Chapter 164
“Did I just disrupt something for no reason?”
Erica said as she scanned the area with narrowed eyes.
The room was excessively tidy, showing no signs of disarray.
Even though it was my first time entering Schugenharz’s room, perhaps due to Alicia’s cleaning, or maybe because of my perfectionist nature, everything was perfectly aligned.
Whatever the reason, the room had an artificial vibe, as if it was decorated more for show than comfort.
Vargan shrugged his shoulders and chuckled lightly.
“Not at all.”
“That gesture and expression… You really were just copying me, huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. Forget it.”
Erica sat down in front of him, trying to shake off the conversation with Frieda. Due to her small stature, even sitting in a chair at the same height as Vargan, their eye levels were different.
Vargan naturally offered her tea, which Erica declined.
“Too bad.”
Vargan lifted his teacup and sipped his tea alone.
Erica gazed at him with a slightly narrowed gaze, and when she said nothing, Vargan asked.
“Did you forget we decided to treat each other like strangers, putting aside our past relationship for a bit?”
“Oh, this isn’t some boring past thing; it’s a feeling that just occurred, so it doesn’t count. I might’ve had a terrible first impression.”
“Well, you’re not wrong there.”
Vargan chose not to mention their recent argument with Frieda. Erica also had no intention of starting a fight, closing her eyes quietly to suppress her anger and steering the conversation back.
“The schedule for the student council president election has been newly set.”
“I’ve heard some of it. The secondary election is next Monday, a week from now. Then the main election is a week after that.”
“You’re well informed.”
Vargan commented that it was strange for someone in the electoral group to not know, and Erica continued her speech.
“We need to start moving seriously for the election now. I know you’ll do well, but Alicia and I are also in the electoral group. So, I’ve been thinking about something…”
Erica laid out her plan. Vargan didn’t interrupt her and listened calmly, and as he finished his cup of tea, Erica’s explanation came to an end.
“…So? I think it’s a decent proposal.”
“Hm. You’re right. It’s not bad. If things go as planned, we might have a 50% chance of winning the election.”
“That number is a bit vague, isn’t it? Not satisfying enough?”
“No. I think it’s the best estimate you can come up with in your situation. If you ask if it satisfies me, I’d definitely say it does.”
“I want to answer that it’s enough.”
“…What’s with that tone, looking down on me?”
Erica crossed her legs and narrowed her eyes into crescent shapes.
Then she poked at him, saying if he had a better idea, he should share it.
“A better idea, huh… Sure, I have something in mind.”
Vargan smiled slyly.
Seeing that smile, Erica instinctively frowned. Whenever Vargan wore such an expression, he always spewed out strange things.
They had a lot to discuss regarding Francesca, so Erica felt like this conversation might drag on.
As Erica thought that, she listened to Vargan continue speaking.
However, right in the middle of Vargan’s statement, he veered slightly off-course, leaving Erica perplexed.
“…So after the second election wraps up smoothly, I’ll be out of the Academia for three weeks.”
“…What?”
What the heck does that mean?
Out of the Academia even though it’s not a vacation?
And… you won’t be here on election day? What about the discussions that happen the day before the election?
Vargan looked at Erica, whose eyes widened in disbelief, and added more.
“Also, once all the elections are over, Erica, you’ll have to come where I am and stay with me for two weeks.”
“……What?”
Vargan displayed an overly kind smile.
“Let’s go on a little trip.”
A variable introduced by the mad scientist Cardinal Jephar.
Vargan was planning to move separately, leaving the election episodes in the hands of the main characters.
*
“No.”
Louisa sat in her personal office and firmly rejected Vargan’s words.
“I just can’t understand.”
Vargan reacted nonchalantly, implying that Louisa, the professor in charge, was wrong, and Louisa sighed deeply.
“Going out with your fiancée Erica next Tuesday… Yeah, the first semester’s outing ban has been lifted, and while there’s a risk of problems like last time, I can somehow understand that. But… what? You’re saying you won’t return the same day but after three weeks?”
Louisa glared at Vargan with eyes that screamed nonsense.
“Do you really think I would allow something like this?”
“I thought you would allow it, so I told you.”
“So you got away with skipping class in the first semester, and now you want to be out completely? I should have nipped this in the bud from the beginning.”
It was too late for regrets now.
During the first semester, Louisa was the one who allowed Vargan to skip class under the pretext that he had calculated his attendance to not affect his grades.
Of course, it was because he could keep tabs on his condition through the closed training and Alicia, but this time, the situation was different.
If he was outside for an extended period, they couldn’t waste the manpower assigned to him, making it hard to provide protection.
While Louisa was troubled, Paula, who popped into her office for a visit, opened her mouth after chewing on an apology.
“Did you discover another dungeon or something?”
Paula had experience serving as Vargan’s tutor during his probation period and had been to Naias’s dungeon near Rubid Village with Alicia and Bram.
Vargan glanced at her for a moment before turning back to Louisa.
“You don’t need to worry about the voters. I’ll go after the first election, and Erica will move after all the elections are over.”
“Well, I’ll go after the first round of elections is over, and Erica will move only after all the elections are finished.”
“…Of course that’s a problem, but… Ugh. You’re making my head hurt like crazy again.”
“Wait, are you ignoring what I said…? …Yeah, so now you’re much closer to Professor Louisa than to me, huh? Guess I’m out of the loop. Hmph!”
Ignoring the sulking Paula, who was pouting her lips, Vargan continued,
“I’ve also prepared a replacement for the time I’m away.”
“…Let’s hear it. Who is it?”
“Liam, he’ll be my deputy for the election debates and on the election day itself.”
“You guys are that close? I don’t remember that being the case…”
Louisa pressed her temples as a throbbing headache set in. Her eyes gleamed with intensity.
“Have you spoken to Liam about this?”
“I don’t need his consent. If I say he should do it, then he has to do it.”
“Ah… So you didn’t even reach an agreement in the first place.”
“Liam has no choice but to follow what I say. So there’s no need to worry about him.”
“Hey, it seems you’ve forgotten this is Academia.”
Louisa stated that due to social hierarchy, they shouldn’t disturb other students. Vargan argued that it’s not about hierarchy but about equality and fairness, so he didn’t have to think too much about it.
Vargan’s assertive way of speaking and leading the conversation gradually shifted the atmosphere, making Louisa feel more and more uneasy.
Vargan was not a student who could maintain discipline with words alone.
Feeling this once again, Louisa sighed deeply.
“…You know that the entrance of Academia is limited because of the end of the first semester exams and the festival. It’s a sensitive time. So how can I possibly let you all go out for three whole weeks during this time? Common sense, really. Huh?”
Especially since Vargan had already killed several bishops, including Archbishop Zagan. The stench of death definitely loomed much stronger around him.
“So ultimately, safety is the biggest concern. That’s what you’re saying.”
“Yeah… exactly.”
“If that’s the case, then there’s really no obstacle. Because I am Schugenharz.”
“…No matter how much you’re Schugenharz…”
“And also, I’ll have strong reinforcements to protect me for those three weeks.”
“…Reinforcements?”
As the conversation was not flowing as she wished, Louisa, who was looking for a cigarette, showed interest.
The notion that Schugenharz had shared his name meant that those reinforcements were likely separate entities.
“Yes, they are the most famous figures currently in the capital of Troa Empire, Brutenberg.”
“Who are they?”
“Maderero. A rapidly rising giant hunter guild.”
*
Maderero.
It is the hunter guild led by Vargan’s combat slave and loyal subject, Bram.
A significant investment from Schugenharz was made during its initial establishment, but they have since paid off all that debt.
Now, it has grown large enough to compete with other prominent giant hunter guilds in this fertile land, and Vargan is not involved in the day-to-day operations.
The overall person in charge of this gigantic market is a round glasses-wearing man named Carlos.
Vargan was the one who established Maderero and was the first to recruit Bram as a talent. With an exceptional ability to calculate profits and read the room, he is the most suitable person among Vargan’s acquaintances to manage internal affairs.
He was a character.
Usually, Carlos didn’t show any signs of being flustered, even in front of those he was reasonably close to, aside from the guild’s craftsman, Bram.
A man who, from the vantage point of seeing the realities of a large guild, never exhibited any undignified behavior like yawning with his mouth wide open. He appeared kind yet was coldly calculating.
“Wh-what…?”
Carlos’s mouth dropped wide open.
His tongue in his mouth seemed to have stiffened with tension.
“Bram… Is what you just said true?”
“It is. Lord Vargan is scheduled to come here.”
Bram, speaking in a blunt tone, dropped this shocking fact. Behind him hung the first-class spear awarded by Vargan.
Carlos adjusted his crooked glasses and asked, “Uh, when? When is he coming?”
Carlos had communicated with Vargan through the communication crystal, but he had never met him face to face.
Brutemberg, and more broadly, the world knew that Bram was the owner of this place, Maderelo, and that Carlos took care of the internal affairs. However, to be precise, that was an incorrect statement.
Schugenharz Troa Vargan.
He was the true owner and founder of Maderelo.
This fact was a top-secret known only to a select few, even among the elite members carefully chosen by Vargan himself.
Moreover, Carlos held near-obsessive fantasies about Vargan. He had an eye and ability to discover and recruit hidden gems even without traveling the world.
His own case was no different. Just a year ago, he was completely unknown to the public, and Bram had recruited him, placing him at the center of Maderelo.
While Bram had great insight in seeing Carlos’s potential, the truly outstanding figure in executing plans and drawing out the potential of talents was Vargan.
Vargan was not just a supervisor; he was an omnipotent being.
Thus, Carlos was thoroughly tense.
In response to Carlos’s question about when he would arrive, Bram answered briefly, removing a familiar’s eyeball contained in a transparent vial.
“Right now.”
“…Right now? Right this moment?! I thought he was just setting off! Even at best, it would take at least two days from the Academia to here…!”
Zing⎯.
The space warped.
In an instant, Bram bent down, striking one thick knee against the ground.
Carlos, slow to react, stared at the crack awkwardly.
A tall man appeared from the spherical space.
Dressed in the academy uniform, proving he was a student there, he was slender and even beautiful, though one could tell from his posture that there was muscle harmoniously built underneath.
With sharp eyes and dark pupils.
Well-groomed hair and a faint scent of high-end perfume clearly declared his nobility.
Carlos recognized him immediately. This was undoubtedly him. The man he had only communicated with through voice via the crystal!
“Y-you’re Lord Vargan…?!”
“Hmm? Ah… It’s my first time being seen like this.”
Vargan casually greeted Bram and then looked at Carlos. Soon, a glimmer of disgust flickered in those dark eyes. When Carlos sensed it, Vargan admonished him without giving him a chance to respond.
“How long do you plan to keep your back so straight?”
Vargan. He was, as expected, someone with a master mindset ingrained in his very bones.
