Chapter 415

It’s dark.
The shade cast by the calibration was getting thicker.
The added weight in the air hinted that it would soon rain.
The cloaked figure was still staring at me.
“—Schlippen.”
It was a long way off, but it was clear.
Whether it’s his ability or his pee-in-your-pants vibe, that guy was Schlieffen.
I was just about to wave at the car when I saw it.
Schlieffen, who had been glaring at me in silence, turned away.
“Oh?”
I didn’t feel hesitant.
He disappeared around the corner of the building.
The whirlwind that had shredded his mustache was also dispersing, leaving nothing but red stains.
“Hey, where are you going!”
I tried calling it out loud, but there was no answer.
I jumped up like a wild dog with a bone.
Jumped over the railing.
It was seven stories high, but it didn’t matter.
The cat-like landing was silent.
“Stop!”
The chase was on.
I had to catch him before he made up his mind and hid.
In less than four seconds, a distance of hundreds of meters was closed.
I rounded the corner where Schlieffen had disappeared and froze in place.
“Ew, shit.”
It was a large, complex residential neighborhood.
The Kratyr Pavilion, where the inferior students were housed.
The wooden buildings, which hadn’t been maintained at all, had become eerie enough for ghosts to call home.
Dozens of huts provided more escape routes than I could count.
“This is why the lesser talents are useless. Even Adeshan stayed here.”
Luckily, I was able to reverse it before I finished.
Or just plain sluggish.
I thought I sucked, but who knows, maybe I was born with Shadow Mana.
I didn’t see Schlieffen, but I stayed calm and looked around.
There was a slight trace of human footprints on the pavement.
“Don’t you think I can’t catch you?”
It wasn’t something I was confident in, but I was able to do it.
As I focused, my senses amplified.
You start to hear sounds that you didn’t hear before.
The smell of wood, mold, and river water mixed with the wind is more pronounced.
The sensitized skin could detect every stream of air.
Before long, the corners of my mouth turned up.
“Found.”
The results came quickly.
There was only one other person moving within a radius of a few hundred meters.
This is how a hunter feels when he finds deer tracks.
I was just about to resume the chase.
“Don’t move.”
“Huh?”
“Who are you, and why are you following me?”
A voice came from right behind me.
I felt a tingle in the back of my head that I hadn’t felt a moment ago.
As I gingerly dropped my eyes downward, I could see the razor sharp blade pressed against my throat.
It was Fail Lord, the blizzard-forged sword of Grancia Street.
“—Huh, I guess career fugitives are different.”
I was blown away.
Detecting and concealing tracks is something he’s always been good at, but this time he really outdid himself.
I ignored the warning and turned my head slightly.
The first thing I noticed were the dark blue eyes that glowed in the dark.
“Huh? Schlieffen.”
“——.”
Schlieffen’s brow furrowed.
He was obviously uncomfortable because he had ignored the warning.
And yet, the fact that he didn’t go straight for the throat showed his innate goodness.
Naturally, I made eye contact with him and raised an eyebrow.
“What.”
I wasn’t surprised by his virtuous nature.
A bushy beard.
A beard as dark blue as his hair covered his lower canal.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, I finally opened my mouth.
“What the fuck is that hair?”
“Don’t turn the horse around.”
“No, but it’s not real, damn it. Like some kind of bandit—.”
It was a shock comparable to hearing about the rebellion.
I’m pretty sure I would have failed to woo my sister with this one.
As much as she would have liked to have had him permanently waxed right then and there, Schlieffen wasn’t so lucky.
The blades of the fail load have moved closer together.
“I won’t say it twice. Tell me who you are.”
“Okay, okay, my name is Ronan. I’m not your enemy, but we’re on the same side, stuck in the same place.”
“Ronan–I’ve never heard of him before. A man of your caliber should be known by name.”
“Of course I am, because in your world I would be a monkey.”
“This side of the world?”
“There is such a thing. Ew, when are you going to explain all this again?”
My head is already aching at the thought of explaining the context again.
I rhymed slowly so as not to provoke him.
“Listen, Schlieffen. I’m from another world, a world that looks just like this one, but with a different history, where you were a hero who saved the world, and you had the audacity to propose to my sister. Oh, now you’re getting all uptight again.”
“—What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
“Damn, I didn’t think you’d believe me. Since you answered my question, let me ask you a question of your own. Is Regent Varka by any chance Varka Turgung, brother of the former Swordsman Zaifa?”
“What’s the point of asking such an obvious question?”
“Ah.”
Schlieffen scowled.
The moment I heard those words, I rolled my eyes.
Unfortunately, they were right on the money.
Barca Turgut.
Jaifa’s brother and the man responsible for the Night of the Fangs.
One of the bishops of Nebula Clazier, and a cripple who was suffocated by Adeshan in the original world.
“If there’s an asshole contest, the runner-up is an asshole.
It still sticks in my mind.
Barca tried to swallow up the North with a puppet named Jager, and in the process, committed an unspeakable evil.
He resurrects Aradan, the son of Zaifa, and feeds him; he places stakes throughout the north that curse the birth of deformed children—.
I’ve seen aurors everywhere, and it makes sense that the eyes come out of the mustache’s mouth.
Varka had the physique of a warrior, and he had studied black magic.
The ambitious cat had made it to the heart of the empire.
“Ha, fuck—that asshole made it after all.”
I could feel my blood pressure rising.
He needed to be sedated.
Schlieffen’s brow furrowed as I fumbled in my arms for a cigarette.
“I thought. I told you not to move.”
“Just give me one look. If I don’t suck on this, I’m going to burst a blood vessel somewhere.”
“You.”
Schlieffen’s voice lowered.
I was slowly reaching the end of my patience.
Reversing the hilt, he swung his sword.
“Oh.”
It’s a neat little sword.
This one little gesture made all the difference in the world.
Not quite the Schlieffen of the original world, but not quite the Schlieffen I met in my first life.
I ducked and dodged, then walked over to his side.
He then grabbed the wrist holding the fail rod.
“How are you going to kill someone with this?”
“What the—!”
I chuckle and ask, and Schlieffen freezes.
He was looking at my hands holding him as if they were tentacles of a monster.
I pulled the cigarette out of my mouth with my other hand.
I exhaled, and white smoke billowed out.
He continued, his gaze lingering on the hilt of his non-lethal blade.
“You’re still you, Schlieffen. That’s a relief.”
“Damn it, let go!”
Schlieffen swung an elbow.
I backed away with a light step.
Once free, Schlieffen immediately gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, ready to fight.
“Draw your sword!”
“Calm down, man. I’m not going to fight you.”
“Who the hell are you, why did you break into Phileon Academy, and why did you fight the Gold Army?!”
“I came to the Academy because I thought there might be something there, and I didn’t realize he was a golden boy. We still have a lot to talk about, but it’s good to know this much is clear.”
“You’re sure?”
“That’s right. You’re not the one who killed the Emperor.”
“——!”
Schlieffen’s eyes widened.
The momentum that made me feel like I was about to unleash a sword at any moment had subsided.
Now that we’re facing each other, we can see his shredded skull better.
It wasn’t just the beard.
The darkened eye shadows and sunken cheeks reflected the hardships Schlieffen had endured.
His body, which he never wore unless it was perfectly tailored, was wrapped in a cloak that resembled a giant’s.
“That doesn’t look very good.
Shoot—it’s starting to drizzle.
A rising fog narrows your vision.
Most of the landscape is swallowed by the off-white color.
Rain pattered across the desolate campus.
We stared at each other for a long time, not moving.
A confrontation ensued.
“—hmm?”
“——!!!”
A chill came over me like a cold wave.
It was in the direction of the class spires.
Schlieffen and I pulled back almost simultaneously.
Boom!
Boom!
Something ripped through the fog and slammed into the spot where we were.
“What the hell is this?”
I narrowed my eyes.
Two well-placed spears were embedded deep in the ground.
The auror of Barca from the last time we saw him, his polearms wrapped in fire.
Schlieffen clicked his tongue.
“Bam, I’ve wasted too much time on a useless conversation.”
“What kind of asshole interrupts a grown man talking?”
Me and Schlieffen turned our heads.
Seven spires rose above the dense fog.
One by one, uniformed thugs stood atop the spiky peaks.
“—Imperial Army?”
A coat down to the calf was the conquest of the imperial officer.
His face was completely obscured by a mask that could only be worn at a ball.
They didn’t say anything, just stared at me.
Schlieffen gripped the hilt of his sword.
“Run away. I’ll stall for time.”
“What are you being so serious about?”
“Barca’s SS. We’ve got some nasty bastards.”
The blue eyes grew serious.
A chill began to creep up the hilt of the Fail Lord’s sword.
Clearly, they were all pretty good, judging by the chip on their shoulders.
“What are these assholes doing stepping on someone else’s school property?
Of course, that was none of my business.
More importantly, they weren’t just interrupting our conversation, they were tarnishing my alma mater.
Just as I was about to say something, Schlieffen called out.
“Here it comes!”
The seven hordes jumped up in unison.
They slithered away without making a sound.
Schlieffen throws a wide open sweep.
A giant crescent of sword energy slammed into the ground twenty paces in front of him.
Kaaaaaaaah!!!
A barrier of whirlwind erupted, shattering the paving stones.
“……!”
The two men in the lead were swallowed up by the wind.
With a sickening sound of tearing flesh, a section of the barrier turned red.