The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-141

Chapter 141 – The Villain’s Identity (1)

As Vikir returned to the academy, he pondered the events of last night.

“That guy. He was using Quovadis’ mace technique, right?”

The demon with the word ‘Ephebo’ carved on his chest.

He had the skills of a High-Tier Graduator, so dealing with him was quite an effort.

Even then, he couldn’t prevent him from escaping, which was disappointing.

“From tomorrow night onwards, I’ll have to search even more vigorously. Well, if I keep scouring all the places where the stench of demons lingers, we’ll meet again sooner or later.”

There was no way he wouldn’t show up.

Because demons would destroy all of the businesses they had established in the human world.

“Demons are particularly fond of human blood, particularly that of children… As a result, I should concentrate on orphanages, hospitals, and monasteries. I need to become a Sword Master as soon as possible so that my hunting can go more smoothly.”

Vikir was currently a Peak Graduator, having fully regained his powers from his previous life.

On top of that, he has a lot of experience killing numerous monsters, as well as the Stix River’s Blessing, Beelzebub, and the 10 Styles of Baskerville’s swordsmanship. He was now capable of facing a SwordMaster without any fear.

Considering he had just turned 18, his potential for growth was boundless.

“First, the seventh fang. I need to master Baskerville’s 7th Style perfectly…”

While Vikir was lost in thought, someone spoke up, awakening him from his day dream.

“Alright, everyone, pay attention!”

A voice roused Vikir from his thoughts.

A sophomore girl had gathered the first-year students and focused their attention.

Her name tag revealed the following inscription:

A club.

This club, named “Lykeion,” consisted of about 30 students and was a small-scale newspaper in the making. However, despite the newspaper’s small size, their influence was significant.

Their newspapers, which compiled news from both inside and outside the academy, were always in high demand and sold quickly. Outside of the academy, there was also a lot of interest from parents and stakeholders.

It was natural that the world’s attention was focused on them as a group that gathered potential future leaders of the world from a young age.

And Vikir, as a hunter who hunted demons outside the academy at night while posing as a regular student during the day, needed to make the most of the information available.

The only way to get news of events that happened at night faster than the morning or midday papers was to work at the place where the morning or midday papers were produced.

Such as Lykeion.

“By the way, surprisingly, there aren’t many club members.”

Vikir turned his head to survey the scene inside the press club.

A room filled with magical printing presses and various photographic materials.

But the number of people in the room was not that great.

A few sophomores led the club’s new members. The rest were freshmen like Vikir.

Here are the entries of the current freshmen in the press club:

Tudor Donquixote (Cold Department, Class A).

Sinclaire (Hot Department, Class A).

Sancho Barataria (Cold Department, Class A).

Bianca Usher (Cold Department Department, Class B).

Figgy (Cold Department Department, Class B).

Vikir (Cold Department Department, Class B).

Initially, more freshmen had joined.

However, Lykeion was a demanding club, and the workload was enormous, making it more than just a hobby club.

Furthermore, in the already demanding academy where failing exams were common, neglecting personal studies even a bit often led to repeating a year. Therefore, unless you had exceptional abilities, juggling academics and extracurricular activities was nearly impossible.

Moreover, the current head of the newspaper club, Saint Dolores Quovadis, was famous for being a workaholic. It was only natural that new members couldn’t keep up and dropped out quickly.

Rumors even spread that it was harder to work as a student journalist in the newspaper club led by Dolores than taking midterms or finals for major-required classes.

That’s why the remaining first-year students were a group of notable individuals in their own right.

A sophomore senior gathered the first-year students and asked, “How did you all manage to stay in the newspaper club? Our Lykeion Club is known for its intensity.”

Tudor was the first to answer, “Hahaha, well, being an Alpha Man, it’s no problem for me! I can excel in academics and extracurricular activities!”

His confidence matched that of a top-ranking student in the Cold Department and a member of one of the Seven Great Families.

Next, Sancho spoke, “Hmm, I didn’t want people to think of me as a strong but foolish guy, so I stayed. Being in the newspaper club gives you a more intellectual image. I want to be a smart guy.”

His unexpected mature response surprised everyone.

——————

Then it was Figgy’s turn, “I, um, I like collecting and analyzing information from the start… I, I think it’s my calling!”

Though he stuttered a bit, it was still quite an ambitious aspiration.

This time, the model student Sinclaire spoke, “Isn’t money, information, and power inherently interconnected? Among them, I believe information holds the highest ground.”

It was a precise answer demonstrating a deep understanding of the inextricable dynamics that moved the world.

Lastly, Bianca said, “Ugh, I joined because I was tricked by Senior Dolores.”

Tricked? Everyone looked at Bianca with puzzled expressions.

Bianca hesitated for a moment and then confessed, “They called this the ‘Sniping’ club…”

Well, it wasn’t entirely wrong. Sometimes, the newspaper did contain articles that ‘sniped’ at someone.

When Bianca finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

A sophomore senior patted Bianca on the shoulder and said, chuckling, “Well, if you look at it that way, this is indeed the ‘Sniping’ club. Look at this article!”

She showed them a sports article from the previous issue of the morning newspaper, with magical moving pictures displaying view counts and comments.

[Exclusive] The Identity of the ‘Hottie’ Who Appeared in the Cold Department 1st-year Rugby match!? / Views: 48,999

An unidentified freshman appeared during yesterday’s afternoon physical education class…

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ㅇㅇ (1st-year Cold Department): Every time this guy furrows his brow, I crack open a can of beer too… It’s frustrating…ㅠㅠㅠ

ㅇㅇ (2nd-year Hot Department): I used to think I was a woman who wouldn’t even be shaken by the imperial prince of Venetior… But today, I got smacked in the heart once. Can you beat me up in return, please?

ㅇㅇ (1st-year Cold Department): Even when I become a grandma, I’ll probably come back to watch this…ㅋㅋ

ㅇㅇ (1st-year Cold Department):Is it just me, or does this guy have his own villa on the 10th floor of Venetior’s imperial prince’s palace? Sharing a cigarette and promising to live and die only for today… ★

ㅇㅇ (2nd-year Hot Department): He took a test and it came out… SEXY…?ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Take me…

ㅇㅇ (1st-year Cold Department): I want to be one who gets suppressed between those mysterious freshman’s forehead wrinkles.

ㅇㅇ (1st-year Cold Department): +Two.

ㅇㅇ (3rd-year Hot Department): +Three.

ㅇㅇ (2nd-year Cold Department): Isn’t this guy’s name Vikir?

ㅇㅇ (1st-year Cold Department): …Please leave a mark like this in my life…

ㅇㅇ (4th-year Hot Department): What the heck… I want his babies? So sexy…

ㅇㅇ (3rd-year Hot Department): Don’t like Vikir / What is that? / Don’t like Vikir? How dare you say that?!?!

ㅇㅇ (1st-year Cold Department): Oppa… Vikir Oppa… Even if you’re younger than me, you’re my eternal oppa… Because of you, a big lake was created in our territory as I kept crying…

.

.

The insane results with nearly 50,000 views and 30,000 comments.

As soon as they saw the article, Tudor and Sancho burst into laughter. “Hahaha! Hey, Vikir! Isn’t this the day we had our Rugby match?”

“….”

Vikir touched his forehead lightly with his hand and sighed softly.

Meanwhile, Bianca turned her head with a disdainful expression and remained silent. Sinclaire stared intently at the newspaper article featuring Vikir’s picture.

Figgy, who had become quite friendly with Tudor and Sancho, was looking at Vikir somewhat enviously.

Just then, the door to the newspaper club’s room swung open.

“Hey, everyone!”

The head of the Lykeion Club, Saint Dolores, enthusiastically called for a meeting today as well, with a smile on her face.

She gathered first-, second-, and third-year students to discuss the content that would be featured in today’s morning newspaper.

“Last night, our second and third-year journalists went outside the academy for coverage. The articles have been written well, so we just need to decide on the headlines.”

Dolores placed completed articles on the table.

The topics covered in the articles were as follows:

[Unpublished Article] / Views: 0

On the night of the 0th month, a mysterious assailant appeared and destroyed an Orphanage…

Interestingly, the attacker didn’t touch the treasure in the safe…

It appears to be unrelated to a grudge crime…

The assailant’s identity, intentions, and combat abilities remain unknown…

The damage to the orphanage in this incident…

The confirmed number of girls aged 10-13 who unjustly lost their lives…

Meanwhile, there is no official statement from the royal family or the Quovadis Clan regarding this…

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Last night, a mysterious monster invaded an orphanage on the outskirts of Venetior, killing the orphanage director and the parentless children in large numbers, leaving the surrounding area in ruins.

He didn’t lay a hand on the gold nuggets or jewels in the safe, and it seems he was solely intent on slaughter.

…Well, roughly, that’s what it said.

As Vikir read it, he thought, ‘There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding.’

The girls were killed by demons, not by Vikir.

However, the belatedly arriving royal guards seemed to have concluded that Vikir was responsible for the demons’ actions.

‘…Well, it doesn’t matter. I won’t get caught anyway. I just need to thoroughly investigate the data from this orphanage attack through Cindiwendy. It seems there might be a connection to the slave auction I raided a while back.’

While all the newspaper club members were pondering what headline to give the article, Vikir was thinking about something completely different.

Meanwhile, there was a continued serious discussion at the table.

Everyone was working hard to come up with headlines for this article that would be featured on the front page of the national newspaper.

“A Fearsome Villain?!”

“A Monster Roaming Outside the Academy?!”

“What Are the Royal Guards Doing!?”

“The Unprecedented Villain challenges the Quovadis Clan!”

“A Mysterious Massacre of kids. Who’s the Mastermind?!”

Provocative headlines kept pouring out.

However, none of them left a lasting impression, and the discussion came to a standstill. The clever members of the newspaper club soon identified the reason behind the lack of progress.

“Oh! We don’t have a name for this villain yet!”

“Yeah, that’s right. Just calling him a villain or a criminal doesn’t evoke any emotions!”

“Let’s start by giving this villain a nickname!”

Notorious criminals often acquire ominous nicknames like the “Cave King,” “Bitch’s Son,” “Murder King,” “Human Scum,” or “Blue Beard.” Therefore, this villain needed a nickname that would stick in people’s minds.

One day, without any warning, an entity appeared and plunged the night of Venetior into terror. This unprecedented villain brutally murdered prominent dignitaries, or mercenaries with widely recognized names, leaving no clues behind and disappearing like a ghost.

What should we call this unique villain?

The students of the newspaper club enthusiastically participated in a competition to come up with a fitting nickname.

“Since the incidents happened around Jebedo Hall, how about ‘Jebedo’s Wolf’?”

“The attacks and murder incidents didn’t just happen in the Jebedo area. How about ‘The Unfortunate Night Raven’ instead?”

“That’s too long. How about ‘Orphan Predator’? It has an impact.”

“The word ‘Orphan’ is too derogatory and discriminatory. If we’re going for that, why not ‘Orphanage Attacker’?”

“But there were attacks on facilities other than orphanages. There were monasteries, hospitals, churches, and even municipal offices. How about this? ‘Mr. Terrorist’!”

“Hmm, this one is a bit subtle.”

Various opinions were being exchanged, but nothing felt just right.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Everyone’s opinions were in a temporary stalemate. Just then, Dolores unconsciously muttered softly, “Night Hound.”