What’s wrong with this child? How can one casually speak such shocking words after hearing the same story?
Revolutionary. Proxy. Head of the organization.
Three Great Evils.
Is it that all heirs who inherited their will can only think in such a way?
The Destroyer, momentarily speechless in shock, noticed Oknodie’s hat crumpling and squeezing his head.
“Ayayaat. I didn’t say anything wrong, so why are you hitting me? Hiiing.”
The hat. A magical item that contained Oknodie’s soul friend.
The buddy who had talked with him all night scolded Oknodie.
Seeing this, Hestia came to her senses.
“Oknodie. What about the hundred thousand people who say you must die? Innocent farmers?”
“Surely not. They’re trying to exterminate the eastern nobles who’ve deceived and used Sing and my younger sister. If we take them out, the East will become a well-behaved dog—it’s a two-for-one deal!”
“So, you’re planning to kill bad guys to help Sing?”
“Exactly!”
“You should’ve said that from the start. Oknodie confuses people with the gap between what he thinks and what he says out loud.”
“Hehe. But still, Hestia understood, right?”
Geniuses don’t know the hearts of ordinary folk.
Even if they put out an answer, they struggle to unpack it.
Hestia decided to vaguely understand Oknodie with her genius sensitivity, and thanks to that, she could clear up the misunderstanding.
It was a scene that left a deep impression on the Destroyer.
If he could trust a revolutionary like that, he might have saved Havi.
Thank goodness the lecture was worth it.
The Destroyer decided to show some goodwill for once.
“It’s dinner time. If you want to eat something delicious, follow me.”
As Oknodie excitedly followed, Hestia timidly trailed behind, glancing around.
“Are you all doing well on the midterms?”
“It’s going pretty well!”
“I’m adjusting better than the first semester.”
“…This time, I’ll reclaim the top student position.”
Fun, adaptation, and recapturing.
Those answers show what each person is bound by.
“Glad to hear you aren’t lost. Still, I’ll give you one piece of advice.”
“Advice?”
“During the lecture, there was a watcher who detected signs in an instant from the emotional turmoil caused by the cutting techniques that drew them into the story.”
“Gasp! Really? In Professor Destroyer’s class? Awesome. Who’s that strong?”
“I don’t know. It could be a watcher sent by the Three Great Evils, jealous of the previous hero, or it could be the Dragon Principal, who is unaware of the plan.”
Ishtar put down her utensil and looked directly at the Destroyer.
“You invited us to dinner to tell us this.”
“Exactly. I called you for a warning, not merely because I had trouble dealing with overly grown juicy carrots in my vegetable garden.”
“…”
Ishtar sent a look of immense suspicion.
“If you also want to consult on worries, I can listen to one concern. Do you have any worries from your academy life?”
Hestia had no worries.
While learning the Mana Flow Technique Manual for Maids, she had prepared to transform her body, and she had no interest beyond training.
Ishtar couldn’t reveal her worries.
Her concern was about how to escape being a foundation scholarship student, but revealing this would only highlight her weakness.
Oknodie was blissfully unaware of worries, being an innocent child.
The Destroyer thought he’d said something unnecessary, but unexpectedly, Oknodie raised her hand.
“Hait! I have a question!”
“Unexpected. I didn’t think you had worries. But think carefully before you ask. If it’s an absurd question about the torture of spreading thoughts to people, I won’t answer.”
“It’s not that. I’m just curious about Mom.”
“Mom?”
“I have Papa, but no Mama.”
“…!”
“So, what kind of person is Mama?”
Hestia jolted in shock.
The Destroyer also pondered seriously.
“If you listen to the professor’s story, the collaborators of the Three Great Evils are those who want to support and realize the dreams of the evils they are in love with. Was Papa’s Mama like that too?”
“That could be a different case.”
“How so?”
“It may be so if it’s a biological child, but if it’s an adopted one, it’s different. How is it in reality?”
“Neng?”
“Are you the biological child of the director?”
“Mollu!”
That was a headache-inducing answer.
“What would it mean if you don’t even know that?”
“Still, not knowing is not knowing? Right?”
“Do you want to not know, or do you really not know?”
“I really don’t know!”
“…This has gotten serious.”
The Destroyer took the consultation earnestly.
“Assuming what you said is true, in any case, you are in a troublesome situation. If even an adopted child doesn’t know the truth, it’s evidence of memory erasure. Without any knowledge of what happened before being brought to the foundation, there’s no way to know anything.”
“Maja yo! I don’t know anything!”
“Conversely, if you’re the director’s biological daughter but know nothing, that too is evidence that the director has never treated you like a daughter or erased your memory. In any case, it means you haven’t been treated as a fruit of love.”
Oknodie is special, but she hasn’t been raised as a beloved child in any traditional sense.
Rather, considering her bizarre knowledge level, combat ability, affinity for dark mana, and occasionally shocking acts, she’s more similar to a child who’s been abused.
“Your mom likely got used by the director. In a different sense than a revolutionary, it might be that even that person is preferable.”
“What does that mean?”
“That is…”
No matter what, he couldn’t utter the words.
If you are the director’s biological daughter, it’s presumed that your mother was forcibly impregnated by him.
You’ve grown as a result of a loveless pregnancy.
The woman may have a special bloodline or secret, but because of that, she would likely hate you.
If she’s alive, it would be better not to meet her at all; how could he convey such words to an innocent child who was just curious about Mama?
“Even if she’s not your biological mother, she can still be a mom if she has love for her child.”
“Wow, maternal love! I know that too! A mom has to have maternal love to cherish her child, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Love is about realizing other people’s dreams according to what I learned in class and during exams!”
“You’re good at reviewing.”
“So, someone who helps me with my goals is my mom!”
…The conclusion seems a bit off.
Hestia tilted her head, feeling something wasn’t quite right when Oknodie came running over, grabbing her arms.
“Hestia, can you help with my dream?”
“What’s your dream?”
“To survive!”
……This child, was she really in such a dangerous position?
Even the Destroyer would feel pity; Hestia couldn’t possibly remain calm.
With her heart swelling, she confidently declared.
“I’ll help you.”
“Hehe. As expected, Hestia is my Mama!”
“…You’re such a fool.”
Oknodie immediately turned her head at Ishtar’s comment.
“W-What?”
“Ishtar, you’ll help too, right?”
“Why would I help? You’re the heir of the Three Great Evils, Dark Princess, and I’m the current hero.”
Oknodie had no intention of dragging herself into such a warped vision of Mama.
With Ishtar’s firm refusal, Oknodie couldn’t hide her disappointment.
Feeling unjust for becoming the bad guy, Ishtar felt indignant.
“Seriously, asking a teenage girl who’s never been married to be your mother makes no sense.”
“Hmph!”
“Go bother Arcadia or Isabel, who love taking care of kids, why are you making a fuss with me?”
The Destroyer organized the chaotic atmosphere of the dining area.
“I’ll finish with the advice. If your goal is survival and you’re searching for a woman to help you survive, rely on Professor Bronze. While she may not match the world’s greatest thief, she can definitely help you survive.”
“Professor Bronze is Mama…?”
Oknodie sunk into thought.
What absurd imaginations could be brewing in that little cute head?
From her pale, trembling face, it didn’t seem like it was a proper imagination.
“I don’t need such a Mama…”
“Get a grip and be determined. The midterms are not over yet.”
The Destroyer saw off the three students.
*
Pasible Yep was several times on the brink of being killed while eavesdropping on the lecture.
“Cutting speech. A terrifying rhetoric that extracts emotional turmoil from the other party to forcibly reveal them from a dormant state. I’ve truly realized the fear of the world’s greatest thief.”
Yet, he survived.
Though he had suffered deep wounds that would make any normal person scream and collapse, as an undead, he was fine.
Artificial skin made by alchemical magic didn’t matter; no matter how deep the cut, it wouldn’t endanger his life.
“But what terrifying tales I’ve heard.”
The revolutionary exploited the gaps in people’s hearts, twisting their actions and outcomes to his favor.
Collaborators were merely entities swayed by his will.
The head of the foundation, another of the Three Great Evils, uses the device called [Command], demanding absolute obedience as he exploits countless scholarship students.
While voluntary cooperation may be lacking, the danger level cannot be said to be lower than that of the revolutionary.
Oknodie has been rumored to be the heir of such a director.
“Professor Destroyer warned that Oknodie could also become that kind of person in the future, advising to keep a possibility of compromise open… but could that be the true purpose of this lecture?”
Pasible Yep.
To a skeleton unbothered by impossibility, another possibility arose.
“Professor Destroyer’s targets for revenge are the Empire, the revolutionary, and the academy. Teaching the chief scholarship student Oknodie might be…”
Perhaps, he intends to stir up a much greater event using the power of the foundation.
It might not be immediate, but one day that man could set off a tremendous incident that shakes the world.
That, too, by involving Dark Princess Oknodie and current hero Ishtar.
“The eavesdropping was not in vain. If Oknodie and Professor Sadako cross the line, I won’t just sit back and die with this information.”
Pasible walked towards the beast person lounge, where Kkamang and the tricksters were waiting.
Lost in the mood, he walked with a determined spirit when he overheard a conversation from passersby.
“What other lectures do we have left today?”
“They say there’s a lecture for first years called [Magic Writing with Knowledge Judgment].”
“Sounds boring.”
“Not exactly; I heard the exam opponent is a big shot.”
“How big of a shot?”
“The Elders’ Council from the Yellow Magic Tower came.”
“What? Why are such a tremendous group at the first-year kids’ exam venue?”
Pasible’s solemn strides turned into a halt.
“The Elders are just retired guys pretending to have honorary posts while nurturing heirs in the background.”
“So?”
“They probably have some students they’ve grown out of boredom.”
“…Don’t tell me?”
“That’s right. They brought their students to compete against the academy students because they don’t feel they’re at a disadvantage.”
“Oh my god. Those elder folks are clueless about the terrifying professors of the Empire and came to compete over who taught their students better!”
“What nonsense? Those old men have trained their students for years, and the academy students have only learned bits and pieces over the past two months since midterms.”
“No way! So they came for a practice battle?”
The more he heard, the more ridiculous it sounded.
Pasible couldn’t contain his indignation and clicked his tongue.
“…Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t that person pass by earlier?”
Pasible, naturally making a U-turn to walk in the same direction as the pedestrians, pretended to pick something up off the ground.
“This had fallen here.”
“…”
Passersby couldn’t hide their skeptical gazes.
Pasible thought they were weirded out by him picking up litter, but as he came back to reality, he found himself ready to sign with an open wrapper and pen out of his pocket.
“No, wait, a forced action control spell?!”
Startled, Pasible churned his mana throughout his body, freeing himself from the influence of the interference technique.
He couldn’t help but be astounded at the sight of a second-year student hastily leaving with a tch sound from the bushes.
