Chapter 151
Chapter 151
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 151
Chapter Title: Forced Defeat Event
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Why was Balak on Sky Island?
The academy professors, having grasped the truth, were extremely flustered.
The head professor double-checked if his thinking was correct.
"Th-then, because of us, the master of this place went over to Sky Island?"
"Balak bro seems to like fighting a lot, so it looks like he went there to spar with the top students from each grade."
Why, though?
...Those words rose to his throat.
But the majority of the professors barely held them back.
However, in any group of five, there's bound to be one clueless idiot.
The absolute truth spoken by that one sage proved correct.
"H-hey, could you perhaps talk your branch chief's brother out of it?"
Oh, dear.
Ferguson currently held absolute power.
And yet, this fool was pulling a 'just do it!' without offering any reward?
"If none of the academy personnel want to enter the dungeon ever again, sure, I can make that happen."
"F-Ferguson! Let me apologize on his behalf!"
"That guy's always been a bit off! Please—!"
Academy professors normally commanded respect in their fields, so they used honorifics and showed mutual respect.
But now, they forgot even that and began collectively condemning the professor who had unleashed a disastrously foolish remark.
'Th-this is a place that shapes the empire's future! If current and future students, plus even us, get banned from the dungeon itself...'
The academy would be done for immediately.
As the heated denunciations continued, Ferguson sighed, slightly easing the tension in a chilling moment that passed.
Afterward, Ferguson guided the still-heated professors to a quiet private room.
The professors, now with some time on their hands, clutched their foreheads as headaches set in.
"I-I'm truly sorry. Because of me..."
"No, honestly, that thought almost slipped out of my mouth too."
"Haa... Sorry for the harsh criticism earlier."
"It was justified criticism due to my own lack of tact, so I'll accept it. B-but what do we do now?"
"For now, let's rethink what the branch chief just said."
The professors couldn't imagine Ferguson actually blocking all academy personnel at the dungeon entrance.
But this was a place where impossible things happened, so his words pierced the heavens with credibility.
Could they stop Balak's actions?
"...Impossible."
"Even the Sword Saint, the empire's national treasure, challenged him dozens of times and got utterly crushed each one."
"Urgh..."
They brainstormed various alternatives.
But every one hit a dead end, yielding no answers.
In the end, having gained nothing, the professors returned to Ferguson.
Ferguson showed some consideration for these pitiful souls.
"Balak bro will really only fight the top 1 to 3 from each grade. He won't touch other students unless they cause trouble or stick around. And..."
Peeing—!
"You can enter this portal to go straight to the dungeon entrance."
"""Thank you..."""
They had burned enough money to buy a large mansion.
Yet the professors, having gained nothing, drooped dejectedly.
*************
Around the time the professors discussed giving extra points to the students who had faced Balak this time.
Raillen Svel, the current second-year top student at the academy,
was happily collecting specimens on Sky Island.
'Haa~ Is this the view from number one?'
There was currently a hero named Ruel, who had inherited the holy sword of the Hero of Light, right?
The swordsman Liberria in that hero's party had originally been the academy's second-year top student.
She had an enormous gap not just in skill over the second place, but in everything else, so runner-up Raillen had always been exploding with jealousy.
But oh my?
The top student suddenly dropped out?
Raillen, who had automatically usurped the top spot, was enjoying a peaceful school life with all negative emotions and inferiority complexes vanished.
But what happens when the absolute top dog disappears?
"This time, the top spot is mine!"
"Tch... I could surpass those guys, right?"
"Looks doable."
The second-year top contenders suddenly burst with motivation.
To monopolize various specimens, they started moving alone.
Moreover, third place didn't mind much.
But second place? Infuriatingly frustrating.
"Pfft, so that's why you're here? Lian."
"You caught me..."
Lian, the boy who had risen from third to second place, approached current second-year top Raillen.
Raillen immediately prepared for battle, seeing it was clearly an attempt to interfere.
But then he heard a truly unexpected proposal.
"What? You want to ally?"
"Raillen, you know it too. The second-year top ranks are going crazy right now."
Indeed! The current runner-up was proposing an alliance with the top student for this exam!
If these two joined forces, they had basically secured first and second in this exam.
"...Lian, what if you betray me?"
"That's why we'll only stick together at the start, not the whole time. We need numbers to scout the sea side anyway, right?"
"True, but..."
Raillen quickly calculated the pros and cons of the proposal.
To score high in this practical exam, one needed specimens not just from Sky Island but also from the sea,
and base the report on those.
Just as Raillen was about to accept after some deliberation,
Rustle...
"Oh dear, teaming up, huh..."
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
"For fairness in an exam like this, isn't teaming between first and second a bit much?"
Teaming.
It refers to forming a team in violation of rules where team play is disallowed or when already assigned to different teams.
This practical exam was ultimately individual.
Cooperation with other students was allowed, of course.
But if top and runner-up combined forces?
That's a different story.
Before the two students attempting unfair competition, a figure in black armor appeared.
"What... Even if betrayal or cooperation is up to you in an exam like this, you can't kick down the ladder for other students. No, you can't."
"Wh-who are you...?"
"W-wait!! Raillen! That being is—!"
"I'll respect your choice anyway. But for fair competition, I can't help this."
And so, the second-year top and runner-up encountered Balak.
They suffered a forced defeat event.
*************
Balak used the third-year top student's info to find other students.
Naturally, locating them in this vast area was extremely difficult.
So he borrowed the power of other beings.
[ Big bro, there seem to be unusually strong students over there. ]
"Good! Perfect!"
[ And according to the wind nature spirits, some pretty strong students already headed to the sea. ]
"Huh? To the sea?"
[ What will you do? ]
"Hmm... Better clear Sky Island first."
The sea required boats to navigate.
And naval battles, which Balak found quite unsatisfactory.
So after fighting the second-year top and runner-up, Balak rushed to the next opponents.
[ By the way, big bro, how are the students in fights? ]
"Honestly, their mentality is fine, but the rest... meh."
Balak reflected on the top students he had fought so far.
'A wound on the back is a disgrace to the Barche ducal house...'
'Knights... fear shame more than defeat...'
'I was told not to learn magic without resolve to give my life.'
'Kraaaaaah!'
Some just screamed until the end.
Even with resurrection, facing an unbeatable foe proved these sprouts were fresh and green.
Plus, with Balak's slight encouragement, they maintained clean mentalities like the first third-year top.
But combat-wise, Balak was frankly dissatisfied.
He had thought they'd be hero-level, but they were just a bit below!
'Still, the golden generation hasn't appeared yet, clearly!'
Belesa had told Balak before that the outside world was changing rapidly.
A golden generation would emerge to match that era.
When those youths entered the academy?
"Oh."
Now the true academy story would begin.
Balak faced Sky Island students with expectations for the future.
He had originally planned to only target those with the real 1-3 ranks.
"Buying from illegal street vendors, how dare you!!"
"Uwaaaak!!"
"Forcibly taking lower students' items?!"
"Th-that's not—!!"
"That guy just named his house to me; wanna try with me?"
"Hiiik?!"
Kwaaaang!!
Whether due to the overly free exam,
or if academy exams were always this unfair, malicious students were rampant.
Balak, having properly educated not just the 1-3 ranks but also the greener sprouts excluding them, normalized the practical exam as he went.
After meeting all fight-worthy students on Sky Island, Balak prepared to head to the sea.
He checked the starting island on the sea side for the first time in ages.
"Huh?"
[ Balak bro, what's up? ]
"Th-the sea side?!"
Beyond illegal structures on the first sea island, it had turned into a full beach resort in Balak's eyes.
***************
Currently, powerful undead managed the mini-dungeon's sea side.
Thanks to them, resets occurred where undead appeared on the starting island.
But shrewd ones who grasped the timing slipped in and out instantly,
conducting business on this starting island with its constant warm weather.
Of course, the undead weren't unaware of this...
"B-but if we smash them again, the master will rage..."
"Haa... What do we do with that?"
"Should we all go smash them?"
"We'd almost certainly get deleted for real?"
Last general meeting, the undead had mindlessly bombarded Sky Island, wrecking the entire mini-dungeon interior.
Karian and the skeleton mages had suffered to fix it.
Their master Alterion had warned them, so they were pondering solutions.
Later, on some island, the Death Knight admiral leading a pirate fleet held an internal meeting aboard ships.
"Maybe just bombard that island..."
"Or we could swarm and smash them all; not a bad idea."
"But can we handle the aftermath? Challengers might avoid coming here later."
As the meeting looped fruitlessly,
Kwang!
"Admiral!!"
"Vice officer, what's wrong?"
"Balak has arrived!"
Oh dear.
The master of this place had come to complain.