NOVEL NEXT Chapter 292
<292 - Landmine>
Academy seniors are dangerous.
The professors, who may be said to give “a hint of restraint” in their mild lectures to first years, are the very ones who unleash relentless pressure in their serious classes.
It’s not uncommon for students’ mental states to deteriorate, pushing them to the brink of madness just to keep up with the rigorous lectures.
Having survived such atrociously grueling lecture schedules and ultimately succeeded in graduating, those seniors who dared to commit the taboo of forbidden enhancement would go, “Hah, this is what it means to be our senior,” feeling relieved and justified!
However, if the opponent is not a graduate, the story changes.
“Is there really a reason for a genuine graduate to deceive their classmates?”
“Nope.”
“A non-graduate pretending to be from the academy? Are they insane? Why on earth would someone do that?”
“They probably want to instill fear by leveraging the academy’s authority.”
“So that person isn’t one of ours?”
Students were thrown into confusion.
Jezel felt regret.
She thought she was maintaining her composure, but because she failed to convey her thoughts specifically to Jigoku and spoke loudly enough for all to hear, the students’ fear was only growing.
“Everyone, please calm down. Let’s keep this matter quiet and leave it to me.”
The lower class students, who wanted no part in dangerous affairs, quietly fell back, sensing the atmosphere.
Only Jigoku, courageously unwilling to step back, asked:
“What are you going to do? If you provoke them about their identity and suddenly reveal your true colors, shouting that you’ll destroy us with enhancement, we might just die, you know?”
“…Let’s see if we can entrust this to that person. Compressing loot is something we need to do too.”
Would they really enhance things that aren’t light stands? That was her only concern, but Ferguson sneered, as if to question what nonsense she was spouting.
“While enhancing, how many light stands do you think one actually enhances compared to gemstones? Naturally, it’s way more common to enhance gemstones, which are easier to hide and don’t leave traces.”
Ferguson’s point was valid.
It made much more sense to discreetly enhance gemstones than to launch visible enhancements on light stands like fireworks.
Naturally, a blacksmith aiming for profit wouldn’t stray from the taboo realm of enhancement for long, practically dedicating himself more to enhancing gemstones than light stands.
Kbang!
With the sound of hammering came a flashy effect of light, while the enhancement materials vanished in chunks.
Even as the mountain of classified items evaporated, Jezel’s eyes were understanding the principle behind it.
‘He’s extracting and amalgamating the mana puzzles present in the materials.’
The hammering was no different than the Eastern technique usurped by wizards, developed for them to chant spells verbally or silently.
On the surface, it seemed like mere acts of hitting and breaking items, but beneath the hammer’s motions lay complex and meticulous [disassembly][assembly][combination] happening!
‘Even now, really terrifying speed.’
Living among the darkness of the Empire as a merchant, she would occasionally see enhancers.
But there hadn’t been anyone as swift as this man right in front of her.
His speed was likely understandable enough to impersonate an Academy graduate without hesitation.
‘The accuracy is no joke either.’
Within the hour, Ferguson finished enhancing all the materials and retracted the blacksmith hammer to his tool belt.
“Alright, that wraps up all the enhancements!”
“…Your skills are incredible. I’m genuinely impressed. This is my first time seeing an enhancer of such caliber.”
“Haha, you’re a funny one. Where would a mere first year see an enhancer?”
Should she ask him what he actually does?
Why he pretended to be a graduate?
Her jaw, which had been half-opened, snapped shut.
The world is full of landmines one should never touch.
Illegal businesses shielded by high officials.
Talented kids dragged to the Imperial Family.
The Wahyhiemhai Foundation, independently producing scholarships by benchmarking their Imperial deep-state information training program.
People with secrets also respect others’ secrets.
They understand how horrific the consequences of unveiling them could be.
The dangerous vibes emanating from Ferguson were in that ballpark.
“If you have a wish, I’d be happy to repay you in any way.”
“No need. I’m satisfied just having enhanced without reserve. Hahaha.”
‘External excursion,’ huh.
With a natural glee like someone praying for a step onto a landmine, Ferguson sprinkled traps around while Jezel gritted her teeth and laughed it off.
Right now, it wasn’t just him that made Jezel uneasy.
“What’s up? You said you’d handle it, but now you’re scared?”
“To be honest, I’m scared. Jigoku, you must’ve sensed it too, right? The danger that man poses.”
“Well, that’s good. Ahh, if I had my own ship, I’d invite him as my exclusive blacksmith. With such insane abilities in loot compression, wouldn’t it be obvious to take him aboard a pirate ship?”
“Be as accommodating as possible, but don’t lose sight of him. We need to help him enjoy his ‘external excursion.’ Only then will he at least not become our enemy.”
“Your mind seems to be somewhere else. Is it Oknodie?”
“For you, Jigoku, are you not also unconcerned about Oknodie? I remember you owe our little lady a debt of the heart.”
Jigoku gazed at Jezel with a look as if he’d just heard something entertaining.
“You saying ‘you too’ means at least you owe Oknodie something. There wasn’t anything worth owing to her from your Academy time?”
“Then it must have been a debt from outside.”
“How strange. I heard from our rookies that your first encounter with Oknodie was during the Ticket Exam. Back then too, you hired Son Ohchun as a guard. Didn’t you have any reason to owe her?”
“Have you been investigating my background?”
“Stop pretending. You’re the one who’s been the most eager to snoop around among the first years.”
Everywhere she turned was a minefield.
Feigning ignorance, Jezel attempted to change the topic.
“Why aren’t you worried about Oknodie?”
“Even if I am an information dealer, I don’t know everything. Well, our kids probably didn’t have enough time to extract anything. That person wouldn’t have been recklessly wandering around.”
“That person…?”
“Why would I not be worried about Oknodie? Because there’s no need.”
“Is someone out there protecting Oknodie? If you refer to the Foundation’s butler, that’s a mistake. That person is merely the Foundation’s representative; being a confidant to Oknodie seems like a risky idea.”
“Who mentioned someone from the Foundation? It’s a professor from the Academy who’s here.”
Jezel, who normally breezed past numerous landmines, could not avoid stepping on one this time.
“Professor…?”
“Aren’t you overestimating me? Even for me, infiltrating a ship’s security with a bunch of ragtag apprentice rookies wouldn’t be easy. We only got through because the professor helped.”
“Which insane professor assists pirates and participates in smuggling? Where are they right now, and what are they doing?”
Jezel assumed the numerous students intertwined with the Foundation wouldn’t quietly watch the situation unfold.
But given how things were with a shipboard uprising in full swing, it was strange they hadn’t shown their faces anywhere.
“Who knows? If they’re not here, they’re somewhere else.”
Judging by Jigoku’s lackadaisical reaction, it seemed the professor wasn’t on the cruise ship at the moment.
If they were unseen by the Foundation’s crew and the ship’s students, the only place left for the professor who aided the smuggling would be one.
“The professor is on an uninhabited island…?”
Given that a severity capable of instigating a shipboard riot had occurred, did Oknodie’s situation appear more perilous than theirs?
It was puzzling.
That was behavior that didn’t make sense, as anyone could see.
Her internal landmine detector was blaring.
Since entering the Academy, stronger and more intensely than ever.
‘What’s the situation on the island?’
Unfazed by the fact Jigoku was watching, Jezel promptly pulled out the mirror connected to her doll.
On the other side of the magical tool, she glimpsed Jaku and the Masugaki Princess boarding a boat, trying to evade the Blue Metal Mice swarming and devouring everything as if they had touched a wrong button.
‘That’s the place.’
The number of people at the uninhabited island auction was growing less and less.
At that very moment, with Oknodie trapped in a specific place that once always had crowds or was unpredictably chaotic, she was ensnared among the fewest people ever.
Her location was exposed by Papa, who had invited her.
To the scholarship students from the Foundation who were aware of that fact.
“Professor’s name! Tell me the name, now!”
“Why all the fuss?”
Jigoku grumbled yet answered obediently.
“He’s Professor Raeb, who teaches the basics and understanding of Imperial Magic Studies.”
That was the name of a professor carrying evident intent to kill Oknodie.