The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 122



Mystery or Bust

One person to take into the Reverse World.

Pulling Eve into the team, I surged forward.

“First, we’re going to the Magic Academy to find someone.”

“Alright. I’ll get the rest while we go.”

Eve said this, turning first without hesitation.

“A friend named Grantoni, he went to the otherworld.”

I explained the general situation as we ran.

The otherworld, and Grantoni.

And the reason Grantoni went to the otherworld, and the danger of it all.

It was a condensed explanation, but what was clear was that it could escalate to a threat to the world.

Eve listened to everything calmly, without questioning.

There wasn’t a hint of doubt as she heard my story.

That was thanks to her also reading the sincerity in my face.

“So, the one we’re going to see now is Assistant Professor Vinesha.”

But hearing the next words, Eve stopped for the first time.

She almost stopped her running feet without realizing it.

Eve stared at me, her eyes wide.

“Eve?”

“…Was building a relationship with Assistant Professor Vinesha for this moment?”

She asked as she began to move again.

However, her eyes were looking at me with an expression of incomprehension.

Then she revealed a face as if something in her mind was clicking together.

“Hanon Airey, before I came here, I looked into your movements in my own way.”

As she said earlier, Eve had confirmed how much danger I was surrounded by.

And despite her warnings, I said I would use them.

From noble mtl dot com

“The first day I came to Jerion Academy, you jokingly said you would save the world.”

Eve’s gaze narrowed thinly.

The words I casually threw out back then were swirling around in her head.

She retraced the events one by one to grasp my intentions.

“Looking at the series of events now, to my eyes it feels like you predicted this incident was going to happen.”

I had deliberately intervened in the flow up until now.

Eve figured this out with just a few conversations.

As expected of a sharp-witted side-story heroine.

They read me like a damn book.

‘What kind of kids are this perceptive?’

Well, it’s an academy packed with geniuses, alright.

All of them sharp as tacks, and not a single ordinary soul among them.

“Hanon Airey, what’s your real goal? What are you doing this for?”

She watched me, manipulating the situation, her face twisted in a shudder.

Sorry, but I’m the one who’s got goosebumps.

Right now, I must look like some kind of enigma to her.

I could tell just by looking into Eve’s eyes.

‘Maybe…’

This could be an opportunity.

An opportunity to make Eve involve herself more deeply in my plans.

‘Eve is a replacement for Lukas.’

Her unyielding cerulean flame can produce a will similar to the sparks of a battle.

It may not be perfect, but the fact that it can be filled is what matters.

‘Besides, Eve was never a part of the original story.’

I had the confidence to steer the plot to the original path, even with Eve’s meddling.

In fact, with her presence, it’s only become easier to pull the story to its true course.

Therefore…

“Eve.”

I’ll gladly become the person she feels compelled to unravel.

“My only goal is to graduate from Jerion Academy unscathed.”

What happens after graduating from Jerion Academy, even I don’t know.

But one thing’s for sure, I can safeguard the world while I’m enrolled.

“So until then, I intend to throw myself into it with everything I’ve got.”

Right now, my story doesn’t give Eve any answers.

But at the very least, she’ll be consumed by curiosity, digging for my goal.

That small push will be enough.

‘There’s no need to become friends.’

I just need to set the stage for Eve to unleash her power, that’s all.

“Alright, just one last thing then.”

Eve still had a question for me.

“Was it your doing that I got transferred to Jerion Academy?”

It seemed Eve was realizing the transfer process went a bit too smoothly for her liking.

And she was right, my intentions were deeply entwined in it all.

I even leveraged the headmaster’s “grant any wish” event.

But there was no way I could outright tell her that.

So, I just gave Eve a soft smile.

A 100-point, masterfully crafted smile, painstakingly honed after the facial paralysis.

“It’s a secret.”

The magic studies building was already coming into view ahead.

“I’m going ahead.”

Before Eve could say anything more, I maxed out my leg strength.

At the same moment, I activated both my magic seal and steel body.

The synergy of the two forces colliding.

A massive explosion.

*KWAhhh!*

The explosion unleashed with my leap shook the air.

Kids pouring out of the building gawked at the sudden burst, but I had no time for that.

In a blink, I was flying, the magic studies building window before my eyes.

Without hesitating, I smashed my fist through the window.

*CRASH!*

I rolled across the floor, shattering glass.

The impact of the fall made me stagger, but no harm done.

The steel body couldn’t be pierced by mere glass shards.

I snapped my head up.

And met an unexpected person.

“…Hanon?”

Standing there was my fiancé, Sharin.

Since returning to Jerion Academy.

Sharine, she’d just give me this sulky look and *flick*, be gone.

Even when I’d catch her in her fragile morning sleep, same deal, so no chance to talk lately.

But here she was, right now.

For some reason, like with Nia, there was this little *déjà vu* twinge.

But no time for that now.

Every second counts.

Sharine’s face flickered with a moment of welcome, then the sulky mask was back.

“Why… are you here…”

“Sharine, you know where Assistant Professor Vanesha is?”

Sharine’s eyebrow twitched at my question.

And with it came a chill, nothing like how she usually looked at me.

A coldness, like a dragon’s magic, but worse.

Under her deep blue hair.

Sharine’s icy gaze bore into me.

“Why you looking for *him*?”

For some reason, the world feels like it’s going to kill me, not the other way around.

*

In front of the professor’s magic study.

I stood facing Sharine.

The chill that bloomed from her was already tightening around my throat.

Anyone could see she was utterly, deeply displeased.

This… if I mess this up, things will go very bad.

“Sharine.”

I managed to get a word out, calling to her.

Sharine just stared at me.

Never in my life has she glared like that.

My throat tightened, I swallowed hard.

“I need your help.”

Then, slowly, the coldness from Sharine started to fade.

She looked at me quietly, then put her hands on her hips.

“Now what is it, then.”

Somehow, Sharin felt smug.

Like, I needed her, and that was her reaction.

Sharin’s mood had softened.

Looking at her face, she seemed happier than before.

Seeing how she was so easily swayed by my words made my head spin for a moment, but this wasn’t the time.

“Will you help?”

I asked carefully, and Sharin shrugged slightly.

“Hanon and I are betrothed, aren’t we. Betrothed help each other.”

That, well, that was a truly appreciated reason.

Sharin, while mending the window I’d broken, asked,

“So what kind of trouble is it this time?”

“Grantoni crossed over to the other world. It looks like some transcendent being from the other world took him.”

Though not quite like a soul-weaver, a mage still knew a lot about the other world.

Since a mage has to deceive the world, they also need to study the other world.

That was why Sharin’s brow immediately furrowed.

Her mind’s eye saw right through even the bandages of the veil.

She must have known all along about Grantoni’s unique trait, ‘Otherworlder’.

And she’d certainly know the danger of it too.

“Vinesha, is that why you’re looking for that woman?”

“Yes, Assistant Professor Vinesha deals with magic related to the other world.”

Sharin had seen Vinesha using magic herself on the first day.

So she understood my meaning right away.

“Assistant Professor Vinesha is probably in the Magic Studies lab.”

Sharin turned and floated herself up into the air.

Using magic in the hallways was forbidden, but there wasn’t time to care about that.

“Let’s go.”

That’s Sharin for you.

Understanding the gravity of the situation, Sharin immediately went with me to find the Magic Studies lab.

Clunk-

Sharlin and I stepped into the magic research lab, the door gaping open.

But only a few students remained; Vinessa was nowhere to be seen.

“Uh, Sharlin?”

“What is it.”

The students inside looked puzzled.

I quickly asked them,

“Where did Associate Professor Vinessa go?”

“What, that, it’s the thunder brat.”

“That, that lech?”

I’d forgotten I’m the worst impression among the magic kids.

“He’s my fiancé.”

Sharlin warned them, each of them sharp-eyed, just then.

Never thought Sharlin would look after me like this.

I stared at Sharlin, surprised, and she glared at the kids.

Meaning: don’t you dare badmouth me any further.

“She, uh, they said she finished her research a bit ago and left.”

The kids, hesitant, still gave an answer.

Nobody wanted to pick a fight with Sharlin.

“Thanks.”

I gave my thanks and headed straight out.

But I still had no clue where Vinessa went.

“Hanon, wait.”

Sharlin stopped me.

“I’ll use tracking magic.”

“Woa, seniors?”

As Sharlin was about to use her magic, someone jumped out from the corner.

It was a face I knew.

Midra Penin, the second-ranked student of the first-year combat class.

A junior, from the same student council as me.

Midra, she had a few boxes stamped with the student council mark, looked like she was here on student council business.

“Midra.”

“Hanon-sunbae, what’re you doing here, is something up?”

Midra tilted her head, looking between me and Sharin.

“Midra, you happen to see Professor Vinesha on your way up?”

“Ah, Professor Vinesha, yeah, she just went down these stairs.”

Midra gestured with her chin towards the stairs she’d come from.

Sharin and I locked eyes and turned straight for the stairs.

Midra quickly moved aside to let us pass.

“Go find her quick.”

Then Midra smiled at us, all bright.

That smile, it felt off, but time was short.

I practically flew down the stairs and landed.

At that moment, I saw Vinesha’s back, humming a tune, walking down the hallway.

Still with all those ribbons, that outfit of hers.

“Eh, this feeling…”

Then, Vinesha stopped dead in her tracks.

She whipped her head sharply toward us.

“My lord!”

Could she really tell by feeling?

Some crazy power.

“And…”

Vinesha’s eyes changed in a heartbeat.

“You fox b*tch.”

Gone was the loving gaze she’d had for me, replaced by a chilling cold.