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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Ugh…”
My head throbbed. It was a hangover, a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time, even including Seo Yoo-rang’s memories.
It was the first time for my body.
‘Come to think of it…’
I had said I’d had alcohol before, but thinking back, that was the wrong answer.
That was Seo Yoo-rang’s memory; it was my body’s first time drinking. So, I hadn’t properly gauged my alcohol tolerance.
‘What happened?’
I remembered the first glass Freya poured. But I only remembered that the alcohol was quite strong; I couldn’t recall anything after that.
I woke up lying on the sofa in Freya’s office.
‘I made a mistake.’
Despite everything, Freya wasn’t someone I could completely trust yet. No, it was closer to not understanding her rather than not trusting her.
Even if she wasn’t a Demon Lord, she had lived for almost as long and would have developed different values from ordinary humans.
I forced myself to sit up, my body sluggish, to assess the situation. Then I turned my head. I saw Freya sleeping on the opposite sofa.
‘She’s completely out.’
Her limbs were sprawled out, and she was even snoring.
Then I saw the empty alcohol bottles piled up in front of her.
Every single one was completely empty.
‘She drank quite a lot at the barbecue too, didn’t she?’
Was her tolerance always this high, or had it increased over the long years?
I was curious, but not curious enough to wake her up and ask.
I calmly got up and checked my body for any abnormalities or missing items.
‘My body is fine, aside from the hangover, and I had all my belongings in my inventory anyway, so it seems like everything’s alright.’
Fortunately, nothing had happened during the night. I felt relieved and stood up. I was grabbing my coat from the sofa when,
“Haaam…”
Freya, who was lying on the sofa, woke up.
“You’re up early.”
“Yes.”
Though the sun was already high in the sky. I adjusted my clothes, which had become disheveled during the night, as I watched her stretch stiffly.
She also watched me and then said,
“Are you planning to go out looking like that?”
Looking like what? I turned to the mirror in the office. I saw my hungover reflection. But that wasn’t the important thing.
‘Oh no…’
The Optical Modulation had worn off.
It hadn’t worn off even when I was sleeping, but it seemed it couldn’t withstand passing out from alcohol.
Still, it was fortunate that I realized it in front of Freya, who already knew my identity.
“I was joking about your appearance. It’s a shame that you’re hiding such a handsome face behind that old man face.”
Old man face. She was referring to the fake face I had created by combining Libero and Seo Yoo-rang’s images.
I was a bit hurt, since I had thought it looked decent.
“Thank you for telling me.”
Still, I expressed my gratitude for her telling me that the Optical Modulation had worn off.
“Don’t mention it. I told you, I’m your fan.”
Her insistence on being my fan was still something I couldn’t understand.
From my perspective, my actions so far had been full of mistakes and things I wasn’t proud of.
“Thanks to you, I enjoyed drinking last night with that face as my companion.”
Since she hadn’t directly done anything to me, I decided not to make a fuss about it. But I decided to ask what I had been curious about earlier.
“By the way, what’s up with your alcohol tolerance? Are you really a Demon Lord?”
Demon Lords like Libero didn’t get drunk from alcohol in the first place.
On the other hand, she wasn’t a Demon Lord. Though I wasn’t sure if she was an ordinary human.
But her alcohol tolerance made me question the information I knew about her.
“Hmm, I was a good drinker originally, but unlike Demon Lords, I do get drunk. So I deliberately increased my tolerance so that those guys wouldn’t notice me getting drunk.”
It seemed that it was half natural constitution and half effort.
‘Come to think of it, she definitely seems closer to a human, considering she sleeps and all.’
It was only natural. She wasn’t a Demon Lord. But she was definitely not ordinary, so these ordinary aspects of her felt quite awkward.
“Ugh, hangover. Even if my tolerance increases, this damn hangover is still the same.”
She gathered the empty bottles. I tried to help her, but she waved her hand.
“I’ll clean up, so you go ahead. I drank it all, so I should clean it up. I guess drinking isn’t really a life goal after all.”
“You seem to remember the assignment, though. I thought you might not, considering how drunk you were yesterday.”
At my words, she chuckled.
“Of course, I remember. But you, don’t you have to go back? I saw two people looking for you yesterday.”
Two people? She must have meant Elsie and Yuseora.
I wasn’t sure what she meant by “looking for me,” but I could guess her intention.
‘It wouldn’t be good if those two found out I spent the night in Freya’s office.’
Especially since I hadn’t taken them back yesterday.
It wouldn’t be something to be proud of if, instead of taking them back, I had been drinking in Freya’s office. It seemed like it would be better to return to the dormitory before they found me.
“Then I’ll get going.”
“Yeah, I’ll pray for your safe return.”
Leaving the fake Demon Lord, who was praying for me for some reason, behind, I left her office. And I hadn’t walked far when I ran into someone.
“There you are, Candidate Seo Yoo-rang.”
It was Sigrit, the instructor of Swordsmanship Class 1. And his gaze went past me towards Freya’s office.
“Am I already too late?”
What did he mean by “too late”? Before I could even consider that question, he said to me,
“I know your true identity, so can we talk?”
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‘Was it a problem that I pushed myself a bit too hard in the last mock battle?’
Sigrit’s words about knowing my identity. If he noticed my identity, it must have been during yesterday’s mock battle.
However, I wasn’t sure if he really knew my true identity.
“What do you mean by knowing my identity?”
So, I had to confirm it first. If it was just based on speculation, I might be able to deny it.
I was still hungover, but I tried to focus as much as possible.
“That calm and skillful fighting you showed in the last mock battle. That’s not something an ordinary candidate can do. It would be impossible without a sufficient amount of practical experience.”
“I did hunt quite a few chaos before coming here. But what’s wrong with that?”
“For someone like that, you registered as a hero candidate for the first time this spring. The records say you’re from Sak. You can’t leave the barrier without the Order’s permission if you’re from Sak, can you?”
It seemed that he had investigated me quite thoroughly from last night to this morning.
“My birthplace is Sak, but I’ve been in Basil for the past few years. You can leave the barrier without the Order’s permission there.”
“Why didn’t you get hero candidate status? It wouldn’t have been difficult for someone with your skills.”
“I didn’t know.”
It was an excuse that might have sounded a bit flimsy, but fortunately, Sigrit moved on to the next topic.
“Then how do you explain deflecting a sword with an arrow?”
“I blocked it instinctively.”
“Yes, to someone who doesn’t know, it would look like you blocked it instinctively. But after replaying it several times… I realized that it was all an act.”
I hadn’t ignored Sigrit’s gaze. It was just that I hadn’t expected him to replay that part so many times.
I had also hesitated for a moment during that fleeting instant.
Whether to deflect the sword with the arrow and challenge the slim chance of victory, or to give up and hide my identity more thoroughly.
But after seeing Belle, who had bought us time by throwing herself at the enemy, and the Trio, who had trained according to my instructions and could now do their part, I couldn’t throw the mock battle.
So the compromise I chose was to act. I had blocked his sword strike, even taking some damage on purpose, to make it look like I had blocked it instinctively.
But Sigrit sensed something suspicious about that movement and eventually discovered traces of swordsmanship.
“Adding that to the fact that you were reluctant to face spearmanship compared to swordsmanship, I can deduce that you are the swordsman who has recently made quite a name for himself.”
His words were accurate.
Enough to prove that my true form wasn’t Seo Yoo-rang, the archer. But he still wouldn’t be certain that I was Allan Blake.
No, even if he was certain, I had to turn it around.
“You’re right. I’m not Seo Yoo-rang.”
So I decided to strike first. “I’m the 2nd ranked hero…”
“Wait.”
Sigrit chuckled.
“Not only swordsmanship and strategy, but your deception skills are also top-notch.”
“It can’t be helped if you don’t believe me.”
“Yes, I don’t believe you. In the first place, those guys are already satisfied. They wouldn’t have any reason to return to this academy to try again. But you’re different, aren’t you?”
His eyes looked sad.
“Allan Blake, the rising star of humanity. It’s an honor to meet you.”
The words “it’s an honor to meet you,” and his outstretched hand for a handshake.
But I couldn’t trust him so easily. ‘I don’t have enough information about this man yet.’
As I maintained my cautious attitude, he eventually withdrew his hand and said,
“It’s not bad to be cautious. But it’s okay. I didn’t take up your precious time just to confirm your identity, but because I have something to ask.”
Something to ask? ‘Is he finally getting to the main point?’
The current situation was overwhelmingly in Sigrit’s favor. He held information about my identity, while I lacked information about him.
Then the best course of action was to somehow negotiate the conditions he offered.
“What is it?”
But the question was completely unexpected.
“Did… Freya die happy?”
He had the saddest expression I had ever seen on his face.
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