The Every Library Occupation Incident (4)
"This really doesn't sit well with me."
He hadn't noticed it while reading the original novel, but seeing it up close like this, nothing could be more repulsive.
Who knew they'd be such shameless hypocrites?
"……Well. Good luck with that."
But Luid had no intention of stepping in. Not because he was letting it slide — he simply saw no reason to get involved.
From here on out, every day was going to get considerably harder for the commoners, after all.
This incident was the trigger.
Until now, no matter how much the nobles grumbled, they had refrained from openly discriminating against commoners out of deference to the will of the First Emperor. But in the wake of this incident, that restraint would vanish. They would begin discriminating openly and proudly — now I'll show you what true oppression looks like, they'd say.
In other words, they would have dug their own graves.
Even Justin — ignorant, if you wanted to be unkind, or steadfast, if you wanted to be kind — would come to regret this incident in the days to come.
Nobles were, by nature, composed and dignified. But when roused, they were terrifying.
"I wonder how the discipline will shake out."
Luid recalled the events of the original story.
The commoners must have believed they had the perfect justification, but in reality, they couldn't have slipped past without any punishment at all. The instigators were going to be punished. The three who had led the charge — Nia Lion, Catherine Oblivion, and Justin — were the ones on the chopping block.
However, because their courage in standing up against injustice was held in high regard, the punishments were surprisingly light. Three months of community service, and nothing more — that was how Luid remembered it.
"But… Hershey winning doesn't change that future, does it?"
This library incident snowballed into something enormous for Justin. He'd go off to do his community service, run into a black mage, and come back half-shattered. He'd suffer endless discrimination at the Academy. And it wouldn't stop at him — watching every commoner around him get crushed under the oppression, he'd be swallowed whole by guilt.
But all of it would become the engine that made Justin strong. Adversity and hardship were what forged a protagonist, after all.
In that sense, this episode was critically important. The punishment, the onset of full-scale discrimination — not a single piece could be allowed to go missing.
And yet…
—pătrunde.
Hershey was far stronger than she should have been.
Luid remembered the small, loose cog he'd forgotten about while lounging around eating kaymak.
"…The balance is off, isn't it?"
[The commoners endured an agonizing stretch of days. In truth, most of them had seriously considered bolting from the Academy then and there, returning home to their hometowns. But they hadn't — because of Justin. Because the emotion they'd felt when Justin defeated Hershey Minerva, the top student of the Academy, had never faded. Because they had glimpsed hope: that they, too, could become like Justin.]
But there was never a version of this where Hershey lost. Justin was supposed to have gradually learned how to handle her by facing her over and over — and because that process had been cut short, the gap in skill had become hopelessly lopsided.
Luid stroked his chin. This feels off, and I don't like it.
"I came to watch someone else's house burn down… and it turns out the house on fire was mine."
A story was a vast machine of interlocking gears. The butterfly effect that could erupt from a single missing part was something even Luid couldn't predict.
What if the commoners abandoned the Academy en masse? The soldiers who were supposed to fight this world's great evil on his behalf!
That would be a serious problem.
A solution came to him immediately.
"……Looks like the only option is to tone down the persecution."
There was the alternative of just telling Hershey to throw the match. He obviously wasn't going to do that.
"I'll need the punishments to come down heavier, then."
The real reason the nobles were so enraged by this incident: yes, the insolence of the commoners played a part, but above all, it was the Academy's slap-on-the-wrist response to such a brazen act. Luid intended to exploit that — to ease the severity of the coming crackdown on the commoners.
For that, he'd need to move the Headmaster…
And moving the Headmaster was remarkably simple.
"That old geezer would love a bribe, wouldn't he?"
Luid's gaze turned toward the sacred relic at the far end of the transparent chamber — the Chalice of Mana.
To put it simply, it was 'perpetual motion' made real. A silver chalice, eternally brimming with pure mana. Its applications were boundless — any spell channeled through it as a medium could be sustained indefinitely.
And only Luid himself knew it was here. As far as the world knew, it had been lost in a war long ago. Some dismissed it outright as nothing more than a thing of legend.
"I'll hand this over and make him issue a punishment everyone can accept. Except expulsion."
Luid was just rising to retrieve the Chalice of Mana when—
"Grrrrlll—"
A grotesque chimera with three heads met his eyes.
It hadn't been there a moment ago. It had just been born.
"The hell is that."
Luid furrowed his brow and clenched his fist.
"……"
But nothing happened. Right — it was invisible in here, so he'd assumed it was right in front of him. The thing was actually outside this space. Some property of the special chamber seemed to be blocking his mana from reaching it.
"Ha. What a nuisance."
Luid muttered under his breath and walked forward. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't in the story — an uninvited guest, and a nuisance if it barged in.
Luid opened the door to the space.
The chimera, drool dripping in fat globs, stared at him. Luid gave it a half-hearted wave of his hand.
Pop!
The chimera vanished without a trace.
He returned to the chamber to collect the Chalice of Mana.
CRUUUUMBLE—
The ground shook.
"…Huh?"
The knight statues flanking him drew their swords in unison.
"…!"
Luid jolted in surprise — and in the same instant, hurled magic at the onrushing knights.
Hershey stepped past Justin's fallen body. The fox wagged its tail and pressed itself affectionately against her ankle.
[Hershey, you're so strong!]
Hershey's shoulders puffed up with pride — until she remembered Luid was surely watching from somewhere, and they promptly sank again.
"At this level… it's the mana Luid uses just to eat breakfast."
[Aww, you shouldn't compare yourself to Master! I've never once seen a human that strong in my whole life!]
"…Really?"
Hershey thought of Rach. After all, Miho had once been Rach's spirit. Which meant — was Luid stronger than Rach?
As if she'd read her mind, Miho answered at once.
[A black mage could never stand against Master.]
"Truly?"
[Master's mana isn't merely vast — it's purer than any human's mana in existence. And purity is the black mage's greatest enemy.]
As expected of Luid. He really is extraordinary.
Hershey beamed a radiant smile. But watching the dazzling magic battle still raging before her, her expression hardened once more. What this moment called for was not her usual candid self, but the composed daughter of House Minerva.
"That's enou—"
"That is enough."
Hershey flinched in surprise.
Because of the figure striding in through the library entrance.
Clifford, Headmaster of the Academy — flanked by Senior Professor Phoenicia and Professor Leffen Chaser.
The combatants, who had been tearing into each other with everything they had mere moments before, stared at Clifford as though they'd seen a ghost.
"Wh-why is the Headmaster here…?"
"I-I heard he went to the auction house…"
"Did you truly believe an incident of this scale would escape my notice?"
Clifford barked.
"You little troublemakers!"
The commoners recoiled, pale with fright, stumbling backward. The nobles wore expressions of smug triumph.
"Tsk, tsk. I left you be, thinking you were an abscess that would burst sooner or later — and you've managed to make an even grander mess of it."
Clifford surveyed the hall with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Property damage, and an assault on staff the Academy itself hired. Magnificent work, truly."
What an absurd bunch of brats.
Feuds between nobles and commoners were practically an annual tradition. But this year's class was a peculiar one. Nobles had done terrible things to commoners before, but never before had commoners risen up en masse against noble injustice the way they had this time.
Should I call that admirable?
As Headmaster, sworn to uphold the First Emperor's Will above all else, he ought to have sided with the commoners. The First Emperor had founded the Academy on the philosophy that 'every human has their purpose.' Knowing that ideal was impossible to realize in the world at large, he had built the Academy in the hope that at least within these walls, all would be equal.
In that light, the nobles' conduct was a flagrant violation of the First Emperor's Will — but by the social order of the Empire outside the Academy, it was the commoners who had crossed the line.
Still — surely even within the Academy, he ought to have taken their side?
I'm not thrilled about it, truth be told.
The opinion of the Archmage Clifford was somewhat different. Not content with launching a cowardly ambush, they had gone and lost. That alone made him reluctant to defend the commoners.
"There's no need to drag this out. I will announce the punishments now."
Clifford extended his hand to the left — to Phoenicia.
"The instigators: Nia Lion."
"Ye-YESH?!"
"Justin."
When no answer came, Clifford's face twisted into a scowl.
"Justin!"
Hershey raised her hand, looking sullen.
"……I knocked him out."
"What a flimsy fellow."
Clifford clicked his tongue, eyeing Justin's pitiful crumpled form with evident displeasure, and read out the next name.
"And — Catherine Oblivion."
"…Yes."
Clifford fixed Catherine with a piercing gaze.
"You'd already been disciplined once before, and yet you managed to pull a stunt like this again. Impressive."
Catherine's body flinched.
"These three are the instigators, as I understand it. Any errors in the investigation?"
The commoners pressed their mouths shut. Never in their wildest imagination had they thought the Headmaster knew every last detail. The entire plan had been built on the premise that Clifford would never intervene.
"None, it seems."
"Um… excuse me."
Catherine timidly raised her hand.
"Something to say? I'll grant you a chance to explain."
"……Justin only joined in because he couldn't refuse my insistence. I'll take his punishment along with mine."
"You do realize that could mean expulsion?"
Yet contrary to his words, Clifford's expression softened. Standing up for a friend was a fine quality — and Catherine wasn't even a noble, was she?
"Well, no one is being expelled, so rest easy."
Clifford narrowed his eyes as he spoke.
"If I expelled students over a matter like this, there'd be hardly anyone left at the Academy."
Clifford turned back to the scroll in his hands.
"The punishment of the 37 who stormed the library shall be left to the discretion of whoever fought them in a Magic Duel. Expulsion, however, is forbidden. Anything else goes."
Clifford looked straight ahead.
"That concludes the discipline for the Every Library Occupation Incident."
"…Headmaster."
"What is it?"
"The nobles bear responsibility as well."
Catherine had no intention of letting it slide so easily.
"Barring only the commoners from entry, in an Academy where everyone is supposed to be equal—"
Clifford cut her off.
"If it's so unfair, you should have fought for your victory, shouldn't you?"
"…What?"
Catherine was thrown off balance. She had accepted that the Headmaster would punish them — they had caused a riot, after all. But the nobles bearing no fault? That she could not comprehend. The root cause of everything was the Expert class seizing, for their own convenience, a library meant for everyone's use. If causing a riot was wrong, then was claiming a public library as one's personal possession not wrong at all?
"You seem to be laboring under a misunderstanding."
Clifford's voice rang out loud and clear.
"Fighting a Magic Duel — that much was acceptable. I would even praise you for settling it through an organized magical contest of your own accord. However."
Clifford's eyes swept over the commoners.
"Seizing a favorable moment, launching a surprise attack — and still failing to accomplish a single thing before you lost? That, I will not tolerate."
"H-Headmaster!"
Catherine stepped forward. She was afraid — but her sense of injustice burned hotter still.
Clifford dismissed her with a flick.
"Silence! I am only barely restraining myself from expelling the three of you!"
Catherine was struck dumb.
"What are you lot standing around for! Disperse at once!"
"Y-yes, sir."
The students hurriedly scattered. The nobles took their leave with leisurely poise, bowing courteously to Clifford — faces alight with satisfaction.
Hershey blinked her wide eyes, then belatedly moved to leave, scooping up the fox in her arms.
"Hershey."
"Yes?"
Clifford stopped her.
"Ahem. The loafer had no hand in this incident, I trust?"
"……No. As far as I know."
Clifford licked his lips, looking distinctly disappointed.
Tch. And here I was hoping to catch him on something.
Whenever Clifford laid eyes on Luid — sprawled out, half-lidded, too lazy to keep both eyes open — he itched to make him do something, anything. So he was quietly disappointed. If it had been that show-off, he could have blown the incident into something grand and had every justification to put him to work.
"Very well. You may go."
"Yes."
Hershey hurried off, glancing around as she went. Where on earth could Luid be?
That was when it happened.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact — and the ceiling collapsed. Clifford threw up a barrier with lightning speed, shielding the students.
CRASH—!
The ceiling's masonry came down in a thunderous wave, and chaos erupted.
The problem was — what fell from above was not only the debris of the ceiling.
Hershey murmured blankly.
"…Luid?"
Luid sat sprawled on the floor, blinking.
His backside hurt.
Clang.
The Chalice of Mana had fallen on Luid's head.
Crack.
The Chalice of Mana snapped clean in two.
Luid, watching the Headmaster's pupils tremble violently, put on an act for all he was worth.
"…Owie."
Miho bounded over in delight and licked Luid's face.