Chapter 219: Why is the Academy Being Breached? (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 219: Why is the Academy Being Breached? (3)
To be honest, I didn't have high hopes.
It was too much to blame Boradori, given how much had already changed.
The RoFan heroine wielding a magic sword and going on a rampage?
That could happen. With a magic sword like that, even a RoFan heroine’s grandfather could straighten his back and put up a fight.
Demons popping up ahead of schedule?
That could happen too.
Since the mid-bosses who were supposed to be milked for all they were worth had disappeared, someone had to fill the gap.
Besides, the Academy’s power level was rising so rapidly that the demons couldn't afford to just sit still. If they wanted to survive, they had no choice but to show up early.
But a RoFan male lead confessing and then getting retired?
That was something that should never happen in a RoFan.
In what kind of RoFan does a major character get confirmed for elimination so early in the story?
Thanks to that, the atmosphere in the main characters' club was completely shattered. The other male leads became even more cautious about the idea of confessing.
By now, an environment had been created where there wasn't a single trace of a romantic atmosphere among the main male leads, and the first-years—who were supposed to play the sub-lead roles—had faded into the background entirely.
I won't lie.
Ever since I realized this world’s genre was RoFan, the event that gave me the biggest shock wasn't anything else—it was that Magic Spammer’s confession.
The shock he delivered was even greater than the first time I laid eyes on a magic sword.
Because such a major incident had occurred recently, I could easily overlook Boradori’s usual "I don't know" response.
As for information, well, the Empire would have to find it themselves.
Of course, they might hide truly vital information from a foreigner... but no matter how much the Empire looks after me, they don't help me just for the sake of it.
If they want my help, they have to share things in return.
As long as I was standing on Imperial soil, I needed the Empire's information.
And the Empire, though unintentionally, needed the help of someone in my unique position.
We were using each other.
Of course, since I currently held the overwhelming upper hand, I was making sure to rake in plenty of side benefits.
So, Boradori’s role in this twisted future was...
"First, according to what the Academy Director said..."
"Hmm..."
To take his knowledge of the original work—the future—and combine it with his expertise as an even bigger web novel and webtoon fanatic than me.
Based on the given information, he should be able to construct a reasonable hypothesis.
...No, he had to. If only to defend his annual salary.
"First of all, I don't think it's a coincidence."
"I figured as much, right?"
"Probably. A power that repels Divine Power—which is meant to purify evil—can't just be created by chance. That's a unique characteristic of Divine Power that even most demons can't do anything about."
It felt like a cheat code, but it was likely all for the sake of balance.
In the original work, Daisy was a typical, traditional Saintess with a bit of magical talent.
A back-line healer who provided buffs and heals.
Someone who couldn't exert any real power if an enemy got close—a version of Daisy that would be unimaginable now.
That was likely why Divine Power was given such absolute attributes: to prevent the RoFan heroine from being a completely passive, helpless existence.
"So... we have to assume they mixed in a successful specimen... and usually in novels, once something like that appears, it starts showing up naturally later on."
"So it'll start appearing as if it's the norm from now on?"
"Exactly. But it won't be invincible. It looks like they used sorcery rather than dark magic. It probably only has that much power because they placed a specific restriction on it to counter Divine Power."
Just as Boradori’s power increased the longer she refrained from using sorcery, she claimed they must have placed some kind of restriction on the Orc.
"For example, maybe it takes double damage from techniques that aren't Divine Power."
"For something like that, swords and magic didn't seem to work very well on it."
"They probably blocked that through modification surgery."
"Then it's a cheat."
"Usually, those things require a lifespan as the price. They're literally disposable, so the efficiency is terrible."
"Is that why they used Orcs?"
"Most likely. They breed fast, so they're easy to replace."
"Then there's no problem, is there?"
"No. Even in a fantasy world, you have to follow the basic laws."
That was an unexpected comment.
"In a RoFan?"
"Even in a RoFan, things are just mentally unstable. They still follow the basics."
"Good grief."
So they were following them.
It was a truly surprising statement, but a rational explanation followed immediately.
"How would you feel if the Kingdom cut your salary for no reason?"
"I'd be pissed."
"Exactly. That's how the world works."
It was a statement that made no sense, yet Boradori spoke with a confident smile.
"Even in a medieval fantasy, you can't escape the logic of capitalism."
And that was even truer for a dark mage living in the shadows.
It was a surprisingly rational opinion, coming from Boradori.
The logic was simple.
The Orc in the dungeon had not only been modified by a dark mage but had also undergone sorcerous treatment.
That meant either a dark mage had infiltrated the dungeon to modify the Orc, or a pre-modified Orc had been brought in from the outside.
And Boradori was certain.
"They definitely brought it in from the outside."
No matter how much dark mages were icons of effort and sincerity, they couldn't have.
The Academy dungeon was equipped with all sorts of countermeasures against dark mages. There was no way they could have performed modifications and sorcery inside the dungeon while avoiding the eyes of the students, especially during exam period when the place was crawling with them.
Furthermore...
"Sorcery isn't child's play."
Especially when it involved something related to Divine Power, which could be called the power of a god.
No matter how much sorcery was a special power that twisted the laws of the world, he claimed it couldn't be engraved so easily.
"If that were possible, they'd be the undisputed King of Sorcery."
It sounded like a line that might come from some fraud-maker who goes around spreading fingers, but fortunately, he said no such thing existed here.
"It would take an enormous amount of time. And the cost would be astronomical."
According to Boradori, she hadn't sacrificed her time—which had terrible efficiency—for nothing.
"Because my family... has no money..."
He said that if he had known the salary he'd receive from Leon when he first learned sorcery, he never would have paid such a price.
Because of this, the impoverished Boradori knew the habits of impoverished dark mages.
"It's definitely a sponsorship."
Just as he received a salary from Leon, the dark mages who plotted this must have received sponsorship from someone.
And naturally, the demons—who were even poorer than dark mages, or rather, were basically living as primitives—couldn't have provided the funds.
"It's definitely an Imperial noble."
Someone with vast wealth, a grudge against the Academy or the noble students attending it, and the ability to tamper with the monsters supplied to the Academy. Even in an Empire with a massive landmass and countless noble houses, there couldn't be many such people.
"There are about three candidates..."
Even so, the fact that three candidates popped up—was that just the Empire for you?
According to Uncle Aeryun, there was a power struggle within the Imperial family for the succession, so the Imperial court surprisingly couldn't pay much attention to the border regions.
"Then what do we do?"
"What do you mean, 'what do we do'?"
He said that even if you combined all three, they couldn't compare to Rias, but they were still houses guarding the Empire's borders.
Two families guarded the so-called Polar Regions, places where it was difficult for humans to live. One was a small territory, but it was a house that bordered another country.
Because they faced periodic monster waves and nomad attacks, they managed well-trained troops. Usually, these were places even the Imperial family would be reluctant to touch...
"If we crack all three open, something's bound to come out."
It seemed the Imperial family had also reached the end of their patience.
As soon as suspicious locations were identified, they immediately dispatched experts.
And not just any experts.
"The Tax Management Bureau of the Ministry of Finance?"
They sent agents from the Tax Management Bureau, whom nobles feared more than any order of knights.
"For now, they'll dig through everything under the pretext of tax evasion."
Among them were likely Imperial intelligence agents, but the core group was said to be actual people from the Tax Management Bureau.
The grim reapers of the nobility, who perceived everything through numbers.
They tracked laundered funds and located missing capital.
And as a result of tracking the funds that had been processed as blanks...
They found reasonable tax evasion and reasonable bribery.
And then.
"It is House Maltes."
And for the family with the inexplicable gap in their funds...
"It's a holy war!"
They sent the lunatics that even the Empire found hard to restrain.
The Heresy Inquisitors.
In this field, they were experts and madmen with a long history and tradition.
Within just one week of leaving the Academy, they extracted a confession from House Maltes.
"They said they supported the dark mages in exchange for killing Gerard of House Rias."
"Why?"
"It seems they heard rumors that House Rias was shaken quite a bit by dark mages during the Rias field trip last year."
House Rias also managed a Polar Region where it was difficult for humans to live, just like Maltes.
But their status was worlds apart.
Rias was a strategic stronghold for the Empire, and despite being in the Polar Regions, it possessed a fair amount of resource-rich territory.
Since they also got along quite well with the nearby heterogeneous species, it must have looked like Rias was relatively easy to manage despite being in the same Polar Region.
"So, they took a shot."
The idea was that Rias had been shaken by the last field trip.
Thus, Maltes attempted a truly 'noble' plan to further destabilize and confuse Rias so they could slowly swallow up their territory.
"But dark mages? That's crossing the line."
It would have been a perfect crime if they hadn't been caught, but the moment they were, it was total ruin.
It wasn't just anything; evidence of collusion and support for dark mages had been found.
On top of that, they had targeted a RoFan male lead.
The mere fact that Prince Esid was beside him meant the incident could be tied directly to treason.
No matter how important a Border Count's position was, treason involving dark mages was a different story.
And even if the Imperial family had stayed quiet, there was no way the Heresy Inquisitors—who had a feast laid out before them—would let it slide.
And so, the family named Maltes vanished.
In the process, two other families connected to the dark mages were discovered and met their end alongside Maltes.
And the system known as the Empire had more than enough strength to fill that void effortlessly.
New families rose to replace the fallen ones.
The border region managed by Maltes, which couldn't be easily replaced, was taken over by a temporary administrator sent by the Imperial family, with support from the neighboring Rias territory.
"Wow, they're actually competent when they try."
"They usually keep things tidy. It's just that this time, it ended exceptionally smoothly."
With that, one of the dark mages' routes into the Academy was completely eradicated.
They even captured five dark mages in the process, which was quite a significant achievement.
"The problem is that we couldn't find the ones who enhanced the Orcs."
To be precise, they caught the ones who performed the physical enhancements, but they didn't find the one who used the sorcery.
Usually, in these cases, the one who escaped would return with upgraded sorcery and send an even more powerful enemy.
"Still, since their foundation has been destroyed, we should be able to get through these final exams peacefully."
Uncle Aeryun made a bold declaration that was practically dripping with flags.
"..."
And naturally, the Academy was breached again.
"This is getting really intense..."
And at the highest level in history, at that.
