The Academy
The academy. The temple of education. After their victory in the war against humanity, the beastmen had claimed human culture as their own—and at the very center of it all stood the academy.
"The Twelve Kings were the ones who pushed hardest for the academy's creation," Bastet said, dragging over something like a blackboard and scribbling on it as she explained. I sat perfectly straight in my chair while Silmarion, perched on top of my head, clutched my hair like she was trying to turn me into Ratatouille.
"Education. It was the survival secret and the key to victory that the leaders of the original Bremen Revolution came to understand. It had to be passed down to future generations. The danger humans posed. At the same time, they needed to acquire knowledge and pursue scholarship. Not to live like beasts driven by instinct, but to claim the position of 'intellectuals' that humans had once held."
"The reason they could win in the first place was because they chose to 'act like humans.' Ironic, isn't it? But what can you do? The moment the beastmen admitted they were inferior to humanity in intellect was the moment they truly began to surpass them."
So suppressing their instincts, behaving with intelligence and civilization—that was what it meant to be a beastman?
"They equipped themselves with brains. No longer did beastmen get lured by the smell of food and die in traps. Instead, they started turning the tables and slaughtering the ones who set those traps."
Humans, behold. The beastmen you once looked down on are gone. What exists on this land now are the new humanity—beings who have absorbed human civilization and evolved beyond it.
"The academy no longer teaches only hunting techniques. Mathematics, physics, administrative studies, arcane theory... At this point, beastmen are even writing all kinds of academic papers that humans once authored."
In other words, the academy was essentially a victory declaration against humanity. A teabag. Humans used to say they were superior to beasts because of wisdom, yet now that very wisdom and knowledge were being taught through the academy?
Beastmen had always possessed superior physical specs. If they added human wisdom on top of that—intelligence that surpassed humanity itself—then they would become truly superior beings. Right now they had only absorbed human civilization, but in this fantasy world, once they started launching rockets and building the internet, it would be a complete and total species victory against humans. And the fundamental driving force behind it all was education.
The temple of that education was the academy.
So was this the first time the academy had opened in the hundred years since the war?
"The beastmen have been running various academies for over a century. All that know-how has been accumulated," she corrected.
It wasn't that there had been no academies at all. Each beastman race had operated several of their own.
"And now they're creating the greatest academy on the continent—one that can encompass all beastmen. A hall meant to select a king who can unite every race."
The academy that would be newly built in this city called Cadelis would be fundamentally different from anything that had come before.
"Its name is Cadelis Academy. The children of tribal chiefs who lead each race, the descendants of kings, talented prospects, heirs of massive merchant conglomerates—they will all enter the academy. In essence, you'll be part of the very first class of Cadelis Academy, starting everything anew."
"And what exactly should I enter as?" I asked.
"You..." Silmarion climbed down from my head and stood on the desk. "Bastet. What do you think?"
"...I'm not sure. Honestly, I didn't expect we'd be discussing the academy this quickly."
Bastet and Silmarion exchanged glances for a moment. It didn't seem like either of them was completely certain about me yet, but both were beings who took the revolution seriously.
"Silmarion. What's your opinion?"
"I already have an answer in mind?"
"...My original plan was to sneak you in as a teaching assistant for the professors. I was going to have you adapt to human life here in the magic workshop, learn common sense, and then insert you as an assistant."
I understood. Bastet's original plan. Allow me access to the academy, but push me in as 'staff.' She probably intended to have me work as an assistant to a professor she knew, then send me to gather information—maybe locate where the King's Symbols were stored or even steal them. Even if that wasn't the goal, there would be plenty of ways. From a human common-sense perspective, at least. Once you stepped into the realm of magic, the methods would be wildly creative.
"But an assistant wouldn't have the qualifications. We need to aim for the highest point."
The problem was that if we took the risk, the opportunity to get close to the King's Symbols would increase dramatically.
"...What if you get caught?"
"Then we just make sure we don't get caught. You know about the high point too, right? If we succeed, you can officially obtain a King's Symbol."
"It's dangerous. You could end up in danger too. Even your position."
"For the greater cause, we have to be willing to consider a coup."
"The entire race could face oppression, you know?"
"Isn't that the same for you?"
"Cats are creatures who live by solo play."
"You'll be despised even more harshly than the fallen species."
A slight argument broke out between the two. Fallen species. It probably had something to do with not being included among the Twelve Kings. There were legends about how, during the selection of the twelve zodiacs, the cat had mistaken the date, or had fallen for the rat's scheme and arrived at the Dragon King's place later than the pig.
"Um, what exactly is a fallen species?" I asked.
"...It's not exactly a nice term," Bastet said, stroking her own cat ears with her hand. "During the very first Bremen Revolution... when they occupied the earl's castle. The cat beastmen participated back then too."
"Ah..."
"But they weren't chosen by the Dragon. And that perception has continued for a hundred years. The repulsive nature of cat beastmen also played a part in that image."
They had participated in the early revolution but never received a King's Symbol? If they had been scorned as the 'unchosen race' even after a hundred years, it made sense that they would become twisted.
"...So is this really okay?"
"You're saying you can't trust the human you spent ten thousand gold on?"
"It's because he's too outstanding. You know that as well as I do..."
"Okay. That's enough."
...I could let Bastet comparing me to other humans slide for now. She was taking the conservative position, but if we were willing to shoulder the risk, this was an option with enormous merit.
"I have a question." I raised my hand, and both beastmen's eyes immediately turned to me. "If I get first place at this new academy, can I secure a King's Symbol? Anyone?"
"Yes. That's correct. Exactly."
I needed to confirm this. If I entered the academy as a student, I could officially obtain a King's Symbol.
"After the academy is established, the Kings will gather there and reach an agreement. In a place where all the successors gather, the leader recognized by everyone will be qualified to become the true king. The King's Symbol will pass to that person."
Just by getting first place at the academy? When you thought about it differently, the implication changed completely.
Fur Clave. The metrics from the academy would become the justification for the Kings willingly handing over their symbols, and the connections built there would become recognition and respect from the future leaders of each tribe.
"The Kings will select one candidate from the academy. They will pass a King's Symbol to the most outstanding being among all the candidates. In other words, the plan was originally for all the King's Symbols to gather in this very Cadelis just by being here."
"Bastet and I had planned to secure them through special means... but isn't it better to have multiple insurance policies?"
"So I'm the insurance?"
"That's right. As long as your identity isn't discovered, and if you legitimately take first place in wisdom among the beastmen?"
......
It was an operation full of holes, but I couldn't exactly call it bad.
"The full-scale construction will begin in about a month. On the day the academy opens, the Kings will gather in one place. They'll make the final decision during that meeting."
"Final decision?"
"Some of the Kings aren't exactly pleased with the idea of a successor chosen from the academy becoming the ruler of the continent."
Ah. I understood. There might be an imperial dog trying to beat everyone into submission with raw power, or there could be those whose successors simply lacked talent. When moving to a new system, there were bound to be those who weighed the pros and cons and chose whatever benefited them.
"An undergraduate at the academy, huh..."
"Are you worried? If it's too much of a burden—"
"If I attend as an undergraduate and my identity as a human is discovered, would that cause serious damage to both of you?"
There was only one thing that concerned me.
"If my identity is exposed, would the two of you end up in a situation where all the beastmen want to kill you?"
"That's not the case," Silmarion answered firmly. "We already have an excuse prepared: that we disguised a human to enroll them."
"What kind of...?"
"Depending on the results, we can basically claim it was a social experiment."
A social experiment, huh.
"And if the results are good?"
"If a successor from a particular race loses to you, that race might face some scornful fingers pointed their way, but neither you, Bastet, nor I would face any truly serious mockery. At worst, we'd be seen as the crazy bastards who insisted on putting a human in."
"......What if I obtain all twelve of the King's Symbols?"
"Well. Even I'm not sure about that. Whether they'd see you as the king of all beasts, or simply as a human."
......
"Bastet? What's your opinion?"
"...Like I said last time, I think it's either complete ruin or a massive jackpot. One or the other."
Even now, Bastet's eyes as she looked at me held absolute conviction.
"A revolution isn't something that happens just because the target is humans. It's only a true revolution when those oppressed by the strong rise up and carry it out."
"Alright then." I clapped my hands together. "Screw it. Let's do this."
And then.
A year passed.