Chapter 109: Academy Romance Manipulation Team (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 109: Academy Romance Manipulation Team (4)
Recently, the dark mages had been feeling a sense of crisis.
It was to the point where the internal civil war within the dark mage society had come to an end.
‘If we keep this up, we’re all going down together.’
‘Demon faction, non-demon faction—what does it matter if we’re all dead?’
‘Let’s just survive first.’
In any ordinary group, humans would be the type to say such things and then immediately stab each other in the back.
Surprisingly, the dark mages didn't do that.
Though they were divided into factions, dark mages were fundamentally individualistic. Except for a few fanatics whose eyes had rolled back in their heads, most were ready to abandon their faction the moment their own survival was threatened.
Most had joined a faction merely as a stepping stone for their own advancement anyway.
Those who had formed the factions for a specific cause knew this fact all too well. They knew that the moment they tried to force something, their members would flip them the bird and defect to a rival faction.
Thus, the dark mages' civil war ended much more easily than expected.
Afterward, the operation they carried out through mutual cooperation was the Academy Cathedral terror attack.
In official dark mage terms, it was the Saintess Assassination Plan.
However, that operation failed.
The operation, which all the dark mages near the Academy had pooled their strength to achieve, had ended in a disastrous failure.
How disastrous? Usually, when something like this happens, suspicions arise about whether it was a plot by another faction. But this failure was so total that such suspicions didn't even surface.
A failure has to be within a certain margin for you to suspect someone else.
Everyone had held hands and been annihilated together. Among the casualties were Belex, sent by the Black Tower, and a demon sent by the demon faction. Furthermore, those two had met ends so gruesome they were difficult to put into words.
Consequently, the dark mages split into two factions again.
Not into humans and demons, but...
“Since when did we dream of the light? We were born in the shadows. Befitting those of the shadows, we must hide and build our strength first. Waiting for an opportunity is the right course of action!”
The Survival Faction, who wanted to live for now.
And...
“Do you not know what must be done first to survive? Look at the Saintess’s growth rate. She’s a monster who grew that much in just one year. Hide and build strength? Will the Saintess just sit still while we do that? When we gain 1 point of power, she will gain 10. To survive, we must eliminate the Saintess right now!”
The Saintess Assassination Faction, who believed there was no future unless she was killed.
This conflict, which split even the existing factions, began to play out in a very black-mage-like fashion.
“We just need to produce results.”
In other words, let’s just do it and see.
First, the Survival Faction began to flee far away from the Empire—more specifically, far from the Academy.
The Saintess Assassination Faction, naturally, infiltrated the Academy to kill her.
“It’s this easy to get in?”
“Is it an Imperial trap?”
Even if it was a route obtained by paying a high price to someone claiming to be an expert, the Academy had been breached several times before. Because it was so easy, the dark mages were actually nervous that it might be a trap.
“We still haven't been caught?”
“Shut up and just finish the magic circle.”
“If the Imperials were targeting us, they would have caught us by now.”
Since no one came for them until the very moment they completed the magic circle they intended to deploy, they let their guard down.
And for good reason.
“It’s a perfect plan.”
The magic circle they had completed was worth that much confidence.
“The Dale Royal Secret Magic that Silence brought with him when he defected to the dark mages!”
It was a barrier that imposed laws on space, one that would not deactivate unless its conditions were met. It was a spell that truly made one exclaim, "As expected of Dale."
Manipulating space alone was difficult enough, but adding specific conditions to it... depending on how it was used...
“Through this, we can whittle down their strength!”
It meant they could unilaterally deplete the enemy's forces.
“A space you can't leave unless you kill each other...”
“It’s an excellent way to destroy their trust in one another.”
“Indeed. Just by being trapped in this space, they will be forced to perceive each other as enemies.”
The operation was titled: Room You Can't Leave Without Killing Each Other!
Using the Dale Royal Secret Magic, they would trap the Saintess and other key figures of the Academy in one place and force them to kill one another.
And that wasn't all.
“It doesn't matter even if this operation fails. We just need to delay them so they can't deactivate the magic circle.”
Even if they didn't kill each other, suspicion and distrust would grow as time passed.
Their targets were the Divinities, some of the most prominent figures on the continent. If they could break their harmony and plant seeds of doubt...
“That alone would be a sufficient achievement.”
To achieve this, a few conditions were necessary.
One was getting the Saintess and those around her into the target location.
The other was that while it could never be broken from the inside, it wasn't impossible to interfere with the magic circle from the outside.
“Our goal is to stall for as much time as possible.”
They had to ensure the existence of this magic circle remained unknown. To do that, they couldn't fight the enemy head-on. Hadn't dark mages far superior to them tried a direct confrontation only to be miserably defeated?
Though dark mages walked a different path from ordinary mages, their essence was still that of a mage. They knew the fact that the arrogance of thinking "I'll be different" had consumed countless talented mages.
Therefore, they set traps everywhere and installed time bombs to deceive the enemy.
And then, the time came.
Was it the arrogance of thinking the dark mages were no longer a threat? Despite having been attacked several times, they had put students into a temporary dungeon, even if it was within the Academy grounds!
The dark mages moved according to plan and executed the operation smoothly.
There were only four of them, but in terms of completion, it wasn't an exaggeration to say they had achieved the most perfect result among the many dark mages who had invaded the Academy so far.
And so, after a twelve-hour struggle.
When they arrived at the magic circle, battered and bruised...
“...Something’s strange.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the magic circle itself, though?”
“Yeah. It’s running without any issues...?”
“No, wait!”
Since they were the ones who had installed it, they immediately noticed someone had tampered with it.
—Room You Can't Leave Without Kissing.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
No matter how many times they interpreted it, the result didn't change.
“What kind of crazy bastard would do something so horrific...”
Thinking of the people who had gone inside, they couldn't help but be horrified.
“B-Dark mages?”
Princess Ruelle asked back with a bewildered face at my words.
“But this is our royal secret magic?!”
Princess Ruelle insisted that the royal secret magic couldn't have been stolen, but I believed our dark mages were capable of anything.
If not...
“Then, should I view this as an assassination attempt on the Imperial royalty and major continental figures by the Dale royal family?”
“These wicked dark mages!”
At my words, Princess Ruelle immediately changed her tune, claiming this was all the work of those evil dark mages.
“……Ah.”
But soon, her face turned pale as if she realized there was a problem.
“What is it?”
“I’ve analyzed the magic, and it’s a spell that won't deactivate unless more than half the people who entered the room are dead.”
She wasn't some purple alien; wanting to wipe out half the population was a bit much. I thought it was excessive, but then I remembered that's just how dark mages are.
They’ve been such punching bags lately that I almost forgot.
“What about deactivating it?”
“It’s not easy. Even if we're not on the inside, if we try to break it with brute force, the space itself could distort...”
Princess Ruelle bit her lip and opened the bag she had packed so heavily.
“So, overwriting it will be the fastest way.”
“Overwriting?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. We keep the magic circle active but just modify the conditions.”
“Is that possible?”
“It’s hard. But who do you think I am?”
A royal of Dale, the kingdom of magic.
True to her name, she quickly began gathering her tools.
“...Are those magic tools?”
When hammers, chisels, and various other tools started popping out, I asked in confusion.
“What, did you think I’d use blood to draw the magic circle?”
“Is that not it?”
“It’s not impossible. But it’s easily damaged and simple to corrupt. Real experts use tools like these.”
Come to think of it, the magic circle engraved on the floor looked more like it had been carved than drawn.
“Phew.”
Watching that, Princess Ruelle let out a small sigh and looked at the magic circle. Then, infusing it with mana, she began to modify the circle using her various tools.
“Change the words and shapes to alter the meaning. Sometimes erase circuits and redraw them...”
Unlike her simple explanation, the work was delicate and took quite a bit of time.
After about an hour had passed...
“Fuuuu.”
Letting out a long breath, she wiped the sweat trickling down her forehead.
“For now, it’s done.”
“What did you change it to?”
“Well, the plan has to go on. I changed it to the original goal: a Room You Can't Leave Without Kissing.”
I internally filtered out the part where she almost said she was going to make it a "Room You Can't Leave Without XX-ing" since it was supposedly made by evil dark mages.
“So, as long as Marie and that brother of mine follow the plan...”
We could thwart the dark mages' plot and achieve a happy ending for everyone.
Thus, to check on things, we headed out toward where the magic circle was activated.
“Gaaah! Damn dark mages! It was going so well at first!”
“Great! It’s a re-exam!”
“Dark mages are the best!”
I learned that the Academy had turned into a mess again due to the dark mages' attack.
“Was it breached again?”
“...Yeah.”
I told the Uncle, who was sighing and rubbing his eyes as if he were already exhausted, the location where I found the magic circle.
“Is it here...?”
“Based on the mana fluctuations, this should be it...”
I followed Princess Ruelle and arrived at the space where the "Room You Can't Leave Without Kissing" was located.
“Ah. Over there.”
“It certainly looks like it.”
Walking along the space, I saw people gathered and buzzing ahead. It looked like Violet and other second-year students were gathered there with flustered expressions.
The problem was the familiar red hair visible among them.
“Marie?”
“The Fire Spammer?”
Princess Ruelle and my gazes met. Our expressions basically said, ‘Holy shit, am I seeing this right?’
After confirming our own shock through each other's faces, I watched Princess Ruelle start running ahead and let out a deep sigh.
“Ugh. RoFan development.”
Is the RoFan buff truly abandoning the Fire Spammer? I went through all that trouble to make a Room You Can't Leave Without Kissing, and instead of Daisy and the RoFan male leads...
“Adam?”
“...Daisy?”
No, seriously. Why are you here?
When I turned my head at the voice behind me, I saw Daisy, who had brought the professors with an urgent expression.
“F-First, hurry!”
Daisy, dragging me along as I stood frozen, reached the crowd and began explaining to the professors what had happened.
“Suddenly the space was isolated, and from here on, it’s a Room You Can't Leave Without Kissing...?”
Daisy, who was urgently explaining to the professors, suddenly stopped. She blinked her eyes dozens of times and muttered the name of the barrier in front of her once more.
“Can't... leave... without... kissing?”
Wait, what is this?
“……”
“……”
“……”
One of the professors, who had been staring blankly at the muttering Daisy, spoke up.
“So. Who did you say went in there?”
“Esid, Ellen, Arwen, Gerard, Asran, and Hedrick.”
At Daisy’s answer, which sounded like her IQ had dropped by about 100, Princess Ruelle and my gazes met again.
—Should we run?
—Let’s run.
The culprits who had suddenly turned the development into a BL Drift began to back away as if escaping.