69. The Three Great Illusions of Life

By the time I arrived at a “small camp” in the vast snowy plains, led by Reiev, it was still evening, but the endless snowfields combined with the howling wind and blowing snow had already turned the sky pitch black. Only the thick layer of snow covering the ground and the flickering lights from the camp guided us in terms of location and direction.

Naturally, looking back, the camp that should have been the Rosian Empire’s outpost in Siberia had completely vanished, surrounded by darkness, with snowflakes drifting down from the sky, and the small campfire’s glow…

All of this added up to a standard “survival in the snow-capped mountains”! However, at this moment, Reiev cheerfully informed me: it was time for hunting! The reason was simple: because wild beasts prefer to be active at night, so if we wanted to hunt, we could only set out at night~

I couldn’t find a single flaw in this answer, so I could only watch Reiev in the center of the camp, who had transformed from the “delicate beauty” of the morning into a commanding presence, issuing orders to her team members.

“We will split into pairs for hunting. If you manage to take down something, there’s no need to rush back; just leave a marker and we will come back to find it the next day. After all, the heavy snow will soon cover the bodies of those animals.”

“Then, considering that wild beasts might come to attack the camp, I will take him to wander around the vicinity of the camp, but we won’t go too deep. Everyone, is that alright?”

If I remember correctly, Reiev’s strength was well-known within the Lubyanka Academy, and with Louie’s reputation already tarnished, no one would take Reiev’s words as “she is afraid,” and… she had brought me along for company. The students in this group all showed expressions of “I understand,” then shouldered their gear and weapons, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Before long, in the pitch-black night and the heavy snowfall, only Reiev and I remained in the camp. At first, Reiev seemed to want to maintain some decorum, but judging by her pacing back and forth and her hesitant demeanor, I could roughly guess why this “delicate young lady” who hunted “as easily as cutting vegetables” insisted on staying behind to accompany me.

“You… if you’re not quite used to this place, it’s okay not to force yourself to leave the camp! Well, um… we just need to wander around a bit, and take some precautions to prevent wild beasts from coming in. “

Finally, after the torches held by the group members who had just left disappeared into the darkness, this big sister seemed to have prepared herself mentally.

After all, my script had already been “in play” for quite some time.

“So, additionally… I still have some…”

Some “confessions of love” to find an opportunity to express, right?

I didn’t interrupt Reiev, who was nervous and stuttering, but just looked at her “script” at this moment.

【Leiev planned to take the opportunity to confess to Euclid.】

As expected.

I had been quite serious about maintaining a certain distance from this big sister along the way, communicating with her in a relationship of “helping/thankfulness,” without taking any further steps into “utilizing matters,” so I felt no guilt. However, should I say that people from the Rosian Empire are all so direct and pure? Yet, I still couldn’t withstand the fact that such content would appear in her script.

It wasn’t really a hassle, after all, I wasn’t without polite refusals. It’s just that…

Big sister, I also want to wait for you to finish stuttering, to calm down, and after expressing your feelings, to answer you seriously, but this time, you slightly chose the wrong moment.

【The passerby, Linski, appears.】

Strange content intruded into the script, but Leiev had already noticed the anomaly and immediately turned to confront the unexpected visitor who had suddenly arrived at our camp during this “strange” time—Linski, the number one sycophant of Louis the Twenty-Third, who had just been taught a lesson by Letty.

If I remember correctly, he should have been assigned to another group for the “final test,” and theoretically, the routes between the two groups shouldn’t overlap at all. So, his appearance here could only mean… he had come with some sort of purpose.

Just a moment ago, the shy Leiev instantly donned a sharp aura to threaten: “This is our group’s hunting area, what are you doing here!?”

Though it was called “group hunting,” Letty hadn’t stipulated that “fighting was prohibited.” Simply put: if this Linski had come looking for trouble, then we could only oblige.

However, the next moment I realized: his attitude was somewhat strange. Although he appeared quite smug and arrogant, he had no intention of proving anything with “fists.” Since that was the case, this Linski must have had “some other means.” “

Sure enough, in the face of Leiev’s threat, Linski not only didn’t get angry but even seemed to see through Leiev’s thoughts, letting out a cold laugh—just like the mocking expression he had shown us when he first arrived in Siberia!

“Hmph, Leiev, do you think that just because you’ve done something, you can continue to flaunt your power in the academy with a clear conscience? We haven’t settled the matter of you framing the Twenty-Third yet!”

“What… are you out of your mind!? I already told you this has nothing to do with me! Empress Letty has already stated the facts; that woman cheated on her own, can’t your brain comprehend the faults of that woman!?”

Old news? But it wasn’t!

If this background character only had the intelligence of old news, he would have already fought with Leiev, why would he still be entangled in such verbal sparring!? The next moment, Linski appeared to be quite “at ease.”

“Since you don’t know, it can only mean you’re a fool!”

“You… looking for a fight?”

“Of course, a brainless muscle girl would only say that! Hmph, do you want me to remind you? Do you think it’s just a coincidence that you happened to go to the Great Ying Empire, and the Twenty-Third had a ‘cheating ‘ incident? It was because someone was manipulating things behind the scenes. Then…”

As he spoke, Linski’s gaze… turned towards me.

A very bad feeling came over me, but I really didn’t have the time to deal with it.

The passerby, Sisky, spoke up, “Who do you think is behind this? You fool! That man next to you—do you want me to tell you who he is!?”

He pointed a finger, arrogantly revealing some of my most dangerous “weaknesses” from when I was active in the Rosia Empire, no, in “this current era,” across the various nations of the continent.

“You’ve been fooled by this man! He is the number one wanted criminal on the continent, pursued by every kingdom—Ogilid!”