I'm Leaving the Academy
The Grand Feast Day was, in essence, a festival.
When the academy's long-shut gates swung open, the public would flood in to enjoy the various spectacles organized by students and professors alike.
Among them, the grandest of all was, of course, the Tournament.
An arena where superhumans of staggering power clashed in contests of raw might. A performance of merciless violence unfolding inside a circular coliseum. Enormous wagers changing hands, gold flowing like a river through the gambling pits.
And for X, it was also the moment that would decide whether he could keep attending the academy at all.
Of course, having already brought the Academy Chairman and even the Crown Prince over to his side, one could reasonably wonder whether that old promise still meant anything.
"You planning to train in that body?"
Losing his voice hadn't meant losing his strength. X had no intention of breaking his word.
If I don't take first place, Master's going to kill me.
"What the hell are you even saying..."
Roxwell scowled at the X who had come looking for him. He scratched the back of his neck in frustration and barked at him in that rough way of his.
"You think I'm gonna train a kid who can't even talk properly? Go rest. What you need right now is rest."
Is that how you plan to kill your disciple?
"Shut up, get inside, and rest!"
There's a promise I have to keep.
Roxwell fell silent as he read what X had written. Then he let out a seething sigh.
"Come in for a minute."
Roxwell quietly entered his room in the faculty dormitory. X followed slowly, carefully, wondering if the man was about to have another episode. And then, at the smell that hit him and at what his two eyes took in, X froze.
What the hell is all this. He's not a detective.
One wall of Roxwell's room was covered in countless papers, notes, and photographs. It was the trail of an investigation, steeped in the obsession of a man determined to uncover something no matter the cost.
"The things you said before you went to the Ancient Ruins — I couldn't just let those slide. They were words that denied everything I am."
Roxwell perched on the edge of his desk and knocked something back with a rough gulp. Even from a distance, the alcohol was so thick and potent you could smell it.
"Damn it. Even this isn't getting me drunk..."
What is all this?
"Sit down a minute. I'll tell you a boring story."
Roxwell knocked back another drink. He shoved the empty bottle aside, cracked open a fresh one, and began.
"Once upon a time, there was a half-baked kid living in an ordinary farming village. Then some goddamn vagrant bastards raided the place, and the half-baked kid got sold into slavery."
X sat on the edge of the bed across from him. Roxwell went on, knocking back the harsh liquor as he spoke.
"Slavery had been abolished ages ago, but the high-and-mighty didn't give a damn. Behind closed doors, keeping prettier, sturdier slaves became a status symbol of wealth."
That matched the lore exactly.
"Amazingly, that half-baked kid was right up those perverts' alley. Sturdy, and pretty-faced to boot. And he was a boy, mind you. Sold for a price so high it was downright obscene."
Roxwell covered his own face for no particular reason.
"The half-baked kid got dragged into some pervert's den and saw children in the same situation as himself. Listening to what they'd been through, he was terrified out of his mind."
He let out a long, disgusted sigh.
"He was only eight years old. Far too young to have everything ripped away overnight and still be expected to bear it. Still, life wasn't a complete pile of shit."
His gaze fell on the investigation wall. It was pointed toward the empire's frontier.
"An uprising broke out in that land. Citizens who'd suffered under oppression took up arms and dragged that pervert of a lord down. The boy was saved then, too. Their leader introduced himself like this."
His expression twisted into something ugly.
"..."
"And while you were gone, I mobilized every last scrap of intelligence I had. What I found was so disgusting it was almost impressive."
Crash!
Roxwell hurled the empty bottle at the wall with everything he had.
"The raids on the half-baked kid's village — on frontier villages all over — they were staged by the Revolutionary Army. And that wasn't all. The citizen uprising itself was under their orders. That's how they grew their power. Creating victims, then pretending to save them! And even so, I—!!"
The sound of teeth grinding filled the room.
"I still can't be sure.... Because if it's true, then my entire life up to now gets denied. If I just had clearer proof..."
What do you want to do?
"X. The things you said to me — can you swear they were all true? Can you take responsibility for your words?"
X looked steadily into Roxwell's wavering eyes. Then he immediately cracked open one of the bottles left on the desk. Staring at the mouth of the bottle, he knocked it back as if to burn away the tightness in his chest.
"Kh..."
It was a spirit so fierce it scorched his throat.
"A student, of all people..."
Roxwell watched, displeased, but said nothing. By the time X had barely finished the bottle, he fought through the rising drunkenness and wrote down what he needed to say.
If my life is worth that much.
X had intended to show him the answer he'd agonized over.
That's right.
If he showed that answer, he could persuade Roxwell. He could grab hold of a Roxwell slipping out of his control, and it would become a powerful insurance policy against the crisis soon to come.
But maybe it was because he hadn't drunk in so long. As the alcohol hit, his head grew more and more confused. His vision narrowed and swayed.
Ah, right. I can't hold my liquor...
A fact he'd forgotten for a very long time came rushing back. And only after remembering it did his voice tremble out of him, unbidden.
"I don't know either, you son of a..."
Roxwell's eyes went round as he stared at X.
"You can talk...?"
"If I could take responsibility for everything.... Kh! I'd be a god..."
"..."
"If it all goes wrong, they're gonna pin it on someone else.... Kh! Did I live their lives for them.... Kh! If you're an adult, you take the responsibility yourself...!"
These bastards who'd eaten through enough years already.... X knocked back more liquor along with that bitter lament. At the words X spat out without thinking, Roxwell shut his mouth.
"This goddamn disciple of mine."
Roxwell wrestled for a long time with how to take that meaning, then gently closed his eyes. Ironically, those thoughtlessly spoken words brought one fact to the surface for him.
"I've got a score I need to settle."
Roxwell opened his eyes slowly as he spoke.
"As your master, I'd like to look after you a little longer. But I don't have that luxury anymore. They've started moving."
And that resolve, that decision, was hurled into the silent room like a bolt from a clear sky.
With the Grand Feast Day right around the corner, countless students were honing themselves in the Indoor Training Arena for the tournament. In their own ways, the martial artists, mages, and clergy students checked their skills, patched their weaknesses, and played to their strengths.
"Lady Lola, an attack that neglects defense only exposes your openings. Fight with more strategy in mind."
Among them was Circe, sparring with Lola. Circe looked down with an even colder gaze at Lola, who had collapsed, gasping for breath. Having watched Lola's combat style up to now, Circe couldn't help but feel both pity and worry. Lola was pushing herself far too hard.
"My lady, the Grand Feast Day starts tomorrow. You should rest a little..."
"Again."
Lola grabbed her trembling legs and stood. Her eyes were dull; she looked utterly exhausted. Even so, she took up her staff.
"The current record is...?"
"...Ninety-six matches. Ninety-six losses."
"I have to win. Even just once...!"
Lola swung her staff in a sudden ambush. In an instant, a cluster of explosive light shimmered around Circe, flashing brilliantly — but.
"Predict your opponent's movements more carefully."
Before the explosion could go off, Circe's form suddenly vanished.
"Blink again...!"
It was a trick she'd already seen several times. Ancient artifact magic that vanished without any warning, then appeared at some other moment. The instant Circe disappeared, Lola activated her own artifact, Iris.
A rainbow-shimmering barrier instantly enveloped her. An absolute defense that would block any attack so long as she had enough mana — but.
"The moment a mage relies on magic, that mage is finished."
The instant Circe's voice reached her, Lola's vision shook with a violent impact, her consciousness threatening to slip away. Circe had cast Air Hammer, a spell focused purely on physical shock, and slammed it into the barrier itself. When the compressed-air impact sent the barrier bouncing, Lola inside it was naturally struck by her own shield.
"Kyaah...!"
Lola hurriedly tried to recover her broken stance. But the shaking of her consciousness disrupted her spell maintenance, and for the briefest instant, Iris's barrier wavered.
Shhhk—!
A sharp ice arrow drove through that gap. The moment the ice arrow stopped right in front of her face, Lola lowered her head in silent, bitter frustration.
"I lost again..."
Circe came close, took Lola's hand, and helped her up. Lola lamented with a thoroughly gloomy expression.
"Why can't I win..."
"My lady, strangely enough, you can cast explosion magic and barrier magic without incantation, as if you've mastered them. That doesn't mean you should cling to those spells alone."
"What's wrong with sticking to what I'm good at."
"Because your opponent will exploit that as a weakness."
Circe brushed the dust from Lola's clothes as she continued her cold assessment.
"Creating an explosion around your opponent and detonating it as a surprise attack was good. But you failed to predict their movement, so you couldn't prepare your next move."
"Honestly, that Blink magic is so broken. They just vanish and reappear with no warning — how are you supposed to counter that?"
"You're the one who told me to use it.... Anyway, there are actually plenty of counters. Scatter small light spells everywhere and predict their position from the shift in shadows, or watch the flow of mana to confirm where they'll appear..."
"No student is going to go that far..."
"Strategy and tactics can be learned. Please don't rush too much."
"I can't."
Lola frowned a little and answered again.
"I have to hurry."
"My lady..."
"I don't know when that guy will show up again. There is no next time."
Circe understood Lola's heart completely. But it was hard to watch that burning emotion keep blazing on and on without end. It was a different kind of worry from watching X, who only ever charged straight ahead.
"So what's the commoner doing right now?"
As the sparring session wound down, Lola looked for X. Yesterday he'd been busy running around here and there, so she hadn't seen his face.
"If he woke up healthy, he should've come to see me. This is why no matter how well you treat commoners..."
As Lola grumbled, her mood soured, Circe let out a faint sigh.
"After hearing about Professor Roxwell, he's been holed up in his room. He isn't eating, and he isn't answering."
"Ah..."
Rumors that Roxwell was resigning from his professorship had been circulating steadily. And yesterday, those rumors had taken on substance. As of tomorrow, Roxwell would leave this academy. Class F's homeroom professor would temporarily be Amanda Lansbury of Combat Magic.
"Professor Roxwell... why is he leaving?"
He wasn't a professor Lola had good memories of, but she knew that X and Roxwell got along well as master and disciple. The fact that his master was leaving couldn't possibly sit well with X. Thinking that far, a bright idea struck her.
"I should go see him."
"Pardon?"
"That's enough for today. I'll be going!"
"My lady, surely you're not going to see X..."
Before Circe could stop her, Lola was gone.
"She's going to be disappointed..."
Circe had no choice but to sigh and clean up after them. Some things you only knew by seeing them yourself.
"What is this!"
Lola burst into X's room and was horrified. The smell of alcohol was so thick it stabbed at her nose.
"Uuugh..."
X, who'd been sprawled out sleeping well into the afternoon, seemed to have just woken. He clutched his head, groaning as he sat up. A few empty bottles were visible in the room, and Lola pieced the situation together roughly.
"Did you drink?"
X started to answer, then found a nearby notebook and showed her something instead.
Please stop barging into my room unannounced.
"It's your fault for not opening the door when I came."
X clutched his splitting headache and kept writing.
I had a last drink with the professor before he left.
"Ah, so you heard the news..."
Lola suddenly felt awkward. She picked up an empty bottle nearby and put it somewhere appropriate, then immediately sat in the chair at the desk and launched into a lecture.
"Even so, you know you'll get disciplined if they catch you drinking in the dorms..."
I drank under the professor's supervision, so it's fine.
"And what's this?"
Lola discovered an old piece of parchment on the desk that looked like he'd been working on something. Ink and pens were scattered around, and constructions and spell formulas were a mess — but the parchment at the center had nothing written on it. Strangely, it just smelled faintly of alcohol.
Young lady, would you take a look at this?
As Lola was puzzling over the parchment, X handed her something. It was a small piece of paper about the size of a palm, covered in some kind of complicated geometric pattern.
A dense geometric sigil, lines overlapping in a pattern too intricate to follow at a glance.
What does it look like to you?
"What, some kind of magic circle?"
Fold it for a moment, then open it again in about a minute.
Lola did as X said, half-skeptical. And then she witnessed something remarkable.
"Huh? There's nothing written on it? How did you do that?"
A blank white sheet.
Not a single trace remaining.
The paper that had clearly been covered in messy writing now had nothing on it at all. A blank white sheet without a single mark.
Try guessing.
"A mana reaction... I'd know if it was that. Internal energy? Holy arts? Or some other weird technique?"
Let's just call it a magic trick.
Lola grumbled for a while, then gave up prying when X refused to answer to the end. Seeing him looking more easygoing than she'd expected, she was able to let go of a little of her worry.
"You're pretty fine even after hearing about the professor. I thought you'd be holed up in a corner of your room, moping."
Professor Roxwell isn't dying.
And leaving the academy isn't a sad thing.
"Well, that's a relief, then. You know the Grand Feast Day starts tomorrow, right? A lot happened while you were laid out, and it wouldn't be fair if I didn't tell you, so that's why I came."
With her original reason for coming now feeling a bit hollow, Lola rattled off a fairly clever excuse. X smirked at the girl in front of him, chattering away in an effort to hide her embarrassment — and on the other hand, he worried. If Lola found out what would happen tomorrow, there was no telling what she might do.
Because that's the day Andras starts moving in earnest.
X let out a deep sigh at what tomorrow would bring, and steeled his resolve.
And so, the long-awaited day of the Grand Feast Day arrived.
The academy's gates opened, and a festival scene of countless crowds coming and going filled the grounds.
So they came after all.
There, a grim-faced group of guards surrounded X as if they'd been waiting for him. Citizens and students, startled by the sudden ominous atmosphere at what should have been a joyful festival, watched the scene unfold.
You currently stand accused of charges related to demon worship, as well as conspiracy to rebel against the Empire.
Do not resist, and surrender quietly.
The captain of the guard standing before them declared it with severity. At the command, the soldiers' spears pointed at X. When the gravest crime of the Holy Kingdom and the gravest crime of the Empire were both declared in the same breath, every onlooker failed to hide their shock.
Then the surrounding guards parted to either side, and someone in a hood walked forward through the gap.
"X, to think you'd dare worship demons and try to throw my empire into chaos. You really were a fool."
When the speaker flipped back her hood and revealed herself, the surrounding citizens gasped and dropped to their knees in reverence. That presence was none other than Princess Beatrice, who had vanished from the academy days ago.
And now Beatrice, in her capacity as imperial princess, wore a false smile as she looked at X.