novelraw Chapter 86 : Professor Interview (1)
Chapter 86 : Professor Interview (1)
Chapter 86: Professor Interview (1)
Ignito finished his patrol of the Underworld and returned to the designated resting area.
However, the Captain of the Royal Guard, Daemon, was nowhere to be seen.
“…….”
Recently, survivors of the Emmet Family—who had gone missing—had been appearing frequently in the Underworld, and due to Tyrant’s order to locate their hideouts, the entire Royal Guard had been stationed in the Underworld.
In such a situation, Daemon had disappeared.
By principle, the Captain and Vice-Captain were supposed to stick together like one body.
Looking closely, even the armor he had been wearing was gone.
That meant he had put it on and gone somewhere.
Without informing him.
Ignito grabbed one of the guards and asked.
“Where did the Captain go?”
“He said he was heading to the Hall of Assembly and left just a moment ago.”
The place called the Hall of Assembly was the building that enshrined the statue of Tyrant, the Archmage.
It was also where a waypoint that led directly to the top of the main school was located.
“I see.”
Ignito immediately checked the Royal Guard–exclusive Mob.
Normally, one only went to the Hall of Assembly when Tyrant summoned them, and all such summons came through this Mob.
However, there was no summon from Tyrant.
The last order still stood: remain stationed in the Underworld and search for the Emmet Family’s hideout.
With that, Ignito dashed straight toward the Hall of Assembly.
Fortunately, the Hall of Assembly was not far from the Royal Guard’s resting area, so he arrived quickly.
“Captain.”
“Oh, Vice-Captain.”
At the Hall of Assembly.
Daemon was just about to push his body into the waypoint.
“Are you going to the top?”
“So what if I am?”
There was something off about Daemon’s expression.
A blunt gaze, as if he wasn’t even looking at a person.
There was also a clear hint of annoyance within it.
It was a side of him Ignito had never seen before.
“There wasn’t a separate summon, so I was wondering what was going on. Aren’t you and I supposed to stay together at all times?”
“He summoned only me, so it wouldn’t show up on your Mob.”
“Pardon?”
In all the time Ignito had served as Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard, Tyrant had never once summoned only Daemon.
That alone made it impossible to dismiss as an unimportant matter.
The more important the issue, the more Tyrant always summoned both of them.
“Just carry out your assigned mission faithfully. Then.”
Daemon quickly averted his gaze and pushed himself into the waypoint.
And just like that, only Ignito was left standing alone in the Hall of Assembly.
‘He noticed.’
Ignito could tell by instinct.
The reason he had been summoned while leaving him out.
Tyrant had realized that he was connected to Ed Etar.
But how much had he realized?
Finding that out was the most urgent task, yet Ignito knew it was impossible in his current state.
Hadn’t Tyrant summoned only Daemon precisely because he had begun to suspect him?
In a situation like this, moving around to gather more information to pass on to Etar would only act as an accelerant to shorten his life.
‘As I thought, the potion was the problem.’
It was a potion Tyrant had personally made—there was no way he wouldn’t notice.
But claiming it was lost on the spot and refusing to return it would have been even more suspicious, so he had filled it with water instead.
Either way, if he was going to be found out, Ignito wanted to buy just a little more time.
In truth, he had also harbored a faint hope that, if luck favored him, he might somehow gloss over it.
But contrary to his wishes, the result ignited a serious situation.
Ignito first returned to the resting area.
Then he sat quietly and began to think about the situation.
‘It’s true that I’ve been exposed, but if I try to run now, the target will become the Ed Branch School. They’ll think that’s the only place I could go.’
While thinking deeply, Ignito realized one thing.
‘For now, leaving me alone means he’s noticed something, but hasn’t grasped the exact relationship. And his information is incomplete.’
That meant there was still some time left for the fading spark of his life to burn.
Thus, rather than fleeing, he decided to continue maintaining his position as Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard.
He resolved to face it head-on.
‘I joined the Royal Guard prepared to throw this life away at any moment anyway. If this life is going to disappear soon, then disappearing after passing on as much as possible is the path that benefits everyone. Just like the survivors of the Emmet Family.’
No matter how much Tyrant ostracized him within the Royal Guard, in the end, if Tyrant wanted something, he had to move the Royal Guard.
Bound to the top, he couldn’t act directly.
Therefore, as long as he maintained the position of Vice-Captain, even if not in detail, he could obtain a rough picture of the Royal Guard’s movements.
Just like how he learned about Daemon’s sudden disappearance moments ago through the testimony of a single guard.
‘Still, I need insurance…….’
Ignito surveyed the resting area.
After confirming that no one else was present besides himself, he took out a new Mob.
It was the Mob he used to contact Etar in secret.
Crunch-!
Ignito shattered the Mob without a moment’s hesitation.
In the unlikely event that he was captured, he could not allow the existence of this Mob to be discovered.
‘From today on, I’m no longer a living person. I’m a ghost.’
Light Element–Favored Duel Arena.
The scenery resembled an ordinary classroom, but countless lights floated across the walls, floor, and ceiling.
Hexagonal, circular, conical, and more.
Their shapes and sizes were all different.
If there was one thing they had in common, it was that—befitting a Light Element–favored duel arena—all the light was pure white.
For a Light Elementalist, it was an ideal environment.
As with all element-favored duel arenas, however, the degree of favoritism was so excessive that it would be more accurate to call it a discriminatory duel arena.
Russel, standing across from me, wore a bewildered expression.
He had said before that he had challenged Keled to a duel first, so it couldn’t be his first time here.
It seemed he simply couldn’t understand why this was the Light Element–favored duel arena when he himself wasn’t the applicant.
I was not, at the very least, a kind person to Russel.
Which meant there was no reason to explain.
Without a word, I manifested a small spark of fire and threw it at Russel.
Bang!
Russel reacted instantly and extinguished my spark with a Light Sealing Sword.
‘Hmm, for someone bragging about being a family mage. He couldn’t even get close to Tap-Taking.’
I could tell just by looking at the Light Sealing Sword Russel had manifested.
Right now, perhaps because he had gone straight up from 1st Class, Russel had not adapted at all to 3rd Class lessons.
‘Or maybe he hasn’t started Tap-Taking for the Light Element yet.’
Either way, Russel was someone I would be parting ways with anyway.
There was no need for words.
Perhaps feeling the same way, Russel continued the duel in silence.
It was after we had exchanged blows several times.
‘Playing around about this much is enough.’
It was time to end it.
Like stars in the night sky, I manifested countless sparks.
Inside the duel arena, which had been filled with white light, red now occupied the greater share.
“……Huh.”
Perhaps because he had witnessed magic at a level he had never seen before, Russel instantly lost his will to fight, his face slack as he let out a hollow sound.
The magic I had manifested was Red Rain.
It was a spell that attacked by indiscriminately bombarding sparks like a downpour.
I had deliberately minimized its power, but the sheer number of sparks made it an attack Russel could absolutely not block.
“Farewell, 3rd Class.”
And so I dropped Red Rain, and as Russel’s measuring device burst apart 그대로, the final duel of 3rd Class came to an end.
Not long after my duel ended, Kiena and Hei also accumulated 200 points.
Perhaps because of what had happened last night, no words of praise came for their achievements.
They were simply indifferent.
The three of us gathered in front of the duel arena together and applied for an interview with Professor Cullem.
“Hmm, so you three want to take that interview tomorrow, is that it?”
“Yes.”
Kiena and Hei still found Cullem, who held the title of professor, intimidating and could barely speak properly.
So I stepped forward as the representative and took charge of everything.
“Well, fine. You’ve met the conditions. Come to me tomorrow at 2 p.m.”
Cullem, looking annoyed, conveyed only what was strictly necessary and waved his hand for us to hurry up and leave.
But when I didn’t budge at all, he twisted his expression and asked,
“Why aren’t you leaving?”
“There’s one thing I want to make clear.”
“If it’s information about the interview, I won’t tell you anything.”
“That’s not it.”
“……Then?”
“Tomorrow’s interview, the three of us are taking it together, right?”
Rather than asking whether we would take it separately or together, I deliberately asked as if we had to take it together.
“It doesn’t matter if the three of you take it together, but if you do, the difficulty will go way up.”
That meant we could do it individually, or together.
From the start, there hadn’t been just one option, but two.
Kiena and Hei, perhaps focusing only on the fact that we could take it together, clapped their hands and rejoiced.
“It’s fine.”
“You seem to be taking the interview too lightly. Then, see you tomorrow.”
As Cullem spoke to me, he let a meaningful smile slip across his face.
Fine. No matter what kind of interview you’ve prepared, isn’t it obvious anyway?
The condition for advancing to 5th Class.
Just thinking about that makes the nature of the interview obvious.
Magic.
Coincidentally, I was someone who had once stood at the pinnacle with that very magic and guided this society.
Carrying these two kids along, so to speak, was hardly difficult.
For me, this was ‘only’ 3rd Class.
“Get plenty of rest today. For tomorrow’s interview, at least.”
I said that to Kiena and Hei as we returned to the dormitory.
“Yeah! Artel! Want to go eat or something?”
“Right! It’s the day we all gathered 200 points! It’d be nice to eat together.”
“Sorry, I’m not hungry.”
I coldly ignored the two of them and passed by.
“……Artel?”
Their bewildered voices reached my back, but for some reason, I didn’t care at all.
It seemed this too was the aftermath of what had happened last night.
‘You two, what secrets are you holding?’
Ed Etar, Draco Tyrant.
The sealing stone at the top, Sylarid.
It felt like Kiena and Hei had been added to these four karmas (業) I carried.
I didn’t even feel like approaching the two of them familiarly as before.
‘Why are there so many people around me who are carrying secrets?’
It felt as if I were some kind of magnet that drew secrets in.
Well, when even I myself was a bundle of secrets, who was there to blame?
For now, I decided to forget the trivial things and simply wait for tomorrow’s interview to arrive.
The next day, 2 p.m.
Kiena, Hei, and I.
The three of us came out in front of the duel arena right on time.
But at the entrance of the duel arena stood an unexpected figure.
Professor Cullem was there anyway since this was practically his designated spot, so that aside.
There was Fire Element teacher Balak, and a young woman with long black hair and black eyes.
“Uh……? Teacher, why are you here?”
It was Kiena’s question.
Her identity was the teacher in charge of the Summoning subject for 3rd Class.
“Oh my, Kiena. Thanks to you, the professor said he’d let me join in on an interesting interview too.”
“What? Teacher too, in the interview?”
“Yeah, that’s what he said.”
I glanced sideways and stared at Cullem.
“Why? I told you the difficulty would increase if you did it together. Are you saying you can’t trust a professor’s words?”
Why would the difficulty increase just because the 담당 teachers joined in?
It wasn’t like it would be a three-on-three duel.
‘I’ll find out once we open it up anyway. Hurry up and open it.’
“Follow me.”
Cullem guided us not to the duel arena, but somewhere else.