“Eddi! Come here for a second!”
“Huh?… What the—!”
Whoosh—
As soon as Eddi entered the office, I immediately whisked her off to my private training room.
The year-end interclass tournament didn’t go exactly as I’d hoped, BUT there was one pretty solid trophy to show for it.
Something worth boasting about.
I’ve gotta boast a little to lift my spirits.
“What is this all of a sudden… Goodness gracious!”
“Heh heh. What do you think? This is my latest trophy.”
“My… trophy…?”
Eddi stared in utter shock at the creature standing quietly nearby, emanating a green glow.
Seeing her reaction made me feel all the more accomplished.
“His name is Green.”
Clack—
Green seemed to understand me calling his name, responding by tapping one of his hooves.
He was quite rebellious earlier, but now he’s grown rather docile.
“What in the world is THAT supposed to be?”
“Whaaat? This is Green. Don’t you recognize him?”
“But this is…”
Eddi was left speechless, gawking at Green.
Green, sensing her gaze, held his head high proudly.
Come to think of it, he’s surprisingly intelligent.
“Phew. At least boasting about this makes me feel a little better.”
By now, Eddi was walking in careful circles around Green, inspecting him closely.
I had expected to cleanly complete my quests and obtain a proper skill for my wizard class by this time.
But then those unexpected undead showed up, throwing my plans into disarray.
Of course, thanks to them, I DID get Green.
Clack— Clack—
Green began tapping his hooves uneasily as Eddi circled him.
“Whoa whoa, it’s okay, buddy, it’s okay.”
“Are you serious… Could that be an undead?”
“Yeah. It’s a d*ath knight’s steed.”
“…”
Finally, Eddi’s gaze turned from Green to me.
I’m used to this look by now—it’s her ‘What the heck have you done THIS time?” stare.
“Um… I didn’t steal this one, I swear. It was a case of self-defense.”
“Pfft… undead…”
“Do you know anything about undead?”
“I’ve got the basics. They’re beings said to be summoned by black magicians. Haven’t been seen in the continent for years…”
“Ooooh, well then, take a look at these.”
Whoom— Thud—
Eddi made a face of disgust as I opened a spatial pocket and pulled out a few headless ghoul corpses.
“And what’s THIS supposed to be? What on earth have you been up to?”
I hadn’t noticed when we were in the dark cave, but under the light, these ghouls do look kinda creepy.
“Undead attacked during today’s interclass tournament.”
“WHAAT???”
Eddi looked just as shocked as she did when she first saw Green.
“Nah, it’s fine. Though thanks to it, our first place victory feels a little shaky.”
“You’re telling me… undead attacked the academy?”
“Yeah. Weird, right? The tests felt way too tough. The one you gave me the map for seemed different, and then I found out the academy hadn’t even planned it.”
“…”
Eddi stared between the ghoul corpses, Green, and me, then put her hand on her forehead.
“Even I thought undead were kinda fresh. Never ran into any during my dungeon runs.”
“…Probably because they’re not supposed to exist… What on earth happened?”
“It wasn’t a big deal, I swear.”
“Sure it wasn’t. I should probably head back.”
“Why?”
“We need to figure out what happened first. An undead attack on the academy isn’t exactly a ‘minor’ incident. This could be worldwide news.”
“This too?”
Suddenly, an unpleasant memory surfaced, causing me to wince.
The Dragon Heart theft incident that revealed the Black Shadow Guild to the world.
I remember how the whole world went into a frenzy when the Dragon Heart was stolen from the O’Neil Kingdom. While I knew the Dragon Heart was a valuable material, I never imagined stealing it would attract global attention.
That overwhelming attention caused me a lot of trouble for a while, a fact I’ll never forget.
“Sssst. Let’s not draw too much attention like last time.”
“Alright, back to the office.”
“R-right.”
Realizing how serious Eddi’s expression was, I quickly grabbed her hand and we headed back to the office.
Is an undead appearance really such a big deal?
*
“We need to notify every possible contact immediately. The appearance of undead is an international issue. Plus, similar attacks might have occurred elsewhere.”
“Ugh. Amillion professor, calm down a little.”
“This isn’t just any appearance—it’s undead. If the church finds out, they’ll send their highest ranking priests at once.”
“I know that. AND that’s exactly the problem.”
“What…”
Amillion was at a loss for words hearing the vice chancellor’s response.
It had been the same yesterday when undead appeared, and the vice chancellor had remained disturbingly calm.
“This incident happened in our empire, at our academy. We need to conduct our own preliminary investigations first. You know what would happen if the church gets involved—we wouldn’t stand a chance. At worst, we might end up in a standoff between the church and the empire.”
“But the recording was live-streamed, wasn’t it!? The professors AND students all saw it—it’s only a matter of time before the church finds out!”
“That’s right. Everyone saw what happened in the ‘academy-made’ dungeon.”
“…Huh?”
Landgar, the vice chancellor, continued speaking without changing expression.
“Weren’t those supposed to be ‘academy-made’ monsters and traps in our ‘academy-made’ dungeon?”
Amillion immediately understood what Landgar was implying.
We were going to fake that the undead had been part of the academy’s planned preparation for the tournament.
“…But that’s not—!”
“The only ones who know the truth are the professors.”
“…”
Amillion felt like she’d been hit in the head—stunned.
It was true. The only ones who knew the undead appearance wasn’t planned were the professors.
If all the professors kept quiet, then yesterday’s undead incident would appear to be simply part of the academy’s exam preparations.
“How could you…!”
“We’re not trying to hide the truth about the undead’s appearance. We’re just saying now isn’t the time for the church to find out. I’ve already reported to the chancellor yesterday, and the imperial government is aware of the situation.”
“…”
Amillion was at a loss for words.
The vice chancellor did have a valid point.
Still, it went against her very sense of reason.
The appearance of undead meant so much more—it meant black magic had been used, which meant black magicians had reappeared on the continent.
“The empire will conduct a thorough investigation. If we uncover anything suspicious, we’ll share it with the whole world, and inform the church at that time too.”
“…”
“The incident happened in our empire, so it’s only right that we handle it ourselves. Just like how we should arrest and punish criminals who break our laws.”
Landgar continued speaking in perfect, well-rehearsed logic that left little room for rebuttal.
“So let’s wrap up this year-end competition peacefully. Isn’t it a historic event that the first years came in first?”
Seeing Amillion remain silent, Landgar continued.
“Yesterday, Professor Cassis also mentioned that the students would prefer to have the tournament end as is. Especially your first year students were quite vocal about it.”
Landgar carried on before Amillion could respond, with a subtle smile.
“Therefore, the administration has decided to announce the first years as the winners of the competition. It’s historic! The first year students have come in first in the interclass competition—an unprecedented event in the academy’s history! And they’re YOUR students too.”
“Haa…”
Exhaling deeply, Amillion could see the vice chancellor had clearly made all the arrangements.
It had been less than 24 hours since the incident, but preparations were already in place.
While she didn’t like it, she had to admit Landgar wasn’t called the academy’s vice chancellor for nothing.
“Ho ho. I’ll take that as cooperation then. We’ll announce the results on the bulletin board by the end of today.”
“That soon?”
“It’s not soon at all. We should’ve announced everything yesterday. Didn’t everyone see how the first years reached the finish line first? If we delay any longer, we’ll only invite suspicions and complaints.”
Amillion realized her words wouldn’t change anything anymore.
Many decisions had already been made and were moving forward, completely disregarding her opinions.
“Ah, and one more thing.”
“…Yes?”
“Could you arrange a meeting with that student, Ryu? He’s proven himself more capable than expected this time. Watching his performance in the dungeon yesterday, I’d like to meet him personally and have a chat.”
“…Understood.”
Though nothing about this arrangement satisfied her, Amillion could only nod reluctantly in agreement.
