Chapter 287
Chapter 287
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 287
>Chapter Title: A Grueling Wait
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Dawn was breaking.
Aster finished his breathing exercise and lifted his eyelids.
*Peep, peep. Peeep...*
No. 1, who had arrived at the windowsill for breakfast, blinked its sleepy eyes and preened its feathers. Aster watched it for a moment, then gently clenched his fist before relaxing it.
It wasn’t as if his muscle strength was connected to the state of his mana circuits, but it was a long-standing habit.
And.
‘...It’s adequate.’
He still hadn’t fully shaken off his internal injuries, but it was more than enough to bring his abilities to bear.
That aside.
“So the Second Prince’s scheme... was that.”
A few days after forming the alliance with the Third Princess.
She had mobilized every resource at her disposal to monitor the Second Prince’s movements, and the two objectives she uncovered were as follows.
The first was to oust Principal Schubertz and sever the connection between the Third Princess and Muspellun.
Aster had already anticipated that much.
However.
There had been one unresolved question all along.
‘Ousting the Principal makes sense enough. But... what then? Isn’t that too half-baked?’
How exactly did the Second Prince plan to withstand Senior Muspellun’s wrath?
That had been one of the lingering mysteries for Aster, but the intelligence the Third Princess brought provided the answer.
So, what was the Second Prince’s countermeasure against Duke Muspellun’s fury?
‘...Obern.’
Right. It was Obern.
By seizing control of the academy, he intended to get a grip on Obern and use that to keep Muspellun Senior in check.
Of course, there were parts that didn’t quite add up.
Like how he planned to tie Obern to the academy, or how binding Obern there would give him leverage over Muspellun Senior.
But Aster, having pondered that far, soon shook off the thoughts.
He simply assumed the Second Prince had his own countermeasures prepared and saw no need to dig any deeper.
Anything beyond that was the Second Prince’s problem, and it had no bearing on how Aster would proceed.
The key now was what came next.
- The Second Prince’s side has changed their movements. It’s not far off.
Bellrose had visited Aster the day before to share the latest on their activities, casually inquiring about his condition along the way.
How much longer until he was ready?
Bellrose was feigning composure, but her expression betrayed an impatience she couldn’t hide.
And understandably so—Aster hadn’t made any notable moves since the day they allied.
She worried there might be a snag in the plan, especially compared to how confidently he had proposed the alliance.
But.
Though Bellrose didn’t know it, Aster’s preparations were progressing steadily.
He had rooted out every last Salvatium rat hiding in the academy and, to prepare for any contingencies, shuttled back and forth to the second Black-White Slums to secure reliable reinforcements.
All while focusing on recovering his body.
‘Preparations are just about done...’
All that remained was to wait for the right moment.
Yet.
“Ha. Really...”
Aster let out a dismissive chuckle and shook his head.
No matter how many times he thought about it, the alias that Salvatium’s rat was hiding behind was utterly absurd.
Well, thanks to that, his plan had become all the simpler—maybe he should be grateful.
In any case.
Aster closed his eyes, lost in thought up to that point.
‘I loved peace.’
He had wanted to live out the rest of his academy days as an ordinary student until graduation.
To poke around here and there just enough to get by, play the naive fool when needed, and slip out quietly.
Aster was certain that was all he wanted from the academy.
It had been...
Even with Decullan keeping him busy enough as it was, now the imperial family and Salvatium were piling on—why were they so desperate to pick a fight?
“Is that where the saying ‘the best defense is a good offense’ comes from?”
But there was one fact the Second Prince and Salvatium didn’t know.
That a shield could crack skulls just as well.
- Aster, but if you think about it, aren’t you the one who started all this?
- ...?
- Salvatium aside, Duke Muspellun got involved for your sake, didn’t he? And what happened to Professor Pellina was because of...
...
Aster paused, recalling his conversation with Evelyn as he steeled his resolve.
After a brief moment.
“...No. Absolutely not.”
Good and evil.
Which was which was plain as day.
Evelyn’s tongue was as cunning as a serpent’s, ever ready to shake one’s faith in good—no need to dwell on it.
With that, Aster opened his eyes.
‘My training is still lacking.’
To think his faith could waver over something like this.
“I am salvation.”
Just as he had been for the spirits and the strays of the Black-White Slums, this time he would save Professor Pellina and the Principal too.
His fist itched.
And so Aster waited.
The moment arrived sooner than expected.
* * *
The Second Prince’s first arrow was a petition drafted by the assistant professors.
*To the esteemed staff and students of Jenion Academy. We sincerely apologize for this unfortunate matter that brings us before you. However, we are deeply rooted in Jenion Academy...*
The assistant professors, worn thin from the investigations, wandered the academy’s vast grounds posting flyers.
The flyers were laden with florid prose dripping with intellectual vanity, but their point was simple.
1. Jenion Academy harbored deep-seated corruption.
2. That corruption was Principal Schubertz.
There were also the usual self-pitying lines about how they “had no choice but to stay silent despite knowing the truth, suppressed by those in power,” but nothing of substance.
Regardless of veracity, the content was shocking enough to rattle many.
Bellrose came to Aster right after the flyers went up.
“Aster, are we still far off? At this rate...”
But Aster shook his head.
The only answer Bellrose would hear was a single word: “Not yet.”
A day passed like that.
The second arrow came in the form of an old professor’s confession of conscience.
*Though steeped in filth, the conscience of my juniors has opened these aged eyes. Ashamed as I am, I confess here and now. This body of mine...*
An aged professor, moved by the assistant professors’ outcry against pressure.
The heartwarming tale of a scholar who had forgotten his youthful purity in his cunning old age, only to rediscover it through the impassioned pleas of his distant juniors.
A truly touching picture.
Of course, the reality was far removed from appearances... but it was enough to leave a deep impression on many.
Which was why Bellrose visited Aster again before even a full day had passed.
“...Aster.”
But once more, Aster gently shook his head. His answer was the same as before.
Bellrose had no choice but to watch the situation unfold with a heart turning to ash.
She wanted to step forward on her own if she had to, but with Aster withholding the ‘key’ he held, she was powerless.
From the old professor onward, several more professors rushed forward with tearful pleas one after another.
Their content wasn’t much different from the old professor’s.
*Principal Schubertz’s coercion...*
*...Principal Schubertz’s...*
*I knew it was wrong, but his authority...*
Public opinion went berserk.
Even those who had been skeptical at the petition stage now joined in, freely hurling criticism at Principal Schubertz’s name.
At this rate, opinion alone—regardless of the investigation’s outcome—could force not just his ousting but his complete burial.
Amid the denunciations spreading uncontrollably, Bellrose bit her lip in mounting anxiety.
“Your Highness, perhaps we should step in ourselves?”
At Altex’s question, Bellrose squeezed her eyes shut.
To carry out this operation, Bellrose had endured great sacrifices.
She hadn’t let it show to Aster, but she had lost most of the forces she had secretly gathered under the Second Prince’s nose.
...And now, for it all to end with nothing to show?
What of those who had gladly laid down their lives for her sake?
- For Your Highness, I gladly offer this one life.
- I have awaited a day like this. If this meager life can help, then gladly...
The wills they left before departing on their missions were still carefully kept in her bosom. Altex had tried to keep them from her, but she had insisted on taking them.
And yet, like this...
“...Your Highness?”
Bellrose slowly opened her eyes at Altex’s call.
“This body of mine... is still so powerless.”
In that moment, Bellrose realized the truth.
She had thought she bravely drew her sword, but in truth, it was Aster who held it.
She merely believed it was hers because the blade’s direction aligned with her own desires.
But.
“...We wait.”
“But...”
“It’s not about entrusting this to Aster. It’s simply holding fast to our original resolve.”
The outcome of action would be the same either way.
But the process would be entirely different.
Not listlessly handing her fate to another, but claiming sovereignty by acknowledging it as a fate she herself had chosen.
Feeling the thick sheaf of paper and its weight in her bosom, Bellrose’s eyes gleamed with clarity.
“I say it one last time. I will wait. Sir Altex, check our preparations. I’ll entertain no further questions.”
Altex blinked at the Third Princess’s resolute command.
‘How...’
The light in the Third Princess’s eyes had changed.
No longer the weak, gentle gaze of before—this was resolute, dignified.
Faint yet unmistakably the eyes of a sovereign.
“...As you command.”
True to his duty as a retainer, Altex bowed his head and withdrew.
Left alone in the room.
Bellrose sank into thought.
‘Believe.’
It wasn’t about believing Aster.
It was about believing in herself—the self who had chosen Aster.
But it wasn’t mere belief.
“...”
Bellrose thought quietly. Aster’s plan flashed through her mind.
And its conclusion.
“...We’re still missing one piece.”
This went beyond simply saving Schubertz.
It was about how to truly sever the chokehold the Second Prince had kept on her throat for so long.
In that instant, her long-suppressed Aderian bloodline opened its eyes.
* * *
And so time passed.
The investigation concluded.
The results were staggering.
Twenty-seven professors were dismissed after their corruption was confirmed.
All were those who had maintained ties to Principal Schubertz, including Professor Pellina and Parun.
Their punishments were yet to be decided, but having been fired under such grave dishonor, their careers as scholars were effectively over.
And, as expected, Principal Schubertz was found guilty.
His punishment...
- Labor at Kuhulon Fortress.
Frontline labor on the western monster border.
Of course, given his stature, they wouldn’t seal his mana. It was more beneficial to the Empire that way.
And so, a rickety old carriage carried Principal Schubertz’s frail form toward Kuhulon Fortress.
At that very moment.
On the open square before Sage’s Hall, where the academy’s staff and every student had gathered.
[...We will now proceed with the inauguration of Jenion Academy’s 103rd Principal.]
Yorbi, the M3 class assistant professor who had sided earliest with the Second Prince, recited the announcement with an excited face.
Third Princess Bellrose gazed up at the podium with coldly sunken eyes.
That was when a voice whispered in her ear.
“Prepare.”
The grueling wait was over.