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

Rezé’s mana sensing ability was incredibly sharp.

Bineus and Benius, those two high-ranking demons, were detected by her before they even got close, a testament to her ability.

‘Even Lucia and Adonis were in awe, saying no one could rival her when it came to sensing mana.’

Although that might have been slightly exaggerated, it was true that Rezé had an extraordinary talent.

Mana detection was one of the related skills.

She was like a walking radar… Yes, calling her the radar Pufferfish Rabbit wouldn’t be far off.

I’d forgotten that little fact. My mistake.

Of course.

‘But if this damn rabbit had told us earlier, we wouldn’t have suffered for two days like this.’

Not only did she lie, but she also made us work ourselves to the bone for two days. Some discipline was definitely in order.

Rezé’s eyes darted around, trying to avoid my gaze. I moved in closer and said with a smirk.

“Keke, Miss Rezé… You seem quite nervous. Almost as if you’re hiding something.”

Like, for example…

“Could it be that you know where the black mage is?”

“Eek!!”

Maybe it was because I used the [Eye Opening] skill. Rezé jumped in terror, retreating under the bench and trembling.

“Rezé, is it true? Do you actually know where the black mage is?”

“N-No! I just… I only sensed some ominous mana… It’s probably not a black mage!”

That ominous mana you sensed? Yeah, it’s from the black mage.

Pretending not to know when she clearly did. This arrogant little rabbit.

Luna must have shared my thoughts because she took a deep breath after stepping down from the bench.

Yes, Luna, show that rabbit a lesson!

“That’s amazing, Rezé.”

“Huh?”

“To sense the presence of a black mage that even the knights and the rats couldn’t find! That’s really impressive, don’t you think?”

Luna’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Rezé.

It was the gaze of someone genuinely proud of her friend.

Perhaps feeling touched, Rezé crawled out from under the bench.

“L-Luna!”

“Rezé!”

Then they threw their arms around each other.

I could only shake my head in disbelief as I watched.

“But Rezé, why didn’t you say anything about this sooner?”

“W-Well…”

The reason was obvious. She was afraid of fighting the black mage and their minions.

“T-That’s not it!”

“Keke, then what is it?”

“I-It’s because… Luna might get hurt! After everything we’ve been through, to fight again so soon… No, I can’t allow that!”

Protest! Resistance! Victory! Luna’s abduction (?).

It was as if Rezé had foreseen such a scenario. Little red signs with bold letters seemed to pop out of nowhere, stuck firmly into the ground.

Even a red headband appeared tied tightly around her forehead.

Was this… some kind of rabbit rebellion?

‘She really is a rabbit with many variations.’

I’ve always been someone who loves animals. I’m a good person, after all.

However.

I don’t let insolent, rebellious rabbits run free.

“Th-Threats won’t work! I-I’m never giving in!”

“Keke, a threat? You wound me. I only approached you to hear your opinion, Miss Rezé.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course. It’s only natural for the party leader to listen to the thoughts of the party members. You’re a valuable member of the team, after all.”

Rezé’s eyes filled with hope.

“T-Then… does that mean we’ll stop pursuing the black mage?”

“I’ll have to decline.”

“W-What? You said you’d listen just a moment ago!”

“Yes, and I am listening, very attentively.”

“Squeak?”

Exactly. I never said I’d agree to it. I only said I’d listen to her.

Realizing this, Rezé’s face turned pale.

“W-Wait! Are you seriously thinking of going in there?”

“Keke, do you have another suggestion?”

“W-We should report this!”

“And why would we do that?”

“Why? Because it’s the right thing to do! How are we supposed to capture a black mage by ourselves? F-For the safety of the Empire, we need to report it!”

“Funny coming from someone who’s been hiding it all this time. As a reward, I’ll make you taller.”

“Squeeeek!”

I grabbed Rezé’s idiot hair and pulled it upward.

What other person would take the time and care to help her grow taller? None as kind as me, I’m sure.

Rezé wobbled on her tiptoes, trying to endure the awkward position.

“Zero, I think Rezé has a point. Wouldn’t it be too dangerous for us to go alone?”

Luna’s words weren’t wrong.

While we might be stronger than other students, we were still low-level.

Pursuing the black mage could bring us face to face with something unexpected, like the high-ranking demon Benius.

The quest ‘Tracking the Black Mage,’ given by Mabelga, was something I’d never experienced in the game, which made me even more cautious.

But.

‘If we do it that way, we won’t even get a reward, let alone trigger a chain quest.’

If word got out that black mage remnants were hiding in Carpathia?

Knights, soldiers, rats, Caron, Adonis—everyone would swarm the place and wipe out the black mage.

And of course, we’d be left out of the process. After all, we were just fragile students who needed protection.

Even if we were the ones who found them first, it wouldn’t make any difference.

‘Of course, risking our lives for some meager reward would be a fool’s errand.’

But I was willing to push it because…

Not only did I want to generate new ‘variables’ to defeat the final boss.

‘The risk is low.’

This quest, appearing in the middle of the second chapter, would likely have its difficulty ceiling set relatively low.

No developer would be dumb enough to create an unwinnable quest this early on.

Especially not in a game like Hero of the Academy, where they obsessively cared about balancing and worldbuilding.

Even if this led to a chain quest, it was only the second one.

Difficulty spikes wouldn’t happen until later, like the sixth or seventh quest.

‘Besides, with the Absolute Defense I recently got, I should be able to handle whatever comes our way.’

And that wasn’t the only reason.

[Sub Quest #1]

-Find the Escaped Black Mage.

The black mages, who were brought to be used as sacrifices, have disappeared.

Demon Mabelga wants to teach them the value of sacrifice by making them follow your example.

Reward: 100 EXP, 10 Gold, 1 Demon Contract

Penalty: None

A level-up, 10 gold, and a demon contract.

In any game, rewards are proportional to the quest’s difficulty.

The reward here was pathetically small, meaning the quest had to be easy.

The line about ‘black mages brought to be used as sacrifices’ was another reason I decided to pursue it.

Though it varied based on the situation, sacrificial black mages were usually the lowest of the low.

In other words, they were weaklings.

‘At worst, they might summon a lower-level demon. But we should be able to handle that.’

Of course, I couldn’t explain all that directly, so I needed to persuade Luna in another way.

And the best way to persuade her?

My beautiful tongue.

“Luna, did you know? No one listens carefully to the words of a traitor. Even if those words are true.”

“I already know that. What’s your point?”

“Keke, it’s a great opportunity to raise your honor.”

“My honor?”

“Yes. Those with high honor are respected by everyone, and their words carry weight. Just like Lady Lucia.”

“…That’s true.”

Lucia had noble blood, striking beauty, the title of war hero, and had risen to the status of ‘Hero’ at an early age.

Despite those great accomplishments, she often showed a clumsy side, leading to various tales about her circulating throughout the Empire.

It was no wonder journalists followed her everywhere, eager to write about even the smallest thing.

“Now imagine if Luna’s honor rises, and reporters start flocking to capture every word you say.”

“You’re saying that if I raise my honor, my claim that the Lester family was falsely accused will gain more traction, right?”

“Keke, exactly. The fall of the Lester family has always been surrounded by suspicion. But if you, the last surviving member, appear with your honor shining brightly?”

“A new investigation would start, and I could clear my family’s name.”

“Discovering and defeating the black mage is a major achievement. If it’s done by students, it would be even more impressive.”

“Ah… I see! Zero, you were thinking all this through, weren’t you?”

Luna patted me on the back, brimming with excitement.

But as her enthusiasm grew, it slowly waned when she saw Rezé trembling beside her.

“Hm… But isn’t this still too dangerous?”

“Considering they’re hiding, they’re probably not a big deal.”

“Yeah… I guess that makes sense, but…”

“And Miss Rezé already agreed to help. You promised to help clear Luna’s name, didn’t you? Or are you going to run away again?”

I emphasized the word again, causing Rezé to flinch.

She must’ve recalled Luna collapsing after being hit by Benius’ area attack when she ran off.

“N-No! I won’t run away!”

“Rezé…”

“L-Luna!”

The two embraced once more.

Could they stop with the cheesy drama? And no, I’m not grumbling because they left me out.

“Rest assured, I’ll make sure we proceed carefully.”

“If I can’t trust you, who can I trust? Alright, let’s do this.”

Was it dawning on Luna that this was the first step toward achieving her goal?

To make a name for herself and clear her family’s reputation?

It seemed her determination was reignited.

I hadn’t lied. Gaining recognition, raising honor, and influencing the world—this was all possible through the game’s system.

It was even possible to clear the name of a wrongly accused character.

‘Of course, if word gets out that Luna is the last surviving member of the Lester family, they will move…’

But that’s fine. Luna’s rise to fame is something far off in the future, and I’ll be there when it happens.

It’s something I can control.

“Alright, let’s go! Those dirty black mages, we’ll track them down no matter what! For the honor of Zero and the Lester family!”

“For… for the honor!”

Control… It’s all under control, right?

Shwoooosh—.

A massive stream of water flowed beside us as we continued forward.

But it wasn’t refreshing at all. In fact, it was downright unpleasant.

Sticky, dirty water. Sewage, to be precise.

“This feels so gross…”

“It s-smells…”

The place Rezé had led us to was Carpathia’s underground sewer system.

Given the scale of Carpathia, it was unsurprisingly vast.

It was dark, as one would expect from being underground, but it wasn’t so dark that we couldn’t see.

Scattered throughout the tunnels were luminous mana stones, lighting up the path.

“But seriously… could you two back off a little? This is seriously gross!”

Luna shouted angrily, but neither Rezé nor I moved away from her. In fact, we stuck even closer.

Luna smelled good, after all.

It was the power of the elixir ‘Sun and Moon Elixir’ that Caron had given her.

“Keke, aren’t we friends? Friends should stick close together.”

“Y-Yeah! That’s right!”

Even Rezé agreed with me as we pressed on, enduring the stench for a long while.

Surprisingly, we didn’t encounter any danger.

And there was no worry about getting lost either. After all, we had the radar Pufferfish Rabbit with us.

The problem was…

Round and round—.

Round and round—.

We’d been circling the same area for a while now.

Had the radar malfunctioned?

Well, if it’s broken, we can fix it.

Radar Pufferfish Rabbit. A hybrid of man and machine (?).

But luckily, there’s one surefire way to fix it.

You just give it a good hit.

“Keke, are you protesting because you don’t want to go?”

“N-No!”

Rezé flinched, lowering her head and showing me the top of her head.

“I-I’m sure it’s below us! R-Really!”

To prove her point, the idiot hair on Rezé’s head pointed downward.

‘Wait… Don’t tell me we have to go into the water? That’s going to be a problem.’

You’d need at least [Underwater Breathing], [Gills], or even the [Diving] skill to conduct a proper underwater search.

Should I have copied one of Mabelga’s skills using [Divine Imitation]?

I was racking my brain, trying to figure out a solution, when—

“Zero, look at this.”

Luna called out to me. She was pointing at the ground.

What stood out was a small symbol etched into the floor.

“It looks like demon script, right? Am I right?”

We’d finally found it. A trace of the black mage.

–TL Notes–

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