I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 55

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Hmm…?”

Iris’ eyes widened.

A scene she thought she might see once in her lifetime was unfolding before her eyes.

Madam Lichtenburg always received greetings, either from the other party recognizing her first or having a servant or lower-ranking noble introduce her.

She never greeted anyone first.

But that proud and tough Madam Lichtenburg was holding her skirt and giving a proper greeting.

To a commoner, Schlus Hainkel, at that.

It was a scene she had never witnessed even once in the countless futures she had foreseen.

Then Madam Lichtenburg, with a rare blush on her cheeks, strode out of the hall.

‘Interesting.’

She had felt a faint mana wave earlier.

It seemed the two had talked about something while inside a barrier.

But for Madam Lichtenburg to lower her tail that much, what on earth did they talk about?

Iris stared at Schlus, resting her chin.

At that moment, Schlus looked this way and walked over with big strides.

“Schlus. I wonder if you’re enjoying the party.”

“Thanks to you, I am. I want to say thank you for inviting me.”

Iris smiled satisfactorily and held out the back of her hand.

Then Schlus naturally, without hesitation, took her hand.

If Schlus greeted her with courtesy, in contrast to requesting a greeting from Madam, it could further lower Lichtenburg’s prestige.

The moment she was feeling satisfied with that fact alone-

“Oh my?”

Iris was suddenly pulled forward and stood up.

“Are you asking me to dance?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Alright. The music happens to be perfect for dancing.”

“…”

So he was going to evade it like this.

It was an opportunity to give the nobles the perception that Schlus was hostile to Lichtenburg and loyal to Flechette.

Still, showing off their friendship by dancing together might not be bad either.

Iris hid her somewhat dissatisfied look and held Schlus’ hand, stepping forward.

“I wonder if you know how to dance.”

“I don’t.”

“Then how-”

“But my body will remember.”

“…?”

Schlus spoke some incomprehensible words and started moving his feet to the start of the music.

It was quite a natural dance move.

To the point where his words about his body remembering made sense.

Could it be something he learned when he lived in Iceburg as a child?

When the music ended, Iris returned to her seat, feeling a sense of superiority.

The fact that she was the only one who danced with the person who directly received the Black Eagle medal from the Emperor.

And the person to whom that Lichtenburg countess lowered her tail.

“That was a wonderful dance! Could you please dance with me too?”

“Me too!”

Beg all you want.

Schlus won’t budge anyway.

“Alright.”

“… What?”

Iris’ fantasy was shattered in an instant.

Schlus danced with every woman who attended the party once.

Except for one, Madam Lichtenburg.

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“Phew…”

My whole body was drenched in sweat.

How many times did I dance?

Doing such an absurd thing drained my stamina rapidly.

I wasn’t the type to enjoy dancing, but this time, I just wanted to do it.

Because Iris’ smug expression was annoying.

She kept thinking she was receiving special treatment, so there was a need to break that illusion.

By the way, when I entered the hall, everyone looked at me like I was a bug, but before I knew it, their attitude had softened a lot.

There were quite a few nobles who annoyingly tried to talk to me.

Of course, among them, there was no one important enough to deliberately form a connection with, so I just had a perfunctory conversation and moved on.

‘A fantastic dance… I guess.’

Fortunately, I didn’t embarrass myself with idiotic dancing skills.

It was because ‘Memory of True Self’ activated and I could imitate Schlus’ dance moves.

Every time I looked into the memory, I had to grit my teeth.

The one who taught Schlus to dance was none other than Julia.

“Ah.”

Only then did I remember.

When I saw her at the entrance earlier, Julia had sent me a hand signal.

That hand signal that only Han Ah-reum and I knew, signaling to meet separately in 3 hours.

Was it because I modeled Julia after that kid, so even that hand signal was transferred over?

Or was it just a coincidence?

Or if not…

No, that can’t be.

‘Now I feel a bit refreshed.’

Recalling Madam Lichtenburg’s expression from earlier made me laugh again.

I only thought I should break her spirit a little since she was acting all high and mighty after trying to kill me.

I mentioned Madam’s precious daughter, so it wouldn’t be strange if the entire Lichtenburg family declared war on me.

But Madam unexpectedly surrendered obediently.

In front of other people, by greeting me, a commoner, with courtesy, she acknowledged defeat.

I think catching and executing Henderson had the biggest influence over that.

Thanks to that, she overestimated my combat power and made this decision.

In reality, if she just sent two or three shabby assassins at intervals, I would be helplessly defeated.

Anyway, for the time being, I don’t have to worry about Madam Lichtenburg sending assassins or crows.

If she was going to keep attacking, there would be no need for such a humiliating declaration of surrender.

To check how low her pride had fallen, it might not be bad to make her do this and that later.

Thinking that, I came out to the balcony to catch my breath.

“…”

“…”

There was someone else.

A woman with pointed ears. An elf?

We bowed to each other once and turned our heads.

She wasn’t seen in the hall earlier.

Was she outside the whole time?

An elf invited to this nobles-only party must have a considerable status, but I couldn’t immediately think of who she was just by looking at her face.

Ataturk? No, he’s a man. Then Serica? She should be in the desert by now.

Who the hell is she?

I carefully looked at her and tried using ‘Examine’.

Unexpectedly, she was the very reason I attended this gathering.

Jin, known as a member of the Crows.

I thought she didn’t come since I couldn’t find her no matter how much I looked, but she was here in disguise.

After confirming there was no one around, I parted my lips.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself much.”

“…”

The elf… no, Jin glared at me.

What the hell, dude?

“I don’t understand the imperial language.”

It was definitely a language with a different pronunciation and accent from the imperial language.

However, thanks to the ability ‘Translation’ automatically interpreting in real-time, I had no difficulty understanding.

Indeed.

I thought it was strange that men weren’t flocking to her even though she came out to the balcony with such beauty.

She was pretending not to know the imperial language and rejecting them all.

“Then if I speak elven, we can converse.”

“…!”

I thought I was speaking Korean, but as ‘Translation’ activated, an unfamiliar language naturally flowed out of my mouth.

It was the same elven language Jin had used earlier.

Then Jin widened her eyes as if surprised.

“Where did you learn elven?”

“That’s not what’s important.”

“Then what’s important?”

“What’s important is that you’re pretending not to know the imperial language.”

“…”

When I subtly let her know I had the upper hand in information, Jin’s expression distorted.

I guess I can speak the imperial language now.

“I have a request, Jin.”

“How do you know my name-”

“Please refrain from asking such cheap questions. You just need to decide whether to accept it or not.”

“… Let me hear it first.”

Jin crossed her arms, openly showing her annoyance.

She must be quite displeased to have her identity seen through right away even after disguising herself.

Even now, she must be racking her brain in real-time, thinking about how this happened.

Retracing what mistake she made in the past.

That was a useless train of thought.

It was just because of my cheat ability called ‘Examine’ that she was seen through.

What would happen if I said her real name here?

… I’d probably get stabbed and die right away?

“I’d like you to find a Crow for me.”

“A Crow…? There’s no Crow more capable than me. It’s better to just entrust it to me.”

Jin spoke, putting her hand on her chest as if her pride was slightly hurt.

It probably wasn’t an empty boast.

At this point, with Henderson dead, if asked to name the strongest Crow, it would definitely be Jin.

Although she had a serious weakness of being worse than ordinary soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, thanks to her magic skills superior to Henderson’s, there were countless clients who wanted her.

Just look at the disguise she was doing right now.

Even though there were many excellent magicians in this castle, including Iris, no one noticed, right?

“I don’t intend to entrust the request to him. I want to meet that Crow.”

“Hmph… Okay. Who is it?”

“Kingheart. If you can arrange a meeting with him, I’ll give you 1 million Tirions.”

Kingheart.

That was Hertlocker’s name as a Crow.

Of course, that was in the original work, and I wasn’t not even sure if he used that name here or if he even became a Crow in the first place.

However, considering that his top priority task after entering the Imperial Academy was infiltrating the Crows, Hertlocker should have a high probability of being a Crow by now.

And if nothing special happened, he would be using the name Kingheart like in the original work.

I had no basis to assert it, but there was a high possibility.

In the first place, I couldn’t think of any name other than that.

“Wait a minute, how did you know that name-”

“You have a lot of questions. Should I interpret it as you don’t want to accept?”

“No. I’ll accept it.”

Her pride was hurt, so I thought she would play hard to get a bit more.

But Jin unexpectedly agreed right away.

What was going on with Jin, who was known for being picky?

Well, that’s good for me.

“Then can I ask why you’re looking for that Crow?”

“What do you think I’ll answer?”

“… No. Never mind.”

My reason for finding Hertlocker?

It was a bit ridiculous, but it was because there was no other way to meet him.

If I barged into the Intelligence Agency’s base right now and caused a scene, I could see him.

But if I did that, I would reveal the fact that I know about the Intelligence Agency.

Then Emilia would also realize that her identity had been exposed to me and run away.

I couldn’t allow that.

Then, the only option was to meet Hertlocker as a Crow, not as an Intelligence Agency agent, and this was the only way.

I had already spared Hertlocker’s life twice when I had the opportunity to meet and kill him.

Each time, he asked me the reason for that.

If I acted like a tsundere any more, there was a risk of him having a strange misunderstanding, so I needed an opportunity to talk to him.

No matter how much I hated him, sooner or later, I had to win him over as an ally.

“I’d like you to complete it as soon as possible.”

“Is that all?”

When I thought I was done and tried to leave the balcony, Jin called out to me.

Why does she have so many questions?

Can’t she be a bit more professional?

“What? Do you want to dance and sing a song or something?”

“… No.”

I turned my back, cutting off the conversation.

Jin was definitely capable and strong.

But if you ask if it’s possible to bring Jin over as an ally… it would be quite difficult.

In the original work, she was a bat-like creature who went back and forth here and there.

Even if I managed to bring her over as an ally with difficulty, I would have to be wary of when she might turn into an enemy, so I decided not to bother from the beginning.

At least I had to avoid gaining animosity by being clingy.

Somehow, the persistent gaze I felt from behind was quite burdensome, but I deliberately ignored it and returned to the hall.

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