“What the…?”
Freya Imperial University, the mountain behind.
Having returned late, Sergey couldn’t help but gasp in shock.
A mountain-sized chunk of black meat lay split in half, sprawled across the mountainside.
That’s the Untier.
A monster that even the Majin of ancient times couldn’t defeat, merely sealing it away.
“Just the fact that it’s woken up is surprising…”
Unbelievable events kept happening one after another.
The barrier of the Imperial University had been shattered.
The seal of the Untier, which everyone believed would never be broken, had come undone.
And then, that Untier was instantaneously killed…
Sergey closed his eyes, recalling the gigantic sword of light he saw last night.
At first, he thought a Majin was up to something in the institution.
He never imagined a human could unleash a pillar of light visible across the border.
But it turned out that weapon was what Schlus wielded when he defeated the Untier…
“This just got complicated.”
Schlus had been glamorized as a hero through media since the civil war.
But with this incident, he might ascend from hero to a divinity.
To an onlooker, that pillar of light would certainly seem like a divine feat.
If it were any other time, the Emperor wouldn’t hesitate to deal with Schlus.
But the problem now was that an unknown force was lurking within the Empire.
If this Untier liberation was also their doing, it meant Schlus had already thwarted their terrorism twice.
From the Emperor’s perspective, he couldn’t recklessly dismiss a powerful weapon like Schlus during such a crisis.
If things went wrong, Schlus could inflict significant damage in that process.
“You’ve arrived, Professor Sergey.”
“Ah, Chief Professor. Thank you for your hard work.”
Just then, Professor Ludwig staggered over and extended his hand.
As Sergey shook his thin hand, his expression grew serious.
Professor Ludwig looked absolutely terrible.
‘He should really exercise.’
If he trained his body, he wouldn’t end up like this from just a bit of fatigue.
Sergey thought he should teach him some exercise soon.
“My condolences.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“One of the graduate students under Chief Professor has died…”
“Ah. It’s fine. That fool didn’t deserve any mourning. He was just a greedy idiot with no talent, easily led by evil.”
“······.”
Seeing Professor Ludwig speak so nonchalantly, Sergey nodded in agreement.
Come to think of it, he had no idea where his assistant was right now.
He heard one of those guys managed to escape and hasn’t been caught yet…
Sergey couldn’t shake off this ominous feeling.
“Whoa. By the way, that’s really massive. Look at that thick hide.”
“Yes… It could have been a huge disaster.”
Ludwig, with his arms crossed, gritted his teeth in response.
He couldn’t bring himself to say anything positive about Schlus’s incredible feat.
That was a statement he’d never utter, no matter how crooked his mouth became.
Everything had become a headache because of that Schlus Hainkel.
“They’re not even mentioning any plans to conceal this.”
“That’s because it can’t be concealed.”
“That’s true…”
Everyone in the institution saw it.
No, everyone in the Empire, perhaps even the entire continent, might have seen it.
No matter how much one tries to cover it with their palm, they can’t hide the sky.
No matter what tricks were pulled, the voices of praise for Schlus would only grow louder.
And with that, the blades aiming for him would also increase.
“Oh! And from my recent trip, I’ve commissioned something interesting.”
“Something interesting?”
Professor Sergey snapped his fingers and rummaged through his coat.
A cubic box popped out into his palm.
Ludwig, peering into it, quickly deduced what it was.
“An artifact.”
“Yes. I had it specially made by a trusted Majin.”
“Can I ask about its functionality?”
As Ludwig examined the intricately woven spell inside, he soon felt dizzy and had to give up.
It was something that couldn’t be interpreted in just a day or two.
The way humans crafted spells was quite different, making it harder to understand.
“It’s an artifact that detects the authority of the Majin.”
“······.”
Ludwig’s jaw fell shut.
The intent behind such a creation was all too clear.
He suspected a Majin might be behind the recent mysterious strange figures.
There were certainly suspicious circumstances.
Those who broke through the Imperial University’s barrier revealed themselves as soon as Ludwig began casting spells to attack.
No matter how many interpreters they had, that wasn’t a task anyone could manage without considerable magical skill.
And yet, upon confirming the identities from the bodies afterward, most turned out to be orphans or commoners from the slums.
It implied the likelihood of proper magical training was slim.
The same went for the Untier liberation.
He had personally guided Yusek, so he knew his abilities inside and out.
That weakling, even having lost both arms, could never match up against the still capable Schlus Hainkel in close combat.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious that rapid growth seemed.
If it truly was the Majin’s authority, it would make sense.
“The bodies of those who invaded the Imperial University. Their blood hasn’t dried yet, right?”
“Yes. We’re keeping all the blood preserved so it doesn’t congeal or rot for analysis.”
Ludwig murmured as he led Sergey to the storage room.
No matter how he thought about it, the Majin’s authority couldn’t be the cause.
If that were the case, it would mean they were simultaneously facing both humans and Majin.
A Majin attempting to topple the Empire using humans as pawns…
Fighting something like that would surely devastate the entire land.
“The Majin’s authority. While it’s in slim amounts… Yes, it is detectable.”
“······.”
As a blue light glowed from the artifact, Ludwig bit his lips tightly.
“Next, we’ll examine the bodies of the graduate students.”
The bodies of the graduate students had not been treated for blood preservation.
The two moved to the morgue, exhaling steam, and stood in front of Yusek’s corpse, which had a gaping chest.
As they drained the blood into the artifact, it too glowed with a blue light.
It became clear that the Majin’s authority was present in both groups.
This meant that the beings who invaded the Imperial University and the graduate students who liberated the Untier were linked to the same backer.
“That artifact… Can we really trust it?”
“We have no choice but to trust it.”
“······.”
With Sergey’s firm response, Ludwig nodded in agreement.
This artifact was ultimately a tool designed to find the Majin who violated the peace treaty by granting powers to humans.
If it were an innocent Majin, it would indeed operate without error.
If the artifact malfunctioned, it meant the Majin who created it was the culprit.
In any case, it was confirmed that a Majin was commanding humans to attack the Empire.
“As for reporting to His Excellency—”
“I will compile the report myself.”
Declaring that, Ludwig turned around.
His head was already aching from trying to choose the right words.
How on Earth could he convey the news that the Empire had entered a state of war against an unidentified force led by the Majin…
*
“Now, Hainkel. Open wide. Ahh.”
“Ahhh…”
Damn it.
I couldn’t tell if the food was going in my mouth or my nose.
I had to endure the embarrassment of having Emilia feed me soup with a spoon.
Of course, if this were inside the mansion, it wouldn’t be that embarrassing.
The problem was that this was right in the middle of the student cafeteria.
“Emilia.”
“What is it, Lord Hainkel?”
“Did we really have to eat at the cafeteria?”
“We had no choice. We had run out of cooking supplies in the mansion… I should have gone shopping sooner.”
“······.”
That was indeed a blunder, wasn’t it?
You’re not doing this on purpose, are you?
If Emilia was trying to humiliate me to death, she was almost succeeding.
However, there was something I truly didn’t expect.
“… so the circuits of the right arm and the left arm cancel each other out. So, what remains to be calculated is just the body’s circuit.”
“Lord Hainkel. Should I take notes on this too?”
“Uh… sure…”
I never thought Emilia would follow me into the lecture room like this.
Of course, bringing an attendant into the classroom wasn’t a problem in itself.
But no matter how lazy a noble might be, they wouldn’t have their attendant taking notes for them.
That would be considered terribly un-noble.
Though in my case, I had the excuse of both arms being wrecked…
“Ah. The eraser… the eraser…”
“······.”
Still, I couldn’t shake off the embarrassment.
I felt the attention gravitating towards me, and my face burned up embarrassingly.
I was about to lose my mind.
“Professor. If you just lie still because you’re injured, it won’t heal properly. You need to use it a bit. How about a spar today?”
“What on earth are you talking about, Trie… If my muscles are torn, then it’s only natural that using them would make it worse.”
“Huh? Even when my calf muscles tore, I jogged lightly every day and got better! You need to stretch it out a little.”
“······.”
I was left speechless.
I had no courage to ask how long that “light jogging” lasted, and I had to back down.
Trie was just born to have a strong body, so I could let that pass.
‘But who is that?’
As I tried to focus back on the lesson, my eyes fell on someone.
That person, dressed heavily and wearing a hat pulled down low.
They were unfamiliar and not someone seen in combat magic class, after all.
The classroom was already over capacity.
If anyone was invading this classroom, it was likely that person.
“Trie. Don’t let your guard down.”
“Huh?”
“Aintz. No matter what happens, don’t cast spells. This classroom is too small to handle your firepower.”
“Huh…? What are you suddenly talking about?”
With my gaze focused on their back, I quietly gave instructions on either side.
I was ready to spring into action at any moment.
‘Query.’
And then I used my ability to reveal their identity.
[Erica von der Lichtenburg]
[Gender: Female]
[She is the eldest daughter of the Lichtenburg family. Currently a first-year student at Freya Imperial University and… ]
“Erica?”
What is she doing here?
Is she coming to cheat?
I felt like an idiot for having been uptight just moments ago.
