chapter_0045

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
45

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
45

Do I need help?

Do I not look desperate enough
to you right now?!

Are you so high up there that
you can’t feel the desperation of a mere mortal?!

I can’t breathe.

My consciousness is fading
more and more.

I’m barely holding on, but I’m
already at my limit.

[It’s difficult to have a
conversation like this.]

As the message popped up, my
vision blacked out and the pressure on my neck disappeared
simultaneously.

What happened?

When my vision returned, I was
bewildered by the sudden change in my surroundings.

A completely white space that
extended infinitely in all directions.

I was floating in the middle
of it.

Where is this? Is this the
afterlife?

Did I die from being strangled
by the alchemist?

[Don’t worry. You’re not
dead yet.]

A message from the sloppy God
appeared with a chime.

“Then where is this?”

After uttering those words, I
was surprised at myself.

No way.

Coherent words actually came
out of my mouth.

Normally, I would be spitting
out things like worthless piece of trash or worse than an Evil God.

[It seemed difficult to
converse in that space, so I only called your spirit here.]

So, he created a place for
conversation using his authority.

Since only my spirit was
summoned, I wasn’t affected by any skills.

If this was possible, why
didn’t he call me here earlier to open a conversation? Then I
wouldn’t have had to face death.

Useless, sadistic god. Did you
want to hear my curses from a Mesugaki that badly?!

[I’ll ask again. Do you need
help?]

“Yes. Of course, I need it.
I don’t want to die yet.”

The reason I had been
desperately training over the past few months was solely to survive.

I don’t want to die.

It’s bad enough to be trapped
in the body of a Mesugaki, but dying like this would be such a
pointless death.

[If you wish, I can save you.]

“Then do it.”

[But know this. There are no
miracles without a price in this world.]

As soon as I saw the following
message, a bitter laugh escaped me.

Ah, so it wasn’t that you
couldn’t help me, but that you chose not to?

The gods in Soul Academy are
neither omniscient nor omnipotent. Moreover, they’re not
unconditionally good either.

They possess overwhelming
power compared to humans, aligning them closer to transcendental
beings than gods.

They’re remarkably human-like
beings.

Like in this current
situation.

If Armadi, this insidious
sloppy God, were purely a benevolent deity, he would have helped me
before this mess began.

But this bastard didn’t.

He waited for the moment when
the help he could provide would be of the greatest value before
showing up.

And then he had the audacity
to ask:

Do you need help?

His intentions were so
blatantly obvious that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What do you want?”

[There is only one thing I
want from you. I want you to become my apostle.]

“Why?”

The moment I heard the sloppy
God’s condition, I couldn’t help but question it.

I couldn’t understand the
reason.

I know that becoming an
apostle of a deity is not something decided by mere devotion.

But even then, there’s a
limit.

Who am I? Who is Lucy?

I am a person who doubts the
existence of gods and mocks those who believe in them.

I am a non-believer,
completely detached from the word ‘faith’.

Why would he want someone like
me as his apostle?

Surely, there are countless
people out there better suited than me?

Armadi, what on earth are you
seeing in me?

[Does a god need a reason to
choose an apostle?]

So, you don’t intend to give
me a real answer?

Ha. This is why I can’t stand
the gods of Soul Academy.

They’re full of this chosen
people mentality, constantly spewing nonsense like ‘Oh, you don’t
know? Then you don’t need to know yet.’

I wanted to tell this
shameless Armadi to go to hell, but I wasn’t in a position to do that
right now.

“Fine. Let’s do it. I’ll
become your apostle.”

I didn’t have a choice.

If this sloppy God didn’t help
me, I would end up dying a pathetic death.

Even if Armadi’s proposal was
a deal with the devil, intent on dragging me into hell, I had no
choice but to accept it.

[The pact is established.]

As soon as I read that message
and opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the stone floor.

The alchemist who tried to use
me as a test subject was gone.

The Argos monsters that had
surrounded us were also nowhere to be seen.

All that remained were the
glowing stones illuminating the room and a large hole in the centre
of the room.

This must be… the boss room
of the ‘Place Where the Alchemist Stayed,’ right?

I turned my gaze towards the
sound of breathing beside me and saw Joy and Jacob sleeping
peacefully.

They looked relaxed, as if
they had completely forgotten the disaster we had just experienced.

Even a god as sloppy as Armadi
shows some consideration like this, huh?

Ha. How generous. From now on,
I’ll stop calling you incompetent, Armadi.

‘What happened?’

‘You’re right, Grandpa.’

Since there was no reason to
lie, I told Grandpa about what had just happened.

Of course, I left out all the
blasphemous thoughts I had.

If I told Grandpa, a paladin
devoted to Armadi, what I had been thinking in my heart, he would
probably have a fit.

‘The appearance of the
dungeon, being chased by the alchemist—it was all because of
Armadi, wasn’t it?’

What’s wrong with being a bit
blasphemous?

After all, that sloppy god
must have known all this and still made me his apostle. Whatever.

“Test subject! Where are
you going!”

While I was bickering with
Grandpa, a voice filled with a disgusting resonance rose from below,
sending chills down my spine.

The ground beneath us started
to shake, and I could hear something moving within the hole in the
centre of the room.

“I know!”

That alchemist bastard is as
creepy as he looks.

If he’s the boss of this
dungeon, he should just stay holed up in his lair. Why is he chasing
us like some stalker?

In desperation, I quickly
picked up both Joy and Jacob and carried them on my shoulder.

We need to escape.

We have to get as far as
possible from that guy’s pursuit.

I have the dungeon’s map in my
head, so if I navigate through hidden passages, I might be able to
buy us some time.

As I was thinking that, I
noticed tentacles rising from the hole in the floor of the boss room.

Damn it.

Maybe it’s too late.

I dropped the two people I had
slung over my shoulders to the ground and raised my shield and mace.

Shortly after, the alchemist
in ragged clothes emerged.

The moment I saw those glowing
red eyes, my breath caught in my throat.

A chilling fear crept up my
spine and consumed my body.

How long can I hold out?

“If you wanted to escape,
you should’ve gone farther.”

Yeah, no kidding.

Useless Armadi.

Forget what I said earlier.

You’re not just an incompetent
and sloppy god, Armadi. You’re a complete idiot.

You fool! If you were going to
save me, you should’ve sent me somewhere safe! You moron!

[Did you think I wouldn’t
foresee this?]

As I was cursing him profusely
in my mind, a message window appeared in front of me, as if he could
hear me.

“Miss! Bow your head!”

At the same time, I heard
Karl’s voice in my ear.

I moved before I could even
think.

A blade of energy whizzed past
over my bowed head.

The blade easily sliced
through the tentacles coming towards me without losing any momentum.

“Hmm!”

The alchemist, who parried the
energy blade with his staff, let out a groan.

Sensing the danger, the
alchemist immediately tried to weave a magic circle with his ominous
power, but by then, Karl was already in front of him.

With a swift swing of his
sword, Karl cut down the tentacles supporting the alchemist.

Losing his support, the
alchemist plummeted back down to the dungeon below.

“Miss, are you all
right?”

‘I’m fine, so…’

“I’m fine, so just go
finish that hideous bastard!”

Showing up disgustingly late
and now acting like some kind of saviour!

If you have time to talk, use
it to swing your sword one more time and finish him off!

At my shouting, Karl laughed
and replied that he understood. Without a moment’s hesitation, he
leaped down into the dungeon.

“As someone running the
same kind of academy, this situation is truly regrettable.

How could Soul Academy, with
its long history, fail to anticipate such variables?

Though this incident was
resolved without issue thanks to Lady Partan’s excellent leadership,
it could have resulted in the deaths of three noble students taking
the entrance exam.

Our Berl Academy…”

Judy Alber, the principal of
Soul Academy, sighed for the hundredth time today as she read the
letter sent from another academy.

Since the accident during the
academy’s entrance exam yesterday, Judy had been sorting through
letters of this sort non-stop.

The senders of these letters
varied widely.

Parents of Soul Academy
students… Other academies.

The royal palace. The church.
Academic societies.

It seemed like everyone
connected to Soul Academy was awaiting an answer about this incident.

Each time Judy read such
letters, she internally muttered that this was the first time in
history that the Evil God Agra had interfered with the academy’s
exam—how could one possibly prepare for that?

Yet, Judy never voiced those
thoughts.

No matter how well things
ended, the fact remained that someone nearly died due to Soul
Academy’s lack of preparedness.

As the principal of Soul
Academy, it was her responsibility.

-It’s Judy Alber, principal of
Soul Academy. Regarding this incident, we also find it…

While moving her quill to
write a reply, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The person who entered was her
secretary, bearing long dark circles under her eyes from working
tirelessly all day yesterday.

“What is it?”

“Principal, Lady Allen
wishes to see you.”

Lady Allen… she was one of
the people caught in yesterday’s dungeon accident, wasn’t she?

“Tell her to come in. No,
wait. Forget that. I should go out there myself.”

Lady Allen was a victim of the
recent incident.

As the person ultimately
responsible for this incident, Judy Alber naturally had to show her
courtesy.

Setting down her quill, she
rose from her seat and passed by her secretary, leaving the room.

“Hello, old principal.”

Lucy Allen, who had been
waiting outside, greeted Judy with a respectful bow but immediately
followed it with a derogatory remark.

“I’ve come to file a
complaint about the accident that happened at this sloppy academy.”

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