The Retired Supporting Character Wants to Live Quietly

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 80 - Academy's Representative Team Complete (1)

As news of the competition spread, the academy buzzed with excitement.

An external competition had never been held before, and this one was even organized by the Imperial Security Office.

Winning here would undoubtedly be a tremendous boost to anyone's career.

Because of this, Knightley's followers fawned over her even more than usual.

Knightley was currently the top student in the graduating class.

Rumor had it that the competition would be conducted in teams, just like the active Special Task Forces. Being on the same team as Knightley would significantly increase the chances of winning.

However, Knightley ignored her sycophants with her usual cold arrogance.

With their poor skills, they’d only hold her back.

Did they really think I wouldn't notice how they curse me behind my back while trying to use me to their advantage?

I'd be better off going solo.

Knightley wasn’t wrong in her thinking. Her followers despised her.

But as the daughter of a Duke and the top student at the academy, they clung to her, hoping to catch even the smallest crumbs that might fall.

And of course, Knightley was fully aware of this.

"What? Competing alone? What nonsense is this?"

Professor Dian looked incredulous when he heard.

"You want to enter the competition solo? Nothing's even been decided yet! Besides, no matter how skilled you are, the competition is based on rookie agent evaluations. Going solo would be tough."

Professor Dian chuckled.

"No matter how much of a top student you are here, in the field, you're still a greenhorn. Now go get ready for the evaluation."

"Evaluation?"

"If you're entering the competition, we need to assess your skills and train you. Now go on, I'm busy."

Reluctantly, Knightley left the Head Professor's office under Dian's urging.

As she closed the door, she caught a glimpse of Professor Dian cheerfully pulling out a whipped cream cake from the cupboard.

That man always kicks me out just to eat cake by himself.

A few days later, the academy released the draft of its internal evaluation criteria.

Infiltration, assassination, and intelligence—those were the main focus areas. Overall, there was nothing particularly problematic.

After all, these were topics the academy had been teaching all along.

And thanks to the occasional personal lessons from Professor Dian on infiltration and assassination, Knightley felt confident she had reached a decent level in those areas.

But there was a problem with the intelligence field.

There was an intelligence course in the Theoretical Department, but it was notoriously difficult.

At the academy, intelligence is treated in a somewhat narrow sense.

It’s not about extracting information through torture or infiltrating enemy lines for observation and guidance.

Instead, it involves deciphering codes and patterns, analyzing intercepted magical communications, utilizing publicly available information like rumors and market transaction records, and then using all of this to assess enemy intentions, evaluate potential threats, and predict future developments.

Just hearing about it was enough to give one a headache. Even Knightley, with her excellent grades, had only managed to get an A in intelligence once.

The Imperial Security Office is said to have a specialized unit known as the 5439th Division that handles these matters exclusively. She couldn’t even imagine how insanely talented those people must be.

Anyway, this was the biggest challenge… She definitely needed to study more.

Having assessed the situation, Knightley decided to stop wasting time planning and get straight to work.

Her first stop was the academy library, where she loaded up on books related to intelligence.

After struggling to haul them back to her dormitory, she headed to the Theoretical Department next.

"Hello, Professor."

Knightley approached the intelligence professor to ask if she could get access to any past cases or previous exam questions from other academies related to the upcoming evaluation.

Fortunately, she managed to get her hands on an old set of questions from the Imperial Cipher Decoding Competition that had been held once long ago. Armed with these, Knightley headed to the market next.

"I'll take these, these, and these, please."

She stocked up on long-lasting snacks. She planned to stay holed up in her dormitory over the weekend to study, so she needed something to munch on.

And so, the top student, Knightley, began her serious preparation for the evaluation.

She was determined to be selected, to uphold the academy's honor, and to earn recognition from Professor Dian. And then, she would become a Special Agent in the Security Office right after graduation.

Then, not even my father could interfere with my life. Perfect!

But it wasn’t the extreme difficulty of the intelligence course that stood in her way—it was the physical training.

"Uweeeeek!!"

On the first day of intense physical training, Knightley vomited everything she had inside after completing a large lap around the academy and entering the drill ground.

The Special Mission Academy had always emphasized physical training, and Knightley had always been considered quite fit.

But even so, the physical training led by the old, white-bearded Professor Morton was grueling.

And it was here that Knightley’s pride took a major hit.

The pink-haired special student, Sophia, easily outpaced her and finished first.

That girl was from a mercenary background. Her physical stamina is insane.

There was no way Knightley could just let this slide.

No matter what, she couldn’t lose to a newly transferred special student.

She would have to conquer both the intelligence course and physical training. This won’t be easy...

Instead of getting discouraged, Knightley pushed herself even harder.

Despite her arrogance, Knightley was a surprisingly diligent student with grand ambitions for the future, willing to give her all to achieve her goals.

Surprisingly so.

# # # # #

Hindrasta, who had outrun Professor Morton to be the first to arrive at the drill ground, looked back with a bored expression.

The weak humans were collapsing to the ground, vomiting everywhere. How pathetic.

So much fuss over this competition. I don’t care about any of it.

What do I care if the academy succeeds or fails, or if I get better grades at graduation?

I showed up to this training because it’s mandatory, but I’m definitely not entering the competition.

"Hey, Hindrasta. Enter the competition."

"Eek?!"

Hindrasta nearly fainted when Dian suddenly appeared.

"You’re entering, no excuses. Don’t say you can't or won’t."

"Is this the Sovienna Federation or something? You can’t just boss me around! No way!"

But as Dian stared her down, Hindrasta quickly lowered her head.

"I’ll do it..."

She couldn’t escape from Dian, and if she tried, she’d likely have to face Linus too, so she opted to comply for now.

A thousand years from now, you’ll all be dead. I’ll return to my true form and burn everything to the ground.

But considering humans only live about a hundred years, it was a rather meaningless vow of revenge.

# # # # #

The academy’s internal evaluation began alongside physical training.

As she headed to the intelligence evaluation hall, Knightley recited from a small notebook she held.

It was a summary of the intelligence material she had crammed into her head over the past week.

If she could just memorize all of this, she wouldn’t make any basic mistakes, even if she didn’t get a perfect score.

Upon entering the evaluation hall, the first thing Knightley did was search for the special student, Sophia.

Sophia was sitting in the back, doing nothing, with her chair tilted back and her legs propped up on the desk.

She seems so relaxed. She must have studied in secret like I did and is just pretending not to care.

But I worked hard too. She might be better at physical training, but I’m sure I’ll do better in the written test.

As Knightley took her seat and the evaluation was about to begin, the door opened, and Professor Dian walked in with a female student.

"This is the new special student. She’ll be joining this evaluation right away."

As Professor Dian spoke to the evaluation supervisor, the room buzzed with curiosity.

A new special student…?

Knightley's sharp gaze fixated on the shy brown-haired girl standing next to Dian.

"Starting right away? That might be tough for her."

"She’ll be fine. She graduated at the top of her public academy and served as a deputy village administrator. She’s got the basics."

The supervisor hesitated, but Dian’s response only heightened the room’s excitement.

A top public academy graduate? A deputy administrator?

"Headmaster Kirrin personally recruited her, so there’s nothing to worry about."

"Well… if the Head Professor says so..."

Recruited by the headmaster herself?

"Alright, everyone quiet down! The evaluation is starting!"

Just as the murmurs threatened to turn into a full-blown commotion, the supervisor raised his voice to bring the room to order.

Meanwhile, the new special student, Merilda, quickly took a seat next to Sophia.

Knightley turned slightly in her seat, scrutinizing Merilda’s every move.

A new special student? Top graduate of a public academy and already has experience?

And recruited by the headmaster? Hmm...

"Hello."

Merilda, having just sat down, greeted Hindrasta, who was sitting next to her.

But as expected, Hindrasta didn’t even bother to acknowledge the greeting, let alone respond.

After all, she was the Great White Dragon.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]