49. No Entry - Life Not Guaranteed
49. No Entry - Life Not Guaranteed
A handful of people infiltrated the Special Arena, which was built right next to the regular arena.
Their ages were all different, and a few were even of different races, but they shared a distinct commonality.
They were all students of the Academy.
"Is everyone ready?"
"Yes, sunbae...!!"
They wore their uniforms, but to conceal their identities, they donned masks and removed all their brooches. Everyone carried a pouch stuffed with something heavy at their waist; it was so weighty that a jingling sound could be heard every time they moved.
They were the students who had bet on Edgar Lemnos during the previous duel between Atlas and Edgar—and had lost everything.
"The moment you boarded the Lemnos line, betting on that runt was forbidden. We will create the outcome of tomorrow's duel...!"
That was the declaration of a Department of Magical Engineering sunbae who had sunk his entire student loan into it.
If Lemnos looked likely to lose and they couldn't bet on Atlas, wouldn't simply 'not betting' be the answer? No one among them was capable of that thought. Anyone with enough judgment to think that way wouldn't have ended up in this mess in the first place.
"Our target is the Special Arena's control room. The arena's settings can be changed from there. Since the duel is tomorrow, everything will be set to random. Manipulating that will be our victory."
This was the same arena used for the Academy's graduation exam.
Once entered, the Special Exam hall trapped the participant in a particular subspace, forcing them to wander. From the control room, it was possible to manipulate everything within that subspace. One could hurl them into a hell brimming with brimstone fire, or transform it into a snowfield so blinded by blizzards that nothing could be seen.
"Sunbae... but if the Headmaster is going to be the witness for tomorrow's duel, will it be okay...?"
"If you're scared, drop out. As for me, if Lemnos can't win tomorrow, I'll have to drop out anyway."
The resolve in the sunbae's voice sobered the mood of the other students.
"...That was just a figure of speech. I often assist with the exams, so manipulating the Special Arena isn't something I've only done once or twice. Trust me and follow along."
"We don't have anywhere to retreat anyway... Let's go!"
With a pledge to win tomorrow, they all entered the domed Special Arena.
Outside the arena was a sign that read "No Entry, Under Adjustment"....
Directly below it, someone had scrawled in brush, "Life Not Guaranteed If You Enter," but they ignored it.
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The undergraduate from the Department of Magical Engineering, who had often assisted the Special Arena operations as a teaching assistant, was familiar with all of its security facilities.
"It's open..!"
Since graduation exams required crafting environments tailored to the professors' intentions rather than the current random settings, for someone like him who had spent all-nighters holed up in the control room making adjustments the day before the exam, this didn't feel like anything grand. It felt like his usual work.
"Now... you all remember the order, right?"
"Yes, just leave it to us."
"We've gotten it sorted."
"I remember."
The other students who had followed him checked the pouches at their waists in response to the fourth-year's words. Inside the pouches were copies of a master key that could neutralize the Special Arena's security and a talisman each.
The reason so many of them had crowded in was because there wasn't just one control room that managed the subspace, but several. There was only one central control room, but the facilities that received the central commands and generated the subspace within the arena numbered four in total. Normally, they would simply operate according to the central settings, but...
When set to random like now, even if you manipulated the central one, the other four would also run randomly, so there was no guarantee of the result. However, if a small signal providing some directionality could be inserted into all five locations, including the central hub, the subspace would form based on the signal common to all five.
"Then, we'll return to the central hub once the job is done."
All five of them scattered.
The undergraduate from the Department of Magical Engineering, who entered the central control room first, skillfully unlocked its door and went inside.
Within the dark control room, a hologram glowing with a green light hovered in the air; it was the special environment for tomorrow being generated. If he pasted this talisman onto the black box underneath the forming hologram, a clear 'signal' would emerge in the randomly set subspace. The subspace would reform based on that signal, and if this space was rigged to be as disadvantageous as possible for Atlas, even if he was a top-tier Sword Expert, winning would become difficult. From within, it was also possible to place a 'curse' only on a person meeting specific conditions.
As the undergraduate approached the hologram projector to attach the talisman, he discovered something odd. Another talisman was already stuck to the exact spot where he intended to place his own.
"Someone beat me to it?"
He realized he wasn't the only one who had thought of this. Naturally, there were plenty of people who'd be in trouble if Lemnos lost the duel. Curious about what had been set up, he moved closer, only to find it wasn't a spell formula but a written script.
"Look... up...?"
A single line telling him to look up. Curiosity piqued, the undergraduate raised his head.
"Finally looked this way."
And his eyes met with Atlas, who was hanging from the ceiling.
"Aaaaargh!!!"
The dark control room was filled with the echoes of a human scream.
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"People in the arena!!!"
When morning came, the staff arriving at the Special Arena screamed. They discovered people in the control room collapsed in agony, groaning and drenched in blood. Given their battered state, it wouldn't have been strange if they'd died on the spot, but miraculously, they were still breathing steadily. They were all taken to the hospital.
The sight of the staff moving the students, who looked like burst garbage bags of food waste, to the hospital and diligently scrubbing away bloodstains was visible.
After wiping the blood, they contacted someone once, checked the control room again, confirmed it was intact, and resumed mopping. It seemed they intended to proceed as planned.
'As I thought, they aren't moving it elsewhere just because of this.'
Had this been a regular duel, with over ten students beaten nearly to death in the arena, it would have been relocated. The ones who tried to infiltrate the arena during the night totaled fifteen, in three groups. After having a thorough conversation with them via a club... it turned out the first group came because of gambling, while the other two consisted of a lunatic who just disliked me and some idiots who had acted out hoping to catch the eye of the Five Pillars. The most absurd part was that there really weren't any with separate backers. People who had assisted with exams might have assumed this would be easy because they'd done it a few times before.
'If they use this for exams too, why is the security such a worn-out rag?'
Something stinks.
Watching the blood-soaked trash being removed, I stretched with all my might.
"Ugh, what a hassle... The staff has arrived for work, so I should head off now."
The sun was up, and likely no one else would come in. Now, people would be coming and going for today's duel; pulling any tricks would be hard. This place was buzzing because of the trash that came out, but the Academy side seemed far more abuzz.
"He actually came to see his son's duel? Truly impressive."
It was because the current head of Lemnos, Marquess Edward Lemnos, had arrived at the Academy on an early morning regular ferry.
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When I instantly arrived at the harbor crowded with people, Liber and Emy were already spectating.
"Atlas, did you really stay up all night? Are you okay? Today's your duel!"
"This much is fine."
Emy pulled a bottle of coffee from her basket.
"Would you at least like some coffee?"
"I'll drink it."
It seemed she had bought it from a café. There was a superstition in my previous life that coffee stunted growth, so I'd avoided it in this life too, but I drank it because I didn't want to refuse her kindness. At this point, one sleepless night didn't greatly harm my condition, but I appreciated the concern.
"What's the grand spectacle that's drawn such a crowd?"
"If they say it's the head of the Lemnos family, you'd be curious."
"I'm curious too."
Both of them were curious about Edward's appearance simply because he was the head of Lemnos. There was no TV or internet, and seeing someone from another region was rare, so it was natural. Newspapers might carry a photo, but it was black and white, and the feel of seeing someone in person was different. A photo couldn't capture a person's spirit, after all. As for whether I had seen Edward Lemnos before, I had. The Imperial Knights were headquartered at the Imperial Palace, and I'd seen all sorts of influential nobles at least once or twice. It was only in passing, though, so there was no way they would remember me. In my memory, Edward Lemnos was a man who always walked around with a furrowed brow. A middle-aged man whose torso was thick enough to burst his clothes and whose red hair seemed to blaze like fire left a deep impression. Thinking back now, it wasn't that he was just a person with a wrecked personality who frowned every day; it was probably simply because I was with the Imperial Knights. He hated the Imperial Knights, after all.
Edward Lemnos, who had entered the harbor with dignity, brought only a minimal retinue. Walking in with only two vassals, his muscular back, where his clothes seemed about to tear from the sheer bulk of muscle, gave the illusion that heat haze was rising from it. The fighting spirit radiating from his body deceived the eye into seeing a shimmering haze.
"Wow... I thought Edgar was thick, but this guy is even more so."
"His thighs are like logs..."
Unlike other nobles who displayed their clan's prestige through the number of vassals they dragged around, Edward Lemnos was a top-tier Expert practitioner who could demonstrate his house's power through his personal presence alone. Having been among the Imperial Knights' senior officers, all of whom were top-tier Experts, my senses regarding this had dulled, but the step directly below Master was top-tier Expert. Considering there were fewer than ten Masters in the entire world, being ranked first among top-tier Experts meant being one of the top ten strongest individuals in the world.
Lemnos, his brow heavily furrowed, kept looking around. It was as if he was searching for someone. If he really came here because of the Director, he seemed to be looking for where the Director might be.
'In this situation, if I beat Edgar, would that man try to kill me?'
"I don't know about killing, but he'd hate you... wouldn't he?"
If I won, I'd incur the grudge of Marquess Lemnos; if I lost, the Director would kill me.
'Why is it that I gain absolutely no benefit even if I win this duel?'
Where did it all go wrong? Still, the fact that I had to win was obvious. If the Director tried to kill me, there'd be no answer, but someone like Marquess Lemnos was someone I could crush in turn. Yeah, let's think positively. They'd looked the other way on my desertion, so I should at least do this much. I felt a little sorry for Marquess Lemnos, thinking he probably didn't even know who his son was fighting.