I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 35

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Good night.”

“Good night to you too, Miss Emilia.”

“……”

Schlus, with a towel draped over his shoulders, disappeared through the crack in the door.

As the door finally closed with a thud, Emilia let out a quiet sigh.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen Schlus Hainkel like this……’

Today, Schlus was clearly abnormal.

She never imagined that he, who was always cold and calm, would return completely drenched in rain.

If it were his usual self, he would have contacted the Imperial Academy and called someone to pick him up, or he would have bought an umbrella and used it.

It seemed he had received such a big shock that he didn’t even have the mental space to think of such simple things.

Emilia, holding an oil lamp, went and sat on the 2nd floor balcony, lost in thought.

‘It’s probably because of Julia after all……’

No matter how much she thought about it, there was no other reason.

Whether it was an accident or the Lichtenburg family’s intention, Schlus had come face to face with Julia von Lichtenburg.

Schlus, who was startled by her appearance that was so similar to Julia von Iceburg, soon realized that she was a completely different person and fell into despair……

This was probably the sequence of events.

‘Is that really all there is to it?’

But for some reason, Emilia couldn’t shake off the uncomfortable feeling.

Something…… Something else seemed to be hidden, an ambiguous feeling.

‘But…… Wouldn’t it be possible now?’

Then, Emilia suddenly recalled a plan that had been scrapped before.

A honey trap. Literally a plan to seduce Schlus, but when Schlus turned out to be a more thoroughly calculating person than expected, it was scrapped out of concern that it would rather incur his dislike.

But now. Now that he had fallen into despair and was weakened, wouldn’t a honey trap be possible?

If there was someone he could rely on at the Imperial Academy, which was full of only nobles, wouldn’t Schlus readily open his heart?

‘What am I saying……’

Emilia slapped her cheeks with both hands and pulled herself together.

In the first place, she had never received any training in that area.

Moreover, even if it was for the sake of gathering information…… The idea of pretending to be in love was quite repulsive to her as well.

‘To someone I don’t even like……’

Emilia touched her lips and thought of Schlus.

Schlus, who had come in soaking wet from the rain like a puppy, staggering.

And she imagined herself hugging and comforting him.

And then……

‘No, no, no!’

Emilia ended up banging her head on the desk with reddened cheeks.

She couldn’t tolerate the fact that she had such lowly imaginations. And about a surveillance target at that.

But at that very moment.

“Huh…?”

Emilia abruptly raised her head as a creepy chill ran through her entire body.

It wasn’t a coincidence or a feeling.

She had always trained to keep her five senses sharp.

It meant that the surrounding environment had actually changed.

And that was most likely-

‘Enemy attack!’

The approach of an enemy.

Emilia quickly left the balcony and went down to the 1st floor.

Her movements were swift but made almost no footsteps, just as she had been trained.

She made no sound at all, but her intuition was telling her that someone was nearby.

The moment she peeked her head out from the corner-

Creak……

The door quietly opened.

Emilia held her breath and hurriedly pulled her head back.

Thud.

Soon, the sound of the door closing was faintly heard.

It was such a small sound that she wouldn’t have heard it if she had stayed on the 2nd floor.

Then, she felt a presence slowly approaching.

‘An assassin……’

The assassination must be stopped at all costs.

Because Schlus was a person of interest to the Intelligence Agency.

And if Schlus died, she would no longer be able to stay at the Imperial Academy.

Emilia lifted her skirt and smoothly drew a dagger from the sheath attached to her thigh.

And then she waited.

Until the presence was close enough.

Until it was right in front of this corner.

Finally, when the target came within a sufficiently close distance, Emilia leapt out with a no-nonsense motion and thrust her knife.

It was a perfect surprise attack that pierced the opponent’s opening.

So her knife should have been digging into the opponent’s abdomen.

“Haha.”

“…?!”

As the knife stopped, Emilia’s expression stiffened.

As if predicting it. As if waiting for it, the man leisurely grabbed the blade with his bare hand.

And when Emilia slowly raised her head and saw the man’s creepy smile, her face turned pale white.

Fear. A more fundamental fear was dominating her.

A sense of facing an insurmountable wall was overwhelming her.

Emilia tried to move her unresponsive body and somehow managed to throw a punch, but-

“Heh. You’re eager to get pummeled.”

“Eek!”

The very next moment, she was face-first on the floor.

In the blink of an eye, the man’s figure suddenly disappeared, and now he was standing behind her.

That alone was confusing enough, but something even more shocking happened.

Her hands were bound and couldn’t move.

Not only that. No matter how much she tried to use magic, the spell didn’t deploy at all.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“Heh. The maid is more capable than I thought.”

When she turned her body over, the man with the still creepy smile covered Emilia’s mouth.

A handkerchief dug into her mouth, blocking the movement of her tongue, making it impossible for her to make a loud sound.

And the man was holding up Emilia’s dagger.

Aiming at her chest. More precisely, her heart.

“Mmph!”

“Shh. Shhh……”

Seeing the blade shining coldly in the moonlight, Emilia shook her head violently.

She never knew she would become so pathetic in the face of death.

But this man didn’t seem to have any intention of giving Emilia a chance to beg for her life.

It was the moment when Emilia, sensing her death, tightly closed her eyes.

“Freeze.”

“……”

A low voice echoed through the mansion.

The man looked up with an even more bizarre smile.

When Emilia turned her head in puzzlement, there stood-

“Let her go.”

Schlus was standing tall.

“Otherwise, I’ll kill myself.”

Holding a kitchen knife to his own neck.

What is that idiot doing now?

Emilia froze for a moment in absurdity.

***

[Henderson]

[Real name: Henry Pashtun]

[Gender: Male]

[A member of the Crows. A former member of the Imperial Army’s special forces, he fled from the Imperial Army that tried to eliminate him after his discharge and became a Crow.]

The information appeared as soon as I used View.

The Crow, Henderson.

I thought I would run into him someday, but I didn’t expect it to be today.

[Quest: Save Emilia from the Crow Henderson.]

[Difficulty: ★★★★★]

[Reward: 8 Store Coins]

A quest popped up just in time.

I was going to save Emilia anyway.

No, I had to save her no matter what.

“Let her go. Otherwise, I’ll kill myself.”

I brought the kitchen knife to my carotid artery and made a threat that wasn’t really a threat.

From a third-party perspective, what the hell was I doing?

But I was sure it would work on him.

He was someone who could freely enter and leave the Imperial Academy’s barrier like it was his own house without even triggering the alarm.

And he was known for doing his work in a noisy rather than quiet manner.

So if Henderson had come to kill me, he would have blown up the entire mansion with an explosion spell.

The fact that he had bothered to infiltrate inside meant one of two things: either he had come to kidnap me or to have a conversation.

Either way, it meant he couldn’t achieve his goal if I died.

“Haha. Do you have the guts to do it?”

“Want to see for yourself?”

“……”

Henderson’s expression stiffened completely. Except for his mouth. His mouth was still grinning.

To be honest, I was so scared that I definitely couldn’t do it.

Even now, I was barely suppressing my trembling hands.

Unless my hand slipped by mistake, I wasn’t someone who had the courage to kill myself.

But I believed in Schlus’ eyes.

Those hollow eyes that held no emotion.

To Henderson, my eyes probably looked like they had no will to live. Like they were already dead.

“What will be faster, you cutting yourself or me snatching the knife?”

“Stop asking and just try it. Once it happens, there’s no going back.”

“……”

Henderson lowered his hand with a displeased expression, clicking his tongue.

The dagger fell from his hand with a clatter.

Henderson doesn’t carry a dagger…… Did he take Emilia’s?

I should pretend I don’t know.

“Haaah…!”

“Okay. I let her go, see? Happy now? Now you put down the knife too.”

“Come behind me.”

“Ah, yes!”

As soon as the magical binding was released, Emilia ran to me in a hurry.

I grabbed Emilia’s wrist and positioned her behind me.

I must not let Emilia get hurt no matter what.

If I don’t want to be chased by Hertlocker to death……

[Quest Completed]

[8 Store Coins are given as a reward.]

With the completion of the quest, the reward came in.

It meant the danger of Emilia dying was gone now.

I dropped the kitchen knife on the floor.

It’s not like I could fight an opponent like this with that anyway.

“Nice to meet you. So you’re the rumored commoner top student? Hehe. I’m Henderson. Among the Crows-”

“Your rambling is too long. Get to the point first.”

“Ah, I see. You’re the impatient type? To be honest, I received a request to kill you.”

He’s blabbing about the request information.

He’s really the trash of trash among the Crows.

Separate from professional ethics, his abilities are so outstanding that he’s still very popular though.

“But it would be such a waste. To kill a future Crow colleague.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You really don’t know? You actually know it too. That your future isn’t so bright. Hehe……”

Henderson spoke, twisting the corners of his mouth in a bizarre way.

It looked a bit ugly, but I couldn’t tell him to stop.

Because he was someone who couldn’t help but smile even when he didn’t want to due to a brain injury.

“Do you think you can graduate from the Imperial Academy smoothly like other nobles? Haha, no way!”

“……”

“What awaits you in the future is only the relentless vigilance of the students and faculty. You might think that if you endure countless hardships and just submit your graduation thesis, it’ll be over. Heh, but your thesis will be endlessly rejected. For nonsensical reasons. After scribbling your thesis for about 3 years, you’ll start to go crazy. Your classmates and juniors have already graduated, so why am I doing this here? Why do you think that is?”

“……”

“Because you’re a commoner! That’s all there is to it! Haha! Because you’re a commoner, you can’t graduate! Even if you entered the Imperial Academy, there’s no path to success! In the end, you drop out, and do you know what you become? It’s obvious. You become a Crow.”

Henderson’s story, which he spat out with emotion, was strangely specific.

It had to be. Because it was his own story.

He had entered the Imperial Academy with hopes of making a name for himself, but due to the exclusion from the academic community, he couldn’t graduate and dropped out.

He then enlisted in the Imperial Army and eventually became a Crow.

Whether commoner or not, as long as you had the ability, you could rake in money. He had obtained the most honest job in the Empire.

“I can clearly see your future, haha. So why bother going through hardships on purpose? Leave the Imperial Academy, Schlus. And become a Crow. I guarantee that with your level, you’ll be able to handle more money than a decent viscount.”

“Is that something you can say right now?”

“Haha. Of course, I don’t expect you to be convinced right away. You’ll have to experience it yourself to understand what I’m saying. So I’ll give you as much time as you need. Whenever you’re fed up, find the Crow Henderson. Then I’ll kindly guide you to the path of a Crow……”

“No need for time. I have no intention of becoming a Crow.”

“Haha…… Rejecting it. I know for sure you’ll come crawling to me later, crying and begging. Then see you later.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Henderson, who was about to turn his back and leave, abruptly stopped.

And when he turned his head, his eyes widened.

He discovered me aiming at his head with my hand shaped like a gun.

This bastard Henderson had to die here.

Because he was a named character who could thoroughly ruin my plans.

If an opportunity to kill him came, I must never let it slip away.

“What are you doing now?”

Stalling for time. You idiot.

I had used up all the time limit of ‘Selection and Concentration’ allocated for today while frolicking a bit in the training room to clear my head.

“You thought you could return safely after infiltrating the dormitory?”

“Ha! Haha! Seriously! Are you trying to fight me right now?”

“……”

“Didn’t I tell you my name earlier? I’m Henderson! The Crow Henderson! You don’t know?”

“……”

“The Crown Prince assassin! The strongest Crow! You don’t know? And you…… Heh, hehehe…… This is really absurd.”

Laughing and crying to himself, he seemed pissed off now.

Still with a bizarre expression, Henderson put his hand in his pocket.

It was proof that he was preparing for battle.

Damn it. It’s not time yet.

Dong…… Dong…… Dong……

At that moment, the wall clock in the living room began to make a sound.

Midnight. It was a signal that the date had changed.

In other words, the time limit of ‘Selection and Concentration’ had been reset.

Finally.

“You have no respect for your seniors? I’ll have to…… educate you first!”

“…!”

At the same time as Henderson spat out the words, a stone rolled out of his pocket.

And at that moment. The surroundings were filled with a flash of light.

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