Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Closing Ceremony (1)
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From Eris's hand,
the magic known as {Karmic Flames} activated,
and along with flames that soared as if to incinerate everything...
House Helm.
True to its status as one of the great marquisates of the empire,
its beautiful, expansive gardens and
opulent mansions boasting magnificent splendor...
had vanished as if they had never existed in the first place.
All that remained was an overwhelming inferno reminiscent of hell itself.
"Wh... what's this..."
And so,
everyone who witnessed that overwhelming descent of hell lost their will to fight.
Finally, the two people they had been waiting for cleared the debris of what had been the mansion with magic
and rushed toward them in panic.
"Wh... what in the world is this?!"
Marquis Helm and his wife.
As the two, their eyes filled with bewilderment, finally arrived,
they visibly faltered upon seeing me, but soon grasped the situation.
Composing themselves with proper etiquette, they dropped to their knees, bowed their heads to the floor, and began to speak.
"Cre... Creator Dragon... have we committed some offense...?"
'They know their lives are precious.'
To avoid any potential further wrath,
I watched their pathetic sight as they discarded all pride and dignity to prostrate themselves on the ground,
and issued a cold warning to the pair.
"Offense? Of course you have. You touched my student."
"Th... that was—"
"Silence."
The story began with them touching my student.
Marquis Helm realized something upon hearing it and tried desperately to make excuses,
but
'I'm going to build an academy!'
From the moment I came here,
I had no intention of listening to such excuses.
I didn't want to hear them.
'Talents that haven't bloomed yet... so they can bloom safely...!'
A sprout that hadn't bloomed yet...
A sprout that deserved protection...
They sought to trample it.
The request of my most precious friend,
you sought to trample it.
I would punish only that unforgivable sin.
"As long as Isabel is my student."
As long as she was a sprout that hadn't bloomed yet,
"Touching her is an unforgivable crime."
Any action attempting to trample that sprout
was an unforgivable crime to me.
"So live in quiet remorse, like rats skulking in the shadows."
So live like that.
Until her talents fully bloom...
No, even after that...
Live in eternal remorse.
"Who knows?"
If they did that, who could say?
"Maybe you'll avert a future catastrophe, even a little?"
The wrath of the regressor that will strike in the future...
The unstoppable rage no one can block...
Maybe they'll avert it, even a little...
'Not that it'll happen...'
Of course,
they weren't the type to reflect.
Even now, I could see the fury boiling up to the top of their heads, barely suppressed...
'Part of me wants to wipe out the whole house right now...'
Seeing that, I desperately wanted to exterminate their entire line on the spot,
but
'That would be troublesome...'
my position as academy chairman got in the way at times like this.
And so,
leaving the extermination of House Helm to the regressor of the future,
I stomped on the head of Marquis Helm, who was still bowed on his knees,
and began deploying a teleportation magic circle to return to the academy.
Afterward,
light poured from the fully formed teleportation magic circle,
my vision shifted, and a familiar sight came into view.
It was the familiar academy,
but it still felt empty at night, as many people hadn't returned yet.
'Tomorrow's the closing ceremony...'
And finally, tomorrow.
After a long time at the academy,
the day of vacation had arrived.
Founding Week.
True to being the Madel Empire's grandest event,
all academy nobles and chairmen were away,
and the academy took a week off.
The first week after possession,
after clearing the Baal quest for quasi-executive,
had been spent wandering various places with Isabel,
making for quite enjoyable times.
On the first day,
Twilight Fields, the place in the game that raised Isabel's affinity the most.
We visited that spot that rekindled her forgotten memories and had a picnic together.
On the second day,
we stopped by a market in a distant rural village,
just looking for fun things and eating street food.
The third day, mountains and valleys...
The fourth day, the seaside...
And the final day,
playing at the capital's plaza and watching fireworks at the end...
Such joyful days passed in the blink of an eye.
And then, the next morning,
finally,
the day of the academy's first closing ceremony had arrived.
"Finally, the closing ceremony..."
Welcoming the morning sunlight of the ceremony filtering through the window cracks,
I got up,
washed up simply, changed into my uniform,
left the dormitory,
and headed toward the academy's grand auditorium where the ceremony was held.
"Aden! Long time no see!"
"Aden!"
On the way to the auditorium,
familiar voices called from behind.
Libia, even more hyper than usual,
and Isabel, brimming with an energy unimaginable for her normal self.
"Libia, Isabel, good morning."
I turned my head to look at the two
and lightly waved as I continued.
After that,
as always,
"Isabel, I didn't see you at Founding Week..."
"I was sick... stayed at the academy with the chairman's help..."
Reasons why Isabel hadn't come to Founding Week,
"Libia, how was Founding Week for you?"
"Don't even ask... totally exhausted... it was rough..."
Just chatting about everyday things like how they spent Founding Week,
we walked together to the auditorium for a while.
Finally,
we entered the academy's grand auditorium,
which we had seen often going back and forth, exuding a grand and majestic atmosphere.
Already there,
countless first-years anticipating vacation had taken their seats.
Seeing that,
we—holding the top three spots for the first-year class: first, second, and third—
moved to the front row and sat in our assigned seats, waiting for the ceremony.
How much time passed like that?
Finally,
a teleportation magic circle activated on the auditorium stage.
Light poured out,
and the familiar figure... no, dragon, came into view.
"Attention, everyone."
And then,
fully revealing herself,
Eris's voice, infused with mana, echoed through the grand auditorium.
After that,
as all eyes focused on Eris standing on the stage,
she slowly continued.
"Everyone, the first semester of your first year—"
'Ugh...'
And so began Eris's dreadfully boring closing ceremony speech.
Given the entrance ceremony incident,
I had fantasized about her skipping it... but
unfortunately, no such luck this time.
Swallowing my inner disappointment,
I let her words go in one ear and out the other.
How much time passed like that?
Just as fatigue started to creep in irresistibly...
"With that, I'll end the rambling..."
Finally, from Eris's mouth,
came the long-awaited words signaling the end of the speech.
After that,
exactly as announced,
a brief guide to the academy vacation followed.
And finally...
"Lastly, regarding the recent unfortunate incident at the academy—"
About the recent events caused by Baal:
the Isabel kidnapping and demon summoning, publicly known as resolved by Eris.
'Those who try to crush a sprout will not be forgiven, no matter who they are.'
"Those who try to crush a sprout will not be forgiven, no matter who they are."
Along with Eris's words echoing the exact text from the game
that signaled the start of Frontier Chronicles' true difficulty,
the closing ceremony ended,
and we welcomed the first vacation at Frontier Academy.
'Things are about to get busy...'
Afterward,
finishing the ceremony, I left Isabel and Libia—who said they had something to discuss and went ahead separately—behind,
exited the auditorium,
and quickly organized my vacation plans.
'Two should be doable...'
This vacation,
thanks to {Life and Death Resolve}'s unexpectedly great performance,
I might secure not just {Emperor Sword} but another opportunity if things went well.
Considering the events after vacation ends,
besides the crucial one-hit-kill skill {Emperor Sword},
I had in mind another highly efficient opportunity.
And so,
planning to head straight to the capital right after vacation started to get {Emperor Sword} quickly,
I returned to the academy dormitory,
quickly changed clothes,
and as I sat on the bed,
began thinking about vacation plans again.
'By the way... what are Isabel and Libia talking about...?'
Meanwhile,
'Aden, go ahead. I have something to talk about with Libia.'
I wondered about the content of those two's suspiciously intriguing conversation...
And so, like returning to student days,
the first day of Frontier Academy's first vacation passed.