episode_0037

As I arrived at the School of Magic building, I sensed the presence of Lebron Hujak, whom I desired, through my heightened senses.

In an empty classroom not used for classes, besides Lebron, I felt the energy of many students more than I had expected, already aware of what had transpired in the cafeteria.

Even though I clearly knew it was a trap, I couldn’t help but smile at the situation that forced me to go.

Upon arriving at the empty classroom and opening the door, I could confirm that eight students were observing me.

The guy standing at the back with his arms crossed, looking around, must be Lebron Hujak’s eldest son.

Seeing the sharp warning signals from my heightened senses, it seemed like magical traps were also set up.

“Can students install magical traps like this without permission at the academy?”

“Why are you so worried? It will likely be something that happens when we inevitably have to deal with those who attack us while we are researching in the School of Magic classrooms. Don’t regret entering the domain prepared by an arrogant first-year commoner.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the eight individuals here began casting various spells in my direction.

As I took a step to the left at the entrance to avoid them, my heightened senses warned me frantically, and a red magic circle shone beneath my feet as a pillar of fire erupted.

Despite trying to quickly move back towards the entrance after confirming the change, I couldn’t completely avoid parts of my body being engulfed in flames.

“They must have set it to trigger only upon direct contact, increasing its immediacy.”

I couldn’t evade properly even with my agility stat, indicating that there wasn’t much time difference between activation and actual casting.

Fortunately, I managed to avoid being hit directly by their spells, feeling only a slight stinging pain from the burns on my body.

Although their proficiency in magical traps was quite high, their lack of practical experience saved me since there was no one blocking my escape route.

If someone experienced in combat were in my place, they would have anticipated avoiding the traps once triggered and cast spells at those locations.

“I can’t help it. I might get hurt, but I have to push through by forcing my way forward.”

Knights have skills to block magic by surrounding themselves with auras to face off against mages, but I hadn’t reached a level where I could obtain derived skills from aura operation.

Quickly making up my mind, I tried to rush towards them using the wall as a stepping stone, but as soon as I stepped on the wall, a sky-blue magic circle shone, pushing me into the air with the wind.

“They even placed traps on the walls?”

Amidst my bewildered expression, I noticed someone smiling sardonically and chanting a spell.

“Lightning Bolt.”

Being airborne, unable to change my position, I had no choice but to take the magic head-on. As I fell to the ground, trying to avoid additional magical traps activating, my body momentarily stiffened from the lightning magic, making it impossible to dodge.

As my body hit the ground, I inadvertently activated the glowing red magic circles, which soon enveloped me in flames.

The heat was so intense that all the windows in the classroom shattered.

“Is he done for?”

“Hey, isn’t he dead? If he dies, won’t we be punished, Luke Lebron?”

“We can easily pass it off as self-defense, so don’t worry. Just one commoner dead.”

Seemingly satisfied with the outcome, Luke Lebron began deactivating the magical traps he had set up, pointing out one person as a suitable target.

“Hey, go over there and check if that arrogant commoner is dead or alive.”

“Me, me? It’s still hot because the fire hasn’t completely gone out…”

Appearing hesitant, the guy next to Luke Lebron on his right kicked him.

“If you think it’s me, then do it well on your own. Do I really have to make Luke say it twice? It’s useless.”

Reluctantly activating the magic by putting up a barrier and moving to the location where the magic was cast, confirming that there was no movement, the moment he turned his back.

“This thing that doesn’t even move is definitely dead-”

Breaking through his barrier with a single stroke of the sword and striking him in the abdomen with a fist.

“Uwaaaaah”

Vomiting and falling down, he won’t be able to use magic for a while as he was hit hard with a fist reinforced with magic.

The part of the body where magic power is most focused is the abdomen and heart.

Even if you try to wrap your body in a good way, the condition is not good at all.

Having burns all over the body and gradually losing consciousness is dangerous. If time is delayed, it is certain that I will fall and be caught by those bastards.

There won’t be a second chance.

If the stamina stat wasn’t high, it wouldn’t have been strange to die instantly.

“Are you done? I originally wanted to let you pass comfortably, but seeing this situation now, it seems like I won’t be able to subdue you without causing any harm. Bite down hard.”

Desperately trying to cast magic, but at the point where the magic traps were released, there was no way for them to stop my approach.

Without mercy, I cut down all seven of them with a sword and made Lebron kneel.

As long as the rest are alive, they can somehow be saved in the Academy infirmary.

“I don’t have much time right now, so I’ll ask only once. If you answer right away, I’ll let you go without any issues. What did you do to Claire and why?”

“I wouldn’t answer a filthy commoner like you- Aaargh!”

Cutting off the left thumb of the guy who still didn’t understand his situation, he screamed in pain.

“I’ll ask again. Why did you do this to Claire and how did it happen?”

Despite writhing in pain, it seemed like he was about to open his mouth to speak, but instead, he spat out saliva.

“I guess I’ll tell you. Once the professor grasps this situation and arrives, it will be my victory.”

“Is that so? There’s still a chance to ask questions, so let’s see how long you can hold out.”

Although he had quite a strong will, when more than six fingers were lost, he eventually cried out to stop.

“P-Please, stop. I’ll tell you everything, you demon.”

“Alright. What exactly did you instruct for Claire?”

“I instructed to spread bad rumors so that other students wouldn’t approach her, and to harass her discreetly so as not to get caught, especially during classes or times when you weren’t around. I instructed to harass her without tearing textbooks or physically hitting her, making sure not to cause too much trouble where it would be noticed or hinder us. The details will be known better by the three noble ladies you dealt with at the dining hall. They were the ones leading, so.”

“That can’t be all. Claire is not someone who would silently endure such things. Why did she keep enduring it?”

“….”

To dispel his hesitation, I decided to cut off one more finger, and he immediately opened his mouth.

“Aaargh! Stop. Even Claire, the commoner, initially resisted as you said, but when that young student couldn’t bear it, Yuca threatened that she would do everything harmful to you. And if those people who seem friendly to you didn’t notice, I recruited students to monitor your movements and those of your friends by time slot, ensuring that everything progressed only when you were absent. So please, do not cut off any more fingers…”

“Background? Considering what you’ve prepared to face me, your mind works quite well in that regard, but the most important thing is missing from your words. You have no motive to carry out this trash-like plan.”

Seeing that I seemed speechless, she stopped me from cutting off the rest of my fingers.

“I’ll talk, so please put down the knife… It was something done at the request of my fiancée Helena Clark. As a noble from the imperial center, it wouldn’t be dignified for her to handle it herself after a commoner rejected her proposal. I hope you slowly realize and help Claire, a commoner, give up on the academy herself.”

With tears streaming down, avoiding my gaze, she grabbed my head, slammed it on the classroom floor, and headed towards the next destination.

Helena wasn’t far away. She was leisurely sipping tea upstairs in the classroom where I had fought with guys including Luke Lubron.

“Hello, Yukal. It’s a complete mess. Are the injured areas okay?”

As I opened the door and entered, she smiled and set down her teacup.

“…Why did you do that to Claire?”

Approaching her still holding the sword, Helena didn’t seem scared, just smiling and looking at me.

“Luke Lubron got all fired up. It’s a shame. I thought you were quite clever and would handle it well. It seemed almost successful in reality.”

Even as I approached her with the sword at her neck, she took a final sip, then put the cup down and asked me instead.

“You know, Yukal, I’m curious. Why is Claire so special?”