Chapter 264. Weariness (1)
When Feng-kak gave him the protector, he looked so reluctant that it was obvious how precious the item was.
Afterward, Coco left, leaving only the words, “Find Fengdokyul.”
It was as if she had no intention of answering any more questions.
“Fengdokyul, huh…”
It was something necessary to properly use Feng-kak.
But he only knew the name and had no idea what it actually was.
He could only guess that it was some form of special martial art.
“Anyway, until I find that thing, this is just a damn heavy piece of armor.”
Honestly, even without Fengdokyul, the Feng-kak was quite useful.
As long as he infused it with mana, it could automatically attach and detach, and the comfort level was exceptional.
It was also sturdy enough to serve as decent armor.
The only problem was that it was absurdly heavy…
“Well, it’s a good workout in its own way.”
Moving with 100 kilograms strapped to his legs was turning out to be surprisingly effective training.
But even so, he still had to find Fengdokyul.
“I need information.”
He needed to know exactly what Fengdokyul was.
And where it might be in the Cradle.
He needed concrete information.
On top of that, Yuri needed more than just information about Fengdokyul.
Crystal Potassium, Mana Crystals, White Night, Elyon.
He had to figure out what those were among the rewards he had recently obtained, names he had never heard before.
Only then could he decide whether to use them or not.
And fortunately for him, Yuri had a smart, beautiful, and all-knowing encyclopedia he could consult whenever he wanted.
“I guess it’s been a while since I’ve seen her face.”
Besides, he had to register his academic points before it got too late.
And since he also needed to deposit the points he was holding in the bank, he could take care of it all while he was out.
Yuri got ready and left.
However, he had to stop before he could leave the Demon King’s Castle.
“What are you doing there?”
The reason Yuri stopped was because there was someone loitering in the passageway connected to his residence.
It was Theresia, who was pacing around like a dog needing to go to the bathroom.
“Ah…!”
When she spotted Yuri, she flinched.
“Tesha, what’s up? Got something to say?”
Theresia hesitated at Yuri’s question, fidgeting.
It looked like she had something to say but was reluctant to speak, a demeanor very unlike her, causing Yuri to tilt his head in curiosity.
The two stood there for a while in awkward silence.
Finally, Theresia opened her mouth.
“It’s a bit strange to say something like this when we haven’t seen each other in a while, but…”
“Then don’t say it.”
“…Hearing that makes me want to say it even more.”
“So, what is it?”
Theresia, glancing at Yuri’s indifferent gaze, spoke in a small voice.
“Do you… plan to stay in the Circle forever?”
“The Circle?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you mean by asking how long I’ll stay?”
“Don’t you have any plans to leave?”
“Leave? Why would I?”
Yuri’s expression was as if he had just heard something absurd.
It made sense, considering he had no particular complaints about the Circle.
‘I mean, why would I have complaints? I don’t do anything there.’
He had joined the Circle initially to keep an eye on Gunther, but since Gunther hadn’t shown up, Yuri didn’t have any reason to attend Circle meetings.
The existing members didn’t want Yuri, a new strong contender, to become another figure like Gunther, so they didn’t bother him about not participating in Circle activities.
In fact, they preferred it that way.
As a result, Yuri had become something of a ghost member after scarfing down a special elixir.
Despite this, Yuri didn’t leave the Circle because he still had plans for the Circle’s vault.
‘Even though I don’t do anything, I need to maintain at least a minimal connection for the future.’
Seeing Yuri’s expression, as if wondering why she was suddenly bringing up leaving, Theresia sighed.
“You’re not doing anything anyway, so why don’t you just leave?”
“I may not be doing anything, but it’s as good as doing something.”
“What does that even mean?”
“There are things like that. But why are you bringing this up now?”
“If you leave, I can leave too. Or rather… I can only leave if you do.”
“Huh? What kind of nonsense is that? Why do you have to leave if I leave?”
“Well, of course… Wait, you?!”
Theresia, about to explain, suddenly noticed something strange in Yuri’s expression and her face hardened.
She cautiously asked, just to confirm her suspicion.
“Don’t tell me… you didn’t know I was a member of the Circle?”
“Nope, just heard it now. When did you join?”
“That’s because of you…!”
“Me?”
Theresia, who had been fuming, suddenly felt all her strength leave her at Yuri’s innocent question.
“…Never mind. I’m leaving.”
Turning around, Theresia gave up.
‘Really, who can I blame for this?’
It was her own fault for assuming Yuri would never join the Circle and speaking carelessly.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little resentful.
‘I’m stuck here because of him, and yet he doesn’t even show his face at the Circle!’
It felt like she had been abandoned.
And leaving the Circle wasn’t an easy task either.
The Circle was like a small society within the Cradle, entangled in vested interests.
If you hadn’t gotten involved in the first place, it would’ve been fine, but once you were in, it wasn’t easy to disentangle yourself.
The bigger problem was that Theresia had already been deeply stained by the mud of the Circle.
Specifically, the mud known as Andres Chayce, the head of the Circle.
‘If he had been clingier, I could’ve used that as an excuse to leave.’
She could clearly feel Andres’ intentions from the way he looked at her.
But rather than being overt, Andres only subtly revealed his feelings, always acting like a gentleman.
In other words, while his feelings made her uncomfortable, she couldn’t refuse him without creating an awkward situation.
That’s why Theresia had hoped to use Yuri as an excuse to leave the Circle—since she had only joined because of him.
‘And yet, he didn’t even know I joined because of him.’
With a slight sense of bitterness, Theresia quickened her pace as she walked away.
Yuri blinked as he watched her disappear.
“So, what did she come here for?”
He tilted his head in confusion, then resumed his walk.
* * *
At the ability assessment center where academic points were registered, five people stood in a circle.
Nellie Blanc.
Ivan Baskin.
Pana Taylor.
Clarice Van.
Schleiman Hans.
These five occupied the upper ranks of the 50th class.
They exchanged serious glances with each other.
Then, Nellie cautiously spoke up.
“Has anyone… seen him?”
The other four shook their heads.
“I’ve been waiting since the afternoon… no sign of him.”
“I’ve been waiting since the morning, but nothing.”
“I’ve been here since yesterday.”
“Amateurs, I’ve been here for two days.”
One by one, Ivan, Pana, Clarice, and Schleiman spoke.
Despite already registering their points, they hadn’t left the assessment center because they wanted to see when a certain person would show up.
And with only about an hour left until the registration deadline, the five gathered their heads because that person still hadn’t appeared.
“Do you think… he’s really dead?”
“Who said he’s dead?”
“No way, right?”
“But honestly, we can’t rule it out. It’s been a month since he last showed up.”
“If it’s been that long… it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think something happened.”
“If he hasn’t appeared by now, it’s more likely that he’s dead.”
They each shared their thoughts.
“But if he’s really dead… hm…”
“What? Does the thought of him being dead make you happy?”
“Well? I get what Nellie’s trying to say. It’s complicated. Part of me wants to have killed him myself after everything he’s done…”
“It’s weird. He seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn’t die no matter how hard you tried, but suddenly hearing that he might be dead… it feels odd.”
“I guess we all feel the same. I kind of feel like that too.”
“But… does that mean no one’s actually sad about his death?”
At that last question, everyone responded seriously.
“Why would we be? Is there any need to be sad?”
“I don’t think it’s great that he’s dead, but I’m not sad about it.”
“If someone’s going to cry over his death after everything he’s done to us, they’d have to be a saint.”
“Considering how much he tormented us… he was practically like the killer of our parents! How could anyone forgive that?”
“Right. To be honest, we should be celebrating. The most powerful competitor is gone.”
“Oh? Is that how it is?”
They all nodded slightly.
At the same time, they subtly eyed each other.
The five of them, who were ready to dash out at any moment, were all thinking the same thing.
‘With him gone…’
‘It’s finally my chance to take the top spot!’
Now in their second year, many things had changed, and most of the 50th class had caught up to a decent level,
except for Yuri.
Yuri had been so overwhelmingly strong that the competition had been for second place, but now that the top contender had disappeared, the race for first place was open again.
With about an hour left until the registration deadline…
‘Some of them will definitely be trying to re-register their points.’
‘The remaining people, including me, total five. Based on their tendencies, some of them… Wait, hold on.’
Pana, who had been quietly watching and planning to re-register her points, suddenly realized something strange.
“One, two, three, four… five?”
The others looked at her in confusion.
“What’s up? Why are you counting us all of a sudden?”
Nellie asked, and Pana, her face pale, replied in a trembling voice.
“There are five people here…”
“Can’t you even count? Of course there are five. You think there’s ten?”
Ivan, grinning in disbelief, spoke in a mocking tone.
Normally, Pana would have shot back immediately, but this time, her voice trembled as she responded.
“There were six… I’m sure of it.”
“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
Ivan’s face creased slightly, but Pana, her face completely pale, screamed.
“There were five people, but… six voices!”
“…?!”
At Pana’s desperate shout, the others finally realized something.
‘Wait a second?’
‘Uh, hold on?!’
‘What?!’
‘Now that you mention it?!’
Indeed, they had heard six voices during their conversation.
Pana gulped and began to count aloud.
“O-one…”
The others, realizing why she was counting, joined in.
“Two.”
“Three.”
“Four.”
“Five.”
Up until that point, everything was fine.
But then…
“Six.”
An unexpected sixth voice.
The group quickly looked around at each other, bewildered.
“Don’t mess around! Who said six?! Ivan, was it you?”
“I said three! Clarice, wasn’t it you?”
“I said two!”
“Then who the hell was it?!”
As confused glances darted between them, another sixth voice interrupted.
“It was me, you bastards.”
Before they could react, a black figure dropped down from the ceiling.
Thud!
The person landed right in the middle of the five, standing with one hand in their pocket and a crooked stance, speaking in a lazy, annoyed tone.
“Your nemesis, back from hell.”
The tone was filled with irritation and slung with arrogance.
As soon as they saw the smirk crooked across his face, their legs went weak, and they instinctively backed away.
“You?!”
“H-how?!”
“That… That can’t be…”
“O-oh…”
“No, I mean…”
As the group, too flustered to even speak properly, stumbled, Yuri tilted his head to the other side.
“I swear, no matter how nice I am to you people, you’re useless. After all I did for you, this is how you repay me? Huh?”
“……”
“You don’t have to come to my funeral, but you could at least send a condolence offering. Isn’t that basic human decency?”
“……”
“I went to hell for a bit, but they kicked me out because I couldn’t pay the toll! Do you know the humiliation of being rejected in hell? Do you?!”
“……”
With every word, Yuri’s expression became more crooked, and the faces of those in front of him turned paler and paler.
‘Oh…’
They didn’t know what he was rambling about. They didn’t want to know.
But there was one thing they knew for certain, whether they wanted to or not.
And that was…
‘We’re screwed.’
Not just them, but the entire 50th class was absolutely, completely screwed.