# St. Yansk University
The field training of the St. Yansk University's Knight Department was attacked by demons. When this news reached the Counter-Intelligence Command, Dmitri laughed heartily and said:
"Demote that bastard."
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel."
The Counter-Intelligence Command had been paying close attention to university events. Naturally, safety measures for the training site had been prepared to perfection.
The Crown Prince faction, hmm. They've been quiet since the last incident.
Foreign anti-government groups? Those cripples with their arms and legs cut off can't do anything.
And demons? How could they possibly have the resources to deploy operational forces here, near Pritzenkaya?
Therefore, after objective evidence and rational reasoning, Dmitri believed there were no threats to St. Yansk University.
What kind of idiot would plant a terrorist organization in the capital to sabotage a university event?
They might as well blow up the royal palace instead.
Especially at a training site led by Enrique herself with her students? Haha, what fools. Do these incompetents really receive regular salaries?
As a result, when the third informant told the same story, Dmitri rubbed his face dryly and burst into laughter.
"...Demote me."
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel."
This is maddening.
He grabbed his coat and left the command center. He needed to meet his senior. Since she was directly at the scene, she must know something.
"You know, Essie."
"Yes, I know."
"I haven't even started talking yet."
"This is the fourth time I'm hearing this story."
Asidis was looking at Isabelle with a serious face.
When news of the recent field training terrorist attack spread throughout the university, she rushed to find her longtime and almost only friend.
But when she arrived at her house, there was no sign of a victim caught up in the terror.
Instead, she was destroying a scarecrow with a new wooden sword, surrounded by five or six broken wooden swords.
A scarecrow with suspiciously detailed facial hair rolled across the floor after Isabelle's strike...
"Just listen. I'm really going crazy and confused."
"...Okay..."
"So, this is about a friend."
Asidis barely stopped herself from blurting out the harsh fact: 'You don't have any friends besides me.'
She is such a kind and sensitive music student.
"Let's say there's this guy who appears out of nowhere whenever there's danger to save you, takes care of you, and even meets privately to share secrets."
"That's a very specific scenario..."
"Then wouldn't that mean he likes my friend? What other reason could there be?"
Maximillian was essentially a vegetative state. For political or economic reasons. Four years of disappearance would be treated as death even in South Korea for similar reasons.
So Isabelle was essentially from a single-parent household. Since her mother was a commoner, she had no special social or economic background except for the favors provided by the Tilles court.
Yuri, a real orphan, would beat his chest in indignation if he heard this, but Isabelle truly believed it.
"I guess... that's right?"
Yuri, who was truly poor, would beat his chest in indignation, but from Asidis's perspective, Isabelle was economically vulnerable. (Isabelle has a two-story house with a yard.)
Asidis is a princess of a nation. She was the eldest daughter of King Einarr and his most beloved child. She was wealthy enough that hitting a thief with a musical instrument worth the price of a house wouldn't affect her finances.
Therefore, these two were reaching a strange agreement in their conversation.
"Honestly, there's nothing to gain from approaching Isabelle. So this must be him trying to court her, right?"
When they reached this conclusion, Isabelle beat her chest in indignation.
"Then why does he refuse every time I ask him to eat together?"
"This is still about your friend, right?"
"No, listen. Why would he push away a girl who's 10 years younger, pretty, kind, good at both academics and practical skills, and self-sufficient, if he likes her?"
"You really care about this friend as if she were yourself..."
When faced with incomprehensible results, people tend to interpret situations in ways they want to believe.
That's how dangerous confirmation bias can be.
Asidis eventually nodded.
"I'll look into it for you. As it happens, my uncle is close friends with that man. Who knows? He might be a terrible playboy who goes around seducing different women."
Was he like that? Isabelle calmly tried to recall Ivan's face. A playboy...? Going around charming women everywhere?
Hmm. If you cover the lower half of his face, maybe... could he be? Yes, I suppose he could be.
Isabelle was confused!
Sadly, Yuri, who could have appropriately stopped them, was lying in the Theology Department's infirmary, so there was no one here to explain that the crazy axe-wielding John Wick would rather kill ten more people than spend time meeting women.
Ivan's days are busy. He runs the orphanage, goes to the university to manage the street trees, guards the children of heroes, and only after organizing the day's reports and the orphanage's accounting ledger can he take a break.
His rest usually involves maintaining his weapons. He sharpens his axe until it can silently cut through cotton, disassembles and cleans his guns, oils them, and then leans back on the sofa for a brief nap.
That was Ivan's day.
The important point is that this is now in the past tense. For several days since the training attack incident, Enrique has been occupying his precious sanctuary in protest.
"Enrique. Go home now."
"What are you saying? I promised, remember? Night duty, right? Are you abandoning night duty? No comradeship?"
"...You just don't want to go to work, do you?"
"Teacher is sad. Young Ivan used to believe everything I said. Give me back my Ivan."
Enrique had been holed up in the orphanage director's office since the training attack incident.
Being the person responsible for involving some 50 noble children in a terrorist attack, people from all directions were searching for her with grinding teeth.
"I'm wronged. I mean, how could I have known? If there's anyone who could have predicted that dwarves would suddenly attack, they should be captured and tortured. They're a spy."
"I see."
Ivan, who had instantly become a demon spy, simply nodded.
"That's right! And, you know? They're just trying to push the blame onto me because they don't want to take responsibility. They're not fully grown adults."
That's rich coming from an adult who doesn't want to take responsibility.
Ivan thought that even if he lived for over a century, he wouldn't want to grow old like that.
"So, um. What if I say I deeply regret it and resign? I think I've been living too hard. Isn't it time for me to rest a bit? That's what I've been thinking."
"Hmm."
"Should I go on a trip? How about the sea? I don't like mountains."
"Why does it sound like I'm going with you?"
"Because you are coming with me?"
Ivan was a practical person and had no intention of indulging the whims of a century-old elder.
He took away Enrique's teacup and said:
"The department can't really hold you responsible anyway. This was literally an accident."
"R-right?"
"Yes. The responsibility ultimately lies with the Counter-Intelligence Command. Isn't it their job to prevent hostile forces from infiltrating?"
"That's... not wrong!"
Enrique stood up clapping her hands. Since she couldn't have missed something so simple, she probably just wanted some comfort.
Ivan knows how to respect the elderly. Unlike this uncivilized world, South Korea had established ethics, morals, social norms, and Confucian values of respecting elders. (This is debatable.)
That's how polite he is.
"So go home now. I have a lot to do."
"Oh my, I'm so sorry for taking up the precious time of my busy disciple!"
"Indeed."
St. Vasilisha Orphanage was his masterpiece, created by pouring in all the connections and assets he had built throughout his life.
Ivan, who had no plans to turn this place into a nursing home for a vampire elder, chased Enrique out of the director's office while she wore a wounded expression.
"Oh, by the way, I wasn't joking about going to the sea. Since things have turned out this way, I was thinking of doing another field trip! The royal government was subtly probing about it too."
"The royal government?"
"That's right. You know, Krasilov is a bit lacking in tourism. University students are all from great noble families and will each hold positions later. They want to promote in advance. It's like a national project!"
"...It would be better not to."
I understand the intention, but it's a very foolish choice.
Academy group tours inevitably encounter terrible crises.
If it's the sea, strange creatures like merfolk or krakens might implausibly appear.
But Ivan is a practical person. He had enough decency not to impose his "common sense" on others, as he didn't want to be treated like a demon spy or prophet.
He casually saw Enrique off and then sat down with a deep sigh.
Now I can finally rest.
For mental stability, he took out his axe and began carefully wiping it with an oiled cloth.
While Ivan was spending intimate time with his beloved axe, Asidis was secretly meeting with her uncle, who was volunteering at the orphanage, to gather intelligence.
"Shared a room with Professor Enrique for three days...?!"
Asidis didn't have the courage to deliver this shocking information to her longtime friend. Professor Enrique was her father's friend, a member of the Hero Party!
Asidis remembered her appearance. Though she acted like a proper professor at the university, her essence was that of a vampire.
Countless soldiers across the front lines had fallen for her during her active days. A bewitchingly powerful beauty, she secretly admired that era's Enrique...
To be honest, compared to Enrique, Isabelle has very little chance. Except for being younger, how could she compete with a hero from the Hero Party?
Asidis sniffled, thinking about her friend's sad love.
Her pure heart had crumbled amid the adults' sordid love affairs (it's not).
"Bella mustn't know..."
Asidis wasn't bold enough to calmly reveal that the person who actively seduced (he didn't) her friend was actually a terrible playboy (it's a misunderstanding) who regularly engaged in physical relationships (he didn't) with a university professor.
She clutched Kangkangi III (violin, 1 month old) tightly and vowed.
To handle that man herself.
A warrior of Droan doesn't hesitate to get blood on their hands for friends and brothers.
And she is Droan's greatest warrior, the daughter of King Einarr. She firmly resolved to become a righteous warrior who would punish the wicked villain, pledging on her father's honor.