Cleaning Up the Mess (1)
The midterm exams, extraordinary in every sense, had finally come to an end. In the end, Kara emerged victorious, and her team earned high marks. Grace's team, especially Sivar, on the other hand, received highly ambiguous evaluations. Even if swallowing the artifact could be chalked up to an accident, the other parts were dangerously reckless in all sorts of ways.
This incident continued to reverberate even after the exams ended, inevitably reaching Lord Sherman's ears.
"Let me see... Starting from hanging a student upside down for water torture, forced drowning, bomb vest, arson, indiscriminate oil bombing? What in the world is this?"
"Well..."
At Lord Sherman's impassive question, Marlboro fidgeted, glancing around nervously.
The president's office in the main building currently held not just Marlboro but other professors lined up as well: Sara, Yeonhwa, Godin, and so on. They were all instructors for Sivar's class.
Marlboro hesitated, sighed inwardly, and finally answered Lord Sherman's question. The more he explained, the more Lord's brow twitched, his expression hardening rigidly.
"Heh, truly... Should I call it impressive or cunning? And this was even with attack rights granted?"
"Yes. That's correct."
Creak. Lord leaned back in his chair upon hearing Marlboro's reply. The chair bent softly, emitting a faint noise. He stared at the ceiling in that position for a long while, lost in thought. His face looked unmistakably troubled. The professors' insides burned in real time the more it dragged on. Tension made their palms slick with sweat.
"...Most incidents I can handle on my own. I can just gloss over them with a word."
"......"
"But this... I can't do a thing about it. Any students end up in the hospital for mental issues?"
"Uh... Yes. Quite a few say they feel like they're snorting water every time they drink."
"A very common aftereffect indeed."
It was a common aftereffect, true. But the problem was how severe it was. That's why Lord responded with a touch of sarcasm. He himself, along with countless professors, suffered from it. For example, flinching at the mere touch of a hand on the shoulder. That was one such aftereffect.
"If Sivar hadn't started it—if the students had messed up first—I'd have defended him. Even when he causes trouble, he hardly ever harms people directly."
"......"
"But what is this? All this mess from some ridiculous attack right restrictions. Should've gotten final approval on the contract."
Lord Sherman was the academy president, but he wielded almost no real authority. Especially regarding exams—he had his hands tied. He and Lize were politically neutral, ironically making it hard for them to take sides. In the current tense global situation, if even Lord picked a faction, things would spiral disastrously.
"Especially this bomb vest part. If there'd been a Santia student, they'd have been outraged beyond belief. You all know the situation in Santia, right?"
"......Yes. Frequent terrorist attacks by revolutionaries, from what I hear."
"Good that you know. Hmm..."
Lord double-checked the report, letting out a groan. Sivar had caused an uproar just three days after formal enrollment. Of course, being outside Lord's jurisdiction for the exam, there was nothing to be done. But from his perspective, it looked messed up from the start.
'An academy founded on fairness and justice, restricting attack rights? Ridiculous.'
The root cause, the source of all evil: the attack right restrictions, supposedly for fairness, had shattered everything instead. And it hadn't even worked. Far from it—it only highlighted Sivar's cunning and genius ideas.
No one had taught him those antics. He'd figured them out himself, on the spot. With barely any time, yet he'd devised them instantly.
'That creature was right after all.'
The squirrel, Ratatosk, had said it: Sivar's body was so exceptional he didn't need to use his brain. Lord had brushed it off at the time, but it was all true.
'He must've set all sorts of traps living in the forest. Had to rack his brains to face beasts stronger than him.'
The reason frail humans survived the wild was clear: superior intellect and endurance. Even without magic power, those two alone let humans conquer the wilderness and build civilization. Sivar was the same. Alone, he couldn't build civilization, but without smarts, survival was impossible.
'At least he didn't use lightning—a silver lining?'
From the report, no one seemed to realize Sivar wielded red mana. He'd minimized output. If he'd used lightning, they'd have noticed something off about his mana. A fortunate misfortune.
Of course, that didn't resolve the incident. Moreover, the victims were students tied to major nobles.
'Won't protest outright, but they'll take note.'
Plenty already watched Sivar closely. From today, his notoriety would spread in a whole new way.
Lord could do little here. Just focus on cleanup.
"...Write apology letters. I'll pin the blame on Delphoi for overstepping. Professors who sided with him too."
"Thank you for your mercy."
Marlboro and the others bowed deeply in gratitude. A potentially messy situation eased by Lord's leniency, letting them breathe. Of course, it wasn't fully resolved. Piles of issues remained.
"So, plans for finals? Hope this mess straightens things out."
"Finals were occupation battles. Split into two teams, seize zones."
"Occupation battle, huh..."
As Marlboro explained, it split teams into two, seizing areas. Full control or most zones by time limit wins. Inherently chaotic melee, fortunes turning on strategy.
"Restricting Sivar's attack rights again?"
"Absolutely not. After this, other class profs won't dare overstep."
Initially, others sided with Delphoi on restricting Sivar. But with the fallout, they dumped blame on him. Unfair for Delphoi maybe, but politics has consequences. Windfall for Marlboro's group—no more meddling with Sivar. If any, let him cause chaos and pin it back.
"Good then. Handle finals smoothly."
"We will."
"Ah, Godin."
"Yes?"
Godin blinked wide, startled at being singled out.
"Counsel Sivar. He's formally enrolled now; me doing it would stir talk."
"Uh... Got it."
"Fine. Anything else?"
"No, sir."
"Dismissed."
At Lord's order, professors rose, bowed politely, and filed out. Lord watched, then eyed the report again. Detailed accounts of Sivar's antics—three pages per student.
'How'd he even eat the artifact?'
Torture and bomb vest stood out, but digesting the artifact was absurd. What digestion could handle that? Fragile material or not, too fast.
'At least a cheap one—lucky.'
Artifact damage? No issue. Designed as one-use disposables. Worry was Sivar's health. Packed with magic circuits—even disposable, eating it was insane, and clean digestion worse.
'Lize's around, so probably fine... No explosion, good.'
Artifacts could blow if mishandled. Exam ones minimized risk, breaking on impact—not for stomach acid.
'Setting all sorts of precedents.'
What antics next? Lord chuckled, flipping pages to academy status report.
"Hm?"
His eye caught something: Chaos Forest. Where Sivar and Ratatosk lived—unavoidable.
Major changes occurring in Chaos Forest. Numerous beasts and monsters emerging from the outskirts—investigation recommended.
Expelled creatures mostly appear "defeated in competition." Suggests top-of-food-chain beast or monster has vanished...
"......"
Lord stared, pinching his brow firmly. He could guess what happened. Sivar and Ratatosk ruled as apex predators deep in Chaos Forest. Their sudden absence disrupted the chain—now turf wars raged, losers fleeing outward.
Time to form an investigation team soon.
'Students scouting outskirts too...'
Bad premonition, especially with Sivar involved.
Knock knock knock.
"President. It's Delphoi. May I enter?"
While Lord skimmed reports, Delphoi knocked. Voice betrayed tension.
"Come in."
Creak. At permission, Delphoi entered cautiously. Mismatched bob haircut same, but confidence shattered. He sat gingerly when told.
Tension etched his face.
"Well."
One thing left.
"What do you think of this mess?"
Time to hold him accountable.
*****
Meanwhile, Sivar was...
"Tasty?"
"Yeah."
"Want more? Ice cream?"
"Chocolate!"
"Chocolate ice cream? Got it."
Let others' guts burst—he was just munching sweets from Kara.