[19:21]

Elondale’s Giant Killer.

As his title suggests, his main base of operations is located in the Kingdom of Elondale, the 'economic paradise'. On the other hand, [Ten Tedious] is an organization based within the Empire. To get there from Elondale, one has to pass through the Military State of Godlana before actually reaching the Empire. So the fact that Elondale’s Giant Killer ended up being part of an operation on Empire soil was puzzling.

Because the incident was covered up by the academy in the past timeline, I couldn't determine if my presence was the reason he was there or if he would have been there regardless. In such a situation, my first suspect was [False Peace], but it seemed too obvious. I suspected them simply because their hideout was in the Kingdom of Elondale, which also happened to be the Giant Killer’s home.

With that in mind, I tried to confirm their involvement through the doctor, but unfortunately, I couldn't find anything. Apparently, Dr. Telu had been absent for personal reasons since Friday and had only returned today, on Tuesday, which made it impossible to verify if he had left to tend to the Giant Killer's injuries. On the other hand, I found it a bit far-fetched that they would have anticipated the Giant Killer getting injured so severely, which was why I was a bit hesitant to conclude it was them.

However, that man’s anticipation isn't usually bound by logic alone.

There were two main strategies I could use to determine [False Peace]'s potential involvement.

The first strategy was the simplest but carried higher risk.

The Giant Killer’s injuries were critical and couldn't have been healed in less than a day, even by Dr. Telu. If the doctor was involved, he wouldn’t have returned to the academy so soon. This left him with only one option: to bring the Giant Killer into the city and treat him whenever he had free time. So, the first strategy involved tailing the doctor until he eventually met up with the Giant Killer, which would give me all the answers I needed.

The risk would be getting spotted. I wasn’t unconfident in my ability to tail someone, but even if I managed it, there might be others already spying on him for security purposes. They would spot me eventually, confirming their suspicions that I knew about them and possibly putting my life in danger.

The second strategy involved getting information through a particular second-year student. It was less risky, but the execution was more complicated.

I’ll have to set it up by tomorrow.

Although I lied about the date, time, and location, I had invited the other class leaders to a meeting tomorrow to discuss the dungeon's events and gather some information. I might even find a clue about the [False Peace] issue through the class leaders instead of relying on the complicated plan I had in mind.

Mm?

As I lay in bed, the sound of the door opening snapped me out of my thoughts as two individuals entered.

They didn’t even knock.

“You sure took your time,” I said, glancing at them as they strolled into my room like they owned the place.

“Do you want us to leave?” one asked, his hands in his pockets.

“I only have one chair, so you’ll have to fight for it,” I said, smiling. One of the boys, who had blue hair tied into a ponytail, casually walked up to the chair, pulling it close to my bed before sitting down and putting his legs on my bed. Seeing this, I turned to the other guest, who was silently glaring at him.

“I guess you’ll have to sit on the floor,” I said, and the other boy turned his glare to me.

“The hell do you think you are. Actually, get off the fucken bed and sit on the floor,” he snapped, walking towards me while cracking his knuckles, one of his eyes glowing red.

This is my bed, though.

“Well, I guess we can share,” I said, pointing him to one corner as I scrunched to the other side. He threw himself onto the bed, lying on his back like he owned the place, muttering,

“Why did you call me?” He asked, completely ignoring Tim's presence. Both of them looked at me as I muttered,

“I was just a bit bored.”

Lithe’s face turned furious as he lifted himself up, glaring at me.

“Do you want to die?” he asked seriously.

“Calm down, mama’s boy. Let him finish explaining first,” Tim chimed in, his mood unaffected by my strange answer. Rumors about his loss to Lily had spread across the academy, but his reputation seemed untarnished as he continued to reign as one of the Kings of Rezen. Lithe turned to Tim, his face still furious as he asked,

“Who said I was talking to you, dipshit?”

Tim’s smile seemed to widened as he retorted,

“You’re starting to sound like you don’t need that head on your shoulders.” he said, a hint of bloodlust lingering in his tone.

Lithe's glowing eye glared menacingly, and surprisingly, he didn’t back down.

“And what will you do about that?” he asked, tension thickening the air. A few seconds after the stare off, Tim suddenly raised his hands in mock surrender.

Seems like he’s in a good mood.

Seeing this, I decided to jump into the conversation.

"I suggest the two of you calm down unless you want to leave this room with missing fingers," I threatened, causing Lithe to leap off the bed and stand in the middle of the room, as if daring me to make good on my threat.

"It seems like you didn’t learn your lesson after getting beaten up by the Giant Killer," I said with a smile, watching Lithe furrow his brow in confusion. On the other hand, Tim looked at me curiously as he muttered,

"Giant Killer?"

"You dumbass, we aren’t allowed to say that," Lithe retorted, glaring at me as if I was an idiot, which kind of pissed me off a bit. I decided to look at Tim with a smile as I continued.

"Curious? You’ve heard of the Giant Killer, right?" I asked, and he looked a bit puzzled.

"You mean from the urban myth?" he replied.

"It’s not a myth," Lithe interrupted, his face serious. This only piqued Tim’s curiosity even further.

"Oh?" he murmured.

The urban myth of the Giant Killer exists in whispers across the world, and in each kingdom, it's said there is always one person holding that title. This meant that there were at least five individuals with the same title across the world, each a master of their own kind of unconventional warfare. Of course, Elondale's Giant Killer only became relevant to us because he later collaborated with us many times during the war, so it didn't mean he was the strongest on the five. We only had records of two of the five, and the other three were a complete mystery.

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Maybe I should try and find them. I thought to myself as I looked at Tim,

"We were attacked by Elondale’s Giant Killer. He managed to wipe out thirteen students alone while his rank was restricted to E," I explained, causing him to chuckle in disbelief.

"Oh, that sounds unbelievable," he said, but I could see his calculating eyes trying to read my face.

"Well, you weren’t there, so I don’t think it matters if an idiot like you believes it or not," Lithe shot back, shrugging. As if connecting the dots, Tim suddenly broke into laughter.

"Ah, wait, hahaha. Don’t tell me you actually got beat up by him?" he asked, and a vein visibly popped on Lithe's head as he glared at Tim, clicking his tongue.

"Tsk. Stop acting like you would’ve won. Tell him…" Lithe turned to me, wanting me to back him up, but I looked at him with a confused frown.

"Tell him what? I didn’t lose to the Giant Killer, unlike you," I said, my lips curling into a confident smile.

"You really think I’d believe that shit?" Lithe shot back. Since he’d been unconscious during my single-handed fight with the Giant Killer, he hadn’t witnessed it firsthand. Leven must have explained what happened afterward, but as the only other witness, there was bound to be some skepticism. Seeing his doubt, I shrugged.

"Well, it doesn’t matter if an idiot like you believes it or not," I said, smirking at him.

"Hahaha, it’s fine, Lithe. You don’t have to explain why you lost. Everyone here understands," Tim chimed in, acting as if he had been there when Lithe was getting beat up. He seemed confident he would’ve fared better.

"Tsk, fuck off. Did you just call me here to tell me this shit?" Lithe snapped, looking like he was ready to leave at any moment. I wasn’t bold enough to call one of the two strongest students at the academy just for some laughs—there was indeed another reason.

"Mmh, actually, I have a job coming up this week, so I was looking for some reliable allies," I explained, sparking curiosity in both of them. Being commoners, they instantly picked up on what I was hinting at. Tim's smile widened as he replied,

"Oh? Is it the Giant Killer? Are we going to get revenge for little Lithe?" he asked, and Lithe perked up, as if already preparing for a fight. I shook my head, looking at Tim with a grin,

"Of course not. Little Lithe would hold us back if we went after him," I said with a scornful tone. Tim played along, letting out an exaggerated sigh.

"Ah, my bad, I almost forgot. We'll have to find someone else then," he said, holding his chin as if deep in thought. Seeing this, Lithe shouted from the side.

"Hah? The hell you will. If you’re going after him, then I’m coming too!" he declared loudly. He really didn’t learn his lesson, did he? Tim sighed, pretending to relent.

"Well, if you insist… Hey, newbie, does your sister have some cheerleading gear he can borrow?" he asked with a grin.

"What’s his size?" I shot back, smiling.

"Fuckers! I'll beat both of you up right now if you don't stop this shit," Lithe growled, glaring at us as if we’d committed some unspeakable crime.

"Alright, alright, calm down," I said, raising my hands in mock surrender. He seemed to settle down a bit, so I let out a sigh and turned back to a more serious tone.

"Now, back to the main topic," I said, looking at Lithe. "Which color do you prefer?"

“You’re dead.”

He stormed towards me, fury in his eyes, fists raised as if ready to attack, but I quickly jumped to the other side of the bed, raising my hands in an attempt to calm him down.

“Calm down. Anyway, I know where he is, but it’s still too early to confront him. This is about a different matter involving another strong opponent.” I began to explain, dodging his advances, which eventually caused him to relax and listen. Tim then jumped in, intrigued.

“You said it’s a job. What kind?” he asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“Stealing from thieves, I guess. They’ll hit the place first, and we’ll hit them as they escape. Something like that,” I explained vaguely, but they both seemed to understand. Stealing was a crime, and stealing stolen goods from criminals was also a crime, but it required less effort.

“Well, count me out. I don’t want to go to jail for that nonsense,” Lithe concluded, sounding disappointed that we wouldn’t be going after the Giant Killer. He turned to leave, but I spoke up again.

“Ten skill scrolls,” I muttered.

“Huh?” He paused, turning to look at me. The primary method of obtaining special skills was through dungeons, but other than that, one could spend millions, or even billions, depending on the rarity of the skill.

“Each of us will leave the job with at least ten new skills,” I clarified and he seemed slightly shaken by the sudden offer.

Any skill acquired from ‘outside’ rather than ‘unlocked’ was automatically listed in the status window as a special skill, even if it seemed to be a ‘unique’ skill—those usually acquired through training and evolving your authority.

An example would be my special skill [Blink], which obviously stemmed from my [Time] Authority, but since I acquired it externally, as a dungeon reward, it was classified as a special skill. The main difference between unique skills and special skills was that special skills could be shared with others using a memory scroll, which then becomes a skill scroll after storing that skill.

However, if I remembered correctly, an empty memory scroll costs around 150 million, which meant the market was highly selective in choosing high-quality skills to transcribe into scrolls. Even the ten worst skill scrolls could still yield a valuable skill, so ten skill scrolls were very valuable.

“Are you serious?” Lithe asked, curiosity getting the better of him. Would someone like him grow stronger after acquiring that many skills? I had my doubts. His low mana capacity might limit how many skills he could effectively use, but depending on the skills, he could still see significant improvement.

“We can make a contract if you don’t believe me,” I said to him. He looked at me for a few seconds, seemingly lost in thought, before finally nodding.

“Alright, I’ll hear you out,” he said, though I had a feeling he was already on board and just wanted to draw out the process. I nodded and then turned to Tim, who had been watching our exchange silently. Feeling my gaze, he shrugged and replied.

“I’m in, of course,” he said without hesitation.

Was he just playing along out of curiosity?

Besides his obsession with strength-based hierarchy, I didn’t know much about him apart from reading his mission reports during the war. Without understanding him on a personal level, I wouldn't be able to fully utilize him. My first attempt to put him under my control had failed, so I had to come up with a different approach. His moral compass was also worrying—it's a surprise he never became a criminal, and would instead join a clan like most students after graduating from the academy.

“Good. Then I’ll explain the plan next Monday. We’ll move out on Friday, so mark that on your calendars,” I explained to the two.

“Sounds good,” Tim responded, standing from his chair, getting ready to leave.

“...”

Lithe remained silent, and the two of them left without another word. As I lay back in my bed, now alone again, I mentally prepared myself.

Beyond this operation, I would need their cooperation for future endeavors, especially in overthrowing the current kings of Rezen. Getting to know them better through this ‘mission’ would make the process much easier.

If I could overthrow the student council and all the kings of Rezen, I could create an extensive information network capable of impacting events even beyond the academy. Believe it or not, the academy was also a significant part of the intelligence community, and depending on what happened here, some kingdoms would make moves that could affect the future.

A prime example from the past timeline involved a student casually talking to his friends about a new business his father was starting. The rumor spread across the academy, and before long, people all over the world were throwing investments at his father's company.

One week later, many people lost billions in investments when it was revealed to have been a pump-and-dump scheme—although, ironically, it wasn't even orchestrated by the student's father. Essentially, someone bought up a lot of shares in that company and then convinced the son about the 'new company,' prompting him to indirectly spread the rumor through the academy and, consequently, to the world. Once investors started throwing money into the company, expecting its stock to rise in value, this flood of investment actually caused the price of the stock to surge due to increased demand.

A week later, the value of the shares the perpetrator had bought a month prior had more than quadrupled, and he immediately sold them all at the new high price, causing the stock value to plummet overnight, trapping investors and ruining the company's reputation.

The culprit was never found. I don't want to point fingers, but this had [False Peace] written all over it.

This incident proved that controlling the academy's flow of information could indirectly influence events beyond the academy. If done properly, I could change the current state of the world by the time my three years here come to an end.

I should concentrate on this mission for now.

With the addition of Lily, this temporary team would be one of the strongest, even outside the academy. It was a necessary step since we wouldn't be facing someone with restricted stats like at [Golem's Nest], and we had to ensure we were prepared for anything. In the world outside the academy, we were merely pebbles on the side of the road—a lesson we would soon learn.

The cruel gap between budding seedlings and a fully grown flower.

The flower blooms beautifully for the world to see, while below the soil, the seedlings cry as they’re strangled by its roots—a melody only those beneath the surface can hear. But will the worms answer their cries and devour the roots, or will they consume the seedlings, leaving no trace of their struggle?

Whatever happens, the sun will rise the next day,

and the world will admire the flower's sway,

unaware of what transpired beneath,

forever hidden from the light's reach.

~