Chapter 79
Chapter 79
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 79
>Chapter Title: The Common Sense of an Academy Festival (9)
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
*
-Crack—!!
“A gunshot!?”
Isabelle shot up from her seat in alarm.
Isn’t that the direction the old man went…? The moment the thought crossed her mind, she covered her face and groaned.
What is he doing now….
Sadly, it was a reasonable question.
“Ah, so it’s started.”
Unlike the bewildered Isabelle, Esidis, and Elfihera, the three transmigrators at the booth wore faint smiles as they packed up.
There were no customers anyway. No ingredients worth stealing. There was nothing to lose by simply abandoning the booth and leaving.
Even as screams erupted from the surroundings and panicked crowds rushed past, they remained perfectly composed.
“Wh-what, what’s going on! Can someone explain! Are human festivals always like this? Ah, a salute. This is some kind of ceremonial salute, right?”
“No, I haven’t heard of any such event on the schedule.”
Isabelle said, her eyes tracking the suspicious, masked figures running through the terrified crowd.
“If this were really part of the festival, I don’t think people would be running away.”
“My, my, you don’t know? This is why… ‘otherworlders’ are so….”
Yujin approached, shaking his head. He had already changed into light, active wear, with a mace tucked under his arm.
“Ah, this is what you call an ‘attack.’ It’s a common occurrence at an academy… I mean, a university.”
“Your personality seems to have changed a bit… No, and what kind of university gets attacked so often….”
Isabelle trailed off, closing her mouth.
*What? Why does it feel like we’ve been attacked often…?*
Come to think of it, there was an attack on the train to the academy, an attack during the field training, a sudden earthquake, and now this festival.
For all this to happen within just three months of enrollment was a bit too…?
To just think of it as a series of incidents, it was happening a little too frequently…?
“Uh… uh?”
“Have you finally realized? That this is ‘common sense’….”
Yujin chuckled, then turned to Oswald, who was smiling beside him.
“Now, Oswald. Grant me the ‘spell of victory.’”
“I suppose I must.”
Oswald smirked and stepped forward, raising a hand.
An old-fashioned helmet was now in his grasp. It was a tin-can-shaped helmet from a bygone era, the kind a penitent knight-errant might wear.
A strange red cross was painted on it.
Oswald placed the helmet on Yujin’s head and lowered the visor. With a heavy *clank*, the visor covered Yujin’s face.
And above it, purple mana swirled and coiled.
Having woven the spell from the mana at his fingertips, Oswald focused the incantation on Yujin’s head and whispered softly.
“The Lord wills it.”
*Vwiiing—.*
The spell was completed, seeping into Yujin’s helmet. [Bestow Courage]. A common enhancement spell from Mind Sorcery.
But the result was anything but common.
“Kill the infidels.”
From beneath the helmet’s visor, a golden light flared to life.
“In the name of the Lord!! God is great, and He is the only one!!”
“That’s the Islamic…”
“Shh, don’t break his concentration. Let him enjoy it.”
“Ah… right.”
Yuri and Oswald watched with fond smiles as Yujin kicked off the ground and charged forward.
After a quick check of his own gear, Oswald turned to the other students, who were still frozen in a daze.
“Well, this is the situation. Let’s see…”
He knew they were the children of the Hero’s Party. And according to Ivan’s explanation, they were the ‘main characters’ of this ‘scenario.’
In the academy genre, an attack during a festival was nothing more than a level-up experience event for the main characters. That was common sense.
Oswald searched for the right words to explain this in terms of this world. Hmm. So.
“Civilians are being attacked right now, and many of the students are from non-combat departments. Most of them have zero practical experience. Stay sharp. We’re the most level-headed ones here.”
“Uh, uhh…”
“Ah, Miss Esidis, you’re a music student, right? Can’t be helped. Please stay back…”
What could a bard do? Just sing from the rear.
As Oswald said this, Esidis hesitated for a moment before closing her eyes tightly and asking.
“Wh-what about my uncle? Uncle Ivan.”
“Considering the direction of the gunshot and that man’s usual personality… it’s obvious. He’s probably dived into the most dangerous place.”
“Then I’m going with him.”
“Do you have a weapon?”
“Yes.”
With a grim expression, Esidis undid a buckle. The instrument case on her back slid off and settled into her hands.
“Hey, you’re not going to use your violin again…!”
“I won’t do that anymore. My squeaker is not a weapon.”
When she unzipped the instrument case, what emerged was a metal conductor’s baton.
It was about the length of a collapsible riot baton—too long and thick to be used for conducting.
And it was clearly a heavy rod, forged from solid steel.
“I’ve decided to double major in orchestral conducting starting next semester. Batons are cheap, and the material doesn’t matter…”
While there was the condition that one must be able to hold and wave it lightly with two fingers, there were no specific restrictions on what a baton could be made of.
And Esidis already possessed the grip and arm strength to wield a steel rod with just two fingers.
The strongest music student in history, daughter of the berserker Einar. Befitting the strongest female university student in Droan.
“The long hours of humiliation are over! As of today, I am a conductor!!”
O God, sing of sorrow!!
Esidis shrieked and charged toward the battlefield. Isabelle stared blankly after her before shaking her head.
*Conducting isn’t something you do on people’s heads.* Well, if she was happy, then that was fine.
She rolled her shoulders with a crackle and drew her sword. It was a good thing she’d kept it on her even during the festival.
“If the music and theology departments are stepping up like that, it would be embarrassing for the knight department to stand by. Miss Yuri, shall we go together?”
“Yes, Miss Isabelle. I’ll watch your back!”
The two knight department students gripped their swords and ran toward the crowd.
Now, only Oswald and Elfihera were left at the booth. Oswald watched them go with a faint smile.
“Do they not know what party play is?”
A priest charging in alone.
Followed by a bard with a melee weapon, also charging.
Only then do the two knights sortie.
What kind of chaotic mess was this? Wasn’t their club a party that had, for a long time, practiced and coordinated together?
How could they just abandon the rear-line mage and disappear…?
*Sigh.* Oswald shrugged and was about to follow the others when Elfihera blocked his path.
“Where are you going?”
“Ah, I thought I’d lend a hand.”
“You can’t do that. Then I’ll be left all alone.”
“Pardon?”
“I told you, I’m really out of mana. Not a single drop left.”
Elfihera shrugged and stepped back.
Oswald was taken aback. Elfihera was a genius, already famous throughout the department for her monstrous mana capacity. She had used enough magic to completely exhaust it? Without anyone noticing?
But why? And what kind of magic…?
As Oswald hesitated, Elfihera grinned and said.
“Still, an elf has her duties. I must go and save the poor short-lived species. By any chance, Mr. Ostbelphen, do you know how to shoot a pistol?”
“I know the basics.”
“Excellent. What spells do you know from Mind Sorcery?”
“Um… [Bestow Courage], [Form of Fear], and [Olog’s Blinders], I think?”
“What about [Aim Correction]?”
“Ah, I know how to do that too.”
“Wonderful. How many spells do you have left?”
“I can probably cast about ten more times.”
Elfihera beamed and nodded.
“Alright, then follow me!”
“What? But you said you’ve exhausted all your mana. Where are you going? Miss Grikenkos, you are a guest of honor from Kalion. You should be resting in a safe place!”
“Oh, but then I’d miss the chance to score some points.”
This incident would not be allowed to escalate beyond a certain point. Since it happened in the heart of Fritzenkaya, it would be suppressed in an instant.
The confusion was only this severe because of the festival crowds, but it was obvious the commotion would soon be quelled.
And Ivan was a high-ranking official who received orders directly from the princess. He would easily obtain reports on the terror suppression efforts.
The way to score points in this situation was simple. Act first, and make sure to stand out.
And to add one more thing to that: resolve the situation using a ‘pistol,’ one of Ivan’s primary weapons.
And then, naturally…
-Oh my, Sir Petrovich. I had the chance to use a 'pistol' for the first time during the recent terror incident.
>-That was your first time using one? Unbelievable!!
>-Oh, it's nothing special. Elves are naturally proficient with all sorts of weaponry. But you, Sir Petrovich, are skilled with this weapon called a pistol, are you not?
>-As a mere human, my skill is nothing to boast of, but I have handled one for a few years!
>-Ah, my father always said that if you meet someone who learned something even a day before you, you should ask them to teach you, even if they are human. Could you perhaps teach me how to shoot a pistol?
>-Screeeech!! It would be the honor of a lifetime! I plan to write of this day in my journal and pass it down as a family heirloom. Might I trouble you for an autograph?!
>-Ohohohoho!! Of course! By all means! Bring it here at once!!
“Hehe…”
“Miss Grikenkos?”
“Ufufu… Let’s go! Quickly! To save all the pitiful humans!!”
With a flushed face, Elfihera dashed off in a flurry of steps.
“Wh-where are you going to get a pistol!”
“I saw plenty of them earlier, fully loaded and all!”
Dmitry, in the middle of commanding the scene, was about to have his weapons forcibly confiscated by the elven nobles from Kalion who had just arrived.
*
After the incident was resolved, Ivan let out a deep sigh in front of the kneeling Dmitry.
“So it’s come to this.”
After flipping through the report, he hesitated with a displeased expression. He had made up his mind not to hold a public office again.
*I suppose it can’t be helped.*
Dipping his seal in red ink, he pressed it firmly onto the last page of the report. With another sigh, Ivan passed the document aside.
Pavel took the report and pressed his own seal next to Ivan’s.
-Primary: Colonel Ivan Petrovich.
>-Secondary: Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Sergeyevich Olov.
“Well… you’ll be receiving your backlogged military pension now…”
“…”
“Your salary will be paid not from the military but from the Eastern Palace… which is part of the Royal Household Department. Hehe.”
“…”
Dmitry averted his gaze from the two ghosts of the past staring at him silently, looked down at the floor, and muttered.
“I look forward to working with you, Seniors.”
“We’ll start by redoing the training plan.”
“Hmm.”
“Come to think of it, you could say the Royal Guard has been continued. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Since the sole survivor of the wartime Royal Guard (Ivan) had his unit reorganized into the Annihilation Squad, it wouldn’t be wrong to say the Annihilation Squad was the successor to the Royal Guard.
And since the current Counter-Intelligence Command was formed by gathering the survivors from that Annihilation Squad…
In a way, wasn’t this a reorganization of the Royal Guard?
Pavel nodded in satisfaction. A meaningful position, a good place to start over.
Ep 12. The Common Sense of an Academy Festival