<445 - Peeping>
Pasible Yep and the trio of beastmen strolled through the academy campus wearing cards inscribed with Defensive Spells around their necks.
“It’s a rare chance to infiltrate the academy legally. As long as time permits, the more we explore, the better the returns.”
“The director’s assistant is too strict. A stern administration ran by a tsundere isn’t impossible, but isn’t it popular at all?”
“Shut up. The director is a flying skeleton, so trying to discuss popularity with him is pointless.”
After exchanging nothing but hurtful banter, the director and his assistant reached an unspoken agreement to avoid making this the topic of conversation.
“Have you thought about how to regain your original body?”
“I just need to get the resurrection spell. It’s the only magic that can turn the undead back into a person.”
“It’s going to require astronomical amounts of gold.”
“Time is the only thing the undead have in excess.”
“…Just don’t take too long. Being a long-lived beastman doesn’t mean you can live forever.”
“Haha. I’ll do my best to meet your expectations.”
Even after becoming undead, his heart didn’t freeze over.
Just because the body’s form changes doesn’t mean the soul’s nature does. Seeing the director’s unchanging appearance warmed KakMang’s heart.
“Jukeong.”
“Silheong.”
“Haha. KakMang monopolizing me makes my other Jukeongmusae jealous. But please bear with me a little longer. We need to learn from defeat, or we’ll repeat the same failures.”
“Jukeong?”
“I asked what we could possibly learn in such a scary place.”
“You shouldn’t have used the [Pain Detector] in the Death Field we experienced yesterday. This is confirmed information from Professor Sadako.”
After the test ended, he protested with a hint of grievance.
– No matter how you look at it, this test was too much. To make a first-year student fall into a trap with a test they can never pass!
– I prepared it so you could wake up properly.
– Are you talking about that insane test?
– If you inflict pain in the way that the undead died, they will succumb without resistance. You ignored that method.
– Aren’t we supposed to avoid inflicting pain that originally caused the death of living entities? They would just get angrier and go berserk or heal faster.
– It’s fine if the fear is greater than the pain. So if you approached while ringing the bell used by the butlers in the journal, you could easily obtain the Life Core.
-!!
The strategy guide was well-prepared.
If one were unlucky, it meant that Oknodie, who had cornered them, swiftly realized there was a Life Core outside thanks to slapstick strategies.
Thanks to that, they also lacked the time to thoroughly search through the journal.
“If you follow the strategy steadily, even the Death Field, akin to a dead end, is manageable for first-years. But if you act solely based on common sense, even upperclassmen won’t be able to handle the hellish trials. At this age, I never imagined I’d receive teachings like this. Truly, the professors at the academy are amazing. Haha.”
“…Still, the difficulty level is too high. Honestly, I can understand why the foundation sees the academy as a primary opponent.”
At this point, one might consider turning the empire, known as another major evil, or the representative of the singular god, into opponents.
“If you try to confront them with strength, you’ll only struggle. But we are humans, aren’t we? By using our wisdom, we can overcome any adversary. As the first step, today let’s take a tour to gain a better understanding of the dangers posed by Oknodie and the academy professors.”
“Oknodie… Would the dark princess with that terrifying mind simply reveal her weaknesses?”
“As I experienced firsthand yesterday, the professors at this academy are exceptionally skilled. If you spy on them, a chance to gather meaningful information will surely come.”
Pasible’s boast was secondary, but even KakMang quickly recognized the fact that the professors were indeed impressive.
━━━
[Upper Class Mana Enhancement Lecture]
– Tuesday and Thursday, Period 1, 9 AM – 11 AM
– Professor: Diogenes
– Upper Class Common, Mandatory
━━━
Professor Diogenes absurdly placed various types of coal, all charred black, in the lecture hall and said:
“Starting now, increase your mana by any means possible using this coal. You’ll pass if a meaningful increase occurs, and if you abandon the test, you fail at that moment.”
The students seemed to be quite familiar with this and started doing bizarre things with the coal.
Some gathered coal into a single pile to set it ablaze for a campfire, others smeared coal all over themselves, while some even crushed it to eat!
Anyone of sound mind would have been taken to the emergency room for their actions, yet the students were strangely increasing their mana little by little.
“What kind of abuse have they endured for students to not hesitate in doing such crazy things?”
“Haha. The foundation didn’t send scholarship students for nothing at the academy. They’re there to learn from such things.”
“Are you trying to feed coal to disobedient members?”
“It’s about how to increase mana. Coal produced by heat to the point of material transformation holds mana. If you break down the coal in any way, the mana embedded in it is released. As long as there’s a way to mitigate the side effects, it’s an innovative lecture where you could use everything in the world to boost mana.”
The man who knew no impossibilities, Pasible Yep, quickly grasped the essence of Professor Diogenes’s principles.
He inferred that it would be near abusive training, and the Jukeongmusae said with solemnity.
“Jukeong.”
“Silheong.”
How would Oknodie overcome this test?
Rumor had it that Oknodie could eat stones, so wouldn’t she eat coal as well?
Expecting that Oknodie would join the students eating coal, she instead scolded Kasia for eating it.
“Ugh. Kasia, why are you eating that?”
“You eat stones.”
“Theoretically, stat stones and mana stones are similar, but the efficiency is different! Don’t eat it, absorb it instead!”
Astonishingly, while scolding the students eating coal, Oknodie effortlessly siphoned mana from the coal.
Pasible Yep realized.
‘If you lack talent, you can train just by eating coal without knowing any special extraction techniques!’
It might be more cost-effective to feed coal and digest the mana than to spend time and money to develop non-existent talents.
Sensing that Pasible’s mindset tilted towards the extreme, the Jukeongmusae pecked at themselves as if frantically biting.
Of course, the undead Pasible Yep just laughed heartily.
━━━
[Upper Class Mahabharata’s Teachings]
– Tuesday and Thursday, Period 3, 2 PM – 4 PM
– Professor: Mahabharata
– Upper Class Common, Mandatory
━━━
In stark contrast to the academy’s few rational people, Professor Mahabharata didn’t present any unreasonable tests.
“It wouldn’t be right to give you more pain after already suffering through numerous tests. So for this exam, I thought it would be nice to create some time to relax.”
“Wow!”
“Long live Professor Mahabharata!”
“You will be writing your wills for two hours during this time.”
“Huh?”
“Professor??”
“As you may know, the academy’s teachings become progressively harsher as you advance in grade. Given that your life is on the line during exams, it seems impractical to write wills beforehand. Let’s efficiently use this break time.”
“Wow…”
“Long live Professor Mahabharata…”
The exam time for writing future wills!
The downtrodden students, like defeated soldiers, wept as they wrote their wills, while some crossed their arms, insisting they would never die.
Oknodie took it a step further and folded paper airplanes to put in her backpack.
“Five thousand, Uncle. If you’re not going to write a will, give me that paper!”
“Oh, are you going to fold mine into a paper airplane too?”
“Yep!”
“You never get bored of folding those paper airplanes, do you?”
“The more emergency paper bombers I have to throw at the hero, the better! Especially since will paper is made to ensure safe delivery, it works great when used for bombers!”
“…I wonder if giving you my will paper is the right thing to do.”
With a smile, Pasible Yep looked at the Jukeongmusae.
“Jukeong.”
“Silheong.”
With a strong determination to never write a will, Pasible laughed heartily.
“Why torment the Jukeongmusae? Have some dignity, director.”
“I haven’t said anything!”
“While it was easy to attend this lecture, the next one will be an issue. Professor Destroyer is a retired former hero. He rejected my request to attend, and it won’t be easy to spy on him. After all, he’s the world’s greatest thief. Do you have any ideas?”
“Of course, I do.”
━━━
[Retired Hero and the World’s Evils]
– Tuesday and Thursday, Period 4, 4 PM – 6 PM
– Professor: Destroyer
– Adventure Department, Major
━━━
Dark Princess Oknodie.
Current Hero Ishtar.
Berserker Hestia.
Today might be the only chance to eavesdrop on a lecture attended by the three strongest upperclassmen.
“After spying on this lecture, I’ll probably have to leave the academy immediately. The alchemical magic is stronger the more valuable the sacrifice. I’m going to offer
“!!”
“So KakMang, Jukeongmusae, Silheongmusae. I won’t have the energy to keep an eye on you three while protecting you. Please wait in a safe place for a little while.”
KakMang couldn’t hide her worry as she moved aside, bearing the Jukeongmusae clinging to her.
Seeing how well the director understood her intentions, KakMang was indeed a good assistant director.
That said, she couldn’t just rely on the assistant director’s competence and leave everything to her.
‘Oknodie might change her mind and decide to kill us at any moment. To save you, I must ensure I memorize ways to make Oknodie awkward in the powerful professor’s test.’
With an alchemical magic stronger than usual, Pasible Yep carefully placed his hand within Destroyer’s first barrier.
As soon as his hand touched the area, the mana waves began to ripple.
[Alchemical Magic]
[Wavelength Harmonization]
The professor Destroyer unleashed a mana wavelength from his body to sense any intruders entering his territory matching that of the radius he established.
As long as the wavelength remained unchanged, even if one stepped into the barrier, Destroyer would not notice any anomalies.
After achieving a height of mana control he could never dream of under normal circumstances, he was finally able to step into the lecture room, raising Pasible Yep’s excitement.
‘I wonder what tests the former hero Destroyer will present to the students?’
The answer began to unfold.
