Chapter 64

Chapter 64. Interlude (2) – The Scar of the Spider

It’s been a week since I achieved the “great feat” of ranking 253rd out of 253 Warrior Department candidates.

The heated discussions about the midterm evaluation results that had set the school abuzz were gradually fading away.

I was summoned by Professor Elisha and headed to her office.

“You’re here.”

As I entered the office, Professor Elisha, dressed in her usual neat black suit, greeted me with her legs crossed.

“What’s the matter?”

“The investigation results are in.”

“…Investigation results?”

She continued, holding a cigarette in one hand and looking down at a thick stack of documents with an indifferent expression.

“The alligator and wolf monsters that appeared in the exam area were, as expected, the familiars of the Grand Archbishop of Beasts, Jackal.”

“…Jackal.”

The involvement of the Grand Archbishop.

It was the worst-case scenario among the possibilities we had anticipated.

‘Whether the future has changed, or if I simply didn’t notice it in my past life, I don’t know.’

But one thing was certain.

Once again, a Grand Archbishop-level demon was up to something within the school.

“Did you find out what his goal is?”

At my question, Professor Elisha took a deep drag from her cigarette and shook her head quietly.

“I don’t know for sure. But… I did see a strange monster.”

“A strange monster?”

So, besides the alligator and wolf monsters, there was another monster?

“This one.”

Professor Elisha exhaled smoke and opened a drawer.

What came out of the drawer was a grotesque creature resembling a leech.

In the center of its suction pad, used for sucking blood, was a single eyeball smaller than a fingernail.

“This is…”

“The monster that was attached to Candidate Yuren’s body.”

“It was attached to Yuren’s body?”

That can’t be.

I had personally set up a barrier around Yuren to repel monsters.

Of course, the barrier was useless against monsters with many eyes, but this leech-like monster only had one eye.

There’s no way it could have breached the barrier and approached Yuren…

“Ah.”

A low exclamation escaped my lips.

‘Come to think of it, the alligator monster did break the barrier midway.’

So, while the barrier was broken and the battle with the alligator monster ensued, this leech monster must have attached itself to Yuren’s body.

“……”

“Fufu. It seems Candidate Dale has caught on.”

Professor Elisha narrowed her eyes and continued.

“Though there’s no concrete evidence, I believe the alligator monster suddenly appeared and caused a ruckus to allow this ‘leech monster’ to approach Candidate Yuren.”

So the alligator monster’s goal was to break the barrier I had set up.

‘Come to think of it, it broke the barrier right after sending me flying.’

At the time, I thought it broke the barrier to get to Yuren, but upon reflection, the alligator monster was of a level that wouldn’t be affected by a ‘monster-repelling barrier.’

‘There was no reason for it to break the barrier in the first place.’

Yet, the alligator monster broke the barrier surrounding Yuren’s body.

As if breaking the barrier itself was the goal from the start.

‘Wait. Then, in my past life, did the alligator monster not appear because there was no barrier?’

The scattered puzzle pieces began to fit together.

I continued my thoughts with my eyes slightly narrowed.

‘The wolf monsters Jackal released were also present in my past life.’

In my past life, I experienced my first death when my neck was bitten by one of those wolf monsters.

‘So, in my past life, Jackal also released his familiars into the exam area.’

Then, what was Jackal’s reason for releasing the wolf monsters into the exam area?

‘He was trying to find Yuren.’

Wolf-based monsters are naturally excellent at tracking and fast on their feet.

Additionally, their pack behavior allows for organized actions, making them the optimal monsters for ‘searching.’

‘In my past life, after finding Yuren, he must have attached that leech monster at an opportune moment.’

But this time, a variable appeared.

The variable named ‘Dale Han,’ who suddenly appeared and created a monster-repelling barrier around Yuren.

‘So, he sent out the alligator monster, which wasn’t originally planned to appear.’

To break the barrier I had set up and allow the leech monster to approach Yuren.

“Ha.”

A low chuckle escaped me as I understood the whole story.

‘What on earth is that leech monster that he’s so desperate to attach to Yuren?’

I examined the leech squirming in the glass bottle, but aside from its grotesque appearance, I couldn’t figure out anything else.

Wondering if Professor Elisha knew anything, I looked at her.

“I don’t know what abilities this leech monster has.”

“Even with Insight’s Blessing, you can’t figure it out?”

“If my blessing could uncover all the secrets of the world, there would be no need to investigate this case so secretly.”

Professor Elisha let out a bitter smile and a deep sigh.

“Anyway, that’s all I’ve found out so far.”

We figured out that Jackal released the monsters to attach the leech monster to Yuren, but the more important question of ‘Why target Yuren in the first place?’ remained unanswered.

“So, there’s no clue to track Jackal after all.”

“I suppose so.”

Professor Elisha, with a somewhat bitter expression, touched the scar running across her left eye.

“Is that scar related to Jackal?”

“…Why would you think that?”

“You keep touching the scar whenever Jackal is mentioned.”

“Ha, so you associated me with Jackal just because of that?”

Professor Elisha swallowed a laugh, looking incredulous.

In truth, I had sensed some connection between her and Jackal due to my past life memories, but I didn’t bother explaining.

“……”

After a long silence, Professor Elisha quietly opened her mouth.

“…When I was young, I was born in a remote village in the Empire.”

Professor Elisha lit a new cigarette.

“It was a small village without even a name.”

Whoosh.

Pale smoke scattered into the air.

“The peaceful village was one day annihilated without a trace by the hand of a demon.”

“……”

There was no need to ask who that ‘demon’ was.

“He wanted to test the power of his newly contracted monster.”

The burning cigarette.

The red ember flickered like a blood-stained memory.

“It took less than 10 minutes for the 100 or so villagers to be slaughtered.”

In just 10 minutes.

Her life was mercilessly trampled.

Irreparably devastated.

“I was lucky enough to survive.”

She touched the scar on her left eye with a self-deprecating smile.

“…But this hideous scar remained.”

“……”

“Fufu. Don’t make such a serious face. It’s a common story.”

Professor Elisha shrugged with a nonchalant expression.

Suddenly, a memory from my past life flashed through my mind.

The story of ‘Spider of the Scar,’ Elisha Baldwin, who died heroically after killing the Grand Archbishop of Beasts, Jackal.

Beyond the story I had casually dismissed.

The tragic life of a woman unfolded in my mind.

‘A common story, huh…’

It’s not wrong.

People whose lives have been trampled by demons are everywhere on the continent.

There’s no grand twist, no heart-wrenching epic, no tear-jerking ending.

It’s just an ordinary tragedy.

An unremarkable catastrophe.

A common sorrow found anywhere in the world.

‘But.’

Just because it’s common doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.

Just because it’s predictable doesn’t mean it doesn’t wound.

“Whoosh.”

Professor Elisha smoked her cigarette with an indifferent expression.

For some reason.

I reached out towards her without thinking.

“What are you…?”

“Stay still.”

Ignoring Professor Elisha’s bewildered expression, I carefully touched the scar running across her left eye.

“…Candidate Dale. Do you know what you’re doing right now?”

Touching a professor’s body without permission.

It was an act of rudeness that could warrant immediate disciplinary action.

I looked at Professor Elisha, who was glaring at me fiercely, and raised the corner of my mouth.

“It’s pretty.”

“…What?”

“You said it was a hideous scar earlier. But looking at it now, it doesn’t seem hideous at all. In fact, it suits your appearance.”

“……”

“How should I put it… A wild charm? Something like that. If this scar weren’t here, your face might have been a bit plain.”

“You…”

Professor Elisha, who was about to say something, trailed off and bit her lip.

“Kuh, kuhm!”

She let out a hurried cough and turned her head sharply.

Her earlobe, peeking through her short black hair, was as red as an apple.

“Anyway… These days, candidates have no respect for professors. It’s truly the end of times. In my day, touching a professor’s body was unimaginable. How dare you touch the body of a professor, who is like the heavens? And what? Pretty? The scar suits me? Is that something a candidate should say to a professor? Honestly, if you ask if I’m happy, I am a little bit, but this is absolutely unacceptable…”

Professor Elisha muttered in a barely audible voice, her head bowed deeply.

“Professor Elisha?”

“Eek!”

Professor Elisha, who had been muttering something, jumped up from her seat.

With an expression full of vitality that was hard to imagine from her usual stone-faced demeanor, she opened her mouth.

“W-Well, anyway! The investigation into Jackal will continue, so Candidate Dale, you should cooperate too!”

After delivering that one-sided notice of cooperation, Professor Elisha dashed out of the office as if running away.

“……”

Left alone in her office, I stubbed out the half-burned cigarette in the ashtray and leaned back in the chair.

“…Jackal.”

It suddenly occurred to me that the people I needed to look out for in this life might not just be my past life’s comrades.

* * *

From a distance, a massive monster resembling a moving mountain of fur.

A monster with a whopping 11 eyes, with an old man sitting atop it.

“Hoh. This is so pitiful, what should I do…”

The old man looked down at his palm, engraved with intricate patterns, and let out a low exclamation.

The pattern on his wrinkled palm was partially erased, as if the skin had been peeled away.

“Tsk tsk. He was a favorite of mine.”

The old man clicked his tongue regretfully as he looked at the erased pattern.

But despite his words of fondness, his gaze at the erased pattern was as indifferent as if he were looking at a crushed ant on the roadside.

Whoooosh!

The space near the old man distorted, and a young man with white hair appeared.

As if stepping on an invisible platform in mid-air, the young man approached leisurely and bowed respectfully to Jackal.

“You were here.”

“Ohh, you’ve come.”

“Yes, it’s been a while, Lord Jackal.”

The white-haired young man smiled brightly and adjusted his golden monocle.

“How did the task I requested go?”

“Kukukuku. Who do you think I am? Of course, it was successful. Well… there were a few annoying incidents, though.”

“Annoying incidents?”

“Croaker died.”

“Croaker?”

The white-haired young man recalled at Jackal’s words.

“Ah, you mean that alligator monster.”

“Yes.”

“Haha. Your naming sense is as unique as ever.”

“Hmm? What’s wrong with Croaker?”

Jackal opened his eyes wide, genuinely puzzled, and the white-haired young man shrugged without a word.

“Anyway, a high-ranking monster died during a candidate exam… Did a professor intervene?”

“Huhu. How could candidates kill Croaker? Of course, it must have been a professor’s doing.”

“Then it’s likely Elisha Baldwin.”

“Yes, that cunning spider woman must have stepped on my tail, right?”

“That’s quite… an annoying incident, as you said, Lord Jackal.”

“Indeed.”

Jackal clicked his tongue, wrinkling his forehead.

“That child is so pitiful… At such a young age, she must have seen her parents being devoured alive before her eyes.”

“……”

The white-haired young man frowned in displeasure as he watched Jackal click his tongue in sympathy.

“Let’s get back to the main point.”

“Ah, yes. Well… though there were some annoying incidents, I found out what you asked for.”

Jackal let out an unpleasant, grating laugh and rubbed the pattern engraved on his forearm.

As the pattern was erased, blood seeped out onto his fingers.

He licked the blood and continued.

“As you suspected, the Holy Mark Yuren Helios possesses is not that of the ‘Sun God’ but of the ‘Moon God.'”

“Hmm, I see.”

The white-haired young man smiled as he adjusted his golden monocle.

Jackal looked at him and asked.

“By the way, what does this mean? Even if he has the Holy Mark of the ‘Moon God,’ it doesn’t mean he can’t wield the Sun Sword, right?”

“Haha. Who knows? Do you think she would think the same?”

The white-haired young man shrugged with a meaningful smile.

“Mephisto, what are you planning to do?”

“Well, you’ll see.”

The Grand Archbishop of Corruption, Mephisto, smiled brightly as he looked at the distant Helios family mansion.

“The moment the sun swallows the moon.”