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Chapter 12
The next day.
Lykeion Academy’s training ground was packed with students who had gathered since morning.
Because of the sparring matches.
“Ah, I got matched with a fourth-year senior this time. What kind of mess is this for a third-year?”
“Doesn’t that senior take field practice classes? Isn’t he a failing student?”
“……That guy got matched with a first-year. If he doesn’t win overwhelmingly, he’ll be mocked for a year.”
“Your opponent is Hermione, right? You’re screwed? She’s supposedly the first-year top student.”
“Ha! Who would lose to a first-year? And to a commoner at that?”
“Don’t cry when you talk. Stop it! Man.”
From anxious students to confident ones, from those mocking others to those making crying faces.
The reactions were varied and diverse, but everyone was secretly looking forward to the sparring matches.
Lykeion Academy, thoroughly isolated from the outside world.
For the hot-blooded students, sparring matches were the one and only spectacle.
Of course, that was only limited to matches they weren’t participating in.
Evenly matched fights had the thrill of intensity, and matches with large gaps had their own entertainment value.
Meanwhile, the main event everyone was looking forward to in today’s sparring matches was……
“That hopeless first-year Pierre is fighting with third-year captain George, right?”
“He’s. Screwed. What can he do? I’m betting on a one-minute finish.”
“Hey, anyone want to bet on Pierre?”
“Even for long odds, this is a bit……”
[Round 1. George Pendragon vs Lolol Saint Pierre]
A match between George, the genius swordsman of the Pendragon family, and Pierre, the underachiever.
It was a match where the obvious result awaited anyone who looked.
The general pattern was that scores were divided based on how overwhelmingly the upperclassmen won and how much the underclassmen struggled.
The first-year students looked at the upperclassmen giggling among themselves with disapproving expressions.
“Ugh, being older is such a privilege.”
“If I study one more year, I could become much stronger than those bastards.”
“I wonder if there’ll be no upsets this time either. Even by luck.”
“Let’s hope for Hermione. As for Pierre…… rest in peace.”
“Pierre has been getting better lately though. ……It won’t work, right?”
Everyone had dissatisfied expressions, but no one showed it outwardly.
No matter how much they wanted to cheer for their fellow first-year, Pierre defeating George in a sparring match was an impossible thing.
Eventually.
Hoooooo-.
The horn sound announcing the start of the sparring matches resonated throughout the entire colosseum.
At the same time, Professor Foeyang, who taught sparring classes, appeared on the platform.
“Waaaaaaaaaah-!”
Cheers from students beginning to fill every corner of the training ground.
Professor Foeyang opened his mouth with a somewhat troubled expression.
“……We will now begin the sparring evaluation.”
As soon as Professor Foeyang finished speaking, the tightly closed iron gate slowly began to rise.
Creeeeeeak……!
Various wishes mixed into the students’ cheering sounds.
“George! Stomp that stupid first-year bastard!”
“Overwhelming performance! We believe in you!”
“Senior George! Fighting! Kyaa!”
Most were cheers for George.
Under the sweeping roars, the first sparring students revealed themselves.
A stage made of pure white marble and the tall tiered steps surrounding it.
Warriors entering that magnificent white colosseum.
……However.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Why is he like that?”
The audience had to see something completely different from what they had expected.
“George! George! George! George!”
George’s name was still being chanted continuously from the audience.
But none of that cheering was reaching George, who was actually on the sparring ground.
Hollow, dead eyes. Drool flowing down his chin, armor worn carelessly and hanging loose.
Even the scabbard of the Pendragon family’s famous sword Winterrun was being dragged on the floor.
Eventually.
“……Huh?”
George, who had been standing blankly, seemed to suddenly come to his senses and began looking around.
It seemed the noisy cheering sounds had finally reached his ears.
George, the idol of Lykeion Academy’s female students, stepped onto the sparring ground with an idiotic expression.
Twisted greed, vulgar vanity, suppressed ambition.
Because all the ‘malice’ that had supported his inner self had completely disappeared at once.
The current George was just an empty shell like a marionette with its strings cut.
Meanwhile.
“……”
Robespierre, standing in front of George, just had an indifferent expression.
“George! George! George!”
Not knowing the reality, the audience continued cheering for George.
George was Lykeion Academy’s genius.
In such circumstances, if the underachiever Pierre unexpectedly won, the picture would be strange in many ways.
But the situation had changed a bit.
Robespierre looked at George.
‘……In other words, it would be a forfeit win due to the opponent’s poor condition.’
If it was the current George…… more precisely, ‘George who had become an idiot overnight for unknown reasons,’ the story was different.
‘Because genius George had problems, underachiever Pierre accidentally won!’
That would be just the right kind of ending.
Eventually, Professor Foeyang’s solemn voice resonated powerfully.
“……Sparring begins!”
At the same time.
Step- step- step-.
Robespierre began slowly walking forward holding a wooden sword.
It was a very ordinary walk, no different from usual.
“What is he doing?”
“A new suicide method?”
“He’s going to charge head-on against the great George?”
“That bastard, isn’t he out of his mind from fear?”
Puzzled reactions burst out from the audience.
George was the foremost genius swordsman among Lykeion Academy’s third-years.
An underachiever like Pierre walking up full of openings would be knocked out in one blow.
However, the audience’s expectations were overturned once again.
The moment George, who had been standing blankly, turned his gaze toward Robespierre in front of him.
“……!”
George began trembling all over as if seeing some evil spirit.
The closer Robespierre got, the greater that trembling became.
“What…… why is Senior George like that?”
“George! What are you doing! Quickly blow him away in one shot!”
“Why is he just standing there?”
But such reactions from the audience weren’t reaching George at all.
“……Ah! ……Ah! ……Ah!”
George was seeing something different – only George alone in this vast training ground was seeing something else.
The being who had once single-handedly turned more than half the continent to ash.
The true face of Robespierre, the supreme dark magician who was known as the strongest and most evil throughout human history!
“Uh…… uuuuaaah!”
George’s last memory.
The heart being ripped out by the roots, the brain rotting and crumbling, pain and despair as if his soul was being torn out – all of this was making every single muscle fiber in his body tremble.
One step closer Robespierre came.
One step back George retreated.
Repulsive force.
Like magnets of the same pole violently pushing each other away, George continuously maintained a certain distance from Robespierre.
……But the area of the sparring ground wasn’t infinite.
Thud-!
George tumbled disgracefully down from the sparring ground.
“Uh…… uuh…… uh……”
George fainted disgracefully while leaking tears, snot, saliva, and even urine.
“……”
“……”
“……”
The audience couldn’t react to this bizarre spectacle.
It was an unbelievable – no, unwanted – sight.
The super-elite idol representing the upperclassmen trembling before a mere underclassman failure and losing by ring-out.
Moreover, the underachiever Pierre seemed to have no particular emotion about this current situation.
From the Lykeion Academy students’ perspective, it was a completely incomprehensible situation.
Then, Professor Foeyang, who had been standing blankly, came to his senses first.
He then raised the flag announcing Robespierre’s victory high.
“……Vi-victor, Lolol Saint Pierre!”
Despite Professor Foeyang’s result announcement, only cold silence continued to flow from the audience.
Then.
Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap-!
Applause burst out from the middle of the audience.
Only one person among the numerous students was vigorously clapping their hands.
Hermione.
She was the class president of first-year Silver Owl Class.
Eventually, Robespierre and Hermione’s gazes crossed.
“……”
“……!”
Unlike Hermione who waved her hand happily, Robespierre immediately turned his gaze away.
Right then.
“……Wait.”
A voice that instantly froze the entire atmosphere of the sparring ground.
Professor Sanculotte was coming up onto the sparring ground.
Creeeeeeak…….
The heavy iron door opened with a terrible roar.
Eventually, Professor Foeyang walked out with drooping shoulders, following Professor Sanculotte.
From early morning to late evening.
The two professors had just endured six hours of suffering in the disciplinary committee.
Professor Sanculotte soon opened his mouth in an angry voice.
“I cannot accept such an outcome.”
The reason the disciplinary committee was suddenly convened was because of Professor Foeyang’s conscience declaration.
‘Third-year George Pendragon threatened him and made him manipulate the tournament bracket.’
This morning, Professor Foeyang had placed the relevant secret document on Professor Sanculotte’s desk.
Because he judged him to be the most trustworthy colleague professor with the most upright character.
“I’m sorry, Professor Sanculotte. I should have refused then.”
Professor Foeyang’s wrinkled face showed both relief and regret toward Professor Sanculotte.
Then.
Flutter-.
A messenger owl landed on Professor Foeyang’s shoulder.
The mana recorder attached to the owl’s neck began playing.
[……Just close your eyes tight and write George Pendragon versus Lolol Saint Pierre. That’s all you have to do.]
It was a recording containing George’s voice.
At that time, Professor Foeyang had reflexively activated the mana recorder.
Thanks to that, the situation was recorded vividly, but whether to report this as it was was another matter of concern.
The fear of losing everything and the upright conviction he had maintained his entire life.
But fear is temporary while conviction is eternal.
At least for Professor Foeyang, it was so.
Professor Sanculotte covered his face with his large hand and muttered quietly.
“What I’m dissatisfied with isn’t that. Of course, if you had spoken up a little earlier, the situation wouldn’t have flowed this far.”
Certainly George had committed the serious crime of threatening a professor.
However, if this fact was revealed to the public, Lykeion Academy’s academic authority would surely be greatly damaged.
So don’t make a big deal of it, and cover up the situation at the level of internal discipline.
That was the disciplinary committee’s conclusion.
George gets suspension.
Professor Foeyang gets suspension from duties.
On the surface, it was plausible logic.
But beyond that lay the unpleasant elitism of ‘we cannot give severe punishment to the legitimate heir of the noble Pendragon family.’
Professor Sanculotte clicked his tongue and moved his steps.
“I won’t see you off. We’ll see each other again soon.”
Professor Foeyang had succumbed to fear but ultimately chose the right path.
Therefore, Professor Sanculotte still considered him a colleague.
Then.
“Professor Sanculotte.”
“……?”
Professor Foeyang suddenly called out to Professor Sanculotte, who was walking away.
He suddenly seemed to have remembered something.
“Wait. There’s one thing I want to ask.”
“……Speak.”
Professor Foeyang recalled what had happened earlier.
“The student Lolol Saint Pierre, he’s a student you’re in charge of, right? How is he in other classes by any chance? I’ve only seen him in sparring classes……”
“Why are you suddenly asking that?”
“I knew him as a student who got failing grades in all classes, but what he showed today was a bit different.”
“By ‘different’ you mean……?”
“I’ve wandered battlefields for half my life, so I’m sensitive to this kind of energy. From that student…… I felt a strangely seasoned spirit for his age. As if I was looking at an evil spirit that had rolled around battlefields its entire life……”
“……”
Professor Sanculotte turned his head to look at Professor Foeyang.
Lolol Saint Pierre.
A seasoned spirit felt from an underachiever in the cleric class?
That couldn’t be.
It was speculation that wouldn’t even qualify as a joke.
However.
Professor Sanculotte had also witnessed the change in student Pierre.
‘Come to think of it, in the debate class that happened recently too……’
Professor Sanculotte quietly closed his eyes and fell into thought.
Eventually.
Whoosh-!
Professor Sanculotte soon vigorously swung his hand.
Then.
Flutter-!
The pure white dove that Professor Sanculotte used as a messenger landed on his shoulder.
He injected mana into the mana recorder and quickly opened his mouth.
“……Hermione, come to my research office. Right now.”
Night had come to Lykeion Academy.
Robespierre was sitting alone on a walking path bench.
No matter how thick the darkness that covered everything, it wasn’t a particular problem for Robespierre.
Because he contemplated things with his mind’s eye, not his physical eyes.
Eventually, Robespierre began carefully examining the inside of his mental world.
‘……The mana hole has expanded. I can hold more mana.’
It was probably thanks to absorbing quality malice.
Moreover, his physical senses had been honed even sharper while resonating with the mana hole.
He could clearly feel the presence around him without having to see with his eyes.
For example…… like Hermione’s presence approaching him right now.
Step- step- step-.
Eventually, Robespierre slowly opened his eyes.
“……What’s the matter?”
“Eek!”
Hermione was startled and stepped backward.
She seemed to have never thought Robespierre would notice.
“What? How did you know? I didn’t make a single sound and was completely stealthy……”
“Just state your business.”
Despite Robespierre’s blunt answer, Hermione naturally sat down next to him.
“Professor Sanculotte said he wants to use you and me as teaching assistants. He said the position opened up because Senior George, who was originally the teaching assistant, got suspended.”
“……Wasn’t being a teaching assistant only for students with excellent grades?”
“Hey~ whatever the reason, it’s a good opportunity, right? If you become a teaching assistant, you can attend school while getting paid. Of course, the work will be a bit tough. Like organizing mountains of paperwork. Like organizing artifact storage. But! There are more good points. For example……”
Hermione began listing the advantages of the teaching assistant position with an excited expression.
However, Robespierre muttered quietly without even giving her a glance.
“I’ll do it.”
“Huh? What did you just say……”
“I said I’ll do it.”
“Re-really? Will you really do it?”
Hermione blinked as if surprised.
However, becoming a teaching assistant was something Robespierre wanted too.
‘……Now I can access the artifact storage as well.’
To think the professor side would propose the teaching assistant position first.
The period he had expected to take several months had been significantly shortened.
Then, Hermione’s clear voice was heard.
“Unexpected. I thought you found Professor Sanculotte burdensome…… Whatever the case, it worked out well! Good! Then should I tell Professor Sanculotte that you and I will do it together? No backing out later!”
“……”
“No backing out later!”
“……”
“No backing out later!”
“……”
“No backing out later!”
“……”
“No backing out……”
“I understand.”
“Yeah!”
Only then did Hermione nod her head as if satisfied.
But Hermione showed no signs of leaving and remained sitting in her place.
She just occasionally glanced this way with strange expressions, wondering what she was thinking.
Regardless, Robespierre slowly fell into thought.
‘Old Magic artifact storage……’
What kind of artifacts would be sleeping there?
There would definitely be treasures buried somewhere that couldn’t be properly appraised by this era’s backward perspective.
“……I’m looking forward to it.”
A smile was naturally blooming on Robespierre’s lips.
Like a child in front of a gift box.
It was a pleasant anticipation he hadn’t felt in truly a long time.
Meanwhile.
‘……Wow. It’s the first time I’ve seen him smile like that. Maybe he really wanted to become a teaching assistant?’
Hermione was thinking this while staring at Pierre.
Then, a cunning thought crossed her mind.
‘Or…… maybe it’s because he gets to work as a teaching assistant together with me……?’
