Ch.362362 – The Final Two

<362 – The Final Two>

The imperial professors strongly opposed the official appointment of a Foundation member as a professor.

“This personnel decision is absurd. How dare a subordinate of the Three Great Evils designated by the Empire occupy a teaching position at the world’s finest educational institution!”

“Even if the Empire’s intellect and brilliance have dimmed, that’s no reason for great evil to flourish more rampantly in the world, Dragon Principal!”

The principal looked at the group of imperial professors who had gathered with an expression that seemed to say “so what do you want me to do about it?”

[Are you asking me to reverse my decision?]

“For the sake of world justice, I believe you absolutely should!”

Professor Kaynez, who taught <Imperial Economics> and was an influential senior figure among the imperial professors, raised his voice.

[You seem to have misunderstood me.]

[Do you believe someone like you can overturn my decision?]

The principal is capricious.

But that doesn’t mean his decisions are taken lightly.

To historians, dragons are often called the race of covenants.

The legend of the guardian dragon who will protect a nation once when faced with the crisis of extinction.

The legend of the poison dragon who reduces any living being that invades its territory to a puddle of toxic water.

All dragons are known for their respective promises.

They always keep promises once made.

Kingdoms that challenged this authority were reduced to puddles of poison, and empires that ridiculed the legend of the guardian dragon lost 250,000 invasion troops overnight.

Unlike the other professors who trembled like aspen trees, Professor Kaynez suppressed his instinctive fear and tried to speak resolutely.

“Though the Empire’s prestige cannot compare to that of dragons, it is an undeniable fact that we dominate world hegemony. Even His Imperial Majesty would strongly condemn the loss of a position designated for an imperial professor to an outsider!”

The imperial faction and frontier faction permeating the Academy.

The number of positions designated for professors from each region was nothing less than an indicator of how powerful each nation was.

The Empire has so many experts that they could dispatch over a hundred professors to the Academy and still not run short of talent.

The Kingdom of Florence, though lacking in heritage, is exceptional enough to produce three outstanding talents.

Thus, the number of professors carried each nation’s pride.

However, the Dragon Principal refused to play along with Professor Kaynez’s calculations.

[Let me correct one thing.]

[Professor Layve, who taught Imperial Demonology, became a traitor who joined hands with the Foundation of his own will.]

[This is an undeniable fact that I can guarantee on a dragon’s honor.]

“!!”

A dragon’s guarantee.

The immutable golden truth became text that filled their vision completely.

[If a Foundation professor has died and that position is vacant, it is appropriate for another Foundation member to take that place.]

Covenant and guarantee.

Realizing through the dragon’s declaration that one imperial professor position had left their possession, Professor Kaynez bowed his head helplessly.

That a promising young professor would cause such a major incident and then abruptly die.

If Professor Layve were to return alive, he would want to tear him apart with his own hands.

Reviving the dead was taboo in the Empire, so even if they obtained the corpse, it would be impossible.

“Is the Foundation finally ceasing to hide behind the curtain and revealing its power to the world?”

Though he had left the Dragon Principal’s office, Professor Kaynez felt his walking stick trembling.

While the other professors’ fears had subsided, his own fear was just beginning.

Professor Kaynez predicted a very ominous future.

‘If there are Foundation traitors hiding among the imperial professors, who knows how many more imperial positions will be lost when they reveal themselves!’

The Empire’s prestige had begun to shake.

By the <Chairman> of the Foundation, the pinnacle of the Three Great Evils.

* * *

Oknodie’s butler was appointed as the new professor succeeding Professor Layve.

The Massgakki Princess felt intense curiosity.

“I want to attend this class♡”

“No, Your Highness! How can you attend a lecture taught by a minion of the Three Great Evils designated by the Empire? It would be troublesome if Emperor heard about this.”

“If a lecture were harmful just from listening, the principal wouldn’t have approved it in the first place♡”

Though not publicly known, imperial education includes information about <Gift Academy>.

The <non-disclosure constraint> held by graduates or expelled students can be somewhat circumvented or broken by mobilizing the full power of the imperial family.

Thanks to this, the imperial family possesses deeper and more precise information about the Academy than others.

Among this information is data about the Dragon Principal.

While the principal is an eccentric who torments students by arbitrarily holding weekly events, he doesn’t overlook professors’ abilities.

“Professors recognized as world-class in their field have <professional ethics>. They don’t treat students who show willingness to learn from them carelessly. Don’t you even know that~? Pathetic followers♡”

“But Professor Layve favored us imperial students and oppressed frontier students?”

“…Having strong patriotism isn’t a crime♡”

Anyway, that’s how it is.

When the princess insisted on attending the lecture, her followers, unable to let her go alone, followed with gloomy faces.

In the common elective lecture hall open to all classes, the new professor’s name and lecture title were displayed on a nameplate.

━━━

Professor – Jona Wiheomhae

Lecture Title – <Mana Tempering Method Training>

━━━

Unlike mana cultivation methods that anyone with a spiritual manual could enter, mana tempering was a field difficult to enter even if one knew the method.

While mana cultivation focused on gathering and taming energy, mana tempering emphasized using energy to enhance physical performance.

By Eastern Empire standards, the difference was comparable to that between internal and external martial arts!

Bubble, bubble.

Several large cauldrons were placed in the lecture hall, making boiling sounds.

Around them, people presumed to be the professor’s direct subordinates were controlling the fire with magic or carrying heavy metal blocks and armor.

“It seems they’re really teaching proper tempering methods!”

“We would have regretted not coming!”

“The princess’s insight is truly remarkable.”

“Long live the princess!”

“Long live Princess Massgakki!”

The lower-class students of the Second Princess faction completely changed their attitude, praising Massgakki Princess’s decision.

“Stop it♡ You’re disturbing other students~ Stop fidgeting and disrupting the academic atmosphere♡”

More students than expected had gathered in the lecture hall.

Almost all upper-class students were present, and even lower-class students from major organizations attended with their members.

Altogether, there were about 200 people!

Such attendance for a single lecture was extremely rare, except for mandatory courses.

The only concern was whether a Foundation member would generously teach the imperial princess.

“If you’ve come to learn tempering methods, please take your seats.”

Fortunately, Jona’s teaching was given equally to both frontier and imperial students.

“That’s unfair. Jona was supposed to be mine alone.”

“Don’t complain, miss. Tempering methods vary according to one’s training level anyway. It’s a good opportunity, so other students should listen carefully too.”

Comforting Oknodie’s complaints, Jona stepped onto the platform to address all students.

“Mana tempering is a technique that changes your body’s constitution. It’s also called <limit breakthrough> work that raises the limit of what you might call your stats. Excellent tempering methods can also increase elemental resistance or growth speed of specific abilities and functions as additional effects.”

“But these benefits aren’t easily obtained by everyone. It requires a healthy body and mental strength to endure the process of changing one’s constitution, and enormous funds are needed to compensate for insufficient physical and mental strength.”

“Today is <health measurement> day, where we’ll test your levels and identify tempering methods suitable for each of you.”

Massgakki Princess raised her hand first.

“I’ll go first for the good stuff♡”

“Everyone will proceed simultaneously regardless of order. Please wear the measuring devices.”

When they put on the hollow armor, it automatically adjusted to fit the wearer’s size.

“Hmm~ So Oknodie gave armor to the Black Knight after receiving this kind of measurement~?”

Massgakki honestly found the Foundation’s methods old-fashioned.

Measuring the body to determine what level of tempering method one could endure was common sense.

But the measurement method was too outdated.

‘In the imperial family, we do this simply with full-body magical scanning♡’

When Jona used <Metal Control>, the weight of all armor gradually increased from within.

10kg. 20kg. 30kg.

Even as the weight displayed on the armor’s gauge kept increasing, Massgakki Princess endured easily.

“From now on, I’ll give you movements to confirm your adaptation to each weight. Only students who successfully perform the movements at each weight level will advance to the next weight.”

100kg. 200kg. 300kg.

Weights difficult to handle with bare bodies began.

The metal infused inside the measuring device also changed materials, dramatically increasing the weight per unit area.

Upper-class students with strong bodies kept up with the high weights, but things changed when they entered the ton range.

“I’m dying!”

“My back is breaking!!”

Upper-class students including Zenya and Son Ocheon surrendered one after another.

2 tons. 3 tons. 4 tons.

As the numbers increased, the remaining students quickly lost their composure.

“This is insane.”

“Where does that small body get such strength…”

Even Hestia and Honer FriedChicken, who had endured the longest, eventually gave up, prompting Massgakki to snicker.

“You surrender at just 10 tons~? Pathetic♡ Weaklings♡”

“Grrrr. That damn brat…”

Hestia trembled with anger.

Honer FriedChicken also glared at Oknodie and the princess with an incredulous expression before sighing and walking away.

“The final two remaining will receive the highest grade tempering method, so please exert your utmost determination.”

The last people remaining were, of course, Massgakki Princess and Oknodie.

And the hero Ishtar.

In any other lecture, the winners would undoubtedly be Oknodie and Ishtar, regardless of determination.

But Massgakki Princess was confident.

‘High achievement in mana cultivation automatically strengthens the body too~? Pfft. A hero who relies on a holy sword is nothing without it. There’s no way a hero could beat the cultivation method mastered by a princess!’

There’s a reason why princess knights occasionally pop up in hero parties.

10 tons.

As expected, in this test of enduring weight armor with bare bodies, the hero’s strength gave out.

The final two were Massgakki Princess and Oknodie.

Though they had earned the right to receive the highest grade tempering method, Massgakki Princess’s determination hadn’t been extinguished.

A contest to determine the final one!

Empire versus Foundation.

It was the perfect opportunity to test which successor had received more thorough training.