In a Place Where Dropping Out Is Impossible
A voice rang through his head.
Yohan snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of that voice.
“Ah, this must be your first time seeing this place.”
It was a time he had never returned to even once. From Zeno’s perspective, background explanation was necessary.
Yohan rose from his seat and lightly cleared the desk. From among the mountain of stacked books, he pulled out several sheets of paper and began writing down everything he remembered.
“This is White Palace Academy. My current age is…”
He took out a few more books and set them on the desk. After skimming their titles, Yohan spoke calmly.
“Second-year. Twenty-one years old.”
“Yes, it is. Though I don’t know why it had to be this particular period.”
At the very least, it should have been a year earlier.
Right now, they were roughly six months away from the Giants’ first appearance. There wasn’t nearly enough time to prepare a response alongside the rest of humanity.
“Yes, there’s none to spare.”
That was only natural. In the previous loops, the academy had been almost irrelevant.
“There is nothing about the Giants.”
Yohan answered firmly.
White Palace Academy.
The empire’s foremost educational institution.
It offered equal education to anyone with talent, regardless of social status, and was therefore the object of envy for countless people.
On the surface, at least.
In truth…
“…it’s no different from hell.”
Arrogant scholars puffed up by their knowledge. Nobles who looked down on commoners simply for being commoners.
Far from the equality it claimed to represent, the place was utterly devoid of it—a nest of viciously selfish individuals.
In essence, it was the heart of a new class-based society.
“When the Giants first appeared, the academy showed no more interest than anywhere else.”
Indifference.
Utter, absolute indifference.
“Information about the Giants was strictly controlled inside the academy. Instead, they simply locked the gates.”
Sealing the place so no one could enter—and no one could leave.
“Only when the Giants finally turned their eyes toward the academy did they begin to respond.”
Of course, it could hardly be called a proper response.
“The controlled information left them with almost no samples, and there was zero cooperation.”
Against an academy like that, victory for the Giants was effortless.
Three days.
That was how long it took for White Palace Academy to fall into the Giants’ hands.
“Yes. In a way, it was inevitable.”
No cooperation. People trying to flee. Others still drunk on their own power.
The worst possible situations unfolded one after another. Without mounting any meaningful resistance, they were all slaughtered.
“Inside the academy. Do you remember the first time you saw me?”
He couldn’t see. He couldn’t speak. Drenched in someone else’s blood, he had scratched letters into the floor, begging.
Please. Help me.
It was the moment Zeno had first encountered Yohan.
“At the time, I wasn’t in any condition to fight. Other people had trapped me underground, and I couldn’t get out.”
The door had been locked from the outside. There was no way to leave on his own.
If the last person who had come to see him hadn’t told him what was happening beyond those walls, he never would have known the details.
Yohan pulled himself from his thoughts at Zeno’s brief reply. He turned his head toward the window and saw the sun beginning to rise.
A long silence stretched between them.
After what felt like an eternity, Zeno was the one who broke it.
“The Saint is currently enrolled here. She’s a first-year.”
However.
“As you know, she hasn’t undergone awakening yet. I don’t recall ever hearing that she had awakened before, either.”
They had only discovered the Saint after dozens of loops alongside Zeno. It had been a miracle born of pure coincidence.
“The Archmage… is probably living as a slave somewhere.”
He, too, had only been found after Yohan teamed up with Zeno.
“Yes, most likely.”
Yohan gave a hollow smile.
Perhaps it would be better to simply move on to the next loop. It was a shame he wouldn’t be able to gather any information, but at least he could conserve the mental strength it cost. His hand moved unconsciously toward the dagger hidden in his coat.
Zeno stopped him.
“Which conversation do you mean?”
Yohan searched his memory.
He had been advised to rest and refused. They had spoken about the timing of their return, only to arrive at an entirely different point. The remaining topic was…
Ah. That.
Yohan nodded.
He was right. If they were to go back again—truly from the beginning—this was the most appropriate time.
“That sounds good.”
Yohan answered without hesitation.
Spending a long time here was the last thing he wanted.
Therefore, Zeno’s suggestion was more than welcome.
“Then first I need to find a way to leave the academy.”
One forgotten incident rose to the surface of his mind.
‘First of all, this academy is not a place where you can simply drop out because you feel like it.’
Entering was easy if you had talent. You had to prove that talent through exams, but it was an institution that welcomed anyone with real ability.
But leaving was another matter entirely.
‘You should assume that dropping out is fundamentally impossible.’
The official reason was security.
With so many cutting-edge researches underway and talents from every nation gathered in one place, classified information and secret experiments were commonplace. A talented individual leaving could easily lead to technology leaking out.
‘…I can’t say I don’t understand.’
There must have been other ways. They could have used magic contracts. They could have granted temporary leave for recovery and reflection.
If one looked, dozens of solutions could be found.
Yet the academy had chosen none of them.
‘…Tsk.’
Yohan clicked his tongue.
‘It’s not that there are no methods at all. Even I received a dropout recommendation from the president exactly once.’
With those words, Yohan left the dormitory. The sun had risen; morning activities were about to begin. He walked forward without the slightest hesitation.
“It’s time to visit my professor. For now, it’s best to act normally. I’ll explain the rest gradually. It would be better for you to see it firsthand.”
After walking for some time, Yohan arrived at a certain building.
He entered the one labeled Faculty Hall and was met with familiar stares.
“…It’s him.”
“His face really is handsome.”
“…Disgusting.”
The gazes aimed at him. Yohan ignored them lightly and continued walking in silence.
He stopped in front of one particular door, raised his hand, and knocked.
“Professor, it’s Yohan.”
“Come in~.”
Yohan opened the door. The person inside lifted her head.
“My supervising professor.”
Aria Celestia. A woman with brilliant silver hair and golden eyes.
Yohan’s professor and the current Master of the Magic Tower.
“Welcome, Yohan. I’ve been waiting, you know?”
“…Yes, I see that. I’m sorry for being late.”
Yohan bowed his head.
“It’s fine. I didn’t wait that long. You’re different from those other slugs, after all. I can wait this much for you.”
Her voice carried clear disdain for others. Yohan kept his mouth shut.
Only now did he remember how cold she was to everyone except him.
“What do you think of the research I’m working on lately? I’m curious about your opinion.”
The Magic Tower Master pointed at the wall covered entirely in complex formulas.
Having seen the formulas, Zeno fell silent.
He had seen them once before.
“If completed, it will surely be used in a very important place.”
“Right! You think so too! As expected, talking with you is so easy, Yohan.”
The woman considered the most beautiful in the entire academy flashed a lovely smile that contrasted sharply with her coarse way of speaking.
“By the way, Yohan, you look tired. Is something different about you today?”
Suddenly Aria’s hand reached toward his face. Yohan instinctively stepped back, and her fingers froze in midair.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
“That’s true. I’ve been so busy I kept calling for you. Still, I’ll be away at the Magic Tower for two weeks starting tomorrow, so rest properly while I’m gone. You don’t need to come see me off.”
Aria withdrew her hand.
“Thank you, Professor.”
Yohan gave her a bright smile.
“That’s all for today. You may go.”
“Yes, Professor. I’ll see you when you return.”
With a soft click, the door closed behind Yohan.
Aria stared fixedly at the closed door.
“…What was that? He seemed very different from usual.”
If she had to describe it, he looked utterly exhausted.
“Did I overwork him? But there’s no one else who can keep up with that much work.”
She tapped the desk lightly.
“…Hmm. Maybe I should bring back a gift when I return. What do young men like these days, I wonder?”
Yohan, having left the room, headed back toward the dormitory.
“Yes, you saw.”
“Yes. Though I performed the final completion.”
In the end, the situation had left him no choice but to finish it himself.
Regardless, that wasn’t important right now.
“Ah, it’s simple. As you just witnessed, the professor discriminates between me and the other students.”
She called the others “slugs” without fail, yet always addressed only Yohan by his real name.
Because of that, the noble students resented the fact that she treated a mere commoner like Yohan warmly while ignoring nobles such as themselves.
And that resentment was directed straight at Yohan.
After all, they couldn’t complain directly to the professor.
“Tomorrow the professor will leave for the Magic Tower and be absent for two weeks.”
Those two weeks when Professor Aria was gone presented them with the perfect opportunity.
“And during that time, they did every horrible thing they could think of to me.”
At first Yohan had endured it without reaction. He gave them nothing—no response, only cold indifference.
But.
“Eventually they crossed the line.”
When he continued to show no reaction, they gradually turned to more extreme measures.
“Simply put, they fed me poison.”
It was the reason his throat had been destroyed in the past.