Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Ominous Signs
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“Stop it.”
The one who intervened was Izmel Carol, the dormitory captain of the Crown of Thorns Class, whom he was meeting face-to-face for the first time.
Izmel was a cadet with pale yellow eyes and long, drooping eyes that tapered at the ends.
He had braided his cherry blossom pink hair down to his armpits, and he was famous for rarely venturing out, but for some reason, he had come all the way here in person today.
“Captain, doesn’t this situation feel off to you?”
“It does. It’s a graduation ceremony, of all things, and every one of us is armed. What could be stranger than that?”
At that sharp, irritated retort, the cadet who had been picking a fight with the staff member meekly took his seat.
Though it was hard to see under his robe, Izmel had a lean, lanky build and a neat hairstyle that didn’t quite match his rough speech.
Izmel, who was covered in accessory-type magic tools instead of weapons, looked flashy on the surface but gave off the vibe of a poisonous plant hiding venom within.
“That was dangerous.”
Judith, who had been watching the scene, whispered to me in a rare tone of fluster.
“Dangerous how?”
“That staff member. He’s a magic swordsman.”
Judith’s judgment was unlikely to be wrong, but it was still startling.
Magic swordsmen were rare talents even at the national level.
“…A magic swordsman? Like you or Arthur?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s… quite rare.”
That was why most magic swordsmen ended up as Royal Guards under the kingdom, totaling around a thousand of them, and if you filtered for the exceptional ones like Judith or Arthur, there were fewer than a hundred.
Considering that Aegis Academy produced about ten magic swordsmen per year, the fact that this staff member was one was pretty surprising.
“Don’t get too shocked yet. That staff member isn’t just any magic swordsman. Most Aegis Academy cadets couldn’t beat him.”
“If you’re saying that much…… Does that mean he’s been hiding his skills? Why?”
“…Who knows.”
Having successfully calmed the excited Crown of Thorns Class cadet, Izmel plopped down into his seat without hiding his irritated expression.
Izmel gave a slight bow to the staff member; though he had personally soothed the agitated cadet, he himself seemed inwardly uneasy about the situation.
“Come this way.”
While we watched the scene for a moment, another staff member approached us and gripped the handle of my wheelchair with his black-gloved hand.
Judith tried to refuse the help and take over the wheelchair herself, but the staff member politely yet firmly separated the two of us.
‘Damn it. I haven’t even properly told Colette about this yet!’
The situation was so absurd that I couldn’t mention the possibility of a fanatic group blindly following the executioner.
No, now that I thought about it, it did sound strange.
I never imagined a day would come when I’d have to seriously tell someone I had fanatics.
In any case, Judith followed the staff member’s guidance to the spot beside the platform where the top students stood in a row.
Naturally, Arthur was there too, since it was where the top students gathered.
“Please draw your swords according to the program.”
“Yes.”
After hearing Judith’s response, the staff member bowed his head and entered the preparation room behind the platform.
Though Judith and Arthur differed in age, year, and major, they lightly bowed to each other when their eyes met.
Judith exchanged greetings one by one with the cadets she had likely spent even more time with than me, then stopped at what seemed to be her assigned spot.
It was next to a black-haired cadet who, like her, had a ornate ceremonial sword at her waist.
“Hello, Cadet Judith Taylor.”
“Hello, Cadet Camilla Summer.”
Camilla had hair as black as Colette’s.
When our eyes met, Camilla smiled brightly at me before starting a conversation with Judith.
‘Are black-haired people really that common at the academy?’
But on closer inspection, Camilla’s black hair looked dyed.
It had a slight reddish tint under the sunlight, though it wasn’t too obvious.
However, standing right next to Camilla was none other than Arthur.
My gaze naturally shifted to Arthur, who stood silently beside her.
“……”
Arthur’s jet-black hair, which seemed to devour space itself, was one of his charms.
As always, Arthur had his hair neatly combed back and wore a pristine ceremonial uniform.
His sturdy, angular frame—better described as massive than just toned—naturally exuded an untouchable aura.
‘But that guy looks a bit off today, too.’
No, was he just in a bad mood?
In any case, Arthur was one of the academy’s representatives and couldn’t miss an event like this.
The same went for every cadet on the platform.
They were the model students with top grades at Aegis Academy, the ceremonial sword bearers who would stand on either side in salute position with swords drawn when the valedictorian gave their speech.
“The graduates will enter shortly. Please take your seats.”
Staff members were positioned one at each end of the three divided seating areas.
It looked almost like they were monitoring us.
“Excuse me, sorry, but…”
I asked the staff member pushing my wheelchair to move me to the front, the closest spot available to regular cadets.
The staff member was polite and taciturn as usual, aside from being armed.
As long as they fulfilled their staff duties, I intended to fulfill my cadet duties.
“Is this spot alright?”
“Yes. Thank you. But where are the professors? I don’t see any new students either.”
One of the most unique aspects of Aegis Academy’s graduation ceremonies was that graduates, who commissioned into service and returned to the mainland upon graduation, gave speeches to the fresh-faced young cadets.
For the young ones, their seniors’ entrance ceremony was essentially their graduation, aligned with mainland administrative procedures.
A once-in-a-lifetime entrance ceremony doubling as the academy’s eldest members’ graduation—hardly anyone found it joyful.
That was my personal take on graduation ceremonies, but for the procedure to be ignored this thoroughly was abnormal.
“We were only instructed to conduct the event on time and according to protocol.”
“…Without new students?”
Judith, with her sharp ears, was clearly listening to our conversation.
At the staff member’s reply, she twitched an eyebrow, revealing her discomfort, then took her position per the program—one hand on her sword hilt, the other behind her back like at ease.
Like a mirror image, Arthur assumed the exact same stance and awaited the next part.
-Baaaam!
Finally, the performance began from the instrumental majors dressed in ceremonial uniforms.
They played on the stage at the right end of the semicircle, wearing the same confused expressions as us.
‘Next up should be Makina’s entrance.’
Normally, Chancellor Reynolds would preside from the platform, but for some reason, he wasn’t here. Given the chancellor’s minimal role at the academy, no cadets paid it much mind.
-Clap clap clap clap…
No matter how I thought about it, something was wrong with this ceremony.
Yet most cadets were mechanically clapping along to the program out of habit.
Not everyone fully grasped the situation.
We were just watching in the hope that Makina would somehow sort out this mess of a graduation.
Amid awkward, half-hearted applause, Makina finally appeared.
“Ha.”
Makina stepped onto the platform, scanned the auditorium interior, and smirked with one eyebrow raised.
It wasn’t a happy laugh—it was genuine disbelief.
Seeing that, I realized it.
Even Makina hadn’t known about this chaos.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Makina, who had laughed in exasperation, soon shifted to a solemn, composed expression and ascended the platform with poised steps.
The Black Lily Class ceremonial uniform was white—the inverse of the Crown of Thorns Class’s—and floor-length to cover the feet.
Long ends of the stole around her neck were embroidered with black lilies that seemed to hold a drop of blood.
Makina lowered her gaze slightly and slowly opened her mouth.
“I thank the 71 esteemed seniors who will shine today at Aegis Academy for giving me, Makina Christie, representative of the Black Lily Class cadets, this opportunity to honor them.”
The graduation ceremony had begun.
Makina, who should have been a participant, was now leading it as cadet representative.
This bizarre scene felt to me like the prelude to an ominous future.
And that future felt like an inescapable fate for the current me.
‘Fate……’
But even so, would I just meekly accept the tightening noose?
Should I tamely accept that everyone here was destined to have their souls devoured by some inscrutable being?
“I was just informed of this myself, but the entrance ceremony that was supposed to proceed alongside has been canceled.”
Makina clearly knew far more than I did about whatever was going on.
Her charisma, beyond her years, and elegance bordering on divinity hinted at transcendent qualities.
“But this is merely one of life’s many turning points. Now, I present the brave seniors who will overcome countless turning points, hardships, trials, and adversities to protect holy Aegis.”
-Clap clap clap clap…
Right—who would look at that composure and think she was just another cadet our age?
I inwardly admired Makina’s calm demeanor and polished speech, clapping repeatedly.
-Creeeak.
The auditorium doors opened, and in strode the graduates in black cloaks with red linings—made just for this one day—and ceremonial uniforms.
I had been severely bullied by some seniors in the past, so I wasn’t on greeting terms with most of them, but Judith elegantly clasped her hands behind her back and bowed to a few.
-Shing!
About ten top cadets, selected as honor guards, faced off in pairs of five and drew their swords from their waists.
Arthur was paired with Judith.
The gleaming, meticulously polished straight ceremonial swords clashed to form a small arch leading to the platform where Makina stood.
And so, amid unresolved doubts, the graduation ceremony began.