Reincarnated User Manual

Surveillance disguised as an escort.

Naturally, Shiron was assigned to Victor, but encountering Victor in such an unexpected place was quite surprising.

“Did you do your homework well?”

“Eh. What?”

Victor, with a dazed expression, opened his eyes wide at the sudden visitor. It was inevitable, given that this place was an academy where outsiders were normally not allowed.

In the student council room of that academy, Victor, holding the title of student council president, sat in an executive chair that seemed more fitting for a corporate president, surrounded by many people.

“Why are you here? And how did you get in here?”

“Just showed them the investigative cooperation document and they let me in.”

“Investigative cooperation… What?”

Even as time passed, Victor couldn’t shake off his dazed expression. Investigation? What was that all about?

If Shiron’s words were true, it indicated a major incident involving administrative intervention had occurred at the academy, something Victor, as the student council president, should have been aware of.

Unfortunately, Victor was not the only one confused by the situation.

“President. Who is that person?”

To Victor’s right, a girl with glossy black hair sent a fierce glare. Her eyes were so sharp, she seemed more wild than Lucia before she was tamed.

“What are you doing barging in here like this…”

“Sierra! Shh!”

Victor abruptly cut off the girl’s words and then whispered into her ear while grabbing her shoulder.

‘That guy’s completely crazy. Keep quiet if you don’t want to get hit.’

‘…What? Get hit?’

Sierra’s eyes, resembling a cat’s, widened. It was because the hand on her shoulder and the whisper in her ear were oddly trembling.

Victor was of royal lineage, and for her, a daughter of a viscount’s family, even speaking with him was an honor… Yet this nobleman was using vulgar language and telling her not to blurt out nonsense.

“Good grief.”

Shiron smirked as he watched the two exchange affectionate gestures. Thanks to his exceptionally good hearing, he could faintly hear their conversation despite the distance.

‘Why is he saying weird things to someone I’m meeting for the first time?’

His expression suddenly crumpled. With a flicker at the corner of his mouth, Shiron strode towards Victor.

He was going through all this trouble to make someone an emperor, and not only was he treated like an unwelcome guest, but he was also being called crazy, which saddened him.

“Hey.”

Standing in front of Victor, Shiron had a stern face. Since the other person wasn’t treating him like a friend, his petulant nature emerged like a nail in his pocket.

“Victor Ado de Rien.”

“Why, why?”

“Come to the rooftop with me.”

“…?”

A dazed expression again. But Shiron was quicker.

Before Victor could react, Shiron had already left the student council room.

---

Shortly after, Shiron found himself facing a panting Victor.

“You bastard!”

An oddly high voice.

Was it because he had a hard time dealing with the situation? Or was it because the way to the rooftop was tough? Victor, not fitting his noble status, started spouting vulgar curses.

“Why did you come here? Or rather, if you were going to come, why didn’t you send a notice?”

“…Victor Ado de Rien.”

Shiron took out his glasses and put them on. Openly swearing meant they were still on familiar terms despite everything. However, apart from that, Shiron wanted to get to the point quickly.

“I asked if you did your homework properly.”

“Why do you keep changing the subject? And what’s this about homework?”

“The Night of the Long Swords.”

Shiron turned towards Victor. The wind on the rooftop, given the height of the academy building, messed up his hair.

“Didn’t I kindly draw out the power structure for you? Have you laid a solid foundation?”

The reason Shiron felt annoyed as soon as he saw Victor was also this. Instead of attending noble gatherings to gain recognition and make connections, they were playing house in the academy with these kids.

He found this incredibly foolish and regrettable. Shiron wanted to smack Victor on the head right there and then.

Perhaps sensing the mood, Victor looked up at the sky and pointed with his fingers.

“…Two people?”

“What? Two people?”

“…I only had face-to-face conversations with six people.”

Victor defended himself as if to justify his actions. However, when Shiron glared at him with dagger eyes, Victor couldn’t even make proper eye contact, seemingly embarrassed.

“It’s not even been two weeks since that day… The best way to build connections is to attend social gatherings, and there’s only been one since that day.”

“…”

A brief silence.

Shiron was at a loss for words at Victor’s excuse that didn’t even sound like one.

He hadn’t been optimistic.

He remembered well the evaluation that Victor would be a worse emperor than Franz. Knowing that Victor wasn’t a knight in shining armor, Shiron didn’t expect him to have already built a solid foundation and be relaxing.

But feeling disappointed at the excuses that came out was another story.

“Let’s just stop.”

Shiron put his hand on Victor’s shoulder with a thump.

“Just don’t be the emperor and let’s all get exiled together. I’ll get exiled because Austin dislikes me, and you, being a potential reactionary, will probably get assassinated.”

“Wa, wait a moment!”

Victor, seeing Shiron’s blatantly disappointed expression, prepared to make an additional rebuttal.

“What are you waiting for? It seems like it’s all over.”

“First, let me explain why I’m here. Just wait a bit.”

Victor grabbed Shiron’s shoulder as he was about to leave the rooftop.

“It might be hard to say, but you know that the academy is a gathering place for the best talents on the continent, right?”

“I don’t know. Why would I know about an academy I don’t even attend?”

Shiron pulled down Victor’s wrist, which was holding his shoulder.

It felt like it could break with just a little force, as if he hadn’t wielded a sword lately.

“Even so, they’re not even on Lucia or Siriel’s level, right?”

“That’s… because those two are exceptional. Anyway, that’s not the important part.”

Victor’s tone became urgent, as if the crisis of Austin becoming the emperor loomed.

“It’s a gathering place for noble children. We can approach their parents through the kids, right? Weed out the bad ones, reach out to the promising ones in advance… Raise them and use them. That was the intention.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ll be graduating soon. So, I was laying the groundwork for the future during the day, and at night, I planned to gather people immediately needed at social gatherings.”

“…I’ll take your word for it.”

Shiron acknowledged, and Victor sighed in relief.

He wondered why there had been so many nerve-wracking events lately.

‘My grandmother, my brother, and now this guy too. They’re all crazy.’

Has he always been like this? Thinking back, Shiron remembered that even from their first meeting, Victor had been consistently difficult, slapping him without any reason.

“Anyway, why did you come here?”

“To monitor you.”

Shiron answered straightforwardly.

“From now on, my job is to stick with you.”

“…Always?”

Victor couldn’t hide his surprise.

---

At the main gate of the academy, the sun had already set, coloring the sky red.

“…Are you going to follow me all the way home?”

“Yeah. Why would I lie to you?”

Three steps behind the leading Victor, Shiron maintained a consistent distance while conversing with Victor.

“But why am I the target of surveillance?”

Victor sighed heavily. Shiron had followed him not only while he was doing student council work but even when he went to the snack bar and, embarrassingly, even to the bathroom.

Victor, who usually used the staff bathroom where few people went, found it uncomfortable to have another guy in the bathroom with him.

Shiron spoke casually to Victor, not taking his concerns too seriously.

“Surveillance is just a pretext. The main purpose is escort.”

“…Just you?”

“What, you think I’m not enough?”

Shiron retorted. It had gotten dark as they moved.

“That’s not it. But isn’t escorting usually done in a group…”

“There’s already a group.”

Responding to Victor, Shiron stayed close to him and looked around. As Victor mentioned, there were escorts arranged around Victor, discreetly positioned.

“I have no intention of taking the jobs of those who are working properly. Lucerne saves budget and manpower this way. Seems like the best option. If you really don’t like it, next time I’ll persuade Lucia or Siriel to act together.”

Their destination was not the imperial palace but a mansion in the residential area near the academy. As they walked casually, they naturally reached their destination, and the escorts who were on guard gathered at the entrance and entered the building.

“How far are you planning to come in?”

Tadak-

“From start to finish. Even nominal surveillance should be done properly.”

Tuk-

“There’s an empty room next to mine. Use it if you want.”

Tuk- Peok- Pak-

“Uh…”

The annoying sound that had been heard for a while. He had thought it was the sound made by the escorts who had entered first…

His body tensed up at the impending situation, and his blood boiled with anger.

“I hoped it wasn’t the case, but it seems my suspicions were right.”

“…”

Victor could no longer move forward.

All the doors inside the building were open. Normally, the escorts who entered would signal that everything was fine, but there was no news from them.

“Looks like I need to bring the kids next time.”

Seeing the glinting eyes in the darkness, Shiron drew his holy sword from its sheath.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!