<454 - Despicable People>
Astarot spoke directly.
“Oknodie First Year. Can anyone who joins the Foundation build a great achievement like you?”
“Um… Not just anyone! I’m Papa’s daughter.”
“Blood ties are unbeatable. Even so, can’t we promise support to a promising strongling?”
“If it’s Astarot, that’s totally possible!”
“I hope you convey that any support from the Foundation would always be welcome.”
Just then, the Elder of the Yellow Magic Tower barged in, looking serious.
“Do you not know that high-ranking officials affliated with the Foundation are identified as persona non grata, unwelcome anywhere? Not to mention the Magic Tower, they won’t be able to set foot in various nations easily.”
“The support promised to me by the Magic Tower has not been sufficient. If the door of wisdom opened to me had been deeper, I wouldn’t have even thought about crossing beyond the Yellow Magic Tower.”
“It’s not too late now! When you return to the Magic Tower, you shall not be granted access to high-level knowledge above the 5th rank.”
Ah.
In this generation of peace, which is not dominated by the war generation, Astarot was just gathering knowledge at the Magic Tower, huh?
Unlike Ishtar, who is close to being a physical warrior, Astarot’s background being closer to a magical warrior makes sense.
“Why don’t you just learn from me? I already know all of the Yellow Magic Tower’s vision knowledge!”
“Lies! No matter how great the Foundation is, how could you possibly know the tower’s vision knowledge?”
“Should I really have to state aloud that the weakness of the Earth Magic’s long casting time can be reduced with runic magic, which I’ve memorized beforehand?”
The Elder’s eyes trembled violently.
“That’s just bravado! Do you think I can be fooled by the fact that you’ve heard of rune magic somewhere?”
“Hmph. If I unfold low-rank magic with runes containing grand magic, it will start at the 5th rank. A 3rd rank binding spell becomes a rune of 5th rank binding, and a 3rd rank nutrient absorption spell becomes a rune of 5th rank absorption. There are also rune explosion spells that instantly manifest runes, or ways to create stronger runes by overlapping the same runes…”
“Enough!!”
The Elder of the Yellow Magic Tower couldn’t believe it and threw a tantrum.
“Was there a spy from the Foundation in the Yellow Magic Tower?! And a high-level spy who can access spells above the 5th rank—when did this start?!”
“Does it really matter?”
“It does matter!”
“Not to me. What’s important is that I can give you the high-level spell knowledge from the Yellow Magic Tower that Astarot wants, as well as other knowledge!”
“Are you saying that I should follow you instead of the Foundation?”
“Yep!”
“That’s a tempting offer.”
Astarot showed a strong curiosity.
“If you need my help, contact me through the Academy’s Communication Room! You can receive the communication magic tool’s password at the Principal’s Office.”
“I’ll remember that.”
In the end, the Elder, who failed to persuade Astarot, pointed angrily at me.
“You little demon the Foundation desires. The Yellow Magic Tower will not forget this.”
“Little Oknodie is grateful for this matter!”
“Oof.”
“Ugh.”
“Cough.”
As I expressed my gratitude, three Elders behind the Chief Elder grabbed their heads and foamed at the mouth, collapsing.
Oh no… Did they go too far outside to play and catch a cold from the wind in their old age?
“Oh dear. Should I guide you to the healing room?”
[Just let it be. You were at fault.]
While I prayed for the elders’ peace, another commotion arose in the exam venue.
“Gu, guahh!! Can’t breathe, can’t breathe!”
“Kyaaah! Poisoning!!”
“Bixton, what’s wrong? Come to your senses!”
Suddenly, Bixton Senior was foaming and collapsed!
The Elder’s apprentice, who was targeted by Bixton for a duel, waved his hands in panic.
“No! It wasn’t me!!”
“What despicable scoundrels. Afraid they might lose in the match, they aren’t even hesitating to use poison!”
“I told you, it wasn’t me!!”
With a voice almost crying out, the apprentice yelled, and Astarot intervened.
“Our Mila might lack skill, but she has a pure heart. She wouldn’t release poison, let alone catch a bug; she gets scared and screams every time while practicing Earth Technique.”
“So you’re saying Bixton just breathed in and has a constitution that gets poisoned?!”
“Mila can’t pull that off, but her master, Elder Aion, knows how to extract poison from minerals in the earth using a poison collection spell.”
The Elder’s disbelief filled Astarot’s testimony, focusing more on their bonds than suspicions of a teacher and apprentice!
“To bestow such knowledge of the Yellow Magic Tower on such an ungrateful wretch, the Tower’s dignity has fallen to the ground!”
“The Yellow Magic Tower is originally trained on the ground; maybe it just came back to where it belongs?”
I slyly interjected with a cute face, but Elder Aion’s face turned dark, and then he spat blood.
“The Elder coughed up blood!”
“Is he trying to conceal the truth?”
“Even we think it’s excessive to use poison against a student.”
“Geez, how embarrassing. The Elder shouldn’t overdo it and bring disgrace to those of us who have fought hard.”
Even the apprentices of the Tower showed a pitiful disregard for their bleeding master!
[Oknodie.]
“Yes?”
[Unless you plan to annihilate the Elder Council of the Yellow Magic Tower out of frustration, keep your mouth shut for 10 minutes. The chaos arose because of the candy you gave.]
Tch. Still, I didn’t say anything specifically to the Elders.
Alice Senior just hates me!
*
“If it’s okay, may I observe more with the goal of transferring?”
“Since your talent is outstanding, I would like to offer you the opportunity. I grant you permission.”
Unlike the Elder Council and the apprentices of the previous day who returned home, Astarot was given the chance to stay one more day at the Gift Academy.
This was a covert operation of mine to separate the Yellow Magic Tower and Astarot.
“You’ll be surprised by my exam performance, you know?”
“Indeed, I’m looking forward to it.”
Astarot showed great interest in the lecture I would be attending this time.
━━━
[Surviving as a Commander on the Battlefield]
-Wednesday 2 PM – 5 PM
-Professor: Raregrills
-Knight Department, General Studies
━━━
The first exam awaiting on Wednesday was the lecture of Professor Raregrills, who had enjoyed fun with the Betrayer Meta.
“I heard rumors that Professor Raregrills’ lecture has a noble Knight who knows honor and respects captives taken as prisoners.”
Just then, the noble Knight Jaidas snorted and approached me.
“You filthy betrayer. This time, I won’t be used like last time.”
“? ”
“Just you wait. No matter if you’re a girl or just a kid, no matter how pitiful your expression, I will crush you without mercy!”
“??”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re an ally. Even if you betray and side with the enemy, I will definitely wipe you out!!”
The Knight known in the Western Three Kingdoms and the one who messed up the first performance evaluation against the top student showed outright hostility.
Astarot looked significantly disheartened.
“The rumors aren’t trustworthy…”
Maybe because of Jaidas, the students following him also shot suspicious glances, and thus Hestia, as if protecting me, stealthily got closer behind my back.
“Don’t worry, Oknodie. I will protect you.”
“Hestia is worried about me? I appreciate it, but it’s really unnecessary!”
I understand her intention to take care of me after promising to become a mama, but my worries are as unnecessary as worrying about a celebrity.
Why should I worry about a veteran genius who has memorized all the patterns of question variations?
“You, Oknodie… sniff”
As Hestia started to cry, the brim of my hat pressed down again, tormenting my head.
[Don’t play tricks, confusing people with words.]
“Ouch ouch. Why does Alice Senior keep saying things to me? What should I do? It really happened!”
[…Really?]
“I’m serious!”
[Sorry. I forgot about my time at the Foundation for a while, so I didn’t think about how you were doing.]
It’s not that I’ve been through the Foundation, but I’ve been going through the Academy’s unfair treatment.
In any case, this time, Professor Raregrills laid down tactical instructions.
“Due to this year’s remarkable level of students, I had a hard time deciding what kind of battlefield would suit you.”
The students’ expressions soured greatly.
How severe must the battlefield be that he’s proposing?
“Until the exam, my faithful assistant Grachio will lead the blue team while I will command the enemy forces, but this time the exam method will be different.”
“This mock tactical battlefield used for the midterm exam will be based on an actual existing terrain. Therefore, the battlefield command will be handled by a heavyweight invited from that battlefield.”
Receiving command from someone actively working in the field?!
With morale as low as the Elder Council, Titosso cautiously peeped up from the bottom, curious.
“Consider it an honor. They are quite difficult to invite. The protector of humanity, who is in charge of the Northern Front of the Empire, who fends off the demonic clan’s incursion. The Northern Grand Duke, Yuda.”
As soon as the waiting room’s door opened, someone with a chill that made me hurriedly clasp my clothing appeared.
A gigantic figure of 2.3 meters, clad in leather armor made from unique monster hides, wielding a gigantic war axe capable of slicing medium monsters in one blow.
“Whoa! My role model!”
The NPC that started the one-shot meta has arrived.
