The glow of sunlight woke me from my sleep.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw the blurry figure of a brown-haired woman drawing open the curtains.
"Good morning, Young Master Raul," the woman said with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"
As far as I remembered, she was the servant specifically assigned to Raul during his education at Grunbelt Academy.
High-ranking nobles like Raul were entitled to bring a servant roughly the same age as themselves to the academy.
These servants would attend regular classes and be issued special permits allowing them to enter the noble dormitories.
"What time is it, Sephira?" I asked as I sat up in bed.
Sephira took a pocket watch from the pocket of her clothes.
If I remembered correctly, it was a watch Raul had given her after she passed the selection process to become his personal servant at the academy.
"It is six-thirty, Young Master. Classes will begin in an hour," Sephira answered.
She then approached my bed to straighten the sheets.
"Warm water is already prepared if you wish to wash up now."
I walked into the bathroom, removed all my clothes, and immersed myself in the hot bath Sephira had prepared.
As I closed my eyes, I recalled everything that had happened yesterday.
I had suddenly found myself inside Raul de Garcia's body, after which I participated in a sparring match with Brian—the event that marked the beginning of Path of Destiny.
There were several things I had learned about the body I had entered.
The original Raul's emotions were still present within it.
That meant some of my actions would be influenced by Raul's emotions, whether those actions were good or bad.
Raul de Garcia was the main antagonist of Chapter Three, which would take place toward the end of the third academic year.
That meant if I managed to survive until then, the story route would already have deviated drastically from what was supposed to happen.
Let's see...
How could I avoid death until that time came?
Most of Raul's Death Flags were triggered by his interactions with Brian and Ariel.
Should I keep my distance from both of them until graduation?
Alright.
Let's do that from now on.
"Next, I need to increase my influence within the Empire."
By increasing my influence in this country, I could make preparations for the invasion of the Demon Race that would occur in the future.
I had to start preparing now so that my chances of surviving when that catastrophe arrived would be much higher.
Influence wasn't the only thing I needed.
I also had to increase my own strength in case I found myself trapped in a difficult situation.
After all, relying on yourself in a life-or-death situation was far more reliable than entrusting your life to someone else.
In that case, I needed to make use of the Codex I possessed—Villain Destiny.
However, this Codex would only become effective if many people hated me.
That was a problem.
Having too many people harbor hatred toward me could create new Death Flags that I might not be able to anticipate.
"Perhaps I should make sure that the hatred directed toward me only comes from weak people who pose no real threat?"
After soaking in the hot water and cleaning myself for several minutes, I left the bathroom and put on my academy uniform.
Not long afterward, Sephira returned to the room carrying various dishes for my breakfast so that I would have enough energy to begin my academy activities.
"Breakfast is the usual today: eggs Benedict, jasmine tea, and several kinds of fruit," Sephira said as she placed the tray on the table. "Please enjoy your breakfast, Young Master."
Sephira then bowed and turned around, intending to leave the room.
"Have breakfast with me, Sephira," I said, stopping her.
There was some information I wanted to ask Sephira about regarding the current state of this world.
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Although I was the one who had created the game, there were many details about this world that I didn't remember.
Especially when it came to Raul.
His character wasn't explained in much detail within the game because the story primarily focused on the Protagonist and his Heroines.
"I would be delighted, Young Master," she replied with a smile.
While eating breakfast, I asked her several questions about Raul's life and habits.
In the game, Players only saw Raul during important events, so there were many aspects of his daily life that had never been shown.
For example, Raul had a habit of associating with nobles from Prince Felix's faction.
Prince Felix was the eldest son of Emperor Philip de Aragon.
The succession system used by the Empire to determine its next heir was an elective system, in which the nobles across the Empire were required to choose one of the Emperor's family members to determine who would become the next ruler of the Aragon Empire.
"I just remembered, Young Master. There was a mysterious person who asked me to deliver this letter to you," Sephira said, handing me an envelope.
I opened the letter and read the message written inside.
Young Master Raul,
I have acquired professional assassins and ordered them to kill the target you requested during the upcoming survival examination.
Wait a moment...
An order to kill?
Had Raul hired an assassination group before the main story even began?
Thinking back, Brian's group had indeed been attacked by a group of unidentified people during the survival examination.
Could Raul have been the one who hired them to kill Brian?
Several students were injured during that incident, and there were even two fatalities as a result of the mysterious group's attack.
If that was the case...
Which assassination group had Raul hired to kill Brian?
"Sephira, do you know what the person who gave you this letter looked like?" I asked, trying to gather information about the group of assassins Raul had hired.
"I'm sorry, Young Master. The mysterious figure who approached me was wearing a mask, making it difficult for me to identify them," Sephira replied, looking apologetic.
"Don't worry about it too much."
I tried to keep her from feeling guilty.
Seeing Sephira lowering her head, I suddenly remembered something.
If I recalled correctly, there was an event in which Brian saved Sephira from a monster that escaped and appeared within the academy grounds today.
The monster had escaped from the academy's research facility while the Mages were conducting experiments on it.
After escaping, the monster spotted Sephira walking alone through the academy grounds and attempted to pounce on her.
Fortunately, Brian happened to be nearby.
He heard Sephira's scream and immediately rushed to save her.
After rescuing Sephira, Brian gradually became closer to her.
If I remembered correctly, Sephira eventually switched sides and became Brian's personal servant once Raul's cruelty began to worsen.
"Sephira, how is your younger brother doing as a student at the academy?" I asked.
Sephira had a younger brother who had successfully enrolled as a first-year student at Grunbelt Academy.
Unlike Sephira, whose education expenses were covered by the Garcia family, her younger brother had to rely on the wages Sephira earned as a servant to pay for his education at the academy.
"Ah, Roland has been very enthusiastic lately," Sephira answered, smiling brightly as she talked about her younger brother. "Roland says he's learning how to use Temper magic."
Sephira was a kind woman.
She was disciplined, serious about her work, and never complained despite the harsh treatment she received from Raul.
I supposed that having her grow closer to Brian would make her safer if danger ever threatened the academy.
After finishing breakfast, Sephira and I headed toward the academy building to begin our classes.
.
.
.
Precisely at eight in the morning, I was attending an Intermediate Magic class in the Advanced Classroom, taught by Master Ignacia de Rubicon.
Magic was a supernatural phenomenon caused by manipulating one's mana.
Everyone possessed different levels of mana.
Students with large mana capacities generally became Mages, while those with lower mana capacities tended to choose the path of a Knight.
This was because people with lower mana capacities compensated for their deficiency by combining magic with martial skills, allowing them to remain competitive against those with significantly greater mana capacities.
Well...
Except for Brian, who possessed Infinite Mana thanks to one of the abilities granted by his Codex—Fated Hero.
"Does anyone know why not everyone who possesses mana can use healing magic?" Master Ignacia asked.
She herself was a Priestess of the Temple of Goddess Diana.
In this world, the teachings of Goddess Diana were the most widely practiced faith across many nations.
The Temple of Goddess Diana was also one of the most influential organizations in the world.
They could even threaten an entire nation if it was proven that Heresy had occurred within its territory.
A green-haired woman raised her hand.
"It is because only those who possess Divine magic are capable of using healing magic," the green-haired woman answered.
She was Valeria de Artagnan—one of the five main Heroines that Brian could obtain in Path of Destiny.
She was the character with the highest Intelligence stat by the end of the game.
In fact, I had deliberately designed the game so that Players would have difficulty surpassing Valeria's Intelligence stat, making the game more challenging and interesting.
"Exactly! Ten points for you, Valeria," Master Ignacia said, clearly pleased that her student had been able to answer the question.
At this academy, there was a point system used to determine the overall rankings of the students at Grunbelt Academy.
For reference, Raul currently ranked ninth among the second-year students and fortieth among all students at Grunbelt Academy.
The top ten Knight-track students upon graduation would automatically be recruited into the Order Knight Calvatra—a unit composed of the strongest Knights in the Aragon Empire.
Meanwhile, the ten highest-ranking Mage graduates would be assigned to the Castille Magic Tower—one of the most magnificent magic towers in the world.
After class ended, I headed to the academy library to formulate a plan for surviving inside Raul's body until graduation.
I tried to recall the important events that would occur and wrote them down in a notebook.
The most immediate major event was the Survival Examination.
This event was one of the four major events in Chapter One of Path of Destiny.
"All students, please return to your respective dormitories immediately!"
The library visitors were suddenly startled by the shout of a library guard.
"A murder has occurred within the academy grounds! Everyone is instructed to leave and return to your respective dormitories!"
Huh?
A murder?
What had actually happened?
Had the escaped monster attacked another student besides Sephira?
With that thought in mind, I hurried out of the library.
I saw academy students running away from the garden area.
Ignoring the danger that awaited me there, I rushed toward the garden to find out what had actually happened.
When I arrived, I saw a woman lying on the ground near one of the gazebos in the garden.
I approached her body.
Her eyes were wide open, resembling those of a corpse.
Her reddish-brown hair was stained with blood, and there were two large puncture wounds in her neck.
Those wounds appeared to be the cause of her death.
"How... could this...?"
My body seemed to freeze as I stared at the corpse of the woman I had spoken to only this morning.
Yes...
The victim of the murder was...
Sephira—the personal servant of Raul de Garcia.