Chapter 97: Demon Sword Meeting (4)

Once the situation had settled, the guards dispersed, but Marina followed Ian to the mansion, having more to discuss.

On the way back, Hori kept her shoulders slumped and eyes fixed on the ground, likely due to Marina’s constant glares.

“You go in and rest first,” Marina said.

“…Yes,” Hori replied.

Upon returning to the mansion, Hori seemed to have regained some composure. She hurriedly entered an empty room on the second floor, avoiding Marina’s gaze.

Marina continued to glare at the door for a while after Hori entered. Finally, she let out a deep sigh and turned away.

“Headmaster… Don’t worry too much about what Hori said earlier. She was just venting out of frustration from nearly dying.”

“…There was nothing wrong in what Hori said. It’s just that personally… No, saying this now would only sound like an excuse.”

Marina’s shoulders and head drooped, much like Hori’s had earlier.

Finding it awkward to converse while standing, we moved to the dining room, which contained only a long table and chairs, and sat down.

“…I apologize for the mansion’s shabby state. We’re still renovating. According to plan, this dining room should have about ten katanas by now…”

“While it’s not my place to comment on Ian’s mansion, I’d suggest leaving the renovations to professionals rather than doing it yourself.”

The uncouth wizard couldn’t possibly understand the tastes of a refined swordsman, so I let the comment go in one ear and out the other.

“By the way, Ian, you’ve gotten yourself tangled up with quite the troublesome bunch.”

“…Indeed. I’d rather deal with the Demon Sword Society than this lot.”

While the Demon Sword Society was a somewhat serious group of swordsmen, the Sword Demon Society seemed more like a bad joke.

The original protagonist fought evil organizations straight out of a boy’s comic book, so why was I getting mixed up with these clowns?

“…This might take a while. Shall I fetch some water?” I asked.

“Please do.”

Remembering the magical food preservation device in the kitchen, I assumed there would be water. Unfortunately, I found only unidentifiable alcohol.

Left with no choice, I returned with a bottle of liquor and two glasses. Marina sighed, looking troubled.

“Seems the previous owner of this house had poor taste. There’s nothing but this in the kitchen. Shall I pour you a glass?”

“…Yes, please.”

I filled the glass halfway. Marina downed it in one go.

“Phew…”

After emptying her glass, Marina let out a heavy sigh. Her demeanor completely changed as she spoke.

“We recently received word from the royal family. That man calling himself Ganryu, the temporary body he was using—according to reports, it’s technology a hundred years ahead of the kingdom’s.”

“A hundred years? That’s quite the advancement.”

Honestly, hearing it was a hundred years ahead wasn’t particularly surprising.

In a world where nobles still rode in horse-drawn carriages despite the existence of magic, I was more surprised it was only a hundred years ahead, not a thousand.

“So the research institute is in a festive mood now. After all, they’ve gotten their hands on the crystallization of technology a hundred years ahead of their own, right?”

“They’d be even happier if we handed over the body that Sword Demon was using. But what happens to that person now?”

“He’ll be kept alive for the time being, remaining in that state while the research progresses. It’s… a tragic situation.”

“Indeed. But if you don’t mind, may I ask one thing?”

“What is it?”

“…Why is the academy’s security so lax? Where exactly is the royal budget being spent?”

“……”

Though I knew this question would likely irritate her, I simply couldn’t contain my curiosity any longer.

Apparently unable to answer while sober, Marina grabbed the bottle instead of her glass and started chugging.

After drinking half the bottle in one go, she set it down and let out a sigh that smelled potent enough to intoxicate just by inhaling it.

“…It might sound like an excuse, but honestly, the budget we receive from the royal family isn’t that much.”

“Pardon?”

This was information that hadn’t appeared in the original work, so I stared at her as if she were spouting nonsense. She shook her head and corrected herself.

“…To be precise, it’s not that it’s small, but rather insufficient. Do you know what’s most crucial for casting a large-scale barrier, Ian?”

“Hmm… I’d say the catalyst? Small temporary barriers might not need one, but for maintaining a large-scale barrier like this, a catalyst is essential.”

“Correct. The more powerful and complex the barrier, the more specialized catalyst it requires. The academy’s catalyst is a unicorn horn, and the current barrier is the limit of what we can create with it.”

However, such catalysts weren’t available on the market, so no amount of money could procure them.

For example, who in their right mind would go hunting for mythical beasts like adult dragons or phoenixes just because items like a mature dragon’s heart or a phoenix feather were expensive?

Even if one tried to obtain them directly, dragons and phoenixes weren’t exactly neighborhood mutts. They wouldn’t turn up just by searching some nearby mountain.

“If the catalyst is insufficient… Couldn’t you reduce the barrier’s size or something?”

“You think I haven’t considered that?! I’ve thought about limiting the barrier to just the academy grounds, but that would leave the city vulnerable. Not to mention the students living in mansions in the city area rather than dormitories would be in danger!! I’ve also considered buying multiple catalysts to create several barriers, but there are issues with barrier conflicts and we lack the manpower to manage them, so we have no choice but to maintain the current setup!!”

Marina, who had been rapidly firing off words, unable to contain her frustration, started chugging from the bottle again.

“…It seems you have many hardships, Headmaster. Then, couldn’t you at least request the royal family to dispatch more archmages…?”

“I have!! I’ve requested it numerous times!! But what can I do if there’s no available personnel!! Everyone just criticizes me, saying I lack effort or that my ideas are inadequate, offering nothing but useless advice until I feel like I’m going crazy!! They’re all my seniors so I can’t even talk back…!! Hic!! Waaah!!”

“Hey now, why are you crying…?”

Quite drunk by now, Marina’s face had turned as red as a ripe apple. She continued, shedding chicken-tear-sized droplets.

“Everyone complains without really understanding!! Now that this strange group calling themselves the Sword Demon Society has attacked, I’ll be the one getting an earful from His Majesty again!! And now even a commoner girl…!! Why do these things only happen during my tenure as headmaster when nothing happened for hundreds of years before?!”

“Headmaster… Please calm… calm down…”

“Mother keeps pestering me about when I’m going to get married, always talking about some noble’s daughter getting hitched!! Whenever I go home, they treat me like a sinner who’s going to end our family line!! Now they’re even trying to set me up with divorced men, what on earth did I do so wrong…!! Hic…!!”

What should I do…?

Perhaps due to a lack of friends, Marina seemed to have had no one to vent to until now. Given the opportunity, all her pent-up frustrations came pouring out with no end in sight.

Realizing that words alone wouldn’t stop her, I decided to let her drink until she passed out completely.

Each time she vented, I nodded along sympathetically while fetching new bottles from the kitchen. She drank everything I gave her.

In the end, Marina emptied four more bottles before finally stopping her complaints and passing out.

“Hic…!!”

Feeling sympathy for Marina, who had soaked the white tablecloth with her tears before passing out, I carefully carried her to a suitable room and quietly left.

From now on, I’d better not say a word to Marina about the academy’s security….

“Aaaagh!! My arm…!! Give me back my arm!!”

How many hours had passed since I’d been carried on Spear’s back? As dawn was about to break, the pain in my arm still hadn’t subsided.

The demon sword Wolffang seemed to have the ability to lower the target’s healing capabilities. My arm, which would normally have regrown to the elbow by now, had barely recovered at all.

“Spear!! Mist!! What if this doesn’t grow back?!! I don’t even have a decent body to switch to anymore!!”

“It is regenerating, so stop whining!! It’s just slow, but it’ll heal in a few days!!” Spear shouted.

Though Spear was right and the body was slowly regenerating, the pain made it impossible to shake off the anxious thoughts swirling in my head.

“There’s a chance pursuers might come, so if you can’t bear it, use your remaining hand to cover your mouth. It might help a little with enduring the pain.”

Feeling a bit hurt, I tried biting my hand as Mist suggested, but it only added to the pain without helping to stifle my screams or ease the agony.

“Biting my hand just makes it hurt more!! It doesn’t help at all!!”

“For fuck’s sake!! You thick-skulled idiot!! Why did you attack in the first place?! The plan was to retreat if we failed to persuade the demon sword!!”

“How could I just take being called an obsolete demon sword?! Could you have endured that?!”

Let me make this clear: it’s not that I’m a weak weapon, it’s that my previous owner… no, the sword-obsessed bastard who used to suppress me, was weak.

If that guy had been at least a Swordmaster-level swordsman, he could have utilized my abilities perfectly.

A moment later, we arrived at the base we had set up before infiltrating the academy. Spear carefully set me down and said to Mist:

“We’ve arrived!! Mist!! Open the door quickly!!”

“Alright, alright, no need for you to shout too.”

As Mist chanted a spell, the ground split open, revealing a path leading to a pre-prepared cavity.

With Spear’s support, we continued on until we reached a large underground chamber with a crystal ball at its center, surrounded by a circular formation.

Dragging my aching body to the designated spot, I waited briefly until the crystal ball began to glow, creating six silhouettes in the other positions.

Comrade Agaia, whose silhouette was the most vivid among the six, looked us over once before sighing and speaking.

“…I can guess the outcome, but let’s hear the report anyway.”