Chapter 28: déjà vu

The sun was already beginning to sink beneath the horizon when Kael finally made his way back toward the academy.

It had taken considerably longer than he had expected.

After buying the materials from Benn, Kael had first gone to the blacksmith shop to enhance his sword. Once the enhancement was complete, he had made another stop at the Adventurer’s Guild to report the goblins he had encountered in the eastern forest.

His conscience wouldn’t allow him to sleep tonight knowing that dangerous entities were lurking around the city’s outskirts and could potentially endanger innocent lives.

The guild however, had questioned him thoroughly. How many goblins had he encountered? Where exactly had they appeared? How far were they from the city? Had he noticed any unusual tracks or signs of a larger group? Had the goblins shown any strange behavior?

Kael answered every question as accurately as he could.

Afterward, the guild informed him that they would send adventurers to investigate the area. Only then had Kael finally begun his journey back to the academy. That was essentially everything that had happened after he followed Benn.

A simple visit to the market had turned into an unexpectedly long afternoon. Kael adjusted the sword hanging at his waist as he walked. The weapon felt slightly different after the enhancement.

It wasn’t a dramatic improvement. Still, every little bit mattered. Especially when he was preparing for the upcoming Wilderness Survival Examination.

Its weight had barely changed, but the balance was noticeably better. Even the blade seemed to carry a slightly sharper presence than before.

As far as Kael’s memories went, the sword had come from the Grayford mansion’s storage, where old and soon-to-be-discarded equipment was kept. It wasn’t particularly special. It wasn’t a family heirloom, nor was it forged from any rare material.

It was simply an ordinary sword, crafted from a piece of iron. For Kael, however, that was more than enough.

With his generous allowance, the previous Kael could easily afford a much better sword than this. However, he hadn’t been particularly knowledgeable about weapons. As far as he was concerned, a weapon was a weapon. What mattered was how well its wielder could use it.

Ironically, he couldn’t even wield this one properly.

Still, the current Kael had to admit that the previous one had a point. A better weapon would be wasted in his hands anyway. So why spend money on something expensive when the result would ultimately be the same? That was annoyingly reasonable.

Kael couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle. In truth, the previous Kael had never been particularly interested in combat or weapons. What he really wanted to learn was advanced magic.

Even though his Hero Core was the weakest among his peers, it could still be cultivated through extreme effort. The problem was that he needed far more time to reach the threshold required to study advanced magic than the other students.

The previous host didn’t think far ahead that there was a very real possibility that by the time his Hero Core finally reached the required level, he would already be gray-haired to cast his first ever advance magic.

That was the previous host’s ambition, to become a powerful mage. Looking back, Kael couldn’t exactly blame the previous host. For all his shortcomings, at least the previous Kael had known what he wanted.

So why didn’t the current Kael simply buy a better sword instead?

The reason was simple.

There was no need.

If his knowledge of the game remained reliable in the future, he would soon be able to obtain a much better sword for free.

Kael continued along the road.

The sunlight grew weaker with every passing minute.

By the time the academy came into view, the sky had already begun taking on the orange hue of sunset.

The enormous walls surrounding Astral Dominion Academy were illuminated by the dying sunlight. Kael expected to see the usual scene at the main gate:

Students returning from the city and senior students assigned to gate duty lazily checking student identification.

Instead, the moment Kael approached the academy entrance, he noticed something was wrong.

There were far more people guarding the gate than usual.

Kael slowed down.

Normally, only a few senior students were stationed there. Tonight, there were several. Some stood near the entrance while others were positioned farther along the walls, their expressions noticeably more serious than usual.

More importantly, they were stopping students.

A group of students who appeared to have just returned from outside the academy was standing near the gate.

One of the senior students was speaking to them.

"That’s the order from the Headmaster’s Office. Return directly to your dormitories."

"But why?"

"We weren’t told."

"Then at least tell us what’s happening."

"I already told you everything I know."

The senior student didn’t sound angry. He simply sounded firm.

"There is an order from the Headmaster’s Office. All students returning from outside the academy are to proceed directly to their dormitories. No exceptions."

Kael stopped a short distance away. His eyes narrowed. An order from the Headmaster’s Office?

That wasn’t normal in this circumstance.

The students continued asking questions, but the senior student refused to provide any further explanation.

"Does this have something to do with what happened this morning?"

Another student asked.

The senior student didn’t hesitate to answer.

"I said I don’t know."

The answer was surprisingly straightforward. There was no attempt to hide anything.

It seemed the senior students genuinely didn’t know.

Kael stepped forward.

The senior students noticed him approaching.

"Student identification."

Kael handed over his academy badge.

The senior student checked it before returning it.

"Kael Grayford?"

"Yes."

"Then follow the same instructions. Go directly to your dormitory. Also, remember not to get out of your dormitory once you enter."

Kael nodded and followed the other students. He looked toward the academy grounds. The timing immediately reminded him of the events from earlier that morning. The fake corpse and the sudden corruption.

Perhaps they had found something. Maybe the investigation had uncovered something that required the academy to increase security.

Kael considered the possibility for a moment. It made sense. At least, it was the most logical explanation.

But then he frowned.

Because he knew better than anyone that the fake corpse and the student’s corruption were unrelated incidents.

They had been separate events with different causes. There was no connection between them. Kael’s expression gradually became more serious.

More importantly, those two incidents were events with no involvement from the real threats.

However...

This atmosphere...

Kael felt a strong sense of déjà vu from it.