The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 166

“We need to get out quickly… If we survive, then maybe we can…”

Count Dwayne mumbled in the darkness, grunting as he lifted the heavy luggage.

He planned to escape from the Arkenent territory, taking only the gold coins and minimal baggage that Count Arkenent had handed over.

Although Count Arkenent had promised to send him off, there was still a chance his life could be targeted.

It was humiliating, but this was the best option.

Hurry.

He needed to get out of here before anyone arrived.

Count Dwayne, hastening his steps, suddenly halted at the sound of footsteps.

Fwoosh-

A blinding light shone directly on Count Dwayne.

What… What is this?!

“Ugh!”

Count Dwayne flung the luggage he was holding in both hands, waving his arms in panic.

“Oh… oh no!”

Turning his head slowly with clenched teeth, Dwayne recoiled in horror and collapsed on the spot.

“Damn it.”

Before him stood the last two faces he ever wanted to see.

Solia lowered her arm slowly, glaring at Dwayne, while Han Siha, peeking out beside her, greeted him cheerfully.

“Hello?”

“Ah, ahh!”

“Where are you rushing off to?”

Count Dwayne, barely managing to stand up, staggered backward with a pale face.

“It… it’s nothing….”

“The way is blocked over there.”

“Ahhh!”

Smack.

Han Siha snatched Count Dwayne, who tried to run away in a hurry.

* * *

As expected, Count Dwayne knew about the Obsidian Mine.

Han Siha promised to spare his life if he shared what he knew, and Dwayne, nervously glancing around, began to divulge the information he had.

“Half a year ago, there was a request to deliver obsidian….”

Half a year ago—so it wasn’t as long ago as they had thought.

Yoon Haul frowned and asked Dwayne.

“Obsidian? From where?”

“It was taken by some merchant groups that approached us….”

The mine had originally been closed for a long time, but when those who wanted to develop it appeared, they sold it off for a decent price.

Given the financial difficulties of the Arkenent territory, it seemed like a good deal.

In a voice that sounded as if he were crawling into himself, Dwayne continued.

“It was a useless mineral… and I thought it was cursed, so I just got rid of it….”

Anyone would have sold an abandoned mine for a good price if they could.

Han Siha didn’t think Dwayne was lying. But he had one more question.

Han Siha looked straight into Dwayne’s eyes and asked.

“Which merchant group took it?”

“Well… there were multiple groups….”

Dwayne trailed off, then clapped his hands as if he had just remembered something.

“Oh! But the delivery destination was the same.”

Solia and Yoon Haul’s eyes sparkled simultaneously.

Han Siha crouched down, clearly intrigued by the new information.

Dwayne, gauging Han Siha’s reaction, reluctantly revealed more.

“The northern Odryse Mountains of the Ardel Empire.”

“The Odryse Mountains? Where’s that?”

“It’s a bit of a rugged area. Not many people live there.”

“Yes, regular merchants rarely go there.”

From their explanations, Han Siha began to feel more certain.

“The Odryse Mountains, huh….”

He was convinced that something was there.

‘It’s worth investigating.’

Han Siha made a mental note to gather information when they returned to the academy.

They had heard enough for now.

Dusting himself off, Han Siha stood up.

“Let’s go.”

At that moment, Count Dwayne, who had been bowing his head, struggled to raise it.

“W-wait, please!”

“Hm?”

He couldn’t just let Han Siha leave like this.

Dwayne spoke in a desperate tone.

“Y-Your Highness the Prince!”

His missteps here would haunt him no matter where he went in the future.

There was no place within the empire where the royal family’s influence didn’t reach.

Dwayne thought he had to appease the furious prince, so he groveled and continued.

“Please forget everything that’s happened… I promise to live quietly, like a mouse….”

“…”

“Why, Your Highness? Have I displeased you again…?”

This wasn’t the first time. Not the second, either.

Han Siha blinked at Dwayne, who was trembling before him.

“Huh? But why would you think I’m a prince?”

“…What?”

Solia and Yoon Haul, standing beside him, shrugged as if they were just as clueless.

Yoon Haul grimaced and spoke up.

“You’re talking like you want to get charged with treason.”

“Exactly.”

“N-no, wait. What do you mean….”

“Why would you think I’m a prince?”

“You… aren’t a prince?”

“Why would I be?”

“T-that… that… the fountain pen….”

Fountain pen?

Han Siha briefly mulled over Dwayne’s cryptic remark, then pulled out the pen he usually carried in his pocket.

“This?”

“Yes… yes! The royal crest!”

Looking at the dazed Dwayne, Han Siha chuckled.

“Oh, because of this?”

Now he understood where the misunderstanding had come from.

Even though Han taesu was famous, Dwayne had been acting a bit overly respectful.

Was he confusing it with the imperial family?

Heh.

Han Siha waved the fountain pen in front of Dwayne’s face, smiling.

“Oh, His Majesty is fond of me.”

“What?”

“That’s why he gave it to me as a gift. Why? Got a problem with that?”

“N-no… so you’re not a prince…?”

While Dwayne was dumbly mumbling the same words over and over again.

The others were equally astonished.

Yoon Haul practically screamed.

“You… met the Emperor?”

Even if he wasn’t a prince, it wouldn’t change much.

While Han Siha was squeezing every bit of information out of Dwayne using his status in the Castica family, the academy dormitory was shrouded in quiet darkness.

It was late at night.

In the dead of night when everyone was asleep, Adela suddenly sat up in bed, her body jerking upright as if it had been folded in half.

“Haa… ha.”

Adela gasped for breath, clutching her blanket tightly.

For some reason, she had been plagued by nightmares lately.

She couldn’t remember the exact content of the dreams, but one thing was certain.

Katablam. Her hometown had appeared in them.

The suffocating discomfort it brought made Adela shudder.

“Why is this coming back…?”

It was a village where countless people had died.

She had survived alone, but too many had been buried without even the chance to scream.

Whenever she thought of her hometown, Adela felt as though she couldn’t breathe.

“Is it telling me not to sleep in peace…? Is that why it keeps coming up in my dreams?”

Adela irritably yanked the curtains open.

The longer she stayed at Ardel Academy, the more she slowly erased the painful past of that time.

The moments she spent with her friends were sweeter than revenge.

Her time with Han Siha was her only solace.

Han Siha had held her back when she was recklessly driven by revenge and had helped her to live a little more as herself.

Thanks to Han Siha, Adela learned the beauty of the night sky, the warmth of snow, and how to grasp the fluttering cherry blossoms.

So, sometimes, she wanted to forget.

She wanted to forget the guilt that wasn’t even hers and just live as an ordinary student.

“Why… why is this happening to me….”

Surviving wasn’t a crime.

Adela bit her lower lip hard as she felt a stabbing sense of guilt.

“Hoo….”

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes tightly.

She did her best to push away the lingering traces of the nightmare.

She reassured herself that everything would be okay, that it had to be.

Then, suddenly, she thought of one person.

Han Siha.

It had been a week since he left for Arkenent territory to find the obsidian. He still hadn’t returned.

Adela mumbled, her voice quivering.

“I miss you….”

There are nights when you miss someone more than usual.

Tonight was one of those nights.

“I miss you. When are you coming back?”

Adela thought this as she looked up at the pitch-black night sky without a single moon.

“…”

Then, she suddenly lifted her head.

It was a cold sensation, as if it would chase away all her gloom in an instant.

What?

“What was that?”

She felt a presence just now.

* * *

Around the same late hour, Han Si-hyuk was standing alone in the dark hallway.

A suffocating pain swept through his entire body, preventing him from falling asleep.

“Gah…!”

Han Si-hyuk staggered, gasping for breath.

The pain felt like his throat was being squeezed, almost as if he were about to cough up blood, but no blood came out.

Walking down the hallway, Han Si-hyuk struggled to stay conscious as his mind grew increasingly hazy.

‘Why… why does it hurt so much…?’

It wasn’t from an attack.

He had no chronic illness.

The source of this pain… he couldn’t figure it out.

When he had killed Archant, his body had been overloaded.

This pain felt similar to that, but he wasn’t sure.

All he could do was hope that the pain would subside enough for him to fall asleep.

“Ugh… ugh….”

Han Si-hyuk clenched his fist and stopped in the middle of the hallway.

Fwing-

For a moment, his head felt light.

Han Si-hyuk turned his head slightly, sensing something off.

The eerie and unpleasant feeling that pervaded the entire hallway.

He knew its source.

Han Si-hyuk widened his eyes, frozen in place.

“What… what the hell is this…?”

The entire hallway was drenched in blood red.

Seeing the blood seeping from the wallpaper, Han Si-hyuk recoiled in horror.

“Urgh!”

Even someone with a strong stomach like Han Si-hyuk was nauseated by the sight.

With trembling hands, he wiped the wallpaper.

Nothing came off, even though blood should have.

It wasn’t real blood.

Only then did Han Si-hyuk calm his startled heart.

“It’s an illusion, not reality.”

Fwing-

Holding his spinning head, he took a deep breath, and the dim hallway returned to its original state.

Suddenly, his legs buckled.

“Hah… ha….”

Han Si-hyuk leaned against the wall, staggering.

The pain that had been crushing him had subsided somewhat, but his head still throbbed.

“What did… I just see…?”

If he wasn’t losing his mind.

A seer’s vision was supposed to depict a future scene.

“Oh.”

He didn’t even want to put into words the horrifying sight he had just witnessed.

“There’s no way… there’s no way that’s real….”

Han Si-hyuk muttered to himself like a madman, denying the vision he had seen.

He rationalized that it was just the pain making him delusional.

Han Si-hyuk clawed at his head, breathing heavily.

“No, it can’t be….”

At that moment.

He felt a presence behind him.

“…!”

Han Si-hyuk reflexively reached out toward the shadow and grabbed the approaching person by the neck.

However,

“Gah… it’s me, Investigator….”

What?

“Investigator… it hurts… please….”

Dangling—

Adela was hanging from his grip.

“Gasp!”

Han Si-hyuk released his hand in shock, his eyes wide.