The Principal's Revelation
“Want some?”
A little girl who looked about four years old held out a piece of unwrapped chocolate. At her call, I had entered the principal’s office. Right now, only the two of us were inside.
“No, thank you. I’m fine.”
The person standing before me wasn’t just some child. She was the Principal of Elphon Academy, who had lived for hundreds of years. At the same time, she was one of the strongest beings in this world. There was no way anything would slip past her.
“Suit yourself, then.”
She popped the chocolate she had unwrapped into her own mouth. Chewing contentedly, she wore a blissful expression.
“It’s this good and you’re really not going to eat any?”
“Yes. I’m not a big fan of chocolate. Haha.”
“Then I’ll eat it all.”
She scooped up a huge handful of chocolates from the desk and shoved them into her mouth. I stared at the four-year-old in front of me. At a glance, she looked like an ordinary child. But in reality, she wasn’t. Inside that small body was the Principal of Elphon Academy, someone who had lived for centuries and understood the world deeply.
She stopped chewing and leaned back in her chair.
“Oh, right. You’re pretty interesting, you know?”
“Pardon?”
“Do you know the future or something? How did you know Cain was going to attack the Samhwa Bio presentation hall today?”
“I just happened to find out.”
“Just happened to?”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Yes. I really just happened to learn about it.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
Of course, I couldn’t tell her the truth—that I knew because I had played the game before possessing this body.
“How long do you think you can keep hiding it?”
She chuckled.
“...What?”
I couldn’t understand what she meant.
“You know the future, don’t you?”
“.....I’m afraid I don’t quite follow what you’re saying.”
“You might be able to fool everyone else, but not me.”
As she spoke, she pointed at the gloves I was wearing.
“I’m the one who infused those gloves with a soul.”
“What? What do you mean?”
This was information I had never encountered even while playing the game.
“When I put a soul into those gloves, I made sure they would only react to a ‘Savior’ who knows the future.”
“....”
“And yet, you’re the one wearing them. Do you really think that’s a coincidence?”
She looked at me with absolute certainty. There was no point in hiding it any longer.
“Yes. It’s true that I know the future.”
“See?”
“But there’s one part of what you said that’s wrong, Principal.”
“...Wrong?”
She tilted her head.
“I do know the future, but I’m not the ‘Savior’ you mentioned. I simply know what’s going to happen.”
It was the truth. I wasn’t the Savior who appeared in the ancient texts. More importantly, I didn’t have the power to be one. The true Savior of this world was the Hero—not someone like me.
“Hmm. Is that so?”
She gave me a meaningful look and stood up.
“By the way, since you know the future, I can speak freely, right? There is no Hero in this world right now.”
“What? What do you mean…?”
“To be precise, the Hero was summoned and then died.”
“What?”
It was like a bolt from the blue. The Hero, one of the pillars meant to support this world, was dead?
“If this information were made public, the impact would be enormous. People would fall into despair, so it’s been kept completely hidden.”
“....”
This was very different from the future I knew.
“You really didn’t know, huh. I don’t know which god gave you that oracle, but apparently they didn’t tell you that much. Well, that’s not important right now.”
“Then… does that mean…”
“Yes. When the gate to the Demon Realm opens in the near future, humanity won’t be able to survive.”
In a few years, a passage connecting the Demon Realm and the Human Realm would open. The monsters that emerged from it were far stronger than those in the Human Realm—monsters amplified by demonic energy. And the real problem was that they wouldn’t come in ones or twos, but in the thousands and tens of thousands.
“But if you’re here, Principal, doesn’t humanity still have a chance?”
“No. I can’t do it anymore either.”
“...”
“Right now, I’m using my own life force to keep the gate closed.”
As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeve. Her arm was far too thin for a child.
“At most, I have a few years left. Once my life runs out, that gate will open.”
She was currently sealing the passage between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm with her own life force.
“If I stop trying to keep it closed, the gate will open right now.”
“....”
“And if that happens, do you think the current humanity can survive? With the Hero already dead?”
“If you fight alongside us, isn’t it still possible?”
“No. Not at all.”
She shook her head firmly.
“I could handle any high-ranking demons that come through that gate. It would probably be easy, even. But that’s not the issue.”
“Then why not stop sealing the gate right now and fight together with humanity—”
“No. That’s impossible. I’ve seen it clearly.”
“Seen what?”
“The Demon King who rules as the monarch of the Demon Realm.”
“....”
“I can use a special ability once every few years.”
“A special ability…?”
“Even though the passage between the Human Realm and the Demon Realm is sealed, I can still peer into the Demon Realm.”
“....”
“And there, I saw him. The Demon King. And the current Demon King is…”
She trailed off, unable to finish.
“Is he so strong that even you can’t handle him?”
“The current Demon King is incomparably stronger than the previous one. Even if I went all out, I’d be lucky to leave a single scratch on him.”
“...Is that true?”
“That’s why I’m keeping the gate sealed. If he were to cross over, humanity would have no hope left…”
“But even if you keep it sealed, it’s only a temporary measure. The Demon King will eventually come through, won’t he?”
“Then we just have to make sure we can kill him the moment he does.”
“The same Demon King you said you couldn’t even scratch even at full power?”
“Yes.”
“How? How is that possible?”
“Isn’t that something the ‘Savior’ will have to figure out?”
She smiled brightly.
“I’m not a Savior. I’m—”
“No. You are the Savior.”
“What?”
“I told you, didn’t I? I infused those gloves with a soul that would only react to a Savior who knows the future.”
“...”
“Want to hand over the gloves for a moment?”
“Yes, of course.”
I took off the gloves and gave them to her. She accepted them and immediately poured mana into them.
Wuuuung—
The gloves resonated with her mana. She closed her eyes, as if reading the records embedded within them. After a moment, her eyes opened again.
“No. There’s no mistake. You are the Savior.”
“But… what power do I even have?”
“You were born with the aptitude to use an Instant Death skill.”
“...How did you—”
“That’s not important. What matters is that you have that ability.”
“.....”
“With that skill, you could send even the Demon King to his death in an instant. In other words, you’re humanity’s only hope right now.”
But there was a huge problem—I didn’t know how to unlock the Instant Death skill. Even while playing the game, the unlock conditions for that particular skill had never been revealed. It had been my top priority to obtain, yet I still hadn’t unlocked it.
“But I don’t know how to obtain that Instant Death skill.”
“What if I knew how?”
She smiled innocently.
“...What?”
I stared at her in shock.
“What if I knew how to unlock the Instant Death skill? What would you do?”
“....”
There was no need to think twice. I had to unlock it no matter what.
“...I’d do whatever it takes.”
She leaned forward.
“Good. Then listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“Yes.”
“Wander around Elphon Academy and gather what I tell you.”
“What exactly am I supposed to collect?”
“Ancient texts, to put it simply. But the real problem is that deciphering them is nearly impossible.”
“If they’re impossible to decipher, then how…?”
“The linguistic lineage capable of reading those texts has been cut off.”
“Ah…”
I looked at her in despair. The Principal grinned, clearly amused by my expression.
“Oh, but that’s not actually a problem. There’s still one place that has preserved that language.”
“....Where is that?”
“The current President’s family is the only one still passing it down.”
“...Does that mean…?”
“Yes. You’ll need Jeong Hanna’s help. Though there is a catch.”
“What kind of catch?”
“Originally, the transmission of that language was supposed to be completed two years from now. So her knowledge is still incomplete. It probably won’t be enough to decipher the texts…”
“That shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Oh? Do you have a solution?”
“Yes. We just need to make it so Jeong Hanna can use the 5th Circle spell Library of Knowledge.”
“Hmm. I thought she hadn’t reached the 5th Circle yet?”
“I have a way to make it work.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll be looking forward to it, Savior.”
She smiled.
“By the way, I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
It didn’t make sense. If the ancient texts were inside Elphon Academy, why couldn’t the Principal just retrieve them herself? Why go through the trouble of sending a student like me?
“Couldn’t you collect the texts yourself, Principal?”
“...”
The Principal stared at me in silence. Then she slowly shook her head.
“The place where those texts are hidden can only be entered by students. More precisely, only by those who haven’t yet reached adulthood.”
“....”
“The mana flow in the area where the texts are concealed is extremely unusual. Anyone past the age of adulthood can’t enter.”
“...”
“Does that answer your question?”
She smiled again.
“Yes. It does.”
“And there’s something very important you need to be careful about.”
Her expression turned serious in an instant.
“...Yes. Please tell me.”
“From the moment you pick up the texts, you must finish deciphering them within five minutes.”
“...Within five minutes?”
“Yes. If you don’t, the texts will disappear.”
“...”
Five minutes? For that to work, Jeong Hanna’s knowledge had to be complete. Which meant she needed to be able to use the 5th Circle spell Library of Knowledge.
“And there’s one more thing.”
“...What is it?”
“While you’re deciphering the texts during those five minutes, no one else can see you doing it.”
“Not even one person?”
“No. If even a single person witnesses the deciphering, the texts will still vanish.”
“...”
The conditions were ridiculously strict. Was this really what it took to obtain an instant death skill?
“Ah, there is one exception. You’re fine.”
“What?”
“The ‘Savior’ is the only exception.”
“...”
“You understand, right? Then start collecting them. I’ll contact Jeong Hanna and explain everything to her.”