Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 95: The Dull Genius, Deis (3)

The second day’s lessons were finally over.

After finishing dinner, Harang returned to the dormitory and lay down on his bed.

He stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘…This is fun.’

Although the magic class had been exhausting, it was enjoyable, and he almost found himself getting completely absorbed in it.

He hadn’t made any friends yet, but his classmates often approached him in a friendly manner.

Most of them had something hidden beneath the surface, but there were also quite a few who didn’t.

Watching these curious teenagers who were fascinated by the new student, Deis, Harang simultaneously felt both genuine goodwill and pure malice.

With people gathering from all over the world, it made sense that their personalities would be just as diverse.

‘…The lessons are fun, but I still have work to do.’

After taking a shower, Harang put on a light combat suit under his uniform.

He didn’t wear the weighted band this time. That was because, from now on, he was going to perform his duties as a “swordsman.”

Feeling refreshed by the lightness of his body, Harang exited through the roof of the dormitory, scaling the wall of the building. If he used the entrance on the first floor, there would be a record of it.

Tonight, it would be recorded that Harang never left the dormitory.

The dark night.

Hiding within the shadows, Harang moved with almost no detectable presence.

Thanks to his skills, his footsteps were utterly silent.

That wasn’t all. From his recent sparring session with the Sacred Sword Terandal, Harang had realized the concept of “pure physical enhancement.”

It was a method from ancient times, far removed from modern techniques, that focused on training and strengthening the body purely through physical means, without the use of any skills.

Wooong…!!

Crouching in the shadows, Harang closed his eyes and began to draw mana using the White Silver Sky Dragon Heart Technique.

As he focused, mana began to circulate slowly throughout his entire body.

Once… twice…

As the rotation of the mana accelerated, the strain on his muscles and veins intensified. A bead of cold sweat trickled down Harang’s cheek.

‘…I can’t maintain this for long.’

Although he temporarily maximized not only his strength but also his flexibility, the strain it placed on both his mana and his body made it unsustainable for extended periods.

‘This should be enough. Even if I can’t avoid the magic alarms, I’ll at least be able to hide my presence from the Arniel Guards to some extent.’

The Arniel Guards employed not only magicians but also martial artists, making it risky to be detected by them. Thus, it was difficult to explore deeply.

Whirr! Thud!

Harang lightly pushed off from the building, leaping onto the rooftop of the adjacent dormitory. His eyes widened at the weightlessness he felt. Although part of the lightness was due to the removal of the weighted band, this was on a whole different level.

‘My jumping ability… it’s much better than before.’

This was the fruit of his sparring session with the Sacred Sword Terandal.

Who knew that enhancing pure physical abilities could feel this exhilarating!

He continued leaping across the rooftops of buildings, swiftly traversing the Arniel School grounds in an instant.

He reminded himself not to get carried away by the excitement of his light body. Suppressing his presence as much as possible, he landed atop a white building and quickly hid behind one of its pillars before anyone could notice.

The structure, with its ceiling and walls entirely made of glass, was called the Magical Technology Center, a research facility.

As it was a university lab, it wasn’t uncommon to see magic scholars from far away or graduate students who couldn’t return home even late at night.

‘Jeez, they look like zombies…’

Avoiding the gaze of a graduate student stumbling around, Harang slipped inside the building, recalling that it had a security system similar to CCTV.

The quality wasn’t as good as the CCTV on Earth, and it didn’t simultaneously display multiple screens. However, if any suspicious movement was detected, alarms would go off, and the central monitoring center would check the footage immediately.

But.

‘The security isn’t that tight.’

Thanks to his Eyes of Truth, Harang could discern how complex the detection magic in the building was.

‘This building isn’t it.’

If it were a place that stored something important like Estelle, the security would be far stricter.

So strict that Harang wouldn’t even dare to enter.

‘Since I’ve already entered, this isn’t my target.’

Without hesitation, Harang left the research facility and dashed through the shadows, checking several other labs.

As a result, he found five suspicious-looking research centers and, oddly enough, discovered a library and campus building with far tighter security than the rest.

‘I can’t go in there.’

Even getting close would trigger all sorts of alarms, and he would be attacked by the security magic.

Although he couldn’t enter, it wasn’t a bad outcome. At least now, he knew where the important facilities were located within Arniel.

As he wandered around two more campuses, Harang sensed someone approaching and instinctively pressed himself against the wall, hiding his presence. He was used to this by now, so he didn’t panic just because someone was passing by.

“I can’t believe you’re really going to discard me like this! Really? I can’t believe it!”

Hearing the outburst of a young girl’s voice, Harang discreetly turned his gaze.

Through the glass, he spotted a girl and a woman in his line of sight.

‘Grade 9, Third Rank… Kanya?’

The girl named Kanya had been attending the school for three years now as a ninth-grader.

It was a rank where, if she wanted, she could submit her thesis and prepare for graduation, but few students actually graduated in the ninth grade.

“Enough. Graduate and leave next year. You no longer have the qualifications.”

“Is it because of ‘that student’ who just enrolled?”

“Yes. You’re no longer of any use.”

“How… how could you? This is too much. I swore to serve Ainglass for the rest of my life… You can’t do this!”

“Your whole life? A brat who’s only lived 15 years talks about ‘life’ so easily. In fact, this is a good thing for you. It means you can live a much freer life.”

“Freedom? I don’t want that kind of freedom, Professor Hameli! Devoting my body and soul to Ainglass is the sole purpose of my life! Don’t you understand that yet?”

Hameli?

Harang recalled the name. She was known as one of the “hunting dogs” who served the Ainglass family, rumored to commit horrific crimes in secret.

‘Quite gentle for a hunting dog.’

Professor Hameli raised her voice at the girl.

“Kanya! Must I repeat myself? You are no longer of any use to the Ainglass family. Don’t you realize that your abilities can’t accept ‘that power’?”

“But I can still try!”

“Are you still unaware that if you attempt it recklessly, you could die?”

“Hah, Professor… Do you really think Ainglass would conduct experiments dangerous enough to kill someone? That’s impossible. Don’t you trust Ainglass? We’re talking about Ainglass, the world’s greatest magic family!”

“The same Ainglass that sits on a throne built on blood…”

“Aaaaah!! I don’t want to hear it! If you insult Ainglass any further, I won’t stand by, even if you’re my professor!”

Harang was dumbfounded.

‘Can students talk back like this to professors and still get away with it?’

Then again, he thought, perhaps it made sense. Not everyone here held the same social status. After all, Professor Hameli was known to be of commoner origin.

“Kanya! Stop right there! Kanya!”

Professor Hameli stopped pursuing Kanya and sighed deeply.

“Haa… What am I supposed to do?”

She sat down, burying her face in her hands for a long time before finally leaving. Only after she had disappeared did Harang return to the dormitory.

* * *

The next day.

Rumors spread that Professor Hameli had disappeared, but the school officially stated that she had returned to her hometown.

The matter quietly faded away.

* * *

“…The professor has left?”

Early in the morning.

Kanya had gone to Professor Hameli’s lab to apologize, but seeing the assistant professors packing up her belongings left her stunned.

“Professor Hameli… left, suddenly?”

“Yes, Kanya.”

Flinch! A familiar voice from behind startled her, and she turned her head. It was Professor Radiel, a member of Arniel’s Secret Committee.

With a pleasant smile, he entered the lab and glanced around.

“Ah, such a pity. She was such a kind person, but to think she harbored such impure thoughts…”

“Impure… thoughts?”

“Yes. You came to me last night, didn’t you? Telling me you were troubled.”

It came back to her. Indeed, Kanya had sought out Radiel to vent her frustrations.

‘Lately, Professor Hameli has been really annoying. Why does she keep doubting my loyalty to Ainglass? She even told me not to trust Ainglass too much. For me, the Ainglass family and Arniel are my entire life!’

That was all it had been.

Just venting. Nothing more, nothing less. She could never truly hate Professor Hameli, who had taken care of her since childhood. It was just that recently, she felt betrayed by Ainglass, as if her family didn’t recognize her loyalty, and it made her feel wronged.

She had just complained a little.

After all, she was only fifteen years old.

At that age, it wasn’t strange to grumble a little at adults.

A mistake that anyone her age could make. But because of that one mistake…

“Professor Hameli… you won’t be able to see him again, Kanya.”

She had lost the most precious person in her life.

“Still, I’ve come to understand your loyalty well. If you continue to put in the effort… I’ll support you from behind so that you can make a contract with ‘it.’”

Tap, tap! After patting Kanya’s shoulder, Radiel left the laboratory.

Thud. Collapsing into her seat, Kanya buried her face in her hands.

“Ah, ahh…”

What have I done?

‘This… this isn’t right.’

All she had wanted was to be useful to Ainglass.

To gain their full trust and become someone they valued, she needed to be seen as important in their eyes.

To achieve that, she had to obtain a “certain special power” that was secretly being pursued in Arniel.

While Kanya’s talents were remarkable, they weren’t particularly outstanding within Arniel.

Her only notable trait was her blind loyalty to Arniel, a quality that surpassed that of other wizards.

Crack! A sound of something breaking could be heard. Was it the sound of her loyalty to Arniel shattering? Or perhaps, it was the sound of Kanya’s fragile heart finally breaking apart.

‘What do I do now?’

Kanya couldn’t even cry.

She didn’t have the right to.

‘Professor Hameli… it’s practically my fault that he’s dead.’

Then, she had to take responsibility.

But how? In what way?

‘…There’s a way, after all.’

With difficulty, she slowly rose from her seat, staggering aimlessly through the school’s branch.

Her steps looked weak and unsteady, yet oddly enough, everyone who passed by her couldn’t help but shudder.

The simmering anger that seeped from her.

It instinctively made the human animal shrink back in fear.

“….”

And then.

From the far end of the hallway, through the small gap in the window, a pair of silver eyes quietly observed the scene.

‘So, that’s what happened.’

Harang continued watching Kanya’s retreating figure. She looked so unstable, and while he couldn’t predict what she might do next, in his current state, there was nothing he could do.

‘It seems something really is happening at this school.’