Playing the Perfect Fox-Eyed Villain Chapter 8

Episode 8. Adaptation (3)

I sighed inwardly and met eyes with the woman in front of me.

Odwin's lavender eyes were staring at me intently. His half-open eyes were filled with questions.

Even a 'gray haze' appeared in her head.

Among the colors of emotions that appear as <the color of negativity> is 'doubt'.

I guessed where it came from.

It must be different from the Yurian you usually know.

'This is a long story… Is the honorifics the problem?'

No, that won't be it.

To Yurian, 'polite speech' is an expression of ego and an identity.

Rather, if I hadn't used polite language, my suspicions would have grown more than they are now.

Even talking to yourself is polite, so there's no way to do anything about it.

So what was the problem?

“Is there a problem?”

I just couldn't figure out what the problem was.

I decided that if I stayed still any longer, suspicions would grow, so I decided to shamelessly go out.

In a way, being shameless is one of Yulian's usual behaviors, so it won't be a big problem.

“No, Yurian… Don’t you usually just report without saying anything and then go back?”

That was it… … .

I have no idea what this kid thought of his superiors.

But if that's the problem, then good.

How can I get over this?

“Haven’t you been out of work for a long time due to an injury? That was just a comment I made as a report.”

"……is it so?"

“Yes. Is there any problem?”

He gave a short sneer and dismissed the question.

Her doubts were allayed as expected by Yurian's response.

“I heard you weren’t in your right mind, but you’re still the same.”

Although I was relieved to hear that it was still the same, I felt strangely like X.

No, I know Yulian isn't in her right mind and I'm faithfully acting that out, but it's strange that I feel good when I hear that kind of evaluation out loud.

The people I've met so far have never directly said that even if they thought about it.

This woman, Odwin, is no ordinary bet, at least.

Judging from the fact that he didn't hesitate to make such remarks in front of Yurian, he's not an ordinary person.

“Then please report. Were there any useful guys in the entrance test?”

She returned to her seat and asked with a very serious expression.

If it was a report about that, it would be simple so I answered right away.

“There wasn’t any.”

“Well, I guess so. I knew you’d say that. You’re the disciple of the swordsman Haydn Reich, so anything with average skill would seem ridiculous.”

Odwin nodded, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms.

“Still, there must have been some skilled people who could be used as apprentices, right? A few people or so.”

“There wasn’t any.”

"huh?"

Boom─!

Odwin uncrossed his arms and quickly pushed himself away from the chair.

“No, so you didn’t pick anyone?”

"yes."

“Not even one?”

I don't know how many times I have to ask this.

My answer remains unchanged.

I nodded.

As if he realized the situation too late, Odwin's mouth began to open.

“Why did you do that! Right now, ‘Closed Eyes’ doesn’t have many people, so we want to hire at least one more person!”

“We can’t accept just anyone because we don’t have enough people. All the applicants this time were people who didn’t fit the ‘closed eyes’ category.”

“But who knows! If I pick it up as an apprentice and try it out, it might be usable!”

“It’s a waste of time. These people are not even qualified to be apprentices.”

I let out a short laugh.

In fact, it was a laugh that came out of embarrassment.

As a result, they were all eliminated, but it wasn't because of the applicants' skills.

It was just for my own purposes.

And then you say that these guys don't even have enough trainee positions.

Even though it was acting, I felt shameless.

"ha……."

Odwin pressed his temples as if his head was aching.

Meanwhile, he slowly approached her and threw a piece of paper on the desk.

Odwin accepted this and looked at it as if asking what was going on.

“What is this? Aren’t we talking about the entrance exam just now?”

“Yes, this is also related to the entrance test.”

“……What is it?”

“I have summarized the problems with the entrance test that I found out this time.”

“Problem?”

Odwin asks, looking at it as if it were a nuisance.

“You get recognition through sparring with the instructor, and then you have an interview with the Imperial Secretariat, which makes the final decision. What’s the problem?”

“It’s the way of sparring.”

“Sparring style?”

I told Odwin, who was tilting his head, the story I had prepared in advance.

“I think the applicants for the job are lacking in alertness. They need to know exactly what the exclusive organization is before applying.”

“Well, if the instructor in charge said so, then it would be true…….”

Odwin began to read the 'Entry Test Improvement Plan' I had handed him.

The more his gaze was directed downward, the more distorted his expression became.

“……If you take the entrance exam, ‘Closed Eyes’ is not responsible for any accidents that may occur?”

"yes."

“Does this mean you’re going to increase the intensity of the sparring?”

"you're right."

I nodded.

There were a lot of restrictions in the 'Closed Eyes' entrance test.

One of them is a provision that requires instructors to ensure the safety of applicants during the testing process.

Of course, the applicant must never be injured or killed. If such an accident occurred, the instructor was unconditionally responsible.

'The aspiring players who were taking the test at Bayer Academy that day would have known about this provision.'

However, the reason I was so scared by the words 'I'll kill you' and gave up on the exam is simple.

Because the person who said those words was me, 'Jurien Kraifart Frasson'.

Would you break the rules?

Even if you thought so at first, you can't help but doubt it again when you think about how many corpses have piled up with the name 'Yurien'.

If that crazy guy is capable of it, it might be possible.

Something like this.

It was a gamble that was possible because it was used.

Odwin frowned as he looked over each improvement plan.

Finally, he picked up the paper with his fingers and shook it.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll bring it up in the Congress.”

“Yes, thank you, Commander Odwin.”

“But, is it possible that this is why no one was selected in this entrance exam?”

“That’s not possible. Talents hired through faulty tests are useless. Aren’t we an agency exclusively for the imperial family? It’s unforgivable to tarnish that noble name…….”

“Oh, I got it. I got it!”

I shrugged my shoulders as I looked at her bashful face.

When it comes to anything related to the 'royal family', I get crazy and go crazy.

This was also 'Yurien'.

***

After Yulian left, silence fell over the director's office.

The current leader of the 'Closed Eyes', Leader Odwin, who was leaning back in his chair, turned his gaze back to the documents that Yurian had left behind.

What is written in the document is a plan to improve the 'closed eyes' entrance test.

Normally, a single member would not have this much authority, but Yurian's position in 'Closed Eyes' was incomparably higher than that of a single member.

If I had to say, it would be right below the captain himself.

That is why it was accepted that improvement measures were submitted in this way.

Even though he is a collateral relative, isn't he a nobleman?

“Still, I’m not the type of person to interfere with regulations like this.”

Odwin looked at the papers with interest.

A glass of cursive writing that fills a whole page.

But all this content was just a smokescreen to hide one important means.

In the end, there is only one thing that matters.

“No matter what kind of accident occurs, ‘Closed Eyes’ is not responsible……”

If this new rule is applied, instructors will literally not be held responsible for anything that happens during the entrance exam.

Even if a person dies, he or she is considered 'innocent' under the protection of the royal family.

Of course, that doesn't mean the essence of the entrance tests that have been conducted so far will change.

In the first place, most of those who gaze at the 'closed eyes' are the fallen nobles and commoners who can maintain political neutrality.

They have no power, or rather, no authority.

It is easy to dismiss the complaints of such people.

“Yurien must know that too. So, it’s safe to say that the real purpose of this improvement plan lies elsewhere.”

Odwin closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts.

Why would someone who normally had no interest in regulations suddenly submit such documents?

"ah!"

Now that I think about it, one thing just occurred to me.

This is about a 'plot' that happened during the entrance exam.

The Elder Council and the Torso family conspired to rig this entrance test.

She also had a rough idea of the situation.

As the head of the royal agency, ‘Closed Eyes,’ he was bound to hear all sorts of news from the world, even if he didn’t want to hear it.

As I thought about it that way, the puzzle pieces began to come together in my head as to why I had submitted this completely useless 'improvement proposal'.

“It’s a warning.”

Yeah, this is a warning.

A warning from Yurian to the Torso family and the Council of Elders.

'I saw right through you guys' scheme. If you do the same thing next time, I won't let it slide like I did this time.'

When Odwin found out Yurian's true intentions(?), he immediately called the servant waiting outside.

Not long after, the door to the manager's office opened urgently.

He handed over the proposal Yurian had written to the servant who came inside.

“Could you please pass this on to Congress?”

“Are you talking about the Congress?”

"yes."

“Understood, Commander Odwin.”

After greeting politely, the servant left the manager's office holding the documents.

Odwin, who had been watching the scene for a long time, put his right hand on his chin and became lost in thought.

“He’s a different person after getting seriously injured once.”

The person she knew as 'Jurien Kraifart Frasson' was a terrifyingly cruel swordsman with a force to match.

It was nothing more or less than that.

A creepy smile and squinty eyes that can't see anything.

Because of that, it was nearly impossible to read emotions, but it didn't matter until now.

Because Yurian was just a dog who was loyal to the royal family's orders.

Because he was an emotionless sword that carried out orders from above and did not harbor any complaints toward his superiors.

But the problem is… … that dog started to have thoughts of its own.