Chapter 64 - New First Order

Author: Dawn

“Damn it.”

Mason cursed.

The curses continued to pour out. He was in such an excited state that he couldn’t control his emotions.

Seeing his state, his subordinates rushed to him.

“Mason!”

“Did that damn teacher pick a fight with you?”

“That arrogant bastard. I’ll go and protest, Mason.”

“Shut up, I said shut up!”

Mason shouted, glaring at his subordinates. Everyone flinched and stepped back at Mason’s harsh words.

His state was different from usual. Although Mason usually controlled his anger coldly, now he was burning with rage like a fire.

Since the age when he could wield a sword, being the third-born of the noble family, he had always been compared to his two older brothers.

Mason, who inherited the noble blood strongly, showed much greater talent than his two brothers.

However, even that was short-lived. He tasted success too quickly and ended up falling into the despair of failure.

He struggled to find a way out, but it was difficult.

The two older brothers constantly stirred Mason’s mentality, as if the younger brother, who was growing much faster than they, was bothering them.

Even his father sent him cold glances as if already seeing the limits of his talent.

That was the end of it.

Mason ran away from his noble family. He entered the Ivecar Academy and lived as a spoiled brat, intoxicated with his own talents.

He tried to relieve stress at the academy, but the more he acted like a spoiled brat, the more emptiness and anger welled up inside him.

The students were oblivious. Although he was being praised as the son of the Duke, the power struggle was actually over.

“I’m the reason the Swordsmanship Department become the second place?”

It wasn’t a derogatory remark towards Mason.

Rather, it was a statement that elevated his potential and possibilities.

It had been three years since he entered the academy.

From his first year, he engaged in spoiled behavior that caused numerous teachers to resign due to his constant monitoring and pressure.

The remaining teachers intentionally avoided and ignored Mason altogether.

Because if they didn’t, it would lead to trouble with Mason.

Claudie Hyde was the same.

At first, he extended a hand, but once he found out where Mason stood in the academy, he withdrew his hand and treated him indifferently.

And that was a familiar look.

Resignation.

The same look he saw in his father’s eyes.

It won’t work. It’s pointless to try.

It was the look he saw in himself, someone who showed limitations in his talent.

But Ethan was different.

He said that Claudie Hyde couldn’t elevate the level of the Swordsmanship Department because he abandoned him and left.

And he said he wouldn’t repeat that mistake.

“To think that I am needed.”

Until now, he had never heard such words.

As a candidate for the successor of the noble family, he was supposed to be a leading figure who was needed by others, not someone who needed others.

“Ha.”

Though he was clearly being ignored, he couldn’t understand why his heart was racing like this.

He was momentarily confused, but soon regained his composure.

“Fine, let’s do it. Let’s see where you can teach me properly!”

He would attend the lesson and thoroughly expose Ethan Whiskers’ true intentions.

* * *

“I’m sure he understood that much.”

Ethan smiled with satisfaction.

After saying that much, Mason would probably never miss a lesson.

Perhaps a sense of anticipation would arise within his uncertain heart.

‘If the Swordsmanship Department wants to be first, they need Mason.’

There was no student with as much potential as Mason, even if his current skills were unknown.

Of course, there were other exceptional talents that Ethan knew of, but they were not of the age to attend the academy at this point. They were much younger.

So, in terms of the current resources, there was no one but Mason who could make the Swordsmanship Department the best.

‘If I produce the top student in the Swordsmanship Department, my reputation will rise.’

Moreover, multiple achievements could be achieved.

‘And if the student I teach becomes the top student, there will be another achievement.’

It meant that he could gain both reputation and achievements through the process of elevating the Swordsmanship Department to the highest level.

‘There shouldn’t be anyone else coming, right? I should head to the faculty office for now.’

Ethan went to the faculty office in search of the First Order. The first ones to be suspected were, of course, the teachers.

It was highly likely that they were naturally infiltrating and working among the teachers.

There were a total of three faculty offices.

Ethan visited the one on the lower floor first.

As soon as he entered, he scanned the teachers with the Eye of Horus.

Ethan remembered the movements of the First Order and the Third Order. If there were any similarities, he could match them with his memories.

‘There is none.’

They were not on the first floor.

“Teacher!”

As Ethan was about to leave, he heard someone’s voice.

With so many teachers here, it couldn’t possibly be someone calling for him, could it?

Just as Ethan was about to leave, the voice called out again.

“Teacher Ethan!”

It was a voice he recognized.

“Hello, Teacher Nadia.”

The one who called him was Nadia von Tschernkastel.

Nadia, with her neatly tied hair, approached Ethan with a rather heavy-looking book in one hand.

“It’s the first time I’m formally greeting you like this. I wanted to thank you at the congratulatory party.”

Nadia bowed her head. She had a somewhat perplexed expression because she had tried to help Ethan during the previous incident involving Chen Garcia but failed.

He had resolved it before she could even offer assistance.

“I was grateful for your help back then. If it weren’t for Teacher Ethan, I would have failed the exam. It was really bad, my condition.”

“It was nothing. I’ve had my fair share of such experiences since my body is quite weak.”

Ethan smiled and said.

Then he slightly bent over and approached her.

Nadia was taken aback by the sudden closeness.

“Wh-why all of a sudden…?”

“I couldn’t say it back then.”

Ethan spoke in a voice that only Nadia could hear.

“It wasn’t just a simple upset stomach.”

“What?”

“At that time, someone intentionally blocked your mana flow for quite some time. It caused the congestion of blood that resulted in the pain.”

Nadia’s expression changed upon hearing Ethan’s words.

While just moments ago she had the face of an Academy magic teacher, now she had the dignified face of a member of the Tschernkastel family.

“I don’t know who did such a thing, but please be careful.”

After leaving those words behind, Ethan turned around and left the office.

Then, in the second-floor office, Ethan spotted someone walking with movements from his memories.

It was a teacher who looked good in glasses.

As the teacher responsible for the second-year Alchemy class, Ethan observed his movements more closely.

Their eyes met for a moment.

“Hello, Teacher Ethan.”

“Hello.”

Ethan was already a well-known figure within the Academy, and there was hardly anyone he didn’t recognize. Meeting their eyes confirmed it even more.

There was a sense of discomfort behind that seemingly friendly smile.

‘I found you.’

Hassen Rittle, the Alchemy teacher for the second year. He was one of the First Order of the followers of the Moon.

* * *

“I found it, Young Master!”

Schudlen’s expression was extremely bright.

Seeing that, Yerica’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Well done, Schudlen.”

Upon Ethan’s praise, Schudlen finally smiled brightly.

‘As expected, he’s talented.’

Searching for external traces was the most difficult task.

It required a lot of physical stamina, and if one’s senses weren’t sharp enough, they could easily miss something even if it was right in front of them.

However, Ethan intentionally sent Schudlen instead of Yerica to handle the external work.

‘That way, Schudlen can grow.’

Schudlen needed opportunities for growth.

If given the chance, his growth was certain. There was no need to hesitate just because it was challenging.

“Thanks to you, we can proceed with the plan right on schedule.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t too late. Thank you, Young Master!”

Now, the only thing left was to lure the First Order into the trap using the information that flowed in from the outside.

* * *

A dark night.

In that night, there was a masked figure clad in a black robe.

Moving discreetly, as usual.

Swiftly, they gathered information and reported on the internal affairs of the academy.

The report was simple.

The internal operation was progressing smoothly, and the construction of a large-scale magic circle was proceeding steadily.

The only variable was Ethan Whiskers, the new teacher who had just joined the school and was already making a name for himself from his first class.

But in the end, he was just a rookie teacher.

The regular report assured that everything would proceed as planned.

As soon as the regular report was finished, the masked figure slowly began to fade into the darkness.

However…

Thuk!

A sword pierced through their back, preventing their disappearance.

Syaaaak-.

“Keukk.”

A pure white frost began to spread around the pierced area.

“Who could know that Hassen Rittle is the First Order?”

“W-Who…?”

“To reach that position, you’ve killed more than a hundred people, perhaps even multiples of that.”

“E-Ethan Whiskers?”

The masked figure, no, Hassen Rittle, turned around, blood flowing from their body.

The situation was incomprehensible. Why would rookie teacher Ethan Whiskers target them?

And how did he know about it?!

“Ho-how….”

“You must have hidden it well.”

Ethan said what he wanted to say.

“But that’s because people who don’t know you well wouldn’t be able to know.”

Drawing the Frost Sword, Ethan silenced Hassen Rittle once again with a swift strike.

Hassen Rittle’s body crumbled to the ground.

“Huu… huu…”

Ethan used the same method as before to kill Hassen Rittle. He was in a completely weakened state now. However, he was determined not to fall on the ground this time.

“I won’t sleep on the floor this time.”

Today was even colder than that day.

* * *

“Damn it, damn it! What the hell is this!”

Ares, the god of war, was trying his best to win over the most popular subscribers these days, even at the cost of his own pride.

But they didn’t respond to his messages.

He was infuriated that they didn’t reply to his messages.

Even they didn’t answer the messages that Athena sent, another god of war.

To make matters worse, they subscribed to other gods without reading his messages and even posted reviews about their subscriptions.

“Damn this [Only Subscribes to the Right Gods] guy! Do you mean to tell me that I’m not the  right god for you to subscribe to!”

Angry, Ares looked at the recently posted review.

However, despite his rage, he couldn’t help but watch the entire review as if possessed.

“Damn it! It’s well-made!”

Once again, Ares was tempted to subscribe to a certain Eastern god named Hong Gil-dong, whom he knew nothing about.

“The number of subscribers and likes keeps increasing. Even though the ability itself is ordinary, the way the videos flow makes you feel like it’s good to have that ordinary ability.”

The ability to move was truly important.

From short distances to long distances.

Being able to save time in movement, if utilized in war, could give a significant advantage.

“How can they make this god, Hong Gil-dong, feel special?”

And it didn’t end there.

“Horus? The Horus I know?”

There was another god who belatedly received subscribers and likes.

“This guy is also the god chosen by [Only Subscribe to the Right Gods]!”

Ares shouted in frustration.