I Became The Academy’s Narrow-Eyes - Chapter 44: The True Harashin (1)

Ceylon had returned to his original state.

From a mocking and playful demeanor to a vacant and aloof one.

Above all, his light ray had returned to two layers.

“…”

It felt surreal.

Redar felt as if everything he had just seen was an illusion.

‘What on earth-…’

Redar had seen countless mighty people with his unique eye.

The most notable were his father and the other masters of the martial arts family.

They were all superhumans who had transcended the domain of heroes.

All of them were masters who had mastered controlling their own power, and could hide and expose their power at will.

But it didn’t fool Redar.

Even when they were conserving their power or trying to hide their power from their opponents.

To Redar’s eyes, all the power they possessed was revealed.

However, he had not been able to read anything from the man in front of him.

He had utterly deceived Redar’s eye.

It was something that even the superhumans that Redar had seen so far had not accomplished.

What does this mean?

Could it be that this man exceeds the superhumans he had seen in his ability to control power?

Is he on a higher plane?

Could it be that even the 8 layers of light rays are not all the power he has hidden?

‘Surely not…’

It’s absurd.

It must not be.

-Let’s leave aside the daunting presence that feels not the slightest bit daunting.

Ceylon.

He was of the same age as Drin.

His age would not exceed his early twenties at most.

His physical growth had ended and his natural constitution had been decided, that is to say, he had been learning to manipulate mana for less than five years.

If someone his age enters the 2-star realm, they are deemed a prodigy.

If they enter the 3-star realm, they are called a genius.

If they enter the 4-star realm? They are considered to have talents that are hard to define.

Even Redar, who is said to have talents that are among the top in the history of Lebringer, barely reached the 4-star realm at that age.

Drin, who is said to possess the talent to surpass Redar, only reached the 4-star realm a few months earlier.

But an 8-star realm?

Yes.

You can accept that.

There could be various possibilities.

Such as the case he belongs to a long-living species.

In case his appearance seems young due to impersonation.

Or in case he, like the assassin he is, has used all sorts of dirty and unfair tricks to forcibly bring out his natural talent.

Such possibilities could be accepted up to the 8-star realm, though strenuous.

But what about the level above?

It can’t be.

That was a story that, regardless of the situation, should not have existed.

The notion that such an entity exists.

That such an entity exists in Harashin.

That was far too dangerous a thought.

That’s why Redar adamantly denied the possibility.

An assassin at the 8-star level.

He forcibly determined Ceylon’s identity like that.

He decided to consider that as a best-case scenario.

‘Ha.’

A hollow laugh escaped him.

It was ironic that the best-case scenario he had posited was an 8-star assassin.

What could his true identity be?

A direct-line master?

It was unclear.

The beam of light he saw just moments ago.

Redar had faced Harashin’s direct-line masters multiple times.

However, none of the direct-line masters from Harashin that he had engaged with possessed such light.

The layers of that light? At most, seven layers were the maximum.

The form of that light ray?

Comparing it with that man’s technique of assassination was an insult beyond measure to him.

‘Then-…’

Could he be an existence positioned above a direct-line master?

‘The Eight Finger …?’

Within Harashin, only they were known to reside higher than a direct-line master.

They, who combine all assassins scattered throughout the world without yielding to any rules, are the true will of Harashin, the leaders.

Entities of such unbearable arrogance, that assassins praise and style themselves as agents of death.

However, The Eight Finger only existed in stories.

Their appearances have never been recorded in history.

But still, history has always watched and been cautious of them.

Heroes and Superhumans who faced sudden deaths.

Ancient families that faced mysterious downfalls.

Could one of The Eight Finger now be in front of him?

Did The Eight Finger reach out to his sister and the Lebringer family?

‘No…’

It was too early to prejudge.

He might simply be an outstanding direct-line master.

He might have encountered unusually weak direct-line masters till now.

Everything was unconfirmed.

Among all of that, only one thing was sure.

‘Harashin-‘

He was from Harashin.

An enemy of the world.

An existence that could not coexist.

“What do you want.”

Warily and with hostility.

Those emotions deeply resided within his pale blue eyes.

A barrier was erected, promising under no circumstances would it allow the enemy’s intrusion.

“Haha, so you’re Harashin. So this is how it is?”

The man whose approach was blocked by the barrier, scratched the back of his head while donning an awkward smile.

As if recognizing the difficulty.

Appearing saddened by the hostility and wariness surrounding him.

His dazed appearance seemed friendly.

However, Redar was no longer deceived by this monster’s disguise.

Ceylon’s current attitude towards Redar struck him as nothing but disgusting and ominous.

Inside, he was certainly indulging in a bitter laughter, taking pleasure in his reaction, and thinking such things.

***

‘Damn, I’m in a bad situation.’

It was a predicament.

Clearly, it seemed that Redar no longer intended to take me along to The Great Mana Field.

Up to this point, it could be considered as a success.

The problem was.

I was no longer Drin’s dear friend in Redar’s eyes.

A Harashin’s assassin.

An enemy of the world.

That had inadvertently turned itself into a dangerous entity that must be removed from Drin’s grasp at all cost.

It was natural for Redar to think this way after I revealed my skills as an assassin, which were in a league of their own, almost to the point of intimidation.

‘No, it wasn’t just intimidation, it was a powerful threat.’

I had considered countermeasures to this reasonable action.

Absolute Promise.

Adding to it a vow that ‘I will never hinder Ceylon’ was mandatory.

‘Will this work…?’

However, considering it again and again, it appeared this quick-fix to be just that.

No doubt, the vault of the Lebringer family house would be littered with artefacts I didn’t know of.

Including artefacts I didn’t encounter in the game and those that were only present in reality because this isn’t a game.

Was it impossible to think that among these artefacts there would not be a single one that could nullify the constraints set by the Absolute Promise that was imposed on Redar?

So let’s consider this scenario.

If Redar broke my constraints using an artefact and subsequently disclosed my existence?

Nothing more needed to be considered, it would be disastrous.

Could I, an assassin who learned killing techniques freely, walk around the world freely?

Moreover, participating in the academy’s entrance examination and deceiving people openly?

Immediately, the parents from the noble family and the large family lines that sent their children to the academy – biological weapons – would rush to Arienne with the intention of beheading me.

After them, all the academy’s instructors and even the headmasters would readily join.

Even in the middle of all that, Harashin people would say, ‘Huh? Isn’t he our affiliate?’ and consider rescuing me.

A chaotic mess unmatched by any other could unfold.

Failure of the quest would be natural, and the bad ending window popping up with rolling credits was only a matter of time.

This was the potential issue arising from my decision to adopt the short-term fix of controlling Redar with the Absolute Promise.

The risk burden was too great.

I needed a more fundamental solution.

The one that surfaced was, of course, eliminating Redar.

There was no cleaner and surer solution than this.

But, of course, this couldn’t be done.

Redar may be odd, but there was no denying he fell within the category of a righteous person.

He was a player and a force of justice.

Who knows what effect executing Redar could have on parts of the story unknown to me.

Redar, above all, was Drin’s beloved brother.

Could I really get rid of such a person?

Frankly, even forcing Promise to Possess on him was a tall order.

‘Then, what should I do?’

I did not want to control Redar.

I didn’t want to kill Redar.

Then the only thing left was-

‘Persuasion…?’

Upon contemplation, this was the most conservative and desirable course of action.

Therefore, it was also the first method that came to my mind.

However, no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with a way to persuade Redar.

“I asked what you wanted, Harashin.”

That’s quite apt.

To him, Harashin was an entity that could never coexist, no matter what happened.

More importantly, it was quite obvious that in Redar’s eyes, I was more than just Harashin.

At the very least, I must be nearly at the level of a direct master within Harashin, having had a meal of mixed assassin techniques, and I must be quite the badass even among the badass’.

No matter what I do, Redar will not open his heart to me.

As long as I am Harashin that is.

‘…Huh? Wait a minute.’

Then suddenly a thought occurred to me.

‘So, what if I’m not Harashin?’

Impossible.

Those who weren’t Harashin could not be assassins,

and those who were Harashin could not be anything but assassins.

That was common sense.

Logically, it was absolutely impossible for me not to be Harashin.

‘But what if I destroyed that common sense?’

Break down common sense.

It might seem like an idea that some rather scintillating character who is about to say something like ‘the entrance of the greatest genius who even dares to blaspheme against God’ would entertain–

what I was about to do to demolish common sense wasn’t something grandiose.

A lie.

Nothing more than a very real-looking lie mixed with a bit of truth.

‘Where does common sense come from?’

I pooled the almost non-existent value of intellect in my mind and posed a question.

Then, from the smidgen of intellect, I gathered came a vague response ‘Isn’t it history?’

Exactly.

History.

Then how much do the common people of this world – how much would Redar know about the history of Harashin?

He probably won’t know much.

They were a secretive organization after all.

They would likely only know that they were a secretive organization with a long history.

Moreover, looking at his attitude now, Redar does not simply see me as a direct master of Harashin.

I feel he sees me as something more, of unknown identity.

The fact that Redar does not know much about Harashin.

The fact that Redar sees me as more than just a simple assassin of Harashin.

The idea is to make the most of these points.

‘Will this work?’

I don’t know.

But I have no choice but to try.

“Redar? Shall we suppose something?”

“Suppose? What are you talking about?”

“What if I said that I am not Harashin. What would you think?”

“I thought you were talking nonsensical.”

Redar looked at me with a clear sense of caution and hostility.

He snorted at my words.

As if my story was not worth his ear.

Right now, Redar would let my words flow from his ears to the exit, unless I threaten or command him with force.

So what about this?

“Right. That would be the typical response. Then, Redar-”

Special move ‘Serious Eyes’.

Somehow, whenever a rowdy guy who usually babbles nonsense speaks with a serious demeanor, it makes people take him more seriously.

I put away the usually light-hearted atmosphere I habitually created and spoke with as serious a tone as possible.

“Yes, I’m from Harashin, but what if I told you it’s not the Harashin you know? How would that make you feel?”

“…What?”

Got him.

I’ve got him.

There’s a reaction.

‘Serious Eyes’ has been cast.

Redar is trapped in the ‘Curious’ status.

I rode this momentum and spat out the nonsense I had prepared.

“The Harashin you know — the one known to the public is not the real Harashin.”

Ragadiearias.

Egonoearias.

I muttered quietly with a meaningful tone.

“Ragadiearias…Ego…noearias…? What do you mean?”

I have no idea.

I just thought of words that sounded as profound and cool as possible and blurted them out on the spot.

Such a flashy code, or a password, will provide details to the bullshit I’m about to spew out from now on.

Of course, I thoroughly hid such frivolous aspects and only emphasized the heavy aspects with an even more serious demeanor.

Ragadiearias.

“From an unseen place.”

Egonoearias.

“From an unreachable place. Redar, we are the executioners. We are, the true Harashin.”

“…What?”

“Redar. What you – what all of you know as Harashin, is not the real Harashin. They are nothing more than a group of lost murderers, pretending to be the true Harashin. Redar, are you curious about the truth?”

Say that you’re curious.

Honestly, even the fathers of Harashin would not be able to resist this.

Redar, if you are not curious about this, there must be something wrong with you.

“…”

‘Right.’

Redar nodded his head.

I too, nodded my head and then I began the monumental false statement that would alter the history of the Harashin.