Opening Day (3)
Ludwig stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his back turned to me as he spoke.
“Then why don’t you start explaining? What exactly is going on here?”
“······.”
It looked like I’d been caught. Still, I figured I might as well try to play dumb.
“I’m not sure myself, Professor. Weren’t you the one who stopped it?”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Is that so? Then who on earth······.”
“You know better than anyone who did it, don’t you? Schluss Heinkel.”
“What are you—”
“I’ve seen countless mages suffer from mana exhaustion over the years. Don’t think you can fool my eyes.”
Ludwig clicked his tongue as he stared at my trembling legs. Having served in the Arcane Artillery Division during the height of the war, he must have witnessed and experienced mana exhaustion to the point of nausea. Trying to deceive Ludwig about anything magic-related had been a mistake from the start.
There was no choice now but to charge straight ahead.
“I see. As expected of the head professor. In that case, how about we make a deal?”
“A deal? You’re suggesting we make a deal right now?”
Ludwig’s face twisted. His expression practically screamed, You?
“Yes. Let’s keep the fact that I was the one who suppressed the explosion between the two of us. In exchange, I’ll give you full credit for stopping it.”
“······.”
The students already believed Ludwig had stopped the explosion. If neither I nor Ludwig said anything, it would become the truth. As for Iris… she knew, but given her personality, she wasn’t likely to go around blabbing about it.
“Why would you refuse to become a hero?”
“It doesn’t seem like the right time to draw attention yet.”
I was already receiving plenty of attention, but it was nothing more than curiosity. The moment people learned I possessed mana on the level of a Ma-in, that curiosity would instantly turn into hostility. The Kingdom’s Intelligence Bureau or noble families might see me as a threat and try to eliminate me. It wouldn’t be far-fetched at all. I might even face daily terrorist attacks like the poisoning incident last time.
So until I grew strong enough, it was better to stay out of the spotlight. The ideal scenario was to be seen as nothing more than a commoner who got lucky and entered as valedictorian—utterly unremarkable.
“So you’re saying no?”
“······.”
Of course, I didn’t expect Ludwig to accommodate me for free. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have coveted credit for preventing a mass casualty event. But right now, he was taking the promotion exam for his mage rank. Having failed twice already and now on his third attempt, he had to be quite desperate. If it became known that he had stopped this incident, it would be a significant plus on his exam. Refusing would be difficult.
“Fine. I accept the deal.”
I took the hand Ludwig extended. His brow was deeply furrowed; he looked extremely displeased. Well, what are you going to do about it?
I barely managed to stand on my still-trembling legs. It seemed my mana had recovered enough that I could walk now, at least.
“Then I’ll be on my way, Professor.”
“Schluss Heinkel.”
“Don’t worry, Professor. I swear I won’t go around later claiming I stopped it and tarnish your reputation.”
“Schluss Heinkel.”
“If you’re that worried, should I make a magical oath?”
“Don’t make me say it three times.”
“······Yes. What is it?”
I had forgotten the setting that repeating the same words three times from Ludwig meant trouble was coming.
“There are no eternal secrets. You understand that, don’t you?”
“······?”
“When everything you’ve hidden is eventually revealed, you will have to bear the full aftermath alone.”
“······.”
“That’s all. If you understand, you may leave.”
“Yes.”
I staggered up the stairs and left the lecture hall, leaving Ludwig standing there with his hands still clasped behind his back.
No eternal secrets, huh…
Was this really the time to worry about me? If the truth came out, Ludwig would be the one accused of stealing a student’s achievement. Or was he prepared for that and still chose to help me…? No way.
I had no memory of setting Ludwig up as such a devoted educator. He probably had some other scheme in mind.
I shook my head and walked down the corridor until I stepped outside the building. I felt like I was forgetting something. What was it again?
“Ah.”
Combat Magic Studies. The first class was this afternoon. I had been so focused on suppressing the exploding artifact that I’d completely forgotten.
My current mana level was…
5
I was fucked.
***
Lichtenburg Mansion.
After the commotion at the Imperial Academy, Erika returned home and immediately went to Yulia’s room.
“Haaaa… Listen to this, Yulia. Your sister almost died today.”
“On the very first day of the semester?”
Erika let out a deep sigh and collapsed onto the bed. She tried her hardest to hold back the tears when she felt Yulia’s leg beneath the blanket—it seemed even thinner than before. The best way to hold back tears was to act cheerful.
“There was an exploding artifact hidden among the mana stones. The whole academy is in an uproar right now trying to find the culprit.”
“Oh my. You weren’t hurt, were you, Sister?”
“Mm, I’m fine.”
When Yulia grabbed her hand, Erika smiled brightly and answered. In truth, her tailbone still throbbed a little from when she fell off the platform, but she decided not to mention it. It was too embarrassing.
“But guess what? I saw something absolutely ridiculous in the middle of all that.”
“What? What was it?”
“You know Iris, right? Back when… Ah.”
Erika caught herself and shut her mouth. Back when. That was when Yulia could still walk.
“Yes. I saw her when I attended the magic academy. She was a wonderful person… I heard she was recently appointed as the Saintess?”
“Mm…”
But she couldn’t look gloomy in front of Yulia, who spoke so casually. Swallowing the sob that threatened to burst out, Erika armed herself with another smile.
“Iris and… Oh, you’ve heard of Schluss too, right? Schluss Heinkel. The commoner valedictorian everyone’s talking about.”
“Schluss…”
At the name Schluss Heinkel, Yulia’s eyes widened. But by the time Erika turned back to look at her, Yulia’s expression had returned to normal.
“I thought they were complete strangers, but in the middle of that chaos they suddenly hugged each other?”
“Maybe he caught her when she was about to fall. Something like that.”
“No, no. I thought so too at first and kept watching, but they stayed like that for dozens of seconds! She had her face buried in his chest!”
“······.”
For the briefest instant, Yulia’s expression twisted. But Erika, caught up in her excited storytelling, didn’t notice at all.
“Ha… Haha… Well, things like that happen, I suppose. People say it’s possible to fall in love at first sight, right?”
“Iris? With a commoner? No way. That’s ridiculous.”
Erika waved her hands dismissively, but she fell into thought. The more she considered it, the more plausible it sounded. Iris had always lived her life surrounded by people who worshipped her as the Saintess. What if a weary Iris had fallen for a rude commoner who looked down on her and spoke without manners…?
“Uwaaaah! That can’t happen!”
“What exactly can’t happen…?”
Just imagining it was horrifying. Her one and only friend falling in love with some commoner. Besides, Schluss was a worthless scumbag who had sold his lifespan to a demon.
“No. It can’t be. I must be misunderstanding. It has to be that.”
“If you’re that curious, why not ask her directly?”
“What? No way. How could I ask something like that? What if I’m wrong? It would be so awkward.”
Watching Erika rattle on like a machine gun, Yulia gave a faint smile. Since she never left her room, she was simply grateful that Erika served as her window to the world.
“So what happened to that exploding artifact?”
“Oh, that. It did explode, but thankfully Head Professor Ludwig stopped it.”
“Professor Ludwig? How?”
“The artifact had absorbed a whole cartload of mana stones before it exploded, but he held it back with psychokinesis. I was genuinely shocked. I didn’t know you could stop an explosion that big with psychokinesis. It probably required around thirty thousand mana, right? As expected of the Imperial Academy’s head professor.”
“······.”
After a moment of mental calculation, Yulia tilted her head.
You’re wrong, Erika. It’s not thirty thousand—it’s a hundred thousand. And…
Something felt off. A hundred thousand mana was far beyond what any ordinary human could possess.
Professor Ludwig doesn’t have the ability to stop something like that.
And somehow, Yulia knew that the amount of mana Ludwig possessed was far below that level, even though she had never met him.
***
“God fucking damn it—”
The curse slipped out the moment I looked at the notice board.
The search of the Combat Magic Studies lecture hall has been completed. As there is no longer any concern of terrorism, today’s Combat Magic Studies class will proceed as scheduled.
They were really going to hold the class. Even though just a few hours ago the entire building had nearly been blown to pieces in what would have been the greatest terrorist attack in history.
Was this courage or just plain stupidity…?
“Haa…”
There was one hour left until class started. I sighed and headed toward the lecture hall. I really hated my past self for making the campus unnecessarily large. Why did it take thirty minutes to walk from one side of campus to the other?
*
“Hey! Our valedictorian’s here!”
“······.”
It happened before I even entered the lecture hall. Ainz waved at me with a bright smile. Even though I had publicly humiliated him in front of everyone on the entrance ceremony day. Was this because of the setting where once he took a liking to someone, he would endlessly wag his tail…? Settings really were terrifying.
“Let’s go in. Want me to introduce you to my friends?”
Ainz naturally tried to put his arm around my shoulder but stopped. He must have remembered when I told him to keep his hands off last time.
As I entered the lecture hall with Ainz, familiar gazes poured over me. Contempt. Dismissal. Suspicion. Pretty much the same reactions I had gotten that morning in the Elemental Magic Studies lecture hall.
“No.”
“Huh? You don’t want to?”
Ainz’s friends? I vaguely remembered scribbling a line or two about them. I probably described them as worthless trash—untalented but full of vanity. There was no point remembering their names. It would be better to keep my distance; that way, I’d have a higher chance of making a good impression on the important named characters later.
But the sight of Ainz looking flustered was so funny that I decided to throw him a small carrot.
“Yeah. I’m fine just knowing you.”
“Haha, really? Wow. So you finally recognize my true worth? Well, unlike those mediocre nobles who only have their family names to brag about—”
This guy’s problem was that his self-praise never ended. In a good way, it was confidence. In a bad way, it was arrogance. In the original story, this habit only got fixed after the protagonist beat the crap out of him. How should I fix it here…? There would definitely come a day when Ainz caused an accident. When that time came, I’d grab him and beat some sense into him. If he still didn’t get much stronger after that, I’d just cut him loose.
I turned my gaze away from the still-chattering Ainz. That was when I spotted a girl with green hair who somehow felt familiar.
Even without using Inquiry, I immediately knew who she was.
Edengard Tria von dem Schulzenburg. Or Trie, as she was called. She was a mage—or rather, a knight. She had barely scraped into the Imperial Academy by claiming she wanted to become a mage, but in reality she possessed overwhelming talent as a knight. In the original story, she became the Imperial First Sword and stood by the protagonist’s side as a reliable blade. She was an essential named character that absolutely could not be missed if I wanted to reach the ending.
“Everyone, attention.”
At that moment, a burly man walked out from the corner of the lecture hall carrying what looked like a steel club. It was Professor Sergei. He tapped the club against his shoulder and yawned.
“Since it’s the first class, I assume everyone’s here? We’ll skip attendance and get started right away.”
“······.”
How sloppy. Though that was exactly what you’d expect from the straightforward and tough Sergei. In the original story, the first day only covered the terrorist attack in the Elemental Magic Studies lecture hall, so not a single line was written about the Combat Magic Studies class. Even I, the author, had no idea what today’s lesson would be.
Still, since it was the first day and he wasn’t even taking attendance, it probably wouldn’t be anything too important. Maybe just an orientation.
“Today we’ll be testing your basic combat abilities.”
Rumble…
Sergei grinned as he lightly tapped the steel pipe against the ground. A vibration strong enough to shake the earth rippled out, and something rose from the floor.
…Now I finally understood why this lecture hall had a flat floor.
“It’s a training golem. A kind assistant that will help with your test.”
A stone doll—no, a doll made entirely of stone—stood there, easily as tall as a two-story building. In short, we were supposed to fight that thing.
50
I was seriously fucked.
Destroy the training golem.
Difficulty: ★★★★☆
Reward: 4 Shop Coins
And just to screw with me even more, a quest popped up right in front of my eyes.