<733 – Who Did That (4)>
The Gift Academy was in an uproar.
“Am I really seeing this correctly? The Principal isn’t just fooling around, right?”
When you reach the fourth year, the regular curriculum of the Gift Academy includes teaching dimensional studies, and occasional magical invasions from other dimensions are a thing. But it would not be an exaggeration to say that this is the first proper invasion in hundreds of years, a full-scale territorial erosion phenomenon across the world!
bzzz
It’s been hundreds of years since the appearance of the Demon Realm, and this world-level territorial erosion phenomenon occurred for the first time.
The phenomenon stopped on its own, but it was such an unusual state that even the Dragon Principal was about to order an investigative team to be dispatched. The Principal was ready for a high-intensity response.
“What’s the status of the professors’ summons?”
“Summoning rate is at 97%.”
“heh Seems like there are some bold ones in that 3%. Who are those idiots so brazen to not show up?”
“Well, Professor Pinkberry is claiming she can’t make it due to stomach pain.”
“Oh, that’s fine, she’s fun anyway.”
“What? Ah, yes. And then there’s Professor Plato, who’s currently in the process of crafting a new body because he was beaten so badly he was nearly split in half.”
“That’s a bit sad, so that’s fine too.”
“You’re very forgiving. It seems like you’ve become a bit softer with age, Principal.”
“Isn’t that right?”
“Then there’s Professor Armageddon Volcano, who’s taken a vacation to a volcano after feeling cold for the past 320 years.”
“Have you ever seen someone so damn annoying? Bring him here immediately!”
“…You really have become softer, huh?”
In this way, the professors who were terrified of the fallout were hastily gathering for the summons, wanting to avoid the principal’s wrath. With classes canceled and the academy effectively in a war situation, a student voluntarily stepped forward.
That student’s name was Oknodie. Or, they could be referred to as the culprit.
Oknodie, with a “hee hee” smile, apologized saying, “I accidentally opened a dimensional gate while playing outside and almost destroyed the planet, but thankfully I managed to sort it out!”
Even the Dragon Principal, who usually turned the world upside down with weekly events, couldn’t hide his astonishment.
“If you play around two more times, the world might really end, huh?”
“I’ll take a moment to self-defend! I believe a prank committed at a young age should be forgiven!”
“Are you the one saying that? You brat who seems like a juvenile delinquent. Just shut up because you’re being annoying.”
Though Oknodie thought, ‘Hmm, I think I could break this seal?’ when faced with the incoming sealing magic, fear of the Principal’s fury stopped them from doing so, and they quietly accepted the seal on their voice.
But considering their curiosity, they briefly released the seal and asked, “What kind of magic is this?”
“It’s a sealing magic of the mouth of destruction. And if you’ve been punished, don’t release it without permission. Unless you want to be punished even worse.”
“Got it!”
Oknodie answered cheerfully and reapplied the sealing spell. Even though they mumbled with their mouth making “puff puff” sounds, no voice came out, and while they were just silently playing, various professors burst through the office door in a rush.
“Has the investigation team been formed?”
“This is an opportunity to get closer to the true identity of the [God of Darkness], which is presumed to be the source of dark mana.”
“We’ve received investigation results showing that the power of beings affected by mana has amplified across the continent. Before the Demon King’s army can move, let’s strike first with a dimensional barrage.”
“Let’s think about destroying the Demon Realm before anything else.”
“Anyway, if there’s an anomaly in the Middle Realm, it’s mostly safe to assume smashing the Demon Realm will resolve it.”
The professors openly revealed their hostility towards the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm really hadn’t done anything, yet it seemed unfair that they were about to get punished because of Oknodie.
“That shouldn’t happen!”
The Demon Realm had always given Oknodie a good beating every time they needed Function Experience Points.
The Four Kings were summoned during their vacation, died from the Holy Sword, and were kidnapped for experimentation by the Candidate for Great Evil and treated as livestock.
With two of the Four Kings still remaining, Oknodie couldn’t let them be mercilessly slaughtered by the professors, leading them to step forward as the professors were bewildered.
“Oknodie, second-year? Now this brat is messing with the midterms here in the Principal’s office, huh?”
“Did you finally reveal your evil hand to the Principal as well?”
“So, which country fell under the Foundation’s influence? Can I shove a Grand Magic into the royal palace in an emergency situation?”
“Shall we shoot now?”
“Calm down, you madmen. Do you think I don’t realize your desires to sneak in and plant a bomb in the royal palace because your kingdom is in chaos?”
“Cheh.”
A professor from a small country clicked their tongue and stepped back.
“Let me clarify the situation. This damn brat in front of you just messed around and nearly caused the world’s destruction only to come running to us like nothing happened.”
“…Does that make sense?”
Oknodie’s prank?
A dimensional erosion phenomenon that nearly affected the entire world?
Was the fate of the world truly under threat from a child’s prank?!
“This is very suspicious after all.”
Professor Demon, who harbored ill feelings towards Oknodie, looked at the vertically slitted eyes of a demon with chilling intensity.
“Principal. Even the opening of a dimensional corridor is a significant issue. Who would believe that a mere student ‘accidentally’ opened up a new dimension and summoned the ruling species of that dimension?”
“Hey, isn’t he capable enough to pull that off?”
“Honestly, I’d believe it if it were the work of the Foundation. Which scenario seems more reasonable? That a third-year student almost caused the world’s end by ‘accident’ or that the Foundation staged a show of force?”
The professors who were hostile towards Oknodie all nodded in agreement.
“This is a threat from the Foundation.”
“They probably intend to tear apart the world’s order and force us to follow them before they cause chaos in the Middle Realm.”
“Has there been an official statement released?”
“Surely there must have been secretive communication to the Principal if no statement was released.”
“Wasn’t that Oknodie the one who conveyed it?”
“Truly. The Principal must have conducted a secret deal and kept quiet!”
“Reveal the truth, Principal. What have you received that made you silent?”
The deep-rooted distrust directed towards the Principal astonished him.
“What have I done to suddenly be put on trial like this?”
The professors found the Principal’s reaction to be absurd.
“Are you seriously asking that now?”
“This year alone, you had the ‘Random Candy Festival’ event, where monsters were beaten up by kids after eating candy. That only happened three weeks ago, didn’t it?”
“Two weeks ago, there was a legitimate snail race where students could freely buff themselves by placing points on 1000 anti-magic function snails with a one-in-ten-thousand chance to receive a buff, resulting in numerous bankruptcies.”
“That’s already easier? Last week, students were subjected to ‘Bathroom Special Training Week’ due to the absurdities of nobles getting assassinated in restrooms, forcing students to face attacks from assassins disguised as ghosts and ninjas!”
“Why am I, a professor, being subjected to such nonsense in the restroom? That was just a free ride week!”
“The assistant ran away claiming they were attacked in the bathroom and missed the schedule for reviewing magic papers.”
Though some professors also had their own downsides compared to the Principal, anyway, the overall sentiment pushed the professors towards demanding that someone should take responsibility and reveal the truth about the Foundation!
“You all must be thinking I’m weak enough to have to align with the Foundation, huh?”
It wasn’t a great statement.
It was a mere expression of annoyance mixed with slight anger.
Yet, the mana wavelength emanating from the Principal petrified even those competent individuals who had surpassed 2000 in Function Experience Points.
[Dragonfear]
A race that sits at the top of all primates.
The irritable mood of the Dragon pierced through the air, quicker and stronger than the giant monster Kraken, breaking through all anti-magic energy and instilling the fear of death in living beings.
Indeed.
The Gift Academy, the human world dominated by the Empire, and all the realms where life exists, are only viable due to the Dragon’s tacit approval.
No matter how many stars and gods float up in the sky, the star on which those beings live, the Middle Realm, belongs to Principal Omoshiroi.
“Don’t doubt my hostility towards the Foundation. Unless you want to experience it firsthand.”
A white mist rose from the mouth of the Dragon Principal.
The professors realized that it was a sign of the manifestation of [Dragon Breath] and bowed their heads in fear.
“Then it’s almost certain this is the Foundation’s doing, so let’s invade that dubious dimension right away.”
“Please hold off on deploying Grand Magic for the development of new rare metals. Let’s just summon graduates to analyze resource detection until the analysis is complete.”
“Let’s just bring our lab students over, plant a flag, and gather slave species without caring for any niceties. It’s better to take them as we can.”
“A new dimension that hasn’t joined the inter-dimensional mana waste management agreement just appeared, so we might as well dump some mana waste there too, right?”
“With the response from the World Domain being unusual, what if they attacked again? Let’s connect with a few non-cooperative dimensions that have been dull in their spirit summoning responses and conduct combat power testing.”
While opening new dimensional gates and exploring beyond dimensions, the strong arguments from professors grew popular, wanting to fetch useful resources and new slave races while also dumping the mana waste they couldn’t discard due to the strong dissatisfaction of elementals back to those dimensions and sparking battles among them!
“Hey, no! That would be a disaster!”
Imagining the level of power akin to a high-ranking deity, Oknodie protested, but such reactions only served to further confirm the professors’ beliefs.
The hidden secrets of the Foundation, the confidence that the Foundation had to oppose the Principal must lie here.
Surely, there were alarming secrets dormant in the ‘dimension the Principal doesn’t know.’
What if they managed to uncover that secret first?
They might just become the new rulers of the Middle Realm, washing the Principal away!
‘This isn’t just about the Darknodi situation anymore; we have to worry about the safety of the Middle Realm now?!’
Sweating cold, Oknodie was fortunately aware that the Principal was already seeing through the professors’ desires.
“Independent exploration in that dimension is strictly prohibited. An investigation team will be assembled separately, so be sure to understand this. Cross the line, and you’ll be considered a ‘Foundation Spy.’”
The professors, unable to hide their disappointment, promised to follow the Principal’s orders.
“Now, we have the issue of what to do with this rat.”
“Hii, I don’t want to be hurt. Please don’t hit me.”
The Dragon Principal scoffed at Oknodie’s blubbering but was infuriated when Professor Sadako, who had already taken down seventeen professors, stepped up.
“Don’t lay a finger on the kid.”
“Professor Sadako, have you lost your mind?”
“The bad guys are the Foundation, not the kid.”
“I can’t just let a culprit who nearly wrecked the Middle Realm go free, can I?”
The professors were on edge, caught in a breath-holding conflict between the top contributor from a small territory and the strongest in the Middle Realm.
Could Professor Sadako handle this?
Should I lend a hand?
But hang on, what if the Principal wins?
Should I lend a hand to Sadako, but then backtrack to escape this situation?
The professors’ frantic thoughts were interrupted by a crunching sound they couldn’t pinpoint.
Who the hell is crunching in such a tense situation?!
“Want some?”
From the end of the line, Oknodie, who had been munching popcorn from their backpack, jumped in surprise.
Then, with an incredibly unwilling expression, they reluctantly held out the popcorn bag.
Is this kid out of their mind?
Don’t they feel fear?
The professors looked at the scene, bewildered.
Yet, some professors who had been observing Oknodie closely had different thoughts.
They’ve trained to lose their emotions in the Foundation, so they might really not be feeling any fear.
How much have they been abused to not even understand what fear means?
Maybe there’s a mana bomb hidden in that popcorn bag?
Some professors, tangled in suspicion, were present, but among them was one who held a feeling bordering on certainty.
Professor Robert Elahim, who taught [Emergency Response Strategies], attacked the popcorn bag.
With a bang, the popcorn bag exploded, and popcorn poured out like coins from a wide-open wallet.
“Aah, my popcorn!”
Tears streamed down Oknodie’s face as they mourned their precious honey caramel popcorn, which they had saved for a special occasion.
