There’s an agent planted here by the Black Witch.
The mont Kraush heard those words, he silently kept his composure.
Instead, his sixth sense began reacting even more intensely than before.
Kraush turned to look at Taria, silently asking how she knew this.
【 My nose is pretty sensitive. Especially since I beca an agent of Crimson Garden Unnie, it’s even sharper when it cos to matters related to the World Eroder. 】
Despite her carefree smile, she responded to Kraush’s unspoken question.
Unnie, she called her.
For an agent, that was an oddly familiar term of address.
【 It wasn’t there until recently. I started sensing it suddenly about two days ago. 】
She lightly tapped the tip of her nose with her index finger.
‘Two days ago.’
That was when Kraush had been at Green Pine Mansion.
‘They took advantage of my absence.’
The Black Witch still didn’t have complete information about Kraush.
It was clear they had deliberately slipped in during the window when he was away.
‘In any case, it’s better to track them down and resolve this.’
It was imperative to prevent this information from leaking to Ixion.
Right now, Ixion was in no position to act recklessly, considering Crimson Garden and Ebelasque.
If they clashed and blood was spilled, it would ultimately only hurt their own standing.
‘Which ans they’re probably trying to gather information subtly without drawing attention.’
For Ixion, who needed Ignis, Kraush was not soone they could afford to lose.
This situation was sothing Kraush had intentionally orchestrated.
“Oh, it seems like it’s starting.”
While Kraush was briefly lost in thought, Taria casually comnted and pulled out a chair next to him to sit down.
【 I’ll look into this matter myself, so don’t worry about it. I’ve already inford Crimson Garden Unnie in advance. 】
Now Kraush understood why Crimson Garden hadn’t stopped him from attending the won’s assembly.
They had likely orchestrated this to give Taria a chance to interact naturally with him.
Thinking of Crimson Garden laughing gleefully sowhere made Kraush shake his head internally—how very like her.
anwhile, just as Taria ntioned, people in the hall had begun taking their seats.
The noblewon’s association was, first and foremost, a social gathering.
Tableware and snacks had been placed in front of Kraush, Charlotte, and Taria before they even noticed.
“This ti’s dessert is…”
Soone was enthusiastically explaining the desserts, but Kraush paid no attention.
Instead, he quickly scanned the won seated around the room, ignoring the glances directed his way.
‘Roughly getting the picture now.’
From their seating arrangent, Kraush could imdiately gauge which faction each person was aligned with.
The core power dynamics within the won’s assembly hadn’t changed much, past or present.
The won’s assembly had five main factions.
First, Charlotte Valheim, who single-handedly constituted a faction all on her own.
This group was in a class of its own, incomparable to the others, so Kraush set it aside.
The second faction centered around Taria Vales, who, as the top student of the magic departnt, also served as the student leader.
‘The third is Eiring Ornoa, a first-generation student from the Kingdom of Zeblam, who graduated second in literature.’
Sitting with a poised posture and leisurely sipping tea, her intellectual deanor was evident.
However, beneath that composed exterior, her darting eyes were far from idle.
Blessed with a skill for photographic mory, she carried a vast wealth of the world’s information in her mind.
Using this knowledge, she had built her own faction within Rahern Academy.
On the surface, she appeared to be an ordinary woman, but like the mischievous genius Sizerly Ephania, she was an incredibly dangerous figure.
‘The fourth is Mirei Beakis, a first-generation student from the Holy Kingdom of Freeman and the top graduate in theology.’
Another was a woman who sat with a perfectly upright posture, daintily taking a bite of her tea cake with not a crumb falling.
The delicacy was supposed to crumble the mont one took a bite, yet not a single speck fell from her lips.
At just 16 years old, she had already risen to the position of Cardinal in Freeman.
Originally at the center of theological studies, she had voluntarily ceded her position to the Saint, Astria Stigma Freeman, upon her arrival.
This was none other than Cardinal Mirei Beakis.
Naturally, these individuals were all student leaders at Rahern Academy, serving as one of the focal points of the academy’s power dynamics.
Among them, however, the largest faction was led by none other than the Third Imperial Princess of the Empire, Sigrid Ephania.
As befitting her status as the Third Princess, she actively gathered loyal followers within the won’s assembly.
While this allowed her to form the largest faction, she had one glaring weakness.
‘If they’re much weaker than her, it’s one thing. But she lacks the charisma to sway those who could hold significant positions themselves.’
Sigrid simply didn’t get along well with other won.
Her possessive nature gave her an inherent tendency to look down on others.
This was especially pronounced when it ca to won, a trait that defined Sigrid.
As a result, Sigrid often clashed with other won.
If the other party acknowledged her position and strength and bowed their head, she would generously extend her favor.
However, if they tried to stand on equal footing with her, she would imdiately bare her teeth.
This was why Sigrid had failed to recruit won among the Skyborne Generation.
Ironically, this led to many won being drawn to Kraush’s faction within the Skyborne Generation.
‘…I’m starting to feel like I’m in no position to criticize Arthur anymore.’
With the circumstances piling up as they were, Kraush, surrounded by an increasingly female-dominated environnt, began to feel a mild headache.
Of course, when it ca to saving the world from destruction, gender was irrelevant.
But knowing how things appeared to others, he occasionally wondered if his current direction was truly the right one.
‘Still, even so.’
Unless he could bring down Sigrid imdiately.
There was no way to pull the male mbers of the Skyborne Generation who had aligned with her to his side.
Eventually, they would co to stand on opposing sides.
[ Why not arrange so matchmaking dates? ]
At that mont, Crimson Garden, grooming herself near the upper window of the hall, casually interjected.
[ Oh, wait. The children flocking to your side are all infatuated with you. If you tried that, it’d end up in a bloodbath. Tsk, tsk. It’s all your fault. Who told you to wave your charm around so recklessly? Since it’s co to this, why not just marry them all equally? ]
Kraush decided to block out Crimson Garden’s words, feeling his headache worsen.
‘The reason Sigrid hasn’t been able to build a stronger faction is probably largely due to Charlotte.’
If Sigrid had achieved the top rank among the first-generation students in martial arts, she would have easily established her power in the won’s assembly.
After all, being the top in martial arts carried imnse prestige.
However, Charlotte proved her genius once again by surpassing even Sigrid to claim the top spot.
For Sigrid, it must have been an entirely unexpected outco.
‘At this point in ti, Charlotte’s genius could be considered to have reached its peak.’
As a result, Sigrid, who had failed to achieve the sa top position, inevitably found her faction weaker in comparison.
It was no wonder Sigrid ground her teeth every ti she saw Charlotte.
“It’s surprising to see Lady Charlotte participating in this won’s assembly.”
Ca a tily comnt from Eiring Ornoa, the first-generation student and second place in literature.
Like the others, Eiring observed Charlotte with great interest.
“I always thought Lady Charlotte would never participate in the won’s assembly.”
Her words were t with a silent agreent from those present.
Charlotte, unfazed by the attention directed at her, casually crossed her arms.
“I kept hearing talk about my sibling here.”
The mont Charlotte spoke, the room fell silent.
The faint trace of killing intent in her gaze made everyone pause.
“I ca to see if anyone’s been badmouthing my sibling.”
“…You must care about your brother a great deal?”
Eiring responded, her expression a mix of surprise and curiosity.
Charlotte smirked and cast a brief glance at Kraush, seated beside her.
“Of course. He’s my one and only sibling, after all.”
Whether she was joking or serious, it was hard to tell.
Kraush sighed internally, thinking he couldn’t make sense of her either way.
“I see. And who might this be…?”
Eiring turned her attention to Kraush, clearly intrigued.
In truth, her interest wasn’t in Charlotte’s participation but in Kraush, who had suddenly appeared in this space.
With her photographic mory, Eiring had morized almost every face and na since enrolling in the academy.
For key individuals, she knew not only their inherent traits but also their ambitions.
Yet the woman sitting next to Charlotte was unfamiliar to her—a face she had never encountered.
For soone like Eiring, this could only an one thing.
Charlotte had deliberately hidden this person and brought her here.
What’s more, she was the individual Charlotte had openly declared to be her lover.
Eiring’s green eyes glimred with curiosity.
‘Who exactly are you?’
Still, even with her brilliant mind, Eiring couldn’t possibly imagine that Charlotte had disguised Kraush as a woman to bring him into this space.
It was beyond reason to think that, even for Charlotte, such a stunt would be pulled in a gathering strictly for won.
This only deepened the mystery surrounding Kraush’s presence.
“Trying to draw attention?”
Charlotte’s warning cut through Eiring’s thoughts.
Eiring flinched slightly, retreating with a sheepish expression.
Even she wasn’t on a level where she could challenge Charlotte directly.
Provoking Charlotte unnecessarily could lead to consequences no one could control.
The others present clearly shared the sa understanding.
“Well, then. Shall we enjoy the tea party as usual?”
Eiring said, clearing her throat.
Thus began the Rahern Academy Won’s Assembly, often referred to as a tea party in na but known to all as a venue for exchanging information.
＊ ＊ ＊
The won’s assembly began with the unexpected presence of Charlotte.
At first, the won seed hesitant, clearly uneasy about Charlotte, whose infamous reputation preceded her.
However, as Charlotte simply observed without taking any action, the atmosphere gradually relaxed.
This allowed Kraush to quietly and comfortably observe the flow of information and the power dynamics in the room.
“Did you know about this?”
The won gathered at the assembly were highly sensitive to information.
Perhaps because of this, information in this setting was a direct reflection of one’s status and power.
To them, sharing new, unknown information was akin to demonstrating their influence.
“That happened…?”
“Wow.”
Whenever soone shared a piece of information, exclamations of surprise echoed from all around.
The one who shared it would puff out their chest, wearing an expression of smug satisfaction, seemingly intoxicated by the taste of wielding power.
This process repeated, shaping the flow of the won’s assembly.
‘Not much of this is actually useful.’
Kraush thought, feeling a tinge of disappointnt.
Still, his eyes were busy scanning the room.
He was determined to identify the agent of the Black Witch Taria had ntioned.
‘They wouldn’t have noticed my true identity.’
Kraush had grown considerably adept at wielding the power to manage the World Erosion.
Unless it was the World Eroder themselves, no re agent could possibly see through Kraush.
Thus, he continued his focus on identifying the Black Witch’s agent.
“None of you are sharing anything particularly impactful.”
The mont attention turned to the speaker, everyone in the room wore an exasperated expression, as if regretting they had reacted at all.
It was no surprise, they all knew her infamous reputation.
She was Rona Imblaze, a woman renowned as the madwoman of the special studies departnt.
The Imblaze family was globally recognized as the foremost authority in magical artifact crafting.
Born into this illustrious lineage, Rona was considered both a prodigy and an eccentric, even among the Imblaze family’s standards.
So extre was her behavior that she was known to test her magical artifacts daily, often resulting in the destruction of magical training grounds multiple tis.
Most recently, she had earned infamy for crafting an artifact so dangerous that it caused serious injuries to both her peers and an assistant professor.
This artifact, which burned the user’s body to convert it into raw power, was handed to a regular student.
The resulting rampage caused severe damage, leading to not only the hospitalization of the student but also the assistant professor who intervened to stop them.
Though Rona formally apologized for the incident, the reputation of her magical artifacts plumted.
Among the students, it beca a common sentint that no one would dare use anything she created again.
Even so, she carried herself with an air of unshaken confidence.
“If you hear my information, you won’t be able to react like that.”
“Want to share sothing?”
She raised her index finger deliberately.
Her boldness managed to pique the curiosity of the won present, their gazes shifting toward her with interest.
Basking in their attention, she waited a few seconds before finally speaking.
“There is currently soone in Rahern Academy who has made a contract with the World Eroder.”
At those words, the entire assembly froze.
Translators note:
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