'Hmm, how strange.'

Perhaps he was just a really weird guy. With my current knowledge on how a typical human body worked, I should have been able to determine any skinwalker of D rank and below. Their control of the human body only perfected after that.

'And here I was calling Maki a paranoid nut job.'

My smile towards him turned genuine, and a tad bit apologetic, before I disengaged from him. Turning to face Shin, I was still curious.

"How do you know each other?"

"We just happened to be in the same team during the simulation."

"I thought as much."

At the end of the day, that was the only logical explanation to it all. For a no-name character like Gustav to have interacted with Rowan.

I had Evanka and her meddling to thank for this deviation.

Shin's face turned weird at the end of his sentence, he didn't seem to have any particularly fond memories of the simulation. On the other hand, Gustav retained quite the chirpy mood.

"Thinking back on it, isn't it a bit weird?"

"How so?"

It was Rowan speaking this time.

"I mean your group was all just guys. How the hell did I end up in a group with two girls?"

The boy's curious expression quickly crumbled into something resembling disdain. My grin widened a bit.

"Do you really have to rub that in our faces?"

"No, I'm serious. Like really, even when we decided to lodge with another group, they were all girls too."

Rowan didn't reply, just looking more disgusted and, to my pleasure, a tad bit jealous at my bragging. A look of realization dawned on Shin's face as he seemed to form his own understanding of the situation.

Though, knowing his tendencies, I was certain it'd be a gross misunderstanding. So I preemptively shot it down.

"It's not what you're thinking, Shin."

Shin only grew confused at the statement.

"I haven't even said anything yet."

"And somehow, I still know that you're misunderstanding something."

Shin cleared his throat innocently.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Sure you don't."

From the side, Gustav still watched me with that excited look of his. When I finally turned to face him, he took it as the perfect chance to ask.

"Are you planning on resigning, Victor?"

"Tsk, like hell I will. I worked bloody damned hard to reach 2nd position, why in the world do I have to give it to bratty, stuck up, entitled little bitches calling themselves nobles? Uh, no offense, Shin."

"None taken."

The wolfman just waved it off, even though he seemed to be somewhat in a state of shock at the slew of words that just left my mouth.

I nodded, before continuing.

"Either way, if they weren't the bunch of spineless cowards then they wouldn't be targeting me. Why don't they just go compete with Racheal for presidency, I'd reckon it's much more valuable than a mere vice president l—"

It was then I noticed the boys' shifting faces, from being somewhat relaxed to a guarded look of apprehension as they stared at something behind me.

Before I could even do so much as react, a hand landed rather heavily on my shoulder with enough force to hurt.

I wasted no time questioning things, and immediately activated [Eyes of Eternity]. The world through my eyes slowed to a crawl, like its playback speed had been reduced.

I tried moving my hand, but it felt like the very air around me had become as viscous as mud, with my hand barely even shifting from its original position.

Still, that was enough to confirm that the glasses worked just as intended. It also meant I had no time to waste, as while I couldn't exactly feel my essence, I knew for certain that the glasses were chewing through it.

The man behind me was one of Varic's lackeys, though it was unlikely the Aurelius heir had sent the fool himself. He was likely just a washed-up bootlicker seeking to please his master by striking preemptively.

I wasn't the least bit shocked, given I'd already expected something of the sort to play out soon. I just couldn't be sure where.

My left hand was already wrapped securely around the handle of the sharp table knife, I needed nothing else to deal with this fool. I silently activated [Error Sense], visualizing perfection as a body that was nigh completely immune to pain.

Heavy buzzing immediately pierced through my skull, rattling my brain and making it seem as though the hand on my shoulder was vibrating.

Luckily, the ability worked just fine even with my artifact activated.

Gritting my teeth, I parsed through the noise and quickly found the loudest place the greatest amount of discordancy originated from. It was from his belly.

More specifically, the lower bottom left of it.

I imprinted the position in my mind, before deactivating [Error Sense]. After which, I deactivated [Eyes of Eternity].

The world went back to normal, just in time for Rowan to start standing up. I sent him back down with a look.

This was my fight.

A haughty voice boomed behind me.

"Well, if it isn't the slumrat. You're a piece of trash, you know? After stealing the young master's rightful position, you have the gall to—"

I didn't let him finish his sentence, as I pretended to flinch, driving the knife handle straight into his weak point behind me.

The poor sod folded like a wet blanket, collapsing face first into the ground with an audible slam. He burst into a fit of coughing and groaning immediately.

Naturally, I was the first to jump out of my seat to help him up, pretending I actually gave a damn.

Patting his heaving back soothingly, I began muttering loudly.

"I'm sorry, so so sorry… why am I so clumsy? …So sorry. It's alright… it's alright."

Then I leaned in close to his ear, intentionally bringing the knife right up to his face before whispering,

"But you know, it's in poor taste to suddenly appear behind a person like that. Hell, if I hadn't known any better I might have fucking gutted you, pig."

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