Chapter 258
Chapter 258:
I couldn’t move so much as a finger under Luga’s pressure.
‘I didn’t feel like this even when Verdi or the Cleaner pointed their swords at me.’
It was truly overwhelming pressure.
Luga’s eyes shone white as he stared straight at me.
‘I never thought I’d actually see that in real life instead of in the game.’
This wasn’t a joke or a threat.
His expression was quite serious, carrying the resolve to truly cut me down if necessary.
If he swung his sword, I would probably be helplessly split in two.
I didn’t even have enough strength left to use Dookbi’s ability, much less resist him.
‘Tch, is he really going to attack me like this? That would be a little…….’
Even I couldn’t predict it.
After all, the current situation had completely deviated from the original story.
In the game, Luga had been one of the most dependable allies imaginable, but right now, he was pointing a sword at me.
It was difficult to read what Luga was thinking.
If he cut me down here, it would be nothing more than a pointless death.
……Fortunately, the Imperial Princess spoke first.
“Luga, that person is my benefactor. He has saved my life twice. Lower your sword.”
Even at the Imperial Princess’s command, Luga still didn’t move an inch.
The standoff continued like that for some time.
The Imperial Princess looked between Luga and me with anxiety in her eyes, then finally clenched her fist tightly and stepped in front of me.
“……Luga! Lower your sword!”
“…….”
Had that desperate shout worked?
Once the Imperial Princess blocked his path to me, Luga finally lowered his hand slowly.
His sword vanished into thin air, but his gaze remained fixed on me.
“I’ll let this pass because we’re in front of Her Highness.”
Luga’s voice sank heavily.
The white glow in his eyes felt like an invisible blade pressing against my throat.
The tension in the air was stretched taut, as though he would cut my life short the instant I showed even the slightest opening.
“Next time, it won’t be so easy. I have countless things to ask you.”
“…….”
I merely looked at him in silence.
‘Anyway, looks like he’s letting me go, so I should get out of here.’
Before Luga changed his mind, I quickly fled toward the waterway passage.
But the muscles in my legs still felt like stone. If I tried to run like this, I would obviously collapse before getting very far.
‘Looks like my body has reached its limit. Let’s get out safely.’
When I focused on the Ice Dragon Ring, a door opened in midair.
I threw myself through it.
After the Black Knight left, the Imperial Princess looked at Luga in disbelief.
“Luga, that was the knight. You should know that perfectly well, so why were you so rude…….”
Luga, his eyes narrowed into slits, readily nodded at the Imperial Princess’s words.
“Yes, of course I know. Why wouldn’t I recognize the grateful hero who saved Your Highness during last year’s Victory Festival? Even bowing to him wouldn’t be enough to express my gratitude.”
“Then why……!”
“The witch.”
At Luga’s answer, the Imperial Princess stopped breathing for a moment.
Luga also let out a small sigh, as though reluctant to admit it, before continuing.
“The witch and the Black Knight had the same scent.”
“……What?”
Luga explained what had happened earlier.
He had realized that there were forces attempting to assassinate the Imperial Princess and had been heading here, but the witch had intervened, and fighting her had delayed him considerably.
And…….
“The witch wasn’t only using magic. I don’t know how else to describe it…… perhaps calling it ‘magic that isn’t magic’ would be appropriate?”
The mysterious power the witch had displayed was undoubtedly magic.
……And yet, contradictorily, it wasn’t magic.
“But surprisingly, I’ve only seen two people wield that kind of power. One is the witch who seeks to assassinate Your Highness.”
The Imperial Princess’s eyes gradually widened as she anticipated what Luga was about to say.
“And the other…… is the Black Knight, Your Highness’s benefactor.”
“That can’t…….”
The shocked Imperial Princess covered her mouth.
Luga had already seen the Black Knight during the Student Council corruption incident.
Because the Black Knight had been skilled enough to easily defeat Knight Commander Verdi, Luga had assumed he was thoroughly concealing an enormous amount of mana.
That judgment had been completely wrong.
What he had been using in the first place wasn’t magic…….
“They are undoubtedly using the same kind of power.”
……Magic that wasn’t magic.
There had to be a definite connection between the two people who wielded such an ability.
“Therefore, there is a possibility that they are on the same side. Perhaps protecting Your Highness is merely an elaborate performance intended to use you.”
“…….”
Perhaps she was shocked, because Arlhart remained silent.
But not long afterward, her eyes regained their usual composure.
Then she walked forward, tap, tap.
Before long, the Imperial Princess knelt on one knee and picked up ‘something’ from the ground.
It was none other than…… the Black Knight’s broken sword.
Arlhart merely stared at the sword.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling and face.
“Hi.”
Piii-!
Lapin waved at me, and so did the sea otter cradled in his arms.
“…….”
First, I assessed my surroundings.
This was the Academy infirmary.
I was lying on a bed, and it seemed Lapin and the sea otter had been keeping watch beside me.
When I looked toward the window, the white curtains swayed gently in the weak breeze. The sky was already painted with the red glow of sunset.
‘……Hmm, déjà vu?’
This scene felt familiar somehow.
Well, anyway.
I slowly raised my upper body first.
Aside from some muscle fatigue and a headache, there didn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong.
I pressed a hand against my forehead and opened my mouth.
“Looks like the match is already over.”
“Yeah.”
Considering the time, the Virtual War must have ended long ago.
‘How did I end up here again…….’
There was a gap in my memory.
I needed to know how I had ended up lying in an infirmary bed.
“Lapin, how did the match end? And tell me exactly where I collapsed.”
“Okay.”
Lapin filled me in on what had happened.
Apparently, due to some sort of incident, the broadcast transmission and magical communication had been cut off, and the match, which had temporarily been suspended for repairs, eventually resumed normally.
The result was, naturally, an overwhelming victory for the second-years.
Judging by the fact that Lapin didn’t even mention any casualties, the match seemed to have ended without any significant damage.
“That’s a relief.”
He also told me why I had been brought to the infirmary.
By the time the broadcast screen came back online, I had already been lying unconscious in the middle of the road.
‘My physical fatigue had built up too much…… I guess I finally passed out while running away.’
Using Dookbi’s ability in an actual battle made me understand it even better.
It was a cheat-level technique capable of driving the Cleaner, an opponent I should never have been able to defeat, all the way to the edge.
But.
I was far too weak to fully endure all the risks that came with using that ability.
‘I need to grow stronger until I can withstand that risk.’
Still, I had managed to get through the Lunatic difficulty that had suddenly appeared.
Things would probably remain quiet for a while, but Lunatic difficulty could appear again someday.
To prepare for that, I had no choice but to keep growing endlessly.
……And I had another problem.
“Hmm……. Do you really want to hear it?”
“Yeah. I won’t get hurt, so tell me everything exactly as it was.”
“…….”
When I asked Lapin to tell me the audience’s reactions in detail as well, he hesitated for a moment before telling me everything without hiding anything.
‘As expected.’
My reputation, which had already been crawling along the bottom, seemed to have pierced straight through the planet’s core.
I had probably reached a level of infamy even worse than Villead in the original story.
‘I didn’t care at all if my reputation fell to rock bottom, but I should at least try to keep it around the level of the original story.’
If it dropped any further, something unfortunate like expulsion might actually happen.
“Thanks for telling me.”
When I answered, Lapin merely stared at me without saying anything.
“……Why? Is there something on my face?”
“Villead, good work.”
At Lapin’s sudden words, I let out a hollow laugh.
“What did I even do? All I did was run around until I collapsed in the street.”
“Mmm, no.”
Lapin gently shook his head.
“I’m sure Villead worked hard.”
“……Worked hard at what?”
“Hmm, the broadcast stopped midway through, so I don’t know exactly what Villead did.”
Lapin blinked and looked directly into my eyes.
“But I could tell from your eyes.”
“…….”
Lapin’s gaze remained on me.
His emerald eyes were clear and transparent, without even the slightest trace of doubt.
Piii-!
The sea otter in his arms also stretched a tiny forepaw toward me, as though agreeing with Lapin.
“They were the eyes of someone determined to accomplish something that no one but Villead could do.”
At those words, I firmly closed my lips.
“That’s why I know even without seeing it.”
Maybe it was because of the angle of his face, but he seemed to be smiling faintly.
“Right now, those are the eyes of someone who achieved his goal and finally feels relieved.”
I hadn’t wanted anyone to notice.
No.
I had thought absolutely no one should ever know.
I hadn’t done it hoping for a reward.
But.
“So, good work, Villead.”
It felt as though those few words washed away some of the extreme exhaustion throughout my body.
That alone felt like more than enough of a reward.
“……Yeah.”
A faint smile escaped me without realizing it.
……That was when it happened.
Slide-!
The infirmary door opened, and sky-blue hair came into view.
“Huh, you’re already awake?”
Karin blinked at me.
“What, were you hoping I’d stay unconscious longer?”
“No, it’s not that. Still, at least I won’t have to go through the trouble of nursing you all night.”
Karin sat beside Lapin and began rummaging through her pocket for something.
“Here, Recovery Totem.”
“……You’re giving this to me?”
“It’s a special gift. I spent all day carefully carving it.”
I took what Karin handed me.
It was oval-shaped, about the size of a yut stick, and gave off a faint blue glow that made me feel refreshed just by looking at it.
“I gave it to you as a kind of lucky charm. The design is all round too, so isn’t it kind of cute?”
“…….”
I answered with a small snort, and only then did Karin grin.
“How are you feeling? Does anywhere hurt?”
“Not really. My head’s just a little dizzy.”
“Ugh, when the broadcast screen came back on, you were just lying face-down in the middle of the road. I was so shocked because I thought you were dead at first.”
Karin began talking at length about the broadcast.
However, she didn’t separately mention the key point of this match, the ‘Block Key.’
She was probably being considerate of me.
“Ah, right.”
As though suddenly remembering something, Karin’s face fell.
“Villead, what are we going to do? Professor Jennings is furious…….”
……That was only natural.
For this Virtual War, each faction had conducted large-scale practice sessions twice, so it had been a match that consumed a considerable amount of time.
And I had ruined it.
He had probably gone beyond mere anger and into outright fury.
“I heard Professor Jennings is even personally organizing a disciplinary committee to have you expelled…….”
Karin’s shoulders drooped as her words trailed off.
I responded with a faint smile.
“It’s just a rumor. There’s no way they’d actually expel me.”
“……Ah, right? They wouldn’t go as far as expulsion, would they?”
“Yeah. Of course not.”
“What the heck, I was worried for nothing!”
Only then did Karin smile brightly in relief.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Jennings entered the Headmaster’s office and gave Toth a slight nod.
“Ah, it’s you. But why is that handsome face of yours all twisted up?”
Jennings lightly ignored the joking greeting and immediately held out a stack of documents.
“It’s the report.”
It was a document summarizing the damage, rule violations, and disobedience of orders from this Virtual War match, which countless cadets and professors had spent weeks preparing together.
It even included the discovery of ‘a certain anomaly’ at the site where the two giant golems, ‘Blocks,’ had been summoned.
“Hmm…….”
After skimming through it, Toth roughly understood Jennings’s intentions.
Because everything in those documents pointed directly toward one particular person.
Toth looked at Jennings with a regretful expression.
“Do you really have to go this far?”
“I will order Cadet Villead, who caused this incident, to submit a written statement so that the facts can be verified.”
“Tsk…….”
Jennings had already shut his ears and was simply saying what he wanted in a one-sided manner.
No matter how much authority the Headmaster possessed, he had no grounds to obstruct a legitimate procedure carried out according to strict regulations.
In the end, Toth could only sigh and silently listen to Jennings.
“After reviewing it, the match supervisors, including myself, will file charges against Villead and…….”
Jennings’s eyes blazed with anger. His voice wasn’t particularly loud, but he continued with deliberate force.
“I request approval to convene a disciplinary committee with that cadet’s expulsion as the agenda.”