Chapter 100

EP.100 A Nightmare on a Summer Night (1)

It was deep into the night.

Despite the late hour, no one was asleep. The instructors patrolled the forest with torches in hand, and the apprentice knights, gripping their weapons, were ready to engage in combat at any moment.

The sound of insects chirping.

The cawing of crows.

A tense atmosphere hung among the knights.

The apprentice knights kept swallowing dryly and repeatedly adjusting their grip on their weapons.

A few minutes ago, there had been an enemy attack.

The attackers were part of the retreating Demon King's army, which had been defeated and was fleeing from a nearby battlefield. The training ground for the apprentice knights happened to be in their path of retreat.

However, the attack failed.

The soldiers of the Demon World who had planned the attack were now corpses buried in the darkness. Though it was hard to see clearly, if one squinted and stared into the forest, severed limbs could be glimpsed in the corner of their vision.

A skull shattered.

Limbs rolling on the ground.

Corpses impaled on trees.

It looked as if a wild beast had rampaged through the area.

The knights swallowed dryly and turned their heads. Their gazes fell on the barracks. They glanced sideways at the barracks where a boy had just entered a short while ago.

That's right. The attack had failed.

'By just one boy.'

The knights recalled the image of the boy, drenched in blood, slaughtering the Demon King's army.

His snow-white hair, matted with blood, the flesh and clumps of blood on his axe blade. The red eyes that glinted menacingly in the darkness were not easily forgotten.

'Lark van Grays.'

The knights kept muttering the boy's name to themselves.

*

In the highest floor of the Ashen Tower.

The office of the next Tower Master.

"......"

There, Jileon listened to the next Tower Master's plan. The elderly elder listened intently to every word Resty said. It was worth listening to.

"......That's all."

When Resty finished speaking, Jileon closed his eyes. He stroked the cane in his hand while his eyes were closed.

The rough texture of the cane was felt by his fingers.

As he stroked the part that had recently cracked, Jileon exhaled. The breath he exhaled was a sigh, but it was not a mocking one directed at the girl in front of him.

"Is that so."

Jileon opened his eyes.

"You've changed, Resty Elenoa."

Not as an elder, but as an old man who had watched her for a long time, he spoke.

"You've changed so much that I can hardly recognize you."

The words the girl had spoken were sharp.

They were not the kind of words that would come from a weak and timid girl. It was not a plan she would have thought of.

Tearing, cutting, and destroying.

The Resty who spoke those words resembled the Ashen Mage, the previous next Tower Master. Jileon saw a fragment of the Ashen Mage in the girl before him.

'The second one, then.'

He felt the same thing he had felt from the professor he met in Aphria.

"......Do you have any comments, Elder Jileon?"

"What more is there to say? I will cooperate with you actively. If I don't, I might be purged too, so do I have a choice?"

Jileon raised his arms as if to show he had surrendered. It was the truth. Cooperate or be purged—those were the only options.

'This is not a far-fetched plan.'

It was a plan that could be put into action immediately. What was needed was decisiveness, but it didn't seem like the girl in front of him lacked resolve.

'Where did she get this information?'

This was not something that could be obtained easily.

It required a long time of observing the tower and digging into the backgrounds of the elders.

'If, just if......'

Jileon swallowed dryly.

'All of this was just an act.'

If she had been pretending to be weak and submissive all along......

'That would be unbelievable.'

Jileon dismissed the speculation.

He just harbored the possibility that it might be true and looked at the girl in front of him. Her unwavering gaze brought one question to his mind.

"......Can I ask you one question?"

Resty nodded silently.

Jileon paused for a moment before speaking.

"Your attitude seems to have changed a lot. Is there a reason you suddenly made this decision?"

"......"

Resty did not answer immediately.

She rolled a rectangular magical artifact in her hand before finally speaking.

"Because I realized that I'm not so different."

As she said this, Resty's gaze was fixed on a corner of the office. The wall where the emblems of past Tower Masters, or the next Tower Masters, were engraved.

The wall was adorned with various emblems.

At the end, the emblem symbolizing Laniel van Trias was engraved. Resty had not yet decided on her own emblem, which would come next.

The day to decide it was approaching.

Resty had a premonition that the day was not far off. Her three-year stay was coming to an end. Now it was her turn to move forward.

3.

The restoration of Aphria's barrier is nearing completion. The students are spending their last weekend before the resumption of normal academic operations busily.

Even late at night, the dormitory lights are on.

Despite the late hour, the students cannot sleep. They are struggling with their assignments, their eyes bloodshot. Most of the assignments are already done.

'Only one subject left.'

The study of mana trading.

There are two classes for this subject. One is Professor Roselle's class, known as a nightmare among graduates......

'A deep and terrifying nightmare.'

The newly born nightmare is Professor Lania's class.

'An incredibly difficult subject.'

The study of mana trading is a difficult subject in itself.

The difficulty of the classes goes without saying. However, up to that point, the students do not complain.

If a subject is difficult, it's a matter of putting in more effort.

The problem is that the professor directly demands effort from the students. As with most things in life, forced effort comes with frustration.

'Assignments.'

The students are shedding tears of blood.

'Assignments that go too far.'

The pile of assignments on the table could easily form mountains and seas. Looking at the mountain of circuit solutions and the coastline of circuit interpretations, the students grit their teeth.

Even though the exams are over, the assignments never end.

One assignment is already enough to make them want to explode, and now they have to deal with two professors. The students mutter the names of the two professors in their heads several times.

...Every night, a nightmare visits Aphria.

The nightmare called assignments.

* * *

Spring passes, and summer arrives.

Aphria, bathed in the scorching sunlight, is more vibrant than usual.

-Ugh......

-Did you finish all your assignments......?

-What about you?

It might be a bit of a stretch to say it's vibrant when the students look like they've been through a war......

Nonetheless, the short but long construction period has finally ended.

With the barrier now more robust, Aphria is starting to return to normal operations. Due to the series of incidents, the academic curriculum has been disrupted, and the students are greeted with a more intense schedule than usual.

-We'll have to speed up today's class......

-We'll cover a lot of ground, so stay focused......

The professors, whose classes were delayed, began to catch up quickly. Following the tightly packed schedule, the students attend extra classes and rush to complete their spell experiments.

The spell research lab is bustling with students every day.

The central library is also filled with students.

As they spend their time intensely, the students inadvertently realize something.

The final exam period is approaching.

It feels like only yesterday that the midterms ended, and the students sigh as they approach the exam period again.

"Hmph, hmm."

In contrast to the sighs heard everywhere, a woman is humming a tune as she walks down the corridor. Her ash-gray hair swayed in the wind.

Clack.

Her heels echoed in the corridor.

With a light step, she headed towards the academic bulletin board.

"Huh? Professor Lania?"

Lania van Trias.

"Why are you here......?"

"Why else? To post a notice."

She pushed through the crowd of students gathered in front of the bulletin board and posted the notice.

"Everyone, check it once."

With those words, she turned and left.

The students gathered where she had been and checked the notice on the bulletin board.

[Notice for the Basic Group Assignment in the Study of Mana Trading.]

[Reference Book Code: E8ER-1N0LOQ7]

The flower of the academy, the group assignment.

It was welcoming the students who were already exhausted by assignments.

Author's Note

Thank you for checking the 100th episode's gratitude notice!