Chapter 61
Chapter 61
The Imperial Palace in the Imperial Capital.
It was the Second Prince’s residence.
Tension hung thick in the air.
The master of the palace, the Second Prince, was in a foul mood.
“This is troublesome. Mikhail has joined Ban’s Class?”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
The air around them grew heavy.
The Third Prince, Mikhail.
He was called the Demon Blade and treated as a calamity, but that was not how the Second Prince, Lenius, saw him.
‘In the end, everyone thinks that bastard Mikhail will become emperor.’
The First Prince had died in the past, making Lenius, the Second Prince, first in line to the throne.
And yet, he still had not been named Crown Prince—all because of his younger brother, Mikhail.
According to the prophecy, Mikhail would eventually become emperor.
‘If it weren’t for that bastard Mikhail, I never would have become an Apostle of Ouroboros.’
The Second Prince Lenius’s eyes turned bleak.
It didn’t matter.
He would become the master of the Empire in the new world Ouroboros would bring.
“…In any case, surely Ban can’t overcome Your Highness’s scheme? There’s no way he can take first place in the class evaluation with only six students. He’ll be driven out before long.”
The Second Prince agreed.
He had deliberately set the class evaluation criteria against Ban, so Ban would have to earn a score five times higher than that of the other classes.
All six students would have to achieve overwhelming results, and on top of that, they would have to squeeze every possible extra point out of the evaluation.
But—
“I keep having this ominous feeling. It’s absurd, but what if Ban takes first place in the class evaluation, too? Just imagine what would happen then.”
“…Ban would become a star professor overnight.”
“Yes. My scheme would only give Ban wings. And the same goes for the Demon Blade.”
He knew.
He knew he was worrying too much.
But he couldn’t simply dismiss it.
“I can’t stand by and watch this any longer. I’ll take action.”
“But if you act against Ban directly, the Ecclesia Ducal House will never stand by and do nothing. It could also jeopardize the great undertaking.”
“There’s no need to target Ban directly. Isn’t there a saying that, if you want to bring down a powerful knight, you should go after his horse?”
Those had been Viscount Conrad’s words when he targeted Libel not long ago.
But what the Second Prince intended to do was far more horrible.
It wasn’t even comparable.
“I’ll kill every student except Ban and the Demon Blade. If only Ban and the Demon Blade survive in such a cowardly fashion, their reputations will hit rock bottom, too. Neither of them will be able to remain at the Academy.”
“…If you take action yourself, Your Highness may be exposed.”
“Don’t worry. There happens to be a role perfectly suited to the occasion. Come out.”
The subordinate looked puzzled.
There was no sign of anyone nearby.
But then, at that very moment—
—Hee-hee-hee. My greetings to the Empire’s most exalted personage.
A chilling voice came from a wooden puppet set against the wall.
—I am called Puppet.
A horrific villain from the Abyss, who had once been defeated by Ban.
A Level Seven, Master-class black magician.
“Can you do it?”
—Can I do it?
A frigid presence seeped from the wooden puppet.
Even the Second Prince flinched.
—Hee-hee-hee. Your Highness cannot even imagine how much I’ve longed to destroy that bastard.
“You must not kill Ban.”
—Of course not.
The wooden puppet’s mouth split grotesquely from side to side.
—Death is a place of rest. Naturally, I can’t let him die easily. I’ll cast him into an endless abyss and enjoy watching him thrash about in agony.
“……”
—First, I’ll slowly torture and dismember the disciples he cherishes, right before his eyes. Ah, just imagining that insolent face of his clouded with despair is enough to thrill me.
And so—
An unexpected and horrific crisis began to descend upon Ban’s Class.
Puppet was not the only threat facing Ban’s Class.
“Miss Julia? Why me?”
“I have something to ask Lord Wilhelm about, regarding preparations for the class gathering.”
“…Me?”
Wilhelm replied, facing Julia, his voice cowed.
He was such a pathetic loser that people called him Van the Wretch the Second. Julia, by contrast, was one of the most promising students in the year, drawing the greatest attention.
“You know we’re in the same class, don’t you? And that our class is going to the Underground Waterway for our gathering?”
“…Of course I know.”
Julia’s face instantly scrunched up.
The class could choose its own gathering place.
But there wasn’t a single other class that would go somewhere like the Underground Waterway.
‘Lots of classes use Portals to go sightseeing at famous destinations all over the continent. How tacky.’
Julia thought of Ban’s face and ground her teeth.
She couldn’t stand it.
“Are you really going to the Underground Waterway without a fight?”
“…It’s the professor’s order. I can’t do anything about it. I can’t disobey Professor Ban.”
“Tsk! How can you claim to be descended from the brave North Sea Border Marquis with so little backbone?”
“…My father isn’t especially brave, either. Ah—no, I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
When Julia glared at him with blazing eyes, Wilhelm hurriedly tried to read her mood.
Julia looked at him for a moment with a gaze tinged with contempt, then spoke in a softer voice.
“Of course, I understand why you’re acting this way, Lord Wilhelm. Professor Ban is threatening you, isn’t he? I know all about it. Professor Ban is nothing but crafty.”
“……”
“Don’t you want to get Professor Ban expelled from the Academy?”
“…P-Professor Ban?”
“Yes. If we get Professor Ban expelled, you’ll be free again, too.”
Wilhelm swallowed hard.
His resolve to become a new person didn’t even last half a day after he got out of Prison.
All he could think about, over and over, was how to escape Ban’s clutches.
“I have a way.”
“H-How?”
“We can use this class gathering.”
Julia smiled brightly, then whispered softly.
Wilhelm’s eyes widened.
The class gathering.
It was an important event early in the new school year.
For two nights and three days, each class went on an outing outside the Academy to get to know one another better.
‘The Academy itself is a social hub for the Empire, so there are countless tedious events like this.’
The problem was that these class gatherings had become excessively competitive.
The Free City was the center of trade across the continent, and Portals connected it to countless places.
You could reach just about any major location through a Portal.
As a result, more and more classes had started traveling to famous attractions all over the continent for their gatherings.
“Ha ha! Ban, where is your class going for its gathering? Kansir’s class has decided to visit the Warrior’s Sanctuary.”
“My class has decided to visit the Ancient Grand Library. I got special permission from the Magic Tower. Oh! Ban, your class doesn’t even have enough money to use a Portal, so traveling any distance will be difficult for you.”
For the record, the Academy covered the expenses for this class gathering.
Since the amount depended on the size of each class, my class received only a measly sum.
“You’re going to the Underground Waterway? You won’t get a good score at the gathering just for hunting a few Lower Rank Monsters. It would be a different story if you caught some truly formidable high-ranking Monsters, or perhaps a villain hiding in the Underground Waterway. It seems my class will earn the highest score in this gathering, too.”
The class gathering would count toward the classes’ evaluation scores as well.
The scores were based on how meaningful the activities were, so receiving less funding put a class at a disadvantage.
“Ha ha! We’re off! Have fun hunting rats in the waterway! I feel sorry for the students in your class.”
“It should at least help keep the city clean. Do your best as the janitors, will you? Heh heh.”
In a great rush,
Kansir and Ballas’s classes headed proudly toward the Portal.
And it wasn’t just their classes.
The students in every other class seemed to have chosen some rare and famous destination. Their faces were filled with excitement and enthusiasm.
On top of that, they all sent mocking looks our way.
After everyone else had left, only our class remained at the gathering point.
“……”
“……”
Whoosh.
Was it my imagination? The Academy’s romantic vision of a fun class gathering lay before us, yet it felt as if a desolate wind were blowing.
“Hah. The Underground Waterway, really? Whoever came up with that has no sense of class.”
Julia spoke, her voice thick with irritation.
“If we’re going to hunt Monsters, there are plenty of good training grounds nearby, like Blade Rock or the Beowulf Hunting Grounds. Why go somewhere so shabby?”
“If training were the goal, then the places you mentioned would be better. But I’m not going to the Underground Waterway just to hunt a few Monsters.”
“Then why?”
“Survival.”
“!!”
I looked at the members of my class—more precisely, at Wilhelm, Julia, and the Third Prince, all of whom were brimming with dissatisfaction.
“Let me ask you something. What is the purpose of a class gathering?”
“To help the members of the class get to know one another…”
“Do you think you can forge a true bond just by laughing and joking at some famous attraction? True friendship is built by overcoming a crisis together.”
“Ha! What kind of ridiculous—!”
Just then, Katrinne’s prickly voice cut Julia off.
“Ah, you’re so damn noisy, chattering away. If you’re scared, get lost. I’m going.”
“I-I’ll go too. A life-or-death survival game… I like those. And you, show some respect to Professor Ban. I’ll… scold you?”
The Third Prince shrugged, as if he had no choice.
Julia clenched her teeth.
“If even Your Highness is going to insist, fine. But I have one condition. Once we enter the waterway, I’ll act separately.”
“That won’t do.”
“Do you really expect me to follow instructions from someone as untrustworthy as you in a dangerous place like the Underground Waterway? Instead, I won’t go around alone. I’ll stay with Lord Wilhelm. You agree too, don’t you, Lord Wilhelm?”
“Huh? Oh, yes! I’ll stay with Lady Julia!”
Wilhelm’s eyes darted about before he hurriedly nodded.
He looked suspicious in every possible way.
‘So this was what she was after from the start. She picked a fight so she could split off on her own and pull some stunt to make trouble for me.’
Still, I didn’t argue or object. I simply nodded.
“Very well. Julia, it would be good for you to experience the dangers of a dungeon, too. But I’ll give you a calling Magic Tool, so if an emergency arises, contact me without delay.”
Clang!
I opened a manhole cover on the street and went down into the waterway.
After passing through the outer reaches and stepping into the forbidden depths, the air changed in an instant.
A shiver ran through me.
A Ghost Wail sounded in the distance.
It wasn’t an auditory hallucination.
Ghost-type Monsters were wandering everywhere.
There were surely all kinds of stealth-type Monsters hiding in places I couldn’t see, too.
“I-I’ll just stay with Professor Ban, then?”
“What are you doing, Lord Wilhelm? Don’t you trust me? Come on!”
Julia dragged Wilhelm, whose face had gone deathly pale, away with her.
“Is it all right to just leave her like that?”
“Are you worried about Julia?”
“No. What do I care what happens to that little shit? She’s so devious she’d never do anything that put herself in danger. I’m asking if it’s all right because it seems like she’s got some dark scheme in mind against you, Professor.”
“It’s fine. I know all about it.”
“…You know?”
I nodded readily.
“Yes. I expected all of this.”
No, let me correct that.
I had intended for Julia to act that way.
‘From the very beginning, I chose the Underground Waterway as the class outing destination precisely to make Julia act that way.’
Julia had been my target from the start. Wilhelm was an added bonus.
In other words, the two of them had fallen into the trap I’d set.