Even at Dwener’s curse, Duke Zeppelin remained calm.
“…Strange. This isn’t something to get that angry about, is it?”
He wasn’t wrong. Considering they were on the same side, an order like this was nothing.
Just looking at the hierarchy between them, Dwener had no business raising his voice.
But Dwener was angry.
“Of course I am. They’re my students.”
Only then did an emotion flicker across Duke Zeppelin’s face.
A sneer.
He didn’t bother to hide it.
Why should he? A parachute appointee puffing himself up as principal—what a joke.
It was laughable. And people who didn’t know their place needed to be taught.
Even if that person was an old man who could drop dead tomorrow.
“Ridiculous. Since when did you start pretending to be some noble adult? You rubbed up against power to get that chair.”
Ever since he became principal, Dwener had dutifully accepted every gift Duke Zeppelin sent as a matter of form.
The thanks were a bonus. Even when he refused a call claiming to be busy, he’d send back such fawning gratitude through his aide.
It was enough to make the recipient’s face burn.
And now that same man was suddenly acting like a decent adult. Of course it made him scoff.
“You decide you want to live grand all of a sudden? People praise you as Dwener the Iron Fist and now you really think you’re something?”
In that instant, pressure crushed down on Dwener’s right hand.
Only then did he realize the duke’s fist was pressing down on the back of his hand.
Crack, crack, crack—an awful sound rattled through his hand.
In the game of rock-paper-scissors, a fist can never beat paper. That’s the rule.
But reality is different. The only rule here is—
‘Strength.’
Crunch!
“Kgh!”
Pain shot up as his hand was crushed.
He wanted to scream on the spot, but Dwener held it back.
‘Zero went through worse than this.’
He’d heard what happened from Caron.
The boy had fought an Eight-Star knight to protect his classmates. His bones had been shattered and punched through his skin.
And even then—
‘He still got back up to keep fighting…’
Dwener couldn’t even begin to imagine how desperate, how raw that must have felt.
And he was supposed to complain over one broken hand?
He could offer two. He could offer far more, if it meant protecting the children—if it meant protecting Zero.
Even if what he offered was his own life.
“Is this it? Your title of Fist King is going to cry.”
“You know very well this is only the beginning.”
“They say well begun is half done.”
“…That saying doesn’t fit this situation.”
Dwener might have earned the alias Iron Fist, but Duke Zeppelin’s title, the Fist King, was on a different level.
Dwener knew that perfectly well.
‘Obviously I’m the one who’s going to break first. But that doesn’t matter.’
Even if he broke, he could slam into him again.
Just like Zero, who kept getting back up every time he fell.
Dwener raised his tightly clenched left fist. There wasn’t even proper strength in it, let alone mana.
A punch that wouldn’t hurt even if it landed.
But it was more than enough to win Duke Zeppelin’s favor.
‘So you’ve been playing the fool.’
He’d hidden himself inside a shell of incompetence, quietly waiting for his chance.
A chance to step out into the world.
And Duke Zeppelin had a word for people like that.
Talent.
“I knew something felt off… so that’s what it was.”
Exposing the crimes of those two pigs in Carpathia.
Making every house compete over the mine.
And the things he didn’t even know about yet.
“Dwener, that was all your work.”
Dwener kept his mouth shut. A careless word could expose the activities of the Evil-Slaying Group.
His silence was meant to protect that secret, but it only charmed Duke Zeppelin even more.
‘This is why rumors can’t be trusted.’
Bold execution and judgement, intricate planning, the resolve to stake his life.
Coming in person had been worth it.
Duke Aziz had no idea Dwener was this capable.
Properly used, Dwener might deal him a serious blow.
“Come work under me.”
“…?”
“Not right now. When Duke Aziz throws you away, come find me. I won’t treat you poorly.”
The sudden offer left Dwener dumbstruck.
He’d been ready for his left hand, no, all his limbs to be smashed, and now he was being scouted?
After a brief moment of thought, Dwener opened his mouth.
“I refuse.”
“So you trust Duke Aziz. Want me to tell you something? Trash like you, he’ll throw away without a second thought. If I killed you right here, he wouldn’t say a word.”
He wouldn’t just stay silent, he’d simply parachute in someone new.
There were more than enough leeches clinging to Duke Aziz.
Dwener was one of them.
A man who’d secured his position by proving he was more useless than anyone.
And that was why Duke Zeppelin overlooked one crucial fact.
The current Dwener was anything but useless.
“Then go ahead and kill me.”
The absurd reply left Duke Zeppelin speechless. No—he couldn’t speak.
“You can’t do it. Of course you can’t.”
“Right now, you…”
“You’re thinking about stabbing Duke Aziz in the back.”
“…And why do you think that?”
“You say you want to recruit me, but you don’t take me with you right away. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
He preferred Dwener to stay under Duke Aziz. In other words—
“You want to use me as a spy. Planting a spy on your own side… what else could that be but betrayal?”
“You’re mistaken. The stronger the trust, the more careful you have to be. It’s precaution, for his sake.”
“Is that so? Then give the job to someone else. The next person who sits in this chair.”
Dwener’s words were reasonable.
Kill Dwener here, request the next parachute, then offer the spy role to whoever took this seat. Simple.
Dwener, who could think for himself, was troublesome. Someone incompetent but obedient was ideal.
“But reality’s the opposite, isn’t it?”
The incompetent weren’t incompetent for no reason.
Forget doing spy work, you’d be lucky if they didn’t get caught immediately.
More than anything—
“Trash like that doesn’t think. They’ll snitch on you right away.”
They’d dump every decision on Duke Aziz.
For the ridiculous reason that thinking was too much trouble.
“You have two paths, Your Grace. Kill me here, then try to have impossible conversations with the next parachute, and the next, and the next… Or join hands with the one person here you can actually talk to.”
So.
“If you don’t plan on killing me, get your hand off.”
Duke Zeppelin was dumbfounded by Dwener’s threat.
Somehow, the situation had twisted into one where he had to accept Dwener.
His specialties—force and authority—had no effect on this man.
Duke Zeppelin realized once more that, in the end—
The capable ones were the best.
“…Impressive.”
Duke Zeppelin pulled back his fist and took a potion from his coat, tossing it over.
Dwener didn’t heal himself right away. Call it a man’s pride, maybe?
Pointless pride. But that too was something Duke Zeppelin liked.
“What’s your goal?”
“My goal?”
“You wouldn’t be doing all this without one.”
The position of academy principal.
A position where he could live comfortably just by doing nothing.
There had to be a reason he’d revealed the talent he’d been hiding.
Duke Zeppelin thought that if he learned that reason, handling Dwener would become easy.
But what came out of Dwener’s mouth was something he’d never expected.
“Letting children live like children. That’s my goal.”
He was risking his life for something like that?
Zeppelin couldn’t understand.
“That’s a dream I can’t grant.”
Duke Zeppelin knew.
Dwener’s dream was something that could never come true.
“I’ll take my time trying to make you my man. And I’ll handle what you did this time on my end.”
“Why show me that kind of favor?”
“…I don’t dislike people who challenge the impossible. Let’s leave it at that.”
Their long conversation paused for a moment.
It was only after a short silence that they spoke again.
“Well then, time to get to work.”
The competition over the sales rights. Duke Zeppelin needed to tilt that in his favor.
Since things had come this far, Dwener decided to push boldly.
“Top-grade mana stones are hard work just to extract. Could you provide some manpower?”
For free, of course.
“And why would I do that?”
“It’ll be yours in the end anyway. It’s better for both of us if it’s well managed from the start.”
“…You say that while having no intention of handing it over quietly.”
Duke Zeppelin could already foresee it. This was going to be a long, bothersome road.
Still, even so—
“I’ll send people soon. Make sure food and lodging are prepared.”
“Of course. As long as you pay.”
He wanted money on top of the help he was getting? What a shameless bastard.
The problem was that Duke Zeppelin liked that about him even more.
…
…
“…This should do for now. Take care.”
Duke Zeppelin wrapped up the meeting and left without regret.
Even if recruiting talent was urgent, it had to be done slowly but surely. That was his creed.
“Huuuh…”
Left alone, Dwener slumped back in his chair.
Once he realized what he’d just done, his whole body began to shiver.
“I pulled that off and I’m still alive… should I be grateful?”
Still, staking his life had been worth it.
He’d managed to glean at least a little about the relationship between Duke Zeppelin and Duke Aziz.
‘A temporary alliance, where they could stab each other in the back at any time.’
You could call it sleeping with the enemy. It wasn’t unusual between great powers.
But there was one thing he was curious about.
Power, money, fame.
Duke Zeppelin was said to lack none of them. So what had Duke Aziz given him?
What had made him take that hand?
“…”
He thought it over for a while, but even capable Dwener couldn’t figure this one out.
Outside the window, he could see Duke Zeppelin departing.
From long ago, his Reputation had stood shoulder to shoulder with Duke Luke’s.
‘When did you change like this?’
‘Why did you, a firm pillar supporting the Empire, offer your hand to a power-drunk man like Duke Aziz?’
‘I don’t know the reason, but you’d better be careful.’
‘If you end up joining the ranks of villains…’
“I’ll be the one to take your head.”
Duke Zeppelin headed toward where his carriage waited.
Before long, he sensed Caron’s presence from a dark alley.
It was clearly calling to him.
‘Come to think of it… he said he had business with me.’
Duke Zeppelin stepped into the alley. He had business with Caron as well.
A familiar voice came from the darkness.
“You came.”
“With you flaring your presence like that, how could I just walk past? You seem stronger than last time I saw you.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
Duke Zeppelin’s eyes narrowed slightly. There was a faint anger in Caron’s words.
“Seems you have a complaint.”
“Your insight is as sharp as ever. Laying hands on the kids… you went a bit too far.”
“I admit it. They’ve got more spine than I thought. I ended up putting in a little more strength than planned.”
“However.”
“I still don’t think it’s something worth complaining to me about.”
“You touched my students. How could I not complain?”
Duke Zeppelin knew.
Caron did care about the children, but not as fiercely as Dwener.
Which meant his anger had another source.
And it likely wasn’t far from his own objective.
“Zero… Is it because I touched that boy?”
In that moment, his left hand burned.
When he looked down, a dagger was buried in the back of his hand.
He didn’t need to ask who did it.
Red eyes glowed fiercely in the dark. It was the same Caron who’d once been called a Killing Machine.
Exactly like back then.
“Interesting. Planning to go back to the old days? Over one boy?”
“Don’t get it twisted. I’m angry because you laid hands on my ‘kids.’”
Of course, ninety-nine percent of that meant Luna and Zero.
“Let me warn you. Don’t rampage too wildly in someone else’s territory. If something like this happens again… The same thing will happen in your lands.”
Caron’s chilling threat. Yet Duke Zeppelin laughed.
Louder than ever.
“So he’s caught even your eye, Sir Caron. Good.”
Zero was talent. Talent even the infamous Caron coveted.
Learning that made him genuinely happy.
“Thank you. You’ve confirmed my eye for talent isn’t failing me.”
Caron knew as well. This man was obsessed with recruiting talent. He hadn’t wanted to give him hints, but Zeppelin must have felt it the moment he fought Zero.
That the boy was a monstrous talent.
It was already exposed. In that case, he needed at least a minimum safety device.
That was what his warning was for. And there was one more thing Caron trusted.
“It won’t be easy.”
The boy had kicked away not only him, but the Imperial Knight Order as well. Would someone like that fall for Duke Zeppelin’s tricks?
At best, he’d get bitten hard in return.
“Consider this wound my payment for the information. I’ll be going.”
The two turned their backs and walked their separate ways.
Neither intended to back down.
That one—
That one—
“Is mine.”
–TL Notes–
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I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 463
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I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 465
One thought on “I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 464”
theodor says: June 13, 2026 at 1:52 pm
Wow woah!
Zero chain hidden piece activation have recruit another pillar!
At this point Duke Zeppelin is as good as an ally isn’t it? Having connection and favorability to both Zero and Dwener
If I have to guess,Duke Zeppelin ally with Duke Aziz out of self preservation
Either the Emperor or the Crown Prince abuse Imperial authority and destroy house Lester
And lastly the Zero recruutment war intensify!!!
