Bang!!! Crash!!!
“Hmm, so that’s Illusion Magic… It looks quite elaborate.”
“You’ve accurately recreated the Manticore. It even seems to have a physical presence.”
“Perhaps a specific object or artifact was embedded within the illusion. It’s an incredibly advanced illusion, but the aura typical of a Rank 7 monster can’t be hidden.”
“That’s not the key point. The essence is that such a sophisticated illusion exists. It seems like it could be utilized in various ways… Who would have thought magic, which started from the shamanism of barbarians, would come this far?”
In the VIP waiting room above the entrance ceremony hall.
There were numerous dignitaries gathered, including ministers of the kingdom, merchants from massive trading guilds, headmasters from other academies, high nobility, and influential figures from the empire, engaging in leisurely discussions.
The monster that burst through the wall of the hall, the Manticore. If it were real, everyone present would have to brace for death or flee desperately.
However, knowing in advance that it was an illusion turned it into an interesting spectacle.
“Isn’t this a bit too much? A monster attack at the entrance ceremony…”
“It’s Grandis Academy, after all. The best prestigious academy in the kingdom, and the place where that Headmistress is. Even if a real Manticore broke in, it wouldn’t have been a problem.”
“If it were any other academy, there would be all sorts of criticism, but being Grandis Academy makes it different. It’s refreshing and a good thing, right?”
“…Ahem, don’t forget that the headmaster of that other academy is also here.”
Naturally, there were those expressing concerns over the somewhat extreme event, but there were many more favorable voices. All of it was thanks to the reputation of Grandis Academy and its headmistress.
If an ordinary academy pulled this stunt, it would have led to all sorts of backlash, but with the kingdom’s top academy, it was a different story. Some even praised it, saying it opened a new horizon of evaluation.
Moreover, the kingdom’s strongest Rank 8 was directly ensuring safety. If one couldn’t trust the headmistress in terms of power, then there was no one else in the kingdom they could trust. The dignitaries’ calm demeanor was, in a way, inevitable.
Crack!
“That girl who just stabbed the spear, isn’t she Lisha Claudia? I see why the Duke cherishes her. Impressive skill.”
“Even the part she just hit is one of the few weak points of the Manticore. I heard the Claudia family teaches about monsters, and it shows.”
“The new students this year are fearless. Charging so passionately against a Manticore? If it were me back in the day, I would have run away by now, ha ha!”
“There are students who are fleeing. However, most are facing off, and after a proper charge, they realize it’s not a real Manticore. Oh, the magic is sparkling over there.”
Zzzt!!!
“Oh, that’s quite the power. What kind of magic was that… cough”
“If it’s Princess Beatrice, she’s just here ‘studying abroad’, is there an issue?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing, Your Grace.”
“Good. There’s no problem externally. Behave wisely.”
“Understood!”
Numerous dignitaries were lost in evaluating the students. Their evaluations wouldn’t translate into grades, but being memorable in the minds of those dignitaries held greater benefits than mere scores.
However, very few of the countless freshmen cared about such things. Only the high nobility or promising candidates graduating later would mingle with those dignitaries. Most other students were simply fighting hard for scores and evaluations.
Yet, the most attention was drawn not to specific students but to the illusion of the Manticore itself.
“By the way, there was a report released by the imperial magic ministry recently, stating that the utility of illusion magic will significantly increase in the future.”
“But that’s just for the empire, a magic powerhouse, right? In our kingdom, martial arts are more highly regarded…”
“Even so, it’s worth considering an investment ahead of time. Should we establish an Illusion Magic department here as well?”
“As far as I know, Grandis Academy is the only one in the kingdom with an Illusion Magic department. This might be a somewhat rough method, but it seems we have caught their attention.”
“I need to prepare for investment. It could be considered a foreseen future.”
Discussion naturally shifted to Illusion Magic, and conversations about investments in the kingdom’s only Illusion Magic department began to increase.
However, there was not a single person among them worrying about the students’ safety or the allied forces in the field of magic.
Of course, it wasn’t that the dignitaries lacked empathy.
The headmistress took action herself.
“Headmistress, how’s it going?”
“It requires some attention.”
In a small space separately arranged in the auditorium.
Though small, it allowed a full view of the hall, and there, the headmistress sat, fidgeting her hands.
From my perspective as a Rank 1, it looked like she was just bored and moving her hands, but…
Looking down at the auditorium revealed the effects clearly.
“Hey! Be careful with the sword! Don’t swing it at me!”
“Don’t you know yet? Look at this.”
Clang!
“What are you suddenly doing…!! Huh?”
“There are protective barriers all around us, you see? Even if someone swings a real weapon, we won’t get hurt at all.”
“That’s true. Huh? But there’s magic flying over our heads?”
“Oh.”
Crash!!!
“Hey, mages! Shoot properly at the Manticore! Can’t you hit that big thing?!”
“It wouldn’t matter if you hit it! Do you know how rare this opportunity is? Just shoot and ignore it!”
“Those crazy wizards!”
There are 2,000 students. 2,000. Such a massive crowd was charging at the Manticore in a frenzy, all for the sake of points and evaluations.
This created a different issue from when everyone would be in a panic and run away. If things had gone according to plan, there would have been a risk of pushing and trampling over each other.
But since the Manticore, while large, wasn’t big enough to be surrounded by 2,000, they swung their weapons and cast magic chaotically, leading to attacking allies much more frequently.
Consequently, the headmistress’s responsibilities remained unchanged with my additional plans: ensuring the safety of all students.
And no matter how things went, this was an easy task for the headmistress.
“Finance Director, do you know what I’m currently doing?”
“…What distinguishes Rank 5 from Rank 6 is the presence of Sword Aura, and what divides Rank 6 and Rank 7 is whether that Sword Aura can be emitted outside the body.”
“Hmph.”
“And for someone like the headmistress at Rank 8, they can manipulate intangible powers like Sword Aura with utmost freedom.”
“For me, a martial artist, it’s actually Ki, but to put it plainly, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Sword Aura or Ki. It’s the same power in the end; it just has different names based on the weapons used.”
The headmistress nonchalantly brushed off the heated debates regarding which weapon bore the strongest aura in the martial arts field.
“Anyway, I’m simply surrounding the students with my Ki. This way, it can be used as a protective barrier.”
“To all 2,000 of them?”
“Of course. If there were only half as many freshmen, I could have done it while asleep.”
“………….”
I really feel it at times like this. That this is the world of the Dark Kingdom, and that the headmistress is an extraordinarily powerful being.
Being Rank 1 feels disheartening.
While I was briefly pessimistic about reality, I suddenly had a question for the headmistress.
“By the way, if it’s to that extent, you didn’t really need to leave the VIP room, right? You’re talking to me casually, so why waste time with the dignitaries…”
“Oh, it’s just a hassle.”
“What?”
“Those kids talk way too much. None of the guys gathered here are from my generation.”
“Wait, if that’s the case, then doesn’t that make me ‘young’ too?”
“Just kidding? Of course, the Finance Director is different. What I mean is that these kids are too focused on money and fame. Every conversation they insert some political motives or hidden meanings. It’s quite tiring, you know?”
I swallowed the question about whether, as the Finance Director, I wasn’t focused on money. The answer was obvious.
In any case, it seemed like the headmistress was just wasting time with the dignitaries for kicks. I felt even more sorry for Professor Alon.
“Since the headmistress’s time is expensive, maybe I should shave a bit off the four-tenths—”
Boom!!!
“Oh, the Manticore illusion just broke another wall. We should clear the debris too.”
“Cancel that.”
“Finance Director?”
“Nothing.”
Do I see debris as money? Since the auditorium would be used tomorrow, I should contact the carpentry guild right away.
If I want to repair something of that size in just one day, how much extra will it cost? I’ll probably have to ask the magic tower to recast the magic too.
“Let’s just make it four-tenths.”
After glancing at the dignitaries’ reactions, it seemed like the investment would be considerable, so wasn’t paying for the resurrection of the Illusion Magic department worth it?
Convinced of this, the headmistress, who settled the debris safely with a few gestures, looked at me.
“By the way, Finance Director, your method worked well, didn’t it?”
“Huh? Oh, you mean the classified information?”
“I never expected that. Who would’ve thought to sell information about the Manticore attack to the freshmen?”
After all, the most effective way to prevent surprise from the Manticore is to know about it in advance.
It’s something that should never be done by staff, akin to leaking examination information, but as the headmistress said, this raid wouldn’t affect grades much, so it was okay. Naturally, the students were unaware, so they were all charging towards the Manticore…
Well, since the students wouldn’t have any detailed evaluations, they would probably just finish feeling proud that they scored well.
That’s why the headmistress allowed the sale of information. If I suggested selling midterm exam information, she would’ve smacked my head. Scary.
“But doesn’t this betray the students who bribed? They were supposed to shine more if they had the information.”
“So, we’ve provided them with even more detailed info.”
“Detailed, you say?”
“The timing of the Manticore’s appearance, the location of the emerging walls, its behavior, and the weaknesses arising from being an illusion, etc., the best seats visible from the VIP area, you know?”
The headmistress’s plan was to hand over information regarding the monster attack to students like Lisha and extract even more bribes.
I went to find Lisha and the other bribed students immediately after the last meeting, and we traded information and bribes without hesitation. From the students’ perspective, it was an offer too good to refuse.
I only added a little note.
‘That information leaked from the Illusion Magic department.’
Other students knowing the information? It was just that the department planning this incident had mistakenly leaked the information. That’s just how it is.
Knowing that, I specifically shared very detailed information about the attack out of a sense of ‘loyalty,’ and as expected, Lisha and the other bribed students were very pleased.
Additionally, I promptly assigned them spots that would make them stand out right after the Manticore’s attack. They probably made quite an impression on the dignitaries.
Most importantly, I didn’t even lie.
“By the way, how did you sell that information? There’s no way you could have mobilized staff for something like this…”
“I have my own connections. There wouldn’t be any suspicion.”
“Hmm.”
Naturally, if it were ever revealed that I was the one behind the sale of information, it would be a huge problem, so I used a ‘middleman.’
All I did was pass along the ‘leaked’ information from the Illusion Magic department to those guys. The act of selling that information was completely up to them. It’s like that, anyway.
Moreover, those guys wouldn’t suffer any consequences if this ever got revealed… They were quite reliable too.
“Are those connections linked to the student council?”
“Just a bunch of damn juniors.”
It’s common sense for upperclassmen to sell information or previous exams to juniors, right?
This incident was indeed larger in scale, but the student council… had a particularly notorious reputation. Especially since the current student council president is that junior.
A special connection only I, who graduated not too long ago, could have. They would probably inflate the price for a bigger cut, but since we surpassed the initial estimate, I could overlook it.
In the end, the Illusion Magic department would receive the investments they needed, students like Lisha would make a mark on the dignitaries, other students would feel they got good scores (?), and the headmistress and I secured a considerable budget.
It’s truly a happy ending for everyone.
“Oh, it looks like that student is stepping forward.”
“…Didn’t we decide to limit their power?”
“That’s right. We said no Sword Aura… huh?”
A light sparkles.
From among the swarm of students gathered below, one student emitting light slowly walked toward the Manticore.
As if not wanting to obstruct that student, the ones charging toward the Manticore softly stepped aside.
The opponent was an illusion, and while there was absolute protection, battles still ignited the students’ blood. Even the emotionally stirred students quietly, or noisily, stepped back in front of the light.
Finally, a straight path leading to the Manticore was forged, and the student, Ruth Spero, swung his glowing sword.
The symbol of Rank 6.
It was undeniably a Sword Aura.
Boom!!!
With a thunderous sound, the Manticore, once just an illusion, was sliced in two and vanished.
Ruth, who had just obliterated even the wall that had barely survived, sheathed his sword.
“………..”
“………..”
Hey, damn protagonist.
You promised to restrict your power. You said we wouldn’t use Sword Aura.
Even giving you a hundred concessions about limiting power is one thing.
‘Why are you demolishing the wall each time you draw your sword?’
What did the wall do to you?
Pay for the repairs, you jerk…
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