Chapter 45: 6. Hell is just beginning. (6)

RATH 45

TL: Eevee

6. Hell is just beginning. (6)

"Did I push them too far..."

-You went way overboard owner! The kids motivation is zero! Aside from the student council and the third and fourth years the overwhelming mood in the school is to just sit through the night study!

When I initiated Plan B when Marquis Letia visited, all the students were defeated in just under an hour.

Well, that goes without saying. So as long as they didn't deliberately act like NPCs and moved according to a fixed scenario, the teachers would never lose to a bunch of kids not even in their twenties no matter how many of them there were.

If you likened it to a game of chess, then it would be like playing against them without knights or bishops, or if playing Go, letting them have a few more stones on the board in advance, simply because they were students.

-Owner, whatcha gonna do! You promised me! Ya said I could go wild and have fun! But I only got to do it once!

I heard the metal bat whining but it can't be helped.

Just sit tight in your normal form and recharge your mana.

-Uwiiiiit! Owner, you fraudster!

I can't do anything either!

Did I go a bit too overboard in how much I used an evil organization as the baseline? Does the hunger between those who can't run and those who do have a place to run to differ that much?

Or do they lack discipline because they're nobles!

-Owner. Ya had heaps 'a spies among your disciples. There were craptons of nobles there so don't ya remember how they were all reaaaaally far out from the idea of discipline?

-That's true.

Now that I think about it, the kid of the Raina archduchy house that's said to eat up the Ten Great Families for breakfast chained up the wrists and ankles of someone that was trying to help him.

Meaning that, these kids simply lack the willpower!

"And therefore none of this is my fault!"

-That's my owner! Lookit ya rationalizing!

But the holidays will be over soon and soon after that will be the imperial festival.

As it stands, the scale of the imperial festival's been getting bigger every year since the Great War.

If you were to compare the festival before and after the war you could say that it's nearly five times bigger than it was back then.

And that's five times just in words. Even before the war, the empire was the most powerful nation on the continent, and the imperial festival that celebrates the day the empire was founded was the biggest event on the imperial calendar.

And the fact that said event's increased in scale by five times, means that the money that's gone into it's also increased astronomically! And the type of people that are coming will also represent that increase!

"In a situation where we must achieve nothing but total victory, the number of people in night study is decreasing..."

This isn't good. If the current situation where the students just sit down and study continues to hold, they will become theorists with no practical experience.

Because theory is always so different to reality!

Things might be different if the imperial festival was some Olympiad where they just sat and solved questions, but the kids are just studying in a situation where they have to show off their skills? That's a guaranteed loss.

"Should I just keep them until ten o'clock in the holidays as well..."

-Owner, you said during the holidays you'd at least let them out in the afternoon...

"Since the situation is what it is, it can't be helped. Even if I lower it back down to Plan C it still doesn't seem like these kids are going to come back out anyway."

Considering these kids have already lost their desire, they won't move just because it's Plan C.

After all, they couldn't get past the second floor even on Plan C.

And in that situation, would the kids really move knowing there's another plan waiting for them afterwards?

"I need bait."

-Especially something big enough that the kid contracted to that tasty goddess will bite.

Indeed. The biggest reason for the current situation was that Aris announced herself that she would be participating in the night study.

As if the shock of her father abandoning her was that huge, she was currently quietly doing the night study in the classroom, and thanks to that the entire class seemed to feel like quietly attending the night study.

Unlike the other year levels, there were only 20 students in a single class, but there were only 100 first years to begin with.

And as one class started to do the night study, the mood in the other classrooms also turned to one to sit quietly and do the night study, and so all of the first years ended up doing the night study.

And this was also spreading to the second years on the next floor up.

I need to move Aris if I'm to stop this!

-It's because you kept hitting her that she has no will for this!

-Th, that's not my fault!

Lately she was looking at me with quite the dead eyes, although not as much as the imperial princess back in the day.

Those eyes had already given up on life.

"If it's bait that will move that kind of person..."

There's only one thing.

#8 Their story: Aris ril Letia's story.

"What is it, Professor?"

A dry, flat voice.

People who knew what I used to be like might be surprised at this change, but the majority of people that went to Yugrasia are currently in this state so it isn't anything abnormal by any means.

And the culprit who turned the academy to this state, Professor Nicerwin looked at me in that state with a saintly smile.

"It seems that school life has been quite difficult lately, Miss Aris."

I barely managed to hold back something erupting out from inside me.

Quite difficult? And whose fault was it again?!

"Learning is always a difficult process."

But I held it in. Professor Nicerwin's already got my father under this thumb.

Thanks to that, all the other plans to bring the others' parents in to either stop the night study or negotiate its terms were all defeated, and on the contrary the only result it had was bringing the difficulty of the night study even higher.

Thanks to that, all we had was the daily consecutive grind of study.

It was alright at first. Right, didn't they say that the occupation of a student was studying?

Learning the necessary knowledge by working hard wasn't that bad either.

But even that has its limits!

A day, two, a week, a month!

To think we'd be in the situation where we had to come into school on the weekends!

We had all long since memorized the textbook cover to cover. Even so, the question booklet that Professor Nicerwin gave us was too difficult to solve.

Even if we tried to ask questions about it, the normal teachers didn't know how to solve it either and so couldn't help us.

We had to solve those questions only with what we learned from Professor Nicerwin's classes that came once a week, but the contents that came out in the night study were on another level of difficulty that we suspected that we would have to be second years, or even third years to be able to solve them.

Thanks to that, we've come to the point where we literally have nothing to do in the night study.

"It makes me pleased to see that the students haven't been trying to run away from the night study as of late."

"Really?"

Very funny. Even if that's what you're saying, why is your expression so regretful?

You actually want us to run away, don't you? But I will never run away from the night study.

I tried everything. I even used methods that looking back, were incredibly shameful.

But the result was my total defeat.

Alright, I admit my loss. I lost. And so, as my final resistance, I swore that I would never do what Professor Nicerwin wanted of me!

"It makes me pleased to hear that Professor is happy about it as well."

All the first years were attending night study. Although a few of them were attending out of despair of the status quo, the majority of the students were in agreement with me that attending the night study was a form of protest.

Yes, that much we wouldn't give up!

No matter what sugar-coated bait you threw out to me, our resolve is!

"I will remove the night study."

"Re, really?"

I totally could give up! Screw resolve or whatever!!!

"Indeed, I will."

Gulp.

I swallowed dryly without even being aware of it.

Although I couldn't see my own face, I was shaken to the point where I didn't even need to see it.

And I ended up showing it to the one person I should never reveal it to, Professor Nicerwin.

But I can't help it!

I can't help but be shaken up by the news that he would remove the night study of all things!

"I will even remove the requirement of coming to school on the weekends."

"Wha, whwhwhwhat are the conditions, Professor Nicerwin?"

Even when I was fifteen and greeted the Crown Prince as well as the Imperial Princess during my coming of age ceremony I didn't so much as twitch, but to think I'd shake this much with the one line of removing the night study!

"It seems that talking to Miss Aris was the right answer after all. Catching on this quickly. As expected of the daughter of milord marquis."

I don't need that compliment, hurry, hurry and tell me what's next!

What will be required to get rid of the night study?

World conquest? Demon king assassination? Continental unification?

-No matter what it is, I will help you out!

It seemed that the goddess was as worked up as I was.

Perhaps anyone who's experienced the night study in this academy would feel the same way as I was.

Now, speak, Professor Nicerwin! For right now, I could do absolutely anything you would tell me to do!

"You have to be victorious in the imperial festival."

"You're saying that we just have to win the imperial festival to end the night study?"

"Is the imperial festival something you can 'just' win?"

Professor Nicerwin said with a very surprised expression.

Was that really something to be surprised about? When you considered the things we had done so far then victory in the imperial festival was much too good a condition.

-You mean if we just eliminate a few brats, we can get rid of that thing called night study?

See, victory in the imperial festival was such a simple condition that even the goddess of war and wisdom Athena was surprised.

"Yes, on the contrary the condition of getting rid of the night study being the absurdly simple victory in the imperial festival, that is what I am more suspicious about right now?"

I actually think that this could be a trap.

If you were to think of the events in the imperial festival, our enemies are Arucia and Marcis.

Could those kids that are barely pretending to play academy possibly beat us?

Beat us, who have something that all of us are willing to lay down our lives for?

I guarantee it.

Those brats will never be able to stop us.

"The winner of the imperial festival has already been decided."

"That is good confidence to have."

Confidence? No.

This is predetermined fate.

To overcome the trial named self-directed night study, and to escape from the hell named school!

#9 Their story: Ria El Nermia's story.

"Can we just blatantly go spy on them like this?"

"We are simply delivering the student council's opinions to Yugrasia's student council."

I entered the front gates of Yugrasia with a few others from school while holding documents.

The Four Great Academies were close not just in reputation, but also distance, so we barely needed to walk the distance of the next village over to reach Yugrasia.

There was only one reason for me to come here despite knowing that the suspicious Professor Nicerwin was here.

While the student council was planning for the imperial festival, we realised we had no information about Yugrasia.

-According to what that guy called the student council president was saying, there's no point in gathering information on Yugrasia, owner.

-I know. And because of that there was that massive reform of that place this year, too.

The thing called history sometimes changes so drastically so simply.

Like a goddess falling to an evil god in the myths.

Like the time that the Merdeia kingdom, the nation that could face off against the empire on equal grounds fell within a single short year.

Or like the time just three years ago, when an archdevil that was feared by all became my slave.

-...I'd rather you not think of the last example, owner.

Well, ignoring the words of the slave.

Just like that, history can be made and changed in an instant.

For all we know, Yugrasia, who boasted the worst results in the imperial festival for the last ten years could suddenly become the best in just a single year.

I won't allow that. As long as I'm here, Marcis must be victorious.

"What is it?"

As we passed by the large garden that was similar to the one we had at Marcis and got closer to the main building of the academy, someone who looked like a guard stopped us.

As I thought, it was a bit doubtful that a student from another academy was here at this time of year, right?

"My name is Ria el Nermia, a member of Marcis's student council."

"Ah, you were from the Nermia family?"

The opposing person's wariness dimmed a bit at my words. Let's push through here.

"I have some documents to deliver to Yugrasia's student council regarding the imperial festival. Could you please guide me to the student council room?"

Either way the goal was to observe the opposition.

The current Yugrasia's key forces were the student council. And perhaps the daughter of the Letia family and a few of her associates.

If I could see them with my own eyes, I could see for myself how good they were.

And to do that, I went with the guard in the hopes of putting their guard down, but the guard looked at me with a flustered face and said.

"Ah, if it's the student council you're after, they're currently giving the student faculty a speech about the imperial festival..."

"A speech?"

They're preparing for the festival already?

It should be a matter of course for the student council but it's a bit far off for ordinary students?

"We don't really have much time either so... I'm sorry, but could I go to the auditorium and give it to them myself?"

My instincts were screaming at me of some strangeness.

Something was happening in that auditorium. I had to see for myself what it was!

"Ah, yes, I understand."

The guard looked at me with a dazed expression but guided the others and I to Yugrasia's auditorium.

And we saw.

"What is defeat to us?"

-NON-EXISTENT!

The screams of delight.

"To our enemies!"

-THE JUDGEMENT OF DEATH!

The murderous aura that seemed like it would actually kill us.

"Those who don't know of the silver devil?"

-BRATS THAT HAVE NO RIGHT TO CHOOSE LIFE OR DEATH!

And the madness that felt like they really would give up their lives!

-Owner, I don't think we can beat this?

I couldn't offer a single response to those words.