Chapter 811
Merida Hugh Ikel.
More than being ranked 4th overall and the representative of Katarology, she was more famous for being the younger sister of Phantasus Hugh Ikel.
The fact that she had recently awakened a power similar to her brother’s was something that had only become known comparatively recently.
“Although it was later than Senior Phantasus, they say she’s awakened an almost identical ability.”
Meridiana spoke.
“If it’s a simple one-on-one, she’s probably stronger than Simon Follentia.”
“......Really?”
When Aseraz asked back with an expression of disbelief, Meridiana shrugged her shoulders and walked forward at a leisurely pace.
Then, glancing at the girl sitting on a bed floating in the air, she spoke.
“Excuse me, sorry if I disturbed your sleep.”
Merida had already awoken due to the intruders’ presence.
She slowly raised her upper body, rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her nightgown. Then, as the sleeve slipped down, her cool, pale green eyes lifted open.
“What is it?”
Irritation and anger seeped into her tone at having her sleep disturbed.
Aseraz felt a chill run down her spine, unconsciously shuddering.
‘H-how could her aura have changed so much in such a short time?’
Even if the second semester of the second year was the period when students grew the most, among them, Merida stood out as exceptional.
She had already been in the Top 10, but if she had grown even stronger from there, just how powerful was she now?
Meridiana murmured, See?, then stepped forward once more.
“I’ll be brief. I want to propose cooperation in this group exam. I don’t think it would be a bad offer for you either.”
As Meridiana continued her speech, the mint-haired girl blinked vacantly, then flopped back onto the bed.
“Not interested.”
She yanked the blanket over herself.
Merida usually showed little interest in anything aside from sleep. The desire for sleep came above all other desires.
Talk about defeating Simon Follentia or aiming for the number one spot overall was far removed from her interests.
But.
“You know this? Simon Follentia, regardless of his duel result with Senior Ballack, has already been confirmed as next year’s Student Council President.”
Meridiana decided to prod at her reverse scale.
“Do you intend to just let the position of president slip away? You are of the Hugh Ikel family, and the younger sister of Senior Phantasus.”
At the mention of Phantasus’ name, the blanket covering Merida trembled faintly.
‘Of course she’d react.’
It was well-known that Merida was obsessed with her brother, Phantasus.
Her only reverse scale, however, was that the brother she revered had passed down the position of president not to her, but to Simon Follentia.
“Simon has—”
Then, from Merida’s lips, came a small voice.
“He has the qualification.”
Meridiana’s expression twisted into a frown.
Had she already tested him? She had not heard any information about Merida recognizing Simon. When had Simon’s hand managed to reach even her?
‘What now.’
While Meridiana searched for another angle of attack, Aseraz stepped forward this time.
“Of course he must have the qualification, otherwise Senior Phantasus wouldn’t have ‘skipped over’ you and passed the presidency to Simon.”
From within the blanket, the girl’s eyes twitched.
Sensing the danger of provoking her too much, Meridiana tried to stop her, but Aseraz pressed on without hesitation.
“But Senior Phantasus doesn’t know how much you’ve grown, does he? If he had seen the power you have now, don’t you think his decision would have changed?”
“.......”
“If you defeat Simon and take the presidency, wouldn’t he look at you again? In fact, I think the reason he entrusted the presidency to Simon in the first place was to give you a trial.”
After tossing out bait after bait, one finally hooked. Merida raised her upper body.
“Is that so?”
Meridiana nudged Aseraz with a look that said, well done, and wore a genial smile.
“Of course. If you aim for the presidency, we can help you.”
* * *
After their talk with Merida, the two left the Katarology dorm and walked together.
It was hard to say she had been completely persuaded, but there was at least some progress.
“You get the gist of it, right? From now on, let’s move separately.”
Meridiana spoke. Their objective was to stir up the Top 10 in this group exam so they would act to check the number one, Simon.
Keyzen students fundamentally pursued extreme competition and a thirst for victory. Anyone who had risen into the Top 10 would only have that tendency stronger.
If they prodded at their psychology in the right way, getting them to clash with Simon wouldn’t be so hard.
The two began to plan who would approach whom.
“Anyone you think is absolutely impossible?”
At Meridiana’s question, Aseraz opened her notebook.
After glancing over it for a while, she spoke.
“The 8th overall, Maelyn Villene, would be difficult.”
“Ah, right.”
Maelyn of the Ivory Tower had even been Simon’s vice-president during his student council days.
She was one of Simon’s core allies, and one of his most important supporters.
There was no avoiding her being an enemy.
“Mm, I didn’t want to make an enemy of an Ivory Tower necromancer, but there’s no helping it.”
Meridiana nodded as if convinced. Aseraz marked an X beside Maelyn’s name in the notebook.
“Then let’s move to the others. Did you organize everything in that notebook?”
“Yeah.”
Overall 1st – Simon Follentia
Overall 2nd – Shatel Maer
Overall 3rd – Hector Moore
Overall 4th – Merida Hugh Ikel
Overall 5th – Aseraz Mikel
Overall 6th – Meridiana Anne Sudden Death
Overall 7th – Elisa Celine
Overall 8th – Maelyn Villene (X)
Overall 9th – Elishia Rosenfeld
Overall 10th – Jule Vincere
Looking over the list, Meridiana spoke.
“You can handle the summonology representative, the young master of the Moore family, right?”
Aseraz sighed.
“I’m not really close to him, but I’ll give it a try.”
“I’ll take the representative of Haematology and the representative of Magical Combat. I know them already, so talking will go smoothly.”
“Then I’ll handle Elisa….”
The two put their heads together, organizing matters, then quickly moved.
Time was of the essence.
* * *
Meridiana walked steadily until she arrived at a certain place.
‘To think I’d end up coming here.’
An abandoned castle on Roke Island.
Once used as a dormitory for royalty, it had now been reduced to a venue for courage tests or exams.
But in truth, someone actually lived here—a top-secret piece of information.
She raised her lantern and stopped in front of a room.
“May I come in?”
Without waiting for a response, Meridiana pushed inside.
Though it was not yet fully night, the curtains covered the windows, making it dark. She set the lantern on a dusty shelf.
Fwoosh—
Suddenly, the lantern’s flame went out, plunging the room back into darkness.
“.......”
Turning around, she saw no one.
The darkness of the castle swallowed the surroundings, heavy silence settling in. Slowly, she shifted her eyes toward the window.
[.............]
Reflected in the glass was a figure in a black robe, standing right behind her.
Snap!
She spun around—but no one was there.
She gave a short laugh.
“Why must you? Do you really want so badly to frighten a lady?”
Pulling open the curtains, light spilled in, finally revealing the room’s interior.
In the corner, a boy sat draped in a pitch-black robe. Beneath it, a school uniform could be seen, his skin shriveled as though decayed. In one hand he held, sheathed, a longsword as tall as himself, bound all over with talismans and seals.
“So the rumors were true.”
She spoke, as if pitying him.
“That both of your eyes were sold to the cursed sword.”
Ranked 10th overall, representative of Magical Combat.
The cursed sword wielder, Jule Vincere.
He had once only worn an eyepatch over one pupil, but now both eyes were completely bound with bandages.
He had become a true blind man.
“There is no inconvenience in discerning my surroundings.”
A voice flowed from the boy’s lips.
“What brings you here, to such a place? Do you intend to fight?”
“Unofficial duels between students within Roke Island are grounds for heavy punishment. As the representative of Magical Combat, you wouldn’t claim ignorance of that, would you?”
Meridiana shrugged her shoulders, smiling.
“I didn’t come to fight, I came to propose cooperation in the group exam.”
She laid out her elaborate plan to Jule.
Jule simply gripped his longsword, silently listening without showing any reaction.
“Don’t you think it’s unfair?”
She spoke as she walked slowly to the side.
“They say cursed sword users grow stronger the more they abandon. You abandoned both eyes, you abandoned taste, you abandoned deep sleep, you had to abandon every other potential in black magic. I wouldn’t know for sure, but I bet you gave up even more than the things I listed.”
She yanked open the dusty curtains by the window, letting sunlight spill in.
“And how about Simon Follentia? Without abandoning anything, he surpassed you head-on. He still sees, he enjoys food, he naps, he receives others’ affection, and he even became Student Council President. Even the one thing you pride yourself on, pure combat ability, he surpasses you in that as well.”
Her lips curled into a long, jagged smile.
“One side sacrifices everything to become stronger, while the other sacrifices nothing and still stays ahead in every respect. If that isn’t ‘unfair’, what is?”
Meridiana’s tongue flicked like a serpent.
“So, what do you say, shall we balance the scales?”
“I understand what you’re trying to say.”
Jule lowered his voice.
“You want to provoke me, so that I’ll end up fighting Simon Follentia.”
“Lose your eyes, and you gain mind-reading, huh.”
Meridiana did not deny it.
Jule rose from his seat.
“You need not struggle so hard. I intend to challenge Simon Follentia again in this exam.”
Schring!
As he slightly drew the cursed sword, a most ominous darkness seeped from its tip.
He gazed into the faint reflection of himself on the blade.
“I want to test, just how much of my abyss can reach him.”
Meridiana’s eyes glimmered wickedly.
“If that’s the case, we can help you.”
* * *
Rochest’s new underground waterway.
Few knew that someone had remodeled this ordinary sewer to their own use.
Here, where trickling streams formed a small reservoir, transparent ships floated about.
And on one ghost ship, sitting cross-armed, was a girl.
With lively twin-tails, a grand admiral’s coat draped stylishly over her uniform, she was the representative of Spiritology and ranked 7th overall, Elisa Celine.
“How did you know to find me here?”
She looked at the intruder with suspicion. Aseraz closed her eyes and replied.
“Secret.”
“Damn. I thought you were just a typical model student obsessed with notes.”
Perhaps thinking her weakness was already found out, Elisa clutched her throbbing head. Either way, remodeling a sewer into a ghost ship production facility was illegal.
Aseraz spoke.
“With that in mind, I want you to work with us on something.”
“Work? Us?”
As she repeated the words, Elisa suddenly turned and shouted.
“Hey! Old men in the back, keep it downnn!”
Transparent ghosts of dead captains and sailors hovered over the ghost ship, boisterously drinking and laughing.
[What a temper for such a little thing!]
[Admiral, you had a friend?]
“Shut it! Before I send you all to ascension!”
Again came the raucous laughter of the spirits.
Perhaps because it was underground, the laughter echoed like a chorus. After glaring at the ghosts in exasperation, she cleared her throat with a hmph.
“Sorry, go on.”
“In this group exam, we want your cooperation in taking down Simon Follentia.”
“What?”
Elisa’s face twisted in disbelief.
“Why should I do that?”
“Elisa, aren’t you interested in the student council presidency? I heard you’re full of ambition for rising status.”
“No thanks.”
Elisa shook her head firmly.
“Don’t you know what the current opinion of the 1st and 2nd years is? If you foolishly touch Simon Follentia, the counter to Ballack, you’ll just end up bleeding. I don’t want to earn pointless resentment.”
“As expected of the Prime Minister’s daughter, you care about reputation. Then how about this story.”
Aseraz continued.
“I heard your father’s business is tightly connected with Keyzen.”
“Hey.”
Elisa’s face instantly turned cold.
“How do you know that…!”
“I hear it’s a family of ruthless politicians, I’d like you to read the room.”
Elisa Celine’s father’s new enterprise was tied not to Keyzen’s headquarters, but to student welfare within the academy.
That was an area the student council controlled, and so Elisa had to be most sensitive to student council authority. That was why, back when Simon was president, she had buttered him up so much.
“I don’t want you to become a pathetic daughter who drags down her father’s business.”
If the eldest daughter Elisa, still a student at Keyzen, caused harm to the Prime Minister’s business…
The implication was severe.
Diplomatic failure.
In other words, the daughter’s incompetence.
The head of the Celine family, a strict politician, would never forgive such incompetence.
“K… Kkhhh…!”
Elisa’s face flushed red, trembling, until she finally hung her head.
A dead end.
If Aseraz’s plan was linked to the 3rd years, and to the new student council, there was no way out.
“Fine! I’ll do it!”
“Thanks for your cooperation, but of course, all of this must remain secret. I’ll explain the detailed plan when we meet again.”
Aseraz brushed off her skirt and stood.
Elisa looked up at her with a sullen expression.
“Are you making this offer to the other Top 10 too?”
“Of course.”
“Who are you going to next?”
“I’m thinking of Hector Moore.”
Aseraz smiled.
“Given how famous Simon and Hector’s relationship is, I think this time we’ll find common ground easily.”
Elisa let a small smile slip.
‘You really still don’t know anything.’
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