs of the magic studies building, I soon reached the faculty office.

Just as I was about to search for Nia—

Creak—

The door opened, and a familiar face walked out.

A girl with hair that shimmered like a galaxy tilted her head upon seeing me.

“Hannon, why are you running like that?”

The girl who asked me with a languid expression was Sharin Sazaris,

the top student in the 2nd-year magic studies department.

“Huff… Huff, Sharin.”

Leaning on my knees with both hands, I caught my breath and looked up at her.

I was so out of breath that I couldn’t form proper words.

“If you keep staring at me with such burning eyes, I’ll get flustered.”

“Stop joking around… Is Assistant Professor Nia inside?”

Sharin shook her head.

“No, he left.”

Damn it, did we miss each other?

I straightened up after catching my breath.

“Do you know where he went?”

“He’s probably headed to the Demon Dungeon. He said he finished preparing for the magic trial.”

As soon as I heard that, I immediately turned around.

The assassination of Nia was already underway.

Of all the timings, it had to be now.

At that moment, I began to feel a sense of weightlessness.

As I flailed my legs in midair, Sharin floated beside me.

“Seems urgent, huh?”

Urgent didn’t even begin to describe it.

A life was on the line.

“I’ll help.”

With those words, Sharin changed direction.

She headed straight for the window.

Whoosh!

The window opened with her wind magic.

Carrying me, she flew straight out the window.

The scenery below whizzed past in an instant.

It was incomparable to the speed I could manage by running.

Once again, I realized just how useful magic could be.

“We’re heading to the Demon Dungeon, right?”

“Yeah, thanks for helping.”

“Buy me a curry bun next time.”

So she intended to use this as an excuse to make me her bread courier.

“After this, I’ll buy you cream buns and red bean buns too.”

“Yay, I’ll try even harder now!”

With a delighted expression, Sharin picked up speed.

Before long, the Demon Dungeon, once a speck on the horizon, loomed close.

The enormous gate of the Demon Dungeon gaped like it was ready to swallow the sky.

Seeing it, I prayed I wasn’t too late.

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