Chapter 17: Anyway, I will serve you well (6)

The academy was under attack. And even the former Tower Master, the head professor, had fallen victim to a mysterious attack. In this emergency, where would I escape to?

Outside? Not a bad option.

Normally, it wouldn’t be ideal, but this was the academy. Unless the Empire’s security was a joke, the number of terrorists who infiltrated the academy wouldn’t be that high. And since the enemies had used some unknown method to incapacitate the defenders, staying inside risked being similarly neutralized. So, escaping and regrouping with other students wasn’t a bad strategy.

However, unlike me, the ropan group members were all important figures. And despite the internal defenses being down, the enemies hadn’t shown themselves yet. Perhaps the method used to incapacitate the academy staff was also dangerous to them, or perhaps they were waiting to ambush anyone trying to escape. If the enemies weren’t coming, hiding inside was a viable option.

So, where to hide? Up, of course.

I could set traps and obstacles on the staircases to detect anyone coming up. And we could escape through the windows if necessary. The enemies could also come through the windows, but that would give us time to react and alert others of our location.

Anywhere but the basement, which would become a death trap if we were cornered. So, of course, we ended up in the basement.

“As expected of Adam!”

What were these idiots doing here?

“The basement is the best hiding spot.”

A lie. If the building was blown up, we would be buried alive. Sure, we could use magic to survive, as you do in a fantasy world, but using that much mana to escape a collapsing basement was less efficient than just jumping out a window.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

He was flustered, and his explanation was rambling, but it boiled down to this: The academy was attacked, the professors repelled the attackers, and then, as the professors pursued the fleeing enemies, a tremor shook the ground, and everyone, including the head professor and the other staff, collapsed. The strange part was…

“The head professor collapsed first?”

“Yes, McGregor-nim was the first to fall.”

The former Tower Master, collapsing first? Were stronger individuals more susceptible to this attack? A mage of his caliber wouldn’t be easily defeated, so it must have been something specifically targeting magic users.

“So, what was it?”

I didn’t know magic. And neither did anyone else from the Leon Kingdom. Some people would try to figure it out on their own, but I preferred looking for the answer key. So, I approached Violet, who would know, and asked, but…

“What do you want?”

Her response was cold. Oh, right, I’d flipped her off.

“It’s an emergency. Share some information.”

We needed to cooperate to survive.

“You already know. It’ll be fine. No one else gets hurt here.”

But instead of information, I got spoilers. Wait, but her expression didn’t match her words. It was like…

“What about you?”

She’d said everyone else would be fine, but that didn’t seem to include her.

“I’m scheduled for a gut wound.”

“Are you crazy?”

If she knew she was going to be stabbed, she should be trying to prevent it, not accepting it.

“It’s important.”

“My life is more important to me.”

“It’s my life. You don’t care.”

That was true, but this was strange. Even if she was attached to the original story, this was obsessive.

Even the author would avoid a life-threatening injury. She wasn’t just a reader; she’d been transported here after cursing at the latest chapter. Yet, she was clinging to the original plot like someone desperate to fulfill a prophecy.

“What do you get in return for a gut wound?”

“Awakening as a Saint.”

“Ah, so it’s an awakening flag.”

“Yes. And I get healed afterward. Just watch.”

As expected of the heroine’s best friend. A gut wound was necessary for the heroine’s awakening!

“Does that even make sense?”

Even for an awakening, offering your own stomach…

“I’m going to change things after this.”

“Why not change it now?”

“I can’t.”

Her firm refusal made me frown.

“Will it even work?”

I didn’t care about the original story. She might want to get stabbed, but I wasn’t interested in watching. It wasn’t empathy or anything; I just didn’t like seeing people get hurt. We had me, Prince Ellen, and even Aslan, despite his relative weakness. And we had magic users for support. We could handle most enemies.

“It will.”

She sounded certain, despite knowing our combined strength.

“Really?”

“That’s the point of this arc. He’s a character we can’t defeat at this stage.”

“…”

This happened sometimes. An early appearance of a late-game boss to demonstrate the protagonists’ weakness and motivate them to grow stronger. A character who wasn’t the final boss, but more difficult than the final boss, appearing early on and posing a significant threat, only to be defeated anticlimactically later.

“The Mage Slayer, Silence.”

“That’s an ominous name.”

As soon as Violet mentioned the name, a loud thud echoed, and dust filled the air.

“Ugh, the dust. This is why you shouldn’t hide in places like this.”

As a man who resembled Belian, the Flower Arranging Club president, emerged from the dust cloud, I instinctively threw my sword.

****

Clang! Clang!

My ears reacted before my eyes. The man who’d been whispering beside me moments ago was suddenly at the forefront, wielding his sword.

Adam Smith. An apt nickname, considering his movements resembled an invisible hand guiding the flow of battle. He and Ellen were the only ones who reacted instantly to the enemy’s appearance.

“These kids are terrifying. Drawing their swords the moment they see someone.”

However, their surprise attack was meaningless. The enemy was on a completely different level.

The Mage Slayer, Silence. A monster with an absolute advantage against mages and overwhelming physical strength against knights. The only person in the academy who could defeat him alone was the Sword Emperor, but he was currently incapacitated, according to the plot.

“I was curious how anyone could still be moving after all my preparations. Interesting.”

His narrow eyes gleamed red. The Mage Sealing Eyes. They suppressed his own mana, as well as his opponent’s, making him a counter to both mages and mana-dependent knights.

“Ugh.”

“What the…?”

Ellen frowned, and Adam cursed. In a world where mana was everything, losing access to it crippled even knights. They didn’t become ordinary people like mages, and Silence was also affected by his own mana suppression, but the difference between someone accustomed to freely using mana and someone who trained with limitations was significant.

“Oh?”

Even Silence seemed surprised by Ellen’s talent, which allowed him to fight effectively despite the mana suppression.

“These kids are something else.”

And Adam, keeping pace with Ellen, was even more surprising. He’d claimed to have trained hard, and I was starting to see glimpses of it. But…

“Ugh!”

“Aslan!”

“Don’t mind me, just fight!”

Even against three opponents, including the newly arrived Aslan, Silence wasn’t losing. He was actually winning against three future top-tier swordsmen. We needed everyone here to stand a chance, but Silence’s barrier made those with high mana reserves lose consciousness faster.

Prince Esid, with his royal bloodline and years of elixir consumption, was already on the ground. Gerard, similarly blessed with high mana reserves and fortified by elixirs to fight monsters and demons, was the same. Arwen, the prince from Dale, was even worse. And so was I.

My consciousness was fading. But I still had something to do.

In terms of mana capacity, the three fighting Silence should have already collapsed. They were still moving because of Daisy, who was unconsciously suppressing Silence’s barrier. She’d focused her protective power on the strongest fighters, allowing them to continue fighting.

“Hmm.”

Silence noticed. His near-invincibility was due to the restrictive spells he’d cast. He was hiding it behind a smile, but he was definitely flustered.

So, he blocked the three incoming sword strikes, counterattacked, and then, seizing the opportunity, moved to achieve his objective.

“The Saint is more troublesome than I’d heard.”

With a metallic click, his sword extended. It was a distance normally unreachable, but the blade, like a serpent’s fangs, snaked towards Daisy.

The Snake-Belly Sword. Without mana enhancement, it was slow enough for us to see, but it was a single, decisive strike, a venomous viper aiming for its prey. My role was to take that hit. This was an unavoidable fate.

Daisy’s awakening as a Saint, triggered by this attack, was the true beginning of the story. I had to take this hit, no matter what.

The post-academy arcs were filled with suffering, starting with the death of Violet, Daisy’s childhood friend. If Daisy didn’t awaken here, we were all doomed.

I knew that even with Adam’s influence and Prince Ellen’s accelerated growth, we couldn’t achieve a happy ending without the Saint. This was a ropan; the heroine’s power was paramount.

“Daisy!”

I gritted my teeth and jumped in front of Daisy, towards the extending blade. It would hurt. It would hurt a lot. I might even die.

I tried to position myself so that the blade would avoid vital organs, aiming for a non-fatal wound in the side, like in the original. As I jumped, I met Daisy’s eyes. Her already large eyes widened further.

I’d told Adam I was doing this for the plot, but in this moment, I was also doing it for Daisy. I’d resented her while reading the novel, but after meeting her, she’d become precious to me. Too precious to be with those useless male leads.

I wanted her to have a happy life, but knowing the path ahead was filled with suffering, I wanted to ease her burden, even a little.

…But it seemed I’d overdone it.

“?”

Whoosh.

My body, thrown towards Daisy, was thrown back. Daisy, using the self-defense techniques I’d taught her, had gently pushed me aside.

“Huh?”

I looked at her in surprise, and she smiled sadly.

“You can’t.”

Yes, I can. This is how it’s supposed to happen.

Before I could shout, blood spurted from Daisy’s side.