Chapter 17
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There is a concept called Eternity in the world of Sera.
In any field, once you reach a certain level, you enter a state of becoming one with the will that encompasses the world... or something along those lines. It’s a complicated bit of lore.
And humans who attain Eternity are granted a single ‘Authority’ in return.
Their power can even reach the natural laws that are utterly beyond human interference.
The First Grand Duke Tristan, counted among the strongest knights in history and a famous example of someone who attained Eternity, is surrounded by legendary tales of how he cleaved even time and space with a single sword.
They say he could cut space itself, rendering any armor useless. They say one casual swing of his sword sliced ‘morning’ apart and brought ‘evening’...
The Tristan-style swordsmanship I wield now was created by a man like that.
The stories are so far-fetched that these days they’re treated as half-made-up.
‘But I doubt those stories are lies.’
Considering the power of the Eternal right in front of me, the stories could even have been passed down without exaggeration.
Atalante Swansong.
An immortal who received the Authority of ‘Immortality’ in exchange for attaining Eternity. Her fame extends beyond the Empire to the entire continent.
“Oh my, student. You’re early.”
But even someone like her looks, at first glance, like an ordinary young woman who’s just a little short.
With all that vitality practically streaming from her violet hair and eyes, you’d never guess she was a thousand-year-old monster—
“Student?”
“Yes.”
I quickly take my seat as she calls me in a slightly chilly tone.
She has good instincts, too.
“You must have been surprised by my sudden invitation, but thank you for coming without complaint.”
Her manner is kind. At least, she smiles brightly and tries to ease the conversation.
“...”
But I know what kind of person Atalante is.
Even though she’s lived a thousand years, she hates wasting time more than anyone.
If she’d decided to meet me ‘one-on-one,’ there must be something important she wants to discuss.
“Do you know why I called you here, Dowd Campbell?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I have bad news and worse news. Which would you like to hear first?”
“...”
Why is there no good news?
“The less bad one, please.”
“Hmm~ Dowd Campbell, you’ve gotten caught up in all sorts of incidents before even being assigned to a class.”
As she spoke, the headmaster put on a monocle and skimmed through some documents. They probably listed all the incidents I’d been involved in so far.
“...Not a single one of them happened because I wanted it to.”
“That’s what makes it even more absurd. Elphante has a long history and has seen all sorts of students, but you’re the first to cause such a stir before even your first class.”
Atalante sighed heavily.
“Still, managing to get out of all those incidents is a talent in itself. Impressive, isn’t it?”
“...How is that the less bad news?”
She was just complimenting me.
Atalante chuckled and replied.
“The fact that you’re so unlucky means you’ll get caught up in more incidents in the future. So it’s bad news.”
“...”
That was so true I couldn’t argue.
“And that bad luck leads to the second piece of news.”
Atalante grinned, took off her monocle, and propped her chin on both hands.
“By any chance, student...”
But.
“Yes?”
“How much do you know about demons?”
The gaze that accompanied those words...
Wasn’t smiling at all.
●
Atalante, too, was deeply interested in what kind of person Dowd Campbell was.
Even she, who had a grasp of nearly everything that happened within the academy, found him difficult to predict.
That much was evident from what he was showing right now.
‘That’s an interesting reaction.’
She smiled to herself as she watched Dowd Campbell, whose expression hadn’t changed even at the question she’d just asked.
Any ordinary student would freeze up just from being alone with the headmaster of Elphante. The disparity in status alone would be enough to intimidate them.
In contrast, what about this man?
‘He isn’t nervous at all.’
Even though the headmaster herself had brought up the ominous subject of ‘demons,’ he didn’t so much as change his expression. Most people would at least be a little flustered.
Instead, he calmly let his consciousness sink inward.
As if considering what answer would be best for the situation.
‘He passes the crisis-management test already.’
He was already more than seasoned enough. There was no need for her to fill in any gaps.
“I don’t think I should say how much I know about them.”
The reply that followed was unexpected, too.
“Pardon?”
“I don’t know what else you’ll try to scheme up with that information.”
Atalante finally let out an amused laugh.
“...I take it you’re not fond of me?”
It would be hard not to realize she was plotting something centered around him. She’d let it show several times.
When every other student was attending class while he hadn’t even been assigned a proper one yet, anyone would start wondering.
“It’d be hard to like it when my reputation is being manipulated like that.”
But...
She hadn’t expected him to mention one of the specific ‘methods.’
Atalante blinked and asked,
“...What did you say?”
“Like you said earlier, I’ve already been caught up in several major incidents. With so many eyes on me, rumors must’ve spread one way or another.”
Dowd Campbell continued calmly.
“The major powers are all in turmoil at this point in time. It’d be normal for someone to approach me from somewhere. Given the current situation, they’re all trying to recruit any promising talent, even if they have to go to hell to do it.”
In fact, she’d been hearing such reports from all over.
A coup in the tribal confederation, a major restructuring within the Holy Empire, power struggles over the succession to the Imperial throne, and so on.
The atmosphere across the continent was unsettling.
The Golden Triangle was no different.
On the surface, they were friendly neighbors who helped one another, but beneath that, a fierce competition was always underway to poach the best talent.
“...”
But these weren’t things that an ordinary student could independently learn about, analyze, and logically infer.
Especially not the son of a baronial house, who shouldn’t even have access to such high-level information.
Yet this man was bringing it up as if it were nothing.
As though it were obvious.
Atalante smiled to herself, filled with delight.
“But no one’s approached me at all. That can only mean someone’s deliberately suppressing information about me. Or else...”
“Or else?”
“Going a step further, they’re all conspiring to pretend they don’t know. I have no idea what you’re plotting that’s so huge it would go that far, though.”
If there hadn’t been anyone watching, she’d have gotten up and applauded.
It was an accurate assessment. His ability to weigh the information and circumstances, then fill in the gaps was remarkable.
‘His political instincts pass, too!’
Since he was such an important figure in her plans for the future, she’d worried he might have a lot of shortcomings. At least, he wasn’t disappointing.
No—finding a gem like this at the student level was enough to make her want to cheer with joy.
And perhaps it was the excitement of meeting such a talent.
This was information she absolutely shouldn’t reveal at the current ‘stage’ of her original plan, but in the end, she opened her mouth.
“First, I’ll apologize for the information control. But I hope you understand that it’s absolutely necessary.”
“...What, would something terrible happen if I stood out here and there?”
“Yes.”
Atalante continued, still smiling.
“The world will end.”
“...”
It was rather entertaining to see her opponent’s poker face finally crack.
Atalante chuckled at the dumbfounded Dowd and continued.
“I’m not lying. It won’t happen immediately just because the rumors grow, of course. But there’s no doubt it’ll make it more likely.”
“...The end of the world? No, what are you even talking about...?”
“For now, just focus on academy life. You’ll find out about that before long anyway. In the meantime, I’ll do my best to prevent things like that from happening here at the academy.”
With that, she smiled brightly and handed him a sheet of paper.
“Would you take a look at this instead?”
It was a sheet of paper with a symbol enlarged on it.
“I asked you about demons a moment ago, right? This is why.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s the insignia of a group called Purifier.”
Dowd’s expression turned serious.
‘So he knows this, too?’
Thinking that, she continued in a calm tone.
“They’re not well known to the public, but they’re a rather notorious group of demon worshippers. They’ve been identified as being behind both the recent attempted assassination of Lady Tristan and the sabotage involving the magical beasts.”
Demon worshippers.
A group that worships demons, the enemy of all humanity, as gods and schemes in the shadows to bring about their resurrection.
In this day and age, they could rightly be called a cancerous presence in the world.
“They’ve directly attacked House Tristan twice now. There’s no guarantee there won’t be a third time.”
“...Why are you telling me this?”
Instead of answering, Atalante just gave him a peculiar smile.
She’d already told him a great deal about her plans. She couldn’t say any more than this.
Thinking that, she pulled something from a drawer.
If she couldn’t give him the details, she should at least show as much goodwill as she could.
“Would you take this?”
A small black ‘card.’ It looked completely unremarkable, but Dowd’s eyes widened when he saw it.
She thought again that he was a man with very expressive features.
‘...Could he actually know what this is?’
As she wondered, the other person spoke in a stiff voice.
“...Is this something you’re allowed to decide to give to someone on your own, Headmaster?”
“...”
There was a hint in his words that even a headmaster shouldn’t casually give something so valuable to another person, and Atalante paused for a moment.
Did he really know what it was?
No, even so...
This was an item known only to a tiny handful of people within the academy, including her. If he knew what it was, that wouldn’t just be information-gathering—it would be practically supernatural.
‘But perhaps...’
She asked again, with a little hope in her voice.
“You’re speaking as if you know what it is.”
“This is for the event being held at Gregory Hall a week from now—”
Dowd couldn’t continue.
Atalante had burst into loud laughter at the answer that had flowed out of him as if it were obvious.
‘Ah, what a masterpiece. Seriously.’
This man never once went according to her expectations.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d met someone like him.
“Just take it. Someone as unlucky as you are is bound to need it.”
“...”
And if he’d entertained her this much, she had to reward him accordingly.
“If you know what it is, then you probably know how to use it, too. Use it properly, get what you need, and then show me the results. If you use it properly and the results are to my liking, I’ll give you an additional reward. Understood?”
Atalante winked as she said that, and Dowd tucked the card away, still looking bewildered.
“...I never thought I’d be getting homework from the headmaster.”
“Oh, right. I did have some actual homework to give you.”
“Pardon?”
“How are things between you and the Hero candidate and Lady Tristan?”
Dowd’s expression twisted horribly. So horribly that even Atalante, who’d asked the question, was taken aback.
The man who hadn’t so much as changed expression when he heard that demon worshippers had carried out two terrorist attacks inside the school—what was this?
“...I’d like to get along with them.”
He radiated with his whole body that he didn’t want to get involved with them.
“Then make sure you get along with them.”
Even so, she had no choice but to say this.
“Is there a particular reason I have to?”
“Yes.”
She answered with a radiant smile.
“The world will end if you don’t.”
“...”
Dowd glared at her as if asking how the world could end so easily, and she burst into laughter again.
Even this time, she wasn’t lying.
In the end...
The ultimate goal of her plan would be achieved through these three.
●
“The end of the world...”
I walked absentmindedly, repeating what Atalante had said earlier.
Honestly, I couldn’t really grasp what she meant. The scale of it was too enormous.
In the game, the world could end in a bad ending and all that, but the idea that my actions now could determine whether that happened felt so unreal that I couldn’t even react.
‘...I’ll think about what I don’t understand later.’
More importantly, there was this.
“I can’t believe she gave me this.”
I looked at the black card in my hand.
It was a kind of ‘key.’
One that opened a ‘door to another world.’
It was also an item never given to the player character. Its very existence was unknown to all but a few people among the academy staff, like the dean or headmaster.
And I could guess why the developers had designed it that way.
Getting something like this so early could completely break the balance.
Maybe because I’d cleared the main quest and completed the emergency mission successfully, but I never expected to suddenly receive it like this.
“...”
But that didn’t mean I could just be happy about it.
‘The main scenario is off track.’
Purifier was supposed to appear months later than this. They weren’t the kind of people I’d be hearing about before I even attended my first class.
The scenario was progressing much faster than I expected.
“...”
In other words, I needed to grow as quickly as possible, too.
Like it or not, I was already entangled with the protagonist and the final boss. It was obvious I’d get involved with the scenario one way or another.
I sighed and sorted through my memories.
The final boss of Chapter One, ‘The Secret Society’s Uprising,’ the ‘Purifier,’ was quite a difficult opponent.
People openly called it a newbie crusher, since its patterns were vicious for an early-game boss.
Even though I had Life-or-Death, considering its ‘special trait’... I really could die.
‘But if I have this...’
I turned the black card in my palm again.
The fight might be a lot easier than I expected.
Though it would depend on how I used the materials I could obtain in the place this card would take me.
I thought through how else I could make use of this.
If I put to good use the connections I’d already made with the Department of Magical Beast Studies, access to the Vault of Secrets, and the one-time wish from Persi...
‘...It might be possible.’
I could probably make something that would make the Purifier boss fight go smoothly.
“Ah, there you are. I was looking for you.”
As I walked down the corridor, pondering that, a voice called out to me from across the way.
Conrad Baltador. The Dean of the Department of Knights.
“You were looking for me? What for?”
“The academic affairs office announced that although your class hasn’t been decided yet, we can’t keep you from attending lessons. Here.”
“...”
What kind of thing is this for the dean to deliver personally?
How special does he think I am for him to do this?
“It’s a temporary class. You’ll attend classes with these students starting tomorrow.”
“...”
No.
Yeah.
I get it.
Are you kidding me?
“...Is this right?”
“Is anything wrong with it?”
Oh, yes. There is.
With a trembling hand, I pointed to the student names written on the list.
Class president. Elnore Erinaria de Tristan.
Vice class president. Elijah Crisanax.
I didn’t need to look at the others. The names of these two alone already reeked of doom.
Why, of all people, were these two being put in the same class as me?
“Are you sure this is right?”
“It’s right.”
"The student council president is taking classes alongside freshmen...?"
"Yeah. I said it’s right."
Conrad said with a hearty laugh.
“It’s an order from the headmaster. There’s no way it’s wrong.”
“...”
Come to think of it, she’d said something about homework.
That I should get along with the two of them.
‘I want to kill that woman.’
I meant it.
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