Ch.39The Library Takeover Incident (4)

“I really don’t like this.”

Looking at it now, I couldn’t help but feel disgusted, something I hadn’t noticed when reading the original novel.

I never imagined their hypocrisy would be this severe.

“…Well, good luck with that.”

But Ruide had no intention of stepping in.

It wasn’t that he was tolerating it—he simply saw no need to intervene.

The commoners would face quite difficult days ahead.

This incident would serve as a trigger.

Until now, despite their complaints, the nobles hadn’t openly discriminated against commoners because of the First Emperor’s decree.

But immediately after this incident, they would begin openly discriminating against commoners, showing them what real oppression meant.

In other words, they had dug their own graves.

Even Justin, who could be described as ignorant at worst or steadfast at best, would come to regret this incident.

Nobles are generally refined, but terrifying when angered.

“I wonder what the punishment will be.”

Ruide recalled the original story.

Though the commoners thought they had perfect justification, in reality, the incident couldn’t pass without consequences.

The instigators would be punished.

Nia Ryan, Catherine Ovillion, and Justin were the targets—the ones who had taken the lead.

However, their punishment was light, as their courage to stand against injustice was highly regarded.

The punishment they received was merely three months of community service. That’s how Ruide remembered it.

“But… would Hersy’s victory change that future?”

This library incident would snowball into something massive for Justin.

He would go out to do his community service, encounter black mages, and return in tatters.

At the Academy, he would face all kinds of discrimination. Not just him—all commoners would be oppressed, causing him great guilt.

But all of this would serve as the driving force that made Justin stronger.

Adversity and hardship tend to make protagonists grow.

In that sense, this episode was extremely important. The punishment, the discrimination that followed—none of it could be missed.

But…

-pătrunde.

Hersy was much stronger than expected.

Ruide, who had momentarily forgotten about the small cog in the wheel while lying down eating kaymak, recalled it now.

“…Isn’t the balance off?”

[The commoners had a difficult day. In fact, most wanted to leave the Academy immediately and return home. But they didn’t, because of Justin.

They couldn’t forget the feeling when Justin defeated Hersy Minerva, the Academy’s top student. They had seen hope that they too could become like Justin.]

But Hersy wouldn’t lose. Justin, who should have gradually learned how to counter her through their confrontations, hadn’t gone through that process.

The skill gap was too overwhelming.

Ruide rubbed his chin. This was troubling.

“I came to watch someone else’s house burn, but it turns out my own house is on fire.”

The story was like a giant cogwheel.

Even Ruide couldn’t predict the butterfly effect caused by the loss of one small component.

What if the commoners left en masse?

The soldiers who were supposed to fight the great evil of this world in his place!

That would be a major problem.

Ruide immediately thought of a solution.

“…There’s no other way but to reduce the level of harassment.”

There was also the option of telling Hersy to lose.

But naturally, he disliked that idea.

“I’ll have to make the punishment more severe.”

The reason nobles were so angry about this incident—

Besides the commoners’ impudent behavior, the biggest issue was the light punishment given by the Academy despite the severity of their actions.

Ruide wanted to use that to lower the level of commoner oppression.

To do that, he needed to move the Chancellor…

Moving the Chancellor was quite simple.

“That old man would like a bribe, wouldn’t he?”

Ruide’s gaze turned to the holy relic at the end of this transparent room—the “Chalice of Mana.”

Simply put, it was an implementation of “infinite power.” Pure mana endlessly filled the silver chalice.

Its applications were limitless. Any magic implemented through it could be sustained indefinitely.

And only Ruide himself knew it was here.

It was believed to have been lost during a war long ago.

Some even considered it a mere legend.

“I should give him this and tell him to issue a punishment everyone can accept—except expulsion.”

Just as Ruide was about to get up to retrieve the Chalice of Mana.

“Grrrr-“

He made eye contact with a grotesque chimera with three heads.

It wasn’t there a moment ago. It had just appeared.

“What is that?”

Ruide frowned and clenched his fist.

“…”

But nothing happened.

He realized that though it appeared to be right in front of him due to transparency, the creature was actually outside this space.

The magic seemed to be blocked from reaching there due to the special nature of the room.

“Ah, how annoying.”

Ruide grumbled quietly as he walked forward.

He didn’t know what it was, but it was an uninvited guest not part of the story. Its intrusion would be problematic.

Ruide opened the door of the space.

The drooling chimera looked at him.

Ruide waved his hand dismissively.

Crunch!

The chimera vanished without a trace.

He returned to the room to retrieve the Chalice of Mana.

Rumble-rumble-rumble—

But the ground shook.

“Huh?”

The knight statues standing on either side simultaneously drew their swords.

“…!”

Startled, Ruide used magic against the knights rushing toward him.

**

Hersy walked past the fallen Justin. The fox wagged its tail and rubbed against Hersy’s ankle.

[Hersy is strong!]

Hersy’s shoulders rose proudly, but then fell again as she thought of Ruide, who was surely watching from somewhere.

“This much… is just the amount of magic Ruide uses for breakfast.”

[Come on, you shouldn’t compare yourself with the master. I’ve never seen such a strong human in my life.]

“…Really?”

Hersy thought of Rak.

Miho was originally Rak’s spirit.

So was Ruide stronger than Rak?

As if reading her thoughts, Miho answered immediately.

[Black mages are no match for the master.]

“Really?”

[The master’s magic isn’t just powerful. It’s purer than any human’s magic. And purity is the black mages’ greatest enemy.]

‘Ruide really is amazing.’

Hersy smiled sweetly.

But her expression hardened as she watched the magical battle still raging.

What was needed here wasn’t the usual honest Hersy, but the cold Lady Minerva.

“That’s enou—”

“That’s enough.”

Hersy was startled.

It was because of the figure that appeared at the library entrance.

Academy Chancellor Clifford, along with Chief Professor Fenicia and Lepen Chaser.

Those who had been fighting fiercely until now looked at Clifford with ghostly expressions.

“H-how did the Chancellor…”

“W-we heard you went to the auction…”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know about an incident of this magnitude?”

Clifford bellowed.

“You troublemakers!”

The commoners stepped back in shock.

The nobles wore triumphant expressions.

“Tsk, tsk, I knew this festering wound would burst eventually, so I left it alone. But you’ve made quite a mess.”

Clifford looked around with his hands behind his back.

“Property damage, and attacking staff directly appointed by the Academy. Well done indeed.”

‘These people are ridiculous.’

Originally, conflicts between nobles and commoners were like annual events.

But this batch was a bit unusual.

There had been instances of nobles mistreating commoners, but this was the first time commoners had collectively rebelled against the nobles’ unfair treatment.

‘Should I find this admirable?’

As the Academy Chancellor who prioritized the First Emperor’s will, his opinion should have been to support the commoners.

The First Emperor had established the Academy with the philosophy that “every human has a purpose.”

Since that was difficult to implement in reality, he created the Academy hoping that at least here, equality would prevail.

In that sense, the nobles’ actions directly violated the First Emperor’s will, but outside the Academy, in the Empire’s social structure, the commoners had crossed a line.

But shouldn’t the Academy at least take their side?

‘I really don’t want to.’

However, Grand Magician Clifford’s opinion differed slightly.

Not only had they launched a cowardly surprise attack, but they had also lost.

For that reason, he didn’t particularly want to advocate for the commoners.

“There’s no need to drag this out. I’ll announce the punishment immediately.”

Clifford extended his hand to Fenicia on his left.

“Instigator, Nia Ryan.”

“Y-yes?!”

“Justin.”

When no answer came, Clifford frowned severely.

“Justin!”

Hersy raised her hand with a gloomy face.

“…I knocked him unconscious.”

“What a frail fellow.”

Clifford clicked his tongue, looking displeased at the pathetically fallen Justin. He recited the next name.

“And—Catherine Ovillion.”

“…Yes.”

Clifford looked at Catherine with sharp eyes.

“You’ve already been disciplined before, yet you managed to cause trouble again.”

Catherine’s body trembled.

“I understand these three are the instigators. Is there anything incorrectly investigated?”

The commoners kept their mouths shut.

They never imagined the Chancellor would know all the facts.

The entire plan had operated on the premise that Chancellor Clifford wouldn’t intervene.

“Seems not.”

“E-excuse me.”

Catherine timidly raised her hand.

“Do you have something to say? I’ll give you a chance to explain.”

“…Justin just went along because of my influence. I’ll take his punishment too.”

“Then you might be expelled?”

Despite his words, Clifford’s expression softened.

Standing up for a friend was a good virtue. And Catherine was even a noble.

“Well, I won’t expel you, so don’t worry.”

Clifford said, narrowing his eyes.

“If I expelled students for something like this, there wouldn’t be many left at the Academy.”

Clifford read the scroll again.

“The punishment for the 37 people who attacked the library will be left to the discretion of those who engaged in magical combat. Expulsion is forbidden, but anything else is acceptable.”

Clifford looked straight ahead.

“That is the punishment for this Every Library occupation incident.”

“…Chancellor.”

“What is it?”

“The nobles also bear responsibility.”

Catherine wasn’t going to let it go easily.

“In an Academy where everyone is equal, blocking only commoners from entry is…”

Clifford cut her off.

“If you felt wronged, why didn’t you secure victory?”

“Pardon?”

Catherine was taken aback.

She understood the Chancellor giving punishment. They had caused a disturbance.

But she couldn’t understand why the nobles bore no guilt.

The root cause was the Expert students arbitrarily occupying the library that everyone was supposed to use.

If causing a disturbance was wrong, wasn’t arbitrarily claiming the library also wrong?

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

Clifford spoke in a loud voice.

“Engaging in magical combat was fine. I’d even like to praise you for autonomously holding a magic competition. However.”

Clifford looked at the commoners.

“It’s unacceptable that you chose an advantageous timing, launched a surprise attack, and still couldn’t accomplish anything.”

“Ch-Chancellor.”

Catherine stepped forward.

She was scared, but her sense of injustice was greater.

But Clifford dismissed her.

“Be quiet! I’m barely restraining myself from expelling you three!”

Catherine became speechless.

“What are you all doing? Disperse immediately!”

“Y-yes, sir.”

The students hastily left.

The nobles departed with leisurely demeanor, giving respectful bows to Clifford. They looked satisfied.

Hersy, wide-eyed, moved belatedly, holding the fox.

“Hersy.”

“Yes?”

Clifford stopped Hersy.

“Ahem, was that lazy fellow not involved in this incident?”

“…No. Not that I know of.”

Clifford smacked his lips with a disappointed face.

‘Tsk, I was hoping to catch him on something.’

Whenever Clifford saw Ruide, half-closing his eyes out of laziness, he wanted to make him do something.

So he was secretly disappointed. If that show-off had been involved, it would have provided ample justification to assign him tasks.

“I see. You may go.”

“Yes.”

As Hersy walked away briskly, looking around wondering ‘Where could Ruide be?’

It happened.

Boom!

Suddenly, with a heavy explosion, the ceiling collapsed. Clifford quickly cast a barrier to protect the students.

Crash!

The ceiling walls caved in, creating chaos.

The problem was, it wasn’t just ceiling debris that fell.

Hersy muttered with a blank face.

“…Ruide?”

Ruide sat down and blinked.

His bottom hurt.

Clang.

The Chalice of Mana fell on Ruide’s head.

Crack.

The Chalice of Mana broke in two.

Ruide, noticing the Chancellor’s violently shaking pupils, pretended to be in pain.

“…Ouch.”

Miho ran excitedly to lick Ruide’s face.