The Ikeryte Academy was still in a hazy stillness.

Dawn had just begun to illuminate the tranquil world from the horizon, the blue-gray of the distant sky gradually blending into the faint pink of the ground, like dye dissolving in water.

At six o'clock on this Tuesday morning, after Ranch, Hyperion, and Frey returned to school and had breakfast together, the three of them walked along the academy's spacious road to the Sage Institute's dormitory building.

The light in the first-floor lobby was dim and warm. The dormitory administrator was leaning against a soft cushion behind the desk in the lobby, holding a book in her hand, trying to shake off the drowsiness of the early morning.

At this hour, most students were still asleep, with only a few early risers quietly emerging from their dorms.

"Then let's rest for a bit, and we'll go to the student council together in the afternoon."

Ranch said to Hyperion at the fork in the road.

"Okay."

Hyperion nodded and parted ways with Ranch and Frey.

Ranch then led Frey towards his dormitory.

Ranch and Frey strolled leisurely along the carpeted hallway on the first floor of the dormitory.

Their hushed laughter echoed in the empty corridor. The dormitory doors on both sides were tightly closed, as quiet as breathing beings, each door concealing a small world, filled with countless stories and beautiful dreams.

The men's dormitory was in the front building, and the women's dormitory was in the back building, not far apart.

Ranch had already lent the Great Love Poet (Da Ai Shi Ren) to Hyperion. Once Hyperion reached her dormitory, she would call out to the Great Love Poet, and it would come out on its own.

The Great Love Poet understood magic cards too well. As long as Ranch removed the only summoning restriction he had on the Great Love Poet, it could even summon itself, as well as cancel its own summoning state. This was something that ordinary summons couldn't do.

And Frey would follow Ranch to Ranch's dorm this morning to stand guard while the other slept, each resting for three hours.

The student council wasn't open early in the morning, and they had nothing else to do.

Although this [Sanctuary Villain Banquet] wasn't like the [Purgatory Corridor Academy]'s twelve-hour Shadow World, lasting a total of five days, they had gotten up very early on this last morning.

Moreover, they had been traveling out of town for several days, and they were really tired after just getting back, wanting nothing more than a good sleep.

They stopped in front of a door. Ranch took out his key, inserted it into the lock, gently turned it, opened the door, and led Frey into his dormitory.

The light in the dormitory's living room was warmer than in the hallway. A soft sofa and a minimalist-style coffee table were quietly arranged together, with several books and a set of glassware placed on top.

"The mole this time won't be easy to catch."

Frey said with a frown, sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed.

His hunter's instinct was constantly maintaining reconnaissance.

Throughout their seemingly unguarded journey, Frey hadn't detected the slightest trace of being followed or even watched.

The two hunters didn't want to put any pressure on Hyperion, who was acting as bait, so she could rest easy.

Many things were only discussed when the two of them were alone.

"It seems that the other side will only attack Hyperion if they have absolute certainty. If we try to lure them out or investigate, it will only alert them,"

Ranch said, pouring two glasses of lemon honey water, handing one to Frey, and then sitting on the sofa next to him.

If they took the initiative, such as conducting compulsory anti-cult education on the academic delegation from the Yarolan Kingdom, it would be too obvious and purposeful, as if they already knew that there were Resurgence Church members in the team. The Resurgence Church would realize that Sticera, the elite cultist captured in the Shadow World, had leaked information, causing Sticera to be subjected to the Resurgence Church's crazy retaliation even in prison.

Sticera had risked her life to give the information to Ranch, so Ranch would naturally do everything he could to protect her.

"So you still want to use Hyperion as bait?"

Frey took a sip of the lemon honey water. The refreshing coolness soothed his throat, very much to his liking.

Adding a little honey to the lemonade prevented it from being too sour, while the lemon perfectly balanced the original sweetness of the honey, like a perfect partnership.

"Using her as bait is the safest approach because we have too few details about the intelligence we have this time. Think about it—"

Ranch put down his mug and started listing examples for Frey, counting on his fingers one by one.

"For example, the killer has already completed self-hypnosis in advance. Before being self-activated by specific means, they are perfect, normal students. No matter what we do actively in the real world, we won't be able to catch the killer. We'll only be stirring up trouble and alarming the snake."

This was the difference between the real world and the Shadow World. If one underwent deep self-hypnosis when entering the Shadow World, they might not be able to break it when faced with danger, which would pose a huge risk. But in the real world, the killer had already disguised themselves as a normal person and come to the safe Hutton Kingdom. Even if they didn't break the self-hypnosis, there would be no threat of death.

"Or, what if the enemy has some very troublesome unknown magic that can be used to design some unbelievable traps?"

"To give a simple example, if the enemy is proficient in disguise, such as the [Blood Phantom] magic that can mimic others."

"First, the killer can find a way to get information about the first-year female student in Hyperion's neighboring dormitory from the mole in Ikeryte Academy, and then attack that innocent girl first, lure her away, and lock her up. Next, they disguise themselves as that victimized girl and live next door to Hyperion. Then their real self disappears for no reason, creating the appearance that one of the academic delegation members has disappeared out of thin air. This will attract the school's attention to investigate the case of the missing Yarolan Kingdom student, while the actual killer is already waiting for an opportunity to strike in a place very close to Hyperion and where she can be caught off guard."

"Or they can wait for a time when Hyperion can't have an alibi, directly disguise themselves as Hyperion, and then commit a murder in Hyperion's name, framing her and making her a criminal suspect who is investigated by the police and temporarily detained. This way, she can be isolated from the school and from us. Then, while she's awaiting trial in prison and needs to avoid suspicion at all costs, it will be easy to kill her through some secret operations and insidious means."

"And..."

"Enough, enough."

Frey quickly raised his hand, stopping Ranch.

"I've at least confirmed one good thing now."

Frey said seriously.

"What?"

Ranch asked, puzzled.

He didn't know what blind spot Frey had discovered in this short while.

"Fortunately, the person who came to kill Hyperion isn't you."

Frey said, staring at Ranch.

"..."

Ranch was slightly stunned and silent for a moment.

"How could I possibly kill Hyperion!"

He was seriously considering all kinds of situations, and Frey was actually teasing him.

"If the Resurgence Church hired you to kill Hyperion, then Hyperion wouldn't have enough lives even if she had ten."

Frey leaned back on the sofa and laughed, finding Ranch's reaction very amusing.

But Frey quickly regained his seriousness.

This time, they not only had to protect Hyperion and catch the cultists but also had to create the illusion that "they caught them by luck." That's where the difficulty lay.

Although the Great Love Poet (Da Ai Shi Ren) and Hyperion were safe together for a short time, Frey and Ranch could immediately rush over if anything happened there.

But the problem was that if the two of them were too close to Hyperion, they might scare away the big fish.

Today, they had just returned from the Shadow World, and it was reasonable for Ranch and Frey to live in the Sage Institute's dormitory since it was nearby.

If the two of them lived in the Sage Institute every day, the killers who originally planned to attack would likely abandon the plan altogether.

But if they were too far away from Hyperion, Hyperion's situation would become dangerous again.

They would rather not catch the big fish than let Hyperion really be in danger as bait.

The two of them were now deciding where they should hide to fish best.

"It seems I need to find a way to disappear,"

Frey suggested.

As long as he disappeared from the map, everything would be fine.

"Actually, there's another solution..."

Ranch murmured,

"I'll give it a try. It would be perfect if we could work something out."

But Ranch's tone was obviously not confident.

If they could get Hyperion to live with Talia, he and Frey could stay far away from Hyperion.

Then they could wait for the killers to try to provoke the powers that be.

Unfortunately, Talia wasn't short of money now.

It would be difficult to impress Talia with money alone.

Ranch also didn't have any good things on him that he could trade with her for the time being.

Mainly, Talia was very averse to interacting with others and would never allow any strangers to stay in her private space.

Letting Hyperion live in Talia's house was almost violating Talia's absolute bottom line.

"Hopefully, she'll be in a good mood today."

Ranch leaned back on the sofa and murmured, looking up.

In any case, after dealing with student council affairs this afternoon, he decided to take Hyperion to the Cat Boss Restaurant to see Talia.

Although, based on Ranch's understanding of Talia, there was a 90% chance that Talia would coldly reject them, making Talia hate Hyperion and himself along with her.

But sometimes Talia would inexplicably have a gentle side, and her temper was like the weather. He couldn't guess what it would be like tomorrow.

(End of Chapter)