"Filtering and filtering... three, is it?"
It took three days to deduce this much. Ivan pressed his stiff eyelids and stood up.
The filtering criteria were as follows:
Individuals who suddenly stood out, those whose personality or tendencies changed drastically, and those exhibiting strange behaviors.
This information would have been impossible to gather without the Counter-Intelligence Command's support. After all, it required directly investigating the House of Lords.
"The problem is... these guys."
One was an orphan. Admitted through the practical skills scholarship program.
The other two were from the House of Lords. In other words, they were people of the Crown Prince faction.
They were difficult to touch. Even though Ivan was undercover, if someone traced his connections, they would inevitably lead to Counter-Intelligence personnel.
And the Counter-Intelligence Command was Elizabeta's right arm. If he carelessly provoked the House of Lords and got caught, it would damage Elizabeta's political influence.
"I can't just kidnap all three..."
Ivan tapped the table while muttering words that would have made Dmitri foam at the mouth (along with Elizabeta).
One was a full scholarship freshman who had become the talk of the school. Though an orphan, this talented individual was already being eyed by various institutions. Reckless provocation would not end well.
The remaining two noble youths were both from families holding seats in the upper house of the House of Lords. Naturally, they couldn't be kidnapped without reason.
If they were truly "transmigrators," he would act more boldly, but for now, he only had suspicions without concrete evidence.
Therefore.
"Let's mark these three and observe them for a while."
Killing them could be done anytime.
Even kidnapping wouldn't be difficult.
But to handle the situation cleanly, without complications, preparation would be necessary.
And so, after three days, Ivan decided to go to the academy.
From that day on, rumors began to spread about a strange figure lurking at St. Yansk University.
Asidis, who had fallen into the role of an outcast due to some incomprehensible malicious twist of fate, had few options left.
Fortunately, the semester had just begun. No matter how much first impressions might be lasting impressions, there were still plenty of ways to turn the situation around.
For instance, finding someone "even her uncle would be wary of touching" was one such method.
"My father's friend's daughter...!"
Whether by parental arrangement or remarkable coincidence, children of the Hero Party were gathered together in the same year.
No matter how thoughtless her uncle might be, he wouldn't dare approach a hero's child carelessly.
That was how this lunch gathering came about.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Einarsdottir...? Is that... how I should address you?"
"Oh, that just means 'daughter of Einar.' Please call me Asidis among ourselves."
"Hmm... but you're... a princess, aren't you?"
"Hahaha, a princess, she says. I'm really tearing up receiving such treatment for the first time..."
Asidis shook this pretty girl's hand vigorously with tears welling in her eyes.
"Oh, was I being rude...? I'm sorry. I already know Isabelle... You're a freshman in the Knight Faculty, right? May I ask your name...?"
"Yuri Franck. Please call me Yuri, Asidis."
"Essie, stop being so dramatic and back off. Is she really such a noble presence?"
"I'm sorry! I don't know the list of court nobles of Krasilov...!"
"What are you saying...! No! Noble? That's absurd!"
Isabelle chuckled and nudged Asidis. What is she talking about, as if there's a bloodline more precious than royalty?
As Asidis hesitated, not understanding the situation, Yuri blushed and said:
"I'm just an orphan. Even the surname Franck... honestly isn't my real father's name."
"Besides, Yuri is a boy's name."
"But it's hard to survive on the streets with a girl's name."
Yuri answered with an easy smile. Isabelle smirked and turned to Asidis.
"She's our faculty's full scholarship student. She's really good with a sword."
"Wow, better than you, Isabelle?"
"Better than me and even Oskar? I was honestly surprised. Where did someone like her come from?"
"You're exaggerating. I was just lucky."
"If you beat us with luck, that's still skill."
Asidis felt her heart warming.
Yes, this is right. This is how it should be.
The vibrant spring, warm sunshine, eating together while praising each other's skills and engaging in friendly competition—this dream...
She sniffled unconsciously, deliberately erasing from her mind the image of her uncle who was probably hanging around with the Knight Faculty students right now.
Isabelle, Asidis, and a freshman.
Ivan sat on a tree, looking down at them chatting while flipping through his notes.
He couldn't get close enough to hear their voices. But he could use his highly accurate lip-reading skills.
The conversation seemed ordinary. The name was Yuri or Yuli.
Both names appeared on the freshman roster, but if it matched a name on his "suspect list," Yuri was more likely.
This created a problem. As luck would have it, the "suspect" was in contact with the Hero Party. And the name happened to be "Yuri."
Naturally, in Krasilov culture, that name is masculine.
But in Korea... and more broadly in "Northeast Asian" cultures, it's used as a female name.
If there was a female using the name Yuri, there was a high possibility she was a "transmigrator."
He drew a red underline on his list of suspects.
"What the hell is that guy doing?"
Enrique was staring blankly at her disciple while wearing a wide-brimmed hat.
Normally, he would be so sensitive that approaching this close would be difficult, but he was so focused that he didn't even notice her approach.
She turned her gaze in the direction Ivan was looking. In the distance, several freshmen could be seen chatting on a bench.
A normal scene.
"Hmm... Isabelle? That looks like Asidis... They were already friends, so... I don't know who that one is."
When the Counter-Intelligence Command had desperately asked for help, she thought she'd check it out, only to find him tailing freshmen like some field agent.
"He doesn't seem to have lost his mind. Was it just an overreaction?"
Emotionless eyes, near-perfect concealment even while distracted. The usual Ivan. Paranoid about his demeanor.
Enrique shrugged and hid in the shadows.
"Yevgeny! Come with me! What class do you have this afternoon? I'm going to the Biblical Interpretation orientation!"
"I have Gospel Original Language Reading. Sorry."
"Oh, no! I'll... see you later! Enjoy your class!"
After smiling and sending off a student whose name he couldn't even remember, the young man called Yevgeny hardened his expression as he walked down the lecture hall corridor.
Annoying. And confusing on top of that.
If he had known there would be so much to learn, he would never have chosen Theology... but at the time, it seemed like the best option.
'I can't do physical work.'
This was an obvious conclusion. Having never held even a kitchen knife in his life, he couldn't suddenly start fighting monsters or demons with a blade.
But choosing a role completely excluded from combat would be equally problematic. He needed to select a profession that would at least allow him to be directly in the field.
Hence, Theology. Going through the priest training would allow him to learn various buff and healing skills, as well as holy strike spells.
'Besides, this body has expertise in swordsmanship.'
The protagonist of [Northern Grand Duke's Delinquent Sword Genius], Yu-jin, is a sword genius. This has been clearly proven by the system.
While all the freshmen around him showed poor growth between levels 8-10 with insignificant combat skills, he achieved the remarkable feat of [Sword Mastery 5Lv] from his first day of possession.
That's about one level below the first-year instructor at the Knight Faculty of the academy, St. Yansk University. In other words, he had already surpassed the freshman level.
But the problem was that technically learning swordsmanship and using it to slaughter people were completely different matters.
For a modern Korean who had never even wrung a chicken's neck, this was too difficult a task...
"So priest is the best option..."
A rear position that doesn't need to be on the front lines. A simple role that just requires casting heals, and with above-average sword skills on top of that—the perfect min-maxed character.
They say your true talent should be your side job. Isn't it natural that idol actors gain more popularity than dedicated actors?
The only problems arising here were:
One, St. Yansk University's Theology curriculum is as rigorous as modern Korean universities.
Two, a catapult-wielding Santa Claus with crazed eyes was chasing him.
'What the hell is he?!'
There was no such event in the original novel. In fact, this world was completely different from the original novel. The original wasn't this subtle communist empire, and there was no Demon King or Hero Party.
It was just an ordinary "noble family story" about fighting an evil wizard family over approximately 1,000 chapters!
The only commonalities between this world and that novel were the familiar skill tree, status window, and familiar family situation.
Northern Grand Duke...? This country "Krasilov" itself is in the north, so how could there be a Northern Grand Duke!
'And why can't I see his level...!'
He knew that level differences beyond the normal range changed the display to "???".
But even that has its limits. Why would the academy gardener's level be like that?
He despaired, remembering that even his family head's level was only 59.
As he deliberately turned his gaze away, in his peripheral vision, he could see a bearded, wild-eyed man staring at him from a tree.
No one else seemed to notice, so he tried to ignore it, but with [Extended Intuition 3Lv], he could faintly see from that distance.
"He's tailing three people in total."
Enrique was certain. At first, she thought he might have been ordered to protect the Hero Party's children and was going to let it go, but something felt off, so she followed him.
The problem was... those three had nothing in common.
One was in Theology, one in the Knight Faculty, and another in the Magic Faculty.
Looking at their status: a duke's son, an orphan, and a baron's youngest daughter. Nothing matched at all.
And that killing intent.
Glaring like a tiger crouched in the bushes, as if looking at mortal enemies...
"Shouldn't those be left alone?"
The orphan kid had practically broken down the scholarship program's door to get admitted and was receiving offers from everywhere.
The two noble youths were from the House of Lords. Clearly belonging to the Crown Prince faction. There was nothing good about messing with them, and to make matters worse, they were in the Magic and Theology faculties. The one thing they had in common was that neither department head was from Krasilov.
The Theology department was naturally headed by the Saintess, and the Magic department was run by elves from Kalion. In other words, attacking students would create major problems.
"No way. No. Surely not even he would go that far?"
Enrique smirked, but inwardly thought that this madman might have some obscure reason to do just that.
The Hero Party's thief, the vampire who had ruled the back alleys of Pritzenkaya for a century, prepared to intervene in any emergency while stalking the student-stalker.
'He saw my eyes.'
I was tailing him from quite far from the Theology department building, but that guy noticed me.
Ivan was staring at the young man on his "suspect list" with dry eyes.
Yevgeny Novikov Karamzin.
Yevgeny is an ordinary name. Nothing special.
But the name Yevgeny is used as Yu-jin in Asian cultures. Naturally, it has a different meaning from the Catholic saint Eugenios.
In other words, it's a name used in both Asia and Europe.
Therefore, this guy on the list also has a high possibility of being a "transmigrator."
Ivan drew two red underlines. Detected concealment, suspicious movements, suspicious name.