Teron shouted in a panic.
“What do you think you’re doing? Move that foot and back off right now!”
“Say it properly. You’re the one stepping on my foot. If you want it moved, you move.”
“Y-you! I knew you were brainless, but this is on another level…!”
Teron’s face went pale.
It wasn’t because she was talking back to him. It was because of the man behind him.
“…What is this?”
Because of Duke Zeppelin.
“Me? I’m Luna.”
“…”
Luna, he wasn’t asking your name. He wanted to know why you’re blocking him!
To be precise, he was questioning her attitude of openly defying a Duke.
This was a world where the social system of “ranks” existed.
Annwood Academy officially prohibited discrimination based on status, but the opponent here wasn’t a student. He was a Duke.
Luna’s behavior right now was incredibly dangerous.
“I see. So you’re Luna. Just as I heard, you’re quite an insolent child.”
It was only natural that Duke Zeppelin knew about Luna.
‘He’s got good intel.’
He had enough money to buy off teachers and instructors, so getting information on students wouldn’t be hard.
Especially Luna, who’d taken first place in the midterms. There was no way he wouldn’t know her.
“Hmm? What, you know me, old man?”
The bright smile on Luna’s face went cold in an instant.
If he knew, then—
“You should’ve been careful. Now I kinda want to tear your throat out.”
Hic—
A few kids hiccuped. They were so shocked their breathing was starting to malfunction.
‘This is bad…’
This whole thing was one of the story events that led to Teron’s corruption arc.
It was an auto-play scene that progressed and wrapped up on its own, but like always, it had “that” in it.
‘The Bad Ending.’
In the game, if you pissed off Duke Zeppelin, your head literally exploded and you went straight to a Bad Ending.
Since there were dialogue choices, players tried all sorts of different approaches, but every route ended the same way: bad.
In the end, everyone gave up on searching for hidden pieces. Every player was forced into the same cookie-cutter route.
And I was no different. Of course.
‘Though I did find another route.’
I found it while I was still playing alone, long after all the old veterans had quit.
But I really didn’t want to use it.
‘I don’t want that guy’s attention on me.’
Luna looked like she was in danger, but she wasn’t at the “get killed on the spot” level yet.
Duke Zeppelin had his “principles.”
And in fact, he still wasn’t laying a hand on Luna.
Instead—
“And that must be Zero.”
…He was looking for me.
Thinking about it for a second, it made sense.
I’d gotten tied to Luna as part of a set, after all.
‘…Can’t be helped.’
I couldn’t afford to lose a loyal slave(?) like Luna here.
I’d invested a lot in her, and on top of that, Caron would never let me hear the end of it.
I decided to step forward openly. I knew how to resolve this situation.
Of course.
“Eek?”
When I grabbed Rezé’s wrist, she looked up at me.
Her long bangs hung like curtains, and the eyes hidden behind them started trembling like crazy.
Looked like she’d figured out what I was planning.
“Keke, let’s go.”
“W-why me?! H-he didn’t call my name…”
Why? Well…
“Because you and I are a set, Miss Rezé.”
“S-since when?!”
Since the moment Luna dragged you to us.
So obviously you’re coming too.
“I see… You’re just as I heard.”
“My friend’s a bit extremely ugly, sure. If it hurts your eyes, you can look away.”
“He’s not that bad. More importantly… what is that?”
Duke Zeppelin looked down at Rezé.
Apparently he’d completely filtered her out as a non-threat up until now.
“P-please don’t mind me. I-I’m dust! Y-yes! J-just dust!”
“You dare fool around in front of a Duke. You’ve got more guts than you look.”
“S-small body, s-small guts, r-right? A-and come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever raised anything like guts in this body anywayyyyy…”
…What is this, an isekai version of The Tortoise and the Hare? How’s a person supposed to live without a liver?
More importantly, the turtle in front of us wasn’t some ordinary turtle.
It was a gym-rat turtle.
The kind of turtle strong and fast enough to crush a rabbit’s liver with a single punch.
“Mana cultivation… so you’re a noble? Which house are you from?”
“A-after our territory got annexed, I-I was forced into the nobility… M-my origin’s low, so please don’t worry about—”
“I asked which house.”
“L-Leria. I’m from House Leriaaaaa!”
Rezé flattened herself to the ground and started trembling.
The strange thing was how Duke Zeppelin’s eyes changed.
“I hired fools, it seems.”
“E-excuse me?”
“They let a rabbit that should have been captured at all costs slip through their fingers, and didn’t even report it… tch.”
A rabbit that should have been captured at all costs?
I racked my brain just in case, but there was no such line in the game.
‘House Leria. If I remember them, that means they showed up at least once in the story…’
I didn’t expect Duke Zeppelin to know them too.
Anyway, that was something I could investigate later.
I filed the puzzle piece away in my head and refocused on the Duke.
“So, why are you doing this?”
“I simply wanted to see the level of those at the top of the Golden Cohort. You certainly seem capable.”
“Not that. Why are you tormenting your son and his servant?”
“I merely administered discipline.”
“Discipline?”
“Yes, a parent’s right. What’s wrong with correcting a child who’s strayed from the proper path?”
“What? A right? Wow, you’re not just crazy, you’re completely gone.”
The number of kids hiccuping grew.
Some even fainted outright.
‘Calm down.’
Even Duke Zeppelin didn’t kill just anyone. He had his own principles.
He showed no mercy to brats who didn’t know their place and ran their mouths.
Which meant he killed them.
There was one exception that broke this rule, but I really didn’t want to take that route.
So no more provoking him would be—
“Kids can mess up sometimes, you know. Or do you start gagging the moment you see someone weaker than you?”
Yeah, let’s just die.
Thanks, Luna. Thanks to you I’ll die quickly and painlessly.
But Duke Zeppelin’s patience was impressive.
“How strange. Weren’t you all enemies?”
He was right. Even now, and ever since the semester started, Luna and Teron’s faction had been at each other’s throats.
Defending them was what made it strange.
But Luna’s answer was brutally simple.
“We’re classmates.”
“What?”
“They’re assholes, sure, but we take the same classes and live together. That makes us classmates.”
And—
“We’re comrades who’ll be fighting together from now on.”
Luna was right.
Right now we were rivals, but from 2nd and 3rd year on, there would be lots of joint assignments.
During graduation season, that structure became even more obvious, and after graduation, there was nothing more reliable than comrades you kept bumping into on missions.
Live long enough and you learn.
There’s no one more trustworthy than the people who suffered through hell alongside you.
And that kind of relationship, we call—
‘Friends.’
“You have a talent for wrapping nonsense up nicely. Look around you. Don’t you feel like something’s off?”
The kids Luna had just called comrades.
They were standing in a half-circle, just watching us.
If anything, after the Duke spoke, they’d stepped back a bit more.
As if to say, “We’re not your comrades.”
“No, what’s off isn’t me. It’s the people who stand around doing nothing while their classmate gets beaten half to death.”
The kids flinched.
It was probably guilt biting at them.
“I’m just saving a pitiful comrade. One who’s being bullied by trash that doesn’t even know what a family is.”
Yeah, this was who Luna was.
A girl who wouldn’t back down even if it meant breaking. A girl who would risk her life to uphold her pride.
And people like that—
“Ah~ what a brilliant speech. I’m telling you, Miss Luna’s voice has real power.”
“Oh~ Hohoho! To even care about her enemies, truly worthy of being this lady’s friend.”
Naturally drew people in.
Starting with Yuridia and Victoria, kids stepped forward one by one.
“Comrades, huh… Ah, that word hits different.”
“If you can hear that and still stay back, you’re not human.”
“She helped me too. If it wasn’t for them, I’d have died back then.”
“They were amazing during Carpathia, that’s for sure.”
As the group around Luna grew, more and more kids crossed over.
“Don’t they have more people on that side now?”
“Let’s go over there too.”
“Yeah, there’s no way he’ll kill this many people, right?”
Luna’s speech was effective.
Even kids who’d been part of Teron’s faction crossed the line, so it was clearly working.
There was just one problem.
“To let a kitten that doesn’t know its place run wild… life at the Academy must have been far too easy.”
“F-father!”
“Make your stance clear. Will you fight, or not?”
Teron bowed his head low.
That meant he wouldn’t stand with Luna, but he also wouldn’t oppose his father.
Duke Zeppelin’s gaze turned back to Luna’s side.
“I’ve seen plenty of loudmouths. But those who proved me wrong are few enough to count on one hand.”
“Then you’ve never met a proper opponent.”
“Interesting. Very well, prove it.”
That you’re right.
Rumble—
“Grrk…!”
“Ugh!”
“C-can’t… breathe…!”
A blue aura poured out of Duke Zeppelin’s body.
Mana so intense it was visible to the naked eye.
Luna braced herself, legs trembling as she desperately endured.
Rezé curled into a ball and shook.
And I—
“Keke, that’s quite the pressure.”
“…!”
Duke Zeppelin’s eyes widened slightly.
What he was using now was a technique that used massive mana to stimulate the emotion of “fear.”
The only way to withstand it was with strong mental fortitude.
Right. The reason the Duke’s pressure didn’t work on me.
It was because I had [Mental Defense].
‘Well, and Duke Zeppelin is holding back.’
He was putting out pressure just a bit stronger than the average skill level for kids our age.
Why go through all this trouble?
You could think of it as Duke Zeppelin’s personal way of selecting talent.
‘This is an exam.’
Duke Zeppelin’s principle:
He kills brats who don’t know their place and run wild.
But.
He doesn’t kill outstanding talents.
“If this is all you’ve got, I’m disappointed. An Eight-Star Knight… maybe you’re not that impressive.”
A light provocation, backed by the [Eye Opening] skill.
It worked beautifully.
“…If you’re that eager to die, I’ll grant your wish.”
“So you really did wake up today thinking, ‘I’ll commit murder’!”
“Zero! Don’t!”
Vyuern family’s First Secret Art.
Energy Strike.
The Duke threw a punch.
The fist that had been too fast to see until now came into sharp focus.
It meant he’d swung with controlled power, stopping it right in front of me.
If I just stood there and took it, I’d pass Duke Zeppelin’s test.
Of course, I—
‘Have no intention of doing that.’
I set one foot forward, one back, rooting myself into the ground.
I sent the twist from my legs into my hips, then up through my arm.
And I threw my own fist straight at the incoming punch.
Vyuern family’s First Secret Art.
Energy Strike.
CRAAAAASH!!
The sound of two fists colliding exploded across the plaza.
Blue aura and black aura burst out, tangling together.
Blood trickled from my knuckles.
The kids’ faces were frozen in pure shock.
Maybe because it was such an insane sight, no one dared make a sound.
The only thing we heard was—
Thud—
The sound of Duke Zeppelin’s coat, slipping from his shoulder and falling to the ground.
–TL Notes–
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I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 457
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I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 459
2 thoughts on “I’m the Slit-Eyed Character at the Academy, but I’m not the Mastermind – Chapter 458”
theodor says: May 23, 2026 at 6:38 am
Holy shit! I wept! I pity those who quite this novel early because thwy couldn’t stand Luna!
This is it,Peak Character decelopment!Luna pursuing the herpic path!!!
And holy shot,Zero! One of the 50 hidden pieces he discover independently was this!? But adding Vyuern family secret technique too! Oh boy! Recruit the duke Zero!!!
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theodor says: May 23, 2026 at 6:46 am
Oh also…Teron reputation and influence prabably will tank after this…
Hehehe I wonder how Zero will save him
