Loud knocking filled the dorm halls. The door slowly creaked open as she peeked outside, her eyes drowsy.

“Princess Yuki!” a noble shouted, dropping down to one knee, frantically knocking on the door “Will you be my valentine?”

He began a long winded exposition of how he came to fall in love with her, and why she should go out with him.

She slammed the door shut on his face.

“...”

Dust and debris fell from the ceiling, calling his head to snap upwards.

“Gahhh what the fuck?”

I dropped from the ceiling, my blade piercing his throat in one fluid motion. Blood sprayed across my face as I pulled out my sword, his lifeless corpse hitting the floor with a thud. As quickly as I came, I left.

These assassin skills I’ve honed here are truly useful.

It’s Valentine's Day, but this is no place for love.

People are dueling over romantic interests, but what good is honor if you are dead? This isn’t a fairytale. There are no happy endings.

‘Pathetic.’

As a princess, Yuki had to maintain appearances. It wouldn’t do for her to personally dispose of her suitors.

Which means…

Free points!!

Only a few hours remain before the bounty system event ends. Time to head back to class.

A human noble stopped me en route. To be honest, I wasn’t great at remembering names, but she seemed familiar. I think she was in my history class? Or perhaps alchemy…

“Hey… Wait a minute…”

I stopped in my tracks, her eyes searching. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of my face.

“You look awfully familiar…”

“Ahh you must’ve confused me with someone else! Happens all the time! Anyways, I should really—”

She ripped off my mustache and top hat.

She pointed at me, her eyes widening. “That’s her! The top ranker who killed my fiancé!!” she said with a shrill scream. “Get her!!!”

‘I feel like that’s on you for bringing your fiancé to a death trap but okay…’

I cut her off with a swift punch to the jaw, followed by a palm strike to her chest that sent her flying into the rapidly gathering crowd.

“Sorry, can’t chat!” I shouted, swiftly making an escape.

Immediately, her entourage took up the chase as I veered towards the nearest classroom. Swinging on the rail and crashing through the window feet first, I landed on the second year area of the academy. I casted [Blink] midair to land safely on the ground below.

My bounty currently sat at over ten thousand gold coins—a reward for assassinating multiple prominent noble and merchant children.

Cursing under my breath, I realized this is the second time I’ve been recognized today. Not that it was efficient for them to jump me as they only attack in groups.

Darting across rooftops, I willed myself to go faster as my pursuers were hot on my heels. I briefly considered summoning the midges again for backup but I decided against it. If I did, there might not be an academy to return back to.

I already secured more than enough points, and most of my skills are currently on cooldown. The best strategy now is to try to lose my pursuers and keep a low profile.

Deeper into the academy grounds, I noticed a small, secluded area, hidden by trees

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Whistling, I kicked over the sign.

I sauntering through the doors of the cathedral, searching for a hiding spot.

Moonlight casted a dim glow across the altar. Who appeared to be a priest lay knelt in prayer.

The paladins swiftly noticed me, their hands were drawn to their hilt, armor clanking as they stood to protect him.

“Who sent you?” he shouted without looking back.

“Your eminence, she has a black badge. I presume she is sent by the merchants or the nobles,” a paladin shouted.

He turned to the paladins. “Well, it doesn't matter. Take her in for questioning. Do not disturb me during prayer. Capture her alive for questioning. Or kill her, whatever comes first.”

“Yes sir!”

The doors burst open as my previous pursuers stumbled inside.

Sighing, I hurled a smoke bomb to the ground. A thick, white, mist quickly enveloped the inside of the cathedral.

Click.

Before the cloud fully expanded, arms appeared behind the praying man, dragging him into the smoke. Pressing a rag doused with paralytics to his face, his struggles weakened instantly. A moment later, my blade slid in between his ribs, straight through his heart.

Penalties for attacking the good alignment.

A huge shockwave occurred from the point of impact, launching me out of the cathedral, shattering stained glass windows.

“Your eminence!”

“I’m okay! Send them all to the goddess!!”

As the dust choked the air, paladins turned their wrath on my pursuers, cutting down everyone where they stood. Magic was casted indiscriminately, sending shudders through the already barely standing cathedral.

In the aftermath, the building was reduced to little more than a pile of rubble. A paladin lifted his visor and wiped at his brow with a handkerchief.

“[Heal].”

“Thank the goddess you’re okay,” he muttered.

‘Huh? Something's off…’

He turned, his eyes slowly widening in realization. Every one of his comrades laid motionless on the floor, a dagger embedded in between their brow

Before he could even draw his blade, several daggers lodged themselves in his back.

“Yo- your eminence… Why…?” his mouth bubbled with blood, pooling at his feet as he slumped over.

His appearance warped, shifting.

I grinned. “He was long dead before you even realized. Consider yourself unfortunate to have met me.”

Flashing a peace sign with my fingers, I disappeared into the night—but not before ensuring there were no witnesses. The perimeter guards are all novice students in training—more free experience points.

Rummaging through the corpses, I picked up one of their badges. After wiping off the blood, I affixed it to my own. The milky white badge disguised my murky black badge.

Pulling a heavy suit of armor over my clothes, my disguise was almost perfect.

“My survival is an act of resistance.’

I had gotten very lucky to have killed him before he completed his prayer—this allowed me to glimpse into how he was able to track me all those years.

[Precognition]

Once a day, glimpse the future.

Requires at least an hour of prayer.

Requires intense concentration.

Accuracy varies based on concentration and prayer.

“She will guide the desperate” - unknown

[Holy Blessing]

Resistance to dark attribute attacks.

Negative duration and severity of negative status effects.

While [Precognition] is situational at best, the latter was invaluable. The academy required students to eat at least one meal in the cafeteria daily to train resistances. Normally, something like poison resistance takes months of suffering through several doses per day to acquire.

Setting what remained of the cathedral ablaze, I turned and sprinted towards the academy, my armor clanking with every step.

“Ah fuckk!”

‘Great, just what I needed,’ I thought, cursing to myself.

A searing pain burned my palms, causing me to quickly sheathe the unsealed rapier, my teeth gritted against the burn.

Making my way down the dorm halls to my room, the eerie silence unsettled me—the silence broken occasionally by the clank of my armor.

My eyes narrowed. “You can come out now,” I called.

No response.

Then—

Shadows shifted, melding into human forms. As a quintessential assassin skill, you must always be prepared for ambushes. Seems like I was too clumsy, the heavy armor making every step too loud.

“How did you know?” a voice called out. “I’ll have you know that you’ve been surrounded.”

I grinned. “Oh?”

I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground, impaling his body on a spear of earth. With an aura-infused stomp, the floor beneath me collapsed, sending rubble and debris flying as a crater formed.

“I’d have you know,” I said, cracking my neck in preparation. “That you’re the ones trapped in here with me.”

A sudden whirlwind formed, sending debris flying in every direction. Arrow sliced through the air, but the shifting winds altered their trajectory, with most missing and one barely grazing my armor.

[Hardened Carapace]

As long as I don’t take a direct hit, most of the residual damage should be nullified.

Converting my defense into an HP shield and layering it with a [Mana Shield], I threw myself into the fray. Cutting down everyone that’s in my way, their daggers clanged uselessly off my armor. I grabbed one of the corpses, shielding myself from the projectiles.

Someone frantically casted [Veil of Water] and froze it, trying to stop my approach. Crashing right into it, I casted [Fireball], causing a massive steam explosion.

“[Sublimation].”

I vanished alongside the mist.

Odgezar cleared his throat with a weighty cough. "Eris, you are hereby expelled from this institution. Your actions have put the academy at risk, and we can no longer protect you from your fate.”

I rose from my seat. “I understand, I will clear out my room.”

He nodded, his expression grim.

On the way out, I spotted Yuki lingering in the doorway, arms crossed. Her eyes bore right into mine.

I wished she would console me instead, but deep down, I knew she was right.

I stayed silent.

“I turned a blind eye before,” she began, her tone low and sharp. “At first, I thought your brutality was justified—to rid the world of filth like Rodney, born from the resentment and anger of being hunted all your life. But then…”

Yuki trailed off.

“Why?”

I didn’t answer. I just turned to leave.

“Why??” she shouted this time. “Why did you kill hundreds of students?? Even if the academy mandated it, you could’ve just stopped at one or two and still be safe from expulsion!”

I stiffened. I had never heard her raise her voice at me before.

My mouth felt dry all of a sudden. What should I say? That I regretted it? That I’m sorry? But we both knew that it was a lie.

Silence lingered like the stench of raw fish. I bit my lip, unable to find the words to express myself.

A small part of me hoped that she would stop me—to tell me that it wasn’t my fault, that I wasn’t beyond saving. We both knew, even if we didn’t say it.

I met her gaze, searching for a response. I was met with eyes filled with not contempt, but disappointment.

I let out a shuddering breath. “Well. I guess I should get going now.”

And without another glance, I trudged away, each step heavier than the last.