086

“You've arranged to receive something from the military.”

“'Something' is too grand a word. I've arranged to receive military power itself. No, it might be a bit grand. The key is the fact that the military itself will move.”

I focused on Avril's words about the importance of the fact that they would move.

The Goldline Merchant Guild was a colossal merchant guild, large enough to sway the entire Empire.

As such, the military power the guild possessed on its own surpassed that of most noble families.

It was difficult to accurately estimate its size due to the nature of its escort forces, which were spread throughout the country, constantly on the move, and continuously run on money.

There were only unsubstantiated rumors that its scale was larger than the military power of a small kingdom.

‘Money?’

No. Avril had said he was using future knowledge to sell various products in the capital.

He said he could make enormous profits because he knew in advance which products would become popular.

In that situation, it was unlikely that he would push for an unreasonable deal due to a lack of money.

'Let's think like Avril.'

There's no such thing as an unreasonable deal.

There are only deals that are profitable and deals that don't make sense financially.

Qantaii is doing his part well at the academy.

Bringing in any other instructor would inevitably result in a loss, unless they were overwhelmingly more useful than Qantaii.

'He was an instructor hired cheaply under the pretext of being a fugitive. Buying a good instructor for a high price is a guaranteed loss. A profit that can offset that loss.'

Avril is a man who views everything in the world in terms of whether it benefits him or not.

So… assuming all of this is for himself.

“You're planning a coup.”

At my words, Avril looked at me as if surprised.

“You've reached that conclusion in that short amount of time?”

“The reason you're moving the military isn't for the military power itself, but because you need the propaganda that the army is on your side, right?”

“Six months left.”

Avril slowly closed his eyes.

“In six months, the first demon will appear. And from then on, humans will have to fight demons, not other humans.”

Tap, Avril tapped the desk.

It was a habit he often showed when he had a lot on his mind.

“So I'm planning to settle the fight with humans on this occasion.”

“In the end, you're just going to use Qantaii to consolidate your power.”

“It's a position where I can prepare for the future by holding the position of one academy teacher and the world's military supplies in my hands. It's clear which is more valuable.”

I didn't argue further and kept my mouth shut.

Avril's words were rational and utilitarian.

Therefore, it was meaningless to argue with him now about Qantaii's value.

The main point was important.

“What do you want?”

“There's about a month left until the vacation ends. I'll give you 100 of my guards. Teach them Aura.”

“You want me to help train private soldiers?”

“About a third of them are spies for my siblings.”

What's that supposed to mean?

So you want me to teach Aura to people who might stab you in the back?

I looked at Avril at the incomprehensible order, and Avril let out a smirk.

“I'm going to show them properly. How trivial the things those bastards who strut around in the imperial capital, thinking they're the best without knowing anything, are attached to.”

The smile that pulled up one corner of his mouth seemed to be full of anger.

An emotion uncharacteristic of Avril was subtly conveyed from his entire face.

“The Empire? The nobles? They're the ones who think they have everything in the world while clinging to that crap. They're the ones who delude themselves into thinking they can protect themselves with just a high-ranking mage and a few knightly orders' worth of troops.”

A hint of madness flickered in Avril's eyes as he couldn't hold back his laughter, hehehe.

“So, teacher. Show them. A different level of ability.”

Tap, Avril's finger tapped the desk again.

“If you do that, all of Qantaii's problems will disappear.”

“You'll regret it.”

This was as far as I would go, obediently following the story without knowing anything.

I looked at Avril calmly, then slowly turned and left the room.

* * *

“……Senior.”

Qantaii looked at me with a crumpled expression.

“You are not doing something you do not wish to do because of me, are you?”

“No, it's not like that.”

“Unlike your answer, your expression is very bad.”

“I'm really fine.”

The reason I'm in a bad mood is because of Avril's attitude in entrusting me with this task.

“The thing Avril mentioned, I can understand it.”

I was not the Cassian of six months ago.

Through repeated practical battles and various experiences, I fully understood how sincere they were and how hard they were living.

As Avril said, there were only six months left until the demons appeared.

According to Rozalin, the first demon, the Giant-Block, could be easily dealt with if the students who had awakened their Aura attacked together.

But what about the demons after that?

The 6th-circle mage Ulf displayed a level of power that could not be explained by any of my common sense.

She was a capable person who could distort space-time with a slight wave of her staff.

Even such capable people had failed to defeat the demons and had regressed to the past.

“It's natural to join forces. Goldline will become the blood vessels that supply the supply lines when a war breaks out.”

Looking at the continent where humans live, Goldline was no different from a Mana Road.

So, just as I pierced my own body, it was natural to pierce the flow of Goldline.

It was right to get rid of the people who did not agree with Avril's cause and only looked after their own interests in the imperial capital.

It was also right to get rid of the nobles who were focused only on power struggles through political strife.

It was all, right, but.

'Then he could have just talked to me and asked for my help.'

Of course, I wouldn't have agreed easily.

The moment the Goldline Merchant Guild starts a civil war, countless people will die or get injured.

To think that my theory would sway the course of that battle.

My shoulders couldn't help but feel heavy.

'But in the end, I would have agreed.'

He had gone so far as to touch Qantaii and threaten him, when it would have been sufficient to proceed that way.

To prevent me from escaping, completely deleting any room for me to worry.

'But that's the strange part.'

Could Avril have not known that?

I thought I had maintained a pretty good relationship with Avril over the past few weeks.

That's because we had talked quite frequently to help him awaken his Aura.

Let's change the premise.

What if Avril wasn't pressuring Qantaii to use me, but rather, Avril was being pressured?

'By whom, and why?'

I was thinking about that when.

With a crunching sound, a soldier in a blue coat walked towards me from a distance.

He was a man wearing a monocle, and his already large and sturdy frame looked even more massive in his blue uniform.

A black scabbard hung from his side, with a unique shape where the blade was wider than the blade itself.

With every step he took, the sound of the nails on the heels of his tightly tied boots echoed, click-clack.

“Are you Isadora?”

Isa, what?

There's only me and Qantaii here…….

I looked to my side, just in case.

Qantaii's face, which had been worried about me just a moment ago, was deathly pale.

“Y-you have the wrong person!”

“Isadora Silvarena. From the Imperial Military Police. An arrest warrant has been issued for you for the murder of Captain Valhart Steinfort and five others, who were commanders in the south. I am here to execute it.”

Wait, didn't Avril say he'd take care of this and block it?

I quickly stepped between the two.

The name Isadora, and the fact that he had killed five people, not one, was not important.

“He says he's not the one.”

“Are you trying to obstruct the execution of official duties? The man you are blocking is a felon who has committed the most serious crime under imperial military law. I'll give you a chance. 3.”

“Wait……”

The moment I tried to say something more, my heart pounded.

No, to be precise, it wasn't my heart, but my entire upper body, where the wolf tattoo was wrapped, that trembled once.

My nerves accelerated, and the surrounding scenery momentarily slowed down.

The opponent was drawing his sword without even taking a stance.

His feet, legs, and knees remained in the attention position, but his abnormally long and flexible arms and hands pulled the sword out of its scabbard.

'Not cutting, hitting.'

Despite the wide blade, the sword blade headed towards me at a tremendous speed, ignoring wind resistance.

It was aimed not at me, but at Qantaii.

'Back.'

I pushed Qantaii's body back as if I were falling, and stood at an angle.

Whooosh—!

A strong wind hit my entire face.

My eyes stung, but I couldn't close them.

The sword that had narrowly grazed the tip of my nose had turned sideways and was now cutting towards me as if to pierce my mouth.

But that much time was enough.

“If you take one more step, you will die.”

In that time, I had drawn my sword and brought it to the throat of the blue coat.

If he took one more step to cut my cheek, his throat would be pierced.

The black pupils inside the monocle looked at me.

“You're a master.”

The man leaped back.

It didn't seem like he was trying to retreat.

A fighting spirit began to emanate from his entire body.

“From now on, I will execute you on the spot for obstructing the execution of official duties.”

“Th-this is the Belmein Kingdom! No matter if you are from the Imperial Military Police, you cannot harm a subject of the kingdom as you please……!”

Qantaii shouted urgently, but the sword flew faster than his voice.

No, it seemed to be flying.

'What is this?'

From the right, a sword blade flew as if to cut my shoulder.

I dodged it.

Then, as if it had never happened, the sword disappeared.

There was a sword strike aiming to pierce my heart.

I dodged it.

Then, again, as if it had never happened, the sword disappeared.

Dozens, no, hundreds of attacks appeared and disappeared.

None of the attacks reached me, and they would disappear even if I just flinched to dodge them.

I was bewildered, wondering what was going on.

“……Kuhk.”

The man furrowed his brow.

He was in a position where he had lowered his sword at an angle, ready to swing it at any moment, but his forehead was already beaded with sweat.

The leisure he had when he had leaped back just a moment ago had completely disappeared from his face.

“What the……”

His eyes endlessly scanned my entire body, his teeth clenched.

It was a subtle movement, but every time his eyes touched a part of my body, I knew instinctively.

He's trying to cut my hand.

Each time, an image of how he would attack my hand was drawn.

I slightly changed the position of my hand to avoid it.

The opponent's pupils wavered.

'Could this be it?'

After obtaining the Mana Roads, my Aura itself hadn't gotten that much stronger.

But what if it wasn't my Aura, but another part of me that had gotten stronger?

I examined the man from head to toe, just in case.

His feet, knees, elbows, shoulders, wrists, eyes, chin, chest, stomach, sides, etc.

Every time I took in information about a part of him, hundreds of images were repeatedly overlaid.

Amidst the countless trajectories of the sword.

'Here.'

It wasn't that difficult to find an empty space.

I placed the sword I was holding at that exact position, took a middle stance, and pushed, shhh.

Thud.

My sword pierced through all of the opponent's movements and reached his chest.

No, the word 'pierced' didn't fit.

Rather, from outside the opponent's perception, in a situation where he could do nothing even if he saw the sword flying towards him, it simply reached him.

The pupils inside the man's glasses widened as if they would become bloodshot.

The sword did not pierce the armor inside his coat.

But that was enough.

I pushed the sword with force, and the opponent tumbled backwards without any resistance.

“Go back.”

I didn't feel any pain in my body.