"Could I have been too late?"
The thought of not being able to personally avenge her family by dealing with the enemy's descendant filled Emily with regret. She had set out the previous night and arrived at dawn, yet somehow John had beaten her here?
"Anyway, I should look around to see if there are any other clues."
Emily sighed softly, keeping a watchful eye for any potential danger while scanning the area. Out of the corner of her eye, she quickly noticed something unusual—a dark red diary lying conspicuously on a desk.
Seeing this, Emily's eyes lit up, and she rushed forward to open the diary.
The diary was well-preserved; the pages were intact, and the handwriting was neat. It seemed to be the personal account of a mage, but aside from some mundane entries, there wasn't much of interest.
Emily continued flipping through the pages, the time span growing longer—days, months, even years!
Finally, she reached the period she had never wanted to recall, the time when her family was killed. Her fingers trembled as she turned the pages, but all she found was blank.
Emily froze, overwhelmed by confusion, disbelief, shock, and frustration.
"How... how could this be? It's all blank?"
Refusing to accept it, Emily flipped through several more pages, but they were all blank, as if the diary was unfinished.
The timing was so perfect, yet the diary suddenly cut off with no further entries. It made no sense!
"Could it be that some magic was used to hide the content?"
Emily bit her lip in thought, but her musings were interrupted by the sound of footsteps drawing closer. Her heart skipped a beat as she quickly set the diary down and hid behind a bookshelf.
"Strange... why is the door to my father's library open? Could someone else have broken in? But the entrance was sealed with a sage-tier formation, it should only open with the key..."
John mumbled to himself as he descended the stairs, only to be dumbfounded by what he saw.
Empty bookshelves, empty cabinets—nothing was left!
Weren't there supposed to be all kinds of treasures, scrolls, and powerful magic?
Could his father have lied to him?
This thought only flashed through John's mind for a moment before he dismissed it.
His father only had one child—him. There was no way he would deceive him on such an important matter.
So where was everything?
"No, it can't be! My father wouldn't lie to me!"
"Heh, maybe he had another child who got here before you and took everything," Sorvan taunted.
"Absolutely not! My father and mother only had me! Who was it? Who stole it? Damn it!"
John's face turned red with anger as he began to knock over and smash the bookshelves one by one, making Emily frown.
At this rate, the bookshelf she was hiding behind would be next!
Fortunately, before her hiding spot was exposed, John stopped, panting heavily as he leaned against a table.
"Instead of venting your frustration, you should think about who might have come here and taken everything."
"Right! Who could it be? Could it be... Vice Headmaster Duncan? Yes! That must be it! He was jealous of my father's talent, so he drove him out and took everything for himself. It has to be that!"
"As far as I know, Crossbridge Academy's Vice Headmaster Duncan is a sage-tier expert."
"I know that, mentor. Why are you bringing it up?"
Sorvan was nearly at his wit's end.
How was he supposed to communicate with someone like this?
"What I mean is, he likely wouldn't care about your father's work."
"Impossible! My father was a genius, the best there was. Otherwise, why would they have expelled him from the academy? Damn it! A sage-tier expert stooping to such underhanded tactics is disgraceful!"
John clenched his teeth, slamming his fist into a bookshelf, only to cut his hand, causing him to gasp in pain.
"Damn it, even you're against me? I'll smash you all!"
"Calm down, John."
"How am I supposed to calm down? Everything's gone, nothing is left!"
John gritted his teeth and flipped over a chair, when out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the dark red diary on the desk, and his eyes lit up.
"Is this... my father's diary?"
John rushed over, grabbing the diary and flipping through it. Seeing the familiar dates and signatures, he suddenly smiled.
"Hahaha! It's my father's diary! Wait, why is it blank all of a sudden? Oh, right, my father taught me how to reveal hidden text with this magic... Aha! With this diary, even without the other items, I can still control Emily easily! As long as I get her, my path to godhood won't be cut off!"
Sorvan couldn't even muster the energy to mock him anymore.
Godhood? Really? You've lost everything your father left behind, and all you have is this shabby diary. How can you still be so confident?
What kind of upbringing did this kid have that made him so thick-skinned? What sort of education produced such a piece of work?
Sorvan figured that John's father should have focused less on human transmutation and more on writing a book about parenting—it would definitely be a bestseller.
"Mentor, even though we hit some bumps along the way, the outcome is still favorable, right?"
"...If you say so."
"I knew you'd support me! Don't worry, mentor, once your body is restored, I'll make sure you get to enjoy the fruits of our labor too!"
Hearing this, Emily could no longer contain her long-held anger. She drew her sword and slashed through the bookshelf, stepping out of the shadows with a cold gleam in her icy blue eyes.
"What did you just say?"
Seeing Emily suddenly appear, John felt as if he had fallen into an icy pit, his spine tingling with fear!
Who was she? How did she get here?
"This is perfect; you've been caught. Go ahead, put on a show now," Sorvan sneered. If he still had a body, he would have clapped for John.
Serves you right for running your mouth, now look what you've gotten yourself into!
"The Crossbridge Academy is a restricted area; unauthorized personnel are not allowed. Since you're not wearing the academy badge, you're not a student. Who allowed you in? Trespassers will be executed. I hope you understand that."
Emily flicked her wrist, and the cold gleam of her sword pointed directly at John's forehead.
"State your purpose! Or I'll kill you right now!"
"No, no, no! I'll talk, I'll talk!"
Seeing that Emily was serious about killing him, John quickly retreated, his mind racing.
"I..."
"Speak up!"
"I said! I'm just a ranger, hired by someone to retrieve a very important item, which is why I entered the Forbidden Forest. I mean no harm!"
"No harm? That's not what you were saying just now. Your mouth was full of vile words, your thoughts utterly filthy! Someone like you, a ranger? If I had a task, I certainly wouldn't entrust it to a bronze-tier mage."
Faced with Emily's scornful gaze, John's face turned red as he stammered, trying to evade the subject.
"Mentor, help me out here!"
"Help you? How? This girl may only be gold-tier, but she's extremely talented. If she kills you here, no one will question it later. You're on your own."
To be honest, Sorvan was rather looking forward to it.
If this girl could kill John, it would give him the perfect opportunity to take over Emily's body.
A highly talented body like hers, though of a different gender, would still be a worthy prize.
"I... though my strength may be lacking, I have other means. I was just a bit frustrated earlier because I couldn't complete my mission. But who are you?"
"Who I am is none of your concern."
"It certainly is! You may have the Crossbridge Academy badge, but who knows how you got it? Maybe you're the one who stole what I came for!"
"How absurd. Listen well, I am the Emily you spoke so casually of controlling."
At those words, John's face turned deathly pale.
"You... you're Emily?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
Is there a problem? Of course, there's a problem!
John couldn't believe it—he had just been running his mouth, and now he had ended up face-to-face with the very person he was talking about?
What kind of luck was this?
Out of all the female students at Crossbridge Academy, he had to run into Emily?
"No, there must still be a way to salvage this!"
John swallowed hard, forcing a sheepish grin as he scratched his head and chuckled, "No problem at all.
It's just that my fiancée's name is also Emily. What a coincidence! But you're much prettier than my fiancée..."
Emily found John's excuse laughable.
Such a flimsy lie—Emily might not be a fool, but she wasn't dumb enough to believe it.
"Haha, who knows, maybe you really are my fiancée. I only met her once when we were kids."
"If you say one more word, I'll kill you right now!"
"No, no, I was just joking. You're so beautiful and strong; I'm sure you won't hold a grudge against me."
Emily had heard such cheap flattery countless times and had long since become immune to it.
Even Owen, who showered her with precious gifts, hadn't managed to win her over. What chance did a few sweet words have?
Emily strongly suspected that Owen had lied, or at least gotten some things wrong—there was no way she could ever develop even the slightest bit of affection for someone like this!
"Uh, Emily... sis?"
"Shut up! If you call me that again, you'll face the consequences!"
"I just thought it might make you seem more approachable. But if you don't like it, I'll stop. Emily, can I ask you a favor?"
"A favor?"
Emily found this amusing.
"Actually, I've always admired Crossbridge Academy. My biggest dream is to join Crossbridge Academy..."
"And what does that have to do with me?"
"Of course it's related! You see, your name is Emily, and my fiancée's name is also Emily..."
Before John could finish, a burst of flame shot towards him, forcing him to roll and crawl away just in time.
"If you dare mention that again, I guarantee you won't be able to dodge next time!"
"Anyway! We're somewhat fated to meet, right? Could you use this connection to recommend me to Crossbridge Academy?"
Emily instinctively wanted to refuse. After all, she didn't want to have anything more to do with someone so deceitful and twisted.
But then she reconsidered. John had already put the diary away, and he was the only one who could read its contents.
Emily was desperate to uncover the truth about her family's death. If she killed John now, there might be no one left who could decipher the diary.
It would be better to spare him for now, take him back to the academy, and deal with him once she had learned the secrets within the diary!
With that thought, Emily suppressed her disgust and anger, took a deep breath, and said, "Fine, I can help you, but on one condition. I'll tell you what it is when I've decided."
"No problem! As long as you're willing to help, I'll agree to any condition!"
John nodded eagerly, though inside he was sneering.
As expected, this woman is a fool. A few simple lies, and she's wrapped around my finger!
When the time comes, I'll casually reveal a bit from the diary, and controlling her will be a piece of cake!
...
At the Chief Mansion of Crossbridge Academy, Owen narrowed his eyes as he played with the storage ring filled with John's father's legacy, a smile tugging at his lips.
"By now, John and Emily should have met, right? Tsk tsk tsk, without your father's legacy and with Emily no longer by your side, I'm curious to see how you'll manage to rise again this time!"