13. The others’ stories (2)

#4 Their story: A certain (former) student council president’s story.

“Ah.. so it’s finally the end.”

To think I’d be feeling sad yet happy, melancholic yet elated, sorry to see it go yet feel like I had to run away from here as fast as possible.

“..The last one is probably the right answer.”

Professor Nicerwin was gone.

The silver devil was gone.

The night study.. was still gone.

But I couldn’t remain at a place where Professor Nicerwin or the silver devil could return to at any time simply for the sake of past memories.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

As Professor Muam approached me with a gentle smile, I nodded.

As the former student council president and the representatives of the graduates, I had the role of speaking the closing words at Yugrasia’s graduation ceremony.

“Alright, so since this is the very last.. please don’t do something stupid.”

“Don’t worry.”

As I looked into his quavering eyes which didn’t match the gentle smile he had on his face, I apologetically held Professor Muam’s hands tightly.

On the final day of the imperial festival, Yugrasia made a name for itself by claiming victory with the biggest points differential in the history of the imperial festival.

An overwhelming scoreline of several thousand.

But there was something that made Yugrasia even more famous than the points gap..

“Team kill academy, Yugrasia.... that shameful name needs to end at the end of this year.”

“Yes....”

Team kill academy Yugrasia.

Let alone the other school events, the final siege match of the imperial festival had recorded the highest number of viewers and spectators out of all the other events, including the adults’ events and the events organised directly by the imperial palace itself, and that was the nickname that had stuck to Yugrasia after that final siege ended.

The people who had been watching it from the beginning gave us that nickname after watching the Yugrasia students who had been fighting against their opponents tooth and nail mere seconds ago suddenly becoming their opponents’ allies.

And the spectators who had tuned in in the middle of the match after hearing news about what was happening in our match saw a very high standard of combat in what they were watching, and they gave us that nickname in shock that this match was a civil war between students of the same academy, saying how weak were the other schools if they were fighting each other as they praised Yugrasia.

“As a teacher of Yugrasia.. that nickname is embarrassing. So please, at least in front of the parents..”

To Professor Muam and everyone else who knew the truth, it was such a humiliating nickname.

“Yessir.”

Well, regardless of what happened, I was doing fine with my girlfriends.

Risen had gotten rejected numerous times, but as big sis Iiana had promised, she was continually matching him up with new girls so even now, he was doing his best to prepare for a new date.

Of course as the price for that he was treated like trash for a long time at the academy, but due to the countless incidents that he had created, the trash treatment was reserved for Risen alone.

“Then.. I’m trusting you.”

Professor Muam’s expression said that he did not trust me at all, but I had already committed an irredeemable crime towards the other students.

I couldn’t let this be the last impression I showed everyone before I left!

“And now, there will be a speech from the representative of the graduates.”

As I came onto mild applause, I looked at the countless people who had come to Yugrasia today.

There were students, there were teachers, there were probably friends and family of students here, too.

So what should I say to these people.

“It has been four years that I have attended Yugrasia. The majority of the students that graduate today will be the same.

“And if anyone were to ask them what was the most memorable thing out of those four years, all of them would give the same answer.

“The entrance ceremony where we first stepped foot into Yugrasia, filled with excitement and worry? Our overwhelming victories in the imperial festival? Or right this moment, our graduation, which marks the end of all those moments? No, none of them are.”

My eyes scanned over the graduates, looking them all in the eyes.

Risen sighed and shrugged.

Karen made a faint scowl as if she’d bitten into an unripe persimmon.

Many other students had many other different expressions on their faces, but each and every one of them meant the same.

“Yes, what would remain as the most memorable for us is the be.. no, the night study.”

For a moment I was about to say the beatings from the silver devil, but I remembered that there were parents in this hall and quickly changed my words.

We already had the nickname of Team Kill Academy, to think was an academy where our most memorable moment was getting beaten but the devil.

Now that would really be an image to look up to.

“That was a trial. A tribulation. It was an unknown realm that none of us had ever known or experienced.

“And so we surpassed it, and became victorious in the imperial festival. And that is the reason we are here to witness this moment.

“And that night study is no longer by our sides. It is over. We have.. overcome all those trials and tribulations.”

-Woooooooooaaaaaaaahhh!

A roar of delight erupted out of the gathered students.

Not caring about the parents that were looking on at them with surprise, the students were cheering like a people liberated from colonialism.

Now, as the former president, I need to quieten those cheers and finish off my speech.

And like I expected, the cheers quietened.

-Booooom!

“Nerkiiiaaaaaaaaahhh!”

The problem was that the cause wasn’t me the former president, but the current president, Lady Aris who made the ruckus.

“Wh, what?”

“Terrorists?”

“It can’t be!”

“Huh, that’s Lady.. Letia?”

The parents were surprised firstly at the sounds of the giant doors of the auditorium being smashed open, and were surprised a second time that the person who destroyed said doors was the young lady of House Letia, one of the Ten Great Families, Lady Aris.

And.

“I’m going to kill you!”

They were surprised once again at the sheer bloodthirst she was releasing, as her crimson hair whipped around her and her spear emanated with the crimson glow of spear aura.

“A, Aris.. what’s the matter?”

The first person that tried to stop her was Professor Harian, closest to the door.

“Professor, I would like to make an announcement to the students. After today’s graduation ceremony, the funeral of the former president will be proceeding immediately afterwards.”

“Hiiik....”

When Lady Aris turned to her with a bright smile, Professor Harian’s face turned pale at the sight.

“Wh, what’s the.. huh?”

‘That’s....?’

When Lady Aris took something out of her pocket, Professor Harian shut her mouth and began looking over it.

“This is.. what the hell?”

And when she finished looking over that thing, Professor Harian began glaring at me with a harsher look than she’d given the piece of paper.

“What the hell is this supposed to be!”

The thing that Lady Aris handed over to Professor Harian was a familiar piece of paper.

To be precise, one from the beginning of the year.

It was the Geass Roll that Professor Nicerwin and I had signed.

“According to the contract, if we obtain victory in the imperial festival, the night study will end for this year? This year? This year~? Then.. what about next year!”

The moment she said that, killing intent swept through the entire hall.

“What did I just hear?”

“The night study will end for this year?””So you’re saying.. those assholes only ended the night study until they left?”

“We have to do this all again next year?”

Very angry and very murderous voices started appearing from all corners of the hall.

At this rate I was dead meat.

Whether their parents were here or not, they were going to run at me to kill me.

Then there was only one thing I could do.

“This decision was made after consulting with the vice-presidents and coming to a mutual agreement of the terms.”

“Hey, hold up!”

Risen was flustered by my words and hurriedly summoned Loki’s shoes.

“It, it can’t be! There’s no way that Karen, the old student council’s only hope would have agreed to such a thing! S, senior Karen? Senior? You.. You can’t have!”

Lady Aris’s wavering eyes turned towards Karen.

More than anyone else, Aris had trusted and obeyed Karen’s words more than anyoen else as the sole member of the student council that was true to their duties.

Unlike Risen and I who gave her the black taste of betrayal, at the betrayal of Karen who Aris had believed in and trusted, her body swayed in shock.

And now was.

“A chance.”

With the blessings of a wind elemental, I hurriedly threw myself towards a window.

Shatter!

Shards of glass scattered as I broke through the window.

Shatter!

And the sound another window breaking nearby.

“Oi, what the heck did you tell them that for!”

“I need to survive, too!”

When I followed behind Risen who grumbled as he accelerated ahead.

“Get them!”

“Kill them!”

I heard the howls and curses of Lady Aris and the other students.

And.

“And this marks the end of Yugrasia’s graduation ceremony, and finally, as one of Yugrasia’s showcases....”

Professor Muam’s words were laden with a bitterness as he said.

“The school’s team kill event will now begin.”

At those words, together with the rage of the Spirit King of Water, my unforgettable school life came to a close.

“I’m gonna kill yoooouuuuu!”

Although if I slipped up my life could be over.

#5 Their story: A certain knight’s story.

Their lives were over.

“Guwughhh!”

As I gazed over the corpses pathetically sprawled across the floor, I handed over the magic weapon in my hand over to Her Highness.

“It is done, Your Highness.”

“Mm. Good job, Reia.”

The ones on the ground were all swordsmasters that would normally be given at least a rank of Count and be treated as a pillar of the nation in an ordinary country, but right now, there were simply failures who had been defeated by a single person.

“And.”

“Hiik!”

When the others were being punished, the one that had been watching it all while shivering in fear, the person that could arguably be the cause of the failure of this operation, the moment her eyes met Her Highness’s, she immediately collapsed to the ground.

“Iris.”

“Ye, ye, yes, Your Highness....”

“Well, I know your loyalty. You probably did that in order to make sure this plan would be guaranteed to succeed.”

“I, I did, Your Highness.”

To be honest, her plan was actually a very good one.

An army of tens of thousands had been mobilised all to capture a single person, and yet they still failed.

In that case, it would not be unreasonable to think that the person in question was a monster that had reached the peaks of swordsmaster, or an archmage.

And considering Sir Ast’s reputation, it wouldn’t be weird to call him a monster.

So her actions were not a bad one.

If the person in that trap had been me, then I would have certainly be caught by Her Highness.

Although of course in this instance, by installing the magic-suppression device against Ast, whose weakness was that he had no mana, all it did was to weaken our allies and cause the operation to fail.

“So I decided to give you a special punishment.”

“S, special punishment, Your Highness?”

Her eyes began to cloud over in fear.

Her Highness’s special punishment.

Just hearing it made me scared.

“Mm. it is.. to contact the others.”

“Huh?”

At the answer that not even I, who had served by Her Highness for a very long time could understand, even the person being punished was confused.

But at Her Highness’s next words, her face turned sheet white.

“Yes, contact. To those that were looking for.. your precious Rein.. I told them his location.”

“Y, Your Highness!”

“Your punishment is to experience the same thing that I am. Although of course considering how faithfully you’ve served me.. I won’t take away what you have. But.. it will be hard to hold onto it. So work hard.”

“Ye, yes!”

As she scurried off with Her Highness’s wave of dismissal, I looked at her back as she went.

“Your Highness, could you please explain to me what just happened?”

Almost automatically, I began pouring tea into Her Highness’s empty cup.

“Well, it’s simple. Perhaps it’s because he’s Ast’s disciple, but that man Rein that Iris is holding onto is a very popular one.”

“Well, he is quite handsome....”

Unlike the very plain Sir Ast, his disciple Rein was very handsome.

As the daughter of one of the greatest Houses in the empire, I had seen countless men, but I did not doubt for a moment that very few could beat that man’s face.

“What, are you interested in him too, Reia?”

“N, no....”

“No, Reia, you need to slowly.. or not, hurry up and get married. Your age isn’t really....”

“Hhff!”

At Her Highness’s words which dug into a sore spot, I reflexively coughed a bit.

It hurt. It really hurt.... it hurt so much I could feel the tears out the corner of my eyes!

“Hm.. alright. Then....”

Even Her Highness looked away and changed the topic when she saw my expression.

“Do we have any news on Ast’s location?”

“No, although we had a perfect encirclement of the surroundings, we couldn’t discover any traces.”

“And there were no other exits?”

“No, there weren’t.”

Unusually for herself, Her Highness sighed deeply.

“Does that mean not even this much manpower is enough to capture him?”

“That’s....”

Twelve swordsmasters and three archmages had been involved in this operation.

Add to that thousands of knights, and hundreds of magicians and battlemages.

In addition, tens of thousands of veteran soldiers had also participated as well.

A force that could handily wipe a small nation off the map was insufficient?

You could never say that this wasn’t enough manpower to capture a single person, yet there had already been two failures.

“I need to add more people.”

“That.. seems like an impossibility.”

Soldiers at the level Her Highness wanted were not easy to come by.

Even these soldiers were only obtainable by absorbing the remnants of Howling.

If we accepted any average person, then all that would happen would be a slackening of the army’s standards.

“No, there is a good place.”

“Huh?”

But Her Highness said with a confident voice.

“There is a place with splendid talent that should not be used as ordinary soldiers, but commanders, or even the greatest hand to play.”

“Th, there is?”

They were words that had my head tilt automatically.

There was no way that Her Highness would leave such a place alone.

“And they know.”

“Know what?”

“Ast’s habits.”

“Ah!”

At those words, I realised what the place Her Highness was referring to was.

The place with splendidly talented people yet no one had touched until now.

No, more accurately, a place that hadn’t had any talented people until now.

But.. a place that thanks to the efforts of a single person and magic weapon, had showed off their full power and abilities!

“If just one swordsmaster brigade won’t do, then two, three.. no, I’ll even make ten of them for you, Ast!”

At Her Highness’s tenaciously obsessive shout, I could not offer a reply back.

“Send all these people to Yugrasia. And.. have them create usable people, and send them to me. This is the punishment I will be giving them.”

And that was how a bunch of non-summoner teachers were sent en masse to the summoner’s school.