Kraush turned his body, leaving the fallen muscle pig behind, and heard murmurs from behind him.
“Just now, that person.”
“That hair color, Balheim?”
“Is there someone else entering from Balheim?”
“Yeah, it’s the one they called the halfwit, the youngest.”
“They say he’s not a halfwit anymore.”
“Isn’t that just a rumor?”
“But from what we just saw…”
Voices filled with various opinions reflected the current perception of Kraush.
Thanks to the first prince’s efforts over the past half year, the extent of rumors about Kraush had significantly decreased.The fact that people still mentioned him as a halfwit was proof of that.
‘Important people have already realized that all the rumors about me are true.’
Misinformation leads people to be wary of accepting the truth.
Without seeing the source of the rumors with their own eyes, they continue to doubt.
As a result, even when they knew the rumors were true, they hesitated to act.
They didn’t want to provoke Balheim unnecessarily and end up paying a heavy price.
In the meantime, Kraush entered the Martial Arts Hall.
True to its name, a giant statue holding crossed swords and axes greeted Kraush.
He stopped at the training ground of the Martial Arts Hall.
The training ground, resembling a massive dome like an arena, showcased the scale of Rahelrn Academy.
The problem was the people seated in that arena.
Current students could attend the Martial Arts entrance exam if they wished.
Since the exam was about showcasing one’s martial prowess, there was nothing the students could do to help.
So, to motivate the new students and let them see their future juniors, the academy allowed spectators.
Among the attendees, Kraush recognized several familiar faces.
‘Sigrid.’
The most notable was Sigrid Ephania, with her sea-blue hair.
The third princess of the Ephania Empire, known for her White Dragon lineage, and like Kraush, she possessed memories from a previous life through memory inheritance.
She was also the woman Kraush despised the most.
She was surrounded by several notable figures.
They were all extraordinary people.
Their strong individuality made them stand out.
All of them were destined to become famous in the Empire in the future.
Among the noticeable figures was a young man with black hair and a simple impression.
‘Felray.’
An idol hailed as a hero by commoners and a future member of the Skyborne Generation.
He had faced Kraush in the finals of the martial arts tournament.
But now, Felray was anxiously looking around, as if searching for someone.
Kraush had a rough idea of whom he was searching for but chose not to react.
‘It looks like Sigrid recruited him.’
Felray had reached the semifinals in the Empire’s martial arts tournament, allowing him entry to the academy.
Naturally, it would have been easy for Sigrid to recruit him.
For someone without a backing, Sigrid offered tremendous connections.
Although Felray wasn’t one to care about connections.
‘He’s naive.’
If persuaded that he could help other commoners in Martial Arts, Felray would have willingly joined Sigrid’s faction.
‘She really went all out.’
In the previous academy, Sigrid’s entourage was filled with sycophants who worshipped her.
But now, the people around her were all related to the Skyborne Generation.
Despite their difficult personalities, Sigrid had formed a group.
This indicated that she was actively utilizing her memory inheritance.
Kraush quickly scanned his surroundings.
‘If Sigrid is here, Arthur must be here too.’
Arthur was the most uncertain entity for Kraush at the moment.
Having had his skills stolen by Kraush, Arthur would have lost his original memories.
So Kraush was curious.
Which iteration of Arthur was he now?
And how did Arthur, meeting the memory-inherited Sigrid, handle things?
‘…He’s not here?’
But Arthur was nowhere to be seen.
Kraush furrowed his brow.
In his memory, Arthur had enrolled in the academy with Sigrid last year.
But now, Arthur was nowhere to be seen.
‘Maybe he decided not to attend the entrance exam, leaving it to Sigrid.’
Two people had inherited memories, but why didn’t he?
Perhaps he was being cautious, pondering the reason he couldn’t inherit memories.
Arthur would have been the most cautious about variables.
‘Tch, I won’t know until I confirm it.’
Kraush clicked his tongue and looked away from Sigrid.
At that moment, everyone’s gaze, including Sigrid’s, shifted in one direction.
Following their gazes, Kraush saw someone he recognized.
Blue-streaked black hair swayed slowly.
The woman who walked in with that hair, despite being alone, commanded an overwhelming presence.
“Charlotte Balheim!”
“Sword Saint? Did she come to watch the entrance exam?”
“Wow, it’s my first time seeing a direct descendant of Balheim.”
Even the nervous students couldn’t help but admire Charlotte.
For those aspiring to Martial Arts, a nickname like hers was a dream.
A nickname was proof of one’s strength.
Charlotte had earned such a nickname before becoming an adult, marking her as a genius among geniuses.
Naturally, she was admired.
With everyone’s attention on her, Charlotte walked to the end of the spectator seats.
Then, she placed one foot on the railing.
As everyone watched her intently,
“Kraush!”
She called out a name with a booming voice.
Even Kraush, who hadn’t expected her sudden action, looked surprised.
In the ensuing silence,
she curled her lips into her trademark smile.
“Be the best.”
She said what she wanted and turned to leave.
It was a typical Charlotte move, doing what she wanted.
“Kraush?”
“That’s the youngest’s name. Another Balheim direct descendant is here?”
“Guess I won’t be top-ranked.”
“But they said he’s a halfwit.”
Amidst the murmuring, Kraush felt the growing attention on him.
They recognized the distinct hair color of Balheim.
People started stepping back from Kraush.
They thought it best not to get involved with him.
As a result, Kraush got a meter-wide space around him, free of people.
Despite doing nothing, he received this treatment.
He felt the weight of the Balheim and Charlotte names.
‘I’ve unintentionally become the center of attention.’
But what bothered him more was Sigrid’s gaze.
She was staring at Kraush with half-closed eyes.
In the previous life, Sigrid hadn’t even attended the entrance exam.
So she didn’t know how Kraush enrolled.
But this time, there were too many variables.
From Sigrid’s own actions, Abella’s disappearance, Mary Diana’s detention, Ebelasque’s escape, and even Charlotte’s enrollment, there were many unknown factors.
So she must have been pondering things while watching him.
‘I intended to display my skills anyway.’
If it gave her a headache, all the better.
“Balheim direct descendant! Kraush!”
At that moment, someone jumped into the circle around Kraush.
A boy with gray hair styled like a ponytail and tiger-like patterns on his skin.
Balak Hogma.
One of Starlon’s top three and a subordinate of Aniks.
It was the first time Kraush had seen him since the Holy Land of Stars.
They were the same age, so he must be here for the entrance exam.
“Wow! You’ve grown a lot taller!”
“You’re still short.”
“Right? I must have a slow growth spurt.”
Balak responded nonchalantly to Kraush’s comment.
“You seem much stronger. Let’s have a match later.”
“I see you still haven’t learned your lesson.”
“I want to try using my weapon this time!”
He was someone who wouldn’t be easily discouraged.
But at least he was from the same Starlon family.
Having someone around was better than being alone and ostracized.
‘Just like my unpredictable sister.’
Kraush sighed, recalling Charlotte’s sudden action.
***
After Charlotte’s stormy presence had disappeared,
conversations started among Sigrid’s group.
“Is that Charlotte’s brother?”
“We should be cautious then. If he’s Charlotte’s brother, he must be skilled.”
“There were recent rumors about Starlon deliberately distorting information.”
As they whispered, Sigrid remained silent, staring at Kraush.
Her reason for being here today was simple.
To find Arthur.
Arthur hadn’t enrolled in Rahelrn Academy last year.
Realizing that, she was shocked but thought Arthur must have had his reasons.
So she focused on her tasks.
This year, an associate professor informed her about Arthur Gramalte’s entrance.
Finally, Arthur had appeared, she thought.
So she held back, waited, and decided to attend the entrance exam today.
But unexpectedly, someone else was grabbing attention.
‘Is it true that the cursed one has gotten stronger?’
Her blue eyebrows furrowed slightly.
To Sigrid, Kraush was nothing more than a cursed one.
She didn’t care about his rude remarks.
He was just a tool necessary for their path.
Nothing more, nothing less.
But today’s Kraush was clearly different.
Sigrid had been through many battlefields.
She knew how to gauge people.
The Kraush she saw now had entered the realm of mastery.
‘How? His talent was so poor it was laughable.’
He had no notable traits other than handling curses.
Yet here he was, suddenly appearing as a master.
Sigrid found this fact very displeasing.
He was someone who had irritated Arthur with his comments.
‘He should have just stayed cursed. Why become a variable now?’
Sigrid exhaled shortly and rubbed her wrinkled forehead with her thumb.
When Arthur had inherited memories, he had warned about variables from butterfly effects each iteration brought.
Instead of focusing on why the variables appeared, think of how to resolve them.
Sigrid suspected Kraush was this iteration’s variable.
From what she gathered about Ebelasque, she had headed towards Starlon.
‘Mary’s foolish mistake must have caused this.’
It must have been a variable resulting from that.
Kraush must have gained some opportunity because of it.
‘Fine. This isn’t urgent right now.’
Even so, Kraush’s role wouldn’t change.
His ability to steal curses was essential for Arthur’s path.
Arthur had kept him around until the end for that reason.
‘If he gets stronger, I’ll just use him more. I’ll make him an ally.’
He didn’t know about her.
While she couldn’t remember what Kraush liked, she knew what he disliked.
Avoiding those things would make befriending him easy.
‘Sigh, befriending a cursed one is absurd.’
But what could she do?
She aimed to save the world.
Sigrid thought she was too considerate of the world and clicked her tongue, leaning back in her chair.
If necessary, she’d use extreme measures to bring him in.
Kraush was a useful tool.
‘But now, it’s Arthur’s turn.’
Putting thoughts of Kraush aside, Sigrid scanned the area for Arthur.
Unaware of how significant the future mistakes would be.
“Welcome, everyone. I’m Kairan, the chief examiner for the entrance exam and in charge of the Martial Arts test. We’ll begin the Martial Arts entrance exam now.”
And so, the entrance exam began.
End of Chapter
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