Ch.153153. Self (1)

In this power struggle, Sirah was by far the weakest province.

Although it belonged to a province, the largest administrative unit divided by the borders of the duchy, Sirah’s influence was quite minimal.

Even though people lived there.

Even though there was a Road School.

Even though lectures were held there.

Those who weren’t properly prepared were simply crushed by the power of the strong, like minnows in the sea.

The midterm evaluation passed in an instant.

“…”

After more than two hours since arriving in the Algenib province.

All students simultaneously exited the arena.

The result was obvious without even looking.

‘A complete defeat for Sirah Road School, I see.’

Just looking at their expressions told the whole story.

It seemed they had lost without gaining an advantage anywhere.

In a way, it was to be expected.

Compared to the other three powers who had trained normally, the Sirah Road School students hadn’t even properly established a starting point.

‘There are probably other issues as well.’

Those guys lounging around on the side, who had forfeited saying things like power struggles were useless.

While there might be many reasons for the defeat, if one had to pick just one, it would be that they were vastly outnumbered from the start.

From the captain’s battle to the main event of the team competition. In power struggles that form teams, if you lack numbers, you can’t excel at anything.

Even in individual competitions, it affects morale.

If someone representing the region ranks high, it plants a tiny seed of positivity—”We can do it too!”

Wasn’t it the same at Levrant?

When John and Noel unlocked the Mirage-type magic armor that no one else could manifest, others believed they could do it too.

But now, their faces reflect everything. There is no one to become such a symbol.

“Sam…”

“…”

“It’s not over yet. We still have time until the second week.”

Junon whispers softly, placing her hands on Lana and Ethan’s shoulders to support their mental state.

The two nod and affirm that they haven’t given up, that they’ll see it through to the end, so don’t misunderstand.

Their mental state seemed fine, but their bitter smiles gave away their feelings.

‘Lana and Ethan seem okay, but… they still feel frustrated.’

What about the others? My gaze immediately shifts to the other students.

I thought if Lana and Ethan were just feeling frustrated, it would end with bad feelings, but… over there, the atmosphere is beyond hostile—it seems about to boil over.

The rest, including those who had thrown in forfeit cards for the power struggle, have such a deflated atmosphere that it certainly doesn’t look like a good sign.

“Um… guys? You all worked hard. We’ll participate together in the second week, so at that time…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Drop it!!”

“So much for being a Tembris party member… nothing’s changed at all!”

This defeat is absolutely not the fault of those who taught them.

In that state, no one—not even a Levrant student—could have reversed this outcome.

“What happened?”

“…They were all overwhelmingly defeated.”

“Overwhelmingly…?”

“Yes… about three people from the Mirpark faction…? They charged in with something like magical power surrounding them, like you do, Sam, and no one could resist—they were all pushed back.”

“We lost to them too. Of course, we weren’t knocked out in one blow like those guys…”

Ethan nodded and answered affirmatively.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask this. How did you two do in the individual competition? In terms of ranking.”

“At best, somewhere in the middle… I think. Ethan ranked a bit higher than me…”

The middle. It wasn’t the result I had expected. Due to the lack of time, I had anticipated lower scores, but I didn’t expect them to do this well.

But with these two, it’s a record that should inspire a positive message that others can do it too.

That means the Sirah students all occupied the lowest ranks.

A defeat by an overwhelming difference, visible at a glance.

That’s what’s fueling their anger now.

To insist they’re not at the bottom.

“Guys…!”

“We’re not going to attend your classes anymore, so remember that! Only idiots would listen!”

“What did you just say? Only idiots would listen?”

“Is the rest any different? As expected, there was no need to participate in something like a power struggle. When the people teaching are like that.”

“Take that back, you jerk! What did the teachers do wrong?”

The snowball has started rolling. At this size, it will probably take quite a long time to stop.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, if there are so many losers, there must be proportionally many winners.

Somehow looking triumphant, three people arrived at the temple. They could appear with their shoulders squared as victors.

“Well. How does it feel to have awakened to the new power I proposed?”

“It’s the best.”

“It feels like being in a realm that others can’t approach.”

“It’s all thanks to Your Holiness’s righteous teachings. We were reborn that day.”

“Huhu. Is that so.”

The Holy Emperor smiles benevolently.

“Miki, Leon, and Demian. Still, you mustn’t forget the baptism you need to receive weekly, right?”

“Of course. That’s why we came on time.”

“Huhu. I like diligent students. Now then… let us pray today as well. For a new baptism of blessing.”

Demian’s group follows the Holy Emperor.

Upon reaching the prayer room, they sit in prepared seats under the Holy Emperor’s hand and pour magical power into a small altar.

And they pray. Following the Holy Emperor’s prayer text, with their eyes closed.

“Good. Very good.”

An inexplicably eerie energy flows, and the manifested spell soon fills the space with red light.

Only after something settles into the three people’s bodies does this red radiance disappear.

“Thank you again today, Your Holiness.”

“Don’t mention it. You must be tired, so you should head back.”

“Yes. We’ll visit you again next time.”

After they leave.

The Holy Emperor opens the lid of the small altar and takes out its contents.

“My, they sucked it dry without missing a drop. You all must have quite strong desires? Huhu.”

A lump of muscle, completely dried up and seemingly without a trace of blood.

It was the source of life that until recently would have been pulsating.

***

The Legion of Inferiors.

The Gathering of Fools.

The Parade of Incompetents.

These were the derogatory names given by those who pointed fingers and mocked the Sirah Road School students.

If these insults had only been directed at the power struggle participants, those who had been lazy wouldn’t have cared.

However, because everyone was lumped together, sparks unnecessarily flew, and those who weren’t prepared faced another crushing defeat.

It was they who achieved the lowest rankings. But… there was no way to distinguish that.

“Of course it’s because of you guys. Does it make sense that people who supposedly learned everything properly couldn’t do one thing right and got pushed back?!”

“What did you just say? Say it again!”

“Oh, you want me to repeat it? Fine, fine! Because of you incompetent lot who can’t do anything right even after attending lectures, we all got cursed at too. Happy now?”

“You bastard!! You guys didn’t do anything in the team competition, right? Who are you to talk about incompetence!!”

They had remained silent about the individual competitions because everyone had been pushed back, but in the team competition, Sirah was devastatingly defeated because something more important than individual skill was lacking.

Yet they remain ignorant.

They didn’t study properly, didn’t prepare anything, and all they could do was blame others.

Even though the decisive factor in their defeat was that they had split into two factions.

“Will you all stop it?!”

“”Waaah!!””

Blue flames separate the two students who were about to grab each other’s collars.

“Before you grab each other’s collars and blame each other for what went wrong, think about what you actually did. How can you talk big when you can’t even prove anything properly?”

“…”

“…”

“Use that time to think about how to win instead. Stop making excuses that it’s the fault of the teachers or those who didn’t attend lectures, like idiots.”

With Michelle’s deep rebuke, the situation of the two factions fighting in groups ended instantly.

While she couldn’t mediate further, she successfully prevented an incident in advance.

As time passed, the Levrant students all left. They too would have reflected on the painful defeat of the day.

And so that night.

The two opposing factions gathered in one place.

“You came right on time. I guess you weren’t scared.”

“Look who’s talking. I thought you’d call us here and then run away.”

On one side was the non-attendance faction criticizing the power struggle participants, saying even they got caught in the crossfire despite not attending lectures.

On the other side was the attendance faction criticizing those who neither attended lectures nor studied.

Once again, they growled at each other as soon as they met. They were still divided into two factions with no sign of agreement.

Then a third party appeared right on cue, seemingly mediating between the two sides.

“Calm down. I didn’t send that letter to make you fight each other.”

“Wait, that letter…”

“You sent it?”

“Of course. Because we can’t just sit still like this…!”

At a glance, the letter’s content only seemed to provoke both sides, but if the intention was to summon them here, it was a plausible plan.

Then what was the reason for calling these two factions?

“You don’t want to just sit around either, right? The power struggle itself is already an unfavorable condition for us.”

“That’s certainly true…”

“And you know what? Unlike Sirah, those rich noble bastards even bribe people.”

“Could it be… that the nobles themselves manipulated this power struggle with money…?”

“Now that you mention it, almost all those Mirpark guys were nobles… Could it be…?”

The fact that there’s no guarantee it isn’t true.

With this, the anger that had been directed at each other while divided into two factions was suppressed, but it was filled with something else, growing into an even greater spark.

“So instead of being evaluated by something like a power struggle, let’s prove ourselves directly. In our own way.”

“”In our own way?””

“We just need to make a statement, right? Over there.”

He jerked his chin toward the northern forest of Sirah.

The north of Sirah was generally a place where students didn’t wander, but where guilds or parties passed through.

“I’ve received word that Stumps are overflowing there. This is when you demonstrate your skills.”

The Sirah students, who had been divided into attendance and non-attendance factions, nod while meeting each other’s gaze.

Without a word, but with the sole intention of moving forward toward the same goal for now.

They succeed in uniting with the single resolve to fix and prove themselves with their own hands.

***

The first week had passed.

On the day the evaluation ended, no lectures were held so that students could mentally recover on their own.

Then today?

Naturally, there should have been students coming to get their attendance verified.

‘…What’s going on?’

Only Lana and Ethan were in this lecture hall.

“Where did the others go? Those who usually make such a fuss about verifying attendance, saying they can’t waste even a second.”

“I don’t know…”

“I don’t either…”

“It’s not your fault… Well, it’s fine. Since we’ve actually saved more time, let’s start the lecture right away…”

Clunk!

Just as Junon picked up a piece of chalk to start the lecture, someone flung the door open.