Chapter 70: Big and Beautiful (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 70: Big and Beautiful (4)
The difficult part of an undercover mission is that you have to balance your work with your daily life.
After all, I was at the Academy in the capacity of a student.
The high-ranking officials of the Academy generally knew my role and gave me some leeway, but even they insisted that I attend classes.
They claimed they couldn't prevent me from being held back a year if I didn't meet the minimum attendance requirements.
I didn't particularly care about graduating, but Prince Ellen had declared he couldn't leave me behind. The moment I failed a grade, my Academy life would be extended by another year, so I wanted to avoid that at all costs.
Because of that, I made sure to attend every class.
Well, aside from that, many of the Academy's lessons were actually quite interesting, unlike the classes in my previous life.
In that sense, I expected the lessons during this field trip—which also served as the overall evaluation for the second semester—to be quite entertaining.
"Adam. Let's go."
"...Again?"
"Yes. We can't afford to stop here."
However, once the lessons actually started, I found myself playing the role of a sandbag every single day.
I may be the royal sandbag with a long history and tradition, but I hadn't usually been beaten down this badly.
It seemed that after witnessing Daisy’s "God-tier plays of the deceased" highlight reel, Prince Ellen’s fighting spirit had been set ablaze.
Is this another RoFan heroine moment?
The tears are blurring my vision.
"Adam. Me too."
"...Do you not see the pitiful corpse collapsed right in front of you?"
Even as I lay sprawled on the ground after being demolished by Ellen, Asran approached me and asked to be the next opponent.
As expected of these stubborn RoFan male leads.
Seeing that display of power didn't make them afraid; instead, it seemed to make them want to become men worthy of standing by her side.
"If I don't do it now, I feel like I'll never be able to win."
"..."
Wait, is that it? Is this punk just jumping me because he thinks now is his best chance to win?
"You're dead."
"Huh?"
No matter how exhausted I was, I wasn't about to lose to the Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-minor Sword Emperor.
"..."
With that thought, I clashed swords with him. But after exchanging about three bouts, I felt a slight sense of crisis.
He was someone I was personally rooting for, but...
He's already at this level?
I wondered if this was the talent of a RoFan male lead candidate, but even considering that, it felt strange. So, I decided to probe a little.
"That's cheap."
At my muttered words and slight frown, Asran sheepishly averted his gaze.
"I... well, I did get a little help from the Sword Emperor! But only a little. I just wanted to, like the other students in the Swordsmanship Club..."
Even though I hadn't even accused him of anything, he cleared up my doubts by rambling out excuses.
So he's got the RoFan male lead buff and the Sword Emperor buff now.
If the Minor Sword Emperor got it, there's no telling when Prince Ellen will get his too.
"I've been waiting."
"Pardon?"
However, once all the lessons were over and I was dragging my exhausted body back to the dormitory, the Sword Emperor was standing right there.
"It's been a while. Let's have a private chat."
"I don't think I can today..."
"Life is always hard."
"..."
Caught in a sudden "buff time," I was dragged away like a cow to a slaughterhouse to be beaten once again.
"Why is my stamina actually increasing?"
About a week had passed since we began our life in the Rias Territory.
I was puzzled by the fact that despite spending nearly a week as a sandbag, my stamina wasn't draining; if anything, I felt more energetic than ever.
"Places called 'Demonic Realms' are naturally rich in mana, so stamina tends to recover quickly. On top of that, Rias has more dungeons than other Demonic Realms, and temporary dungeons pop up quite often, right? The mana emitted by those dungeon cores is so substantial that people say mana accumulates just by breathing."
Violet explained that someone like me, who already had a lot of mana stored up, would feel the effects even more intensely.
No wonder the Sword Emperor was dragging the students off for merciless training even after classes were over.
It was an educational method that utilized the unique characteristics of Rias.
"By the way, you're late in telling me again."
"Excuse me? I told you this as soon as we arrived in Rias."
"I didn't hear it."
"That's because we went straight to the Feline Tribe village. I heard it from a friend."
Violet, who had been scowling, suddenly widened her eyes in horror as if she had realized something.
"Wait... do you not have any friends?"
Gasp!
Gasp!
Violet is one thing, but why are you surprised, Bell?
"Just eat your food."
I sighed deeply as I stuffed a piece of meat into Bell's mouth.
"The atmosphere in the Swordsmanship Department isn't exactly conducive to sharing that kind of information."
"Why?"
I glanced over at the person sitting next to Violet.
Violet followed my gaze to Daisy, who was quietly eating her breakfast. She blinked, then wore an "Ah" expression of realization.
"Everyone's been really motivated lately."
Regardless of Daisy's image, seeing that massive, magnificent sword literally crush a dungeon was bound to have a huge impact on the swordsmanship students.
I doubt anyone thought, 'I want to be just like that,' but...
At the very least, it made them think, 'So that's what the pinnacle of the sword can do!'
Thanks to that, the Swordsmanship Department was following the Sword Emperor's hellish training without a single word of complaint.
"What about the Magic Department?"
"It's a similar situation, but the vibe is a bit different?"
From what I heard, rather than focusing on increasing their power, the Magic Department felt more like they were testing out spells they hadn't been able to use before in actual combat.
"Since mana recovers almost completely after a night's sleep even if you squeeze out every last drop, it's kind of like a 'if I don't fire it now, when will I?' vibe."
However, she added that it wouldn't always be like that.
"This is important, so they'll probably announce it soon, but..."
"Ah, are you talking about the Night of Magi?"
"What? You already knew about that?"
"Of course."
I had heard that it was the day the Evil God's fanatics would make their move.
Aeryun and the rest of the team were all waiting for that day.
"Then that makes things easy. Since the atmospheric mana will include magi, you should avoid using magic as much as possible that day. Don't absorb it, either."
As she said that, she poked Daisy in the side. Daisy jumped in surprise and looked at Violet.
"Got it?"
"O-Of course. I'm not an idiot!"
"..."
I felt a bit sorry for Daisy as she pouted and protested.
But I think she might need to be a bit of an idiot for this to work.
The Night of Magi.
A day when magi mixes into the atmosphere—a phenomenon that doesn't occur in normal regions.
Wild animals that absorb magi can deviate from their species' norms and undergo monsterization.
Species already classified as monsters become even stronger and more violent than usual.
Ordinary people who accidentally absorb magi risk internal injuries at best, or becoming a total wreck at worst.
Conversely, for dark mages, it's a day when they can wield even greater power, much like the monsters.
Because of this, humanity sealed off the regions where such anomalies occurred and designated them as Demonic Realms.
"And yet, they built a territory in such a forbidden place."
No matter how I thought about it, the Rias Territory was a crazy neighborhood.
"Hey, we managed it well."
"You managed it so well that dark mages managed to infiltrate?"
"Urgh!"
I'm certain the author just created this place because they needed a setting for Part 2.
Either that, or they didn't give the second son here much screen time during the Academy arc, so they rushed this setting to give him a buff since his abilities were mediocre.
The second son of the Border Count, Gerard.
He's outclassed by Prince Ellen and the Minor Sword Emperor in swordsmanship.
He's outclassed by that magic-spamming prince in magic.
He's outclassed by Prince Esid in power.
He's outclassed by the future merchant guild leader in wealth.
The reason he could play an active role in Part 2 was partly because the Rias Territory was his home, but also because he inherited the Rias bloodline so strongly that he wasn't affected by the Night of Magi.
Of course, Gerard himself didn't know this yet.
The future spoiler, Boradori, said she'd find out in Part 2, which meant it was a fact she wouldn't learn for at least another four years.
"But is it really okay to set the Night of Magi as our target?"
The Night of Magi is dangerous enough for ordinary people that it takes a "neither-here-nor-there" guy to make him look like a hero.
They say you can endure it the more you train, but...
It's literally just enduring.
It's the worst kind of day where the enemy gets stronger while we get weaker.
"What else can we do? Those fanatic bastards only show up on that day."
The enemies are the followers of the Evil God, who don't reveal themselves easily.
Unless we have bait to lure them out, we have no choice but to wait for them on the Night of Magi, despite the risks.
"You don't have any?"
"Do you?"
"I feel like you would."
What on earth makes these guys think I have bait to offer?
"Where would I get something like that?"
"Be honest. I'll understand."
"Yeah. If you confess now, I'll let you off with just three days in the dungeon."
"Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if you said right now, 'Actually, I'm an Apostle of the Evil God!'"
"No..."
These guys are treating me like an outright spy.
I can understand the Fire Spammer, but...
"Can I just leave?"
What are Uncle Aeryun and Taylor thinking?
"I'm sorry!"
"My mistake!"
The house these arsonists are trying to break into isn't mine; it's theirs.
The arsonists have already set fires a few times, yet they still haven't come to their senses.
"Are you confident about the Night of Magi?"
"Do you really have a way?"
At my words, a look of suspicion appeared in Uncle Aeryun's eyes.
It was understandable. A guy who just arrived in Rias claimed to know a solution that even the House of Rias hadn't been able to find.
"Who do you think I am?"
But who was I?
"The one who stole Prince Esid's first love."
"The one who stole Lord Gerard's first love."
"The one who... sniff... Arwen's first love..."
"..."
Taylor picked up the pass from Aeryun's joking remark, and just as the Fire Spammer was about to deliver the spike, she scored an own goal.
"Wait..."
As the situation suddenly shifted from WWE to UFC, Uncle Aeryun looked indignant.
"That's right."
"Huh?"
I coolly admitted it.
"The lover of the Saintess, Daisy. And since ancient times, the natural enemy of magi has been divine power."
It's not for nothing that the Rias Territory is one of the places in the Empire with the most followers of the Goddess.
The power of Rias's divine power has been proven to the point where numerous priests and the Holy Kingdom's knights reside there to prepare for any emergency!
"D-Don't tell me?"
Uncle Aeryun, being the first to catch my drift, stared at me in shock.
"Yes, that's right."
To stop the whining of a bothersome lover (fake).
To score points in advance so I can borrow the magic sword when it really matters!
And as a bonus, to catch the dark mages and fanatics hiding in Rias and score points with the Empire! To achieve this three-birds-with-one-stone goal!
"Operation Name: Late-Night Date."
"Cough!"
Except for the internal injuries sustained by one dating-novice, the most perfect plan was ready.
