The Survival Guide of Hell-Difficulty Characters

The fillings of Zeke's sandwich fell onto his plate. He stared at Circe, eyes widened, mouth hung agape in disbelief.

"Wait," he blinked several times, as if doing so would change the reality of what he'd heard, "So all this time, when you were at the Peregrine's estate, you've been spying on them?"

"Yeah," Circe said, nodding after she swallowed her food. "I didn't tell you since I was still investigating then. But now I know they're planning something bad."

Zeke frowned and stared at his half-eaten sandwich. "Poisoning the royal family…but for what reason? I don't recall reading anything about the Peregrine being on bad terms with them…"

"Not sure either, they're very thorough with what they say in the house when I'm around," Circe cleared her plate with one last mouthful of rice and pork. "I even thought of sneaking up on them with invisibility, but they still use cryptic terms with each other."

Zeke let out an annoyed huff, stuffing the rest of his sandwich into his mouth. Around them, students began making their way out the cafeteria, preparing for their next classes. "Mmph. At least we know something's up. Should we tell Solren or Creston?"

"It's a good idea," Circe nodded, "Though we don't have solid evidence. Even if we tell them it's likely that they can't do anything unless there's something concrete."

"Right." Zeke narrowed his eyes, "And it would've been solved if you had yoinked that document from the start."

Circe glared at him, lips pulled in a pout. "I panicked, okay? Besides, there are always other opportunities. If their plan is to poison someone in the imperial family, then they need to wait for the right timing."

Zeke took out the white dragon emblem from his pocket. Seeing as everyone else had left, he channeled his mana into the crest. "Then I'll call Solren over right now."

Not even two seconds later, the Grand Mage appeared in a flare of magic. He stood with his arms akimbo, grinning like a child. "Good afternoon my apprentice. Did the lunch not suit your taste?"

"Uh, no…" Zeke gestured to the empty seat next to him, "Please sit down for now. We have something to tell you."

The smile on Solren's face faded as he moved to his side. "...What might this be about?"

Zeke and Circe exchanged a brief glance, then they explained what they knew. Solren sat like a statue, his expression blank. When they were done, he let out a breath, as if he hadn't been breathing until that moment.

"I see." Solren nodded at Circe, "It was reckless, young lady, but I'm glad we caught this before it's too late. I'll make sure to convey the message to Creston."

"What's your next plan afterward?" Circe asked.

"We'll have to observe the situation for now," Solren let out a sigh, "As much as I'd love to take action now, without any proof, I can't do anything but strengthen security."

Circe hummed, her index finger stroking her chin in thought. "But I can always sneak back into the mansion and search for the evidence, no?"

"That's true," Solren crossed his arms, "But I doubt your father, Marquis Hael, would revolve his plan around a single aspect. He is a cunning, calculative man, so he may have prepared something else. Something bigger."

Circe bit her lower lip, glancing at Zeke. He had a small frown on his face, eyes staring at the desk like the wood patterns hypnotized him.

They'd shared information about what they could remember from the game. Marquis Hael Peregrine bore similarities to Creston in their cold, stoic personality, but their ideals greatly differed.

Creston's stern front still radiated the air of a regal protector. Hael, however, felt like a snake always scheming behind the shadows.

"...To be honest, Lily—I mean, my maid Lilia Sterlin told me she heard my brothers talking about using the poison on Silas." Circe pursed her lips, "She said she wasn't sure what she'd heard, so after hearing for myself that they wanted to poison the crown prince…"

"Wait." Zeke raised a hand, the other pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're saying there's a possibility that they might target me also?"

"I didn't tell you since I thought Lilia had heard wrong," Circe shook her head, "But I'm sharing this now since Solren said my father might be planning something bigger."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Zeke lowered his hands, sighing. "Well, it's not like I'm easy to poison. My equipment probably makes me immune to most poisons anyway."

Solren clicked his tongue. "Now the question remains: Why?"

A blanket of silence fell over them.

Circe broke the ice after clearing her throat. "If they want to kill the crown prince, then isn't it pretty obvious that they want the second prince on the throne?"

"Ah," Solren nodded, "That's feasible. And since Salvador supports Julius, getting rid of his number one fan is the obvious choice. They must've wanted to start with the weakest link."

"I'm the weakest link?" Zeke pointed at himself as he stared at Solren in disbelief.

The Grand Mage raised his hands in surrender. "Wait, I'm saying this from the Peregrine's perspective. They haven't seen what you could do yet."

"But either way, wouldn't it make more sense to aim for Rowena?" Circe tilted her head. "As strong as she is, Rowena is still a kid. Send a bunch of armed men and there is just no way she can kill all of them."

"Besides that," Zeke crooked his neck to the side, "Why even kill the children? The real threat here is my father. Even if we all die, if my dad's still around then he has no problem fighting back against the Peregrine."

Another beat of silence passed.

Solren eventually spoke up, "All we know is the puzzle is missing some key pieces, but for now, I believe gathering evidence and cornering them in one go is the best option."

Circe groaned, dragging her nails across her hair. "Argh! This is so annoying. I wish I could just steal the damn document and get them arrested!"

"Think about how they'd react too," Solren added, "If they realize their things are disappearing, then they'll be even more careful than they already are. Hael is a meticulous guy, you see how there's so little information leak even when Ruelle eavesdropped on them while invisible?"

Zeke took a deep breath, then exhaled. "This isn't going to be an easy thread to unravel."

"No, it's not," Solren stood up, "But think on the bright side, we caught wind of their activities early. I'll see what Creston and I can do."

The Grand Mage's signature sunlight grin returned to his face. "So for now, how about you two head to class?"

.

.

.

By the end of the day, Zeke and Circe headed to the library, where they had planned on continuing their group project.

Irelia and Johan reserved their seats at the very back, prepared with books and papers sprawled across the table. When the two approached, Irelia waved at them while Johan gave a small bow and a smile.

"...Is something the matter?" Irelia blinked, concern written all over her expression as she glanced between them.

"Oh, it's nothing," Circe smiled, trying to reassure her. "It's probably the workload showing on our faces. No worries though!"

"If that's the case, you don't need to work on the project today," Irelia scratched the back of her neck, "I feel bad for dragging you both out here when you're tired."

"It's okay," Zeke nodded firmly as he settled down next to Circe. "We're almost done anyway, right? Fulmen Varius is off the list, so now we have the star element spell to work on."

"Star element is pretty difficult." Johan hummed, fingers tracing his lips. "Do you have something in mind?"

"I do," Zeke pointed with his chin, and everyone's gaze followed to the window. The evening sun had begun sinking into the horizon. "The sun is a star too, so it will be easier for you guys to visualize."

"Wait, wouldn't that be too similar to the fire element?" Irelia raised an eyebrow.

"I can drop meteors from the sky," Zeke deadpanned, "Why are meteors stars when they're clearly rocks?"

Irelia clicked her tongue. "Touché."

"Anyway," Zeke waved, gathering their attention, "The sun's associated with many things. Warmth. A new day. Life. But it could also be a destructive force."

Johan tilted his head, "How so?"

Right. Their knowledge of space is lacking here, Zeke thought to himself before replying. "Imagine if you pressed your face really, really close to the sun. What do you think would happen?"

"Ah…" Johan's eyes turned round. "I see. I'll probably get burned to a crisp."

No, you'd have disintegrated, but it's good enough that he understands how it could be dangerous.

Zeke cleared his throat. "So, with that in mind, I'm thinking of forming a spell that can heal or destroy depending on the word imagery."

"Healing?" Circe perked up, surprised. "That's new. I haven't heard of a spell that can both heal and deal damage."

"Exactly," Zeke grinned, "Wouldn't that earn us extra marks if we can pull it off? Especially since star magic has a bit of a duality."

Irelia and Johan exchanged a confused look, but Circe nodded along in complete understanding. Only she and Zeke knew about Astrality, the status effect stemming from space-element skills.

A condition that can cause harm to enemies but benefit allies.

Zeke leaned forward, clasping his hands together, "It's difficult to explain, but just focus on this project's spell. If you want to learn more you can always research on your own."

"Yeah. Star magic's way too complicated for us." Irelia nodded, "But if it's you, I know we can pull it off somehow."

"So let's start with planning." Zeke gestured to the papers in front of them. "Just like when we did with Fulmen Varius, we can lay the foundations like the incantations and your personal interpretation of the spell. We can work forward from there."

However, unlike with their last spell, this one ended up taking them the entire rest of the day to complete. Zeke had expected this outcome, so they had to part ways before they could start designing the circle and shaping the spell.

Upon arriving at Solren's penthouse via the teleportation scrolls, Circe turned to ask, "I think I know what spell you're trying to learn."

"Yeah," Zeke flashed a grin, "Helios Bloom, a B-tier skill despite its effects."

"That's only because the healing's below average compared to other healing skills. The damage isn't all that great either," Circe shrugged, "Still, any form of healing is good for us since we don't have to completely rely on potions when we're fighting."

"Speaking of which," Zeke crashed onto the nearest couch. "We haven't gone dungeon diving in so long."

"You're right," Circe settled down opposite of him, "Although I'm worried about what Ruelle's family is planning, it's probably better to strengthen ourselves before we dig deeper."

Zeke nodded, "With Solren and Creston strengthening security, it will be hard for them to act too."

"So!" Circe snapped her fingers, bringing up the minimap in the process. "Where should we go hunting?"