Chapter 34
Chapter 34
“…So, that guy slipped first and spilled food onto your tray, and while you were saying it was fine, you slipped and bumped into him, and that went wrong and you lost consciousness?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Delke looked at me with an expression that clearly said, What kind of bastard is this? I lightly shrugged my shoulders and said that there was nothing to be done.
“It was an immature judgment. Now that you’ve entered the Academy, you must bear responsibility for your actions. Especially since you carry the title of top student, the weight of it is all the heavier.”
Delke soon began to launch into a full-blown lecture.
But at the end, he let out a snort of laughter and spoke in a bitter voice.
“—That’s what a teacher’s original role would be to say, but the world doesn’t always move according to the textbook.”
“…….”
I had felt it before, but Delke was a good person.
How often could one find someone who could genuinely worry about others?
“There must surely be some circumstances, right?”
He said that only by hearing them could he help, even a little.
To be honest, it was an unnecessary act.
With my own strength alone, I could become fully independent within the Academy, and as for allies, Alice alone was more than enough.
But when I looked into his eyes, filled with conviction, my heart wavered slightly.
That was why, even if not everything, I felt like telling him a little.
“Kaizen of this year, Louis of the third year.”
“……!”
They were the aliases that Darius and Carius used within the Academy.
When I spoke the two names, Delke flinched and his eyes widened.
No matter how much they hid their royal status while attending the Academy, teachers and other related personnel could not help but pick up on rumors coming from all sides.
Especially since those two had built their own factions even within the Academy, and the teachers would not be unaware of that.
“I’m the third.”
The cursed executioner.
It was a term referring to Leios von Ribera, the third prince of the Ribera Empire.
“…I see.”
Delke seemed to sink into thought for a moment, then nodded.
After that, he spoke cautiously, as if reading the room.
“You know the Academy’s rules, don’t you?”
“I have no intention of being treated like royalty by teachers.”
Only then did Delke seem relieved.
But that, too, was brief, as his expression soon grew serious again and he rubbed his chin.
“I heard that the third doesn’t get along very well with the others.”
“That’s a false rumor. It wouldn’t be wrong to say we’re not merely on bad terms, but outright hate each other.”
“…Isn’t that serious?”
He was asking whether I could endure Academy life.
Endure it?
“I already gave a flashy answer to that in the cafeteria today, so they’ll restrain themselves on their own.”
At my reply, Delke’s eyes once again grew as large as lanterns.
Then he burst into loud laughter and clapped his hands.
“We haven’t known each other long, but you’re truly an interesting fellow.”
“We haven’t known each other long either, but you seem like a very good person.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not as good a person as you think.
Still, judging by your attitude, it seems I don’t need to worry about trivial things.
But—”
Delke’s hand grabbed my shoulder.
“If it becomes too hard to endure alone, come find me.”
The firmness I felt from that thick grip.
It felt as though I could sense a teacher’s warm heart there.
“The truth is, the reason I called you here is because the headmaster said he wanted to see you.”
Right after our rough conversation wrapped up, Delke, perhaps feeling awkward, scratched his unkempt hair and spoke to me.
“Since there was a disturbance from the very first week of the new term, he must be concerned.
You’re the top student, and regarding that matter, the headmaster probably knew better.”
“The headmaster, you say.”
“I trust you’ll handle yourself well.”
Delke patted my back and guided me to the headmaster’s office.
A door with an even more pronounced air of luxury, different from everywhere else.
He knocked carefully and then spoke toward the inside.
“Headmaster, it’s Delke. I’ve brought Ostia.”
Creeeak.
Despite no one touching it, the door opened on its own.
A classical interior was revealed, and Delke gestured with his eyes for me to go in.
“Whew.”
Before entering through that door, I let out a long breath.
As if facing an emperor, sweat seeped into my hands and my heartbeat grew rough.
And that was only natural, because the person I was about to meet was no ordinary headmaster.
When I cautiously stepped into the room, air with a different scent from before enveloped me.
Unlike what it looked like from outside, the interior was quite spacious.
Moreover, traces of mana shimmered along the walls, as if some kind of magic had been cast there.
“Is this the second time since the entrance ceremony?”
A white-haired old man stroked his snow-white beard and looked at me.
‘So this is him.’
A powerhouse who had reached the pinnacle of the sword as a Sword Saint, and also reached the pinnacle of magic, contending for the top tier of the world’s power scale.
And among the list of people I wanted to obtain at the Academy, the one whose name stood at the very top—the Archmage Chris Hilton Leycias.
At first, I wondered why someone like this old man had been given such a feminine name that reminded me of a Western female actress.
But after looking at the synopsis, I understood his—no, her—true identity.
‘An elf.’
In the worldbuilding of the Artenia Continent, elves were a race that had been destroyed and no longer existed.
However, exactly one had survived and was continuing the lineage.
That was her, sitting right in front of my eyes, wearing the shell of an old grandfather.
“Good work.”
When Chris nodded her head, Delke lightly bowed and then left his seat.
Then she spoke in a calm voice.
“You know well why I called you here.”
Perhaps because she had lived among humans for several hundred years, there was nothing alien about her at all.
Only someone at the level of a Sword Saint would notice that she was not human.
“If that’s the case, then you must also know my answer.”
For now, I pretended to go along with her rhythm.
Chris then tapped the table and let out a low hum.
“The main Academy can be said to be the place in the Empire where one is most free from status.”
“Is that so.”
“But no matter how things turn out, as long as it belongs to the Empire, it cannot be completely free from it.”
What her words meant was not difficult to grasp.
“You’ve received a request.”
“There is only one thing I desire. That this Academy not be swept up in the world’s storms.”
Those words were a lie.
Chris held not even the slightest attachment to this Academy.
That was how the elven race was to begin with.
They were all beings born from nature and returning to nature.
As such, the concept of possession was faint to them.
Then what did she want?
“Persuade me. Tell me why I should help you instead of taking their side. If you cannot…….”
The rest was left unsaid, but if I failed to do as she wished, it seemed unlikely that I would be able to live very smoothly.
As long as I held the status of royalty, I would not be expelled, but a result equivalent to that could follow.
At that, I removed the Curse of the Veil that was fitted on my finger.
[SYSTEM: Curse of the Veil has been lifted.]
[Restricted stats return to their original state.]
“Hooh, that ring is no ordinary item. An artifact?”
Chris’s interest turned toward the Curse of the Veil.
To be able to discern an item’s value just by looking at it.
It was fitting of a grand archmage, but she then looked at me and twitched her eyebrows.
“You were hiding your strength……?”
“I’ve lived a rough life, so shouldn’t I at least keep my fangs hidden?”
Chris swept her gaze over my entire body, as if appraising an object.
Seeing the blue radiance dwelling in her eyes, she must have activated some kind of magic.
Finally, she stared straight into my eyes.
[SYSTEM: External intrusion detected. Activate defense mechanism? Y / N]
Perhaps she was trying to read even my mind, as the defense mechanism surfaced.
The answer was, of course, YES.
Crackle.
Blue sparks flickered between her and me.
At that, Chris spoke with a slightly surprised expression.
“Impressive. To think you could repel my magic.”
But she still did not look satisfied.
“I can see that your personal combat power is formidable. But does the current you possess something that can change the overall tide?”
Something that could change the tide.
Suddenly, I recalled the time when I had just possessed Leios’s body and come to this world.
That time when, despite knowing the future, the power I held was so feeble that I could do nothing.
But now was different.
At the very least, I had drawn such a question from Chris, and I held more than enough cards to answer it.
“Ostia?”
“If I’ve shown my true self, wouldn’t it be proper etiquette for you to do the same?”
“…….”
At my words, Chris’s face stiffened.
As if it were something she had never imagined, she sucked in a breath and froze.
Seeing her like that in the form of a white-haired old man made me feel as though I had done something wrong, but her essence was clearly something else.
“…What are you talking about right now.”
She forced herself to regain her composure and answered.
But at my next words, she froze once more.
“Chris Hilton Leycias. The last surviving member of the destroyed elven clan.”
“…You.”
As if she had finally lost her composure, a clear and pure female voice—not the one she had used until now—flowed from her mouth.
Honestly, hearing such a voice from the appearance of an old man created a sense of dissonance.
As I made a slightly put-off expression, she lightly snapped her fingers once.
Snap.
“……?!”
In that instant, the scenery of the room I was in changed completely.
Before I knew it, I was standing not in the headmaster’s office, but on a vast plain.
“How do you know about me?”
“…Ah.”
Turning my head at the voice that came from right beside me, a woman of heavenly beauty I had never seen before stood before me.
Her pale violet hair fluttered in the wind.
The snow-white face revealed between the strands radiated a noble beauty greater than anyone I had ever seen.
Elysia and Petra were also beautiful beyond words, but Chris displayed her charm in a different direction from theirs.
Whoosh—!
Sudden flames wrapped around me.
At the threatening sight, like a snake flicking out its tongue, I instinctively tried to step back, but Chris spoke with a cold face and an icy voice.
“I will ask one last time. How do you know about me?”
“The Goddess’s Mark.”
Seeing that she truly looked ready to kill me if I did not answer, I quickly opened my mouth.
“I am also one of those chosen by Dike.”
There was no better excuse than this.
She too was one of those chosen by the goddess Dike, and she would play a tremendous role as the protagonist’s ally well into the latter half.
After all, she was one of those contending for the strongest in the world’s setting.
“…I see.”
Only then did Chris look as though the pieces of the puzzle had finally fallen into place.
In this Empire—no, on this continent—there were fewer than five people who knew her true identity.
So when one day a man suddenly appeared and immediately spoke her name, it would be only natural for her to be shocked.
“Then show me the Goddess’s Mark. If you do so, I will listen to what you have to say.”
“…Ah.”
But I ran into an unexpected obstacle.
I had no Goddess’s Mark on my body.
I had thought I should engrave one when persuading Alice, but to be honest, I had completely forgotten about it until now.
“What is it? Hurry and bring out the mark.”
“…My mark happens to be in a rather sensitive area.”
I tried to make excuses however I could to her urging, but she only frowned.
Fwooom—!
Instead, the flames that had been calming down surged up again.
Then my uniform began to burn away.
“Hey—?!”
My hair and body were fine.
What was turning to ash and disappearing was everything from my uniform to my underwear.
Soon, I was completely naked, my bare body exposed to the world.
Chris examined my entire body from head to toe with cold eyes.
Then, with piercing blue radiance in her gaze, she opened her mouth.
“How dare you…….”
I did not know what words would follow, but one thing was certain.
This was bad.
Very bad.