Chapter 220: Why is the Academy Being Breached? (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 220: Why is the Academy Being Breached? (4)
Incidents always seem to break out around the same time, yet there are certain events the Academy simply cannot scrap.
The most prominent examples are the Empire’s Founding Day festival and the regular examination periods—held twice in the first semester and twice in the second.
The Academy is a place of learning, and to prove that learning has occurred, student evaluations are essential. While grades could be based on daily performance or class participation, the Academy can’t give up on exams because some students only show their true potential under the pressure of a testing period.
Naturally, the Academy becomes a den of tension whenever exams roll around.
Professors lock themselves away to draft questions.
Students dive into desperate last-minute cramming to squeeze out every possible point.
And the agents work tirelessly to detect and intercept the "Annual Academy Raid" before it can even begin.
Uncle Aeryun had proudly declared on behalf of the Empire that this year, the fruits of those efforts would shine brighter than ever. To be fair, he did have a point.
"First of all, we’ve properly dealt with the warlocks."
"You didn't catch the main body, though."
"We’re tracking it as we speak. We’ll pull them out by the roots this time."
Usually, when someone says that, they fail to even prune the branches, let alone pull the roots. I kept that thought to myself.
"Furthermore, we have completely wiped out a subversive group that was showing suspicious movement within the Academy Merchants' Association."
"What were they after?"
"A faction claiming we should abolish the class system and transition the Empire from a monarchy to a republic."
"Why does that even exist here?"
"Isn't that fairly normal?"
"...Please don't let those ideas export to other countries."
No matter how much the world needs to fill out a RoFan plotline, this Empire really has all sorts of nonsense going on. I just hope they keep it within the borders. Don't let it leak overseas.
"To ensure that, you understand the Empire mustn't fall, right?"
One way or another, we need this giant trash heap called the Empire to keep all the weirdos in one place. It was a bit much hearing that from Uncle Aeryun, an Imperial agent, but it just showed how desperate he was.
His next words made the Empire’s urgency even clearer.
"And then..."
"...There's more?"
"About three more groups, actually."
I honestly wondered why the Empire hadn't collapsed yet. The stories he told were enough to justify such a doubt.
And yet, despite all the efforts of the Empire and the Academy to preemptively block every threat...
"...Again?"
On the day of the exam, everything vanished behind a massive explosion.
Did they think the previous exams were breached because they were too large-scale, or did they just run out of ideas?
Given everything that’s happened, it could be both. Regardless, this Academy exam was being conducted in the most standard fashion possible.
Namely...
"This is rigged..."
"If it's Asran, I can actually get serious!"
"Please don't..."
A 1:1 tournament between students.
And unfortunately for Asran, who had the misfortune of facing Prince Ellen in the first round, he had already entered Sososo mode. Well, if my first opponent was a Sword Master, I’d probably lose all my energy too.
But hey, at least it wasn't me.
I wasn't the only one who felt that way; the students of the Swordsmanship Department watched the match between Prince Ellen and Sososo as if it were a festival.
"Dammit..."
Our Sososo fought desperately, in the literal sense of the word, but suffered a crushing defeat.
"Classic Sososo."
"At this point, we should call him Sosososo."
"Why does the name keep getting longer...?"
"To be fair, the matchup was terrible."
"Ah, true. Asran. He was just a top-tier student in the Swordsmanship Department..."
"That's still high, isn't it?"
"But he lost, didn't he?"
"Ah. Indeed. Asran. You are at least on my level. Perhaps even more skilled."
Leaving the early-eliminated Asran behind, the exams for several other students proceeded. And then, naturally...
"It's Daisy's turn."
"That's not the sword she usually uses."
"Has the Academy finally implemented some normalization...?"
"That Holy Sword was way too broken."
Daisy stepped onto the stage without her Magic Sword. To be honest, I had intended to give it back if she wanted to use it for the exam. I’d even asked her beforehand, but surprisingly, Daisy had declined.
She said she wanted to accurately evaluate her own skills. Seeing her unexpectedly confident expression, it seemed she’d gained quite a bit of self-assurance in her swordsmanship lately.
"Hmm..."
Even her opponent was a good match. It was a guy I occasionally saw at the training grounds—neither exceptionally strong nor weak, a typical representative of the middle tier.
The match began, and just as I was watching Daisy take the lead early on and cleanly take down her opponent without losing momentum...
Thump!
The earth shook with a heavy roar.
Normally, people would have panicked, but...
"...Again?"
Not even the extras, let alone the main cast, were surprised. It was a raid they were so accustomed to that they simply frowned and moved to their designated positions.
Everyone grabbed their weapons and formed groups around the professors. The professors, in turn, contacted the Academy to assess the situation.
"Is that so? Understood. For now, I will lead the students to safety—"
The professor was handling things perfectly, trying to lead the students away... but he made one fatal mistake.
He was in charge of a group containing the RoFan heroine and several members of the RoFan party.
Thus, while moving toward safety, they "coincidentally" ran into the attackers who had breached the Academy.
And "coincidentally," there was even a member of the Demon Tribe among them.
The professor threw himself forward to protect the students, but before long, he was being pushed back. The one who leaped out to take his place was...
"Ugh, seriously..."
Our Sword Master, Ellen.
Since I had a duty to act as a guard, it would have been right for me to follow Ellen. However, to Ellen, who was already a Sword Master, mediocre help was more of a burden than an asset.
So, before jumping in, assessing the situation was the priority.
First, based on the sounds and mana fluctuations... the entire Academy seemed to be under attack, with no specific focal point.
It was a pity for Uncle Aeryun and the Imperial agents who had worked their asses off to prevent this, but an incident of this scale wouldn't be settled easily.
And the reason was clear.
"...That's a main-class one."
I had spotted another "horned one" amidst the demons fighting Ellen.
Even if this was the center of the incident where the RoFan heroine was located, two demons was a lot. Usually, in these situations, the Magic Department's RoFan party would get their fair share of demons too, which meant at least three demons had appeared in total.
"What a shitshow."
I unsheathed my sword and ran toward the newly appeared demon.
I wasn't the only one who noticed; Bell and Asran also charged forward.
This left the RoFan heroine alone and potentially vulnerable to attack... but the two High Elves, who were currently laying low but were top-tier combatants once they moved, were there. Plus, the Ancestor was there too, even if his stock had recently dropped below Sososo's. They should be able to hold out somehow.
"Die."
I started by slashing the demon's back with my Magic Sword.
To prepare for any matchmaking bad luck like Asran's, I had woken up early to get the Magic Sword fully charged by Delmoa...
"What the hell is this...?"
Surprisingly, the Magic Sword didn't seem to deal any damage to the demon.
"Aaaah! What is this! It feels gross!"
Something wriggled up Bell's arm after she threw a punch at the demon. It wasn't quite darkness... it was something lighter, yet familiar.
"Is it a shadow?"
Was there such a thing as a Shadow Demon?
With that thought, I quickly pulled out some Holy Water and splashed it on Bell. The shadow that was trying to envelop her recoiled instantly.
"Kkiang!"
Instead, a soaking wet Bell let out a yelp. Realizing it was better than being eaten by a demon, she scowled and shook the Holy Water out of her hair.
"Hey, why are you shaking it off?"
"I'm soaking!"
"You need the Holy Water to actually land a hit. What are you going to do if you shake it all off?"
"I-is that so?"
I tossed a bottle of Holy Water to the blank-faced Bell.
"Hey, what about me!"
Asran, who was busy hacking away at shadows on his own, shouted for some too. I couldn't help but wonder.
"Didn't Daisy give you any?"
"No!"
Wow. She really was keeping him at arm's length. Even if they were just friends, you'd think she'd give him some Holy Water since they keep running into weirdos.
I stepped in to provide some cover and handed Asran a bottle as well. If the opponent is a demon, those of us who aren't Sword Masters have to fight with Holy Water at the very least.
"Why do you have so much Holy Water...?"
"If you're jealous, go become the Saintess's lover."
"......She's a fake."
"Then date the fake one."
"...No hero is brave enough to step up after seeing what happened to Arwen."
Is that so? From my perspective, Arwen's intelligence seemed to be rising steadily after he got dumped.
But looking at Asran, it didn't seem like Daisy would be getting any confessions for a while.
...Ellen needs to confess soon and get his head straight too.
Things were getting annoying, but not as annoying as the demon in front of us. Why was this bastard getting bigger?
"Human! Do something about this!"
Bell screamed in terror as the thin shadow began to grow in size, threatening to swallow the surroundings.
Honestly, it looked difficult for just the three of us to take it down, but...
"They all ran."
The professor seemed to have already fled elsewhere with the other students. I guess I should take it as a sign that he trusts us.
"Can't be helped."
"Do you have a plan?"
"In times like these..."
It's the Magic Sword.
I told Bell and Asran to buy me a moment, then pulled a large amount of Holy Water from my subspace and poured it over the Magic Sword.
—Kieeeeeeeek!
the moment the Holy Water hit the blade, the Magic Sword let out a shriek.
At the same time, I charged toward the Shadow Demon that was blocking Bell and Asran, holding the brilliantly glowing Magic Sword. The blade pierced through the demon without resistance and began to suck in its power.
"......!"
Despite being the sword used by the future Demon King, it was strangely good at absorbing mana and demonic power. The shadow pierced by the sword writhed as if screaming.
A tug-of-war ensued as the demon tried to maintain its form and regain control over the pierced shadow. Then...
"...Huh?"
Suddenly, the opponent let go of the pulling force.
Before I could process what was happening, the demon used the momentum of my own pull to lunge toward me.
The world turned black for a split second. I swung my sword to slash through the shadow, and then...
"What the hell is this...?"
The shadow fell away as if it had exhausted all its strength.
But in that brief moment, God knows what it had done. I was no longer standing where I had been.
Fortunately, looking at the surrounding buildings, I was still within the Academy... but there had to be a reason for such a seamless, short-range teleportation.
"Welcome, Swordsman."
As if to prove that reason, a voice as heavy as steel reached my ears. I turned naturally toward the sound and was left speechless.
"......"
A monstrous creature with swords for limbs was staring at me, its eye—a jewel-like orb—glowing brightly.
The grotesque creature looked at me and spoke.
"I am of the Sword Demon Clan. I have come here to reclaim the King's Sword."
As it spoke, it waved its hand, and the limb attached to the sword transformed into a blade.
It was a truly bizarre sight, difficult to put into words.
"Therefore, I shall kill you."
The trajectory of the sword it swung was far more bizarre than its appearance.