Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Leonard's Kingdom
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The academy is like a small kingdom.
Combined with the school's distinct insularity, the hierarchy among students is absolute, with rank typically determined by the power of one's father and family.
Even in a place where the children of the Empire's most prominent nobles gather, they are still divided by the prestige of their titles, their factional allegiances, and all manner of other circumstances, leading to a constant cycle of alliances and divisions among the varied student body.
In that regard, Leonard Walter was the petty king who reigned over the Imperial Academy.
He was the eldest son of Count Walter—one of the elders of the famed Red Magic Tower—and the most skilled student in the 3rd Circle's highest division.
At the young age of twenty, he had already reached the level of a 3rd Circle Master and was on the verge of the 4th Circle, making him the top elite at the Imperial Academy.
Passing the upcoming graduation exam was a foregone conclusion.
He was a talented victor, destined to walk the path of success by following the elite course of the Red Magic Tower.
The expectations that "Walter the Flame-Blooded," an elder of the Red Magic Tower, had for his son Leonard were beyond words, so much so that even the academy's professors scrambled to stay on his good side.
And under Leonard Walter's rule, the 3rd Circle division of the Imperial Academy maintained a smooth order.
That is, until the day Dale invaded ‘Leonard’s kingdom.’
***
A short while after arriving in the Imperial Capital.
Dale was there as a student invited strictly for the ‘Black-Red Exchange’ and as the heir to the Master of the Black Magic Tower.
He was in a lecture hall where an academy professor was teaching, along with the students of the 3rd Circle's highest division—young mages who were just about to take their graduation exams.
In a way, it was a truly awkward scene: the young heir of House Sachsen mixed in among noble scions in their twenties and thirties.
“…In other words, it goes without saying that the elements of Fire and Water are polar opposites.”
The professor, a 4th Circle Master, continued his lecture.
Although there was only a single circle of difference between him and the 3rd Circle students he taught, the wall between the 3rd and 4th Circles was incomparably greater than that between any of the previous circles.
It is not as rare as one might think for a mage to reach the 3rd Circle and become an official member of a Magic Tower, only to spend the rest of their life unable to reach the 4th.
Thus, the 3rd Circle is equivalent to a fully-fledged mage, while a 4th Circle mage is ‘something more than a fully-fledged mage’ and, at the same time, the final destination where most of the moderately talented hit a wall and are left in despair.
The next stage is the realm of the 5th Circle, where one can establish a respectable position within a tower…
Only upon reaching the 6th Circle can one become an elder of a tower, and there are only a few dozen 7th Circle mages on the entire continent.
And above that lies the pinnacle a mage can reach: the realm of the 8th Circle.
The five mages, including Lord Crimson and Lord Black. The five masters who reigned over the five Magic Towers of Black, White, Red, Blue, and Green.
The world of magic was one of strict meritocracy, yet it was also a place where, ironically, that merit was ultimately determined by bloodline.
“Professor!”
It was at that moment. A man suddenly raised his hand in the middle of the professor's lecture. He was a handsome, blond man who instantly drew the eyes of everyone around him.
“L-Leonard…!”
The moment he raised his hand, the 4th Circle professor's face went pale.
“I-Is there something else you’d like to ask?”
“Ah, it’s not that…”
Leonard slowly shook his head at the professor's question.
“The lecture is just so boring. Would you mind if I took a short nap?”
He then brazenly propped his feet up on the seat in front of him. Snickers erupted from all around.
“P-Please, do as you wish…”
“Are you really bowing and scraping before a mere student?”
Leonard asked again, his tone mocking.
“It seems, Professor, that you need to reconsider the ‘ideals of our Red Magic Tower.’ Don’t you agree?”
“I-I will be sure to keep that in mind.”
Dale was rendered speechless by his attitude, utterly indifferent to the eyes of those around him. Yet the 4th Circle academy professor, who should have been teaching and guiding the students, could only bow his head obsequiously before Leonard.
It was as if this place was his kingdom.
The relationship between student and professor was no exception. In fact, the professor's groveling before a student was an ‘intentional educational policy’ of the Red Magic Tower, designed to emphasize the importance of power.
The Red Magic Tower worshipped only the order established by strength. The Imperial Academy, therefore, was a microcosm of imperial society, a place where that fact was brutally driven home.
The weak lose everything, while the strong can take it all. The Imperial Academy was nothing more than a laboratory for brainwashing the Empire's elite with this truth.
For the survival of the strong was the very spirit of the age the Empire pursued.
“…”
Dale turned his head, ignoring the chorus of laughter that filled the room. For a moment, his eyes met Leonard's.
“Well, well, look who it is.”
The instant their eyes met, Leonard shrugged his shoulders with an exaggerated motion, completely ignoring the fact that the professor was still lecturing.
“If it isn’t the ‘Black Prince’ himself!”
“…”
“I heard you reached the 3rd Circle at such a young age. And not only did you win a great victory in the Black-White Tournament, but you also defeated an ‘Orc Warboss’ all by yourself!”
Dale did not respond to the blatant mockery directed at him.
“As expected of the heir to Duke Sachsen!”
He simply maintained a stoic silence. This was not the North. And no matter how infamous House Sachsen was among the nobles of the capital, here, they were seen as nothing more than a great feudal lord from the northern backwoods.
Hiding behind the Emperor's name and the shield of the Red Magic Tower, they likely felt they had nothing to fear. No, it was more akin to a reckless bravado, an arrogance that prevented them from easily bowing their heads as ‘proud mages of the Empire.’
It was a truly foolish way of thinking. But it was probably too much to expect youths in their early twenties, full of hot blood, not to be foolish.
‘Kids will be kids.’
After all, from Dale's perspective, they were just children who still had milk on their lips.
“People’s stories are always exaggerated.”
He simply turned his head away calmly and remained silent.
He paid no mind to the blatant scowl that twisted Leonard’s face behind him.
***
Magic lessons inevitably involve practical application. And it was during the subsequent practice that the first disturbance occurred.
“D-Do we really have to go this far?”
“So, you’re saying you won’t do as I say?”
“N-No, that’s not it. But to do this to the heir of House Sachsen…”
As Leonard tilted his head, another student of the same age grew flustered and quickly bowed his head.
“Right, that’s why you’re the one doing it.”
Leonard burst into laughter at the sight.
A short while later, the students paired up to practice exchanging blows with fire magic. Dale, who had no expertise in fire magic, was watching their practical session from a distance.
“Professor!”
Leonard once again raised his voice to the same professor. At his words, the professor flinched and held his breath.
“Since the young lord of House Sachsen has graced us with his presence for this exchange between the Black and Red Magic Towers…”
He spoke as if he couldn't hold back his amusement.
“Shouldn't there be a fitting ‘exchange between mages’?”
An exchange between mages. In a situation like this, those words could only mean one thing.
“Or would it be too dangerous for Lord Dale?”
“Very well.”
At the transparently obvious provocation, Dale did not refuse the offer. On the contrary, he rose to his feet, determined to teach this damn brat a lesson.
“Then…”
It was at that moment.
“I-I will be his opponent!”
A student who had been cowering in fear hesitantly raised his hand, volunteering to be Dale’s opponent.
‘Oh, look at this.’
Grasping the situation, Dale was left speechless. It was a truly pathetic method.
In a way, it was their own form of maneuvering, born from a fear of House Sachsen's notorious reputation, despite everything.
And it was that very pettiness that made it all the more unbearable.
“S-Sir Dale. You are aware of the rules for exchanging attacks and defenses with magic, are you not?”
Dale nodded at the professor’s question. Two mages would take turns attacking and defending before switching roles. It was a practice Dale was well aware of.
“Will it be alright not to wear a vitality necklace?”
Dale nodded and asked back.
“A-A vitality necklace?”
A vitality necklace. A protective device that activates a shield and simultaneously shatters upon receiving a ‘valid strike’ equivalent to a fatal wound.
It was rare for mere students to use such equipment. Even if an unexpected situation arose, there was always a skilled mage present to control it.
“If a casualty were to occur in this exchange, and someone were to lose their life.”
“?”
But Dale asked again, his ‘Shadow Cloak,’ disguised as a black surcoat, fluttering.
“Who would be held responsible?”
“!”
“Are you saying it’s alright to use magic with the intent to kill?”
He generated a ‘Blade of Shadow’ from the darkness at his feet, unleashing a chilling aura as if ready to strike at any moment.
“Professor, when the time comes, can you truly block my attack?”
“N-No! Wait, that’s not it!”
The face of the student who had volunteered to be Dale’s opponent under Leonard’s threat turned deathly pale.
Not everyone dismissed Dale as Leonard did. In fact, this whole situation stemmed from Leonard's own pettiness, his fear of House Sachsen’s potential notoriety. Even if their pride wouldn't allow them to admit it, there were more than a few who didn't doubt the ‘Black Prince’s’ reputation.
Moreover, the academy professor, a 4th Circle mage, was not so blind that he couldn't recognize the true nature of the pressure Dale was now exuding.
It was as if to say that the ‘Black Prince’s’ reputation for cruelty was no lie.
“N-No, no…!”
The professor waved his hands frantically in alarm.
“L-Leonard’s proposal is canceled! I’m canceling it!”
“What…?”
Leonard’s expression froze as he watched the professor dare to defy him.
“What did you just…”
“Leonard’s proposal is canceled! I beg you, please!”
The professor who should have been groveling at his feet was now desperately pleading in front of Dale. Not Leonard.
As a 4th Circle Master, he could tell just by looking at Dale’s artifact. That malice was not something a mere brat could withstand. No, it was a power that even he himself would be helpless against.
And if any harm came to pass because of Dale, the responsibility would ultimately fall on the professor.
Even for someone so preoccupied with staying on Leonard's good side, that was an unacceptable situation.
The professor didn't bow his head because he feared Leonard himself. It was always Leonard's father, ‘Walter the Flame-Blooded,’ an elder of the Red Magic Tower and a 6th Circle mage.
“W-Would you please consider the proposal withdrawn?”
He was now pleading with Dale, bowing his head.
“Very well.”
Faced with the professor’s plea, Dale gave a stoic nod. The shadows writhing at his feet came to a halt.
For a moment, he saw Leonard trembling, his fists clenched tightly. Dale paid him no mind and turned away.
The sword of darkness vanished back into the shadows of his cloak.
A terrible malice squirmed within.
The moment Dale had merely unfurled his ‘Shadow Cloak,’ everyone had vaguely sensed it. They were, after all, mages walking the path of magic, hailed as some of the Empire’s greatest talents. They couldn’t have been mistaken.
The very fact that Leonard hadn't challenged Dale to a duel directly stemmed from an unconscious recognition of the ‘difference in their class.’
That was not something an ordinary mage could handle. But seeing him wield the dark artifact as freely as a part of his own body, only one thought crossed their minds.
Perhaps the rumors about the heir of House Sachsen were not all lies.
***
It was unthinkable.
That night, outside the Imperial Academy, Leonard Walter was gulping down alcohol amidst the women of the red-light district, his voice raised in a shout.
“You son of a bitch!”
“Aaaargh!”
He viciously beat the student who was supposed to have exchanged magical blows with ‘Dale of Sachsen.’
“P-Please, forgive me!”
“Forgive you? Don’t make me laugh, you goddamn bastard!”
*Thud!*
Leonard mercilessly kicked the boy who had collapsed in pain. But even the terrified classmates and prostitutes who witnessed the scene could only force themselves to remain composed.
Walter the Flame-Blooded. An elder of the Red Magic Tower, a 6th Circle Red Mage, and a noble holding the title of Count Palatine of the Empire. And Leonard was the eldest son of this very House Walter.
In this kingdom, at least, no one dared to defy him. That was how it was supposed to be.
‘That shadow sword the Sachsen heir showed… it seems the rumors were true!’
‘Well, he is the son of Lord Black. He might really be the greatest talent in the Empire.’
‘That’s right, even the great Leonard was too scared to do anything rash.’
‘Maybe Leonard isn’t as great as we thought. Even if he is an elder’s son…’
‘He’s no match for the son of a Tower Master, I guess.’
Following the day's events, the entire academy began to whisper. Even the professor, who should have been scrambling to please him, had feared ‘Dale of Sachsen’ instead of Leonard.
“Damn them all!”
He couldn't stand it.
He had become a 3rd Circle Master at twenty and was now on the verge of the 4th Circle—an elite mage.
Since he was young, everyone had praised Leonard’s talent, and so he had never doubted that he was the greatest magical talent in the Empire.
That was, until one day, when the name ‘Dale of Sachsen’ began to drift down from the remote northern lands.
He carved his first mana circle at the age of eight, formed his second at nine—and by the age of ten, he had reached the 3rd Circle.
The news of ‘Dale’s talent’ that arrived each year was like a complete refutation of Leonard’s very existence. So he desperately denied it, again and again. He couldn’t believe it. No, he didn’t want to believe it.
It was just a story, exaggerated and inflated by the mouths of gossips.
It was impossible for someone to achieve so much at that age. There could only be one greatest magical talent in the Empire, and that had to be Leonard Walter.
“…It’s me.”
After he stopped kicking, Leonard muttered like a drunkard.
“I—I am the greatest genius in the Empire.”
He had to, in a desperate attempt to affirm his own existence.