It had been several days since the Brookers event was resolved.
Isn’t vacation supposed to be a time for recharging?
Even the brilliant students of Ark Academy took some time to relax during their breaks.
‘But that wasn’t the case for me.’
While others were making travel plans or lounging in their rooms, Ian had been running around dealing with various issues.
Before the vacation even began, he was fighting off barbarians.
Following that, he dealt with the Archbishop Raymond of Edenria and then the recent zombie incident.
“Of course, I did take a trip to the beach in between.”
Ian shook his head.
Even if he wanted to rationalize it, he couldn’t.
He had rested, that was true. He even crossed off one item from his bucket list—relaxing on an empty beach with a drink in hand.
But it would be hard to say he had a good rest just because he did that for a few hours.
If someone who had been running tirelessly was given a three-hour break and then told to get back to work, they’d likely grab their collar in frustration.
‘And it’s not like I slept comfortably either. I was tangled up with zombies right after.’
Given how he spent his vacation, he couldn’t say it was enjoyable.
That’s why—
‘I’m going to really rest this time. I won’t compromise.’
He declared a strike and holed up in the Blue Moon Pavilion.
He didn’t need to do anything special. He just wanted to enjoy the passing clouds and spend his time leisurely.
How long had he been doing that? He soon realized, as usual.
‘Damn it.’
The world never went as he wanted.
Waking up to an unexpected guest, Ian put on a disgruntled expression.
“Ugh… I didn’t know there was such a cute and kind dark attribute spirit! If I had known, I would have studied spirit magic harder…”
– Hehe. Am I cute? You look cute too, big sister!
“I can’t help it! Neltalion! Do you want to live with me?”
– … That won’t do. I like you, but I like Ian more. How about you live with Ian?
“Huh? Me with Ian? I’d like to, but… what am I saying?”
When had she even come to the Blue Moon Pavilion? In the adjacent room, Bianca was holding Neltalion in her arms.
Watching them through the crack in the door, Ian let out a wry laugh.
‘This is a bigger deal than I thought.’
It wasn’t unusual for her to visit the Blue Moon Pavilion.
After all, she had received help in the Brookers territory. She often visited from his room at the nearby inn.
‘ Fine, I’ll concede that Bianca has memories of this place and wants to protect it. But what about the others?
She wasn’t the only one visiting.
Reina also came by often, bringing desserts made from winter strawberries.
Were they the only ones?
‘Of course not.’
Next were Lia and Eri.
The constant visits were disturbing his rest.
Finally reaching a state of enlightenment, Ian decided to end his strike.
‘It’s not a bad situation, though.’
Upon reflection, wasn’t this what he had always wanted?
It was he who had decided to draw in the heroines to attract Leviathan.
Getting attention from the heroines was undeniably a good situation.
‘The family is running well.’
His retainers were working efficiently, and the second tournament ended successfully.
Despite not intervening beyond healing the participants with Super Regeneration, there had been no issues.
‘It means I don’t have to be obsessed with the family.’
The time wasted on cleaning up was over.
The once unstable family atmosphere had been settled, and there hadn’t been many people visiting for work recently.
With investments starting earnestly, the retainers wouldn’t need to ask for help.
‘Is it time to begin?’
Finally, Ian could take a breath, knowing it was time to hunt demons.
At this moment, there was only one thing left to do.
‘Mock battles.’
Preparing for battle against demons by honing his skills, that’s all it was.
As soon as he activated the mock battle, Alex Volkanov appeared before him, sword in hand.
“Fight fair and square!”
Seeing him charge forward with a protective shield, Ian Volkanov couldn’t help but lift the corners of his mouth.
“Ether.”
***
In the past, before the possession.
To support his struggling family during a difficult period, Ian had jumped into hard labor.
There was something he often heard from the adults back then.
“Hey, kid! Why are you so scrawny and yet working on a construction site?”
He was supposed to be enjoying coffee with friends under cherry blossom trees on a college campus, but instead, he found himself in a perilous, dust-filled environment. In hindsight, it wasn’t so strange.
Of course, Ian hadn’t wanted to be there. He wanted to drink and have fun at college. But what could he do when circumstances didn’t allow it?
When he shared his family troubles, amidst heavy dust and disinfecting his throat with pork belly and soju, the older men would pat him on the back and laugh heartily.
‘You’ve got a good heart, kid. But do you know how fast time flies? Being filial is good, but at your age, you should have some fun. Otherwise, you’ll regret it later.’
Time flies… They said he’d regret spending his youth like that.
Ian had heard it countless times, but he couldn’t empathize.
‘Feels like time is running backward.’
For someone who had led a tough life, he had never experienced time flying by.
Now, he finally understood what they meant.
‘Is it already the first day of school? Don’t lie. I’ve only had a few mock battles and played with Neltalion. How has a month passed?’
As the morning sunlight heralded the start of the school term, Ian couldn’t help but feel a bit disheartened.
But what could he do? The calendar didn’t lie. He had no choice but to suppress his sadness and put on his well-pressed cadet uniform.
His first days after the possession, where he had walked to the Academy feeling lonely, flashed through his mind.
But now, things were different.
“It’s been a while, Squad Commander.”
“…The last time I saw you was a week ago.”
“I think a week is still a long time.”
“True, Eri has always been with Ian.”
As soon as he arrived at the capital, Eri and Lia were there to greet him.
Of course, they weren’t the only ones around.
“…But why are those two behind you?”
Eri’s sharp gaze turned to the two women standing awkwardly behind Ian.
Reina and Bianca.
“…I live on the outskirts of Ashlan, so it costs a lot to get to the capital. I asked the senior for help. But why is Bianca here? Shouldn’t you be with Ariel in Trishura?”
“Why should I be in Trishura? Besides, Ashlan isn’t so bad. It’s warm for the north.”
Normally, they’d be eager to stay close to Ariel, but now they seemed anxious to cling to Ian.
Since she didn’t know, she couldn’t help but look at it strangely.
Eri looked at him, expecting an explanation.
‘What should I say?’
There wasn’t much he could say.
‘I can’t exactly tell her it’s to isolate Ariel.’
He couldn’t explain that it was necessary to draw in demons.
‘Suggesting we travel separately to ease Eri’s mind…’
That might work, but it would undo all his previous efforts.
He couldn’t make such a foolish choice.
Instead, he decided to let things be.
“…Alright. Let’s move quickly then.”
Fortunately, Eri seemed to decide not to pursue the matter further.
Swoosh!
Eri and Lia took positions on either side of him, while Bianca and Reina followed closely behind.
Watching them, Ian smiled to himself.
‘Yeah… The situation is good.’
At the beginning of his possession, the heroines had despised him.
Compared to that, this was a huge improvement.
‘It’s much worse than expected, but at least the plan succeeded.’
From what he heard, even Celia spent her vacation cooped up at her family’s estate.
A vaguely planned scheme had come to fruition, and Ian had nothing to complain about.
Suppressing a chuckle, Ian entered the auditorium and glanced around.
Familiar faces came into view at once.
There were the squad members, including Igor, the Platoon Commanders, and a surprised Haley.
But Ian didn’t pay them much attention.
There was only one place his eyes needed to be.
‘There she is.’
Unlike before, when she stood on the podium looking down at the students, she now stood huddled among the 1st Platoon members.
‘There you are, Ariel.’
Seeing his lonely sister, Ian smiled.
***
It had been a well-meaning plan for a trip.
Bianca had lost her family at a young age and had to leave her hometown. Whenever she had free time, she missed her family.
Ariel had done her best to comfort her during these breaks.
‘We used to spend time together at the estate… and meet Reina if we got bored.’
How much time had passed?
Recently, they had decided to visit the Brookers estate directly.
Ariel thought that facing the past with someone by Bianca’s side would give her courage.
‘I never imagined zombies would appear. But I thought it was an opportunity.’
Despite the unfortunate event, she saw it as a chance.
Driving out such vile creatures from a place full of memories would strengthen their bond and restore Ariel’s cracked reputation by earning the title of Hero who saved the estate.
However, the outcome was entirely unexpected.
‘I understand I hurt her. I admit I was wrong. But still…’
Ariel looked at her device, disheartened.
No matter how many times she tried to contact Bianca, her messages remained unread.
When they finally met, Bianca looked visibly disappointed and didn’t return to Trishura, instead leaving for an unknown destination.
Ariel was growing distant from Bianca.
But Ariel’s trials didn’t end there.
‘Why is everyone unreachable? What’s going on?’
Even Reina, who had seemed unsettled during the trip to Brookers, had cut off contact.
‘Celia said she was feeling down lately and wanted to rest a bit.’
In the end, Ariel had to spend her vacation alone.
A leader who had always been surrounded by people was now by herself.
At the start of the vacation, she thought it was just a temporary thing. She believed time would solve everything.
It was a miscalculation.
“On the first day of school… and still no contact?”
Neither Bianca nor Reina had replied, and Ariel had to go to school alone.
“Isn’t that Ariel?”
“Where are the kids she always hangs out with?”
“Maybe she ditched them after the poor performance at the war game?”
“Hey! She can hear you. Be careful.”
“I wasn’t badmouthing Ariel, just that commoner and fallen noble…”
She tried her best to avoid the gaze of those who were whispering and walked while covering her ears.
Standing among the 1st Platoon members, waiting blankly, she suddenly saw them.
‘Why are they…’
Bianca and Reina were with Ian.
Why were they following Ian and smiling when they had been so hostile toward him before?
Nothing made sense.
‘Did they ignore my messages and spend time with Ian?’
When had they become so close? Why hadn’t they told her anything?
Just then, a bizarre voice echoed in her head.
– Aren’t you angry?
‘Another hallucination…’
Since returning from Brookers, she had been tormented by strange auditory hallucinations.
At first, Ariel hadn’t paid much attention to the disturbing voices in her head.
She had thought it was just a reaction to seeing the frightening zombies, like when you can’t shake the feeling of being watched or can’t go into dark places after encountering something terrifying.
She assumed that, over time, the disturbing sensations would naturally fade away.
However, as the hallucinations persisted beyond a week, Ariel couldn’t ignore them any longer.
– Aren’t you angry that your friends were taken away?
‘There must be a reason. There must be! So shut up!’
She had tried to get a diagnosis from the priests, used earplugs, and even sought her master’s help for a magical cure, but nothing changed.
The voices continued.
‘What is going on? What is this?’
– Don’t you want to kill Ian? He took everything from you.
Even when she covered her ears, the echoing hallucinations drove her to the brink of madness. The only thing that seemed to help her hold on was tightly gripping the Holy Sword.
‘… Hah.’
For reasons unknown, holding onto the sword was the only time she felt she could endure.
Of course, it wasn’t that the voices were completely gone.
The volume was just turned down, barely.
It was still a hundred times better than the blaring voices that had been tormenting her.
How long had she kept her head down?
The principal’s speech marking the end of the vacation had concluded, and the screen began to display the students’ matchups.
“Now, we will begin the inter-grade exchange matches.”
The inter-grade exchange matches were designed to assess the students’ skills and prevent them from losing their edge after the vacation.
It was a simple duel to see how well they had addressed areas of improvement suggested by their instructors.
While it might seem like just another practice match, there was one key difference: the matchups were not chosen by the students but assigned by the professors.
‘Where am I…?’
Holding her throbbing head, Ariel squinted at the screen.
Just as she was scanning from the top, she saw it.
[2nd Year 3rd Platoon, Ian Volkanov: 1st Year 1st Platoon, Dias]
“Eh?”
She realized that it wasn’t her but someone else who would face Ian.
“Dias is fighting Ian instead of me?”
Her eyes widened in confusion.
Honestly, she had expected to be the one matched against Ian.
After all, there was no one else in the 1st Year who could compete with him.
It was common for top students to face students from the higher year, but this year’s 3rd-year students were described as the worst in history. On the other hand, the 1st-year students were hailed as the best cohort ever.
Ariel had been sure that the professors would pick someone from the 1st year to face Ian, and she had been convinced that it would be her.
‘Even though I lost in the war game, in a simple duel…’
In a match with minimal strategy, she had thought she’d get another chance.
But that wasn’t the case? Then who was she matched up with?
As she looked around in a panic, she found the answer.
[1st Year 1st Platoon, Ariel Volkanov: 2nd Year 3rd Platoon, Igor Pendia]
Igor…
He was the one who had been with Ian, the man who had destroyed the 1st Platoon’s plans by tearing through their rear during the war game.
He was her opponent. The realization hit her.
“Hey, you’re Ariel Volkanov, aren’t you?”
As she looked up, she saw the enormous figure covered in tattoos and scars towering over her.
Igor Pendia. The moment she faced him was now.
