Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Chapter 12. Golden Goblin

The youngest daughter.

Normally, such a child would receive the love of the entire family.

But that did not apply to the imperial family of the Illumina Empire.

“Hey. Walk farther away. You stink.”

“Frasel. Didn’t I tell you not to come near me? What if your filth spreads?”

“If you’re going to cry all day, go somewhere no one can see you. Your mother’s grave would suit you.”

From the moment she became old enough to understand words until now.

Frasel Illuma had been treated as the unwanted child of her family.

Her mother was a foreign woman from the frontier.

The only one among the emperor’s concubines who was not from the empire.

Her mother died young after giving birth to Frasel, leaving her with no one to rely on within the vast imperial palace.

If not for the emperor’s protection, she might have been expelled long ago.

Not that she was grateful.

She could not sense even a grain of affection in her father’s gaze.

The emperor protected nothing more than the dignity of the imperial family.

If his youngest daughter wandered off and died somewhere, that would reflect poorly on him.

An ugly face and virtually no support from her mother’s side.

That was Frasel’s position.

‘That’s why I deliberately came here.’

The Academy in the capital had her immediately older sister.

A woman who reacted as though she had seen an insect whenever Frasel called her ‘Sister.’

-Frasel. You aren’t thinking of coming to our Academy, are you? If you are, you’d better change your mind. I might tear off your mask in front of all the students.

On the day hatred rained down upon Frasel like a storm.

She decided where she would go.

Somewhere no one knows my real appearance.

Somewhere no one hates me.

Strangely modest wishes for an imperial princess.

And yet today.

Even those modest wishes had nearly been shattered.

By the lowest-ranked freshman who chose her for his first Challenge.

After witnessing her shame, Kawin had unexpectedly said,

“I need you.”

“!”

A breeze swept through Frasel’s frozen heart.

A ticklish wind slipping into an icy cavern.

Had hearing that she was needed really felt that good?

‘No. That’s not it.’

Frasel simply liked Kawin’s attitude.

Even after seeing her bare face, his expression did not waver.

The gaze even her own family had hated meeting remained steady.

Even his tone had softened.

Different from her family, who openly displayed disgust.

Different from the fake smiles of palace maids desperately trying to please her.

He treated her not as a monster, but as an ordinary person.

Something Frasel had longed for all her life.

“You said... you wanted to Challenge me often?”

“Yeah.”

“If I refuse, are you going to tell people about my face?”

“No. Whether you accept or not, that won’t happen.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like gossiping about other people.”

Was that really true?

He could say that now, then spread it everywhere if she refused.

‘But...’

It was the first time.

Someone had asked her to do something ‘together.’

Everyone else had left her alone and wanted distance from her.

So she was happy.

Because even after seeing her true face, he still asked her to stay with him.

Even if what they would be doing together was ‘fighting.’

“Okay.”

Behind the cat mask, a bright smile blossomed across Frasel’s face.

* * *

The last-ranked freshman who had brought warmth into Frasel’s heart.

Kawin wore an immensely satisfied smile.

‘Just as I thought.’

The battle had only just ended.

He had spent a significant amount of mana and released no small amount of magical power.

But the enormous Orbis within his body,

Whoooom!

showed no sign of weakening or subsiding.

Far from weakening...

‘It’s stronger. And thicker.’

Meaning both his mana capacity and magical power had grown.

Kawin knew exactly why that had happened.

[Passive: Electric Predation]

One of the abilities gained after deciphering Dharma’s grimoire.

During magical exchanges with another person, he could absorb his opponent’s power.

Naturally, the more mana his opponent possessed, the greater the effect.

In that sense, Frasel was practically perfect for Kawin.

The defining trait of imperial mages.

Their mana was highly pure, and the sheer quantity poured out almost without limit.

With such strong regeneration, he did not have to worry about destroying his opponent’s Circle.

To Kawin, Frasel was essentially...

‘A golden goblin.’

The description sounded a little cruel, but to Kawin she was practically a treasure chest.

That was why Kawin had said,

‘I need you.’

‘Guess I got lucky. She accepted much more readily than I expected.’

Kawin’s suggestion that they Challenge each other often.

Frasel had accepted without thinking for long.

Enough to surprise even Kawin, who had made the offer.

‘Did she think I might talk if she refused?’

He considered it briefly but found no clear answer.

Kawin set aside his questions about her.

Either way, one thing was certain.

He had gained an excellent sparring partner.

“Kawin Anper.”

When he returned to where the students were waiting, Oracle beckoned as though he had been waiting.

“Come here for a moment.”

The unprecedented incident of last place defeating first place.

And since the winner used Lightning magic, attention naturally focused on him.

Even students in the middle of Challenges on the arenas were distracted enough to glance over.

“Yes, Professor.”

Kawin had expected something like this.

He calmly walked toward Oracle.

“Don’t take this the wrong way. This is simply personal curiosity as a detection-type mage.”

After saying that, Oracle extended his right hand.

A red eye similar to the one on his forehead appeared in his palm.

Kawin was inwardly impressed.

‘He already has fifteen active, and he still has power left?’

As expected of a Tesca Academy instructor.

Even after creating another eye, Oracle showed no sign of strain.

Hum.

The eye in his palm fired thin red lines.

They scanned different parts of Kawin’s body.

It felt as though they were dissecting everything from the Circle within him to every blood vessel and nerve.

Such a meticulous examination would make even an innocent person feel nervous.

But Kawin smiled inwardly.

‘You won’t find what you’re looking for.’

He even turned his body toward Oracle as though inviting him to inspect more closely.

It made no difference.

Only someone at least on Archmage Dharma’s level could unravel Kawin’s secret.

His father Xymoron, his friend Walther, even the instructor Valeria had failed to recognize his Orbis.

Their magical system was merely a simplified imitation created because they could not understand Braille.

How could a fake possibly see through the real thing?

“Hmm...”

At last, a bead of sweat appeared on Oracle’s temple.

Kawin found the sight extremely satisfying.

It was a sign that Oracle’s attempt to examine his inner workings had failed.

“...As an instructor, this is rather embarrassing to ask, but I have no choice.”

The red eye in Oracle’s palm vanished.

After roughly wiping the sweat from his temple, Oracle asked seriously,

“Do you even have a Circle inside your body? I can’t sense any energy from one at all.”

“If you think of my family, it may make sense.”

“Hmm.”

Oracle immediately understood.

A worthy rival to winter static electricity.

House ‘Anper,’ useful only when one lacked flint.

Their power was so weak that perhaps their mana simply could not be sensed properly.

‘But...’

Then how had he torn through Frasel’s Royal Arka?

When Oracle turned his head, Kawin had already impudently returned to his seat.

But he did not call him back.

There was no point.

No matter what question he asked, he was in no position to obtain an answer.

‘Kawin Anper.’

Among students, there were plenty of good ones and plenty of bad ones.

But by Oracle’s standards, truly ‘strange ones’ were rare.

Kawin was the strangest student Oracle had ever seen.

* * *

Walther Franken.

He was not particularly fond of fighting.

But if he absolutely had to fight someone, the type of opponent he should choose was obvious.

“Rise!”

Clatter!

At Walther’s command, hard bones assembled.

Bones gathered around a core floating in midair before forming a humanoid shape.

A skeleton soldier twice the size of the mages gathered here.

One unusual thing was that it carried no sword or other weapon.

“Fuck him up!”

With a command that had absolutely nothing to do with an incantation, the skeleton soldier charged forward.

Across from it stood a druid covered in a thick mane.

“You weak-ass bastard...!”

A druid borrowing the power of a lion.

But he could not withstand the power of the dead.

Using the momentum of its charge, the skeleton soldier tackled him, mounted him, and began wildly swinging both fists.

Thud! Thud!

“Gaaah!”

Walther raised his wand high into the air with a mocking grin.

“Don’t you know the golden rule is not to attack during transformation? I got caught yesterday, but not anymore.”

Walther had been surrounded and beaten by three people.

Their numbers were part of the problem, but he had been helpless because he could not shout ‘Rise.’

In a Challenge, however, he had enough time to summon his skeleton soldier, and the necromancer proved his value before everyone.

[Aslan Baleon. Unconscious.]

[Challenge Winner - Walther Franken]

[Victory Points Awarded: 100P]

[Bonus Points Awarded: 100P]

“Yes!”

Walther threw his wand high into the air.

Then hurriedly put his mask back on.

His exposed teeth and gums disappeared behind the black covering once more.

But the shadow of his smile remained visible.

His gaze moved past the druid toward one place.

The friend who had saved him when these bastards had beaten him.

Kawin Anper.

‘He’s good.’

Kawin was sincerely impressed.

He hadn’t realized it before the summoning, but the skeleton soldier was much stronger and faster than expected.

Enough that he understood why the Academy’s druids had been wary of Walther.

What impressed him most was,

‘Doesn’t that skeleton fight like an MMA fighter?’

Reconstructing scenes from sound was practically Kawin’s specialty.

The UFCC commentary he had heard on YouTube in his previous life seemed to match the skeleton’s movements remarkably well.

‘Don’t tell me that skeleton soldier was something like that in its previous life?’

The way it mounted its opponent, hammered him with ground-and-pound, and twisted joints looked disturbingly authentic.

Kawin grinned and gave Walther a thumbs-up.

He had ranked high on the entrance exam and solved Valeria’s problem relatively quickly.

Even more than Kawin had expected.

Walther seemed to be one of the Academy’s more talented students.

However,

“Snore.”

Unfortunately, Oracle apparently wasn’t impressed.

Kawin had thought Oracle was merely pretending to sleep on the sofa, but he had actually passed out.

He snored continuously with his mouth hanging open.

Yet no one complained to Oracle.

Because even while he slept, the red eye on his forehead continued working diligently.

‘That’s some convenient magic.’

Magic that remained active even while the caster slept.

Well, perhaps one needed at least that much ability to become a professor.

Walther’s triumphant expression crumpled like discarded tissue paper as he returned.

He had only now noticed Oracle sleeping peacefully.

“That... that fucking...”

Walther barely managed to swallow his curse,

while Kawin failed to swallow his laughter.