Chapter 56: Why Is the Mastermind Always Her?!

In the end, Will learned from Hunter that Felix’s family had been struggling financially lately. With the royal family in decline, the nobles weren’t faring much better.

So…

They agreed to collaborate with the Branton family. The Brantons provided money, while Felix’s family offered some territorial rights in return.

As the two families grew closer, so did their children. The older ones often looked out for the younger ones.

It was the second son of the Branton family who had been secretly encouraging Felix, providing him with tools and senior-level knowledge to lead the bullying against Will. After all, how else could a newly enrolled Felix know the location of the school’s cold storage or manage to steal the keys to lock someone inside?

“The Branton family, huh? Alright, I’ll look into it.”

The Branton family had always been at odds with the Hysterm family.

But it was purely a business rivalry.

Both families operated in the dungeon industry. The Branton family focused on hardcore adventurer supplies—equipment and essential resources. Meanwhile, the Hysterm family leaned toward lighter services, managing dungeon trading markets and offering leisure and social spaces for adventurers.

When dungeon exploration was resource-intensive and risky, the Branton family thrived. Dungeon yields barely covered the costs of exploration, forcing many adventurers to barter with the Brantons for supplies. This barter system often left the Brantons with significant profits, while adventurers had little left to enjoy other services.

However, in recent years, the Hysterm family had supported the Adventurer’s Guild and restructured the market. The range of tradable items expanded, pricing became more precise, and somehow, dungeon yields increased while risks decreased. This reduced the need for basic equipment, leaving adventurers with surplus funds to enjoy Hysterm’s services.

The current business rivalry wasn’t exactly a blood feud.

Today, they might compete for customers due to differing business policies. Tomorrow, they might collaborate for mutual benefit.

That’s just how merchants operated.

But…

“It’s strange. Even if the Branton family dislikes us, bullying me doesn’t achieve much. According to their information, I’m the Hysterm family’s least favored child… oh right, I don’t even have a mother.”

Even as Will sat at his desk at home, he couldn’t stop pondering this.

He cut a piece of the wax seal, melted it in a small dish, and sprinkled the black market powder over it.

“Bullying me at school… what’s the point, aside from messing with my head? Hmm… could it be to lure me into discovering something?”

As soon as he spoke, the powder reacted. The results came in quickly. The white powder had already changed color.

“That was fast. Is this the result of two centuries of royal refinement?”

Will brought the dish closer.

In the melted wax, the powder he had sprinkled had turned a bright, vibrant red, standing out sharply against the deep blue wax.

“…Wait?! This color is—”

The moment he saw the color, Will’s eyes lit up.

He didn’t even need to check the reference chart.

He remembered this color.

In the original story, Hugh had used this method to analyze letters from the Entark royal family. And… the first result he got was…

This exact shade of red.

Although the original text only described the color, its emphasis on the vibrant, striking red left no room for doubt.

Just to be sure, Will pulled out the crumpled reference chart the black market merchant had given him. After cross-referencing, his suspicions were confirmed.

“It’s her. Of course, it’s her…”

This color represented the Fourth Princess, Eugenie Entark.

And wouldn’t you know it, the original story mentioned that the Branton family was aligned with Eugenie within the royal court. Much of Eugenie’s dungeon exploration resources came from the Branton family.

Identifying her connected two seemingly unrelated events from the original story.

Whether it was the attack on Will…

Or the Branton family using Felix to bully him at school…

Eugenie was likely the one pulling the strings.

“If it’s her, damn it, no wonder. Isn’t she the first villain introduced in the original story? Why is she so persistent…”

There was a reason Will remembered her so vividly.

Because…

She was the mastermind of the first volume of the original story!

Are you addicted to being the mastermind or something?

In the first volume, Hugh’s forced departure from his team was almost entirely orchestrated by her. She manipulated events from behind the scenes—primarily by deceiving and influencing “Young Master Will.”

First, she sent one of her subordinates to join “Morning Star” as a powerful mid-game addition.

Then, through this subordinate, she tricked “Young Master Will” into purchasing expensive, impractical weapons for the team, claiming they would boost the team’s ranking and earn more sponsorships.

Next, using taunts from rival teams, she provoked the hot-headed “Young Master Will” into leading the team to challenge a target slightly beyond their capabilities. This marked the start of the original story, which began with their crushing defeat.

Finally, she manipulated “Young Master Will” into blaming Xiu for the failure, pressuring him to leave the team. As the nominal leader, Will’s personality and position made it easy for the other members—each with their own agendas—to side with him, forcing Xiu out.

At the end of the first volume, it was revealed that Eugenie had orchestrated everything.

She had her sights set on Hugh’s talents as a logistician and wanted to recruit him. However, Hugh’s deep ties to “Morning Star” made him reluctant to leave. Eugenie had no choice but to make the team turn against him.

Oh, and Hugh eventually defected to the dungeon faction, where he was taken in by the reigning Dungeon Empress, who showered him with resources and added him to her growing harem. But that’s a long story for another time.

“Even though I haven’t met you yet, considering our future interactions, it seems our fates are deeply intertwined!”

For once, Will was so annoyed that he slammed his desk and pointed at the red powder—this wretched woman’s hair was red too, and just thinking about it made him mad!

When he read the original story, he didn’t think much of it. From Hugh’s  perspective, Eugenie’s schemes helped him see his teammates’ true colors. Plus, after revealing her plans, she got her comeuppance when Hugh beat her up. It was incredibly satisfying.

But… putting himself in his current position…

The attack? That was your doing!

The bullying? That was your doing!

The team betrayal? That was your doing!

What kind of grudge do you have against Will Hysterm?!

Will’s competitive spirit flared.

“Just wait. I’ll find a way to punish you…”

But if Eugenie was behind the attack… what was her motive?

Will scratched his head. Eugenie’s schemes were always convoluted, and her ability to monitor “Young Master Will” so precisely made it hard to pin down her intentions.

After thinking for a while without reaching a clear conclusion, Will decided…

To bring out his secret weapon!

Clap clap. He opened his drawer, pulled out a book, and slapped it onto the desk.

Task System!

Stuck in the plot?

No clear goal?

Feeling lost?

Forgot the original story?

Lacking tools?

The system has you covered.

Although, in this case… it didn’t have the tools he needed.

A well-designed task system should connect the plot, allowing the player to recall details just by reading the tasks and descriptions.

“Since Eugenie is the Fourth Princess and a member of the royal family, I guess it’s about time I meet the third character.”

He flipped to the third chapter of the Task System—

[Princess Treya Chapter.]

“That’s right… Treya. Treya Entark, Eugenie’s younger sister and the swordswoman of the Morning Star team.”

“Finally, it’s your turn.”