— Lunchtime.

On the rooftop of the main school building, I nibbled on my bread while gazing at a sheet of paper in one hand. The paper fluttered in the wind, as if it might be carried away at any moment.

Clamping the bread between my teeth, I used both hands to smooth out the wrinkles on the page. A furrow appeared between my brows as I did so.

“Hmm?”

Lawrence Givley.

Instructor at the Royal Lehan Knight Academy's elementary division. Age twenty-two.

The eldest son of the prestigious Givley Count family, which serves in judicial affairs at the royal capital’s central government. He participated in the Republican War as a full knight, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy about his role. After the ceasefire, he was transferred from the Royal Order to Lehan Knight Academy, showing enthusiasm for training the next generation.

Unlike Count Ryan Givley himself, Lawrence holds no political influence, making him virtually worthless as a hostage and unsuitable as an assassination target.

He has well-defined features, brown curly hair cropped short, and his height and weight are—…

This was the information compiled by Riona, a former intelligence agent, operative, and assassin.

Though summarized in a skimmable format, the single sheet of paper contained little more than that. One of the additional notes simply stated that he was a womanizer.

I handed the paper back to Riona, who was sitting beside me, and retrieved the bread I had been holding in my mouth.

Apparently, these were confidential documents from a certain Republican "facility." According to Riona, she possessed similar records for every instructor at this academy.

Moreover, while Lawrence’s dossier was only a single page, Lili’s was said to be about twenty times thicker. The majority of it was filled with the names of Republican military officers she had slain during the war, along with the dates and locations of their deaths.

Incidentally, even the Republic had been unable to uncover the chairman’s true identity, as Kilpus' name was not among the records.

“……Givley… Givley… Hmm, who was that again?”

I still couldn’t remember.

In hindsight, I should have just asked Lili directly instead of pretending to remember. But she had been glaring at me so intensely that I got caught up in the moment.

Riona, Lehaning against the rooftop railing while sipping on a vegetable juice, spoke up.

“El-tan, that’s the instructor you knocked out with a wooden sword during the entrance exam, remember?”

“Oh! That guy!”

The one with brown hair and a refreshingly handsome face—but also an incredibly insidious and unpleasant personality.

Honestly, how did he manage to break five ribs simultaneously from a single wooden sword strike by a ten-year-old? What kind of stance was he even in for that to happen? It wasn't just a lack of talent—it was something beyond that.

If you ask me, he probably broke them himself. Even with basic physical training, that shouldn’t have happened. In a way, he had mastered the art of weakness. Keeping him as a full knight was a waste.

Void, who was seated on the penthouse, turned to Riona, who was still Leaning on the iron railing.

“Hey, Assassin. That all you’re eating?”

“Don’t call me Assassin!”

Riona bared her teeth while lifting her vegetable juice cup.

“I’m on a diet!”

“Kukuku, that’s why you ain’t growing. Here.”

Void tossed a paper bag filled with bread toward Riona. Catching it, she flashed her fangs in irritation.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You want me to spell it out for you?”

“Don’t you dare, you idiot! Pervert!”

“Kukuku.”

Despite her complaints, she took out a piece of bread from the bag and started eating. It seemed their relationship was improving little by little.

Since being cut off from the Republic, Riona had no support system. That meant she had to cover her school expenses using only the funds she received at the start of her mission.

Apparently, Kilpus, under the mistaken impression that she was his future stepdaughter, had offered to pay her tuition. But Riona had refused. She wanted the man who had once been her assassination target to see what she would accomplish from here on.

As a result, she had started working a part-time job after school—though not every day.

Given that, her talk of dieting seemed suspicious. If anything, she looked on the thinner side.

Void had probably picked up on that as well. People from Elva's slums were famous for their keen financial instincts—so much so that it was a common joke among the vulgar nobility.

Riona muttered in a barely audible voice.

“……Thanks…”

“……”

Whether he hadn’t heard or was just pretending not to, Void lay back down on the penthouse, munching on his own bread.

Still a soft-hearted guy.

Looked like the extra bread I bought would go to waste. I had intended to give it to her last, but I guess I’d just eat it myself.

Tastes good. Freshly baked bread is the best. So good. The scent of wheat is amazing.

“The way you eat is kinda cute…”

“……”

Meanwhile, Oujin was seated against the penthouse wall, silently eating a tightly packed rice ball the size of a fist. He had already finished two, yet two more remained.

Surprisingly, he could eat quite a lot.

“Guh… urp! …Nngh.”

A weird noise came from Oujin, and a few grains of rice popped out of his mouth. Turns out, he wasn’t just a big eater—he was force-feeding himself.

I get it, though. He wants to grow bigger as fast as possible. But stuffing yourself like that won’t help—you won’t absorb any nutrients if you upset your stomach. Well, I’ll just watch over him with a warm eye.

Void turned to me and asked, “So? What about him?”

“Apparently, he’s the one who suggested using the first-year advanced class as monster fodder for the dungeon curriculum. Since Lili’s the one who told me, I doubt it’s false.”

“Hah. Doesn’t bother me any.”

Void sprawled out on the penthouse roof.

“Hey, it’s fine for us, but the other students in Class One would be in danger.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“No kidding? You…”

He’d jump to help them first anyway.

I almost said it, but stopped myself. If he got stubborn about it, that’d be a problem. I wanted Void to stay the way he was. It was pathetic, but I relied on this fifteen, sixteen-year-old kid.

If I were still Blythe, I’d have taken him as my apprentice.

I sighed.

“This might be my fault. I did break five of Lawrence’s ribs during the entrance exam. He probably holds a grudge. But having the whole class suffer for it is a bit much.”

“That’s not like you. If you’re such an idiot, just say it straight.”

Hey.

If you were my apprentice, that’d earn you a double-knuckle punch to the face.

“…So… um… I want you three… to help me out…”

I opened a milk carton and took a sip.

Ah, delicious. Why is milk so good? High in nutrients, pure in color—truly the best drink. So good. Ah, so good.

Void muttered with sleepy eyes, “The way you drink is… nah, never mind.”

“……”

Riona tilted her head against the iron railing and smiled at me.

“Then should I just take care of Lawrence? If he’s a womanizer, luring him out would be easy. Call him out at night, and in the dark, just swoosh—right across the throat.”

I sprayed white mist instead of red—milk, from my mouth.

The way the milk sparkled as it spread through the cloudless sky reminded me of a quiet winter morning.