Ivan Petrovich stood in the rain, watching droplets hit his own tombstone. It was fitting that it would rain on a day like this—a Hollywood cliché where the protagonist stands before a grave under gloomy skies.
Fall rains were common in Pritzenkaya this time of year. Soon, they would give way to snow.
"What are you doing without an umbrella, senior?"
"Dmitri."
Ivan glanced at the umbrella now sheltering him before lowering his gaze back to the tombstone. The National Cemetery for the Fallen in Pritzenkaya's Central Park was silent, shrouded in misty rain.
-IVAN PETROVICH-
-1236 – 1268-
All fallen members of the Annihilation Squad were buried in an unnamed cemetery within the counterintelligence headquarters—including those whose bodies couldn't be recovered.
They left no epitaphs. The records of Annihilation Squad agents were erased upon their death. Since even their families never knew of their achievements, the only proof of their existence was in the memories of their comrades.
So when Ivan faked his death, leaving this tombstone required help from many people.
Since then, Ivan visited his tombstone once a year—on his official death date. Not for himself, but to honor those who had truly died. He came with guilt for surviving alone and shame for being the only one whose name remained.
His empty coffin's tombstone was the only place for those who died during that time. Though only one name was inscribed here, beneath the empty coffin lay the names of seven hundred agents who had served alongside him.
This was hypocrisy.
Ivan stood for a long time, watching raindrops splash against the stone.
"I received the report, senior. You put a nice period on things. You should smile."
Click, click. The sound of a flint striker came from behind him, followed by the hiss of cigarette smoke releasing its harsh scent.
Dmitri pulled out a half-crumpled cigarette pack beside Ivan.
"Care for a smoke?"
"I quit."
"These fellows haven't yet."
Ivan quietly looked down at the cigarette. It was standard-issue military tobacco with the Krasilov seal—harsh, bitter, tasteless, and fishy-smelling.
Cigarettes were an agent's poison. During infiltration operations, cigarette lights were too visible, and the smoke lingered on the body, becoming a threat when facing demons with keen senses.
Yet they were also the agents' only comfort. For operatives who had to survive for years in enemy territory without seeing family or even their own kind, cigarettes offered the only solace.
Alcohol severely impacted physical responsiveness. Agents never drank during operations. But cigarettes remained their only comfort in secure areas.
That's why every agent smoked back then. Not just agents, but all soldiers of that era.
Without these small sticks, the war would have been unbearable.
Ivan took a cigarette from Dmitri's hand and put it in his mouth. Click—the lighter approached his face respectfully.
Dmitri held the flame with his gloved hand. Hiss—the cigarette smoke heated Ivan's lungs.
Whoosh.
The pale smoke disappeared into the mist.
The sensation of nicotine seeping into his brain was dizzying. The fishy, cheap tobacco burned, releasing harsh smoke.
After two more deep drags, Ivan placed the cigarette in a corner of the tombstone with a deep breath.
Hiss—the rain-soaked cigarette soon extinguished with a pale wisp of smoke.
It was a momentary offering. Ivan followed the final stream of smoke rising from the cigarette butt, looking up at the sky, and briefly pressed the corner of his eye in the rain.
A few seconds later, Ivan lowered his head. His voice was as dry as before.
"Do you have anything to report?"
"Yes, senior. Count Valika reports that he has completed the 'rebel suppression' in Andgrund. He's complaining that negotiations with the Secretary are dragging on."
"Anything besides the obvious?"
"The Count wants to meet."
"Count Valika?"
"Probably Grand Duke Volonovin. We expected him to notice."
One of the three grand dukes of Krasilov, commander of the Northern 1st Corps, and military governor of the Northern Demon Territory. Marshal Volonovin. Ivan nodded, turning over the old names like pages in a worn file.
"What else?"
"They've excavated Abiditas's Sky Map. As agreed initially, the Northern 2nd Corps will take the Andgrund negotiation results, and the counterintelligence headquarters will receive Abiditas's Sky Map, but... are you sure? The treasures collected by that lizard won't be ordinary items."
"Not needed. Dispose of what can be disposed of, and burn everything that can't be converted to cash."
"Yes, senior."
All assets acquired by agents during operations naturally went to the royal treasury. But the report of one of the Seven Dragon Lords meant its value was astronomical.
They were leaders of entire races. Their treasure chambers contained all the wealth a race could accumulate throughout history.
In Abiditas's case, as leader of the necromancers, most of the countless treasures would be too contaminated to use, but even what remained would be enough to establish an entire battalion.
Ivan shook his head briefly. He needed no wealth. The orphanage's operating costs were fully supported, and his activity funds came from the national treasury. Beyond that, personally, what meaning would it have?
"Lastly, um, the Princess said something strange."
"What?"
"That you're... becoming a professor? Is that right?"
"Mm."
"Who are you teaching? Students? Really?"
"Mm."
"And not just the Hero's children, but regular students during the semester? You?"
"Mm."
"This is bad... I wonder if there's space left in the cemetery... should I check..."
From the tournament hosted by the Princess to the Andgrund War, Ivan's activities were already too well-known publicly.
Few people have realized he is "that Ivan from back then." The name Ivan Petrovich itself is too common.
But with his public identity, Ivan could no longer operate undercover. He had been too flashy.
Then he must use it. In the most rational way, now that his name value has skyrocketed.
"I felt I needed to prepare."
This game's difficulty design seemed a bit off.
On his first day back, Ivan sat at his desk, opened his notebook, and fell into contemplation.
He reviewed the timeline stages he had mapped out since the "tutorial" event began, feeling uneasy.
In the field training attack stage, most playable characters would have died without external help.
But that was secondary. Since Enrique was nearby, the stage completion condition was probably just to defend for a certain time.
Right after that, during the Pritzenkaya underground attack, the stage composition seemed fairly reasonable, except for the boss.
The problems started after that. The boss Ivan defeated in the "Academy's Secret Chamber" was an anomaly. Though it had lost all powers except divinity and was sealed, that was a situation created by coincidence.
The dwarf had just removed the outer seal, Elizabeta had just detected it, and Ivan happened to be there to release the seal and enter.
What would have happened without Ivan's role? The boss, steadily gathering power under Pritzenkaya, would probably have appeared in the late story and burned the entire city.
Even if he had dealt with a late-game boss early, that meant Pritzenkaya would have suffered enough damage to burn in the original storyline.
'And now, the Andgrund civil war.'
If Ivan hadn't been there, Enrique would never have intervened alone in Andgrund's civil war. The Secretary would have been defeated, and anti-human dwarves would have unified the underground city.
They would have fully restored Abiditas's power, and perhaps with a new "Dragon Lord" who had acquired divinity, begun to dominate northern Krasilov.
By that point, the Northern Corps could never have stopped them.
By chance, Ivan, who had previously killed Abiditas, intervened and cut off the foundation for the late story development.
But if the storyline had followed the original timeline... Krasilov would certainly have fallen at that point, having lost Pritzenkaya and its northern base.
And Krasilov's fall would have been a fatal blow to the northern United Kingdom. It would mean losing the last bastion defending the northern front.
'What if this situation is happening throughout the United Kingdom?'
Ivan looked down at the map of the United Kingdom with a grave expression. The three fronts—north, west, and south. All seas except the Kalion Archipelago, other countries bordering demon territories.
Would they have the national strength to handle a second great war? No. Impossible.
All indicators pointed to a new war. Ivan was a rational person who didn't assess situations based on hope.
When clear circumstantial evidence existed, Ivan grabbed an axe and a gun instead of persuasion or rationalization. This situation clearly resembled the signs just before war, and war was not something Ivan could handle alone.
So after reasonable consideration, Ivan accepted a professorship at St. Yansk University.
Fortunately, Elizabeta fully supported his opinion. Not about the war part, but about the university professor part. (While the dean could suppress a professor's curriculum with her authority, it was difficult for a princess to suppress an Annihilation Squad agent's operation plans.)
Thus, three general education courses unrelated to majors were newly established for the first-year second-semester curriculum at St. Yansk University. With the dean's full support, they had ridiculous credit values and were announced to be graded only as P/F. Perfect classes.
"This... this looks like a trap."
Students who had completed Ivan's courses during the summer session realized it as soon as they saw the course description.