Chapter 200
Belya Tun Sokum Marlat.
A woman with a name similar to Hongpeng, and even her height and appearance bore resemblance.
But everything else was different. While Hongpeng had an exotic look, she also possessed both the dignity and kindness befitting a professor at Keyzen. This woman, on the other hand, looked more like a beast than a human at first glance.
And yet, this woman—
'A new professor of Toxicology?!'
While the change of the Haematology professor had come abruptly, the appointment of a new professor for Toxicology had been long expected.
Still, assigning this person to the role felt like a shockingly unconventional decision.
"Since we're on the subject, I have a proposal!"
She suddenly thrust her face forward, her tongue flicking out.
The saliva pooling on her tongue wasn't clear, but a faint green. As it dripped onto the table, the surface began to corrode and melt.
"Special Admission No. 1, kid! Become my direct disciple!"
"...Excuse me?"
Countless question marks floated over Simon's face.
What is this sudden development?
"May I ask the reason?"
"There's no such thing!"
She spread her arms wide and burst into laughter.
"Since you're at Keyzen now, you might as well aim to be the best! I'm going to rise to a level that even Hongpeng will never dare to look up at! And you're my first step!"
She pointed her index finger sharply.
"You, Special Admission No. 1! I'll bring in No. 2 and No. 3 under me too! They're strong, right? If I'm to be the top professor, I should have students of that caliber under me!"
So, she meant to make Serne and Shatel specialize in Toxicology too?
Simon had no idea what she was thinking, but he bowed his head politely.
"If that's the reason, I must decline."
"Aaaargh?!"
Furious, she slammed the table with both legs raised high, bam!
Simon, unfazed, continued speaking calmly.
"I don't know you well, Professor. I've never taken your class, and I have no idea what I could learn from you. If I'm to be used simply as a tool to fulfill your ambition, I don't think that's enough reason for me to join you."
He'd tried to speak as sincerely as possible. Hopefully, she'd understand...
"Then let's fight, right here, right now! If I win, you're in!"
She hadn't understood at all.
"Y-you're not serious, right?"
"Maybe I am? Then I won't use one arm."
"...I still decline."
"Fine, I won't use both arms and one leg."
"It's not a matter of difficulty, I just have no intention of dueling at all."
As they say, the only thing that beats logic is complete illogic.
Simon was slightly stunned, he'd never dealt with someone like this before.
But there were more important matters right now. Simon broke away from Belya's momentum and said,
"More importantly, I have something I'd like to ask, Professor."
He pulled out a newspaper from his coat and spread it open.
"Do you recognize this person in the article who was killed?"
"Yup. I killed him."
The answer came back so flatly that Simon was momentarily speechless. Belya laughed heartily and popped the cork on a new bottle of alcohol.
"What's this? Is the kid trying to play Keyzen inquisitor or something? Oh—well, that could work. I'm not officially a Keyzen professor yet. I'll receive my teaching rights tomorrow."
Seemed to be a situation similar to Walter's. But that wasn't what mattered.
"Just today, some of my fellow Keyzen students were kidnapped."
Simon lowered the newspaper and made a serious face.
"I don't yet know the exact motive or purpose, but I believe the perpetrators are prime suspects, and I'm chasing them."
"They're the Hupa Tribe."
Hupa Tribe? Simon reacted quickly and stored the new info in his mind.
"What kind of people are the Hupa Tribe? And what's your relationship with them?"
"A minority tribe from the opposing faction I used to fight with when I lived on the steppes. We clashed a lot back then."
She gave a sly grin.
"They want my head."
"Ah…"
"Even here in this city. They tried to kill me, so I simply returned the favor."
A sudden uneasy thought flashed through Simon's mind.
"Professor, do you know where the Hupa Tribe is now?"
"I don't care about stuff like that! And they don't know where I am ei—"
Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
At the sound of sudden wingbeats, both their heads snapped upward.
Through the hole in the roof, a flock of birds flew low, scattering flyers tied to their feet. Several of them fluttered into the tavern where the two stood.
Simon picked up one of the flyers.
"!"
His pupils gleamed with rage.
The magic-captured photograph showed Maelyn bound to a chair, her eyes and mouth covered. In the background, Dick was also visible.
"What the hell."
Belya picked up a flyer as well.
"…We have Keyzen students in our custody. Belya Tun Sokum Marlat must forfeit her position as Keyzen professor and return alone to Lion Rock on the steppes by tomorrow night. If not, their lives are forfeit?"
Pffft!
Belya burst out laughing.
"These bastards really are playing dirty, huh?"
Simon's expression turned grave.
So the reason for kidnapping them was to draw out Belya, the soon-to-be Toxicology professor? Just how deep did this grudge run, for them to resort to something this extreme?
"Alright, let's do this."
She strolled over to a chair and plopped down, crossing her legs. Her eyes sparkled with resolve.
[Seek.]
Scraaaaaape.
From every corner of the tavern, hidden rats and insects scattered in all directions. Crows perched on the roof took to the skies.
'A power over animals.'
It was an ability of the long-vanished Druid Clan. Hongpeng had once shown a similar power with hippos during class.
For now, all Simon could do was trust in Belya's tracking skills.
"Professor. What kind of grudge do you have with the Hupa Tribe, that my friends—who have nothing to do with it—got caught up in this?"
"What, are you blaming me?"
"No. I'm just curious."
She brought out a new bottle of alcohol and held it in her hand.
"Well, you see…"
* * *
Srrrrk.
Wichasha, chieftain of the Hupa Tribe, loosened the string covering Maelyn's eyes. As the cloth fell away, her blue eyes, blazing with resentment and humiliation, lit up like fire.
"I'm sorry, for making you take a picture like that."
"Seriously."
She spoke, struggling to contain her irritation.
"So they're using our lives as leverage to lure in that Belya, the Toxicology professor candidate?"
"That's correct."
Belya was a wanderer, drifting aimlessly through the world, while Wichasha and the Hupa Tribe had pursued her for years, seeking bloody vengeance.
Then, a world-shaking event occurred. Keyzen had made contact with Belya and offered her the position of the new Toxicology professor.
A professorship at Keyzen was a position untouchable even within the Dark Alliance. The moment she traveled to Roke Mountain, armed with power and authority, the Hupa Tribe's blood feud would become a pipe dream.
"No, it won't end there. That's when her retaliation will begin."
Wichasha ground his teeth.
"I've heard that a Keyzen professor can even command necromancers from headquarters. If she sends just a few necromancers, the ecosystem of the steppes will collapse, and our entire tribe will be annihilated. This is a matter of survival for our people."
"So your plan is to prevent her from becoming a Keyzen professor, drag her out, and kill her?"
Maelyn scoffed sharply.
"How ridiculous. If you're so afraid of someone you have a grudge with gaining power, then why don't your entire tribe go beg for forgiveness on your knees? Completely give up on revenge."
"…We can't give up on revenge. And kneeling before her is absolutely unthinkable."
"Okay, but."
Dick, seated across from them, turned around and chimed in. He seemed more alert now, his eyes regaining their sharpness.
"Why are you guys so obsessed with revenge? What kind of grudge do you even have with this Belya person?"
Wichasha's face hardened.
One of his subordinates behind him said it wasn't necessary to say more, but Wichasha shook his head and began to speak.
"On the steppes, our Hupa Tribe and Belya's Marlat Tribe were enemies. Because we were nomads, our territories overlapped, leading to frequent conflict. I understand that warriors dying in those clashes was inevitable. But!"
His eyes burned red.
"Belya broke a taboo!"
"Why?"
"She didn't just kill warriors in battle. She entered our village and massacred the women and children."
"…Ah."
Wichasha, trembling with rage, hung his head low.
"My wife was among those victims. I will never forgive her. I swore to end her with my own hands, no matter what it takes."
Dick was at a loss for words, his eyes darting. Meanwhile, Maelyn flared up in anger.
"Then go sort out your revenge and tab with her! Why the hell are you dragging us into this when we've got nothing to do with it!"
"I apologize for that."
As Maelyn shrieked with fury, she suddenly flinched and fell silent.
She closed her mouth and seemed to be thinking, remaining quiet for a moment before speaking in a cold tone.
"Mister. Answer me properly."
"I understand."
"If Belya refuses your demand and goes to Roke Mountain to become a Keyzen professor, what will you do then?"
"..."
Belya didn't even know Maelyn and Dick's faces. She wasn't a professor at Keyzen yet. There was still a good chance that she'd ignore the situation and head to Keyzen.
But Wichasha shook his head.
"That won't happen. Belya has a strong sense of pride. She'll be enraged that someone dared to provoke her and will accept our challenge…"
"I'm speaking hypothetically. If Belya refuses your demand, what then?"
When Wichasha fell silent, Maelyn pressed harder.
"Your grudge seems pretty deep. Are you seriously going to just say 'oh well' and go back to the steppes? Even you wouldn't believe that."
"..."
After a brief pause, he finally opened his mouth.
"If that happens, then our response will have to change accordingly."
Dodging the question, Wichasha turned his back and walked away.
Watching his attitude, Maelyn was certain. These people couldn't be trusted. She should have known the moment they kidnapped innocent people for their goal.
'I need to get out of here on my own somehow.'
But Dick, sitting in the back, was already laughing loudly and joking around with the other Hupa Tribe members.
How carefree could he be? Who knew what fate awaited them tomorrow.
Annoyed, Maelyn tilted her chair slightly forward, then kicked it back with force to smack the back of Dick's head.
"Ow! Why'd you hit me?!"
"Just!!"
'Pull yourself together!'
She wanted to scream it aloud, but couldn't show it outwardly. For now, she had to pretend to be compliant while secretly looking for a way to escape.
And more than anything—
'If it's Simon, he'll definitely come for us.'
The Hupa Tribe's biggest mistake wasn't kidnapping someone from the Kamibarez group, but her and Dick.
Simon was already moving with those razor-sharp eyes. She trusted that he would find them no matter what.
Her hands, bound to the chair, began to twitch faintly.
The moment to fight back would surely come. She had to be ready for it.
Haaaah.
Her head tilted toward the ceiling. Being tied up like this, it all felt eerily familiar again.
'…He probably won't come, will he?'
Feon.
The absolute powerhouse who once fought the Saint one-on-one.
He had always appeared whenever she was in danger.
Though his true identity was unknown, Maelyn was certain that Feon had ties to Keyzen.
With enough strength to battle a Saint, he definitely wasn't a student, maybe a teaching assistant or a professor?
Or perhaps someone from the headquarters' inspection division or an agent of the Crows?
Anyway—
'I know he probably won't really come, but a little fantasy never hurt anyone.'
She lifted her head, imagining Feon. She still remembered the brutal tyrant who crushed that perverted old man in Deathland and saved her.
If she could see him again, she felt like she'd pay any price.
For a moment, she indulged in the fantasy of Feon bursting in to destroy those filthy perverts and rescue her.
'But why…'
She bit her lip.
Why is it Simon's face that keeps appearing first, instead of Feon's?