ANGS 75

chapter 75

In my previous life, Rudrick was a villain known by the nickname “Changgui.”

Wielding a spear made from the fang of an Outer God, Rudrick was powerful enough to fight a Sword Master on his own.

He’s nowhere near that level right now.

I wouldn’t know his exact strength unless I actually fought him, but Rudrick’s presence didn’t feel particularly powerful at the moment.

Should I give him the spear made from the Outer God’s fang?

Just then, Hanswell asked excitedly,

“A good idea? What is it?!”

I turned my gaze toward Scarlett.

Scarlett’s snake-like eyes twitched.

“Let’s make the problem clear first. The reason you don’t acknowledge me is because of that squad member named Charlotte, correct?”

“Don’t casually speak that name.”

Scarlett warned me sharply.

I looked at Hanswell, and he nodded vigorously before answering my question.

“For the time being, yes.”

“Then we can simply create a separate position for Charlotte.”

“A separate position?”

“If we increase the number of members allowed in Squad 42 by one, wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

In professional terminology, it was basically a retired number.

“Hmm… It isn’t that simple.”

Hanswell rubbed his chin awkwardly.

Scarlett covered her mouth and laughed outright.

“Ever since the academy was founded, every security squad has always had exactly seven members. That has never changed even once. Increasing the squad’s capacity requires the captain’s approval, but—the captain will never agree to increase it.”

Hanswell scratched his head as he spoke.

Judging by the fact that even Hanswell was saying that, increasing the security squad’s capacity didn’t seem easy.

“I’ll take care of that myself. Anyway, it is enough to increase Squad 42’s capacity by one person, correct?”

“You really don’t know anything, do you?”

Rudrick openly sneered.

This was a good opportunity.

“If I fail to increase Squad 42’s capacity, I’ll quit the security force.”

“No!”

“You can’t!!”

Hanswell and Milo shouted simultaneously.

I stared at Rudrick and asked,

“What will you wager?”

Rudrick tapped the tobacco from his cigarette and answered in a hoarse voice.

“I’ll acknowledge you as a member of Squad 42.”

“…!”

The atmosphere shook violently.

Apparently, it was unusual for Rudrick to say something like that. Scarlett even grabbed him lightly.

Still, it wasn’t enough for me.

“What good is having your acknowledgment? Anything else?”

Rudrick’s eyes narrowed.

A killing intent brushed against my throat.

It was killing intent far beyond what an ordinary security guard should be capable of displaying.

Volkan was the same, and now Rudrick was too.

There was definitely something special about Squad 42.

The reason must have been what Logan had said—how they had returned from a Rift.

I pointed at Rudrick with my finger and added,

“Become my younger brother.”

“…Younger brother?”

Rudrick frowned.

Milo’s eyes sparkled intensely.

“That sounds good!”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

Milo and Volkan immediately chimed in.

After hesitating for a moment at their enthusiastic reactions, Rudrick nodded.

“Fine. The deadline is the end of this week.”

With that, Rudrick turned around.

Scarlett followed him with a bright smile on her face. She seemed to be in an extremely good mood.

Hanswell hurriedly grabbed me.

“What are you planning to do?!”

“I intend to increase Squad 42’s capacity.”

“Didn’t I just tell you?! The principle that every squad has seven members has never changed once since the academy was founded! And you’re a newly recruited security guard! There’s no way the security captain will approve this!”

“He’ll have no choice but to approve it.”

“…He’ll have no choice?”

“Yes.”

I nodded lightly.

Milo cautiously asked,

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to educate the captain as well?”

The reason I had trained Milo and the other assistants was because there would be no consequences even if I beat them up.

But the security captain was different.

He was a senior executive.

With the principal already keeping a close eye on Squad 42, trying to force the security captain into compliance through sheer force could cause who knew what kind of problems.

I had to resolve this as peacefully as possible.

Which meant—

“I’m going to make a request to someone higher up.”

“…Someone higher up?”

Milo muttered stupidly.

There were three major organizations at Elysium Academy.

The Academic Affairs Department, which managed the professors;

the Student Affairs Department, which managed the students;

and the Administrative Department, which handled sponsorships and finances.

Anything related to classes and professors belonged to Academic Affairs, while anything concerning students belonged to Student Affairs.

Everything else belonged to the Administrative Department.

That included the security force.

Therefore, if the head of the Administrative Department ordered the security force to increase its personnel, the security captain would have no choice but to comply.

The problem was that the head of the Administrative Department wasn’t an easy opponent.

Elysium Academy was a place thoroughly centered around education.

Even its tuition fees were extremely cheap.

It might appear to be an ideal academy, but reality was far from ideal.

As large as Elysium Academy was, it required an enormous amount of money to maintain.

Yet its only sources of income were sponsorships, the relatively small tuition fees, and tourism-related products.

Whether because of that or because he had always been like that, the head of the Administrative Department, Bendel, was extremely materialistic.

As long as the price was right, Bendel would gladly increase the security force’s personnel by one.

The problem was that Bendel’s price was rather substantial.

Of course, that wasn’t much of a problem for me.

“Hi, Raven.”

Caw.

Even though I hadn’t called him in a long time, I immediately heard the cry of a crow.

As befitted a gloomy assassin, he seemed to have been hiding and waiting for an opportunity.

That was actually convenient.

It meant I could use him immediately like this.

“Call the twin witches. Tell them to bring all the magic stones they have.”

Caw.

It suddenly occurred to me that Raven hadn’t attempted an assassination even once.

Raven must have been watching for an opportunity all this time—

but he had never attacked me.

He’s got good instincts.

Of course, regardless of that, something bad was still bad.

If raised properly, Raven would become the King of Assassins someday.

I needed to nurture him in advance.

That was why I’d given him the Ambush Coupon.

But if he kept hiding like this, it would be troublesome.

Still, simply looking for an opportunity to assassinate me would steadily give Raven experience.

The foundation of assassination was concentration, after all.

That didn’t mean it was good to leave him like that forever, though.

I needed to accelerate his growth.

Which meant—

I should put an expiration date on the Ambush Coupon.

Full Moon was the greatest assassination organization on the continent.

Raven was an exceptionally gifted genius even among the members of Full Moon.

When it came to assassination, he was confident in his abilities.

The reason Raven hadn’t been able to kill the Poison King was simply because he didn’t know the Poison King’s location.

He was confident that even if his target were the Emperor himself, he could kill him as long as he was given enough time and an opportunity.

That was why Raven had been confident he could deal with Grave quickly.

No matter how strong Grave was, he was ultimately still human.

Even a Sword Master had to sleep and eat.

As long as someone was human, they were bound to show an opening.

That was how it should have been—

…But I can’t find one.

From the outside, Grave looked like an ordinary security guard.

But when Raven observed him closely, there were no openings.

His hand was always resting on his security baton, and his eyes were constantly watching his surroundings.

He didn’t even sleep lying down properly.

Instead, he slept lightly while leaning against something.

There wasn’t even the slightest opening.

Every moment, he was like a sword with its blade honed to an extreme sharpness.

The kind of sword where if you carelessly touched it, you’d lose your hand—

No. As long as he’s human, he has to show an opening eventually.

Raven began following Grave around and taking notes about him.

Former combat priest.

Recovery ability more monstrous than a Demon Knight’s. Must sever his head in a single strike.

Carries around an animal called Kkugga. Doesn’t seem attached to it, so it has no value as a hostage. ⁕Cute.

He’s a security guard, but he gives lectures. ⁕Extremely useful lectures.

The part about aura going berserk was particularly impressive. Could be applied to assassination…

The lecture notes continued for quite a while.

Raven took the opportunity to review the contents of the lecture before turning to the next page.

It really had been a useful lecture.

Casually beats up the assistants. Beats them brutally when he does. ⁕Must succeed in assassination in one attempt.

Sword Saint? At least Sword Master level. ⁕Avoid direct confrontation.

Employer of the twin witches. Seems to possess an enormous amount of money. Great Mage?

If someone else had written all of this, Raven would have cursed them for their ridiculous delusions.

The problem was that Raven himself had written it.

In summary, Grave was:

A Sword Master who can recover from almost anything because he is a combat priest, is skilled in long-range attacks because he is a Great Mage, and can even use curses.

I have to assassinate this guy?

At this point, killing the Poison King seemed easier.

At this rate, Raven might end up running errands for Grave for the rest of his life.

Around then, Raven arrived at the twin witches’ laboratory.

What kind of security guard orders the twin witches around like this?

He’d even told them to bring all their magic stones.

What an absurd situation.

Despite muttering under his breath, Raven slipped a note underneath the door.

The note contained only:

[Grave is calling you. Bring all your magic stones.]

It was an extremely careless note, but a commotion immediately erupted inside.

“It’s our benefactor! He says to bring all the magic stones! Are we going to have them taken away again?!”

“How long has it even been since we gave him the last batch?! And he’s asking for more—”

“What do we do?! If he takes these too, I’ll literally have no magic stones left!”

“Let’s just bring them for now. We have a contract, after all.”

“Fine. Damn it, these are problems I never even had to worry about when I was a student…”

The twin witches were currently the masters of the most promising new magic tower.

Among the two, Bella was considered a genius destined to become the next Great Mage, while Lira also possessed extraordinary talent in magic.

The twin witches ranked at the very top even according to Full Moon’s evaluation system.

And yet they were worried about having their magic stones taken away—

…Should I just live like this?

Compared to Full Moon, where his heart could be blown apart at any moment, Grave was extremely gentle.

Even if it meant running errands for him for the rest of his life like this…

Raven seriously contemplated the matter as he returned to Grave.

After calling for the twin witches, Grave was sitting leisurely.

He looked as though he might even take a nap.

Right now, I could just—

Raven swallowed dryly.

“Hi, Raven.”

Caw.

Raven imitated the cry of a crow with his mouth.

“Quite some time has passed, but you still haven’t used the coupon. This is troublesome.”

Troublesome because I haven’t used the Ambush Coupon?

What exactly was so troublesome about that?

“I think I should put an expiration date on the Ambush Coupon.”

“…Caw?”

Raven made an incredulous crow sound.

“About a month from the date of issuance should be appropriate.”

That condition hadn’t existed when the coupon was first given to him.

And now the expiration period was ridiculously short.

He hadn’t even discussed it with Raven.

He had simply informed him.

Caw!

Raven gave a sharp cry.

“Oh, and the Ambush Coupon means exactly what it says: it allows you to ambush me. If you ambush me while you have an Ambush Coupon, I won’t kill you. So don’t be afraid.”

Afraid?!

Raven had merely been waiting carefully.

However, there was something else that mattered.

If I have an Ambush Coupon, it’s okay even if I fail?

Come to think of it, it was called an Ambush Coupon.

It was a coupon that allowed him to attempt an ambush, so it made sense that there wouldn’t be any penalty for failing the assassination.

“Coincidentally, one of your coupons is about to expire. Are you going to use it?”

At Grave’s question, Raven thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

Caw?

“Yeah. I’m saying it’s okay to ambush me while you have an Ambush Coupon. Have you been living your whole life being deceived?”

Raven thought for a moment, then adjusted his grip on his dagger.

Because he was concentrating so intensely, he failed to notice the corners of Grave’s mouth curling upward.