I Possessed The Villain’s Childhood Friend

78 – The Trojan Horse

The Trojan Horse.

This is the name of the operation that ended the Trojan War in Greek mythology.

Hero Odysseus made a huge wooden horse to capture the citadel of Troy and then withdrew his army, and the Trojan army saw it and judged that the Achaeans had retreated.

And Troy celebrated the victory and brought the symbol, a huge wooden horse, into the castle.

However, 30 Achaean allied forces, including Odysseus, were hiding inside the wooden horse.

In the end, Troy was captured because of that judgment.

Creating cracks from within.

The Trojan Horse is probably the most iconic and famous tactic among them.

There is a barrier inside the arcana to prevent intruders.

Even before Charlotte strengthened the barrier, it was almost impossible to break into Arcana with tolerable skills.

Then, the incident that stained Arcana with blood.

How could the assassins raised by the black wolves infiltrate Arcana and assassinate the students?

They are assassins trained only to kill people.

I didn’t train like a knight, and I wasn’t versed in magic like a wizard.

I can assure you that it was absolutely impossible to break through Charlotte’s barrier at the level of those who were destroyed by me alone.

Even if it’s a black wolf, it’ll be all you can endure.

In other words, the reason they were able to break through Charlotte’s barrier was simple.

Because there was a traitor inside.

That is a special student from a merchant family who ranked 3rd in the Arcana entrance exam this year.

It was Michel Basil.

★

The place I brought Michel was a regular cafe inside Arcana.

“Hey, Senior Ike?”

“Do you hate iced chocolate?”

At my question, Michelle shook her head quietly.

“Then I’m glad.”

I handed over one of the iced chocolates from the clerk and sat across from Michelle.

“Okay, let’s eat well.”

Michelle looked at me with her suspicious eyes, but she quietly started drinking the iced chocolate.

“… Mmm.”

I thought we should meet, so I found him and brought him here, but what should I say?

If Michelle is a simple member of Avatar, her solution is very easy.

However, her situation was a bit different, so it was difficult to say that she was a low-level organization member.

To be precise, Michelle’s parents are members of Avatar’s lower ranks, but Michelle was a child her parents gave birth only to help Avatar.

In other words, Michelle practically didn’t know anything about Avatar.

However, she has been brainwashed by her parents, and becomes a doll with no sense of resistance no matter what her parents say.

And what happened because of that was the Arcana Student Assassination.

In the original work, it was her role that made it easy for the assassins to break into Arcana.

Arcana’s student ID given to students whose admission has been confirmed.

Inside it is embedded a magic tool that can free you from within Charlotte’s barrier.

Of course, the magic tool is kept strictly within Arcana, but Michelle, who received the order of her parents, figured out its location and assassinated her teacher to take out her jewels and distribute them to the assassins. .

Simply put, the Arcana student assassination case all started at the hands of Michelle.

After that, Michelle’s end in the original work was very terrible, to put it in her honest opinion.

In the end, it turns out that Michelle is the traitor on the inside, and she runs away from Arcana in the middle of the night.

The place she went to was, of course, her hometown where her parents are located.

But her parents, Michelle, blame her for all her sins.

It was natural.

Michelle said she was born to be used as a tool for her.

She started to run away again with screams, saying that she was nonsense, but she was eventually caught by Avatara because she couldn’t let out any information.

And after she was subjected to numerous tortures and died with her limbs severed and sent to Arcana, Michelle exited her work.

… Sometimes I wonder if the author of this original work is twisted somewhere.

The contents of such terrible torture.

A vivid scream.

The end she faces with a scream.

To describe everything in detail and put it into the work.

Okay. Considering that Reina is a writer who vividly described all the stories when she was isolated, it is only natural that her brain is somewhat wrong.

“… ?”

Michelle tilted her head slightly as she sipped the iced chocolate I bought.

“Mmm.”

As expected, I had no idea what to do.

To be honest, she is not guilty of anything.

In addition, the black wolves and assassins are all already dead, and that incident won’t happen either.

However, the fact that she is involved in Avatar does not disappear.

So I thought we should talk first.

“Senior Ike? I had something to say….”

What the hell am I supposed to talk about?

I can’t bring up the story of Avatar openly.

“Ah, did you hear that rumor?”

“That, what?”

As I was lost in my thoughts, Michelle made her guess.

“Have you heard the rumors about Arin, a perfume that will be sold in the future at our basil shop?”

“… Scale?”

“Yes! My parents said that this prototype was highly evaluated, and some nobles made reservations….”

At Michelle’s words, my hair turned white for a moment.

Arin.

How could I forget her name?

It was the first time I changed the future on my own, and the first time I killed a person.

It looks like a perfume shop run in the back alley of the Heros shopping district, but in reality it’s a part of Avatar hiding in the empire.

In the original story, the trigger that caused Reina to fall into the abyss, wasn’t the name of the store Arin?

“Well, why did the perfume name become Arin?”

“The name of the perfume?”

At my question, Michelle covered her mouth and thought for a moment.

“Once upon a time, a perfume shop running in Heros Mall was in trouble.”

He slowly opened his mouth.

“The owner of the store is an acquaintance of my parents. My parents are the kind of people who can’t just overlook such a situation, so I inherited his will from our upper rank.”

The succession means that Arin’s owner is definitely dead.

But the fact that she continues to make that perfume from the top of the basil.

“… Okay.”

This means that even an avatar has no intention of hiding.

Even if I don’t talk to Michelle like this, the name Arin will eventually spread throughout the empire.

Even in the original novel, Arin was a fairly famous perfume shop.

And when Arin’s name spreads, there’s no way that Avatar wouldn’t know that I would react.

When Rex came to Arcana, he was already convinced of what had happened in Heros and that I was the culprit who killed the Black Wolf.

In other words, this is Avatar’s provocation to me.

Even though I know about Avatar.

Even if I try to stop Avatar.

An expression of confidence that at least that much can’t stop Avatar.

“So what you want to hear is the release date of Arin?”

“… Yes. I want to buy one as a gift this time.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, the prototype that we are selling to some people in advance….”

How different is Michelle Basil, who is speaking in front of me, from her original work?

Maybe all the stories I’m talking about are orders from Avatar.

Even those doubts began to rise.

“Ms. Michelle.”

“Yes?”

“From now on, please take good care of me.”

A greeting right before parting after a story.

“Yes, I look forward to seeing you in the future as well, Senior Ike!”

Michelle replied with a light smile.

★

“Your plan is over now.”

Sophia said, quietly tapping the ground with her staff.

“All the executives have already collapsed. Why don’t you give up now?”

Leon calmly aimed his sword at him even as his shoulder was bleeding.

“Hmm.”

The hooded man sitting on the throne slowly raised his head and opened his mouth while looking at the two.

“Rex. S. Ed. Vita. Roxy. Cron. Aaron….”

Sofia and Leon tilted their heads at the man’s self-talk.

From the names of Avatar’s executives who defeated Rex, S, Ed, and Cron, to names you’ve never heard of.

I couldn’t understand why they brought up those names now.

“What I just said is the name of the officers who have been active in Avatar since I was born. Everyone worked for one cause, a common goal, and me, and eventually collapsed.”

“Yes. All that’s left is you It would be nice if we could easily admit that the purpose, which we cannot understand, was wrong and end it.”

“Too many people have died and been hurt. That sin can never be forgiven. But you are not qualified to atone. Then there must be another way.”

“… Well, that wouldn’t be too bad.”

The man quietly raised the corner of his mouth, and Leon and Sophia hoped for that answer.

“Every day, I go to Martires Central Church to offer a prayer of repentance, and when the prayer is over, I go to the homes of the victims and bow my head. They’ll get angry and curse at me, maybe throw something at me. But I don’t make any excuses. That would be the weight of my sins.”

But it wasn’t Leon and Sofia that the man was looking at.

The man looked at his right hand, traces of blood that could not be erased.

“The end of repeating atonement every single day, then closing your eyes stained with regret. There must be an ending like that.”

The man slowly rose from his throne.

A long arming sword was in his right hand.

In contrast to the platinum-colored holy sword Leon was holding, it was dyed jet-black and gave off an unpleasant feeling.

“… I’ll refrain from a lukewarm ending like that trash.”

Leon gritted his teeth at the man’s assertion.

“What you just said is right. Too many people have died and been hurt because of me. That must be my fault…. But it is also true that too many people have died for me.”

“That’s it!”

Sophia tried to argue, but the man didn’t listen.

“In the end, those guys made their own choice, and I know it’s the end. So fighting until the end is my choice. I don’t want to betray those who fell for me.”

The man’s sword slowly turned towards Leon and Sophia.

“I am an avatar. If I don’t fall, Avatar doesn’t fall either. Leon Aegis Astraia. Sophia Eris. Starting with you guys, I will rewrite the history of Avatar.”

And at the same time as the man’s eyes flashed, the final battle began like that.

★

“Are you all right, Your Highness?”

“It has to be done. It’s ahead of schedule, but remembering your warning, it’s better to finish sooner rather than later.”

“Then I will go with you.”

“I know that is the best way. But your face is already known in Astraia. It would be best for me to move alone. Everyone else has a lot of work to do.”

Despite Rex’s sincere concern, the hooded man waved his hand and stopped him.

“There is absolutely no one in Astraia who knows my face. So there won’t be any problems. If someone notices me, it must mean that there really is a traitor inside.”

Rex slightly frowned at the man’s words.

It was his bad habit.

A nasty hobby of making statements that seem to doubt them once in a while, even though you know it will never happen.

The corners of the mouth under the hood must have been raised slightly.

“Let’s start soon.”

The hooded man gently reached out for the door.

Then the huge door slowly opened and the sunlight poured in through it.

“I’ll be back.”

“Have a safe trip.”

At the man’s greeting, Rex bowed his head and saw him off.