Chapter 114: An Ordinary Midterm Exam (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 114: An Ordinary Midterm Exam (3)
I finished beating down the in-season dark mages.
Of course, since "dark mage season" usually coincides with Academy events or special days for the RoFan cast, they were likely to stay in season for the foreseeable future.
Anyway, what mattered more than dark mages was...
"I've... perfectly controlled it!"
The awakened Fire Spammer. More accurately, the cause of the Fire Spammer's awakening.
"...But why are you on your knees?"
"There's a folk belief that if you pray in front of someone who just broke through a wall, you can overcome your own."
I knelt before the Fire Spammer and prayed fervently.
Sword Master. Sword Master. Sword Master. Sword Master. Sword Master.
If I could just reach that realm, then regardless of technique or whatever, I could beat Prince Ellen until the day he became a Sword Master himself.
At the same time, I could become a being somewhat exempt from being a training officer.
What do I mean by that?
A Sword Master is a strategic weapon. Sending one on an official trip to another country is a burden for both Leon and the receiving nation. Therefore, like the Captain, I could just lounge around the royal palace, eating and playing while still being treated with respect.
Sure, I'd still have to attend the Academy.
But at least I wouldn't have to wander all over the place afterward.
According to Boradori, the original story continues even after the Academy arc ends.
Well, Boradori did make a fuss about how the world would be in danger if Prince Ellen, a key military power in the original work, was sidelined.
But looking at Daisy now, I was certain she could more than fill that void by the time she graduated.
Ellen.
A mere mediocre man who was only the strongest in the world until Daisy picked up a sword.
...Since I couldn't even beat him, I had to rely on superstitions like this.
"So. How did you control it?"
If I asked Boradori, she'd just say she skimmed through it because it was a battle scene, so I had to ask the person who actually experienced it.
"Um... well..."
The Fire Spammer groaned, trying to recall the memory.
"The demon used the Prince to threaten me."
"And?"
"I got angry."
"...Is that it?"
"That's it."
...It seems this bastard is just as useless as the rest.
"Right. Good for you."
"Yeah."
It wasn't a compliment, but he nodded so confidently it felt like I'd just given him high praise.
Damn it. This is why a person needs talent.
After the incident was mostly settled, I had a debriefing session with Boradori.
There were many things to discuss, but the most important was...
"Why don't I have any growth events?"
Even if the character Adam Smith didn't appear in the original work, countless extras must have.
"Instead, you have the most romance events, which is very fitting for a RoFan, don't you think?"
I consulted the expert, but her answer was far from satisfying.
No, at this point, shouldn't it be called a curse rather than a romance event?
"You don't have either."
I replied with a hint of spite.
"That's why I'm so happy."
Damn it, I can't win this trade.
In RoFan possession stories, the protagonist usually steals the characters they liked from the original heroine.
"Aren't you going to date anyone?"
"Nope. In a RoFan, if the heroine's friend suddenly starts dating, it's usually a death flag."
"...Is it really that bad?"
"It is. It's a common trope that the new boyfriend turns out to be a dark mage or a villain of similar caliber."
"How can anyone live in a RoFan world with all that fear?"
"You're living in it right now, aren't you?"
Now that I think about it, she's right.
"Why are you so impatient? It's just the people around you who are freaks. You're enough of a human weapon yourself, okay? Honestly, the fact that you can even compete with Ellen is absurd."
"Even Prince Ellen feels like he's becoming an extra lately."
"...The story progression has been a bit fast recently."
"I even took a Yin-Yang Pill, but my sword got sealed by a demon using ice!"
"In the case of attribute-specialized enemies, they're easier to catch than normal demons if you can counter them, but on the flip side, if you get countered, they're impossible to beat."
"Why do those kinds of guys even exist?"
"So that the male leads can take turns being active. If things were normal, the same kids would be doing everything every time."
Originally, by the time the demons appeared, the RoFan male lead party was supposed to be sufficiently grown.
Because of that, ordinary dark mages were treated like mere mobs, and even regular demons supposedly struggled against the Minor Sword Emperor and the Magic Spammer.
That's where the "gimmick" demons came in.
For example, a spiritual demon that doesn't take physical damage.
Or conversely, a demon that can only be caught with physical force. They'd send the spiritual ones to swordsmen like Asran, and the physical ones to the Magic Spammer.
Thanks to that, they'd easily be driven into a corner, and while fleeing with Daisy, a bystander character like Prince Ellen would step in to help. Or so the story goes.
"For all that talk, Prince Ellen didn't seem very helpful."
"At his current level, that demon was basically immune to swords too."
In short, it was a counter-demon specifically for the Magic Spammer, but since the Prince wasn't skilled enough, it became an enemy that even Asran or Prince Ellen couldn't defeat.
"It's just that Marie was a complete hard counter, so it was taken down ridiculously easily. Otherwise, you would've struggled quite a bit."
The problem was that, considering the current progression, it seemed like those kinds of guys would keep appearing.
"Why is it turning out like this?"
"It seems they're filling the void left by Silence with demons..."
"Silence again? Can the story not progress without that guy?"
"...A little? No. Actually, a lot?"
Damn it, Silence.
Even though he exited right at the start of the semester, he was way too important a character.
...Not that I could've left him alive, though. That would've been a disaster.
"No, you said the Demon King was still a long way off. And that most of the demons were still sealed."
"...I guess the dark mages are working hard to break the seals."
"Is that something you can just do by 'working hard'?"
"If it's a dark mage, wouldn't it be possible?"
"It's not like 'dark mage' is some magic word that explains everything."
Even as I said that, the thought that it might be possible if it's a dark mage felt like a testament to their diligence.
"Why are the dark mages in this world so hardworking?"
"It's because the setting is a bit weird. If someone is a villain, they're all dark mages except for a few oddballs. Fanatics following the Evil God are dark mages. Corrupted mages are dark mages. People using dangerous sorcery are also dark mages."
Is it just a collective term for RoFan villains?
I couldn't help but have a question after hearing Boradori's explanation.
"Actually, I'm surprised there are a few oddballs who aren't dark mages."
"You know those guys who come hand-in-hand with dark mages, claiming to be descendants of some kingdom? Among them, there are cases where royalty actually survived from kingdoms that fell relatively recently. One of those royals is among the commoner freshmen who enrolled this year..."
"Oh."
That was a plotline I hadn't expected.
A story about those seeking to reclaim a lost kingdom and the freshman who is the only key to reviving it.
I was impressed that such an amazing story was scheduled for the near future.
And then.
"Aaaargh!"
"You bastard, why are you only telling me this now!"
I ground my fists into Boradori's temples, making her scream.
"...I was going to tell you."
"You didn't even give me a chance..."
Fortunately, I could breathe a sigh of relief when she said that the story was already scrapped because I had wiped out that group last year.
From this incident, I learned one thing through the new members of the After-School Dessert Club.
"Kids these days have weak mentalities."
"That's how the youth are."
"It wasn't like that in my day."
"...But except for Uncle Aeryun, isn't there barely any age difference?"
Ignoring the Fire Spammer who couldn't read the room, we began our meeting with serious expressions.
"To be honest, those so-called agents were way too scared just because it was a dark mage."
"That's true."
"The problem is that's the reaction of a normal first-year. This time only the second-years were attacked, but if you attend the Academy, you're bound to run into dark mages eventually..."
Everyone nodded at Taylor's words.
The freshmen were too weak.
Of course, I knew that was normal.
But if you've entered a RoFan world, you have to live a life that fits a RoFan world.
The current first-years were too fragile to survive in this world.
Unlike the second-years who were used to dark mages, or the third and fourth-years who knew how to deal with them, they were just... flustered?
"Of course, we haven't checked all the first-years, but..."
"If the agents are at that level, we have to assume the regular students are even worse."
We didn't pull the first-years away from their midterms for nothing.
It was to give them early experience with the dark mages they'd be seeing constantly, and to evaluate the strength of the first-year class through those presumed to be at the top.
"The first-years are definitely a lost cause."
I'd thought the Swordsmanship Department was doomed ever since that guy Rizel, who's some kind of cousin to Senior Loreliya, became the runner-up.
I was starting to feel the Magic Department wouldn't be much different.
"You're talking as if you expected it."
"I definitely thought the Swordsmanship Department was doomed. Since the guy I met last year was the runner-up. I thought maybe the valedictorian would be different, but with the overall level being this low..."
"...Huh?"
At my words, Uncle Aeryun made a confused face.
Sensing something was off, I looked around; Taylor and the Fire Spammer had similar expressions.
"What's with those looks?"
"You. You know the valedictorian of the Swordsmanship Department."
"The first-year valedictorian? I don't know them."
The first-year valedictorian was famous in many ways.
Originally, at the entrance ceremony, the top students from the Swordsmanship, Magic, and General Departments were supposed to represent the freshmen...
But this year's Swordsmanship valedictorian had pulled a no-show for that position.
On top of that, since they were intentionally staying out of sight, they were being called the "Phantom Valedictorian" in the Swordsmanship Club, which served as the department's main community.
What was even scarier was that the concept sounded exactly like one of the RoFan male lead candidates, but when I asked Boradori, she gave the shocking response: "What? That's creepy..." and said no such character existed in the original work.
Yet, everyone seemed to know this valedictorian that even Boradori didn't know.
I thought this was quite shocking, but then I realized that as an Imperial agent, there was no way Uncle Aeryun wouldn't know an incoming student.
However.
"Even the Fire Spammer knows, and I'm the only one who doesn't?"
Taylor is from the Empire, so fine.
But it hurt that I didn't know something even the Fire Spammer knew.
Especially since it was about the Swordsmanship Department!
"......Are you joking, or are you serious?"
"I think he's serious."
"This is why the Swordsmanship Department is..."
I expressed my hurt at being the only one left out, but all I got back were cold, dead stares.
"The name of the Swordsmanship valedictorian is Elian."
At the Fire Spammer's words, followed by a deep sigh, my head tilted naturally.
For some reason, the name sounded familiar...
"That's strange. The junior who came from our kingdom had the same name."
"I bet."
"Because it's the same person."
"Aha!"
Right. It was the same person.
No wonder it sounded familiar.
"The Swordsmanship Department got conquered by the Magic Department, didn't it?"
That thought lasted only a moment.
Reality hit me as the Fire Spammer delivered the final blow with a rare, mocking sneer.
"...Fuck."
...Fuck. The Swordsmanship Department really is doomed.