Chapter 116. It Was Really a Joke
After coming to the Academy and checking things out, it didn’t seem like there was any particular problem with Professor Parun’s personal safety.
Because, as always, he was guiding the students of Class M1 with his blunt, impassive face.
‘Then that means there’s something going on with the new Thousand Origin Art.’
There were two possibilities Aster could think of.
One: Professor Parun’s research part had simply finished, and he needed to hand it over to Henji.
Two: Those House Deculan bastards were, once again, pulling strings under the surface.
If it was the former, it was something Aster would welcome. If the research on the new Thousand Origin Art had made progress, that meant the time needed to catch up to Paharen would be shortened by that much.
But if it was the latter……
Just as Aster’s thoughts reached that point, Demian’s voice scattered them.
“Can’t you go?”
An innocent question. His eyes were as bright and clear as ever.
But even if his eyes looked the same as usual, the atmosphere wasn’t quite the same. How should he put it—transparent, as if he could see right through the situation.
‘……Hmm.’
It wasn’t unfamiliar.
He looked like he didn’t know anything and was all sunshine, but he was still the young Head of House of House Brando. Even if he seemed naïve compared to his peers, that didn’t mean what was inside him was naïve too.
He probably saw as much as those Academy students who bragged about being grown-ups the moment their hair started coming in, and he probably understood as much as he knew.
No—he would likely gauge even more than that.
It was just that he didn’t say that he knew what he knew, and he didn’t say that he saw what he saw.
Was that why Demian’s vibe felt unfamiliar? While Chenbi tilted his head as if puzzled, Aster opened his mouth.
“I think I’ll only know once I check.”
“When will you know?”
“Even if it’s fast… probably around this evening?”
“Got it.”
Demian’s atmosphere returned right after that.
“I’m going to make Blood, Sweat, and Tears No. 2 during vacation. So later, you have to come see it!”
A voice he forced to sound energetic. Aster nodded, saying, “Yeah, sure.”
It was still uncertain whether he could go or not, but Demian had already fixed it in his mind that Aster couldn’t go.
Even after that, the conversation continued for a while under Demian’s lead.
But the same mood from earlier didn’t return.
Because his mood had already dropped.
Demian was subdued in a way that made him look depressed. Even Chenbi, too, was watching him with worry—yet the only one who looked the same as usual was Aster.
And so, the conversation ended, and before they knew it, it was the time to wrap up the day.
“…….”
Demian, who had parted ways with Aster and Chenbi and entered his room, stopped blankly in the middle of the dark room.
The sun was sinking, slowly and gradually. Outside the window, students were moving around busily, but Demian’s expression sank into a bored, indifferent look.
As if the bright smile he’d been wearing until a moment ago had been a lie.
He stared out the window with numb eyes for a while. Then his mouth opened.
“……This is boring.”
Until he ran away and entered the Academy, it had been pretty fun. No— even after he came in, it hadn’t been all that bad.
Academy life was, just as he’d predicted early on, unbearably dull, but the people around him weren’t bad.
Yet now, it was unbearably boring. Why?
“…….”
Flutter, flutter.
Demian’s eyes followed a moth.
A thing that seemed to long for freedom, throwing itself against the window outside. Demian pointed at the moth with his finger. The moment after that, his magic bound the moth.
Tap, thack!
Demian quietly watched the moth, which couldn’t even flap its wings and only twitched.
……Boring.
The shape of his lips moved without sound.
Creak, creak.
As the shackles of magic slowly tightened, Demian sorted out his thoughts for a moment.
At this rate, wasn’t it no different from when he was in House Brando?
Not Demian, but the young Head of House. The heir of the family, the eldest legitimate son of Brando—what was different from when he was trapped inside that old-fashioned mold?
Thud, thud!
At last, inside the compressed shackles, as the moth began to lose its shape—
“……Mm.”
Demian released the shackle.
He caught the moth, which fell weakly, in his hand and healed it with a light of recovery.
“Sorry.”
With dazzling light, the moth recovered and fluttered its wings.
Demian opened the window and let the moth fly away, then kept his eyes on the trajectory as it grew distant.
“Just… until graduation.”
Just endure until then.
Clearly, somewhere out there, they were catching some insanely fun opportunity and playing around with it…… but for him right now, the level didn’t match.
So he would endure.
‘If the level doesn’t match, it’s not fun.’
So, just until graduation.
Just be bored until then.
Thinking of two years later, Demian held a smile. It was the same innocent smile as always.
For a short while.
“……What about Chenbi?”
Even after two years, the level still wouldn’t match.
Now that they were already friends, it wasn’t like he could just ditch him.
Demian, chin propped in his hand, pondered deeply—then broke into a bright grin.
“I’ll just bring him along, I guess.”
Even if the level didn’t match, he was still a good friend.
……Of course, this was a resolve made by Demian alone, without a speck of consideration for Aster’s or Chenbi’s intentions.
Late at night, long past lights-out.
I waited until Pola fell asleep, then put on a mask and left the Academy.
The place I headed to was Parun’s mansion.
The building that had been half-destroyed in the fierce battle with Kalahen before had been restored so cleanly that you couldn’t even find a trace of the damage.
“……You’re late.”
Parun was still continuing his research in his office, and he lifted his head at the sound of my presence.
“It’s been how long since I called you—took you long enough.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“A communication crystal orb would’ve been better. How am I supposed to know whether you’re dead or not?”
Maybe he’d been pretty frustrated. A snappish remark that didn’t suit him. I shrugged and sank into the reception sofa.
“So, why’d you call me? You look like you’re alive. Did you hit a wall in your research? Want me to help a bit?”
“If that were the case, I’d just bring in an undergraduate and use them.”
Fair point.
My magical knowledge, no matter what, was only something I’d picked up selectively—only the parts I needed. It wasn’t that deep.
Well, I’d still be better than an undergraduate, but to Parun, it would probably be six of one, half a dozen of the other.
That aside.
“Did you eat something good somewhere?”
“……?”
I let out an impressed sound at the completely different pressure coming off Professor Parun.
Even before, his presence had been the kind that made you think, he’s impressive—but now it was different from back then again.
At the Academy, I hadn’t felt it because I’d always passed him from far away, but seeing him up close like this made the difference even clearer.
Did he eat some elixir somewhere?
Ah—by “elixir” here, I don’t mean mass-produced elixirs divided into low-, mid-, and high-grade.
I mean, literally, a real elixir.
You know the kind. A treasure of ages, brewed by dumping in every precious, priceless ingredient you can get your hands on!
For someone like Parun to change like this, it would take something like that.
But at my question, Parun shook his head.
“I simply started cultivating again.”
Yeah, right.
A person changes like this just from cultivating? He’s completely different from a month ago.
He must’ve grasped even a sliver of enlightenment in the meantime.
The fierce battle with Kalahen, and then the Hall of Trials incident—seemed like they’d brought about some change in his mindset. But what mattered right now wasn’t that.
“So, why’d you call me?”
“Because I received a piece of information.”
“Information?”
Parun stood up from his desk and moved to the sofa.
The way he sat down in the seat of honor as if it were only natural made my insides twist, but I didn’t say anything. I was a guest who knew manners.
Anyway, Parun, pressing his temple as if tired, opened his mouth.
“Have you ever heard of the Infinite Chain?”
“Infinite Chain, you mean……?”
I had.
The Infinite Chain—the endless chain.
One of the ancient Artifacts, and contrary to its name, it wasn’t a chain but a red ball of thread.
Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary ball of thread.
Even though the thread was wound tightly, the yarn ball never unraveled—so it was a useless piece of trash that couldn’t even be used for knitting despite being thread.
Still, it was treated as a pretty valuable Artifact, and the reason was simple.
Absolute Tracking
As long as you satisfied a few conditions, it had a damn ability that could track your desired target absolutely.
Reading my reaction, Parun spoke.
“Looks like you know it.”
“Know it? Of course I do.”
How could I not? The hell I went through because of that thing in my past life—
The reason I was chased to the brink of death by those brainless sword-swinging idiots of the famed sword house Lortel was because of the Infinite Chain.
Otherwise, how would those morons have been able to chase me?
The stab wounds I took back then were three, four—anyway, I came back from the dead, literally.
Well, it was fun, though.
“But why does that matter?”
The Infinite Chain belonged to House Lortel.
‘Wait. Don’t tell me this bastard……?’
Did he go beyond Deculan and mess with Lortel too?
No. That can’t be.
Lortel doesn’t engage in outside activities, sure—but if you only look at their standing, they’re number one among the famed sword houses.
They’re just underestimated because they don’t expand their sphere of influence.
So no matter how crazy someone is, would they really mess with Lortel after Deculan?
‘But what if he did?’
In a short instant, countless thoughts flashed through my mind.
I’m a Troubleshooter who values loyalty. And Parun and I are, at the very least, partners—partners who aren’t quite partners, but still.
If so, a partner’s danger is my danger.
“A piece of information that came in recently. From the Deculan side…….”
“I’m backing out.”
“……?”
“No, it’s nothing. You said something about Deculan—keep talking.”
“…….”
Parun stared at me with eyes gone cold.
I was shameless.
If you look up at the sky, my life is already stained with filth. Adding one more smear wouldn’t change anything.
After staring at me with those cold eyes a moment longer, Parun opened his mouth.
“Deculan contacted Lortel. It seems they’re negotiating over the Infinite Chain.”
“Ha…….”
“You understand what that means, don’t you?”
Of course I do.
“So right now…….”
“To put it politely, we’re X’d.”
“…….”
It wasn’t polite at all, but Parun was brazen. And I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to pick a fight over that.
Why would Deculan want the Infinite Chain?
The Thousand Origin Art that Henji and Parun have. And beyond that…… because of the Scarlet Flame Vision that I have.
So, like Parun said……
“……Yeah. We’re literally X’d.”
Ah—correction.
“……I’m fine, though?”
“……?”
“The Infinite Chain tracks objects, not people…… and I’ve memorized the Scarlet Flame Vision.”
“…….”
“If I burn it, that’s that. Kalahen’s Subspace is a bit of an issue, but if it comes down to it, I can throw it away.”
“…….”
The reason Lortel chased me before was because I stole something from them!
So, to summarize—
I’m fine. Or more precisely……
Only I am fine.
“…….”
“…….”
Cold air in the office. In the petty silence that hung heavy, the two of us glared at each other with one heart and one mind.
What. Why. So what.
“Burn yours too.”
“…….”
A guy that smart—he still hasn’t memorized it?
If he’s researching it enough to write a paper, then the contents should already be packed into his head.
But then why?
Parun glared at me like I was looking at some kind of primitive ape. He let out a deep sigh and scolded me in a tone like I was pathetic.
“You think it’s that simple? What if they track the ‘paper’? Are you going to tell me to burn the paper too?”
Ah. That.
The Infinite Chain’s ability was Absolute Tracking.
If those Deculan bastards set the tracking target as “the paper on the Thousand Origin Art,” then Henji and Parun’s paper wouldn’t be an exception either.
‘Of course, they can’t target a paper they don’t even know exists. But…… if they use the Thousand Origin Art’s oral formulas as a medium, finding the paper is only a matter of time.’
They’d need to weave in various variables, but still.
And no matter how skilled Henji and Parun were, they couldn’t memorize this massive paper without missing a single letter.
Especially since they were co-authors, memorizing the entire logical structure of the paper was close to impossible.
“Do you understand the seriousness now?”
“Hmm…….”
I looked at Parun with a deliberately serious face.
“That’s too bad.”
“…….”
“I wish you luck.”
“…….”
Right then, murderous intent began to creep up from Parun.
Grrrrk.
As the fearsome momentum made the office furnishings tremble and shake, I couldn’t not add a word.
“It’s a joke.”
I’m a Troubleshooter who knows loyalty. If I ignore a colleague’s crisis, I feel uncomfortable for at least a day.
It really was a joke.
Really.
