"Shit," Victor cursed inwardly as he looked up and saw a handsome, middle-aged man glaring down at him with cold eyes from the second floor.
"M-Manager?!" The receptionist's eyes widened when she saw the manager appear, shocked at his sudden action.
'Primogenitor? What the hell is that for him to act this way…?' she thought, sweat trickling down her forehead.
"Tell me, young man—where did you hear that term?" the man demanded, his voice laced with both curiosity and killing intent.
'Damn, this guy must be a Ranker… I can feel it,' Victor thought as he struggled under the crushing pressure. Bitterness flickered in his heart—he could tell this man was much weaker than Miss Amanda, and if he still had his former strength before regression, defeating him would've been effortless.
'He looks like he'll kill me if I don't give a satisfying answer. Should I just mention Miss Amanda…?' Victor clenched his fists as he felt the killing intent intensify.
"I heard it from Amanda Crimson," Victor finally said.
The moment those words left his mouth, the expressions of both the manager and the receptionist changed instantly, and the oppressive pressure bearing down on Victor vanished.
"Huh, it worked?" Victor was surprised when the pressure suddenly vanished. He looked up and saw the man staring at him with a hint of nervousness, wiping sweat from his brow.
"You mean Amanda Crimson from the Light Academy?" the man asked, his voice uneasy.
"Yes," Victor replied, raising an eyebrow at their reaction.
"What's your relationship with her?" the manager hurriedly pressed.
"She's the instructor of my batch at the academy," Victor answered.
'Damn, I actually released killing intent at that ruthless woman's student… If I had harmed him, wouldn't I have been targeted by her?' the manager cried out inwardly, sweating profusely. He quickly calmed himself, realizing it made sense if Amanda was the one who told him about the term.
"I see… I apologize. I didn't mean to harm you, but you must understand—the information you asked about is classified. Very few people know of it," the manager said calmly.
"I understand. I'll take my leave," Victor said. He wasn't too disappointed; he hadn't expected to find much here anyway—he was just trying his luck, even though he almost died for it.
"Wait a second. Here—catch."
Just as Victor turned to leave, the manager tossed him a scroll. Victor caught it and looked at him, puzzled.
"You see, information on the Primogenitor is very scarce in the lower floors and highly classified. But since you're Miss Amanda's student, you can be an exception," the manager said with a faint smile, while the young lady at the desk looked on doubtfully.
Victor simply nodded and left the building.
After Victor left, the manager exhaled. The young lady at his side hesitated, clearly wanting to ask something, which the man quickly noticed and spoke instead.
"You're wondering why I handed classified information to someone like him, even though he isn't even a Ranker," the man said with a neutral expression while receptionist nodded her head.
"Yes… The information you gave him is something even I've never heard about. Just because he's the student of the Crimson Mage doesn't make him eligible, right?" the young lady asked hesitantly. In her mind, Amanda had many students, and she was certain he wouldn't treat the others the same way he had treated Victor.
"Think about it," the man replied, raising an eyebrow. "Most classified information is only accessible with proper authority. But the information he asked about is even more dangerous. And if Amanda herself chose to tell this to one of her students… do you really believe he's just a normal student?"
"That…" The young lady was left speechless.
"Exactly. That's why I gave him the information. And also…" The man narrowed his eyes at her, making the receptionist swallow hard.
"Forget what you heard—or else." His words carried a trace of killing intent, and the receptionist frantically nodded.
---
Outside, Victor opened the scroll he had received from the manager as he kept walking. As soon as he unwrapped it, his brows furrowed.
"Only two sentences?" Victor was puzzled when he saw that there were just two lines written on the scroll which puzzled him greatly.
'He did say the information on the Primogenitor was very scarce on the lower floors, but I didn't expect this…' Victor sighed, then read the sentences—and was shocked.
"The Primogenitor caused the formation of the crimson full moon."
Victor's eyes widened as he instinctively looked up at the enormous circular moon in the sky, emitting a light red hue.
According to the scroll, the details weren't clear. It was vaguely stated that the moon turning crimson was related to the awakening of the first Primogenitor bloodline. The moon hadn't always been red, though most people believed it had always been that way but no one knows for certain.
Woosh—
The scroll suddenly caught fire and instantly turned to ash in his hands which left Victor speechless for a second.
"Hmm, looks like it was meant to burn after being read by the designated person," Victor mumbled. Then he blinked, realizing something he had forgotten entirely about.
"Oh, right—I forgot to ask Miss Amanda for directions to the Academy. Looks like I'll need to ask around again," Victor sighed. He wasn't sure if the Academy was in the same location as in his previous world, as this was parallel world and many things were different than he knew.
Just as he was about to approach someone, a voice shouted anxiously:
"Hey, look! What's happening to the moon?"
Victor stopped. He saw everyone gazing at the sky, so he also looked up—and froze. The moon was suddenly glowing with a blinding red light which cussed the entire sky to turn blood red.
Rumble—
The ground began shaking violently as the moon's glow intensified. Many pedestrians stumbled and fell, but Victor didn't pay them any mind. He stared blankly in front.
[Ding Dong]