CHAPTER 22
Babiyen Asteria.
She is the youngest disciple among the 11 disciples of the Red Flame Lord.
The Asteria Baron family was originally a merchant family.
And a merchant family with wealth that was counted among the best in the Empire at that.
It went so far that they paid a huge sum to the Imperial Family and obtained the status of a Baron family.
However, as noble society always is.
Those who are not nobles from the start are bound to be ostracized.
A family with only money and no honor.
That was the contempt the Asteria Baron family received in noble society.
Therefore, the Asteria Baron family used various means.
There is nothing in this world that cannot be done with money.
Honor, too, can ultimately be bought with money.
One of those means was for Babiyen to become the disciple of the Red Flame Lord.
If an outstanding person is produced from the family, the status of the family naturally rises as well.
Babiyen had talent in her own way and was able to become the youngest disciple by paying a huge sum of money.
The Red Flame Lord has loved gold, silver, and treasures since ancient times.
She collected everything that glittered, and forming a mountain of gold was her only goal.
So much so that her other alias was the Golden Firebird.
So she willingly accepted Asteria's proposal as well.
Babiyen was able to become the Red Flame Lord's disciple like that.
A disciple who entered with money.
Accordingly, Babiyen was an outsider among the Red Flame Lord's disciples.
Since the family commanded it, she couldn't refuse, but she couldn't get close to the disciples either.
The Red Flame Lord only accepted the disciple after receiving money; she left the teaching to the first disciple. It was to the point that the number of times Babiyen had seen the Red Flame Lord's face could be counted on one hand.
A frustrating life in many ways.
Babiyen's only refuge was the Star Cluster Gathering, where there were many peers.
For now, a Baron's daughter.
The status of being the Red Flame Lord's disciple.
Decent appearance.
Thanks to these advantages, she was somewhat of a star in the Star Cluster Gathering.
Babiyen found solace in the Star Cluster Gathering.
However, that was only a three-day reign.
Aranseol, who was far superior to her in appearance.
The eldest son of a Marquis family, who was far higher than her in status.
As such people appeared one after another, Babiyen's value plummeted in an instant.
That is why Babiyen disliked Aranseol.
Status aside, at least her appearance was something she was somewhat proud of.
Anything related to Aranseol made her grumpy for no reason.
It was the same today.
She intended to provoke Aranseol using the Transfer Student who came with her.
She never dreamed that it would become something that would cut into her own flesh instead.
Due to Harua's eccentric behavior, she couldn't bear the shame and stayed quietly in the corner. While she was hiding, unable to even lift her face due to today's events, all the lights in the hall went out.
A sudden situation.
The moment the disciples were flustered, the glass ceiling broke, and they appeared.
Black Dawn.
The Transfer Student terrorist group.
Among them, three were dangerous bastards who had made a name for themselves.
The blind swordswoman, Tear Rain.
The monster with no skin, Old Flesh.
The black magician covered in a pitch-black robe, Shadow Moon.
All of them are massacrers who have been active in the Black Dawn for a long time and killed countless people during their activity period.
Immediately upon appearance, they smashed the disciples who had just started to make a name for themselves.
Even if they are disciples of famous figures, they are chicks.
They could not be opponents for those who had already been through various battlefields enough to gain notoriety.
The disciples were falling, unable to respond to the sudden ambush and their power.
Babiyen was far away from the center of the hall.
Therefore, she captured that entire spectacle in her two eyes.
But she couldn't dare think of stepping forward.
The power difference was clear, and it seemed there was nothing proper she could do even if she stepped in.
However, there was hesitation in her heart as well.
Becoming the Red Flame Lord's disciple was the family's will, but it was also her will.
Because she also liked the stories of heroes described in children's books during her childhood.
The Black Dawn's terror and the crisis situation.
The longing for heroes from her childhood in her heart caused her conflict.
Will I participate in the battle?
Will I stay quiet like this?
When she was constantly conflicted like that.
An unexpected proposal came to her.
"I have a plan to stop those guys."
The man who suddenly appeared, and the man who humiliated her.
The disciple of Rapiel, the daughter of the Grace Magic Tower Master, Harua.
His proposal planted a small spark in her wavering heart.
Harua screwed her over big time.
That might be unpleasant, but it planted the impression that he was no ordinary character.
Furthermore, Harua is the person who rescued people from the airship that was crashing earlier.
Thanks to that incident, Aranseol rose to the rank of an instant star among the disciples.
I want to become like that too.
The flames of desire boiled in her heart.
"......What is it?"
And she comes to regret accepting his proposal enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"Black Dawn, you morons!"
A thunderous voice echoed through the hall.
The eyes of the disciples, as well as the Black Dawn, flocked to this side.
Babiyen closed her eyes tightly along with the dagger aimed at her neck.
"If you don't want to see the Red Flame Lord's disciple die, get lost!"
The person aiming the dagger at her neck was Harua, who had made the proposal just a moment ago.
And he looked like a heinous criminal, having stolen a hood from somewhere to cover most of his face.
She thought it would definitely be a path toward a dazzling hero.
However, no matter how you look at this, it was far from a hero.
She participated because he said he had a plan, but she never expected this.
This is, no matter how you look at it.
It's just a hostage situation............
A hostage situation staged by grabbing Babiyen.
He only asked her to play along with the actions without explaining the situation to her.
And Babiyen followed along more obediently than expected.
The proof was that she was currently screaming with both hands raised high.
She cries well like a red pig.
I like the sound of her crying.
The Black Dawn's gaze reaches me.
Actually, I don't know if the Red Flame Lord really joined hands with the Black Dawn.
The reason I am doing this now is simple.
If I fail, I have to stick this dagger in my neck.
If I succeed, I can tie up the Black Dawn.
At a glance, it seems the risk of failure is high, but for me, it is no risk, high return.
Because I revive anyway.
Of course, I don't wish for the former either.
If things go wrong, the Resurrection Magic might become known.
However, I couldn't just watch this mess unfold.
The promise with Aranseol?
Justice to protect people?
The will to change the world?
Fuck that.
There is nothing like that.
As I said before, it is enough for me that people whose faces I know don't die. Because I know well how unpleasant it is for someone I know to die.
So I don't care if the savage this-worlders here get annihilated or not.
The reason I am in this spot right now is exactly one thing.
It's because the Black Dawn, these bastards, are ruining the entire perception of Transfer Students.
Look at a good Transfer Student like me.
No matter how well I treat the savage this-worlders, they are prone to being discriminated against just because they are Transfer Students.
I loathe this-worlders.
In addition, I also loathe the Transfer Student bastards who cause damage to me with useless shit like this.
Because of these terrorist bastards, I still have nightmares about having my limbs pulled off by cultists.
"Open your two eyes and look straight! Before I shove a dagger into this bitch's neck! The Red Flame Lord would love to see a dagger stuck in her disciple's neck. Right!"
"Y-you, you, s-serious, right? You're not serious, right? Right! This, isn't it!"
Babiyen, this guy's acting is excellent.
I can forgive her once for sending me flying into the dining table.
The Black Dawn's gaze reaches me.
Even the disciples wore dumbfounded expressions, perhaps not having expected this situation.
The battle is momentarily incinerated.
Glances are exchanged among the Black Dawn.
According to Babiyen, the dangerous guys here are three.
Tear Rain, Old Flesh, Shadow Moon.
I observed how those guys fight.
Tear Rain is a blind swordswoman, but her movements see more than what eyes see.
She surely possesses an ability related to sensing.
Old Flesh has all his skin peeled off, but handles abilities related to blood.
Weapons of blood formed as swords, spears, arrows, etc., appear from anywhere on his body.
Shadow Moon's ability is as I saw earlier.
He encroaches the surroundings with darkness, and the moment one is cut by his sword, he makes the opponent's eyes and senses go blind entirely.
He is the one who subdued the disciples.
The weapons he wields are two curved swords.
What to be careful of right now is Shadow Moon.
That guy's movement.
So I was watching this guy more surely than the others.
The Black Dawn does not move.
An unexpected sudden situation.
I sensed an air of pondering on how to respond.
Sparks flew in my head as soon as I saw that.
As expected, the conjecture that the Red Flame Lord betrayed was correct.
If they felt Babiyen was worthless, they would have rushed at the disciples immediately.
The gamble succeeded.
Now, it's a matter of what to do with the time earned by this gamble.

“S-save me. This girl… this girl was wrong.”
Babiyen was now on the verge of tears.
Amidst the chaos, the Black Dawn members quietly began to gather in one place. Soon, they were subtly trying to shield Shadow Moon’s figure from view.
“Hey, I told you to stay put.”
I immediately pressed the dagger harder against Babiyen’s throat and shouted.
Her skin broke slightly, and beads of blood trickled down.
Black Dawn had no choice but to halt their movements.
“I’ll say this in advance: I’m a No-Named, too. No matter what tricks you pull, I can guarantee this dagger will find its mark.”
You have no idea what my Ability is, anyway.
So I lied with all the confidence I could muster.
A standoff with Black Dawn.
The other disciples, sensing the gravity of the situation, quietly readied themselves.
I just had to keep buying time.
By now, Aranseol should have joined up with Sohan.
She would be attempting to escape with that womanizing bastard.
Just then, I saw Shadow Moon flinch.
A sudden reaction.
This was it.
Someone was making a break for it.
Good.
Now, time was completely on our side.
Just as I was certain of my victory…
Click-clack—
“My, my, what are you all doing? I can’t get paid like this.”

A seductive voice echoed through the hall.
Presently, a woman with flowing red hair emerged from the darkness at the end of the corridor. Her heavy eye makeup accentuated her crimson eyes.
Her hand was already aimed at us.
“I’m going to have to charge you extra.”
An instinctual sense of crisis washed over my entire body.
It was the same primal scream I felt when facing Cosmic Jac.
Ah, for fuck’s sake. I have the worst damn luck.
The Red Flame Lord.
The Golden Firebird.
She had been here from the very beginning.
Fwoosh—
And then, the world before my eyes ignited.

A Word from the Author
All illustrations are uploaded to ‘Muhwa Kkotran’s’ SNS.