The Overpowered Cult Leader at the Academy Chapter 75

Chapter 75

An Appropriate Clue (2)

Bereninche wondered what about that short fellow had managed to capture her gaze.

His appearance was ordinary, and his personality was far from appealing. He lacked motivation, a stagnant fellow who had stopped growing. Then she vaguely began to guess.

“. Not scary?”

“Very. You’re scary.”

Worden answered honestly. Bereninche tilted her head. It was hard to see his attitude as that of soone facing sothing frightening.

“You’re smiling.”

He said he was scared, yet he was smiling. He said he was scared, yet he was looking straight at her. He said he was scared, yet his heart was pounding.

Bereninche could not understand it. Having lived her entire life without knowing fear, terror was an unfamiliar emotion to her.

But even she knew that soone truly gripped by fear would not behave or react like that.

“Third?”

“Hm?”

“Sothing this scary? It’s the third ti.”

Bereninche shrugged. If she was the third, then he certainly had not lived a smooth life.

A rather peculiar thought crossed her mind.

“That? Why are you asking.”

“Just. Because it’s interesting.”

Bereninche had never t soone like this before. Her prestige and infamy were well known.

No one failed to show a uniform reaction in front of Bereninche. They either feared her and kept their distance, or steeled themselves against that fear and clung to her for profit.

“Even Davide was afraid of . Though it doesn’t seem like it now.”

“The Cult Leader? He’s not afraid of anything.”

At Worden’s words, Bereninche shook her head. There were indeed people in this world who lived without fear, but Davide was not one of them.

“Davide is a coward.”

“The Cult Leader? A coward. Hm.”

At Worden’s expression of disbelief, Bereninche let out a small giggle. Resting her chin on her palm, she stared at him.

“It’s been a while since I’ve talked this long with soone.”

Recently, Bereninche realized, she had not exchanged more than two sentences with anyone.

“Conversation? It’s important. How’s your family?”

“Well. Davide and I aren’t on good terms.”

At Worden’s advice, Bereninche shook her head. Even in generous terms, she could not say she was on good terms with Davide.

“Nobles? Is it?”

“No. It’s solely because of Davide.”

Worden tilted his head. In noble families, siblings often did not get along.

It was because of the issue of succession. The discrimination that followed was frequent, and many beca hostile toward one another.

“Perhaps it was because of Father.”

“Father? The head of the Duhein Family?”

Bereninche quickly thought of another reason. She ntioned the one who might have been the beginning of this relationship.

“Yes. Father favored . Excessively so, to the point that Davide ca to dislike .”

“Dislike? It doesn’t seem that way now.”

The current Davide did not particularly show resentnt toward Bereninche. He seed sowhat uncomfortable, but he did not avoid her.

But Bereninche knew the Davide of the past. There had always been a certain emotion in his eyes. Jealousy.

“Father always called Davide a failure. He constantly said he had made him wrong.”

“Oh? That’s a bit too much.”

“Right. If you hear things like that at such a young age, it’s no wonder your personality twists.”

Worden thought that Bereninche’s personality was not particularly good either, but he did not say it out loud.

“Now! We’ll end the lesson here!”

With the professor’s shout, the class ca to an end. Worden organized his writing tools and textbook.

“Let’s go eat.”

“Pardon?”

As Worden was about to stand up, Bereninche grabbed his shoulder. Her trendous strength forced him back into his seat, and he heard sothing ominous.

Bereninche was soone who had proudly placed her na in the Death Note. Talking with her at the next seat was one thing, but eating together was another matter entirely.

“I? I have to go to the chapel.”

“I know you don’t have anything to do there.”

The excuse Davide had firmly coached him on failed as well.

“You heard my story, didn’t you? Then it’s only fair I hear yours too, right?”

Honestly, Worden was fine with anything. The only reason he hesitated was because of Davide’s earnest warning to avoid getting entangled if possible.

“Shall we?”

But when the other party held onto him like this, there was no real way out. Worden decided to enjoy a slightly more thrilling ti.

***

“Sunbae! Sunbae! A major discovery!”

“What is it, you punk.”

I tilted my head as I looked at Winter, who had co rushing into the chapel in a fluster.

She was a quiet child, so this was rare.

“Huff! This! Please! Look!”

Perhaps because she had run all the way here, Winter was out of breath as she handed a red-covered magic book.

“Thunder Lord, Anash?”

When I slowly opened the book, the author’s na was the first thing I saw. It felt sohow familiar, and I slowly turned the pages.

“How did you find this?”

And I could not help but be startled. The book’s author, Anash, introduced himself as the son of Anaye.

Since there were almost no figures related to Anaye, this was extrely important material.

“You know Regi and Rera, right?”

“Who?”

“……The reddish-brown twins.”

“Ah. Those two.”

They had not left much of an impression, so I had not rembered. The younger sister had been fairly quick-witted, which I sowhat liked, but that was all.

“So?”

“Phew. The twins went to the Poison Swamp and picked this up there. It was written in an ancient language, so they struggled with it, but the Holy Brush helped.”

“So you read it and borrowed it?”

“Yes! They agreed to lend it for about a week!”

Winter continued speaking with a bright smile on her face. From her perspective, there could hardly be greater news than this.

“Pay the twins a price and tell them to sell it.”

“Is that okay?”

At her cautious question, I nodded. It was not anything difficult.

Rather, not buying sothing like this would be more dangerous. I even considered reading its contents, copying it down, and offering it to Anaye as a tribute.

“Ah. Right. There’s mail here too.”

Just as I was about to reopen the red-covered magic book, Winter spoke. There was quite a large stack of mail.

I was eager to read the book’s contents, but it would be fine to read it later when I had ti.

“Why are there so many taxes?”

“It’s because we’re a religious order.”

I went through the mail with Winter. More than half of it concerned taxes.

“Sunbae.”

“What.”

“This. It’s an official docunt sent from the Lofty Order…… Ah!”

I took the paper Winter handed . If it was an official docunt from the Lofty Order, then it was related to religion.

Canis, who had been quietly sleeping, suddenly sprang up. Only then did Winter seem to notice Canis’s presence and let out a short scream.

“This. Ah~ I see. Is it that ti already?”

“What are you talking about.”

If she was going to sleep, she should have just kept sleeping. Or better yet, she could have slept in her dormitory in the first place.

Instead, Canis, who had taken up space in the chapel, began speaking vaguely. I frowned at her ambiguous tone.

“Shall we leave the religious stuff to our Winter? Go on, explain it~”

“……After midterms, there’s a religious festival.”

Winter shot Canis a cold glance before continuing. Religious festival? It was the first ti I had heard that term.

“What’s that.”

“It’s a religious festival hosted by the Lofty Order, but you can think of it as a series of lectures. Since it’s a religion centered on charity and benevolence, they provide education along those lines.”

“Have you attended it?”

Winter’s face darkened instantly.

“Yes. Even for , it was hard to endure. I recomnd not attending if possible. There’s also an auction and a party for those who attend. But as parties go, the purpose is networking.”

If even Winter could not endure the religious education, then it was practically torture. My curiosity quickly faded.

“Our Winter must’ve skipped it because she’s a loner~ Too awkward to make friends, right?”

“That’s not true. I just didn’t go because it wasn’t fun.”

“Mm~ I’ll say that’s the reason.”

“I said that’s not it!”

Winter finally lost her patience and lunged at her. There was no way she could win, and it was obvious she would only get toyed with, so I grabbed Winter from my side.

I patted her trembling shoulders a few tis.

“Go on. Continue.”

“……You’re an.”

“What?”

“The party is basically a social gathering, and the auction usually has pretty good items. Of course, they’re all religious-related.”

At the Academy, auctions occasionally occurred as special events. In the ga, they were held once a month in the form of random events.

They were rarely useful for improving stats in the ga, so I hardly ever attended.

‘Avatar.’

That was just . Most other players participated. The reason was limited-edition items and avatars.

Since they provided accessories and avatars that could not be obtained outside the auction, as well as dyes to color them, many people showed interest.

‘It was fairly large in scale, if I recall?’

Avatars were also a form of content. Related communities had once been highly active.

Of course, those kinds of auctions were hosted by the Academy. It was the first ti I had heard that the Order itself held one.

“Ah, is that the ‘Feast of Benevolence’?”

“Yes, yes. You know about it?”

In the ga, there had only been a party called a feast, without any auction. It raised the Faith Status of those who attended and granted a buff called ‘Blessing of Lofty.’

The buff had been quite effective, so when I raised a Paladin character, I made good use of that system. So originally, it had included an auction as well?

“You’re not planning to participate, are you?”

“Maybe I should?”

Honestly, it interested . Auctions were content where one could aim for a jackpot, but they were never easy.

You needed a discerning eye for items, and I did not have that. I only knew the equipnt that had appeared in the original ga.

There was no guarantee such items would appear at the auction, which made even more skeptical.

“Yes. It’s incredibly boring, and the events afterward… If you attend, Sunbae, you’ll probably end up killing soone. That’s how irritating it is.”

But her intense reaction made curious. Winter frowned openly. As soone serious about religious matters, she spoke from experience.

The auction itself was interesting. And it was amusing to see Winter react so strongly.

“What kind of items usually appear at the auction?”

“Divine-related items. Mostly those, plus artifacts, materials, unidentified relics. Things like that?”

“Good. Let’s go.”

“……Honestly, I kind of expected that.”

Winter muttered as if she had given up. It was fun to tease her. I chuckled at her reaction and glanced at Canis.

I assud she would follow again this ti. But she did not budge.

“You’re not going?”

“Oh my. Would Davi like it if I ca along?”

Canis imdiately teased with a sly expression.

“Is Ulbushis a wolf, so you bark nonsense?”

“Mm~ I’m not interested, so I can’t go~ Shall we go together next ti, Davi?”

“No. Can’t you hear ?”

I gave up on the conversation at her seriously self-centered response. If you entertained every little remark like that, the one indulging her would only grow tired.

An auction, huh. Would avatars appear too? In the ga, they only changed appearance without affecting stats. I wondered how it would be in reality.

“Co to think of it.”

“Yes?”

“It would be perfect if we knew the auction items in advance.”

At my words, Winter’s mouth fell open.

“Please, Sunbae. That’s illegal.”

Her voice now sounded almost pleading. Seeing her nearly on the verge of tears, I cleared my throat.

“I was just thinking out loud.”

“Sunbae. A religious order should remain clean whenever possible.”

I agreed with that wholeheartedly. It was not rely a matter of law or morality, but because it helped against the checks and restraints of other orders.

Especially for a new religious order like the Anaye Order.

“Maybe I should buy so decent items and offer them as a tribute? I haven’t given much to Anaye lately.”

“……A tribute? That might be acceptable.”

Winter fell into serious contemplation.

“You’re only attending the auction, right?”

“Hm? Yeah. That’s right.”

Suddenly, Winter’s face turned resolute. I was montarily taken aback by the unfamiliar look on her face.

She looked like a national hero departing for war.