Academy’s Barbarian

Landenburg Castle—now referred to as the Royal Palace of Hestela—begins its mornings a little earlier than the sunrise.

While Ha-shal-leur, members of the Heaven’s Sword Order, knights, and soldiers would wake up a little past six, the maids responsible for managing the castle had to rise earlier to prepare for the day ahead.

Maids wake at 4 AM. Others at 6 AM. Though not codified into law, this was the customary wake-up time at Hestela’s Royal Palace.

Except for the administrative officials, who, once assigned a task, are stripped of their sleep rights until the task is completed.

‘Morning already…’

Hersh, a mixed-blood knight of black human and fairy descent, also started her day a little earlier than most.

‘Time to get to work.’

Of course, she didn’t wake up early to prepare morning service like the maids but to faithfully carry out the mission assigned to her by Ha-shal-leur.

======[ Hersh’s Daily Report ]======

05:00 AM.

After a quick breakfast of bacon-filled bread, she washed her body to remove any scent and headed to the regent’s bedroom. Quietly, using the ceiling passages instead of the corridors to avoid being seen.

The secret passages, created with the help of magicians during the expansion of Landenburg Castle into a royal palace, were dusty due to lack of maintenance but still incredibly useful.

They allowed her to thoroughly inspect the castle without being noticed.

Like now.

‘At it again, huh…’

Eleonora, the woman forced into the position of regent by Ha-shal-leur’s strong-arm tactics, lay asleep on a luxurious bed, quietly snoring. Beside her, the second surveillance target, Belnesia Valenstein, shared the same blanket.

Judging by their nightwear, it didn’t seem like they had gone *that* far.

It wasn’t uncommon for maids to share beds with their masters. Hersh had seen it many times during her assassination missions as part of the Five Swords.

Male nobles usually preferred maids they could touch without repercussions, but noblewomen and ladies often preferred sharing beds with their close confidante maids.

Bringing in a man was too risky, and relying on a maid hurt their noble pride.

Thus, same-sex relationships between noblewomen and their maids were quietly popular.

Though, these two didn’t seem to have crossed that line yet…

‘Not my problem.’

It didn’t matter if Eleonora and Belnesia turned their feather-filled bed into a waterbed or broke their legs scissoring.

Her mission was to monitor whether these two posed a threat to Hestela, not to meddle in their private sexual preferences.

So, she silently watched them until they woke up, hidden in the shadows of the passage.

– Swoosh…

Half-closing her eyes and focusing her mind, she pulled the darkness around her, covering her entire body with shadows that erased her presence completely.

Her aura, breathing, heartbeat, scent, even the faintest silhouette—all of it vanished.

Shadow Stealth.

The ability to hide in darkness and completely conceal one’s presence.

A blessing all black humans were born with, though not all.

Originally, only the noble bloodlines among black humans possessed this ability.

But now, all black humans had it.

Why? Well, those who couldn’t hide were caught and killed, so only those with the blessing survived to pass it on.

Of course, even their numbers were dwindling.

Living a life hidden in darkness or being captured and enslaved if they stepped into the light—those were the only choices for black humans.

It was no wonder their numbers were decreasing.

There was even a time when a magician named Belcus spread a curse that caused fetuses to be born with black skin, leading to mass slaughters of innocent black humans.

…Anyway, even if only half, I too am of black human blood. That’s why I can use Shadow Stealth.

Though, my mixed fairy blood has slightly reduced its effectiveness…

Still, unless you have senses like Ha-shal-leur, who surpasses even fairies and beasts, you won’t be able to detect me.

—

01:00 PM. Clear weather. The back alleys are dark. The stench of garbage and vomit fills the air.

During the sunny post-lunch break, I hid in Landenburg’s back alleys, tailing Belnesia.

Surveillance Target #1, Eleonora, was buried under paperwork, confined to her office all day.

So, it was more efficient to monitor Belnesia during the day.

‘Visited a bookstore and bought three romance novels. Then had a simple lunch at a corner restaurant. Purchased some tea leaves at a high-end general store and ordered a set of clothes at a fabric shop. Likely running errands for Regent Eleonora. Currently resting on a park bench.’

I observed Belnesia from a distance, tracking her every move. I wondered if she might be meeting someone she shouldn’t.

‘Nothing suspicious so far… Is she really just running errands?’

But after nearly two hours of tailing, Belnesia only shopped and browsed, showing no signs of contacting anyone suspicious.

‘I’d love to interrogate every merchant she dealt with, but that would only cause bigger problems.’

Unless I found concrete evidence of betrayal, it would just look like a half-black, half-fairy slave abusing her master’s authority.

Ha-shal-leur wouldn’t want me causing a scandal that tarnishes his reputation.

‘Then… I guess I’ll have to use *that* method.’

So, instead of simple surveillance, I decided to create a situation where Belnesia would have no choice but to reveal her true self. A classic but effective approach.

“Eek! Ugh!”

In short, I had thugs grab Belnesia while she was strolling and drag her into a dark alley.

“Where do you think you’re going? Stay still!”

“Rick! Get the gag! Shut this girl’s mouth!”

Of course, the perpetrators weren’t me but the local thugs.

Just as light always casts a shadow, cities always have back alleys and the thugs who rule them.

Even with paladins and knights patrolling regularly, completely eradicating thugs was impossible.

Being from the back alleys myself, I knew this better than anyone. So, when I was ordered to monitor Eleonora and Belnesia, I secretly visited the alleys and subdued several would-be criminals.

It wasn’t hard. Recruiting thugs and using drugs to control them was a specialty of the Five Swords.

So, I roamed the alleys with my ears covered and my face painted white, subduing thugs and turning them into my lackeys.

– Crunch!

Teaching them the lesson that out of five people, one is always trash.

The four thugs, drenched in their comrade’s blood, trembled and swore loyalty as their friend lay on the ground like chopped garbage.

All I had to do was gift them poisoned candy, turning them into obedient dogs.

I ended up with twenty-four dogs.

They weren’t trustworthy—without the poisoned candy, they’d have fled the city—but…

‘They’re disposable anyway.’

The loyalty of gutter dogs was worth less than the leftovers from a royal banquet.

Today, I picked four of the nastiest dogs, taught them Belnesia’s description, and ordered them to abduct her into the alley and break her at the first opportunity.

I didn’t plan to let her be actually violated—it was just to test her reaction.

Belnesia Valenstein, publicly known as a fallen noble lady, shouldn’t be able to fend off four grown men.

If she resisted and killed the four thugs instead of being helplessly violated…

That would mean she was hiding her combat skills, clear evidence of suspicion.

‘So, what will you do now?’

Hidden in the shadows of the street, I silently observed the gray-haired girl struggling against the thugs.

And then…

======[ Belnesia ]======

‘What kind of nonsense is this?’

Werner Valenstein.

Once known as the Ghost Sword, now trapped in the body of a girl named Belnesia, trembled in shock and confusion.

In his nearly seventy years of life, he had never imagined facing such a situation.

“Look at this. Thought she was a kid, but she’s surprisingly…”

A thug with a lecherous grin groped her chest. Another held her arms tightly, while the other two tried to spread her legs.

A sudden attempted assault. For a seventy-year-old man, it was utterly humiliating.

Was it the lustful gazes crawling over her body like snakes? A feeling of disgust, not anger, bubbled in her stomach.

‘Me, the Ghost Sword Valenstein, reduced to this…!’

The humiliation stained her mind black.

Belnesia glared at them, but the four men, consumed by desire, paid no attention to her gaze as they tore open her clothes.

She was about to be violated, but Belnesia couldn’t resist.

Even though these thugs could be wiped out with a single strike using the Power of Feats…

‘Damn Peirus…!’

Belnesia was bound by Peirus’s restriction.

A forced constraint that prevented her from taking any action that might reveal her true identity to Ha-shal-leur.

Because of this, even in the most desperate situation of her life, she couldn’t fight back.

If she used the Power of Feats to slaughter these thugs, the watcher—Hersh—would immediately report it to Ha-shal-leur.

‘The unseen black dog is the scariest, they say!’

Even if she somehow silenced the half-fairy black dog, Ha-shal-leur would turn against her the moment Hersh went missing. It was a dead end.

‘Me, violated? By men? And by these lowly thugs?!’

Her green eyes trembled like an earthquake.

The tongues licking her cheeks and the rough hands groping her exposed skin.

The sensation of hundreds of half-crushed cockroaches oozing fluids crawling over her skin sent Belnesia into a panic, her decades of life feeling meaningless.

Even Hersh, watching from the shadows, tilted her head, wondering if she had misjudged the situation.

“Eek, ugh…! Let me go…!”

Belnesia, unfamiliar with magic, didn’t know this, but just as the mind affects the body, the body also affects the mind.

Werner’s soul, optimized for the body it now inhabited, was slowly changing to match the female body.

That’s why the man once known as the Empire’s Greatest Sword was panicking over such a trivial crisis.

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