No Dark Secrets In This Book

Episode 20

The day after the precious vacation ended in such a frustrating manner.

Just as I was about to start properly studying blood magic theory, pretending to be someone who was doing so, I visited the library late after class when there were few people around, but some annoying folks tagged along.

“Since you always lose at rock-paper-scissors anyway, wouldn’t it be better to just comfortably entrust it to me?”

It was Logan Esteban from the Blue Dragon Dormitory.

“I will never give up. In the end, the one who will win is me!”

And Capone Jones from the Vermilion Bird Dormitory.

“Hey friends, do we really need to show such fighting spirit just for a coffee errand…?”

Lastly, it was Diedrich Vinckel from the Black Tortoise Dormitory.

Of course, it was the gang I formed, but it wasn’t a very good combination to hang around together. They were constantly bickering and fighting among themselves.

How did I gather only those with conflicting ways of handling trauma and even contradictory ways of thinking and living as my gang? If you include me from the White Tiger Dormitory, it was a group that had all the Four Symbols.

‘Come to think of it, Ryuseong’s gang ended up like that too?’

As Ryuseong came to the White Tiger Dormitory, a remarkable balance was struck with Hae Yuna in Black Tortoise, Lee Hyang in Vermilion Bird, and Shin Myohan in Blue Dragon.

In the beginning of the original work, the protagonist’s group wasn’t included at all, and the White Tiger Dormitory, where Cassice resided, was almost depicted as a gathering place for bastards.

‘Now, how will it turn out?’

No, more importantly, why did Ryuseong suddenly become part of the White Tiger Dormitory? The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt.

So, in a moment when I couldn’t stop my gang whose voices were getting louder.

“Keep quiet in the library.”

A calm voice was heard softly. When I raised my head, there stood Shin Myohan with slanted eyes. The general spirit that always accompanied her was floating next to her.

It’s not good to be on a shaman’s bad side. I stopped Logan who was about to say something and bowed my head to them.

“We will be more cautious. Goodbye.”

I was about to back away like that, but suddenly I felt a chilling energy. Something was about to touch my arm. It was clear that the general spirit was approaching me.

The cold I felt from there was so intense that I was startled and tried to push him away. But I didn’t push him away. Rather, it felt like I had plunged into it, and a chill ran down my spine. I hurriedly tried to gather energy at my fingertips, but this time, the presence of a person approached.

It was the presence of a person who didn’t seem human. Footsteps that trampled on shadows.

The gaze of Myohan, who read the shadows of something inhuman,

“You have good eyes, don’t you?”

…Come to think of it, when I first met her, I couldn’t see the general spirit lingering by her side.

It was natural. There was no such thing called a ‘yeonggam’ to Cassice Demillang. But now I can see it.

‘How did this happen?’

Perhaps that light I saw in the lab, the one that only I saw, might have something to do with the ‘eyes’ she mentioned. It’s not that important, but…

At that moment, Diedrich tried to block the way between me and her. I raised a hand to stop him and spoke to Shin Myohan.

“…I don’t understand what you mean.”

I was about to ask the principal directly about the light in the lab, but since his personality was so eccentric, I was planning to go after acquiring the minimum skills to protect my identity so as not to get caught.

So the hint I found outside was precious.

“What’s wrong, you weren’t aware? Heh, as expected of a Demillang.”

“…Please, would you kindly explain?”

“Hmm. Well. What should I do?”

While the others didn’t seem to see it, Shin Myohan, who spoke politely with her gaze turned diagonally upward, was clearly looking at something.

The general spirit seemed to answer something, but I couldn’t hear the sound. Seeing me focus my attention on the movement of the general spirit’s mouth, Myohan suddenly said.

“Your ears haven’t opened?”

“So, as I said, I don’t understand…”

“You had a big accident yesterday, right?”

“Yes, why are you asking that?”

“You came to find blood magic books, I presume.”

Only then, as if sensing something strange in the way she handled her gaze and spoke, Logan unconsciously reacted and took a step back.

Looking back, Capone had rather come closer to me, and Diedrich had retreated about ten steps and was hiding behind a bookshelf, smiling awkwardly when I gave him a look.

I looked forward again and answered in a gentle tone.

“Yes. That’s right.”

I tried to speak in a honey-dripping voice, but there was no change in Shin Myohan’s face.

“Then add a few more books. You might be able to read them. Follow me.”

Having said that, she turned around. And after having me carry as many as 13 books that looked at least 1000 pages each, she said, ‘Come find me when you finish reading all this!’

‘…Is she kidding?’

Did she indirectly tell me not to come by saying that?

‘Am I being ignored?’

I, who suddenly had more books to read, ended up returning to the dormitory very heavily, listening to Logan’s continuous – meaningless – apologies.

Damn it…

***

[There is no god to receive. You’re too full to receive. So you only have your eyes slightly open.]

“Interesting.”

Myohan muttered. In her sight, ghosts were freely coming and going near Cassice Demillang.

“Different from the Demillang I knew.”

***

A week passed with just the thought that I had to read the books. In other words, it was about a month after the entrance ceremony.

That meant.

“All right! You greenhorns!”

The theory period was over.

“Welcome to the real Ahyaa Academy!”

It was a declaration that hell was about to begin.

“Now kill each other!”

“…Excuse me?”

“Ah, no. You’re fighting, right?”

“…Pardon?!”

“Yes, fight! Fight and kill each other! Crush them, hahahaha!”

It was the prelude to a grand blunder.

‘Is that what a teacher should say!’

It was a part I sincerely wanted to protest against even while reading the original work.

Class 1 of Year 1 was lined up in the training ground by dormitory, and while our classmates were startled by the nonsense, only the shameless principal continued to speak shamelessly.

“Now! If you’ve diligently attended the theory classes, you’ll know! Cassice Demillang! What are our enemies!”

If you’re going to pass the explanation to me, give me the principal’s position too, I wanted to say, but if I did, he would tell me to take it by force, so I just gave the answer he wanted.

“‘Monsters’, ‘yōkai’, and ‘named’.”

“The characteristics of each!”

“‘Monsters’ are the basic enemies spawned by the gate. They have almost no intelligence. ‘Yōkai’ are relatively difficult and tricky opponents as they have the intelligence of a newborn baby. Among them, particularly powerful yōkai are called ‘named’. These ‘named’ have intelligence similar to humans and can only be dealt with by parties of top-tier raiders.”

When I answered everything in detail, the principal nodded his head.

You think I’m easy, don’t you?

“That’s right. In other words, we have to face enemies that may be smarter than you blockheads! But can we do that if we can’t even handle people? Huh? So we have to fight! Sparring! Practice! Sparring! That’s the only thing that will keep you alive! So from now on, kill each other! Understood, gentlemen!”

…I don’t get it, you crazy principal.

I suddenly felt like I should ask the family head, the chairman, to replace the principal. No matter how I thought about it, he was talking nonsense.

Fortunately, there were some sane people among the faculty, as a few of them stepped forward to categorize the students and provide additional explanations. They were all named raiders that I deemed valuable enough to memorize their faces.

“Kids, we are the practice instructors. Sorry for saying this without even introducing ourselves first. For now, pair up with anyone one-on-one and line up. Got it?”

“From now on, you will spar. We will score these spars by dormitory, but we won’t only give points to the winner. If you show a good match, we will also give points to the loser. So it’s not a bad thing to go up against someone from the same dormitory. Rather, if we, the instructors, judge that you showed a good match, your dormitory score could skyrocket. Okay?”

Even if they didn’t explain it like that, I had already decided on a person I should face.

Someone who wasn’t too low-level for Demillang to deal with, but also easy for me to handle. Someone who looked just right but lacked substance.

The guy I was going to face was that kind of guy. So I ignored Ryuseong talking to my face about three times. I ignored him even when a shadow was cast on my face.

Ah, please. Don’t talk to me.

What do you expect me to think if you talk to me at a time like this?

“Cassice Demillang. Answer me.”

“…”

“Are you scared?”

However, I couldn’t help but respond to these words.

“You were running away like a child avoiding the monster under the bed, and now you’re suddenly talking to me? It’s not even funny, I just didn’t answer because it’s vulgar.”

In summary, ‘You think I’m scared?’

“Then let’s fight.”

“…”

But in reality, I was so damn scared that I was refraining from speaking for a moment, and right then.

Salvation appeared.

“Isn’t it unfair for Demillang’s heir and the second-in-command to be together!”

I didn’t know who that Vermilion Bird underling was, but I was grateful to tears.

I was cheering for him in my heart, when suddenly the students belonging to the sect rose up.

“What are you saying! Only Ryuseong can face Demillang! Ryuseong! Be strong! Win! Defeat him!”

…The reason the students belonging to the sect were doing that was simple.

They inwardly thought, ‘It doesn’t make sense for our Ryuseong to be second-in-command.’ ‘If the two really fight, Ryuseong will win.’ And because of that, they occasionally caused disputes with students belonging to the family faction over the past month.

So the friends from the prestigious families also made a fuss and tried to overturn their words.

“What are you talking about! No one can match Demillang!”

“Demillang will definitely win!”

Then the Koreans also shouted.

“Are you guys flunkies?!”

“Long live Korea!”

Amidst such chaos, the heat intensified. In an atmosphere where they seemed to strongly oppose if the two of us didn’t fight, the principal giggled and asked me.

“What will you do?”

…If I were in a position to refuse to fight in this situation, I wouldn’t have tried to become strong in the first place.

“Ah, yes. I’ll accept…”

And so, I suddenly ended up fighting the ridiculously strong protagonist of the original work.

Damn it.