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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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I grabbed that guy’s collar and threw him into the alley.
The guy who was thrown into the alley and got hit tumbled backwards, not knowing what had happened to him.
Following him into the alley, I stepped on the fallen boy’s chest as if crushing it.
“Ugh…!”
The guy groaned and grunted, making a moaning sound.
“I didn’t expect you to take secret pictures in a place like this, Prince.”
I spoke coldly to the boy whose hood had come off.
Prince Baltan looked up at me, breathing roughly.
“You bastard…!”
Prince Baltan shouted in an angry voice and glared at me.
I had heard that he had been receiving treatment from the priests for a while after all the bones in his body were broken last time, but it seemed he had recovered.
[Constellation Gaunis is curious about why the prince took the pictures.]
I was also curious about the reason.
Although he was arrogant and didn’t know his place, I didn’t think he was the type of character to do such petty things.
I further crushed Baltan’s chest and asked.
“Why did you want revenge? Like taking secret pictures of something that would make me feel humiliated and spreading it around the academy?”
“I have my honor too. I won’t do such dirty things!”
“Then why did you do it, I’m asking.”
“That…”
Prince Baltan trailed off.
It seemed he had a reason that he really didn’t want to say or shouldn’t say.
[Constellation Gaunis says it’s getting more and more suspicious, narrowing her eyes.]
Agreed.
If it wasn’t for revenge, I couldn’t guess the reason.
Should I threaten him a bit?
“The person you admire so much will be here soon. You should answer quickly and hide.”
At my words, Baltan, who was trying to wriggle free, stiffened his face.
Baltan glanced outside the alley.
[Illusion of Dreams is active.]
In fact, I had been activating Illusion of Dreams since I entered this alley.
From the inside, the outside could be seen, but from the outside, it would look like an empty alley.
Of course, Baltan had no way of knowing that.
“Hurry.”
Unable to resist my urging, Baltan finally opened his mouth, stammering.
“It’s the constellation.”
“What?”
I tilted my head at the unexpected words.
Constellation?
Why is a constellation mentioned here?
It was a word as unfamiliar here as the fact that Baltan was secretly taking pictures of me and Yuria.
“Are you trying to say that a constellation ordered you to do it?”
“Yes. That’s it! The constellation told me to do it!”
“So… a constellation told you to take secret pictures of me and Her Highness the Princess?”
“Yes! To be exact… just you!”
[Constellation Gaunis is very surprised!]
I was also very surprised.
Ordered by a constellation?
That can’t be.
My conversation with Gaunis is possible because I obtained the Celestial Network through a favorable agreement.
The Celestial Network is like the Internet that only constellations use.
There’s no way constellations would share such a thing with mortal humans.
Information that humans shouldn’t know and things that humans shouldn’t purchase are also posted on the Celestial Network.
“Are you saying a constellation spoke to you? Are you in your right mind?”
“Yes. It may seem crazy, but a constellation spoke in my head.”
“It does seem like you’re crazy.”
“No! I’m sane! I was also skeptical at first. But… it wasn’t just me who heard it. A senior in the second year also heard it.”
“Who is that?”
He hesitated for a moment, swallowed dry saliva, and answered.
“Ludas Kianel.”
That’s strange. I narrowed my eyes slightly.
The eldest son of the Kianel Count.
A name I had been keeping in mind for a long time popped up here.
He was the strong student council president candidate from the second years this time.
In the original work, he appeared as a character with a very good impression, and the original protagonist fought against Yuria on Kianel’s side.
It meant he wasn’t someone who would lie or scheme separately.
Then it could mean that the constellation’s intervention might be real.
But even if that’s the case, they would need the Celestial Network to send a message.
“Didn’t that constellation say anything more?”
“The only thing my… constellation told me was to make Senior Kianel the student council president. I just followed Senior Kianel’s words.”
And Kianel would have followed the constellation’s order that came into his head.
But that’s also strange.
Drac, Kianel’s constellation, and Yusak, Baltan’s constellation, were not constellations that had any separate connections in the novel or even in the background settings.
Such constellations joining forces and giving orders to a hero candidate?
-Gaunis. Did you recently make it a trend for constellations to talk to hero candidates or something?
[Constellation Gaunis stuffs her mouth full of mille-feuille and shakes her head.]
What is she eating now?
I didn’t think that would be the case in the first place.
Without the Celestial Network function, the ways for a constellation to talk to a hero candidate are extremely limited.
They have to use cumbersome means like oracles to convey their will.
The next moment, something flashed in my mind, and I reached out to Prince Baltan.
“Give it to me.”
“What?”
“The camera.”
I spoke before Baltan, who was glaring at me defiantly, could refuse.
“There’s not much time left. What, do you want to show Her Highness the Princess directly stepping on you now?”
At my question, Baltan trembled as if struck by a hammer and panted.
However, he eventually took out the camera from his clothes with trembling hands and handed it to me.
“But how are you going to look at it? You need an expert’s touch to develop a magic camera. Can you even see it? You’ll need a professional mage.”
Baltan spoke mockingly, trying to maintain his pride until the end.
“Well, there are ways.”
I took the magic camera and infused mana into it.
The difficulty of using magic depended on how wide and deep one’s imagery was.
And also on how easily one could imagine such phenomena.
That’s why mages try to have a wide and extensive knowledge.
And for me, who had memories of my previous life, a camera was a very familiar image.
Not for the people of this world, though.
Before long, the contents of the camera rose up like an illusion.
“Tsk… to think someone the same age as me can do that…”
Baltan seemed dejected as I did it so easily.
He lowered his head deeply with a self-deprecating smile.
Regardless, I flipped through the photos.
There were a total of five main characters in the camera.
Me, Elena, Elin, Livia, and Caiden.
The five people who were in the Labyrinth of Illusion.
In other words, regardless of which constellation it was, they were very interested in what happened in the Labyrinth of Illusion.
And the reason was easy to guess.
‘This guy is looking for the person who killed Subrak.’
Someone who doesn’t know exactly what happened in that forest.
But someone who is curious about who was involved in Subrak’s death was doing this.
‘Then it’s not a constellation.’
The community of the Celestial Network used by constellations was already filled with posts saying that I was the one who killed Subrak.
In other words, there was an impostor pretending to be a constellation.
Having reached a conclusion, I also realized that there was no more information to be obtained from Baltan.
It seemed Baltan was just used because of the blessing that erased his presence, given by the constellation.
“I understand.”
I removed my foot that was stepping on Baltan’s chest.
“I’ll take the camera for now.”
“What?! That’s expensive!”
Baltan shouted in disbelief.
“I’m borrowing it.”
“Hey! Young Lord Leonhart!”
Baltan shouted at me as I was leaving the alley.
When I turned my head, Baltan asked with a serious face.
“…Are you… dating her? My sister?”
Baltan was glaring at me with clenched fists.
He looked like he would rush at me at any moment, as if he absolutely couldn’t accept that.
It must be jealousy and worry that I might take away his respected sister.
“Who knows? It’s a political issue.”
I spoke as if he was curious about all sorts of things and turned my body.
Baltan had an expression of utter disbelief until the end.
[Constellation Gaunis says Baltan looks pathetic.]
I let out a small sigh as I stepped out of the alley.
[Constellation Gaunis asks if it’s okay not to dig further about the constellation.]
-Baltan doesn’t know anything. There’s someone impersonating a constellation. I don’t know how they did it, but…
I was lost in thought as I searched for Yuria.
Several clues pieced together in my head, and the answer gradually became clearer.
-An opportunity to find out will come soon.
[Constellation Gaunis is curious about that method.]
-You’ll know when you see it.
[Constellation Gaunis whines, asking to tell her too!]
Ignoring Gaunis’ messages, I took out an item that I hadn’t used and had left over from the Labyrinth of Illusion.
‘Location Tracking Thread’
An item that ensures you encounter the target within 30 minutes, no matter where they are.
I had prepared it in case the path split in the labyrinth, but I didn’t have a chance to use it because they came to me on their own.
However, it seemed it wasn’t of much use this time either.
Because I soon encountered Yuria.
But by the time I found Yuria, she was standing blankly by the roadside with a desolate face.
“Your Highness?”
At my call, Yuria slowly raised her head.
Her blank blue eyes only recognized me properly after a moment.
“Leonhart.”
Her lips moved, and a lifeless voice flowed out.
I held her waist as she swayed as if she was about to fall and let her head rest on my shoulder.
Her finely trembling shoulders and the trembling hand gripping my clothes told me she was in a precarious state.
Yuria, who clung to me forgetting her dignity, looked so pitiful.
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