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Chapter 27.
Ruin entered the lecture hall and flicked his cane with a sharp swing.
‘Move.’
At once, a chair slid swiftly over to the princess’s side.
It was her first time experiencing Ruin’s magic, but it moved far more smoothly than she had expected.
‘As expected of top-tier magic.’
Of course, one had to wonder if there was any mage who would bother raising such a minor basic spell all the way to top-tier.
「But perhaps that’s exactly why it can be useful sometimes?」
No way.
“Please, have a seat. If it’s only five minutes, there won’t even be a need to bring tea.”
The princess snorted inwardly, but her eyes flashed as if to say that his attitude would only last for now.
“I don’t want to waste time either, so I’ll ask directly.”
The beauty’s sky-blue eyes gleamed like frost.
“How did you break it?”
At the princess’s question, Ruin raised one eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I’m talking about the spell I created.”
“Oh. Is that trivial curiosity why you abandoned your mission halfway and rushed back?”
At the chill in Ruin’s gaze, the princess flinched.
So this professor dislikes me for some reason. Was that why?
Ruin smiled coldly.
“To think a mission is something you can so lightly give up and return from over a single question—how enviable.”
The princess lightly bit her lip. Ruin’s eyes were strangely frightening.
‘Is that because he’s Waynga, the Empire’s watchdog?’
No… they were the eyes of someone who had lived deeper in darkness.
‘In any case, I don’t know why he dislikes me, but…’
“I don’t dislike you. Your behavior simply irritates me.”
…Does this professor read minds?
“It’s written all over your face. More importantly, you asked how I broke the barrier spell, didn’t you?”
Ruin picked up a piece of chalk and began writing something on the blackboard without preamble.
“Let’s start by writing out the formula.”
The princess scoffed inwardly.
‘The formula of the barrier spell I used?’
Not even with a magic quill that writes spells automatically, but with plain chalk? Was he trying to show off in front of the prodigy mage and creator of the controversial spell?
‘He’s obviously just going to write part of the formula and act like he knows everything.’
Just like all the other professors.
However, as time passed, the look on her face began to change.
The formula being written was far too long. Thinking he had memorized more than expected, she watched seriously—then her expression gradually turned to shock, and finally went pale.
‘…No way. Is he writing the entire formula from memory?’
It was true.
Ruin had memorized the entire complex formula—comparable in volume to a thick language dictionary. Honestly, even she couldn’t manage that.
After filling the entire blackboard, Ruin spoke.
“As expected, there’s not enough space. Whether it was to show off or to torment the professors, it’s unnecessarily long.”
That man…!
“As for how I broke the barrier spell—I simply looked at it, understood it, and unraveled it.”
Tap!
He roughly drew an X over part of the formula.
“And then I removed the unnecessary sections.”
Tap! Tap!
“That’s the basis of ‘spell-breaking’—pabeop.”
Crack!
Ruin finally slammed the chalk down as if breaking it.
“There’s nothing impossible about undoing a malicious prank meant to trample professors while hiding behind the Imperial family as a shield.”
The princess was dumbfounded.
“Are you saying you used spell-breaking just now?”
“That’s correct.”
“……!”
Normally, there are two ways to dispel magic.
First, overpower it with stronger magic—the easiest and simplest method.
Second, destroy the core of the spell. Rather than analyzing the entire structure, you locate the power source and destroy it.
The princess had naturally assumed it was one of these two. But it was neither.
‘…Impossible. Spell-breaking?’
Spell-breaking (破法) was a form of magic specialized in dismantling spells, similar to defusing a bomb.
At a glance it seemed similar to the second method, but spell-breaking required fully understanding the entire structure of the spell and then removing the activation formulas one by one—like cutting each wire of a bomb.
But magic was essentially a massive lump of mana. Remove even one thing incorrectly, and the spell would immediately explode. That was why it was such a difficult and dangerous technique.
‘Finding and neutralizing the core would be much easier and more efficient. Spell-breaking is such a waste of time—’
At that gaze, Ruin narrowed his eyes in a thin smile, as if reading her thoughts.
“Yes. Of course, finding the core and neutralizing it is easier. But mages are crafty creatures. They always tamper with the core. Just like someone I know.”
“!”
The princess’s face flushed at being called out.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? How malicious. You made the core the Imperial crest.”
Ruin took out a coffee cup and poured himself some coffee. A teaching assistant approached, saying they would do it, but Ruin stopped them.
“Using Imperial law to try to kill a professor, putting other professors in trouble and depriving students of their right to learn…”
“……!”
“How could I view favorably a princess who abuses the Imperial crest for personal revenge?”
Personal revenge?!
The princess sprang to her feet in outrage.
“The professor of Demon Hunting used students as bait and fled.”
“That professor should be punished accordingly.”
“The other professors hid their colleague’s crime to protect their own positions and buried the incident.”
If professors bowed to power, then she would crush them with power in return—that was what she had sworn.
“Even so, making innocent students suffer crosses the line.”
The princess’s eyes flashed as if to say he shouldn’t speak so carelessly without knowing anything.
“There are things in this world that must be made known, even if it takes such measures.”
“One year.”
He glared at her fiercely.
“You’ve thrown away one year’s worth of lives.”
Ruin then poured milk into his coffee cup—glug, glug, glug—until it looked like a flood. The sight made the assistants sweat.
But Ruin’s eyes were savage.
“Demon Hunting is the study of hunting demons and protecting oneself from them.”
At that gaze, the princess flinched.
“What if a demon general or fire moth had attacked during that time?”
“…….”
“That was not a consideration befitting someone of the Imperial family, responsible for the Empire’s citizens of the Union.”
Ruin swallowed the coffee that was now little more than milk with a hint of coffee aroma. While in Haven, if he didn’t do this, his stomach burned too much.
‘Damn it. Honestly, who cares about demon generals or the Union?’
All he needed was to find the vault; none of this mattered to him.
‘Before the demon general sends word, I need to pay off my debt and get out.’
She was determined to turn him into a pinned butterfly specimen.
And that wasn’t all—he was irritated and worried that the strongest human, the Hero, might return to Haven at any moment. That bastard had an uncanny sense for the smell of demons.
Yet the princess herself bit her lip.
‘He really used spell-breaking?’
If he had broken her formula that way, then this man was an extraordinary talent. Enough that her siblings might try to snatch him as an aide in the struggle for the throne.
In fact, being able to use spell-breaking was an immense advantage. Its effectiveness was unmatched, but it was so difficult that even the Mage Tower struggled to find specialists. In the assassination-heavy competition for the throne, it was a tremendous asset.
But before arriving at Haven, the princess recalled what the professor of Healing had said.
“Your Highness, your face. There’s a mark on your face. I’m certain of it! Try removing it.”
The princess spoke seriously.
“Take off your clothes.”
At those words, the third-year Goldmoon students eavesdropping outside were startled out of their skins.
…What?
“I already did.”
What?!
“I heard you didn’t take off your lower garments.”
“That’s right. We didn’t see that.”
At the assistant’s added remark, the students’ faces turned red and their mouths fell even further open.
What did you say?!
“I’ll report this.”
“Then remove the bandages. There’s something I need to check. And let me be clear—this isn’t a request. It’s an order.”
At that, the hearts of the professors and students listening outside pounded.
So it’s finally happening!
‘Your Highness, please save us! That dog of a professor is trying to expel us…’
‘No matter how much of a Waynga he is, if it’s the princess’s order, he’ll have no choice but to strip.’
Of course, Ruin had no intention of complying meekly.
‘He’ll definitely try to run.’
Then they would restrain him so he couldn’t escape. That was why they had surrounded the area outside.
As the professors prepared to seize Ruin when he fled, an unexpectedly bold answer came from inside.
“I don’t mind undressing. However, I have one condition.”
Everyone was taken aback.
‘A condition?’
What condition?
The princess was flustered.
A condition? No professor had ever dared place conditions on her. Her catlike eyes twisted in confusion.
‘Money? A position?’
Yes—everyone wanted something. Every noble who approached her did.
But then—
“If there’s no mark when you strip me, you will offer a sincere apology.”
“?!”
Everyone outside gasped.
The princess doubted her ears.
“An apology?”
“Ah, I see. ‘Apology’ must be too difficult a word for royalty. Then I’ll put it simply. I’m asking you to kneel.”
The assistants went deathly pale, and the princess was speechless.
How dare he say that to royalty! Money or a position would have been far more realistic!
“Do you truly wish to lose your head?”
Enraged, the princess abandoned all courtesy. She felt no need for it anymore.
But Ruin smiled with his eyes.
“Well, of course you’re scared. You might actually have to kneel.”
“Are you saying there’s no mark on your face?”
Despite the pressure that would have made anyone else bow their head, Ruin remained utterly relaxed, sipping his coffee-flavored milk.
“Isn’t that obvious? It would be strange if I couldn’t break such childish play.”
What? Childish play?
The princess’s hand trembled.
From childhood, she had been slated to become the next Lord of the Mage Tower, aiming for the position of the next Star—namely, the Hero. And he called it what?
“Did you just call it childish play?”
“Yes. What exactly have you been learning at Haven all this time? I’m starting to wonder who called you a genius prodigy in the first place. Ah—my apologies. It happens often. When people praise you constantly, you start to believe you’re a real prodigy. Do you know what that’s called?”
Ruin broke into a wide grin.
“It’s called ‘frog eggs that haven’t even grown into tadpoles yet.’”
The princess’s anger finally boiled over.
‘This man—he won’t even treat me as a frog!’
Just as she was about to speak, the sharp sound of a coffee cup being set down cut her off.
“Are you angry?”
“Is that even a question—”
Then Ruin’s voice rang out gently.
“I came to Haven with bandages on because I had a story, and I made a special request to do so.”
Though his tone was soft, his eyes were icy cold.
“If you want to touch someone else’s wounds, you must be prepared for your own to be touched as well.”
“Ugh.”
“Know this: poking at someone’s wounds merely to satisfy your own curiosity is extremely rude.”
At those words, even the students pressing their ears to the door jolted.
‘He was pissed?’
‘Is that why he brought up expulsion?!’
Only then did the students realize the source of his spite and recoil in shock. Of course, Ruin—twenty years a spy and a habitual liar—was shamelessly pretending to be hurt.
The princess bit her lip, at a loss for words. Her anger, however, did not subside.
“Very well. I apologize for trying to pry into your wounds without consideration. I won’t touch the bandages.”
In truth, she didn’t need to ask at all. Rather than such a roundabout method, it would be easier to confirm it directly.
As expected, her eyes sharpened. Soon, the princess took out her jegu (諸具).
A jegu was, simply put, a custom weapon. Students with sufficient skill often had one made.
Unlike third-years who used training staves, a jegu boasted a dramatic increase in power and range of abilities.
In other words—
“This means, break through a practice spell and stop lecturing me!”
The moment the words left her mouth, the princess swung her jegu. At the same time, a familiar magic circuit came to mind—the barrier spell used by third-year students.
‘But this time, I added a curse.’
If you don’t want to die, then try using that precious spell-breaking of yours!
A circuit flared beneath Ruin’s feet, and a powerful barrier surged upward.
Crash!
Cold formed within the barrier and swept over Ruin. It was the power of the princess, hailed as part of Haven’s Golden Generation.
Moreover, as a Goldmoon who wielded ancestral power, her strength was enough to rival top-tier heroes.
“Professor!”
Only after that scream-like cry echoed did the princess realize her mistake.
‘I put too much power into it.’
She had meant it as a warning, not intending to use cold at all.
She was born with an affinity for frost and could naturally imbue all her magic with freezing attributes. That cold was powerful enough to rapidly freeze an opponent’s heart.
‘Damn it! I really need to fix this short temper of mine.’
The cold obscured her vision. Her face stiff, the princess sprang up and hurried to release the barrier—but—
“Well, compared to mere imitators, the original is at least a bit more refined.”
“!”
