Chapter 78: Mask (1) (1/2)

[The editors and translators have forwarded some notes with this chapter and I’ve rewritten and condensed it below: Allen is a male assistant professor; however, from Chapters 30-31, in the ‘train assault arc’, Deculein felt that ‘his’ hand felt odd, etc, and had noticed other clues in their day-to-day. Allen’s true gender is female. Basically, going forward, if it’s in the perspective of Deculein (1st Person POV), Allen is referred to as a female since he knows her true gender. However, if it’s anyone else referring to her, or if in a dialogue between people, she is referred to as a male since they themselves don’t know her identity. As of late, the nuance of the way Deculein has been talking to ‘Allen’ could infer that ‘she’ is a female, which is why we’ve gone ahead and changed the pronouns. That and the fact that this ain’t no BL novel, boys, your boy Active’s got you. What makes this SUPER confusing is that the Korean language literally doesn’t use gender pronouns, so in addition to the author’s ‘superb’ fantasy-world naming sense, his complicated writing style, the non-descriptive nature of Korean fiction (namely with character descriptions), having multiple soul puppets with different genders from their host, and now a character disguised in the opposite gender, it’s been hard to be completely accurate. The only way for us to do so is to read 20-50 chapters ahead for context, which is impossible with our current budget. Anyways, we might add a few sentences in the earlier chapters to ‘localize’ and provide context to the transition of the pronouns over time.]

[Pig’s Flower], a famous restaurant near the Imperial University.

“I’ll kill him!”

Sylvia stared at her fellow debutante, finding how she exploded in rage while ripping the Roahawk apart funny.

“I’ll find him and kill him no matter what!”

She hadn’t found who tore apart her paper yet, and perhaps she would never know. There were so many people nearby at the time.

“Stupid Epherene.”

Turning her head, she glared at Sylvia, bitter tears welling up in her fierce eyes.

“You won’t be able to do anything even if you knew who did it. Your paper won’t revert to its original state.”

“… Did you come to mock me?”

Laughing disdainfully, Sylvia pulled out her own paper, making Epherene envious.

Whoong—

Sylvia’s barrier wrapped around the dining table.

“Assistant Professor Allen told us not to lose this paper, but she didn’t tell us the exam location.”

“… Did you figure something out?”

“No. Not yet.”

How was this paper related to what they had learned so far?

Although it was dodgy, Sylvia believed in Deculein and his lectures.

“If you haven’t figured out anything yet…”

Lightly glancing at her, Epherene hesitantly brought up a proposal.

“D-do you want to team up? We did the group project together anyway. You remember, right?”

“Stupid Epherene.”

“W-what? I’ll be a great help. I’m second only to you, you know.”

She put the piece of Roahawk down, which clearly showed how desperate she was. Nevertheless, Sylvia shook her head.

“You don’t have a paper. I do.”

“… Who doesn’t know that?”

“Perhaps cases like you will be more frequent. We do still have three weeks for the exam. ”

“Sigh… I want to cry.”

She sniffed and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. Trying to look pitiful, she wiped tears off her eyes, but Silvia was far too focused on the cloth she took out to notice.

“…”

Sylvia recalled the handkerchief Deculein gave her, which she then used to decorate her panda with.

The pattern it had was the same as the one in Epherene’s hands.

“You.”

Her body moved on its own, hurriedly grabbing Epherene’s wrist, making her flinch.

“W-what?”

“Where did you get this?”

“This h-handkerchief? ”

“Yeah.”

“… That’s a secret.”

Epherene firmly shook her head, but Sylvia, surprisingly, insisted.

“Tell me.”

“Why should I?” Epherene frowned. Why did she care about it? Was it because the handkerchief was too luxurious?

‘Woah, is this a luxury treasure even the Iliade family can’t easily get?’

“If you tell me, I might let you join me in the exam.”

“…”

“I’ll buy you Roahawks during the test period. ”

That made Epherene think.

Her sponsor’s identity was anonymous anyway. It wouldn’t be a betrayal if she just told her that she was ‘sponsored.’

It really wasn’t because of the free Roahawk… Maybe it was, but just a little. However, she had to keep her grades up if she wanted to see her sponsor’s face.

Epherene glanced at Sylvia.

“I didn’t steal it. Do you believe me?”

“If you didn’t, then where did you get it?”

She answered shortly after hesitating a bit.

“… It’s a gift from a sponsor.”

“Sponsor?” Sylvia’s eyebrows scrunched as she clenched her hand hidden under the table.

“Yeah. I received a sponsorship. I didn’t even know I would.”

“You’re sponsored.”

“Yes~ I didn’t even think I could get one. That’s all I know, though. It’s an anonymous sponsorship. I think it would be disrespectful to dig into it… Why did you suddenly ask, though? Did you see this handkerchief somewhere?”

Epherene’s eyes were widening with curiosity, and Sylvia’s eyes narrowed.

“No. It just doesn’t suit you.”

“… Gosh. Anyway, I told you what I know, so we’re doing it together, right?”

“…”

Sylvia cut the meat in front of her without saying anything as she looked into her face intently.

Her expression was as vague as always, revealing nothing that was in her mind. She didn’t even smile.

Her stiff, mask-like face was initially unpleasant to look at, but….

“I’ll accept your silence as your approval, okay?”

Now, it wasn’t as bad.

Epherene began to cheer up. Sylvia looked at her, seemingly out of spite, as she put a piece of meat into her mouth.

* * * *

Julie held a cup of coffee in a cafe near the tower.

From now to midnight, Deculein had to check a thesis in the lab.

It was a momentary break.

No matter how strong of a gut they had, the Altar wouldn’t commit a kidnapping in the University Tower, and she knew better than to interfere in Professor Deculein’s personal time to study.

“… Time flies so fast.”

Looking at the campus outside the window reminded her of the old days.

If she walked a little further, she’d find the Knights’ Training Center. A bit further than that, and she’d stumble upon the Knights’ Square, and even further, the grand main building of the Imperial Order.

“….”

The Imperial Order, which all knights on the continent regarded as a dream.

She had a history of working in that Hall of Fantasy, but now it was all in the past. She couldn’t go back, and she couldn’t turn time around.

“Julie!”

Her eyes immediately looked in the direction where she heard her name coming from.

“So you were here.”

At the cafe’s entrance, she found Gwen, Raphael, and Syrio, smiling at her as they approached her.

“Did you come to observe the knights’ exams?” Julie asked.

“Huh? Yeah, that too. ”

The encounter made Julie happy, but Gwen scratched the back of her neck, looking apologetic.

“Well, I don’t have much to say. Here. Take it.”

She gave her a letter, the imperial seal on it surprising her.

“Oh! This is about the mission from last time, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but I think you’re on a different task now…”

“It’s fine. This one involves professor Deculein too.”

At Julie’s words, Gwen looked more mysterious.

She rejoiced like a child. Participating in an important mission was also one of the dreams of a true knight, but…

“… Read it.”

“Yep!” She vigorously answered as she opened it, only for its very first sentence to destroy her expectations that had been accumulating.

[Nondisclosure of Secrets Pledge]

“Nondisclosure of Secrets…?”

Julie looked at Gwen as if waiting for an explanation, seemingly unable to understand what it meant.

Her fellow knight sighed.

“Deculein’s condition for his participation is your removal from this task.”

“… What?”

“He’s doing it instead of you. Not with you.”

“…”

She read the letter without saying anything.

Eunuch Jolang’s words were more concise, which basically told her, ‘Deculein is worried about his fiancé, so you’re out. Just don’t tell others about this mission.’

“… Julie?”

She remained silent for quite a long moment, looking as if she didn’t know what to do.

After showing a vivid expression, she gripped the letter in her hand, causing it to crumple.

“… Is this true?”

“Yeah. Deculein’s the worst, isn’t he?” Gwen smiled bitterly.

Instead of listening to her, Julie rolled her tongue in her mouth, her cheeks puffing up one at a time.

It was a habit that came out whenever she was really angry.

“Why—”

“Deculein knows about your injury,” Raphael replied. Looking at him, she found him standing behind Gwen with his arms crossed.

“… My injury?” Julie asked.

Gwen nodded. “Yeah. He knows you haven’t completely recovered yet. That you pretended to be.”

“…”

“They said the Imperial Palace’s basement is filled with mana. With your current state, joining this mission would be like walking into a sea of poison, wouldn’t it?”

She got that injury during a mission. At the time, she almost died, but she had overcome it now.

At least, that was what she had been thinking.

“Deculein eliminated you from teaching the emperor because of that too. It seems he discovered it as soon as he felt your mana. Well, he is the Head Professor, after all.”

Gwen then continued, murmuring, “He told me not to tell you, but what does he know? Screw him~”

“Maybe he knew it would harm your career if the Imperial Palace were to learn of your predicament, so he’s trying to hide it in his own way for you. And without telling you.”

Julie knew that all too well. Due to the nature of her injury, if it got worse, the Guardian Knight position would grow even farther away.

“Deculein has a reputation for disliking Eunuchs, especially Jolang, but he still took the mission in your stead. Well, that was only proper. You were injured because of that bastard in the first place. ”

The relationship between the Yukline family and Eunuchs couldn’t be any worse. They weren’t the only ones. Prestigious, high-ranking families often quarreled and argued with them, but of them all, Freyden and Yukline fought against them the hardest.

“Anyway, this is only until you get better. If we fail the mission, we’ll wait until you get better. That would mean it would be impossible without you.”

“Right~” Syrio interrupted in the back. Gwen glared at him, and he immediately stepped back, grunting. “I can’t even say anything…”

“Yes. Alright. I understand. Now go back. ” When Julie asked them to leave, Gwen and the others hesitated for a moment but followed her wish in the end.

“…”

Left alone, she placed her hand below her collarbone, feeling a clear lump. Just touching it caused her to feel a burning pain. She thought she had overcome it, but it had been slowly reviving in the recent days.

“Did you know about it… this time too?”

Julie thought about Deculein.

There was a time when she couldn’t estimate the size of her love for him. That huge affection tied her up and weighed down her mind. Its effects on her weren’t much different from violence.

That was how he pushed her.