Technique Name: Squirrel Flight.
It is the secret technique of the ‘Yulseo Sword Technique,’ inspired by the movements of a squirrel…
The key was to compress the joints to the limit to achieve maximum instantaneous speed.
That strike was as swift as light, capable of cleanly severing the throat of Greed—
“…Ugh.”
Grind.
The joints, compressed to the limit, creaked.
The recoil from forcibly using a half-learned technique.
Before Sion, groaning in pain, a translucent spear appeared.
[Technique Name: Squirrel○Flight]
[Style: Yulseo○Technique]
[Rank: 4th Circle]
[Description: ???]
[You can acquire battle skills through effort in skill use.]
[Current Acquisition Rate: 45%]
[All information except the description will be disclosed.]
[You can acquire a combat skill upon achieving 100%.]
[Warning! The technique was used at a low acquisition rate.]
[Physical burden is increased.]
‘…Damn.’
The problem was the strain on the body when using the technique.
Since it required twisting the joints to the utmost, it was a severe burden on Sion’s human body, which was not of the Yulseo race.
Adding the recoil of using a technique he hadn’t mastered made it difficult to stand properly.
‘Damn… I’m going to fall…’
His legs moved uncontrollably, and he couldn’t gather strength in his body.
Just before Sion, who was staggering, fell to the ground, someone caught him.
“S-Sion! Are you okay?”
“…Estroja.”
“Wait a moment. I-I always carry healing potions with me, so take this.”
With a surprised expression, Estroja embraced Sion and hurriedly took out a potion to feed him.
Sion quietly accepted it like a child.
Although he wasn’t completely cured upon eating it, the muscle pain had lessened a bit.
“…Thank you.”
“Are you getting up?”
“It’s not over yet.”
Sion broke free from Estroja’s embrace and walked away.
Greed, whose head and body were completely separated.
Though it didn’t move a muscle, Sion’s ‘eyes’ pierced through her.
“Stop pretending to be dead.”
“…….”
“You’re not dead yet.”
“Cough, I got caught, huh?”
“Ugh! Sion! A corpse can’t talk…!”
“I’m not a corpse.”
Surprisingly, her head was still alive.
“…My state is no joke. I hadn’t heard that such a monster existed in the Magic Department…”
“You should have done more research before coming.”
“Puh, how cheeky.”
She chuckled.
In a situation where her body could do nothing but keep her head, her head was gradually losing its form, and the tentacles that had wrapped around Professor Lunia were becoming progressively limp.
“Don’t think this is the end. I, Greed, am not dead yet.”
“I know that.”
“Ha! You know? If you’re boasting—”
“No, I can see it.”
Even at this moment, Greed’s head was melting away.
Her body was the same.
However, in Sion’s eyes, he caught the ‘source’ that was weakly writhing inside her tentacles.
Whoa!
Magic gathered in Sion’s wand.
The direction was towards the tentacles where Professor Lunia was located.
According to her will, Sion unleashed magic towards those tentacles that moved freely.
“Earth.”
One of the spells Sion was most confident in, Earth.
It carefully extracted Professor Lunia and enclosed all the tentacles.
Her tentacles trapped in a massive sphere.
Greed’s expression twisted.
“Wretch! How….”
“So that’s why I can see it.”
Sion’s discerning eye can understand magic and combat skills.
But underneath that was the movement of ‘magical power.’
Less than the magical power held by Serenne Camille, but visible when focused was the movement of magical power.
In Sion’s eyes, Greed’s core was not in her body but… in those tentacles.
Kuhuhuh—!!
As Sion willed, the sphere compressed.
In response, Greed made a pained expression.
“Gah….”
“Resistance is futile.”
“…You bastard, do you think you can get away with this!?”
“Well, let’s see.”
Sion shrugged.
The danger still lingered.
Greed was also a member of Apostolos. There were still six apostles remaining in Apostolos.
“So I just need to grow stronger until then.”
“How can a first-year from the academy dare…!”
“If you’re done talking, let’s wrap it up.”
“You foolish human trying to stop the resurrection of the Demon King! Today’s events will never be forgotten by us Apostolos—Kuaaaaaaack!!!”
Fwoosh.
With his left hand, Sion unleashed ‘Fire,’ and her head caught ablaze.
The head gradually losing its form and turning into a viscous substance.
Sion frowned at the grotesque sight.
‘…Like a slime demon.’
A demon made of viscous liquid and tentacles.
It resembled a slime more than an actual demon.
Anyway, her ‘core’ was trapped in the massive sphere created by Sion, so there were no problems.
“Professor Lunia.”
“S-Si-Sion student….”
Lunia had various black viscous substances smeared on her and wore a distressed expression.
Sion approached her and used Wind magic to remove the viscous substances.
From a distance, it was pitiful to see her fingers trembling.
Tears pooled in her large eyes.
“I thought I would really die… hic, my mouth was blocked, and my body was restrained… hic, I was scared…”
“It’s alright now. Don’t worry.”
“Hic, Sion student….”
“…!”
Hug!
Professor Lunia, who was about to cry, clung to Sion.
Her warm breath tickled Sion’s ear.
Sion, flustered by the sudden skinship, eventually began patting her back skillfully.
“…It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“Hic, is it really okay…?”
“Yes, it’s all over. You just need to wait now.”
“I-I’m sorry… hic, just a bit more, hic, just a bit longer like this….”
“It’s fine.”
Sion, who was patting the professor’s back, and Lunia, who was sheding tear droplets while holding onto him.
Estroja, who watched the scene, couldn’t help but mutter.
“…Who’s the professor, and who’s the student?”
A crying professor and a student comforting her with pats.
In that bizarre sight, Estroja’s brain froze, unable to process it.
Eventually, until the other professors arrived because of the report, Professor Lunia clung to Sion.
*
“…Apostolos, you say?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Huh.”
A room that resembled a professor’s research room he often saw in his previous life.
In there, Sion and someone were having a conversation.
His name was Noias Veitan.
He was the lead professor of the Magic Department at Byzantium Academy.
“Do you know about Apostolos?”
“Being in this position means I can’t help but receive information, of course I know. However…”
Noias stroked his white beard.
His eyes held a look of disbelief, staring into the void.
For some reason, Sion felt something strange about his demeanor.
“I never expected them to directly intervene in the academy.”
“…Intervene?”
“They were always a hidden organization. They praised and extolled the Demon King but had no real power. But how did they… Huh.”
“I think this.”
Swoosh.
While Noias continued to stroke his beard, Sion handed him a document.
It was the academy’s class schedule.
“The intruder of the academy… Greed knew Professor Lunia’s class schedule.”
“…Class schedule, you say?”
“Yes, they knew today was a practical class and that it was being conducted in a mountain far from the academy.”
“That means…”
“Yes.”
Noias’s eyebrows twitched as if he sensed something.
Sion nodded.
It was an unpleasant truth, but he had to convey it to him, the lead professor of the Magic Department.
“There’s a spy in the academy.”
“…!”
“A spy who conveys information to an organization called Apostolos. The academy’s class schedule can only be viewed through the former principal’s phone magic.”
The phone magic created by the former principal.
It was a device that allowed student IDs or professor IDs to be used like phones.
Most of the academy’s systems used this phone magic.
The academy’s class schedule could also be checked through the phone magic.
It was impossible to verify by ordinary means.
Only professors with professor IDs or students with student IDs could see it.
“So, you’re saying one of the academy’s students or professors provided information to Apostolos…?”
“Given the circumstances, it seems so. If they targeted the Magic Department directly and knew Professor Lunia’s practical plan in detail… it’s highly likely to be someone from the Magic Department.”
“What about Professor Lunia?”
“…Well, I don’t know.”
Sion recalled Professor Lunia, who was shedding tears.
‘It wouldn’t make sense if that were an act.’
If it were an act, Lunia would certainly win this year’s award for acting.
…Although whether there is such an award in this world is another question.
At least in Sion’s experience, spending time together with her made it hard to believe she was a spy for Apostolos.
“Thank you for your opinion. Thanks to you, nothing happened.”
“I just did what I had to do.”
“Soon, the academy will award you a certificate of appreciation.”
“…A certificate of appreciation?”
Sion’s eyes twitched.
What is this sudden certificate of appreciation?
It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to become more famous here.
The more he did, the more negative rumors seemed to spread.
“I imagine you know that the athletic competition is coming up soon. However, if there are unfortunate events recently, it could negatively affect the festival, right?”
“That may be true, but what does that have to do with the certificate…?”
“…It’s the politics of adults.”
“…….”
Noias held back his words, but Sion nodded.
Having once been a graduate student, he somewhat grasped how things worked internally.
‘The objective is obvious. This is nothing. It was a disaster that a first-year in the academy could sufficiently handle… to outwardly show that point.’
Especially in universities where reputation is crucial, it was important not to blow things out of proportion.
In that regard, Sion felt a similarity between the academy and a university.
“Don’t think too unpleasantly. Along with the certificate, there will also be a monetary reward.”
“A monetary reward?”
“I heard it’s roughly in the hundreds of gold coins.”
“…!”
Sion desperately suppressed the corners of his mouth that wanted to rise.
Receiving a monetary reward in the hundreds of gold coins was astonishing.
He was already starting to feel good about it.
Noias smiled warmly at Sion, who looked like that.
“Well, it is the best academy of the empire, so it should be something like this, haha!”
“Thank you. I will use it carefully.”
“Alright, then off you go.”
“Ah, may I ask…?”
“Hmm?”
Sion awkwardly stood up and asked one last question to Noias.
“Can I inquire about the tuition fee for a semester at the academy?”
“Hmm, it’s generally around 500 gold coins… but I believe the Magic Department has various costs, so it will be around 700 gold coins.”
“…….”
700 gold coins…?
Sion blinked in disbelief at the reality.
He thought he had earned quite a bit of gold until now, but still had a long way to go.
‘…I’ll have to work hard for the athletic competition.’
Sion clenched his fist.
He heard that they awarded gold coins for winning the athletic competition.
At that time, he would have to win as many events as possible to earn money.
“Thank you. Then, I’ll be going.”
“Take care.”
With those thoughts, Sion left the professor’s research room.
…First, he has to go to Professor Heruj and ask her to train him in Squirrel Flight.
