TSN 06

Chapter 06

Dusk was already falling on Lykeion Academy, located at the foot of the mountain.

By the time afternoon classes ended and students headed to the dormitory, it was difficult to see even an inch ahead without carrying a lantern.

……But today was a bit different.

The moon, close to being full.

The intensely shining moonlight mixed with the thick darkness characteristic of the mountains, dyeing the mountain path a strange gray color.

Step- step- step-.

There was someone walking leisurely alone on the mountain path toward the dormitory.

Robespierre.

The reason he was returning home later than other students was simple.

As soon as class ended, he had conducted various experiments in the sparsely populated forest.

Robespierre closed his physical eyes and opened his mind’s eye.

And he looked into his inner mana hole.

Black and white.

The two manas were separated like water and oil.

Black and white mana violently clashing inside the mana hole.

Whenever the black mana tried to rampage fiercely, the white mana intervened to stabilize the mana hole.

‘……Fascinating.’

Various colored manas exist in this world.

White mana used by clerics and holy knights, elemental manas of red, blue, yellow, green, etc. used by elemental magicians.

Naturally, black mana is the mana needed when using black magic.

Each mana has its own unique characteristics, and inexperienced users are bound to be eroded by those mana characteristics.

The characteristic of black mana is endless impulse.

It was the power responsible for destruction and reconstruction, and the fastest, most violent, and most aggressive energy among all manas.

The reason dark magicians are swept up in madness was also due to this characteristic of black mana.

If that madness is subdivided further: anger, gluttony, lust, sloth, envy, greed, pride…… and so on.

Especially since black mana flows through the bloodstream faster than all other colored manas, its characteristics appear even more prominently.

The cycle of destruction where the destructive impulse created by using black magic leads to using even more powerful black magic.

Therefore, madness was like an inevitable companion, like family, to dark magicians.

‘……Even I had considerable trouble completely controlling the impulses of black mana.’

The more black mana accumulated in the body, the stronger the impulses emerged, and when these overlapped, one gradually became unable to control reason.

Even Robespierre himself, who was the strongest dark magician in history, was no different from a madman before reaching the supreme level.

However.

‘……Surprising. This body doesn’t become prey to madness.’

With such a weak body, it was an amount of black mana that should have caused rampages dozens of times.

Yet it’s so peaceful.

Hissssssssssssssss…….

He could feel the white mana calming the black mana before it could rampage, creating a strange grayish equilibrium.

Just like this mountain path dyed gray by the mixture of darkness and moonlight.

‘Harmony between white mana and black mana……’

It was completely unexpected.

To think that white mana and black mana, which he thought were opposites, would play the role of restraining each other.

The original owner of this worthless body.

He could realize this because Lolol Saint Pierre possessed white mana, however weakly.

If not for that, he wouldn’t have even thought of using something like white mana.

Robespierre felt like he had found the key to reaching even higher levels of dark arts.

To be able to suppress the mana rampage phenomenon, which was black magic’s worst drawback.

Of course, it’s fine now, but as black mana increases, white mana must increase correspondingly.

Otherwise, white mana won’t be able to stop black mana’s rampage.

‘……I’ll have to diligently accumulate divine power too.’

Robespierre was someone who had lived his entire life looking only at black magic.

Naturally, he didn’t know methods for obtaining white mana.

But he wasn’t worried at all.

After all, where Robespierre was now was Lykeion, the continent’s greatest sacred academy.

Even if he just sat still, professors would chatter away about their secret techniques.

That would become nourishment for creating an incomparably powerful and evil dark magician.

‘I should appear to be a model student if possible.’

He didn’t need to force himself to be a model student, but it would be better to be one if possible.

The more intimate relationship he had with professors, the more opportunities he could encounter.

Then.

“……”

Robespierre suddenly stopped in the middle of the mountain path.

He felt an ominous presence behind him.

Rustle-.

The sound of something moving in the grass could be heard.

‘Three people…… No, four?’

There were humans who had been following him from earlier.

He thought they were students heading to the dormitory, but apparently they were tailing him.

Then, the sound of something cutting through the air was heard.

……Whoosh! Thunk!

Robespierre reflexively caught something that flew like an arrow.

At the same time, the shadows hiding in the grass began hurriedly running toward the school.

Robespierre looked at what he had caught.

A strangely shaped crossbow bolt with a bluntly shaved tip.

It was made not to penetrate the target, but just to hit and cause pain by shaving the tip.

If he hadn’t caught it with his hand, he would have received enough impact to cause bruising.

Robespierre traced through Pierre’s memories to find the group of people who would do such things.

‘Which bastards are they?’

But too many people came to mind, so he couldn’t specify any particular one.

‘……Bothersome.’

Then, Robespierre saw a piece of paper tied in the middle of the arrow shaft.

This shooting seemed to have the purpose of delivering some message besides simple harassment.

Rustle-.

Robespierre held the letter tied in the middle of the bolt up to the moonlight.

[Come to the abandoned warehouse by midnight]

Writing done in blood.

At least it didn’t seem to be a love letter for confessing love.

The sports warehouse located on the outskirts of Lykeion Academy.

Inside the dark sports warehouse, three menacing-looking students were gathered together.

Eventually.

Thud-! Thump-!

The dull sound of hard polo balls hitting the wall echoed loudly.

Second-year Melberik, who was throwing the ball, sneered with an irritated expression.

“He’s late, our Pierre. How many beatings is he planning to get by being this late today?”

The large student crouching beside him chuckled and responded.

“Right. Die already. Isn’t he late because he’s padding something inside his pants again?”

At those words, the sly-looking student sitting on the vaulting horse burst into laughter and answered.

“Hey, last time he did that and got beaten 100 times instead of 10. If he had a brain, he’d just run away like hell. Oh, did that bastard not have a brain?”

Melberik threw the bounced ball back at the wall with all his might and said forcefully.

“Or maybe his brain got smashed from getting beaten too much back then?”

At those words, the other two also burst into laughter.

“Be careful not to beat him to death today.”

“What’s wrong with killing him? That bastard Pierre was abandoned by his family. Even if we kill him, no one from that family will say anything. Plus with our family’s power and the juvenile protection buff.”

To these second-year Lykeion Academy students, Pierre was the perfect prey.

His excessively timid personality, being from a wealthy family, and his shockingly poor talent.

Due to his handsome face, he had quite a reputation among female students at the beginning of the semester, but such interest had long disappeared after his true nature was revealed.

Then, the sly-looking one pulled out a pocket watch from his chest and said.

“Huh, look at this? Already 12:02 AM? Wow, I…… that bastard Pierre. Did he really get beaten so much that his fear disappeared along with his brain?”

The mountain-sized one also slowly nodded and muttered.

“Just beating him a few times won’t be satisfying, will it? We should make him eat some fresh warm pig shit from the school pigsty today.”

Melberik caught the ball that bounced off the wall and sneered.

“……Really? Are you serious? He’s the grateful bastard who made us run around in the middle of the night, so will that really be enough?”

The ball thrown at the wall bounced back with a fierce sound.

Thump-!

Melberik’s lips were twitching with irritation and anger.

The big guy plopped down on the floor and said.

“……The more I think about it, the more fucked up it is. Why do we have to do the collecting ourselves? We did it so much last year it made us sick.”

Originally, petty tasks like collecting should be done by first-years.

But since the three first-year Black Fang members had suddenly dropped out, this annoying work had been dumped on the second-years.

Eventually, Melberik said quietly with a serious face.

“Maybe…… that Pierre bastard dealt with the first-year guys and that’s why they dropped out?”

At those words, the second-years looked at each other with expressions stained with shock and horror.

But that was only for a moment.

“Bwahahaha! Does that make sense!?”

“This one was honestly funny, I admit.”

The Black Fang second-years burst into laughter that seemed to shake the sports warehouse.

Melberik continued leisurely.

“Anyway, that bastard definitely has something. That’s why the youngest bastards all dropped out. Let’s shake him down thoroughly today.”

Then.

Creak-.

The sports warehouse entrance began slowly opening.

No doubt about it.

Pierre, the prey they had been waiting for, had finally revealed himself.

Melberik threw the ball he was holding with all his might as if he had been waiting.

“12:12 AM. 12 minutes late. Pierre, you’re dead, you bastard!”

The ball rushing with tremendous force.

Whiiiish-!

If it hit his face directly, nine times out of ten not only his front teeth but his jawbone would be shattered.

A smile appeared on Melberik’s face.

And.

Thud!

A dull sound burst out.

The ball bounced off a person’s face and rolled on the floor.

Roll roll roll…….

And soon, the expressions of the three became blank.

“……”

The large shadow standing tall in front of the warehouse door was definitely not Pierre’s.

“I came because second-years called me to the sports warehouse…… what is this situation?”

The person scratching his nose bridge as if bitten by a mosquito was none other than Professor Sanculotte.