Chapter 77: The Collaborator
I couldn’t see it, but I could feel something sharp in the air around me—likely blades of divine power, I thought.
In the original storyline, I eventually gained the title of Hero, which allowed me to see and wield divine power. But as things stood now, I was just a regular academy student, not even a candidate for Hero.
It was probably thanks to the quasi-magic I’d absorbed that I could sense anything at all. Hoyeon, meanwhile, was shifting nervously, her gaze fixed behind Gloria.
“Before we continue, if I may.”
I didn’t want to act without permission and risk being struck down by some divine misunderstanding, so I sought Gloria’s approval first.
After she nodded, I scattered mana throughout the room, probing for anything unusual.
Not surprisingly, there were no signs of surveillance magic. Even Stefania wouldn’t dare install eavesdropping spells inside the church.
“…All clear. Now, do you happen to know about a hidden storage room unused by the academy?”
“No, I’ve never heard of such a place. None of our informants have mentioned it either.”
Of course they wouldn’t. It’s not exactly accessible by conventional means.
The path required stepping on flowers and jumping at precise intervals to bypass the magical barrier surrounding it.
I still remember Hoyeon’s bewildered expression when I guided her there.
“That makes sense. The area is sealed with a barrier she personally set up. And it was built using her own funds after the academy’s construction. It’s natural you wouldn’t know about it.”
“…Then where did you learn about such a place?”
I raised a finger to my lips in a silent gesture.
“That’s the one thing I can’t share. It’s my only bargaining chip.”
“Very well. I won’t press you further. Please, continue.”
As expected of the Church’s First Apostle, Gloria was astute.
She knew better than to kill the goose that lays golden eggs.
“Thank you. Within that storage room lie hundreds of schemes like this one. Perhaps even more dangerous ones. The reason I’m here today is to share its location with you.”
“…And you’re telling me this purely out of goodwill?”
Not at all.
My original plan had been to deliver this document just before the finals, simultaneously framing Stefania and currying Gloria’s favor.
But after what happened during midterms, I reconsidered. What if Gloria didn’t act according to the original storyline?
A chilling thought struck me—what if she used the plans I handed her in an entirely unpredictable way?
I wouldn’t be able to control the fallout. So instead, I chose to reveal everything now.
Even if I couldn’t directly thwart Stefania’s schemes, I could weaponize the Church to inflict significant damage on her. At the very least, she’d be too busy licking her wounds to plot anything new for a while.
It was the best strategy I could come up with—and a chance to earn Gloria’s favor.
The divine blades pointed at me vanished, a sign that Gloria had decided to trust me for now. Though she still wore a skeptical expression, she seemed willing to listen.
“Of course. I hold a grudge against her.”
That was a lie, of course. But adding a touch of personal vendetta made my story more convincing.
Who would hand over potentially ruinous information about someone without a grudge?
“I see. I won’t ask for details. Thank you for providing such valuable information during these troubling times.”
Half a success. But then, an unexpected obstacle emerged—my atrocious drawing skills.
“…Hmm. I’m sorry, but could you redraw this? It’s slightly better than before, but… still hard to decipher. Perhaps you’d be better off describing it in writing?”
“Ugh. Just a moment…”
I’d chosen to draw because I wasn’t great with words, but now it was coming back to bite me.
My pitiful attempts at sketching were a waste of paper and graphite.
“Why not use magic to draw it, you fool?”
Ah. I felt ridiculous clutching my pencil after Hoyeon pointed that out.
How did I not think of that earlier?
Using mana, I etched the map directly onto the paper and handed it to Gloria.
Along with the location of the hidden base filled with Stefania’s sinister plans.
This should be enough to keep Stefania occupied for a while.
She didn’t seem to know we’d already been there, after all.
“…Remarkable. Even Decatria couldn’t find this place. A paranoid mastermind would be less thorough than this. Thank you again.”
“No, I should be thanking you. I knew about it but lacked the means to act. Fortunately, you have the power to do so.”
“…Are we done here? Let’s go.”
I had been wondering when Hoyeon would finally suggest leaving.
She’d been remarkably patient.
If she’d interrupted earlier, things could’ve gotten messy.
“Wait a moment. Are you Baek Hoyeon?”
As we turned to leave, Gloria called out to Hoyeon, making her pause.
A bad feeling crept over me.
“Yes, that’s me. Why do you ask?”
Hoyeon’s tone grew sharper, a reaction to the Church’s involvement.
“…No reason. And you must be Han Dogeon, the so-called ‘mysterious collaborator.’”
Ah, so she figured it out. I knew rumors had been circulating, but I had hoped Gloria, with her disdain for worldly matters, wouldn’t be aware.
Apparently, that wasn’t the case. Either the rumors had spread widely, or they were significant enough for even her to hear.
“Yes. I wasn’t trying to hide it, but I’d have preferred it stayed under wraps. Did you hear about it through rumors?”
Having my name known wouldn’t do me any favors. If Stefania caught wind of this, it’d be over.
“Exactly as you think. The rumor was that a princess from the East keeps a poor boy named Han Dogeon as her pet. But it seems the truth is somewhat different.”
“A pet?!”
Hoyeon bristled, clearly indignant at the implication. It wasn’t entirely wrong—she did follow me around—but rumors have a way of twisting the truth.
Still, a pet? That was going a bit far, even for gossip.
“No offense intended. I was merely curious about the benefactor’s identity. Farewell.”
“Hmph. Let’s go.”
Muttering complaints about the absurd rumor, Hoyeon stormed off. As we left, I turned back to Gloria for a parting word.
“Today, we never met.”
“Of course. ‘Collaborator.’”
“Ugh, you talk too much!”
Hoyeon grabbed my collar and dragged me out, making it abundantly clear why the pet rumor might have started in the first place.
Meanwhile, Gloria was deep in thought.
A princess who wielded quasi-magic, a power rumored to originate from the eastern continent of evil, as mentioned in the goddess’s scriptures.
And the boy at her side, a mysterious student suspected of Eastern origins, who had handed over critical information about Stefania.
Though Decatria had been keeping an eye on them, no significant results had emerged.
Gloria had deprioritized them in favor of dealing with Stefania, the Church’s most pressing obstacle.
But today’s events changed everything.
Hoyeon and Dogeon had risen to the same level of importance as Stefania.
Gloria retrieved a pendant and made a call.
-“Decatria? This is Ena. I need you to investigate Baek Hoyeon and Han Dogeon. Parents, origins—anything you can find.”
-“Understood.”
Gloria trusted Decatria’s ambition to ensure compliance. With a faint smile, she turned to her battle gear and sword resting in the corner.
The time had come to end that venomous serpent, Stefania, once and for all.
Following Dogeon’s instructions, Gloria reached the hidden base.
After crushing the layered protective spells with her divine-infused blade, a piercing alarm filled the air.
Unfazed, she began a prayer, waiting for her prey to arrive.
It didn’t take long.
The space tore open, and a figure emerged.
“So, it’s you, the one who came here before… Wait. You’re—!”
With no hesitation, Gloria swung her sword.