717
Chapter 717
CRASH!
Serena, whose entire body had transformed into metal, and Shadia, holding a dagger in reverse grip, were glaring at each other in the alchemy practice room, radiating intense energy.
While the two professors faced off without an inch of compromise, Zion and Aaron, the Pannotia security officer behind them, were fidgeting nervously.
In contrast, Himel, who was in charge of martial arts, was watching the confrontation with interest, arms folded.
Serena opened her mouth toward Shadia.
"True to your Salmak origins, you still can't correct your bad habits. Quick to draw your blade at the slightest provocation."
"Look who's talking. Does coming from the mafia make you refined?"
Serena and Shadia, criticized each other, showed no signs of backing down.
Usually, Zion was the troublemaker in the special abilities class, but this time it was Serena, who normally played mediator, who was being confrontational.
But then it happened.
"Threat detected."
An emotionless voice echoed from the doorway.
Everyone in the room turned their heads in surprise.
There stood a girl in uniform with purple hair and eyes.
Aaron was startled to see the girl and called out to her.
"Lara?"
Suddenly, two other girls wearing identical uniforms were visible standing against the wall.
The purple-haired girls were triplets named Lara, Lami, and Luda, guardians of Pannotia.
WHOOOOOOM!
"Threat will be eliminated."
As magic circles appeared around the girls' bodies, Zion shouted in panic.
"Hey, hey! You inflexible sisters! No, no! They're not threats!"
Serena and Shadia, knowing how terrifying the triplets' infinite magical power was, immediately disarmed themselves.
Only then did the magic circles surrounding the triplets' bodies disappear.
Security officer Aaron, as well as Shadia and Serena who had been fighting, breathed sighs of relief.
Just then, Alice entered with Al and Jeff.
Having arrived after the situation had been resolved by the guardian triplets' appearance, Alice shook her head at Al and Jeff.
"See? There's no way you two would fight. Thank goodness. I was so worried I almost used Lightning Thunder. Just imagine what would have happened if I had."
Everyone in the practice room, including Serena and Shadia, turned pale at Alice's casual mention of almost using a wide-area attack spell famous for its high power among seventh circle light magic.
Zion, who had watched Alice grow up since childhood, subtly shook his head.
'When you really think about it, Alice is the second most dangerous person after the principal.'
Having confirmed that nothing was wrong, Alice headed back to the school grounds, humming to herself.
The guardian triplets also left the practice room, maintaining their expressionless faces.
After they disappeared, everyone in the practice room finally breathed sighs of relief.
Shadia, putting away her dagger, said to Serena.
"Anyway, for this battle tournament, the alchemy class will team up with our assassination defense class."
Serena shook her head at those words.
"Still talking nonsense. Don't you know alchemy combines best with the special abilities Class? Why don't you pair assassination with the necromancer class? You both seem to match well in your gloominess."
As Shadia reached for her dagger again in response to Serena's provocation, Himel, who had been watching, stepped forward.
"Listening to this, I must say something. The alchemy class will join with our martial arts class. That way, we can recreate Ishtar's secret technique..."
Zion, who was listening, waved his hands in panic.
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down! If you teach the students Ishtar's terrifying lethal secret technique and something goes wrong, how will you deal with the aftermath?"
The battle tournament intended to evaluate students' skills had somehow turned into a battle of pride among professors.
They were fighting because each wanted to secure the most advantageous class combination for their students in the competition.
Even Aaron, who was maintaining his sanity, stepped in to stop the fight.
"E-enough! Let's stop this. Instead of fighting among ourselves... team formation should be left to the students! It would be better to leave it to the students."
Although the professors were still displeased, they decided it was better to take a step back at this point.
As Shadia left the practice room, she glared at Serena.
"Special abilities students better watch their backs."
"How ridiculous. Don't you know we have students with the Third Eye? Our class doesn't have a 'back'."
As the professors left the practice room growling at each other, Al and Jeff could finally return to their places.
"...Jeff, I guess this is karma coming back for the trouble we caused before."
"Can you call it 'before' when we also caused trouble recently?"
"It's just a figure of speech, you idiot."
While Al and Jeff were bickering after catching their breath, the wall rippled and someone emerged from within.
He was none other than Jason, the head of the Magic class.
"Huh? Jason, suddenly what...."
Jason put up a magical soundproof barrier and whispered secretly while looking at Al and Jeff.
"Al, Jeff, you know? If you match our kids with a party this time, I'll increase the alchemy budget a bit more next semester."
Al and Jeff had expressions that were tempted by Jason's seduction.
Thus, the Academy's martial arts battle was being stained with political schemes and malice.
* * *
"Are you suggesting that we hold the martial arts battle as a real-time strategic battle in a dungeon instead of a tournament match?"
Professor Ulina, who was presiding over the faculty meeting, asked Richmond.
Richmond nodded with a cautious expression.
"Ah, yes. I thought that the general tournament format alone makes it difficult to keep up with recent trends... I think this method would be better for evaluating students' comprehensive judgment and reflexes."
The other professors attending the faculty meeting quickly calculated in their heads how advantageous Richmond's proposed match format would be for their own classes.
At that moment, Jason, the head of the Magic class, made the first move.
"I agree. That's a very good idea."
Then Clonne, the head of the Knight class who was on the opposite side, jumped up from his seat and shouted.
"Agreement my ass! How is this going to be a proper evaluation! Just throw it all away!"
Then Shadia, in charge of assassination defense techniques, clicked her tongue while looking at Clonne.
"Seems like the knight kids have no confidence in their reflexes. Well, they do feel a bit outdated in this era."
"What? Want to get hit in the head with an outdated mace?"
With the aggressive tone, Shadia stood up in response, and the two glared at each other, raising their hostility.
Then Arina, who had been quiet, gently raised her hand.
WOOOOOONG!
In an instant, massive clouds formed on the ceiling of the faculty meeting room, and lightning flashed.
Seeing this, Clonne and Shadia quickly sat down.
Everyone became a gentle lamb in front of a Ninth Circle Archmage.
Looking around the now-quiet meeting room, Arina smiled and said to Richmond.
"Sounds fun. Let's proceed with this."
When the principal Arina gave her permission, no one could argue against it. The meeting ended just like that.
As they left the meeting room, the professors' minds worked even faster.
They were figuring out how to combine students to achieve the best results.
"Professor Richmond, please stay back a moment."
Richmond, who was slipping out with the other professors, had to stop in his tracks at the voice directed at him.
Left alone with Arina in the spacious faculty meeting room, Richmond felt fear first.
While he was anxious about what was happening, Arina put up a soundproof barrier and asked Richmond.
"So, were there any results from causing such a commotion?"
Richmond rolled his eyes around and slowly opened his mouth at Arina's words.
"R-Results might be too strong a word..."
"Anything is fine, just tell me."
At her words, Richmond hesitated before eventually answering.
"While observing the situation, I found a few suspicious students."
Richmond took out a document from his pocket.
He carefully handed the confidential document to Arina.
Arina received and checked the document that Richmond handed over.
Soon her eyes widened.
"...If this is true, it could cause quite a stir."
"Yes, that's why I found it difficult to speak about it easily. But when judged objectively, there are suspicious circumstances..."
Arina closed the confidential document and nodded.
"I'll leave everything to Professor Richmond, so proceed as you see fit."
At her words, Richmond was surprised and opened his eyes wide.
"What? Is that really okay?"
"This is the best method for now. Astaroth is quick-witted. If I step in, he might run away immediately. Then it would be harder to catch him."
Richmond nodded at Arina's words.
"I understand. Then I'll narrow down the investigation targets while proceeding with the martial arts battle dungeon competition."
He made his commitment, bowed to Arina, and left the faculty meeting room.
Arina, left alone, recalled the document Richmond had shown her and had a very serious expression.
"...Astaroth, if Professor Richmond's conjecture is true, I have to acknowledge your boldness."
Arina murmured quietly and slowly rose from her seat.
Separately from Richmond, she also had things to do for this plan.
She needed to set careful traps to prevent Astaroth from escaping Pannotia.
"I'll make you pay dearly for defiling Pannotia."
A strange killing intent rose from her smiling face.
* * *
"Hmm..."
RUSTLE!
In a dark room, someone repeatedly contemplated while handling Go stones.
Then they placed a stone on the messily arranged Go board.
Surprisingly, that one move became a brilliant move, instantly reversing the unfavorable situation.
The person with their face hidden by a robe nodded with satisfaction while looking at the Go board.
Then they murmured while looking at the board.
"So the martial arts battle will be held in a dungeon. It's an obvious move, but it will be effective in its own way."
He rose from where he had placed the Go board and went to the corner.
When he extended his hand there, the wall split and a hidden crystal ball popped out.
As he placed his hand on the crystal ball, its color changed and an image appeared.
A man with rough beard wearing an old uniform appeared in the crystal ball.
As the man opened his mouth, sound flowed from the crystal ball.
—...I thought you might have been caught since there was no contact for a while.
The robed figure replied while looking at the man in the crystal ball.
"Your worry is excessive."
He continued with a mocking voice.
"How was the item I sent last time?"
Voice flowed from the crystal ball again.
—...It was better than before. If it's that level of performance, I'm willing to trade.
The robed figure shook his head and said.
"Just because you want to trade doesn't mean it happens automatically. Any trade needs matching values, doesn't it?"
At his words, the man in the crystal ball bit his lips tightly before speaking again.
—Are you going to offer the same conditions as before?
"My conditions remain unchanged. Bring a holy relic, or an ancient artifact equivalent to one. Then I'll hand over the integrated circuit with security disabled."
At the robed figure's words, the man in the crystal ball contemplated before nodding.
—...Alright. I'll let you know as soon as I secure the item. However, the performance of the trade item must be guaranteed.
The robed figure nodded at the man's words.
"That goes without saying. I'll be waiting then."
Having concluded his business, he immediately turned off the crystal ball screen and hid it back in the wall.
The robed figure returned to his seat and looked at the Go board while handling the stones.
"It seems the principal is plotting something... and she's put Richmond forward."
He placed the Go stone he was holding back in the center of the board.
But unlike before, that move became a bad move, worsening the situation.
The robed figure looked at the board with flashing eyes.
"Principal, whatever you're scheming, Richmond will be your fatal mistake."
His flashing eyes soon turned red, transforming into demon's eyes.
Astaroth, the demon coiled within Pannotia, was steadily proceeding with his plan from a deep hideout that no one could find.