Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: A Strong and Powerful Morning
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After succeeding with Just Guard another four times or so, dawn broke.
I dragged my exhausted body back to my private barracks and collapsed right there.
When I opened my eyes, all the lingering fatigue had washed away, leaving me feeling light as a feather.
This must be what they mean by a strong and powerful morning.
It was probably because the tension built up from conquering the mana beast dungeon had released all at once.
Thanks to that, laying out my future plans felt effortless, and sorting through my thoughts came easily too.
‘First things first, I need to claim top spot in the entrance exam.’
With that in mind, I grabbed my enrollment papers and stepped out of the barracks—only to be greeted by...
“?”
A sunset dyed red.
‘Damn. Did I seriously sleep the whole day away? No wonder my head’s been working so sharply.’
I glanced down at the enrollment form in my hand.
‘Even if I head over now, the office is probably closed.’
Still, the deadline was tomorrow at 6 p.m.—plenty of time if I went first thing in the morning.
‘Just in case, I should pull an all-nighter tonight.’
That’s when I locked eyes with a senior soldier heading into the barracks.
“What’s up? Why are you coming out of there?”
“Looks like my body was more worn out than I thought. I ended up sleeping the whole day.”
“The whole day? I didn’t see you yesterday?”
What?
This senior was definitely the one who’d been watching me train Just Guard from the corner of the training grounds.
And yet he says he didn’t see me?
An ominous premonition flashed through my mind.
“What day is it today?”
“The 16th.”
“...Why isn’t it the 15th?”
“What are you talking about?”
‘Shit.’
Only after double-checking the date did I piece together what happened.
When fatigue pushes the human body past its limits, it tends to rebound by craving recovery.
In that state, if the tension that’s been stretched taut like a rubber band suddenly snaps, the body goes completely slack.
For the past six years, I hadn’t taken a single proper day off.
And then, yesterday—no, the day before yesterday—I’d reaped far too many rewards in a single day.
Rene had grown, I’d gained a unique ability and a new art.
I’d conquered the mana beast dungeon, obtained a special shard, received a title, knighthood, and even a mansion—and capped it off by mastering Just Guard.
When it all hit me at once, my body and mind unraveled like a snapped rubber band.
The result? I’d slept straight through 24 hours, pushing past to 42. Naturally, the enrollment deadline had flown by.
‘Stay calm.’
I took a deep breath and settled my mind.
Just like that, my head cleared, and reason began to return.
It wasn’t a dead end. I had the reputation and connections I’d built up.
‘...I’ll ask Adelin.’
I’d probably get an earful about what kind of lunatic sells their soul like that, but what choice did I have?
She was Louidel’s instructor and the empire’s greatest sword. Someone with her influence could surely cover for a slip-up like this.
Clutching that hope, I went to find Adelin.
“Me? I’m not an instructor.”
“......Pardon?”
“Oh, they did offer, but I turned it down.”
“...Why?”
“Why do you think? I’ve got subordinates to look after. You went and conquered that mana beast dungeon, which piled even more work on us. How could I step away now?”
In the original story, Adelin accepts the instructor position after the Stormstrike Squad’s annihilation.
The reason? Her subordinates she needed to be responsible for had ‘vanished.’
But now, thanks to me joining the squad and clearing dungeons left and right, casualties were way down, and the squad was still intact.
In other words, she had no reason to transfer to Louidel.
“What’s wrong? Scared you’ll miss me that much at the academy?”
Who’d have thought the snowball defying the original story would roll this far? Self-inflicted, of course.
‘No, I missed the enrollment deadline—help me out.’
‘Just die.’
I might survive if I got used to Just Guard.
No, I wouldn’t. This was a dead end no matter how I sliced it.
‘Someone else... Mine?’
Tricky too. The empire’s saintess might have the title, but she held no real power.
‘Alicia...?’
Truth be told, Alicia and I weren’t close.
I had no idea what she thought of me.
More importantly, she was an imperial princess and student council president—locked in a fierce succession battle with her brother right now.
Granting me special treatment could damage her image over fairness issues.
‘The Ren sisters?’
That’d be tough too.
What power did they have?
The Ren family ultimately answered to Duke Ren, portrayed in the story as the avatar of rigid principle.
Even old man Halibal’s grandpa wouldn’t help with something like this.
Weird. I thought I had tons of backing, but how come no one useful shows up at the critical moment?
That’s when, as I racked my brain in frustration...
“Oh? Aren’t you Sir Halibal?”
I turned to see a mustachioed middle-aged man and a girl approaching from the side of the street.
Faces I’d bumped into while escaping the dungeon yesterday.
“What are you doing sitting there?”
“...Sir Halibal of the Grace family greets Duke Grace.”
“Hahaha, you’ve got a title now too. No need for such formality between fellow nobles.”
His oily speech and gentle demeanor.
The man was Victor Grace—one of the Cyrus Empire’s two great dukes and the empire’s top mage.
“Luna, say hello. This is Sir Halibal, the Elegy Sword.”
“...Greetings, Lady.”
“......”
The girl was Luna Grace—the original story’s heroine and the top damage dealer in the cast.
First time exchanging proper greetings, but just like in the original, she was curt.
Anyway, Victor was a member of the academy’s board and oversaw the entire educational curriculum.
He seemed affable and mild-mannered on the surface, but knowing the original story, I wasn’t thrilled.
‘Why’s the empire’s blackguard showing up here?’
[Apocalypse Academy] featured two main scenarios.
One was conquering the Evil God’s Dungeon and ultimately defeating the Evil God.
The other was a political drama thwarting noble power struggles and a coup within the empire.
Victor appeared as a double agent—publicly imperial loyalist, secretly backing the nobles to betray the throne.
Even colluding with the Evil God’s cultists.
He wasn’t directly tied to the Evil God himself, so less impact there.
Still, he tries a mutual destruction play with the Evil God at the end, preaching humanity’s praises.
If Alicia was a tiger-like cat, this guy was a snake in dog’s clothing—friendly exterior hiding a nest of serpents. The type I’d rather not tangle with in reality.
“What brings you here, Your Grace?”
“Ah, here for this year’s academy entrance exam.”
Of course, no need to treat him as an enemy yet.
This was a separate scenario from the Evil God arc. Until he showed his true colors, he was invaluable talent, unlinked to the church side.
‘Good thing nothing’s changed much here.’
Louidel Academy existed to train dungeon assault teams.
Thus, most classes, drills, and exams revolved around dungeon conquest—including the entrance exam.
The format: a mock dungeon conquest in a Shadow Dungeon conjured by Victor’s illusion magic.
They’d toss in the applicants and evaluate their potential. In the original, Cecilia took top honors.
So Victor was likely here to inspect the mana beast dungeon’s layout.
Not my problem anymore, though.
Couldn’t even enroll. Shit.
“By the way, Sir Halibal, you haven’t submitted your application. Not planning to enroll?”
“......I was so focused on training that I missed the deadline.”
“What?”
Even Victor wiped the smile off his face, staring at me like ‘What’s this idiot on about?’
But he quickly recovered his grin.
“Haha, I’d heard rumors of your training obsession, but I didn’t realize it ran that deep.”
“My apologies.”
“No need to apologize. So you’re forfeiting enrollment this year?”
“I’m looking into options, but it seems that way.”
Luna flinched in surprise at my words.
‘Is she wary of me?’
We’d only met twice.
Never even talked.
What was with the reaction?
“Hmm. A talent like you giving up over a single missed form?”
“Can’t inconvenience others. Fairness and all.”
Victor pondered, then clapped his hands.
“Hm, by ‘fairness,’ you mean a pretext, right?”
“Pretext” was one of Victor’s signature phrases.
Where Duke Ren obsessed over process, Duke Grace fixated on results.
As long as the pretext was solid, the process didn’t matter—an extreme results-oriented thinker.
“Then I might be able to help.”
“Pardon?”
“If you’re willing, how about taking the boss role in this entrance exam? I’ll pull every string to sort your enrollment.”
“Boss...”
“Hahaha. Details after you accept. Luna’s here too, after all. The exam must remain ‘fair,’ no?”
Luna averted her eyes and turned her head slightly.
Fair my ass.
He’d probably spilled everything to her already.
‘Boss role—the one Adelin filled in the original?’
The Shadow Dungeon’s deepest boss wasn’t Barhatan.
When the protagonist reached the end in the original, Adelin awaited.
He faces her, feels the overwhelming skill gap, and loses.
In the end, he barely grazes her cheek, earning recognition and a spot in the top class.
“Was going to assign a mid-tier instructor, but seeing you, I thought Elegy Sword might handle it.”
But Adelin wasn’t an instructor now.
Likely pushing the role my way.
“Of course, for fairness, I’ll work you hard. Lose too easily, and enrollment’s off the table.”
“......”
“Plenty of students to face—not easy by any means.”
“I see.”
“But pull it off, and granting a minor grace like late acceptance? No one could object.”
In the original, Adelin doesn’t take a single hit.
Not from Cecilia, Luna, or any other playable characters—the gap was insurmountable.
To recreate the main scenario, I’d need to show something similar.
Not zero hits, but zero losses?
Could I even do that?
I’d grown a lot, but no clue how I stacked against original characters.
Still, the pretext was ironclad.
Having blown my enrollment chance through my own fault, no better offer out there.
Plus, I wanted a proper clash with the original cast anyway.
One hang-up: tying myself to the empire’s blackguard.
“I’ll accept. When should I come by?”
“Hahaha! Knew you’d say that. I’ve got an eye for people.”
That was future me’s problem.
“Two days from now, my mansion in Naveil. I’ll explain then.”
Better if the protagonist handled it.
⁎⁎⁎
15th, 1:37 p.m.
Louidel Academy Student Council Room.
Alicia was in an excellent mood lately.
The man she’d single-handedly pushed from the imperial court for three years—Halibal Belder—had finally conquered the first abyss.
Her consistent support had boosted her own standing in the court sky-high.
‘My plans are always flawless.’
Smiling contentedly, she flipped through the stack of enrollment forms on her desk, imagining Halibal’s imminent arrival.
The moment he submitted, she’d enact Plan 24 of her 152 laid-out schemes.
Inside the academy, she could support him fully.
“Kuheheh. I’ll be waiting, Halibal.”
Muttering to herself with a pleased chuckle.
Exactly five hours later, her mood shattered.
“Um... Your Highness, it’s lights-out time...”
“Wait! Someone’s still coming!”
Even well past the enrollment deadline, Halibal hadn’t shown.
So she prayed inwardly.
Please!!
‘Come tomorrow! No, anytime! I’ll approve you for sure!’
Of course, he didn’t come the next day either—and tears like chicken shit dripped from Alicia’s eyes.