I Became a Tentacle Monster Blooming in the Academy Garden 98

## Chapter 98 – Night of the Social Gathering (4)

This feeling is… it’s like finding a very unique item in an unexpected place.

Of course, it’s not mine, but students from all fields, whether medicine, magic, or swordsmanship, would be drooling over it.

In other words, the fact that it’s treated like this even though it’s not gold means it’s a valuable item with many uses, right?

Which means that if I have it, I might be able to use it somewhere.

‘The Colony members could eat it and evolve, or maybe I could…?’

As I grow, I’m creating new Colony members and growing the Colony.

And the Colony members seem to have various evolution conditions, so I can’t rule out the possibility of their further development.

‘It’s a long shot, but…’

So far, Kernel Worms have only produced large individuals when born from Beastmen, and even then, only with a low probability.

And the spiders evolved by eating Arachnella’s body fluids and webs, and by changing the way they consume women’s fluids.

So, what if I feed them the Tears of Retrand?

Even the Parasites, which haven’t shown any evolution conditions so far, might evolve to a higher level.

‘It wouldn’t hurt to swipe it… but that would completely ruin the mood.’

The students gathered to have a good time, but if the prize for the game is stolen, it could create an atmosphere where everyone suspects each other.

I want Karla, who has been feeling uncomfortable since Yui disappeared, to have a good time, so even if I get the Tears of Retrand, I need to find another way.

‘The investigation might expose me… so what I can do right now is limited…’

The best-case scenario is that Karla, who is clinging to my thigh right now, is the villain.

If that boy Lucas likes Karla, he could rig the Wicked Game, since he’s the host, to make Karla the villain and hide her from suspicion.

Then Karla could win the prize without much interference, and the possibility of it turning into a big problem would be reduced.

“Hmm…”

Looking at Karla, who is still looking at the cards with slightly sparkling eyes, it doesn’t seem impossible.

‘Sorry, Karla… I’ll use it for good… I hope you’ll donate it willingly…’

My four pairs of spider eyes, which are becoming more and more like a gangster’s, were shining faintly with anticipation.

Of course, the person who’s supposed to give it away has no idea.

But to solidify my plan, which I thought was pretty good until then, I recalled the schedule of the social gathering, which would take place over several days, and began to return to the lair.

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‘I’m not the villain… so do I have to find the villain…? That sounds fun…!!’

Whether she knew about the sinister plot blooming on her thigh or not, Karla, who was looking at her card with sparkling eyes, put her card into a small pocket on her dress.

And as Karla walked forward with a smile of anticipation for the game, a strand of purple hair passed by her, as if the scene was changing.

‘Oh… oh… how to…’

Her identity was obvious.

With a simple but pristine white short stick hanging on her side, she was walking towards one of the few people she knew, her senior. Her name was…

“Anne!! This one isn’t from the Swordsmanship Department, but the Magic Engineering Department. She’s Hermi de Perimure, a graduate from the same year as me. Your sister is also in the Magic Engineering Department, right? Say hello. Hermi, this is my…”

“I’ve already heard about you!! I heard you quit after graduating!! I heard that people don’t even spit in the direction of the academy after graduating, but how did you end up becoming an assistant…!!”

“Hermi, you could at least save my face in front of the student.”

Luchia, who naturally put her arm around Anne’s waist and pulled her forward, was introducing her to a woman who was happily talking to her.

“Y-Yes!! I’m… Anne… Monehen!!”

“Monehen? Ah!! That Monehen from our department?”

“Mari… Mari Monehen is my sister…”

“Mari has such a pretty younger sister!! You look so much alike, maybe it’s because you’re sisters? Nice to meet you!! Your skin is so smooth!! What cosmetics do you use?”

“I… I don’t use cosmetics…”

“My skin was great when I was your age too… Ah, I’m saying this in case you misunderstand…!! My skin got bad because I stayed up too many nights in my 3rd and 4th years…!! Because of the never-ending assignments and the professor’s nagging that was tiring no matter how many times I heard it…!! Listen!! One time, the professor…”

“Ahaha… haha…”

Anne was momentarily flustered by the senior who was approaching her with kindness, even though they were meeting for the first time.

After chatting for a while, it seemed like she was going to go somewhere else, so she said goodbye and disappeared, promising to see her later.

Anne watched her disappear into the crowd of students in the banquet hall, and then she could finally look at Luchia, who was standing with her arms crossed.

“Maybe it’s because she met her juniors, but Hermi seems to be in a good mood today. It’s like this. You get to know a lot of people at social gatherings. Then you can build connections with people you can at least pretend to know later. This time, I brought in my connections, but next time, you should take the initiative and talk to people.”

“Yes… Senior…”

Luchia was giving constructive advice to Anne, who was not used to this kind of event.

But Luchia’s eyes narrowed as she asked her a question, because Anne’s expression was not good.

“But why do you look like that? Is something wrong?”

“I… I think… I’m the villain…”

Luchia quickly grabbed Anne’s hand and naturally pushed it into Anne’s pocket as Anne raised her card slightly.

“Haaa… it’s a little different from what I thought.”

“Senior…?”

“You’re so naive. You heard the rules, right?”

“But…”

“But I like the fact that you can’t lie well. It could mean that you’re easy to take advantage of. On the other hand, it could mean that you’re sincere.

Luchia naturally rolled her eyes and glanced around, then put her arm around Anne and led her to the corner.

A combination of two women with their arms linked, which could be a bit unusual.

And there were men who wanted to talk to the two women, who were even beautiful, but they were just watching, as if they didn’t have the courage yet.

They moved to a corner and sat facing each other on small sofas prepared for rest.

In that state, Luchia picked up a small handbell on the table in front of her and rang it. Then, Luchia ordered tea and refreshments from the servants who approached her with a dignified posture.

“So, you’re the villain?”

“That…”

“Why are you telling me that?”

“……”

“You’re not thinking of giving it to me, are you? I wouldn’t be happy if that were the case.”

“It’s not that… I thought I could trust you, Senior…”

“Hoh? Why do you think that?”

“Because you don’t necessarily need a prize like this…”

“You think I’m not interested in the prize? Okay. You got one thing right. I’ll praise you.”

“One thing…? Does that mean…”

“I’m in a position where I can get something like the Tears of the Dragon if I want to. And I’ve already bought and drunk a bottle myself. So I don’t need to be obsessed with it. You got that right. But…”

Dahlia’s lips moved softly, and the teacup containing the tea that had already been delivered was gently brought to her lips.

“Does that mean I won’t necessarily be obsessed with it? It wouldn’t be bad to drink another bottle if I could. And my pride might not allow me to lose the game I participated in, right? The tea smells good. It’s Prodean after all.”

“Ah…”

She lowered her head and sipped the tea, her sharp eyes slightly raised.

Anne, who had been momentarily frozen by the heat emanating from her changed orange eyes, which reminded her of a heated sword, was looking at Luchia with surprised eyes.

But Anne was able to swallow her saliva as Luchia, who rarely laughed, burst into laughter.

“Heh heh. People can be so different on the inside and outside. I don’t know what your criteria for judging people are yet, but I thought you were very wary at first impression. But now, you seem more naive to me. It means you still have a lot to learn.”

“I… I really need this… Tears of the Dragon are valuable… I could help my family…”

A difficult family situation in many ways.

Recently, there has been a way to survive, but the family’s situation is still not good.

Anne looked down at her card, which was turned upside down, and muttered in a weak voice.

“Then you have to hide this fact even more desperately. And you have to increase the number of people who will help you. So, do you know what you have to do here now? And I don’t think it’s good to eavesdrop, do you?”

Luchia, who had been listening to Anne’s words, closed her eyelids slightly and closed her eyes. Anne, who was about to turn around in surprise at her words, was grabbed by the head from behind with both hands and her gaze was fixed forward.

And a cheerful voice began to be heard in her ears, gently permeating Anne’s ears.

“Oh my? That’s too much, Luchia. It’s my sacred duty to listen to the students’ voices?”

“You’re a student too, Charlotte. As you heard, a precious ‘student’ seems to need help. How about you cooperate with us?”

“Excuse me… who are you…”

“I’m the chairman of Saint Flansina Academy.”

“Yes…?”

“Charlotte de Polignac, a second-year student in the Fusion Magic Department. I’m also working as the chairman because of my family’s situation these days. It seems like I’m not bored these days. Thanks to Monehen, in many ways.”

Her words, which contained an unknown meaning that made her feel goosebumps for some reason.

At the same time as Anne froze, Charlotte’s hand gently fell from Anne’s head.

But even so, Anne, who had been stiff, could only see her walking forward, slowly tidying herself up, and sitting on the sofa next to her.

The natural beauty shown from her well-maintained, flowing long hair, which had a light green color reminiscent of nature.

And her green-blue eyes, which seemed to match her hair so well, were sparkling like jade, reflecting the bright lights of the social hall.

But unlike her cute appearance, her eyes contained a playfulness that made her wonder what she was plotting inside, and Anne could only stare at her without opening her mouth like a mute.

She was the chairman of the academy.

She had heard about the Polignac family before, but as a student, she had never known that the chairman would be so close.

As Anne’s mind was filled with thoughts and she remained silent, Luchia, who was curious about Charlotte’s words, asked her a question.

“What do you mean by not being bored?”

“Miss Monehen has been involved in various incidents these days? It was really hard to cover them up so that no unnecessary rumors would spread… So how about giving me an award for working so hard?”

“If it’s a recent incident… are you talking about the missing person case?”

Charlotte, who was carefully watching Anne’s reaction as she flinched at the mention of the incidents she was involved in, smiled brightly.

“I didn’t say you were involved, did I? And I’ve done some research on the damage that Miss Monehen and her family have suffered. Grenot did something pretty terrible to her. Our academy is supposed to prohibit power plays that claim to be families.”

Charlotte sighed softly, but Anne, whose vigilance was still on high alert, couldn’t relax yet.

Anne knew that no further investigation was being conducted, as she had not received any further contact from the central security police department since the investigation.

“The families of the missing Grenot gang students are protesting, but strictly speaking, they were the ones who broke the rules. And rather than Miss Monehen being directly involved in their disappearance, there is more evidence that the students disappeared somewhere on their own, so I was able to suppress it somehow.”

But she couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the unexpected fact that the chairman was behind it.

Why? Did she just think of her as a victim and protect her?

But at least Charlotte was just acting like she didn’t know anything, so Luchia sipped her tea and asked her a question.

“Then it has nothing to do with those problems. So, shall we go back to the original story? What if it’s a junior I’m keeping an eye on?”

“Is that as Luchia? Or as the daughter of the Borgia Duke?”

“Let’s just say it’s as Luchia for now.”

“Then I’m even less interested… If we have the Tears of Retrand, we can use it as funds to reorganize the academy’s curriculum a little… Then we’ll need a new direction…”

“Hmm…”

Charlotte made a playful expression and began to stare at Anne intently.

Deep bewilderment flowed from Anne’s eyes, who was flustered by her question.

“Maybe it’s possible if Miss Monehen has something to convince me…?”