Chapter 114 : Chapter 114
Chapter 114. The Last Night of the Exchange Meeting (1)
The evening the friendly competition ended.
It was the last night of the exchange meeting.
A banquet was held in the grand auditorium to commemorate the exchange meeting of the two schools.
Not only the students and professors from Helsington, but also the Academy seniors gathered in one place.
On one side of the grand auditorium, a buffet was splendidly prepared.
Radel spotted Tunia holding three plates in one hand.
She had said she even infiltrated as a restaurant employee for a request, and indeed, her skill was proficient. The difference was that she was holding the plates to eat, not to serve.
Next to her, Inette could be seen choosing desserts.
“Although it falls short of the Imperial Palace, it’s quite decent.”
If Inette, a Princess, said that much, it was certainly a luxurious banquet.
“Prince, I brought something to drink.”
Gusto brought two glasses filled with champagne and handed one to Radel.
“Thanks.”
Radel took the glass Gusto handed him and watched the students of the two schools laughing and chatting regardless of the outcome of the friendly competition.
He saw the Magic Supremacists hitting it off and surrounding Leon, and he also saw Edward and his friends exchanging something with Helsington students, having become close at some point.
Seniors were also visible, and perhaps because they saw each other every year, their conversation with Helsington students looked natural.
The scene of Academy professors and Helsington professors gathering to share opinions also caught his eye.
It was a sight worthy of an exchange meeting.
At that moment, an announcement flowed through the grand auditorium.
“Please pay attention for a moment. There will be words from the Principal now.”
Soon, someone appeared on the podium.
It was Cromwell Bondis, the Principal of the Imperial Magic Academy.
“Nice to meet you all. I am Cromwell Bondis, the Principal of the Academy.”
When he said his name, the students’ eyes widened.
Especially among the first years facing the Principal for the first time, exclamations even burst out.
“Cromwell Bondis?!”
“Oh my god!”
Cromwell Bondis.
A mage called a genius unparalleled in history.
The youngest Academy Principal and a figure who dominated the magic world.
He was also famous as a mage who entered the Imperial Magic Academy, which usually admits students at seventeen, at an age not even ten, repeated research years for over a decade, and finally mastered all subjects.
The space expansion magic applied to the backpack Radel was using was also devised by Cromwell.
Until then, it was thought to apply only to spaces with fixed coordinates, but the new space expansion magic he presented completely overturned the existing framework.
Magic that could be applied even to moving objects, that is, objects whose coordinates change according to position.
He was a revolutionary figure who changed the concept of space in magic.
“They say he started a double major at the age of ten.”
“How much my father compared me to Cromwell Bondis when I was young, ugh…….”
It seemed that in mage families, there were cases where childhoods were spent being compared to Cromwell Bondis, the genius mage who was famous in their parents’ generation.
An existence some admired and some shuddered at.
Moreover, he wore a somewhat meaningful smile, giving off a mysterious atmosphere.
“That dark mastermind-like atmosphere is also charming!”
“Right, somehow he has a vibe.”
It seemed he had quite a few fans among the students.
At that age, they tend to like the Demon King more than the Hero, saying he is cooler.
Radel nodded inwardly and looked at the Principal who went up on the podium.
“The Principal seems more popular than expected?”
“Really? I’m not a fan.”
At Radel’s words, Inette shrugged her shoulders.
“Every year, he submits a request to the Imperial Palace saying he wants to study the imperial family. Of course, His Majesty has never granted it, but does it make sense to dare make the imperial family a subject of research?”
Inette seemed dumbfounded.
“He occasionally comes to imperial events, but with that expression, I don’t know what he’s thinking. Sometimes he goes back without saying a single word. It makes me wonder if he attends official functions just because he wants to observe the imperial family.”
It seemed Inette’s suspicion wasn’t unreasonable. Because among mages immersed in their research fields, there were many eccentrics.
Even looking at the Academy professors right now, they all had some strange corners.
“……I express my gratitude to the Helsington Magic School officials and students who came all the way to Marcellent. Please enjoy the remaining banquet happily.”
As Cromwell’s speech ended, vitality returned to the grand auditorium.
It was around that time that Edward came to Radel.
“Prince, congratulations on your victory in the Dungeon conquest.”
“It wasn’t a victory of my own. We all won together.”
At Radel’s words, the friends who followed Edward excitedly threw in a word each.
“Wow, wasn’t what the Prince just said touching?”
“As expected of Prince Radel! Thanks to you, Prince, we also won the bet.”
“We won quite a lot!”
Radel recalled Edward’s friends exchanging something with Helsington students at the banquet earlier.
‘So that was a money bet.’
Perhaps Edward’s group was the one practicing the essence of the exchange meeting.
Since material exchange was also an exchange.
“Prince, I tell you this lest you misunderstand, but I did not participate in such an undignified bet.”
Edward drew a line with his friends and claimed innocence.
Then his friends booed.
“You said you could bet your entire fortune on the Prince winning!”
“Because you were like that, the Helsington kids got pissed off and raised the stakes!”
It meant that thanks to Edward strongly taking Radel’s side, the Helsington students’ competitive spirit was ignited.
Edward ground his teeth towards his friends.
“……Would you shut your mouths?”
“Edward uses elegant speech because he is in front of the Prince!”
“But doesn’t doing that make his personality look worse?”
To Radel’s eyes, they were always close no matter when he saw them.
It was then.
“Excuse me, could you spare some time for a moment?”
Someone spoke to Radel.
It was a student wearing a Helsington uniform.
* * *
“What is it you have to say?”
Radel looked at the opponent who brought him to the garden behind the grand auditorium.
He wondered if it was something others shouldn’t hear.
Then the Helsington student, looking around, opened his mouth.
“There is something I need to confirm with you.”
Confirm?
Radel asked, puzzled.
“You have something to confirm with me?”
“Yes, I heard a rumor that you have an interesting item.”
The Helsington student answered Radel while subtly turning his hand behind his back and forming a hand seal.
Then, the magic circle engraved in advance on his palm glowed faintly. Among dark magic, it was hypnosis magic that interfered with the mind.
Using this, I will find out what the 8th Prince is hiding.
Obsidian pledged inwardly.
That was right.
The identity of the Helsington student who called Radel out was the professor who used illusion magic, Obsidian.
“About the black key, where did you get it?”
Obsidian asked Radel while casting hypnosis magic.
The reason he entered the Academy.
It was to get his hands on the black key essential for Archdevil Belphegor-nim’s resurrection.
The words the Dungeon’s Boss Monster said were still unforgettable.
- You have been robbed of your wish by a mere fledgling! How resentful, how resentful!
There is no key after he struggled to enter the Academy and conquered the Dungeon?
Furthermore, a fledgling took it away.
Just who on earth interfered with the great plan.
It wasn’t the time to be picky about means and methods.
He had to find the guy who took the black key no matter what.
But he just happened to discover a black key in Radel’s hand.
The moment he saw that key, Obsidian was seized by the thought that he must retrieve it somehow.
So he risked danger and called the 8th Prince out.
But there was a fact he hadn’t anticipated.
‘Why is the hypnosis magic being cancelled.’
Obsidian was flustered by the repeatedly escaping magic power.
It meant he continued to fail every time he cast magic.
Although the hypnosis magic didn’t take effect, Radel opened his mouth obediently as Obsidian intended.
“If it’s the black key, are you talking about this?”
What Radel took out from his bosom was a dormitory key painted black.
“I painted it while practicing Transmutation Magic on my room key.”
Only then did Obsidian realize something was wrong.
‘Did I make a mistake momentarily because I was fixated on the black key?’
He could fix this if it was now.
If only the hypnosis magic worked properly.
However, he didn’t know that the plan had gone awry from the beginning.
“Are you interested in this key, Professor?”
At Radel’s words, Obsidian’s expression hardened.
……Since when did he know I was a professor of Helsington?
* * *
Ding.
[Unknown magic invades the user’s mind.]
[Status Effect Nullification is activated.]
Ding.
[Unknown magic interferes with the user’s perception.]
[Status Effect Nullification is activated.]
Radel cleared away the notification windows that kept interfering with his sight one by one.
So many notification sounds had been ringing since earlier that he was out of his mind.
‘He uses magic incessantly.’
Thinking he should make him stop, he opened his mouth to the flustered Obsidian.
“Can I ask this time? Why did you call me out separately?”
Radel pointed to the grand auditorium where the banquet was being held.
“Who is the professor inside there?”
Obsidian’s figure laughing and chatting with students could be seen in the grand auditorium.
Did he know everything.
Obsidian’s jaw trembled.
It was irreversible now.
Obsidian took out a staff from his bosom.
“You have come to know too much.”
Both illusion magic and hypnosis magic failed.
Now, the only choices left were either to cast magic to erase memories or to eliminate the 8th Prince right here.
Obsidian made a decision quickly.
‘Anyway, he is a figure who must be eliminated someday.’
The appearance of a royal who might become the new symbol of the Supreme Deity Order.
It might be better to get rid of him now.
In a way, this was an opportunity.
He swung his staff and cast the most powerful curse magic he could use on Radel.
“Darkness, bloom!”
As the staff aimed at Radel, strong demonic energy stretched out.
It was a terrible curse where the whole body gets covered in black spots and eventually leads to death. Because it was strong enough to take a life, it was also a curse with a large recoil if it failed.
Of course, there was no chance of failure.
All executives of the Black Order were skilled masters of curses.
Obsidian was the same.
It was the moment he wore a cold smile, premonishing his victory.
“Keuph?!”
Pain digging into his lungs to the point of suffocation.
Obsidian clutched his chest and collapsed on the floor.
Thud!
It felt like his lungs were tearing and all the internal organs in his body were twisting.
This pain was undoubtedly the recoil of the curse.
Obsidian barely squeezed out strength and wrapped his body in demonic energy.
If left like this, cardiac arrest could come from the shock.
As soon as he finished preparing, the next recoil came.
“Cough!”
He couldn’t understand.
The curse was perfect.
The 8th Prince who has no Divine Power deflected the curse?
Why am I, not that guy, crawling on the floor enduring the recoil?
A question flowed from his mouth where a handful of blood poured out.
“Why……?”