Chapter 93

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 93

Chapter Title: Argh, Red Stitch!

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"Hwaaam~ I wanna go hooome~."

Chiyong, the chancellor of Merhen Magic Academy.

He'd been saddled with a chancellorship he never wanted in the first place, and he always aimed for clocking out sharp on the dot.

But today, clocking out sharp wasn't in the cards.

He had to man his post throughout the cadets' 24-hour subjugation war.

How the hell had he caught the eye of the Sleeping Dragon and ended up with this hassle?

Still, it could be worse.

At least he'd taken a hefty chunk of work off the Sleeping Dragon's plate—more than he'd expected.

Chiyong recalled his recent visit to the Sleeping Dragon's lair.

*

"You doin' a good job?"

"Huh?"

"The chancellor gig. You handlin' it okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm doin' great~!"

Not long after Chiyong had taken over as academy chancellor on the orders of the Sleeping Dragon—Rift Lord Rupulvihil Mirimilerria, or Lia for short—

Lia suddenly summoned him to her lair.

"You really doin' a good job?"

"Y-Yeah, I am... dragon~!"

Lia kept repeating the same question.

She stared off into empty space, firing it over and over.

For Chiyong, it was an utterly infuriating situation.

He'd just been chilling in his lair, having a grand old time, when the Sleeping Dragon shows up out of nowhere.

Next thing he knows, she's dragging him down to pesky human society to play chancellor.

And it wasn't like he even had some fascinating human he was keen on—nope, he'd gotten stuck with the job anyway.

Now here he was, summoned after hours, forced to watch his step around the Sleeping Dragon.

Of course, there wasn't a damn thing Chiyong could do about Lia.

She outclassed him by miles; all he could do was follow orders.

"Doesn't seem like it."

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean~?!"

Lia, meanwhile, couldn't care less about Chiyong's grievances.

She'd only called him over because of some recent bait in the gallery.

Staring at the gallery screen floating in the air, she spoke up.

"Heard some unbound familiars went berserk at the academy the other day?"

"H-how'd you know about thaaat~?!"

"You think I wouldn't? Anyway, weren't you clocked out sharp by then?"

"Eek! D-dragon~!"

Chiyong let out a squeak and stumbled back.

The unbound familiar incident had resolved itself in the end, sure.

But as chancellor, Chiyong had left the academy for the day and was kicking back while it all went down.

From his perspective, he was already grinding away at a job he never wanted—did he really have to stick around past quitting time?

But when it was the Sleeping Dragon calling him out—not some weak human—he had no choice but to bow his head.

"Th-that was... after hours~!"

Still, Chiyong mustered his courage.

If he caved here and apologized to the Sleeping Dragon,

his chancellorship would be doomed to endless overtime forevermore.

But Lia's response was unexpected.

"Nah. You did good."

"Dragon~?"

"Keep it up. If something fun kicks off at the academy, don't jump in and squash it right away. Watch for a bit."

"I-is that really okay~?"

"Not sayin' let the cadets get hurt for real. Just don't rush in and fix everything yourself. Let it ride right up to the brink of a real disaster."

Music to his ears.

The unbound familiar fiasco was a case in point—real "big deals" that required Chiyong's intervention rarely cropped up.

Even when incidents happened, the student council or faculty handled them just fine.

In other words, as long as it wasn't a massive crisis the student council or profs couldn't touch—one actually threatening the academy—

Chiyong could sit on his claws and do jack squat.

Basically, permission to slack off.

"Got it~!"

Chiyong snapped up the offer before Lia could backpedal.

But then curiosity hit him late.

If she was cool with this, why plop a dragon like him in the chancellor's seat to begin with?

He'd never even gotten the full story on why Lia assigned him the gig.

Up till now, he'd chalked it up to pure annoyance, but now it smelled like something more.

The scent of something fun brewing.

If the Sleeping Dragon was this invested in the academy, something entertaining had to be afoot.

"But why though~?"

"Got my reasons. There's a fun one there. If you fix everything, he won't get to show off his tricks. This time was a riot too."

"Who's thaaat~?"

"Secret."

"No faaair~!!"

Gah, holding out on him like that.

But honestly? Even better.

His boring academy chancellor drudgery now had a spark of fun.

Watching the cadet Lia fancied would kill the tedium.

At least until he figured out who it was.

"Heh heh heh..."

Lia chuckled to herself, eyes back on the gallery screen.

The gallery was buzzing with fun thanks to Kim Muggle right now too.

If Chiyong had sorted the unbound familiars mess, there'd have been no bait for the gallery at all.

But the chaos had drawn out Kim Muggle's moves, spinning up delicious threads.

So Lia wanted Chiyong in the chancellor's seat, sure—but not snuffing out incidents before they could brew bait.

Just not so bad that Kim Muggle bit the dust.

This sweet spot was perfect.

"Nothin' else? I'm outta here~!"

"Yeah, go. Report in periodically."

And with that, Chiyong zoomed out of Lia's lair.

Lia stayed put, gallery-surfing away.

*

"Unless someone straight-up dies, I'm not liftin' a claw~!"

Anyway, Chiyong now had official license to slack.

The faculty and staff handled all the real work anyway.

So he could just lounge and spectate like now.

"Wonder which cadet's got the Sleeping Dragon's eye~?"

The subjugation festival was prime for scouting all the cadets at once.

Whoever Lia was watching had to shine.

Chiyong snuck a peek at the screens from his cozy VIP lounge sofa in the corner.

Had something fun already popped off?

The VIPs were placing massive bets on one team already.

"That girl~?"

Among them was the one they'd called an Archmage Duke earlier.

Supposedly the pinnacle of human mages.

He recalled the vice-chancellor freaking out about some big shot arriving.

Intrigued, Chiyong checked out their bet.

A first-year team: Ian, Hisenna, and Elrim.

Up against a second-year squad of top-tier talent.

For first-years to weather that onslaught was insane.

But Ian? He stood out even more.

His metallurgy alone was wild, and riding that broom like a pro.

His spell calculations felt offbeat too.

Chiyong gawked at Ian, drooling like he'd spotted his favorite pink magic stone—

mouth agape, eyes gleaming.

That cadet's got somethin' special. Gonna be fun.

Then disaster rocked the entire subjugation field.

A massive tremor shook the whole arena.

Strong enough to rattle the VIP lounge.

"A Grade 2 beast waking up now?!"

"Why's it stirring all of a sudden?"

"Did some cadet poke it?"

A "very powerful beast" had awakened.

It was a staple of every subjugation fest, but no one had ever actually roused one.

Cadets couldn't take down a Grade 2.

It was set dressing—stays dormant unless provoked.

That's when one professor bolted over to Chiyong in a panic.

"Chancellor! Big trouble! A Grade 2 beast woke up out of nowhere—no warning at all. If this keeps up, the field's gonna be a slaughterhouse!"

"It woke without any cadet messin' with it~?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Outside attack~?"

"No, we checked the footage—total freak occurrence. It's magicked to sleep through the whole fest. Supposed to wake only on serious provocation, but no one touched it, and yet..."

The prof babbled in confusion at the impossible scenario.

Chiyong ignored him, stroking his chin in thought.

Conclusion came quick.

Per Lia's orders: spectate unless deaths loomed.

That way, the fun stuff happened.

And Chiyong didn't wanna miss this golden opportunity either.

A sudden Grade 2 wakeup? The fest was about to get way more entertaining.

"I'll check it out myself~!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

Chiyong whooshed off somewhere.

The prof figured he'd handle the Grade 2—

but Chiyong zipped straight to the artifact running the subjugation field's protective barrier.

"Ch-Chancellor? Shouldn't you deal with the beast...?"

"Hm? The beast's part of the fest, right~?"

"Then why here...?"

"Checkin' if the barrier's workin' fine~! It is! All good~!"

"...Huh?"

The prof couldn't parse it.

"Even if the beast rampages, barrier holds safe—no problem~!"

"Well, yes, but the reason it's rampaging..."

"Prolly a handler screw-up~!"

"Ah...?"

"Gotta have it goin' wild to make the fest fun~! Back to watchin'~!"

Chiyong left the stunned prof and rocketed back to the lounge.

The VIPs watched the screens in thrilled confusion.

The sudden Grade 2 awakening turned the fest into instant pandemonium.

For spectators? Way more entertaining.

"Subjugation fest proceeds as is~! Barrier's safe~!"

The VIPs relaxed and enjoyed the show.

Chiyong zeroed back in on Ian's team.

Thump thump. Been a while since I was this pumped.

What'll that human pull off in this mess?

"Mind if I sit here and watch?"

Then a woman approached Chiyong's sofa.

The Illimost Archmage Duke.

"Sure thing~!"

No reason to say no, so Chiyong waved her in.

One nagging detail, though:

The Illimost Archmage Duke was glued to Ian's screen too.

***

"Why the hell now...?"

Karindol's team and ours both stared at the same spot, dumbstruck.

Dead center of the field. Something massive enough to blot out the landscape with its shadow.

The "very powerful beast" that was never meant to be fought.

Grade 2 beast "Giant Footprint Brachio" was rising.

"I-Ian..."

Hisenna trembled faintly.

Elrim flicked her gaze between Giant Footprint Brachio and where Redlight Stitch had flown off.

I was just as thrown.

That thing wasn't for fighting. Left alone, it never wakes.

"Hey, hey, Karindol, what now? We're all dead soon."

"..."

"We should rack up points while we can? Everyone's droppin' out anyway!"

"..."

Over there, Befefe was hyped up and yapping, while Karindol blankly stared up at Giant Footprint Brachio.

Even in this chaos, they didn't seem poised to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠jump us.

Time to bail.

I prepped my broom, eyeing escape vectors.

But then—

"Y-you losers! Hisenna! This is our chance to run!"

Before I could finish, Elrim bolted.

Toward where Redlight Stitch had vanished.

Guess she couldn't hold back after all.

"Argh, that idiot...!"

She acceleration-stoned her way out, gone in a flash.

With things this screwy, normal play was out—sniping that for Elrim made sense.

Anyway, we had to evac too.

I whispered to Hisenna.

"Hisenna, let's bounce now."

"O-okay."

Hisenna, Kimchur, and I mounted our brooms.

And peeled out at top speed.

Luckily, they didn't pursue.

Giant Footprint Brachio's wakeup tantrum had boulders flying everywhere.

Our old spot got pummeled by a barrage.

I weaved dodging rocks and climbed for altitude.

Sky had breathing room, so I dashed off a quick gallery post.

I'd posted the Karindol encounter quick to suss out why Kimchur flipped—

but the real meat was the current crisis.

Why'd a Grade 2 wake with zero reason, and how to survive it.

The gal's comments jogged my memory.

The class placement exam fiasco.

If the barrier crapped out like then, cadets were toast en masse.

Another raid?

But with Chancellor Chiyong around...

That's when a broadcast blared across the entire subjugation field.

Chiyong's chipper announcement cut off abruptly.

"Ian!"

Skimming comments mid-flight,

Hisenna's sudden shout hit as a shadow loomed.

——!

Whipping around: a massive boulder hurtling our way.

Too big to dodge sideways.

I cranked down the levitation output and dove.

So abrupt it was near freefall—whoosh.

"Kyaaah!!"

Hisenna screamed as we barely evaded.

No time for casual gallery browsing.

This shit was dire, and they were spouting nonsense.

Gal consensus: max points before inevitable dropout.

Made sense rationally.

We'd do it, but this nagging dissonance wouldn't fade.

Putting that aside, why did that thing wake?

Fest barely halfway—some ballsy cadet rouse it to troll?

"Hisenna. Better max points before dropping."

"Agreed."

We eased down altitude gradually.

Closer to ground, the carnage below sharpened into view.

Field turned to mush under Giant Footprint Brachio's stomps.

But en route down—

One team caught my eye, doing something insane.

"Huh? Ian, that's..."

That squad was hurling spells at Giant Footprint Brachio.

A striking white-haired woman, impossible to miss from afar.

And two guys trailing her, grimacing as they cast.

"Deputy! Can't you use stronger spells?!"

"President, I can't anymoreeee!"

"Please, President, enough!"

"If not now, when'll we ever fight this thing?!"

"Presideeeeent—!"

Student Council President Harisha was battling Giant Footprint Brachio.