Ian, carrying his belongings, immediately left the classroom.
I Haley’s voice could be heard from behind, but he didn’t pay any attention.
To Ian now, Haley Miler was insignificant.
She had abandoned him.
When he returned from the expedition, there was no need to listen to her, who had abandoned him faster than anyone else.
Because that wasn’t the end of it.
Ian looked at the status window floating in front of him.
[Danger to Ariel Volkanov has been detected.]
[Emergency quest ‘For the Right Ending’ has occurred. To uncover the secret, you must prevent Ariel Volkanov’s death. Will you accept?]
[Reward upon success: Neltalion’s growth / Failure: Ariel Volkanov’s death]
‘Has a threat begun to emerge already?’
Ian read the system message carefully and bit his lip.
From the moment he saw this, Haley no longer caught his eye.
‘Ariel is in danger of dying…’
In the game, Ariel faces countless crises before reaching the ending.
From fighting barbarians encountered while managing the Volkanov territory to losing her life to demons.
Of course, Ariel’s crisis also existed in the academy. If he wasn’t careful, he would often face the cold corpse of Ariel who died tragically.
And now, the first crisis had come to Ian.
‘Surely the event where Ariel first faces the danger of death was the war game.’
After confining the students to a virtual island with illusion magic, training involved capturing flags in each Platoon’s territory by any means necessary.
Although there were rarely any fatal shocks as it took place within an illusion, severe damage could still be sustained, leaving physical consequences even after the illusion ended.
Those who targeted Ariel in the war game used despicable methods, sometimes resulting in severe damage.
‘If luck isn’t on your side, you could end up dying there and having to start the game again.’
Of course, if this was a game, you could just restart from the saved section and be done with it.
At least Ian couldn’t do that.
This wasn’t a game; it was reality. If Ariel were to die, it would be the end of his life at that moment.
If he wanted to live as he pleased, it was essential to save Ariel first.
Ian ultimately had to make a decision.
‘First, I need to move toward eliminating Ariel as quickly as possible.’
Although he didn’t know who it was, someone was plotting to take Ariel’s life.
In such a situation, continuously exposing Ariel to others was madness.
Of course, the best way would be to anticipate the opponent’s plan and prepare accordingly.
But honestly, how many branching points were there where Ariel died in Heroic Academy? How could he prepare for all of them?
The best Ian could do was to send Ariel out before others reached out to her with their dark intentions.
‘Then the final question is whether the 1st Platoon will send Ariel to lead…’
Would they try to bring out Ariel’s party, the most potent weapon, as quickly as possible?
Of course, from Ian’s perspective, it would be a great advantage, but… it didn’t matter if it didn’t happen.
Even if he had hidden it for the last time, if he broke through the 1st Platoon, they would naturally emerge.
Ian looked at the skill he obtained as the reward for the fifth mock battle.
[Congratulations! You have acquired the skill ‘Lo Aias’!]
‘Lo Aias. It was undoubtedly a shield skill mainly used by Alex Volkanov.’
The ultimate defense technique that could block any attack seven times a day.
Now that he had obtained it, there was no reason for Ian to be afraid.
***
Celia Wignoron couldn’t concentrate at all.
‘What’s the relationship, anyway?’
When she went to apologize to Ian and visited the hospital room, she met Princess Erzebeth.
She was clearly stroking Ian’s face.
‘Why?’
Why was the princess… stroking Ian’s face with a compassionate expression, claiming there was a reason?
Their relationship couldn’t have been that deep.
They hadn’t even talked much. Celia couldn’t understand why she was doing such a thing in the hospital room.
There was another strange thing.
‘T-that blonde girl… what’s going on?’
Suddenly, a new student was assigned to Ian’s Squad.
Thinking about Ian and her being together in Haley’s class, it still felt like a stab in the gut.
One person came all the way to the hospital room and even stroked Ian’s face. Another doesn’t even think about leaving Ian outside of class and stuck to him…
‘What on earth…’
“Unni.”
‘Even if he takes care of the new person because he is the Squad Commander… what’s the connection with the princess…?’
“Unni!”
“Uh… what?”
Celia, who was deep in thought, lifted her head up when a sound struck her ears.
In her eyes, Ariel, who looked bewildered, was seen tutting.
“Unni! What are you even thinking about?”
“Ah… sorry… I was just thinking about something else for a moment…”
“Really… now is not the time for that. We have to plan for the war game, and you’re already busy.”
Seeing Ariel frown, Celia bowed her head deeply.
Though her heart was troubled, she still had tasks to prioritize, and not being able to concentrate was her fault.
“I’ll focus again. Sorry.”
Upon seeing that, Ariel tutted but nodded slightly.
“Really… if you do this next time, I’ll be really mad, you know? Especially since I’m already troubled because of Ian…”
“Don’t be like that, Ariel. Celia must have her reasons.”
Ariel’s anger finally subsided after Bianca Matip intervened.
Listening silently to Bianca’s words, Ariel let out a deep sigh.
Not being able to concentrate to the point of making such remarks wasn’t that much of a mistake, but in the current situation of troubled hearts, it was incredibly annoying.
‘You have to do better… better than Ian.’
Ariel recalled the recent rumors circulating in the family.
After the head of the family fell ill, Ian was reigning like a tyrant, even selling his father’s name in the potato business.
That alone was distasteful. But what was even more annoying was the feeling that within the family, Ian seemed to be considered not bad as the next head of the family.
‘Just because he made some money… being not bad as the head of the family? Does that make sense?’
Just because he made a little money, does it make sense for him to change his attitude like this?
Of course, Ian had done well. His contribution to the development of the Volkanov territory was an undeniable fact.
However, it was still too early to reevaluate Ian solely based on that.
‘The Volkanov family is not something Ian should have…’
Why was Volkanov chosen as a Count?
It was because they defended the territory, or rather, the Empire from the threat of barbarians with powerful force.
In other words, to become the head of the Volkanov family, the most important thing wasn’t just making money through business, but defending the Empire with force.
Ariel planned to show everyone that this time.
‘This war game will be conducted as an observation class…’
Sadly, her father’s condition was critical, so he probably wouldn’t come. But her mother and Shulkin would come to see her.
That’s when she would prove it.
Who truly suited to be the head of the family.
“Anyway… the reason we’re all gathered here is because of a change in tactics.”
“Tactics change? What kind of change are you talking about?”
When Bianca asked with doubt, Ariel opened her mouth firmly.
“Originally, according to the plans of the 1st Platoon Commander, our party was supposed to wait at the rear.”
Ariel’s party, gathering the most powerful members of the 1st Platoon, was considered a secret weapon by Platoon Commander.
“Other Platoons would cause losses to the enemy while attacking, and in the end, our plan was to sweep them away.”
Holding the shield until the end and then, when the enemy got tired, pulling out the sword and attacking.
That was the Platoon Commander’s plan, but Ariel didn’t like it.
She had to prove herself. She had to thoroughly crush Ian in front of everyone.
However, it wasn’t meaningful to trample on Ian, who would be weakened because of others.
Only by defeating Ian in his best condition would it have meaning.
“That’s why the plan has changed.”
“It changed… Could it be…”
Their eyes, including Bianca’s, turned to Ariel. Enduring those gazes, Ariel continued speaking.
“We will be the first to strike the 3rd Platoon.”
***
Although the plan was set to perfection, Ian couldn’t relax and let down his guard.
He would swiftly rush in at the beginning and eliminate Ariel.
There are no problems up to this point. However, the problem lay elsewhere.
‘Now it’s a matter of how the Platoon Commander will use me…’
Kyan. What mission would he assign to Ian? That was the new issue Ian faced.
To attack Ariel, he must be able to move freely.
To attack Ariel, he needed to move freely. However, if Kyan ordered him to move the 3rd Squad along with the 1st and 2nd Squads, then moving freely was out of the question.
Therefore, Ian decided to make a decision when he met Kyan in the morning.
Regardless of whether Igor or Eri knew, Ian had to be able to move freely in this training.
But much to his relief, the mission Kyan assigned to Ian was exactly what Ian wanted.
“Ian… work with the Squad members to make decisions organically. I won’t give separate missions.”
When Ian momentarily showed a dumbfounded expression at Kyan’s concise response, Kyan just shrugged.
“Is it really okay like this?”
“I’ve always planned it this way. It’s uncertain how to the 1st Platoon will use Ariel.”
The greatest weapon of the 1st Platoon was none other than the party led by Ariel Volkanov.
As expected, they would probably keep them hidden until the end and send them out when their own Platoon members got tired.
However, there was also a situation where the party led by Ariel could sweep away the 3rd Platoon from the beginning.
Therefore, Kyan made Ian move organically.
If the strongest weapon of the 1st Platoon was Ariel, then they needed to counter with a strong weapon on their side as well.
Of course, there was the variable of observation, but…
At least the Ian that Kyan had observed so far wasn’t someone who would be swayed by such things.
Looking at Ian with a troubled expression, Kyan lit another cigarette.
“I’ve laid the groundwork. Now it’s time to prove yourself. Can you do it?”
“I’ll give it a try.”
If he went as far as to say that, there seemed to be no need to worry.
