I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 418

“Kugh…”

“Insignificant bastards acting all cocky.”

The knight who took Lowell’s strike collapsed with a thud.

She didn’t kill him. They weren’t worth that much.

Having regained her freedom, Lowell stretched her body.

To think they didn’t use mana restraints on her.

“Even if they were in a hurry, still. What a bunch of idiots.”

In truth, the knights had taken the best approach. Iron shackles weren’t something that could be easily broken.

Their mistake was not knowing that Lowell was an adult—and one on the verge of becoming a 7-star knight at that.

Honestly, it was an unfair situation for the knights. Without makeup, Lowell’s appearance looked like a student to anyone.

But Lowell had no idea about this fact, not even in her dreams.

“I avoided the worst-case scenario of mana restraints, nothing’s broken, and I even secured a weapon…”

Everything was going better than expected.

However, if there was just one problem…

“The sacrifice has escaped!”

“Catch her before she runs away!”

Her escape had been discovered.

The number of knights rushing in immediately was already around fifteen.

Even for Lowell, she couldn’t handle that many opponents alone.

“I don’t want to kill anyone, but… if you swarm me like that, I can’t go easy on you either.”

This was why she should’ve waited until Caron arrived.

She’d momentarily lost control at their insults(?) and caused trouble.

‘For now, I need to hit and run while buying as much time as possible.’

Lowell was slowly moving while avoiding the tightening encirclement when—

“Those weaklings! Losing to a kid.”

“They’re disgracing all knights!”

“Tsk tsk, how could anyone possibly lose to a kid like that?”

Crack.

A vein bulged on Lowell’s forehead.

No, I mean—

“I’m not a kid!!”

Lowell charged at the knights forming the encirclement and instantly knocked down two of them.

To be precise, she slammed one into the ground and sent the other flying with a kick.

“…!”

Lowell’s performance ended there.

The knights who saw their comrade flying charged at her with full force.

“Tch!”

With two or three teaming up to attack and defend simultaneously, even Lowell couldn’t easily gain the upper hand.

The most troublesome thing was being trapped in the encirclement.

This was the fate of someone who was swallowed by emotion and couldn’t make rational judgments.

But naturally, Lowell had no intention of dying like this.

“Come at me if you dare. I’ll make sure to take the first ones who charge with me.”

Lowell growled while holding her sword.

One knight who was carefully observing her shouted.

“Wh-what! It’s the Mad Lion?”

“What are you talking about? Lady Lowell?”

“N-now that you mention it… That’s right. It’s the Mad Lion. Damn it! I didn’t recognize her without the cloak!”

The flustered knights each spoke up.

Lowell was dumbfounded. So they’d been identifying her by her cloak all this time? Not by her face or physique?

Anger rose to the top of her head, but this time she desperately suppressed it.

Buying time until reinforcements arrived—that was her role.

“You know now? Then you understand that what I said is true.”

“…”

“Come in. I’ll grant you the honor of going to hell with me.”

But no knight charged forward.

If Lowell went all out, it was clear that most of them would lose their lives.

The knights were stuck in a dilemma when—

“Stand back.”

A well-groomed young man revealed himself.

Baron Kelven’s son, Nade.

“My lord! But…”

“How strange. Didn’t I just say it?”

Stand back.

When Nade glared at him, the knight flinched.

The gentlemanly appearance that had earned him the reputation of being upright was nowhere to be found.

“I’ll handle this. Please finish your preparations.”

“Understood.”

“Ah, and please restrain anyone who’s wavering. There are people who can’t accept the current situation. Just how lax has discipline become… This really doesn’t sit well with me.”

“…Sir!”

The knights hurriedly left.

In reality, half the knights didn’t know that Nade was Baron Kelven.

That meant they also didn’t know he’d made a contract with a demon or that he’d offered villagers as sacrifices.

“You’re going to face me alone? That’s impressive confidence. Not bad for a young master.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Nade smiled brightly. Seeing this, one corner of Lowell’s mouth rose.

“Or should I call you Baron Kelven?”

“Pardon?”

“Stop the act since I came knowing everything. Baron Kelven, you piece of trash.”

“…Quick on the uptake. You really do deserve to be called the Mad Lion.”

In an instant, Nade’s tone and atmosphere changed dramatically.

Perhaps thinking there was no longer any point in hiding, he even began emitting demonic energy.

Lowell gripped her sword properly and fell into thought.

‘What’s he so confident about?’

Even while being generous, the demonic energy she sensed was at most Grade 6. That was the level classified as a lower-tier demon.

It would vary depending on what kind of demon magic he had, but still, he couldn’t overcome the absolute difference in ‘class.’

Lowell’s current skill level was sufficient to easily suppress upper-tier demons of Grade 3-4.

But a Grade 6 demon? That was easier than facing a knight.

Baron Kelven must know this fact well too. Yet if he showed such confidence despite that—

‘He must have a scheme.’

The probability was high that it was either demon magic specialized for one-on-one combat or demon magic that dealt wide-area damage.

Seeing how he’d dismissed the knights, the latter seemed more likely.

‘Either way, it won’t be a problem.’

One-on-one was exactly the kind of fight Lowell wanted, and reinforcements would arrive if she just bought time.

As long as she didn’t overdo it, victory was essentially theirs.

Lowell was probing while slowly closing the distance when—

“…Can I really win if I do that?”

Baron Kelven began talking to himself.

He wasn’t crazy. That was—

‘He’s conversing with the demon he contracted with.’

Combat advice? Or a plea to run away?

Lowell was eavesdropping on his monologue when—

“I’ll trust you.”

Whoosh!

Dark purple liquid suddenly gushed from the top of Baron Kelven’s head.

Lowell stomped her foot hard and created distance.

It was a strange occurrence she hadn’t expected at all.

Slurp— Slurrrp—

The dark purple liquid moved and began to envelop Baron Kelven’s entire head.

His eyes and nose, mouth, even his ears.

The unidentified dark purple liquid covered everything.

Whether there was no problem with breathing, Baron Kelven showed an attitude of being completely fine.

“…?”

The dark purple liquid didn’t descend below the neck.

It rose about 15 centimeters above the crown of his head.

The liquid writhed, and suddenly a single large eye emerged from it.

A bloodshot, flickering eye with bulging veins—it turned toward Lowell.

“Greetings.”

“For a demon, you’re quite polite. I’ll kill you with a little less pain as a special treat.”

“How considerate. Of course, if you can manage it.”

Kekekekekeek!

The demon cackled, and Lowell couldn’t help but tilt her head.

No matter how she assessed it, this opponent was no match for her.

‘Perhaps… it’s a counter-type demon magic.’

Deliberately bluffing to lure out a powerful attack and then counterattacking—the pain from the strike she’d taken from Zero recently was still vivid.

‘But even with a powerful counter, it’s not like there’s no way to deal with it.’

Draw out the technique with a weak attack, then follow up with a strong strike.

That was the method to counter such techniques.

“Watch closely. Though you’ll probably be too slow to even realize you’re dying.”

Lowell raised her sword. Her body had already secured a position behind Baron Kelven.

The demon was still looking forward, at where she had been just moments ago.

That meant it hadn’t been able to follow her movements at all.

‘Come to think of it, if it can’t keep up with my speed, it can’t use a counter either, can it?’

An anticlimactic conclusion, far simpler than expected. But considering it was a lower-tier demon, this made sense.

Thinking she’d overthought things and wasted time for nothing, she was about to swing her sword at Baron Kelven’s neck when—

She froze!

Lowell’s body stiffened. A strange sensation.

Lowell knew this strange sensation well. Better than anyone.

“…!”

Lowell leaped back, creating distance—far enough that she couldn’t see Baron Kelven’s face.

“Kekekekekeek!”

The single eye atop Baron Kelven’s head rotated 180 degrees.

The demon’s mocking laughter. But Lowell couldn’t laugh.

Just now, she hadn’t chosen not to attack.

She ‘couldn’t.’

“You bastard, don’t tell me…”

“That’s right. My name is Orobas, a Grade 6 demon.”

The great—

“A subordinate of the 2nd Legion Commander.”

Lowell’s complexion hardened.

---

As soon as we arrived at the mine entrance at the village edge, Ron tossed us a map as if throwing it.

It was a map with detailed records of the mine interior, the forks where students were stationed, and the retreat routes.

“Caron already explained, but I’m just a guardian. You guys make the choices.”

“You’re not just doing this because thinking is too bothersome?”

“N-not at all, okay? I’m just faithfully following orders. Ah, what a shame. This was a chance to show off my perfect command.”

But contrary to his words, Ron wore a happy smile.

Everyone present could tell what Ron was thinking—that he was relieved to have less troublesome work.

“Anyway… aren’t you ashamed of your nickname ‘Half-Assed’?”

“It’s a nickname that showcases my excellent work-life balance philosophy. I’m sure you will understand my greatness once you get jobs too.”

“As if we would ever be like you!”

Luna shot back, but it didn’t deal any damage to Ron.

Taking a seat on a nearby chair, Ron soon began snoring away.

“Haah… can’t be helped. In this situation, I have no choice but to step up!”

Luna spread out the map. The problem was that she held it vertically instead of horizontally.

“Luna, the orientation is wrong.”

“I-I know that, okay? I just wanted to look at it from a different angle.”

Luna corrected the map to horizontal.

Luna narrowed her eyes and focused on the map. Soon she nodded and handed the map to me.

“Zero, I’ll leave the choice to you. Show me what you can do as vice-commander.”

Since when did I become vice-commander?

I couldn’t tell, but I silently accepted the map.

It was a good opportunity to go where I wanted.

Where would I go? Obviously—

“Th-this place!”

Rezé, who had been reading the room from the side, pointed to a part of the map.

Mine 1.

The closest place from our current position, and the farthest from my objective. And—

“Keke, it’s right next door.”

It was written on the sign in front of us: Mine 1 Entrance.

Literally so close you could fall and hit your nose on it. The reason Rezé chose this place was simple.

“W-we’ll blockade the final escape route!”

“Isn’t it actually because it’s the safest place?”

“N-no! R-resistance is always most fierce at the final moment!”

Rezé’s words weren’t wrong. For any living creature, the last moment is always the most intense.

I’d experienced it several times in this game and suffered great distress.

However—

That doesn’t apply to this episode.

“Keke, that’s so like you, Rezé. To grasp the laws of survival at your age.”

“Heh, hehe…”

“But not Mine 1. There’s an even safer place, you see.”

“I-is that true? Wh-where?”

Rezé’s finger was clutching at the Mine 1 marking on the map like a lifeline.

I grabbed that finger and slowly began to move it.

“Ah, there’s a safe Mine further down?”

Little by little, very little by little. But steadily.

“I-it seems too far down…”

Rezé’s finger gradually descended down the map.

“J-just a moment! It’s t-too deeeeep!”

The deeper we went, the more Rezé’s resistance intensified.

Perhaps her stats had increased lately—she was stronger than before.

But she couldn’t overcome my strength. At most, her Strength stat was around 5.

“Keeeeeeek!!”

The place Rezé’s finger ultimately reached was—

The deepest location, Mine 32.

–TL Notes–
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