Ch.68Ruide’s Test (2)

# Checkmate from the Start

It was like a chess game where you capture the queen first.

Unless your opponent is exceptionally skilled, you usually win easily.

“But why aren’t they coming out?”

Ruide looked at the panicking students and professors.

At the center of the Academy.

The main building and three annexes were surrounded by a black barrier.

“Breaking through is difficult! It will take 50 minutes!”

“What about people?”

“Eight people are unaccounted for! Everyone else was ejected!”

‘The kids shouldn’t get hurt though.’

Though only 12 years old, Ruide had an adult’s mental age and didn’t want children to get hurt.

That’s why he had given them various weapons. With those specs, they couldn’t possibly get hurt, and having them on their person would allow them to easily exit the barrier without being affected.

‘This is strange… Could they be trying to clear this episode with Justin?’

Ruide shook his head.

Just to be safe, hadn’t he told Damon to kick Justin’s behind?

Above all, with Damon’s personality, he wouldn’t help commoners.

“Then why…”

Ruide pondered deeply.

Clifford approached him with his hands behind his back.

Unlike the professors who were moving about in panic, Clifford remained calm.

“You lazy bum.”

“What’s the matter?”

Clifford maintained a brief silence before asking.

“Are the children safe?”

“They’re safe.”

Ruide answered with confidence.

He had already eliminated the variables.

No one was hurt in the original story either, and since he had lowered the difficulty, everything should be fine.

Clifford nodded.

“I see.”

“…?”

Then he turned around and walked away.

Ruide blinked, having been wondering what excuse he would make if asked to remove the barrier.

“Let’s just break the barrier. Fifty minutes is too long.”

“That won’t do. What if there’s a trap that causes an explosion when the barrier is removed? Whoever created this barrier is highly skilled. Rushing could lead to disaster.”

“That would be the same even if we take 50 minutes to remove it! Even if there’s a trap, Kairos and Minerva will be safe. But it’s dangerous to just watch when we don’t know what’s happening inside!”

Fenicia bit her lip.

If the worst happened and a high noble’s child died, that would be the end of the Academy.

But if commoners died, they would face condemnation, but the Academy’s existence wouldn’t be threatened.

The professors leaned toward blasting the barrier.

“Let’s blast it. This isn’t working.”

“Exposing Kairos and Minerva to the Black Mage’s scheme for too long is dangerous! The future of the Empire is at stake! Vice-Chancellor, please make a decision…!”

“Quiet.”

At that moment, the Chancellor stepped forward.

“We will remove the barrier properly. Blasting is rejected.”

“B-but why…!”

‘So that’s why you asked.’

It seemed Clifford trusted his words.

‘It would be troublesome if they got even a scratch.’

He sighed deeply.

It looked like he would have to step in a bit.

Though he trusted his computational abilities, nothing was more certain than seeing with his own eyes.

**

Ruide cast a high-level invisibility spell and entered the main building.

The interior was filled with zombies.

“Low-level wraiths.”

Ruide poked a zombie.

It crumbled at his touch.

“…That’s what it would say in a game. They’re weak indeed. Even just Hersy could handle them all.”

The zombies were numerous but that was all. Justin might struggle, but a mage of Hersy’s caliber could wipe out a whole floor with a single spell.

Especially since she had the super unique item “Dellin’s Staff.”

“Huh? What’s this?”

A book had fallen on the floor.

-Dellin’s Perfect Magic Research (1)

“…This is an episode I saw in the novel?”

Ruide’s eyes widened.

He picked up the book.

‘Could this be an amazing spoiler?’

Maybe it contained future content, or changes due to his intervention!

Ruide opened the book with great interest. But then-

Thud.

“……”

The cover fell off.

Looking again, he saw it was just a cover sloppily placed over a different book.

-Why the Demon Lord and Hero Fell in Love 1.

The classic book-hiding-in-a-book technique!

Amazing that someone in the medieval era would use this high-difficulty technique…

“…This is ridiculous.”

Ruide was about to put the book down.

Whoosh.

He needlessly looked around.

Of course, no one was there, and Ruide crouched against the wall.

“I’ll just read a little.”

To think genre fiction existed here too. In this world where subculture consisted only of sleep-inducing classical music and crude plays, this was like rain in a drought.

Ah, since this is a fantasy world, it’s not genre fiction but humanities.

“……”

Ruide started reading indifferently, but gradually the pages turned faster.

‘This is actually good?’

The writing style flowed well and the story was interesting.

And so, Ruide became absorbed in the book, forgetting what he was supposed to do.

A moment later.

[The Demon Lord gave a sad smile to Hero Lebernon. “We can never be together.” Lebernon felt cold at the Demon Lord’s words.]

“Y-you’re ending it here? What happens next? Throw away your damn pride, Lebernon! Protect Lady Sia!”

Ruide was outraged. He jumped to his feet.

“I need volume 2.”

Absolutely, absolutely.

He couldn’t breathe from curiosity about what happened next.

But then.

BOOM!

There was an explosion.

CRASH!

The ceiling collapsed.

Ruide’s hair stood on end like a startled cat.

“Kyaaak!”

“Damon! What are you doing?!”

“I cannot fall. So I destroyed the floor.”

The familiar trio was right in front of him.

Ruide froze.

‘I can’t be caught here.’

Because he needed to read volume 2 of “Why the Demon Lord and Hero Fell in Love”!

Then he remembered he had cast an invisibility spell and breathed a sigh of relief.

[Uh? Mas…]

It seemed he couldn’t fool Miho’s eyes. Well, she wasn’t called a Great Spirit for nothing. Ruide quickly put his finger to his lips and went “Shhh.”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Miho?”

[Mas…ter.]

“…I didn’t know Miho was a follower of Justitia.”

Ruide somehow managed to avoid the crisis.

‘So they meet here.’

He carefully assessed their condition, and everyone seemed fine. He could confirm they had barely used any mana.

‘What have they been doing to still be here?’

From their conversation, it seemed they had come to the first floor by chance.

Ruide decided to find out why while looking for volume 2.

“Anyway, Damon. Can’t you help me solve my test problem? Sister doesn’t know much. Thinking isn’t my area.”

‘Test…? What test?’

Ruide was puzzled.

Damon spoke arrogantly.

“Why should I help you? What’s in it for me?”

“Hmm… how about this?”

Irina smiled brightly and raised her index finger.

“I’ll take over your imperial courtyard cleaning duty for one day.”

“Oh? You’ll do that arduous task? It’s not something just anyone can do.”

“If you don’t want to…”

“Fine. I’ll be generous. What exactly was on the note Ruide gave you? Show me the item too.”

“The item is this handkerchief…”

‘That’s my handkerchief.’

It was the blue handkerchief he used to wipe his mouth after eating.

So Irina had picked it up.

‘If you find someone’s handkerchief, you should return it.’

Ruide glared at Irina before realizing something shocking.

‘Don’t tell me when I told her to take weapons, she misunderstood and took that?’

Ruide was dumbfounded by this unexpected turn.

“A handkerchief. With Ruide’s name on it, no less. Well, the answer is obvious. He gave you instructions matching your intelligence. No difficult tricks this time.”

But what were they talking about? Tricks? Tests?

Damon continued.

“A message to mediate a fight. The key here is ‘mediation.'”

“Mediation? Wasn’t it to stop Damon and commoners from fighting?”

“Similar but slightly different. Think more broadly. What was my test about?”

Irina blinked.

She couldn’t quite remember.

Hersy helped.

“You were told to interfere with what commoners are doing.”

“Yes, so telling Irina to mediate simply means to stop me if I go too far. Among the students, only you, my blood relative, can stop me. He gave you instructions related to me, considering that point. Hmph, he’s more meticulous than he looks.”

“Wow! So that’s what it was!”

‘???’

Ruide’s head was filled with question marks.

These people…

What ridiculous imagination were they engaging in?

As if the situation wasn’t absurd enough, Hersy clapped her hands and exclaimed.

“I’ve also realized what my test is!”

“Oh? I’ve known for a while, but go ahead and say it.”

Hersy confidently put her hands behind her back and twirled around. She seemed very excited.

“Ruide’s instruction to Damon was ‘interfere with commoners.’ But it doesn’t specify what to interfere with. This is where my staff comes in. Ruide gave it to me directly.”

Hersy proudly waved her staff.

She held it close to her chest and spoke softly.

“I can’t say in detail, but this staff is related to ‘equality.’ In summary, it means ‘interfere with commoners’ equality.'”

Damon snickered.

“You’re quite clever. That’s right. But to clarify, it means to educate the commoners who dare oppose the merit-demerit system proposed by Windsor. Resolving this incident is just a bonus.”

Ruide smacked his forehead.

Good grief.

Good grief indeed.

The coherence of their thinking was worse than the novel he had just read.

**

The Northern Storage contained 500 years of Windsor history.

The armory, filled with various treasures and artifacts, housed weapons comparable to the imperial treasury.

“Since you’re going to a distant land, you’ll need substantial support.”

Airin Windsor was prostrating before Victoria Windsor.

She was making her final report before leaving to manage the Larden Territory, newly incorporated into the Windsor Duchy.

“Surprisingly, there are no knights with complaints.”

“The problem with my knights is their excessive loyalty. Airin. Take care of them.”

“But—isn’t it too much to distribute divine-grade weapons to them?”

“Objects are curious things. Until you use something good, you don’t know what good is.”

Victoria spoke calmly.

“First, give them as loans. Then tell them that if their performance is good, I’ll transfer ownership completely. That way, they’ll move in what they consider the best direction without you having to give detailed orders.”

“Yes, Head of the Family.”

Airin rose from her seat with a gentle smile.

They walked side by side, conversing.

“Is it your first time in the armory in a while?”

“Yes. The most recent visit was when I came to maintain Ruide’s sword.”

“You mean the Sword of Winter. It was his 10th birthday present… I haven’t seen him touch it since. My son has no interest in swords.”

“But someday he’ll need it. Ruide is good at telekinesis. If he uses it by floating the sword in the air, the Sword of Winter would be the optimal divine weapon.”

Victoria stopped walking.

A massive frozen door appeared before them.

While unlocking it with the ring of authority that only the Windsor family head could use, she said:

“This is where the divine weapons are gathered. Only the most valuable ones are kept here. There’s also a newly acquired spear—take that too.”

“Another divine-grade spear? That’s wonderful news.”

Victoria spoke pleasantly.

“His Majesty bestowed it. It’s the spear ‘Reginus’ that I’ve been eyeing for a while. Do you know of it?”

Reginus was a famous spear.

“Yes. It’s a trophy from the war with the Kingdom of Rudelik 500 years ago. Reginus. Quite a significant piece.”

Victoria looked very proud.

“Just looking at it makes me feel satisfied. Actually, the reason I came here with you was to see Reginus one last time.”

“…Is it appropriate for him to bestow such an item?”

“Give it to Sir Gawain.”

Victoria drew the final line.

Creak—

The ice door was tinged with Windsor’s pure blue mana and slowly split open.

“Sir Gawain is a loyal retainer. What he eats, he spits back out.”

“…That’s truly gracious advice.”

“Now, let’s go in.”

Victoria stepped into the “Divine Weapon Hall” with a pleased smile.

And then she saw it.

“……”

Of the approximately 30 divine weapons, all but three or four had disappeared.