༺ Start of Winter (2) ༻
“Hua Ran. Looks like you would have to go back first.”
The meeting with the spiritualist ended earlier than scheduled. The spiritualist placed the prepared talismans on the chains and that was it.
Thanks to Ran, there was no need to put that many stabilizing talismans anymore.
In 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.
“Conference?”
“Yes. Do you want me to drop you off?”
“…Un.”
The 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.
‘If we go back now, we might be able to have lunch with oppa!’
Ran hurried her but that had nothing to do with the actual decision – at least that was what Hua believed.
– Jiiing!
In front of the dormitory, Hua Ran jumped out of Josephine’s dimensional spell.
“Bye.”
“I should be back by dinner.”
The dimensions cracked open once again as Josephine disappeared into the fissure.
‘Let’s go. Let’s go!’
Even 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.
“…Potatoes.”
‘Let’s go!’
She 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.
After arriving at the backyard without going through the building, Hua Ran found a large dog cooking potatoes using a campfire of dry leaves.
– Woof.
Seeing her, Doggo gave a short bark. Before long, Hua Ran reached far enough to see what was happening inside the sunroom.
‘…’
Through the glass, she saw the silhouettes of the two familiar people.
Korin Lork and Marie Dunareff – they were tightly hugging each other.
“…”
Hua 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.
Burying 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.
How 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?
‘…She’s just drinking his blood. It’s nothing strange.’
“…”
Hua 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.
But…
Understanding was different from acceptance.
Despite the necessity of the action itself, she found it to be very unfair, but had no idea about the reason herself.
“…”
Vacantly, 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.
Didn’t he say he will look for ways together? Didn’t he say he would help and stay with her…?
A 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.
That vampire girl was one of the other recipients.
She thought she knew it already, but her heart was still in pain. Was she too arrogant, thinking that she was special?
In 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.
And,
Their eyes met.
The crafty reddened eyes of the vampire girl turned towards her.
Marie had already noticed her presence. Her red eyes were showing off to her that she was ‘already different’ from her.
Licking the remaining blood off of her lips, she then licked the side of his neck that was still dripping with blood.
The two pairs of red eyes looked deeply at each other.
Their sharp and squinted gazes were clearly not that of a person looking at their senior or a junior.
****
When 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.
The 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.
“Sister…!”
A fountain pen paused from its rhythmical pace.
“What is it?”
Asking 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.
“We have a pushover! He’s loaded!”
Pushover 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.
However, 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…
“A guardian?”
“He looked like a knight.”
“That’s going to be annoying. Don’t make him lose too much money.”
Knights 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.
“Uhh…”
“What is it?”
“We already ate up a purse of gold coins.”
“…”
Okay. At this rate, they could only hope that the pushover was someone with a gentle personality.
– Kwang! Kajik!
– Get your boss out right now…!
Damn it.
It seemed that she wasn’t in luck today – heaving a sigh, Renya walked out of her office.
“Bring the siblings, Ren and Ron, just in case.”
She 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.
Renya headed to the illegal gambling den underground and found the knight that was wreaking havoc there.
“Who do you think I am, huh?! Do you know me!? Listen…! I am friends with your boss, you know that!!”
“Ahhk. Sir! First off, please let go of your…!”
He indeed was a knight – a knight that Renya was very familiar with.
The 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.
“…What is he doing here?”
Korin 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.
“Haa… Guide him to my office.”
“Umm, Sister? What if he punches me to death?”
“It’s fine so just go. Tell him I’m calling him.”
After a little while…
“Yoo~ Miss Re. Faring pretty well, aren’t you?”
“Haa… this is not a place for underage students, boss.”
Renya Claire; she was one of the executive officers, despite being a low one, of the intelligence guild that 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 wasn’t even an executive nor a worker of the intelligence guild.
He was nothing but a named knight that was doing decently at Merkarva Academy and yet Renya was calling him ‘boss’.
“I heard you started a business so I came to have a look. How were the things I told you; pretty decent, right?”
“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.”
Korin 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.
Buying information with information. It was a strange concept but there was something else that was puzzling for Renya.
Every 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.
“How much authority do you have as a medium-level executive?”
“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.”
“I know that already.”
“…That’s semi-Grade 1 information by the way.”
It 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.
“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.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Royal Courtroom’s Grade 4 public officer, Edna. Her last name is Ilusan.”
“Just a normal officer, no?”
“What if that officer was the SM Queen with dozens of higher officers and even nobles under her command?”
“……”
The 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.
A dominant that whips nobles and high public officers?
This 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.
“If this is true…”
“Of course it’s true. I experienced it myself.”
“What?”
“She was like a leopardess. Even I almost got ‘eaten’.”
“…Seriously, what kind of person are you, boss? If you can even find out things like this, do you even need me?”
“I only know some stuff.”
For 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.
“You should officially report this to your higher-ups,” said Korin.
“…Why is that? It would be more beneficial to swallow this by myself.”
“No. You should just get your contributions acknowledged for reporting this. Someone else can use this for themselves.”
“That’s a shame… And why is that?”
“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.”
He shared a spooky prediction, that there was a high chance of the intelligence guild being half-demolished due to their greed.
“I see. If something like that happens, most of the higher executives would be wiped and…”
“And you will be taking their spot.”
“What a crazy boss. So… what are you trying to find out after making me the highest executive?”
“It’s something you can’t even access right now. Just do what I tell you to do for now.”
“Okay. Also, I did receive the official application form of the ‘Guardians’.”
“I told you to make a fake merchant group right? Officially, you’ll be the one in charge of supplying our Guardians with munitions.”
“Won’t they be suspicious about our connection though?”
“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…”
“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.”
“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…”
Her 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.
“…What do you mean?”
“Nothing. My next request… is about the east.”
—-
After 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.
“Oh right.”
“What now?”
“You need to train your dealers again. They were way too obvious with their moves.”
“Just go.”
“And you can use the money you got from me for the repairs!”
“…”
****
Late 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.
It was when she was about to finish her day off.
– Knock knock.
Someone 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.
“Student Marie?”
“…It’s me.”
It was a very unexpected guest, because this girl had never visited her room this year.
“Please come in.”
Considering 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.
– Creak.
Hua 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.
“I wasn’t expecting you to visit this late at night. Did Ran request something from you?”
“…No.”
Was it based on Hua’s own intention then? Josephine was becoming more and more lost over time.
“So what brings you here?”
“…”
Hua 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.
“…”
Josephine 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.
Even 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.
Softly walking on the carpet with her bare feet, Josephine sat down on the side of the bed and tapped the mattress next to her.
“…”
Understanding that signal, Hua Ran carefully walked up and sat next to her.
“Are you here for a consultation? Don’t worry and let it out.”
“This is about my friend.”
“…”
Josephine wasn’t cold-blooded enough to stop her and say, ‘You don’t have any friends though’.
“Right… and what did your friend say?”
“Apparently… staying with someone makes their heart feel light.”
“I, is that so?”
The 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.
“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.”
“I… see.”
It 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.
The 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.
But here, looking at the girl who finally met her first love, Josephine realized that even Hua Ran was just a young girl.
‘I have no right to be an educator.’
Josephine 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.
“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?”
“……Un.”
She was looking for dating advice.
A request for help that was painstakingly raised by a girl who finally found her first love.
In 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.
‘The person… well, it’s probably Korin Lork.’
That spear-wielding boy who was mysteriously popular with girls was the only one Hua Ran had any interaction with.
Despite 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.
Of 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.
“And that person that your friend likes…”
“I didn’t say she likes him.”
“Anyway, that person probably has a lot of girls around him, right?”
“…”
Hua 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.
During 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.
She couldn’t really remember him… spending time without any girl next to him.
– Nod.
As expected.
Even 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.
“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.”
About 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.
“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.”
What 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.
Both 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.
‘You heard that right? Romance is about being straightforward. Straightforward!’
“…Romance?”
Hua 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.
‘Look, look. Read through the 101 Ways to Capture that Man, that we borrowed from Professor Josephine…!’
“… ‘Capture’?”
It’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.
“I can just go and push him down. I’m stronger than Korin.”
‘Push him down?’
“What’s wrong?”
‘Hmm… that might not be a bad option either. Turn the page to Page 117.’
After hearing that from Ran, Hua turned the pages of『101 Ways to Capture that Man』that they borrowed from Josephine to Topic 33.
『If you must, then be coercive. Push him down on the bed.』
That was the text written under the topic title.
‘But we can’t be hasty with this.’
“Why?”
Wasn’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?
During 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.
‘Look look. The female protagonist is saying it’s for last resort.’
“…Last resort.”
‘So let’s leave this till the end. I will leave it to you when the time comes.’
“…Okay.”
After reading through the book, Ran said after raising her nonexistent glasses.
‘When capturing a castle, we must first go for the walls. And Sister Marie is the gatekeeper.’
“…Gatekeeper.”
In order to capture a castle, they had to defeat the gatekeeper and the gatekeeper was Marie Dunareff.
“Should I punch her?”
‘Oppa will hate it if you do that.’
“Then what do we do?”
‘Leave it to me. I will deal with her.’
The decisive moment wasn’t that far off.
“Sister. You don’t like me, do you?”
That was the start of the 1st war.
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