Chapter 152: Eliminated (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 152: Eliminated (3)
Violet - I... Am Becoming the Villain!
I achieved the feat of taking down Asran, but Ellen got away.
Still, it wasn't all bad.
"It's the Swordsmanship Department!"
"Get them!"
Since I failed to capture the primary target, Ellen, the group's cohesion actually remained intact!
...The problem was...
"Violet. Is it really okay to go this far?"
The problem was that the chain of hatred created by the human known as Adam Smith was far more powerful than I had anticipated...
"...It'll be fine, right?"
It was a bit awkward that I had somehow become their leader, though!
Surely, things would work out!
As I was thinking that, Daisy lowered her voice and asked, "...I'm from the Swordsmanship Department too, you know?"
It seemed even the great Daisy found the Magic Department, now consumed by madness, to be terrifying.
"Shh. Keep it down."
I silenced Daisy before she could say anything unnecessary and scanned our surroundings.
Fortunately, the Magic Department students, currently obsessed with hunting swordsmen, didn't seem to have heard her.
"How did it even come to this...?"
It wasn't that there was no friction between the Swordsmanship and Magic Departments in the original work.
But it was never this bad.
When I thought about the effort the Dark Mage put into dividing the Academy in the original story...
To think he created this mess just by "clicking" fire and ice onto a sword.
He is terrifying, Adam Smith!
You've achieved a feat that even the world's greatest Dark Mages, demons, and the Demon King himself couldn't pull off!
"Is this right?"
At least I was the one holding the steering wheel. If this mob had truly run wild, it would have been a disaster.
However, one problem remained.
"...Wasn't the incident resolved?"
The issue regarding emotion amplification seemed to be settled.
Yet, the Magic Department's rage lingered.
They weren't completely losing their minds like before.
Some had left satisfied after capturing Asran, but if this sentiment wasn't perfectly resolved, the enemy might exploit it later.
Whether it was the author's intention or simply because they couldn't think of a way to defeat the RoFan male leads, many enemies in the mid-to-late stages of the Academy arc were mental-interference types, excluding a few villains like Silence.
With demons already popping up, it wouldn't be strange for those types to appear a few years early.
Therefore, to truly resolve this incident...
"With no lingering regrets, clean and simple!"
"Wh-what? What are you going to do?"
There was no choice but to bring it to a definitive end.
And for that!
"We have to fight."
A solution that anyone would recognize as the right answer.
"Something as big and grand as your sword!"
The time had come for a so-called Grand Showdown.
"Crazy bastard. Let's do it right now."
The eliminated students weren't the only ones watching the Swordsmanship Department being unilaterally hunted by the Magic Department.
The magic tools the eliminated students were watching were originally intended for the professors to monitor the situation, and the feed was simply shared with the dropouts for situational awareness.
Watching the group of mages led by Violet systematically take down the minority of swordsmen, the professors—from both the Swordsmanship and Magic Departments—were collectively speechless.
In that heavy silence.
The one who broke it was the Head Professor of the Swordsmanship Department, Sword Emperor Aren.
"Typical Magic Department. So cheap."
He spat out those words with total sincerity, his eyes narrowing as he shifted his gaze.
"...Ahem."
McGregor, the Head Professor of the Magic Department who sat where the Sword Emperor's gaze landed, couldn't offer a single word of rebuttal.
Even to him, the scenes playing out were a bit much.
"You have nothing to say for yourself either, do you?"
This is why mages are...
As the Sword Emperor clicked his tongue, McGregor, feeling stung, cleared his throat a few times and finally countered.
"Since ancient times, humanity has overcome crises by joining forces. An intelligent mage is one who..."
McGregor did his best to make excuses for his students, but...
"That's a very sophisticated way of describing ganging up on people in a massive mob."
He was instantly sunk by the Sword Emperor's blunt remark.
"...If they're so upset, the swordsmen should have gathered too!"
Even the great McGregor found it difficult to defend the massacre before his eyes!
"This is becoming problematic."
"...The Swordsmanship Department started it."
McGregor replied grumpily to the Sword Emperor's suddenly lowered tone.
But.
"No, what did our student do wrong? Did he incite the Swordsmanship students to attack a single person as a group? When that didn't work, did he use the Losers' Revival Match to gather even more students for an attack? Or did he claim to be an ally only to stab them in the back?"
As the Sword Emperor's words continued to needle him, McGregor's face turned red as he shouted.
"...Your side was the one who provoked us first!"
"That was a fair one-on-one duel. And provocation? He simply used his own ability to imbue his mana with the properties of fire and ice. Isn't that magic?"
"Guaaaah!"
"Hahahaha!"
McGregor screamed like a man whose internal organs were being twisted, but the Sword Emperor just laughed at the sight.
"Sword versus Magic. It's a debate that will never end until the world does."
"Of course. What would you Swordsmanship lot, who only care about blades, even know?"
"Now, now. We call it the Swordsmanship Department, but we teach spears, axes, bows, and even fists."
"Then why is it called the Swordsmanship Department and not the Martial Arts Department!"
"Because knights usually carry swords."
No matter how much the Academy preached equality, it couldn't completely escape the existing social systems.
As the premier educational institution, its students were the elite of the elite, meaning even the Academy couldn't easily seize total control over them.
Therefore, when a situation like this occurred...
The Academy usually had no way to intervene.
"So, there's only one way."
That is, if they were ordinary professors.
"Is there a way?"
McGregor couldn't think of a single solution, so he looked at the Sword Emperor with a face full of suspicion.
"We show them. We show each side the greatness of the other."
The Sword Emperor spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"How?"
"We beat the mages with swords, and we beat the swordsmen with magic. With overwhelming power, at that."
It was a truly barbaric proposal.
"Who will?"
"You and I. According to the exam regulations, it's not against the rules for professors to participate, is it?"
McGregor looked dumbfounded at the suggestion to use the special point system as an excuse to beat up the students.
However...
"...You crazy bastard."
Naturally...
"Let's do it right now."
He proved exactly why he, a mage, was so close with the Sword Emperor.
At first, I was conflicted.
To be honest, my grades were probably already at the top tier.
Did I really need to resurrect on the 5th day, give up this comfortable life, and go back to being targeted by Magic Spammers?
However, as time passed and the number of eliminated students grew...
"Isn't the Magic Department going too far?"
"Even if alliances are tacitly allowed in the exam, attacking as an entire department is cheating!"
"They've gathered regardless of their school year!"
More accurately, as the number of eliminated Swordsmanship students increased, my mind changed.
"There are even more of them than what we saw on the screen."
Asran—who no longer deserved the title of Sword Emperor and was now just "Sososo"—had to admit it this time.
"It's hard for students to grasp the full situation during the exam."
Since an entire island was used as the testing ground, not all points came from student-on-student battle royales.
Normally, you'd hunt wild animals native to Akensom or monsters released by the Academy in specific areas.
If that was too hard, gathering rare plants announced beforehand also counted toward the score.
Looking at the footage, it seemed that "Professor Raids," where professors were stationed in various corners as a special exam, were also a viable method.
Thus, students truly desperate for points chose to hunt and gather steadily rather than risk everything in combat with other students.
And among those who made that choice, the swordsmen were suddenly caught and hunted by Boradori and her Magic Department mob.
...It was a stroke of bad luck.
As Ellen fled, he naturally tried to head toward unpopulated areas.
In the process, the students who were naturally avoiding others were unluckily caught in the crossfire.
But once those eliminated students gathered and realized it was a Magic Department conspiracy targeting only the Swordsmanship Department...
Naturally, the swordsmen were furious. But since they were already eliminated, the only thing they could do was seek revenge on the 5th day, the final Losers' Revival Match.
And so.
Under the banner of "Down with the Magic Department," the swordsmen united.
And naturally, I was the one pushed forward as their leader.
"Why leave out the person who actually wants to do it...?"
"This is the difference between a true second-in-command and a wannabe third-in-command."
"Hey, I'm not a wannabe!"
Well, thinking back to the list of incoming students, Asran probably won't even make the top five in swordsmanship soon.
But that's a fact he'll find out naturally in the second semester.
There's no need to dampen his spirits with spoilers.
"What should I do?"
If Boradori had simply stabbed them in the back, I'd have a clear justification for revenge.
But there really was an emotion-amplifying magic circle, and both a Dark Mage and a demon were discovered.
So, there was no real need for revenge, but...
—It goes without saying that magic, which only the chosen can use, is far greater than the mere concept of swinging something, which even a three-year-old can do.
If they're going to provoke us like that, the story changes.
—It seems those who think swinging a stick is the truth of the world won't understand unless we prove it to them.
Boradori isn't stupid.
By revealing important parts of the original work while always hiding the small details, she was struggling to survive by maintaining her own value.
Therefore, there had to be a reason why she revealed herself like that and made so many enemies.
In my eyes, there was a very high probability... that it was a signal for help.
So, should I accept Boradori's distress signal and move?
"......"
Why should I?
Boradori isn't my boss. In fact, I'm the superior here.
If I do everything a subordinate asks, won't they get spoiled?
However, one thing was certain.
—Behold! My Flying Swords! If a sword catching fire makes it magic, then this is definitely swordsmanship too!
"Look at that!"
"To call simple telekinesis 'swordsmanship'!"
"I can't feel a single shred of the sword's will!"
I don't know who she learned it from, but she was doing a perfect job of getting under the swordsmen's skin.
"I guess I can't let it slide this time."
Seeing the swordsmen so thoroughly provoked, it seemed the day to decide the hierarchy between the Swordsmanship and Magic Departments had finally arrived.
As a man of Leon, I cannot avoid this fight!
"Down with the Magic Spammers!"
"Down with the Magic Spammers!"
I'll have to teach those Magic Spammers the true pride of a knight.