Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: I Came, I Saw, I Won (9)
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# 93
10. I Came, I Saw, I Won (9)
#16 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Student Council President (2)
Yuglasia Academy has gone mad.
“Die! Just die already!”
“Hey, you crazy bastards! Your academy’s here too!”
“Who cares! Just die! Anyway, getting beaten by you is worse for them than getting beaten by me!”
Not even the ocean, yet massive tidal waves swept away allies and enemies alike without discrimination.
“It’s a trap, you idiots!”
Just when you think you’ve finally taken one down, they’d send their own mana into overdrive and blow themselves up, taking at least one enemy with them.
“Die, die, die!”
“W-Wait a sec? You’re really dying?”
“Lady Aris? Lady Aris? Please listen when someone talks to you!”
Lady Aris swung her spear with indifferent eyes.
And spear aura blazed properly along its length.
Anyone hit by it would really die.
“W-What is this… No… Stop! I said no!”
“Heh heh heh. Come on. Despair, despair, and despair some more! It’s nothing compared to our despair, anyway!”
The Trickster started pulling out weird gadgets and launching mental attacks on the girls that would leave them traumatized.
“What the hell do they think the Imperial Tournament is!”
No matter how important reputation at the Imperial Tournament was for the Empire’s Four Great Prestigious Academies, there were lines no human should cross.
But these guys leaped over those lines without a second thought.
And what was even scarier was that they were technically following every Imperial Tournament rule to the letter!
Referees dispatched to intervene would agonize over it, only to conclude several times that there was nothing wrong.
I’d checked every single Imperial Tournament rule out of sheer frustration, and even I couldn’t find a single violation from Yuglasia.
It was all fantastically ambiguous tightrope walking!
“The next match is…”
Everyone avoided my eyes.
The first match of the next round pitted us against Yuglasia right from the start.
Since no one had gotten good results against Yuglasia, everyone dreaded facing them.
“Anyway, pretty much everyone’s participating starting tomorrow.”
“I-I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Yeah, tomorrow.”
“So today, someone else… Ah! We should sacrifice the first-years… I mean, the first-years need the experience!”
“Yeah! I’m a fourth-year, so I’m graduating next year! Why not let the first-years who have to participate next year get some experience, President?”
Maybe because student councils rarely had first-years join.
These conscienceless jerks wanted to use the first-years as scapegoats.
“Can we win with first-years? The Imperial Tournament’s almost over for us! Even if we rack up big points on the final day, it might not be enough!”
Bam!
I slammed the scoreboard in front of me, and everyone flinched.
Day four of the Imperial Tournament. But our score hadn’t budged.
[Arsia Academy: 0 points]
[Marsis Academy: 7 points]
[Yuglasia Academy: 34 points]
[Merkiria Academy: 0 points]
“Facing a ridiculous score gap like this, you still want to dodge fights?”
At my words, the executives replied in unison.
“““““““““““““Yes.”””””””””””””
“Yeah, I get it, honestly.”
I’d started participating from day three.
And I’d lost to some first-year whose name I didn’t even know.
“Honestly, it’s like they’re all on drugs as a group. They don’t care about themselves and just swarm you—that’s bad enough, but their individual skills are way too good, President.”
“Yeah, they’re insane. Five god-tier summoners in first-year alone? Does that even make sense?”
“Even the Imperial Army barely has one god-tier summoner, and they’ve got five first-years!”
Starting with the God of War, Lady Aris.
Then the God of Thunder, Thor.
Azidahaka, the evil god who uses the arts of a thousand transformations, and Hermes, the messenger of the gods.
And even the God of Fire, Apollo!
No way that kind of lineup belongs in one academy!
“They got way too strong in just one year. What the hell happened?”
“Can one professor, Niserwin, really turn the students into that?”
“No, it’s not just the skills—it’s their personalities that changed. That’s weird too, right?”
“Yeah. Professor Niserwin’s famous even among high elves for his nobility. No way learning from him turns them into raving lunatics.”
“True that.”
So the skills came from Professor Niserwin, but someone else shaped their personalities?
“Ah! Didn’t a bunch of veteran summoners from the military flood into Yuglasia?”
“Yeah, that’s it! That explains everything!”
“The military, huh? Turns people into victory-obsessed monsters who ditch all humanity!”
One by one, the puzzle pieces fell into place.
Skills from Professor Niserwin’s summoning arts, and combat tactics from battle-hardened veterans who’d fought in major wars.
It made sense if it was Imperial Army training—famous across the continent for being brutal and merciless to enemies.
“But what’s this ‘Silver Devil’ thing?”
“Did they contract a devil or something? But so many couldn’t all contract one.”
“That’s what the Yuglasia kids are scared of, right?”
“Yeah, even when I fought them, they said they’d rather die than face the Silver Devil.”
“I heard Lady Aris muttering about it too.”
“Lady Aris too? Even she’s scared of it—not just the rank-and-file?”
It felt like the puzzle was almost complete, but that last piece.
We still didn’t know exactly what the ‘Silver Devil’ keyword pointed to.
“Still… we’re Arsia! Arsia Academy, leading the Empire’s Four Great Prestigious Academies!”
“We’re dead last right now, though.”
“Precisely zero points. Tied with Merkiria, seven behind Marsis, and a whopping thirty-four behind Yuglasia.”
“Even second-place Marsis is almost five times behind.”
“They’re basically winning on Lady Nermia alone anyway.”
I sighed as the students lost their motivation again.
Unlike the start, their drive had vanished.
But I was Arsia Academy’s Student Council President.
I had a duty to lead these students and give our all in this Imperial Tournament.
“Alright. Then I’ll lead tomorrow! Anyone brave enough to face Yuglasia with me?”
My call was met with silent stillness.
“N-No one?”
Nods, nods.
Everyone nodded.
“Seriously?”
Nods, nods.
They looked at me like, what did you expect?
“Hey, come on, guys. Please!”
In the end, we resorted to drawing lots for every match involving Yuglasia.
#17 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of Certain Villains.
“Damn it…”
“Looks like it’s just us two.”
Even in the Empire, back alleys where petty thieves lurked existed.
In one such alley, two figures—dressed in outfits that would make any Yuglasia professor yell, “That’s straight-up Howling, an evil organization!”—panted as they began talking.
“Damn, it was a perfect plan…”
“Who’d have thought Yuglasia would pull that insane stunt…”
They weren’t famous, but they were members of the anti-Empire forces with their own history and traditions!
Right now, though, they were just fugitives fleeing the Empire’s encirclement.
“The match meant to signal the start of our great cause ended up signaling our existence to the Empire…”
“But we picked up some good intel thanks to it.”
“What is it?”
“The Empire’s Crown Prince has an incurable disease.”
“What?!”
One man’s words made the other momentarily forget he was a fugitive and shout.
“My mistake. Is it true?”
“Yes, highly credible. When the Crown Prince learned of us, he actually seemed pleased—said he was glad to have more company on his path.”
“I see. The Crown Prince won’t die by anyone’s hand, then.”
“Exactly.”
Unaware that the Crown Prince’s life hung by his sister’s whim, they etched the ‘incurable disease’ into their minds.
“Then we should reprioritize targets. Skip the dying Crown Prince and go for the Northern Hegemon, Ignall Nel Caruan?”
“Probably. But he’s training troops up north right now, so he might be tough for us to touch.”
“True. And Atiya Nel Caruan, who rivaled those two, isn’t in the Empire either…”
“We should focus on assassinating the Emperor, our original target.”
Oblivious to their massive misunderstanding, the two nodded.
“But to do that.”
“We need to break the Empire’s encirclement first and contact HQ.”
“Let’s split up here.”
“Yeah, got it.”
The two nodded and headed in opposite directions.
“Gah!”
But one didn’t get far before a pursuer caught him.
“Damn it. You Empire dogs!”
“Dog? I’m not a dog.”
“You devils do anything for the Empire!”
“Empire…? I’m just here for the good pay and meals?”
The man thought this tiny pursuer was out of her mind.
But she was insanely strong despite being nuts.
“Anti-Empire forces, Haileia of Marsis Academy. Gonna borrow you for this week’s groceries.”
“Urk… You think I’ll go down like this, you Empire dog!”
“Not a dog, I said.”
And so, an unnoticed fight broke out in some Empire back alley.
#18 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of Someone on Borrowed Time.
“You can look up now.”
“No, sis. I’ve always liked keeping my head bowed.”
Sis had come back suddenly.
Well, not suddenly—she’d warned me ahead of time—but I still wasn’t mentally prepared!
“Does facing me disgust you that much?”
“No, sis. How could I ever dislike gazing upon your heavenly visage?”
“Then lift your head.”
Scary. Honestly, facing sis head-on in my current state was way too risky.
“Yes, ma’am!”
But it was sis’s order.
Disobey, and I die.
Lift it, and I probably die anyway.
Yeah, I’m done for.
“Good job, little bro. Found Ast yet?”
Lifting my head revealed sis beaming brightly, while Sir Rea beside her subtly turned away like she couldn’t bear to watch.
Ah, yep. Dead meat.
“N-Not yet…”
“I see.”
‘Then die.’
I could practically hear the unspoken follow-up in my head.
“But I did.”
“Y-You what?”
Her words made me doubt my ears.
“You found him?”
“Yeah.”
Sis wore an expression both thrilled and furious.
“In a place I never expected.”
“W-Where?”
I was ready to mobilize every available man right then.
Sis right now was like a dragon whose reverse scale had been touched.
If I could soothe that dragon back to sleep, I’d do anything.
Otherwise, after all the hell to become Crown Prince, I’d die.
“There.”
“West?”
I recalled the Empire’s internal cities and foreign kingdoms in that direction she pointed.
“Nope, closer.”
“Inside the Empire?”
“Yeah, even closer than that.”
“W-Where the hell?”
Dread pooling in my gut, I pressed, and her answer shocked me.
“Yuglasia.”
“You’re kidding?”
I’d met Ast once and heard tons of rumors, but he was even crazier than imagined.
Hunted by sis of all people, and he’d infiltrated one of the Empire’s Four Great Prestigious Academies right under the palace’s nose!
And still hadn’t been caught!
“He was teaching. As Niserwin Ain, no less.”
“Niserwin Ain—that’s Ast?!”
Unbelievable.
Niserwin Ain was a continent-famous master of summoning arts.
I’d even gotten a report when he joined Yuglasia!
“You didn’t check him out?”
“I-I was a bit busy…”
Specifically, I’d been running ragged hunting Ast myself, so I’d just sent a thank-you note via messenger.
“Yeah, can’t trust you anymore, bro.”
“Eek!”
Am I really dying now?
Missing him right under my nose? Yeah, dead for sure.
A whirlwind of thoughts raced through my mind.
Dad became Emperor lounging around, so why do I feel my life’s in peril just for being Crown Prince?
For a moment, I sorted through my regrets about life.
“So now, I’ll handle it myself.”
“Sis, you’re sparing me?”
“Maybe?”
Her genuinely thoughtful look had me groveling until we settled on keeping me alive to ensure Ast didn’t notice sis was onto him.
Hooray! I’m alive… alive!