Ch.357The NPC Who Dropped the Sun (6)

My head feels foggy. I can’t understand what the Dean is saying. Since coming to this world, I’ve become aware of my stupidity many times, but truly, I’ve never felt so disgusted by my declining intelligence as I do right now, in this moment.

“What’s wrong? Don’t want to talk? Reincarnator.”

“W-what!! H-how did you…?”

“‘Thank you for being born, thank you for loving me, thank you for accepting my feelings. Thank you for being with us.’ Was that it? My mouth was so sickeningly sweet it was terrible. How could you spout such nauseating words with a straight face?”

“That’s…!!”

Those were the words I said when Ragni lost herself in front of the ancient relic. The fact that the Dean knows this means…

“Yes, I was just a bit worried about my assistant, so I installed an eavesdropping spell. I thought if the fool made some extreme choice, potions alone might not be enough to heal her. Well, I happened to overhear various things as a result.”

“Th-that’s impossible.”

Wasn’t Gor right there? She just let that happen?! This is truly absurd…!!

“Ah, the golem? That one tried to strangely twist my magic. Goodness. I was curious where one would obtain such a high-performance golem. Well, thanks to that, I gained another opportunity to contemplate the interference effects on magic.”

“Ugh.”

Don’t tell me that when Gor blocked her telepathy into my mind before, she used that countermeasure to grow stronger? This is truly maddening, this deus ex machina…!!

“Don’t be so flustered. Do I look like someone who would go around blabbing about this? I could have confronted you as soon as I found out, but I’ve been quite patient, haven’t I?”

“Even then, I let it slide after seeing my disciple’s face,” said the Dean, alluding to when I went to find the quest item. Hah, as expected. I thought she was strangely persistent at that time. So that’s what it was. Now, what am I supposed to do? Surely she doesn’t intend to use me as research material…

“Do you think I have time to research someone like you? What I’m curious about is the outlook of this world. And the reason why you all are ‘becoming stronger.'”

“Setting aside the outlook, that’s because we enter dungeons every day…”

“Nonsense. Because you keep entering dungeons, I also made rounds through dungeons occasionally. However, I didn’t become stronger like you.”

[-Academy Dean- Name: Neti Naika. Level: 520]

Indeed, even after the Empire incident, her level hasn’t changed. Well, the same goes for Ragni. Both you and Ragni were born with literally the highest human levels in this world. There’s no reason for your levels to increase after entering dungeons filled with riffraff a few times.

“Do you realize? Your growth has transcended human limits. Especially the growth of my assistant, the swordswoman, and your sister is enough to change history. My assistant told me I was three times stronger than previous deans, and I was considered the strongest on the continent. But how about now? By my judgment, I would lose in a life-or-death battle against my assistant, the swordswoman, or my disciple.”

“That’s…”

It wasn’t three times, it was twice, I want to nitpick, but the atmosphere is too heavy for that.

“When I first saw your group, I judged that those girls would catch up to me in 10 years, around the age of 30. Even that would be more than enough to call them geniuses. Especially my disciple—she had talent in magic and spirit arts, but her physical growth and magical application abilities were practically zero. So, I hammered every fundamental I had into that child. I intended to build her foundation. I thought she would reach my level around the age of twenty. But how about now?”

“……”

Ira’s level is about to exceed 700. That means she could handle two deans by herself. And the Dean understands our strength almost perfectly even though she can’t see our status windows. Is this something we can no longer hide?

“Well, if we fought with the number of spells and experience, I still don’t think I would lose to my disciple. But in terms of pure magical power and firepower, I predict I would completely lose. If we simply clashed fireballs at full power, mine would evaporate.”

“…That’s impressive. You haven’t even seen Ira fight.”

“Do you take me for a fool? I’m not so decrepit that I can’t sense the power of a strong person beside me.”

“…Fine. I’ll explain everything. But on one condition…”

“I won’t tell anyone. Not even my disciple, your sister. Ira doesn’t know anything, does she?”

“You’re really sharp.”

In the end, I explained everything about levels, status windows, how to level up, the demons that will appear on this continent, and what the Church State is currently trying to do. Well, I can trust the current Dean.

“…I see. So that’s how it was with monsters. When I was young, I heard stories from the Spirit King and hunted quite a few monsters myself. Even contracted with high-ranking spirits. It was around that time. This would truly turn the Monster Research Department upside down if I told them.”

“Well, with your skill and level, if you just circulate through the dungeons in the Empire, you’ll get stronger quite quickly. And I’d like you to get stronger.”

“Because of the Church State? Religious folk truly cannot be trusted.”

What the Church State wants is the demonic invasion of the continent and the ensuing chaos. From there, faith born of salvation and yearning toward god. It seems like an obvious development, but when you’re directly affected, it’s truly unbearable.

“Sigh, I need to figure out how to vaguely convey this to the Monster Research Department to help the students grow. To think even my training is needed.”

After hearing my story, the Dean furrowed her brow. However.

“Kukuk. So there are still peaks I haven’t seen. This seems like it will be annoyingly fun, and I’m looking forward to it.”

“Well, in your case, you weren’t described that much in the game from my previous life. Your level was said to be 500, but you’re freely using teleport, which should require level 700. I was surprised when I first saw it.”

“I was able to use teleport when I passed my mid-forties. After repeated training, I became capable of long-distance travel like this, though it consumes several days. In my view, my disciple will surely become an excellent mage who won’t even need those days.”

“I hope so. Well, have you heard everything you wanted to kn—”

“There’s still the matter of the warp gate you mentioned earlier.”

“Ah.”

Wasn’t that just an excuse to kidnap me? Were you genuinely curious? But in the game, it was just a click, so I don’t really know much either.

“In the game, this continent wasn’t this vast. Frankly, walking from Ponia to the Empire took only 20-30 minutes, and riding a mount took about 5 minutes. And in other major cities, if you paid a reasonable amount, it was just a 10-second click.”

“…What kind of nonsense is that? Was the world reduced to the size of an ant colony?”

Hearing my explanation, the middle-aged woman who doesn’t understand games genuinely furrowed her brow, saying she couldn’t imagine it at all. I explained as thoroughly as possible about warp gates, not teleportation—devices operated by magic stones for transportation according to the setting. As I continued my explanation:

“…so, typically in large cities, there would be a large circular stone with a magic circle constructed underneath—”

“Enough. I understand. I don’t quite grasp the principle, but I know of a similar technology.”

“Really? What kind of similar technology…”

“You should know it too—that gluttony creature’s movement ability. What you’ve been tediously explaining, even drawing pictures, is similar to putting people in its mouth and moving them, isn’t it?”

“Eh?”

The Dean explained more briefly and concisely. The magic circle is like Gluttony’s mouth, the magic stone is the magical energy used for movement. The exit on the other side is like the connection between the creature’s main body and its fragments. Hearing this, what I felt was:

“…Shit, wait, don’t tell me.”

“Tsk. The world of games must have been quite insane. They implemented a demon’s power with magic stones and spells. It’s commendable that they developed it for their own use, but someone who doesn’t know this couldn’t possibly reach that idea. Surely.”

It means someone must have contracted with a demon or researched a previous generation demon. After saying that, the Dean rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought, and I further processed what she said.

Clearly, the current demons are different from the Seven Deadly Sins from 8,000 years ago—the ‘later’ previous generation demons were definitely vanquished in that era. But there’s almost no information about the current era’s demons. Then.

“The history of the game you mentioned seems to have taken a very different path from this world’s history. Even if I know this now, I can’t complete it during my lifetime to make the whole world into what you called a ’10-second click.'”

“…I see.”

In other words, the warp gate cannot be made in this lifetime. Sigh, if this were possible, I could have established a [Federal Neutral City] and let each country deal with it properly. As expected, I’ll have to leave this part to the king and Ragni…

“What I can do is connect Ponia and the Empire’s capital. I estimate it would take about a year even if I focus solely on that.”

“I see. As expected, it’s impossi— What?”

For the first time in a while, a “what” escaped my lips. What did she just say? Didn’t she say it was impossible? Huh? Suddenly it’s possible?

“As I said, ‘if I focus solely on that,’ it would take a year. I wouldn’t have the capacity to handle other tasks alongside such work. Fortunately, I have the magic stone from the demon’s main body, and I’ve finished interpreting its power. As for the technology to turn it into a device… Tsk. As much as I hate it, I’ll have to borrow the hands of [IT]. I don’t think they’ll readily listen to me, but they’re the kind of bastards whose eyes light up when it comes to new technology.”

“Th-then!!”

“I’ll try to connect Ponia and the Empire’s capital in time for the construction of the new city. However, there’s a condition.”

This time the Dean set a condition for me, but I can’t refuse this. Anyway, I want to make things easier for Ragni now, and if this matter doesn’t end quickly, I won’t be able to leave for somewhere else to level up. With that in mind, I immediately ask about the condition.

“After the ‘punishment’ of my assistant, I’ll make him the acting dean. Well, his workload might double, but his safety will be ensured if he stays here. And the academy will be properly managed while I’m away. What do you think? Will you accept?”

“Deal!!”

If Ragni were here, she might question why I’m the one accepting this, but I couldn’t even think of refusing.