Randomly thrown junk and shattered mirror shards were scattered all over the floor, but even so, his anger didn't subside.
"Damn it, why is it always…!"
fernan furiously raked his hand through his hair.
Again. Once again, the prophecy involved fernan—he was tied to it. And not in a good way.
"So this is how it all connects and leads to me becoming Aint's enemy."
There was no reason for him to be labeled an enemy of Aint just because he demanded legitimate debt repayment from Ruina.
There wasn't enough justification for that to lead to his downfall.
fernan knew his father well. He wouldn't be expelled from the family over something so trivial.
But now, he finally understood.
'At first, I thought the yacht club incident was just a coincidence.'
But if something happens twice, it's no coincidence—it's fate.
This was clearly a trap.
A trap aimed at fernan—at Pellenberg.
Because he was now linked to demons, the family would be at risk unless they cut him off.
Even for a princely house, demons were absolute enemies of the Empire. There was a real possibility of disaster.
The catch was that all of it was based on a misunderstanding.
Looking at his own reflection in the half-shattered full-length mirror, fernan let out a bitter laugh.
"What a pathetic sight, fernan Pellenberg."
He had acted as if money could control the world, only to be used by a demon without even realizing it—then cast aside to ruin.
A laugh slipped out. How could he not laugh?
He felt so utterly pathetic, and his fury toward the demon swelled to the breaking point.
"…Fine. Let's see how this ends."
Let's see who wins—you, or me.
Crack—a drop of blood trickled from his torn lip.
Summoning a demon was never an easy task.
Breaking through the dimensional barrier required an enormous amount of energy.
The stronger the entity, the more it demanded.
Let alone summoning one of the 72 demons—that spoke for itself.
fernan had originally believed they would infect students and use their life force and mana to power the ritual.
But he had been wrong.
"The branch of the World Tree. That's what it is."
Using a branch of the World Tree to summon a demon… it was a diabolical idea in every sense.
"We have to stop it."
Normally, there would be no reason for him to be this desperate to prevent a demon summoning.
Sure, a demon's descent was a serious matter—but even if he wanted to stop it, it wouldn't be easy.
And even if it was summoned, that would be fine.
It would be defeated by Aint Armian. From fernan's perspective, the best outcome was minimizing damage while gaining whatever advantage he could.
That's what he used to think.
But if he himself was involved—then the story changed completely. The entire premise was wrong.
"But how?"
This was different from all the futures he had seen so far.
The prophecies were mostly shown from Aint Armian's perspective, so naturally, anything outside his knowledge was often left out.
This case was no different. He knew the World Tree would be tainted, but not how, or by what means, or what events would lead to it.
'So I must prepare for everything.'
He couldn't unilaterally break the contract made with the Pellenberg house.
He immediately summoned Hyde.
"You called—what happened to this room…?"
"Don't worry about it. The Marquis of Fridien placed a transport request with the Golden Turtle Trading Company."
"What are they transporting?"
"Mana stones, spirit stones, World Tree leaves…"
As fernan listed off dozens of items, Hyde looked shocked.
"That's quite a lot."
"But all of it is a cover. The real item is the branch of the World Tree."
"…The branch? You mean that one I know of?"
"Yes. My father accepted it. And one of their conditions was that I either take charge or join the party."
"They specifically asked for you, Young Master?"
Hyde voiced the exact same question that had troubled fernan the day before.
fernan briefly explained the conversation he had with Aria.
"This task is extremely important. There must be no mistakes, no issues whatsoever."
"Certainly, it involves the branch of the World Tree, so—"
"No, that's not what I mean."
A demon was involved. It was the crucial factor that would trigger his downfall.
But that was something only fernan knew—because he had the prophecy book. He couldn't say it outright.
"Then what do you mean?"
"No, you're right. In any case, we need to start preparing. The transport convoy departs in two weeks. I'll use a teleportation circle with Aria to join them later."
"You've got some time, then."
Since fernan's father had already arranged everything for the convoy, there wasn't much for fernan himself to do.
"So if you're just going to join them later, then there's no need for major preparations…"
"No."
That would be the case—if demons weren't involved.
"Prepare as thoroughly as if for war. Pack every necessary item and resource, and report to my father to increase the size of the escort detail."
"Is that really necessary? Of course, the branch of the World Tree is valuable, but there's no one foolish enough to provoke two princely houses at once. Besides, wasn't its very existence kept hidden from the public just in case?"
"Listen well, Hyde. Accidents always happen when you let your guard down."
If that hadn't been what led to fernan's downfall—
It might have been true.
"So you can never be too prepared."
Seeing the resolute look on fernan's face, Hyde fell silent.
"…Understood."
"First, deliver this to the department. The Fridien family has likely already sent word ahead."
"Yes, sir."
It was a field training application form. After handing it over, fernan put on his coat.
"Where are you going?"
"To meet Aria Fridien."
"Didn't you meet her yesterday?"
"I did."
But when circumstances change, so must the plan.
Yesterday's fernan—
And today's fernan—
Were two completely different men.
"…What?"
Aria blinked in surprise, her big eyes round.
He'd heard that innocent look of hers was quite popular among the first-years.
"You're an elf, aren't you? Are you deaf?"
"No, I heard you correctly. You're saying… you want to move up the schedule?"
"That's right."
Transporting the branch of the World Tree isn't something prepared in a day or two. The plan must've been laid out long ago.
Naturally, it would've reached the ears of the corrupt ones. Which is why they likely tampered with the branch to cause trouble.
"The scheduled departure is in two weeks, but preparations should be nearly complete by now, right?"
"That may be true, but preparation isn't everything. There's still plenty to coordinate. Why change the schedule so suddenly?"
That was exactly why. If possible, even saving a few days—or even just a single day—could make all the difference.
A massive dam always begins to collapse from a tiny crack.
The schemes of the corrupted were no different.
"It's one of my conditions. If it can't be fulfilled, then I won't be participating."
"But the Duke of Pellenberg has already accepted the commission."
"I'm an add-on, am I not?"
"…Hmm. Then how much sooner?"
After a brief pause, Aria asked.
"Ten days, if possible. At the very least, a week."
If he had it his way, he'd leave right now. But he had some things to prepare on his end too.
"That's really soon. If you push it that much, there'll be a lot of consequences."
"I'll bear them all."
"This isn't something I can decide on my own."
"Then go tell the Marquis."
fernan enunciated each word clearly.
"Tell him—fernan is the one who asked to move up the schedule."
Otherwise…
"I said I would never accept it, not even if I died and came back to life."
He knew it was an absurd demand and that the chances of it being accepted were vanishingly small. Even so, he had no other choice.
There were only two options.
Either get cursed out by the furious Marquis Freudian and step away, then help Aint stop the summoned demon after the break—
Or completely change the entire plan.
There was no third choice.
The academy's city center wasn't all that dark even after sunset.
It was because students often shared drinks with friends after finishing all their classes.
In the area packed with taverns, loud voices filled the air, and magical lamps installed everywhere brightly illuminated them.
But not all places were like that.
There were things that didn't suit the night's food or entertainment. The door to the bookstore, which sold books, was firmly shut.
The bookstore owner had drawn the curtains to cover the windows and was organizing the books.
A shadow suddenly rose up behind his back.
"Milord, the reason for the failure was fernan Pellenberg."
"Details."
"We succeeded in sinking the ship and pushing Aint elsewhere, but he wasn't alone."
The explanation was simple.
fernan Pellenberg, Ruina Berchev, and even Bella Hoenne—
Three students were also swept to that island and helped Aint, who was under attack.
"..."
The bookstore owner quietly continued arranging the books without a word.
He had no power to control the waves. It was, quite literally, just bad luck.
"Was it really luck?"
Still, something didn't sit right.
"We tried to finish things with two seed serpents, but the island held a hidden contingency from the Cursed Seed. The awakened Aint Armian…"
If not for the contingency of the Cursed Seed, would Aint have died?
Probably not.
"Ruina Berchev's ability is beyond what we expected."
"Yes. Ever since she partnered with fernan Pellenberg, she has been showing remarkable growth."
Saying that someone who had always been ranked second was now standing out didn't quite make sense.
But it was undeniable that her achievements had stepped up a level.
"Pellenberg…"
A family once so obsessed with money they made deals with demons.
But after being deceived by the first emperor's honeyed words, they turned into enemies of demons.
They had supported the first emperor's back with vast amounts of gold, so in order to avoid repeating the same mistake, they were the first that needed to be eliminated.
That's why he used the Golden Turtle Trading Company.
But of all people, fernan Pellenberg ended up getting swept to the island too, and they gained absolutely nothing.
Worse—
"If they witnessed demonic energy together, they likely developed a sense of solidarity."
They had practically been paired together. The sword most lethal to demons, and the gold to coat that sword.
"What about the captured prisoner?"
"He'll be dead soon."
He was just a pawn with no real knowledge. That was enough.
"First, we need to separate those two. How's the escort mission going?"
Fortunately, the next steps were already planned—to proceed with the summoning while making Pellenberg and Armian view each other as enemies.
"Arya Freudian has contacted Fernan Pellenberg. It's unclear if he accepted."
"Make sure fernan Pellenberg joins her, no matter what."
"Yes, understood."
"Remember—our existence must not be revealed."
"Yes. I will keep that in mind."
At the bookstore owner's nod, the shadow disappeared.
Clicking his tongue, he resumed organizing the books.
"How troublesome…"
With a snap of his fingers—
Snap!
The books scattered messily around flew out of the storage room and slotted themselves neatly onto their shelves.
Snap!
He snapped his fingers again.
Another shadow rose, slightly different in form than before.
"You called?"
"Yes."
While rubbing his thumb with his index finger, he asked:
"How's the search for the contingencies the Cursed Seed hid going?"