Your Country Doesn't Have This, Does It? - 1

It had been a grand performance that tore the sky open. The one mercy was that the scar left behind could be wiped away quickly.

Even the scars Kagan had left faded with time, so something I had only half-assedly imitated stood no chance of lasting. If those wounds had been permanent, the northern sky would already have looked like the demon realm. No matter how much humans leave their mark on nature, nature finds a way to heal itself.

And among the spectators watching that Sky Slash had been the Magic Lord. Whatever fancy name you gave it, Sky Slash was ultimately a technique that used mana, and anything involving mana fell within the Magic Lord's domain. Thanks to her, a scar that would have vanished on its own was sealed even faster. Having the Magic Lord at the Academy was a genuine stroke of luck.

"The traces themselves were gone within five minutes. Fewer people than expected managed to see—"

"Enough."

At the Crown Prince's sharp word I shut my mouth. As always, a teleportation mage had been kindly dispatched to fetch me, and the moment I reached the office a guard knight opened the door. Through that streamlined process I found myself face-to-face with the Crown Prince, who was pinching the bridge of his nose and cursing me with his eyes alone.

So I immediately dropped my head and started explaining. My disciplinary stack might have been freshly reset, meaning I had nothing to fear in theory, but if I got cocky he could slap me with contempt of court and land me on suspension in one stroke. That I had to avoid.

"Audit Department Chief. You know perfectly well that the time involved is not the point."

Hearing that he had no intention of accepting excuses, I lowered my gaze without meaning to.

Honestly, he was right. The sky had already been torn open—what did five seconds or five minutes matter? Whether a blade sits in your heart for five seconds or five minutes, the result is much the same.

Having closed my mouth for me, the Crown Prince was silent for a moment, then continued with a sigh.

"Fortunately there are no major cities near the Academy, so the confusion was limited. Even in the regions ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠where the traces were observed, people only reported seeing something black. The idea that the sky itself had been split never occurred to them."

That was also true. How many people, seeing something black in the sky, would think, Ah, the heavens have been cleaved? They would simply decide that something strange had appeared. Unless you had watched the sword swing with your own eyes, it was hard to leap to the conclusion that the sky had been torn.

"And if the sky over the Imperial Capital had turned black, it would be an ill omen. But if the sky over the Academy changed, people can reasonably assume it was merely the aftereffect of some spell or experiment. The Magic Lord's presence there only strengthens that impression."

The anomaly had appeared over the Academy—specifically, the place where the Magic Lord, the pinnacle of magic, resided. As the Crown Prince said, people could write it off as the mages doing something bizarre again.

…So it's not that big a deal?

Listening to him, hope lifted its head. Maybe this would pass with nothing worse than a mild scolding.

I had torn the sky, yes, but that was not how everyone else saw it. They were treating it as the routine blunder of mages rather than one madman's stunt. A black scar in the heavens was hardly something a simple mistake would produce, of course, but it was still more natural to blame magical fallout than a sword cut.

In other words: a crime had occurred, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yet there were no victims and no witnesses. A strange little situation.

I'm saved.

No victims meant a reprimand—worst case, an Apology Letter—

"But not everyone thinks that way."

Ah.

At that sudden swerve, hope rapidly lowered its head again.

"Reports have been pouring in without pause since yesterday. Remnants of the Heaven-Defier have appeared. The ghost of Gaar has returned. All manner of ominous talk."

With another sigh, the Crown Prince shoved a thick stack of documents at me. His grip was so tight it looked as though he was fighting the urge to hurl them.

I took the pile before he could actually throw it and scanned the contents. Sentences thick with urgency and confusion leapt off the page unfiltered.

The reports were stuffed with negative speculation as if someone had jammed a panic button. More wild theories than actual situation reports—could you even call these reports?

Faced with content that might as well have been the Book of Revelation, I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut. Come to think of it, no small number of officers and soldiers had fought in the Great Subjugation War. If even one of them had been near the Academy or a neighboring territory—for a promotion, a unit transfer, retirement, whatever the excuse—they would have recognized it at once. Anyone who had seen the World-Ending even once never forgot it until the day they died.

No—something was off. The reports themselves noted that the Audit Department Chief could imitate the World-Ending. So why was no one considering that I had done it? Wasn't the odds of me being responsible higher than Dorgon smuggling in spies?

I reread the passage out of sheer disbelief, then closed my eyes again. They were right. I had nothing to say.

Who in their right mind would imagine that the man charged with protecting the Academy would fire off Kagan's own technique in the middle of the campus?

"What do you think?"

The Crown Prince's calm voice sounded an awful lot like I am going to kill you.

Shit.

Even I thought it was insane. I couldn't even ask him to look the other way just this once.

As expected, the Audit Department Chief was a loyal subject.

Did he worry that overwork might leave me haggard, or that the monotony of daily routine might bore me? Was that why he kept detonating incidents of this magnitude? Every time I received one of the Chief's little surprise gifts, fatigue and tedium vanished in an instant. There was no more devoted retainer in the world—and heaven help us if there were two of him.

…Will he mellow a little with age?

Reports had come screaming in from the southern Empire. Having read their wretched contents firsthand, the Audit Department Chief hung his head like a criminal—no, he was a criminal. In any case, he kept his head thoroughly bowed in the posture of a guilty man.

A pathetic sight. The Chief was a servant I could not afford to discard, so whether he brought surprise gifts or horror gifts I had to keep him close—but I sincerely hoped that by his forties or fifties he would learn some restraint. If he was still causing disasters like this then, I would not survive it. I had no desire to become an emperor who collapsed from high blood pressure.

"What do you think?"

"This humble servant's recklessness has caused Your Highness grave concern. What words could I possibly offer?"

That only made me angrier. If he had been brazen about it I could have hit him with contempt of court along with the rest of the discipline. But the moment he knew he was at fault he dropped his head, and somehow it became awkward to get any angrier. He really had mastered nothing but the strangest survival arts.

Still, with the Audit Department Chief thoroughly cowed, the plan could proceed without a hitch.

"According to the southern regional army commander's report, the mages were uniformly appalled. Being mages, they apparently recognized at once that it was not the product of magic."

At that, the Chief's head sank even lower.

"Then the mages at the Academy need no further discussion. Once they report yesterday's events to their families or their homelands—word will cross the continent in no time."

"This humble servant was reckless…"

"Trying to clean up deeds with words is a coward's move. Is it not?"

"…Yes, Your Highness. Your words are entirely just."

After a brief hesitation, the Audit Department Chief forced the words out as if coughing up blood.

Good. With that, he would have no choice but to accept whatever outcome followed.

"Regarding this incident, the Imperial Household intends to issue an official announcement. The sky was split by the Audit Department Chief's sword stroke, and the Magic Lord can attest to it."

The Imperial Household would choose not containment but amplification. If a thing could not be hidden—if it never needed to be hidden in the first place—then announcing it in the name of the Imperial Household was the profitable move. The incident would transform from the Chief's impulsive act into one carried out under Imperial direction and involvement.

The Audit Department Chief had followed the logic that far; his darkened expression began to brighten.

"Did the Audit Department Chief not personally demonstrate the pinnacle of the sword for the diligent students of the Academy? It may have been a touch excessive, but that only speaks to how deeply he considers the future. A most admirable heart."

"Your Highness flatters me."

I merely nodded at his quick reply.

There was nothing more to say. Mentally I was still too tired for a long speech, and the Chief was more than capable of understanding from this much alone.

Now it is the knights' turn.

When the Magic Lord became a visiting instructor at the Academy, the Empire reaped both tangible and intangible gains. Mages flocked in just to see a mage who had reached the end of magic, just to hear a single phrase of her teaching. And with them came petitions for smooth entry and activity, for enrollment, and the commensurate prices attached.

When the Magic Lord first decided on the Academy, I had only managed a hollow laugh—yet once she took up residence, nothing but positive results followed. Having tasted that sweetness, seeking other ways to exploit it was only natural.

And now the Audit Department Chief stationed at the Academy had put on a spectacular display with his sword. True, it was only an imitation of the Heaven-Defier's technique, and the Heaven-Defier's son could use it as well—but other people did not know that.

After the Magic Lord, a Sword Lord?

A warrior who had reached the realm of cleaving the heavens with a blade. Once that rumor spread, the uproar would rival the Magic Lord's arrival.

I look forward to it.

When the Magic Lord came, the Uven Alliance's Ernesto Academy had bowed its head. Those who prided themselves as a great magical power had submitted before the Empire. Then this time, was it not Armein—the knight kingdom—that should bow?

Armein needed its knees forced to the ground whenever the chance arose. A nation sharing a border with the Empire, and the next strongest power after it. On top of that, the way it strutted about as a knight kingdom was unbearably pretentious.

But Armein's pride was finished now. A knight kingdom? So did Armein have a warrior who could cut the sky? The ranking among warriors had always been more tangled than the magical world with its overwhelming number one—but no longer. At least outwardly, the Audit Department Chief stood at the top.

I was saved.

When the Crown Prince pulled out those reports I had braced for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠suspension at minimum, or worse—but I got off without a single disciplinary mark.

"Did the Audit Department Chief not personally demonstrate the pinnacle of the sword for the diligent students of the Academy."

In the middle of it all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he had said something that anyone could tell was code for extra work, but that was fine. Annoying was better than suspension or detention.

Besides, just as the Magic Lord taught however she pleased, I had no obligation to play the zealous instructor either. Unlike the Magic Lord's arrival, which had coincided with the start of term and drawn a flood of people, I was mid-semester. Outside petitioners would not come pouring in from across the continent demanding instruction overnight.

…Good thing I cut the sky.

If I had only half-heartedly sliced the Academy instead, it would have ended in discipline for sure.

As expected, if you are going to do something insane, you should go all the way. Not that I planned on doing it twice.