“Iskandal. Why is this taking so long······.”
Hertlocker entered the barrier, trailing off at the end of his words.
A pale woman lying in a pool of blood.
And a headless corpse.
The horror was so overwhelming that he struggled to continue speaking.
“What on earth······.”
Hertlocker squinted as he walked towards Iskandal’s corpse.
The severed surface was just a mess.
It didn’t look like it was cut with a knife at all.
Moreover, the severed head was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah.”
As Hertlocker looked around, he sighed.
Scattered, bloody fragments were everywhere.
Realizing they were pieces of the skull and brain came just a moment later.
So Iskandal’s head hadn’t been cut off.
It had exploded. Something had crashed into it forcefully, shattering it into pieces.
But he felt no mana at all in the vicinity.
Except for the very weak mana emitted by the barrier, there were no traces of a spell being activated.
Thus, it wasn’t magic······ but is it even possible for a human body to exert this much force?
“Um······.”
The blood had cooled quite a bit. The culprit had definitely left the scene at least five minutes prior.
Now, even if he chased after them, it seemed unlikely that he would catch them. Even if he did catch them, it didn’t seem like he could match them with his current self.
Hertlocker quickly abandoned the thought of pursuit.
“This is a disaster.”
An out-of-spec opponent had appeared.
An enemy with at least the combat strength of a Majin. It could be that they are actually a Majin. Although the chances of that are extremely low.
Given that they entered the reconnaissance barrier and caused this incident, it likely wasn’t a coincidence.
There was a high probability that they were aware of the activities of the Kingdom’s Intelligence Agency.
Somehow, things have been going smoothly lately.
Starting from the failure to get into the Imperial University, the Intelligence Agency had been facing a series of crises.
It seemed like the Empire had started to catch on and was beginning to exert pressure.
Emilia would likely need to be sent back to the Kingdom soon.
Even if it meant doing so against her will.
“By the way, when am I going to clean all this up······.”
Standing in the midst of a scene splattered with blood and flesh, Hertlocker let out a deep sigh.
*
An unexpected situation had occurred.
Iskandal’s death.
In the original story, Iskandal survived until the very last installment. He wasn’t supposed to die.
And yet, he was killed in the ultra, ultra, ultra early stages before the Imperial University even started······.
That said, it didn’t create any serious problems.
Iskandal’s role throughout the original work wasn’t significant, and he merely handled the various chores of the Intelligence Agency.
So there was no worry that some important incident would be twisted just because Iskandal was gone.
In the first place, he was a character created solely for my convenience to ensure the protagonist would have less blood on their hands.
However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any influence moving forward.
All the dirty work that Iskandal used to do would now fall to the protagonist.
One of the reasons the protagonist regained their emotions and could be rehabilitated was because there were fewer opportunities to kill······.
Now, the chances for Hertlocker to redeem himself were virtually non-existent.
He’s truly become a villain. What a jerk.
“What am I supposed to do about this.”
He held a pocket watch in his hand, looking at it. It was broken, the hands not moving.
[Pocket Watch]
[Status: Broken. Needs Repair.]
[Description: An ordinary pocket watch without anything special.]
Immediately, his ability “Appraisal” activated, and subtitles appeared. There was nothing particularly helpful in the information.
Mary had asked him.
To please relay it to her son.
The problem was he had no idea who that son was.
He could only guess that the surname was Ayle.
But how many men in the world would have the surname Ayle?
Yet if he tried to investigate, both the Kingdom’s Intelligence Agency and the protagonist would suspect him.
He had no choice but to quietly search for it himself.
“It’ll be tough for now. Maybe I’ll look during the vacation.”
He had no intention of disregarding the last request from his life-saving benefactor.
Somehow, he had to find them and pass it on.
By the way, this pocket watch······ felt like he had seen it somewhere before.
Probably just his imagination.
He placed the pocket watch in a small box and stuffed it into the safe.
“Ha······. Shit, this sucks.”
Now that he thought about it, the entrance ceremony was in an hour.
He struggled to remove the bandages on his right arm and awkwardly squeezed into his school uniform.
His arm was throbbing with pain.
He needed to go now.
To that den of madmen.
*
“It seems everyone is here. Then, we will begin the entrance ceremony for Freya Imperial University.”
He had read such a novel before.
A novel where the author embody himself into his own story.
Despite being a newcomer, the writing was surprisingly good, and he had read it entranced.
But then, at around chapter 15, as if by a lie, the writing and the story collapsed, leading to a crap ending around chapter 20.
Wouldn’t it be nice if when I closed my eyes and opened them again, I was back in my room?
“······Ah shit, reality.”
“Shh! Shut up, human!”
It was a futile wish.
This novel had to go on for at least 300 chapters before it ended.
In other words, he would have to spend at least five years living as Schlus Hainkel in this lousy world.
“······Now, the valedictorian will give a speech.”
“Ah.”
When the voice of the valedictorian echoed through the microphone, he froze.
A speech? Come to think of it, there was a very brief description of a speech in the original work.
But he hadn’t received any information about the speech itself.
“Schlus Hainkel. Please come to the podium.”
“Yes.”
Would there be a script when he got up there?
He slowly climbed the stairs, feeling the numerous gazes of hundreds of people on him.
He hadn’t done many presentations back in school; would this go well?
“Ha.”
Ludwig stepped back from the microphone and sigh escaped from his mouth as he took his place.
There was no script, nothing.
He glanced at Ludwig, but it didn’t seem like he had anything to relay to him.
“Puh.”
“Keheh······.”
He turned back at the sounds of laughter.
Some of the professors sitting behind the podium had their heads lowered, trying to stifle their laughter.
Now he understood something.
The ones who should have informed him about the speech hadn’t said a word on purpose to prank him.
Those jerks.
He was suddenly supposed to give a speech without any script.
“······.”
He brought the microphone closer and looked down.
Over a hundred new students were staring at his face.
On those faces were not just displeasure, but also disdain and contempt.
This really sucks. Who would want to embody themselves into a commoner?
He gripped the microphone, brought it close, and opened his mouth.
“Hello, I am the top student, Schlus Hainkel. I consider it an honor to stand here on this blessed day.”
Maybe it’s because he was a writer.
The cliché opening of a speech immediately came to mind and tumbled out of his mouth.
One slightly worrying point was that it was coming out without any filtering.
Wouldn’t he end up saying something weird?
“A commoner being the top student······.”
“He probably cheated.”
“Ugh, it’s so annoying, I could die. Why did that filthy person have to be in our cohort-”
Not long after he began the speech, a few in the front row started to whisper.
Did they think his voice would drown it out?
He could clearly hear it, you jerks.
As he was inwardly cursing them, there came a moment-
“As you all know, the Imperial University is the best university not only in the Empire but throughout the continent. Such a university-”
“A cheater bastard. Tch.”
“Whoa······. Surely, that university wouldn’t admit a commoner who committed fraud, right? Even if that’s true, I wonder if the individual knows that spitting on the university they were admitted to.”
“······.”
He had done it.
These whispered comments had made him lose his cool, and he ended up drifting off course.
When he regained his senses, he was glaring at the noble who had been so chatty, and they were now looking up at him with their mouths shut.
The instant he paused his speech, a cold silence hung in the hall.
This is bad. But now that I’ve messed up, I might as well see it through to the end.
“I promise here that if even once during the first semester someone manages to take the top position from me, I will voluntarily drop out. So if you believe you are superior to a commoner, please go ahead and prove it with your abilities. Don’t be cowardly and hide behind the scenes.”
“Professor! Remove that guy!”
“Then, may luck be with all the Imperial University students in their future endeavors. This concludes my speech as the top student.”
“······.”
As the professors in the back began to stir, he hurriedly finished the speech and stepped down from the podium.
On the way back to his seat, he caught a glimpse of a professor who had been snickering earlier, his expression now twisted in a scowl directed at him.
He deliberately ignored it and looked up at Ludwig, who was back at the microphone.
Surely, he would have something to say to him, but-
“······Next, there will be a welcoming speech from the Chairwoman.”
Surprisingly, he passed by without saying a word.
This was quite unexpected. Ludwig seemed like he would definitely try to embarrass him.
Still, it was a relief he hadn’t made a fuss.
As he tried to relax, for some reason, he felt a piercing gaze from all directions.
*
“What kind of insolent behavior is this! You had the podium for a speech but ended up mockingly treating noblemen like this! Professor Relic! That Schlus whatchamacallit! Punish him now!”
After the entrance ceremony ended,
in the hall, once all the students had returned, Relic was passionately arguing in front of other professors.
His face remained as red as it had been when Schlus was giving his speech.
“Professor Relic.”
“You will punish him, right? Right?”
“Professor Relic.”
“······Yes.”
Ludwig’s voice was low.
With his excitement simmering down, Relic finally responded.
The fact that Ludwig kept repeating the same question indicated his solid displeasure.
“You were instructed to convey a speech to the valedictorian.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Did you convey this information?”
“I, um, did.”
“Are you sure?”
“······.”
Meeting Ludwig’s icy gaze caused Relic to lower his eyes.
Even though he was also a noble, Ludwig had a power that could intimidate people.
While Relic tried to deny it again under Ludwig’s continued questioning, he made eye contact with Chairwoman Alexia, who was sitting alone at the back.
She was crossing her legs and watching them with a faint smile, as if she found the situation interesting.
Cold sweat began to trickle down Relic’s neck.
Lying in front of that woman was simply impossible, after all.
“I did not convey it······. I apologize. That was my mistake.”
Ultimately, Relic admitted the truth, and Ludwig let out a long sigh.
No wonder Schlus had looked flustered as he glanced around the podium.
Of course, the expression on the man with those lifeless eyes showed no agitation.
There was no way someone with the mental strength to withstand the Barrier of Fear would be flustered in any situation.
“So, you’re saying the speech was all improvised on the spot.”
“I assume so. True to his lowly status, it seems he couldn’t prepare anything.”
“······Tch.”
Ludwig, who no longer wanted to hear this, clicked his tongue and turned away completely.
‘Honestly, I was a bit impressed.’
Starting with such a bland opener, he thought it would end without incident, but he never imagined he would set off such a bomb.
One of those bombs was that he declared he would drop out if someone stole the top position from him within the first semester. To new students, that was probably more shocking than the fact that a commoner had entered as the top student.
So far, there had never been anyone to willingly leave the Imperial University after being admitted.
However, that didn’t sound even slightly provocative to Ludwig.
In the first place, maintaining the top position for the first semester was a condition for receiving advance grants for dormitory and maintenance stipends.
So it was just like increasing the odds he had already laid out. There was no additional risk for Schlus.
Moreover, the comment he muttered in the middle, “Don’t be cowardly and hide behind the scenes,” was directed not only at the students gossiping behind his back but also at Professor Relic, who hadn’t informed him about the speech.
In fact, Relic had been “behind” Schlus at that time. It was quite the sharp critique in many respects.
‘Fairness’ was one of the virtues nobles emphasized the most, so they couldn’t scold him for talking nonsense.
Ludwig could see that the only things Relic could do were to complain about how arrogant he was, how there was no decorum, and throw colorful insults at him.
‘He’s definitely a different kind of crazy.’
If it was this noisy even at the entrance ceremony.
He couldn’t imagine how chaotic the start of the semester would be.
Just the mere thought made him feel dizzy.
Clutching his throbbing temples, Ludwig looked at Alexia again.
Alexia smiled broadly and waved her hand at him.
‘Well, who did bring him here?’
Alexia was the one who had given full marks to him. There was no way he was sane.
With that realization, Ludwig began to understand things a bit better.
