First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

“Headmaster.”

Upon hearing Victor’s voice, the headmaster closed his pen and rubbed his eyes.

“Come in.”

Victor entered as instructed. The Lava Giant Hand behind him threw Devin onto the floor.

Upon seeing Devin’s state, the headmaster shook his head and sighed to Victor.

“Professor Victor, the academy won’t cover for your actions.”

Victor, hands in his pockets, spoke without a trace of emotion;

“It’s fine. I don’t need the academy’s protection.”

“I’ll bear the consequences of my own actions.”

The headmaster nodded, slowly stood up, and took his obsidian cane.

“Then, please follow me.”

Headmaster Rashel used his magical energy out of nowhere, and a blue light began to sway like a paintbrush in his hand.

The air in front of him began to distort at a visible pace, as if it was his canvas.

Soon, the headmaster put away his magic.

Veega whispered in Victor’s ear:

“This old man’s magic is really interesting.”

“Let me see, a special teleportation magic, focus here, insert the magic rune here.”

Victor followed Veega’s instructions, and the air in front of him began to warp.

In an instant, the scenery around Victor began to blur, blue light showering down.

When the surroundings became clear again, they had changed completely.

Here, petals of various colors fluttered in the sky, creating endless waves.

The garden was a floating island, and the ground was covered with countless petals.

The pleasant aroma hit Victor’s face, and his discontented mood calmed a bit.

“There’s actually a hidden space here, and I didn’t even notice.”

Veega exclaimed beside Victor, but saw Victor without any surprise.

As if he knew all along.

Yes, this place is known among players as the hidden map of the Dean’s Back Garden.

You can only enter and exit freely after learning magic from Headmaster Rashel.

‘Although I’ve seen it many times in the game, experiencing it in person is still surprising.’

Victor thought to himself, noting that the location was identical to the one in the game.

The headmaster appeared in front of him a few seconds earlier. Seeing Victor’s appearance, he looked at him with some admiration.

He could see the usage of the magic formation and break it in a glance, truly a mage worthy of the title of genius.

“Welcome to my Sea of Knowledge, Professor Victor, you are the youngest guest I’ve ever received.”

The headmaster’s back garden, the full name of this hidden map is called ‘Rashel’s Sea of Knowledge’.

It contains all the magical knowledge of Headmaster Rashel, only those who truly possess knowledge can enter.

Luckily, Victor had Veega, a deity with profound knowledge, by his side.

However, now was not the time for small talk.

He said directly.

“Headmaster, let’s get to the point.”

The headmaster said nothing, but silently walked towards an open space with his cane.

Victor followed, and soon, the scenery around them changed rapidly.

They had only taken a few steps, yet a wooden house appeared before them.

Surrounded by dense forest, it was as if it was a cottage hidden in the woods.

The headmaster walked to the door and the wooden house opened automatically.

He turned his head and nodded to Victor.

“Please come in, Professor Victor.”

Victor followed the headmaster inside. There was only a table in the wooden house, and a watermelon was placed on it.

There was nothing else.

The headmaster tapped the watermelon’s head with his cane.

The watermelon slowly turned around, its eyes deep and profound, seemingly possessing the wisdom of both past and present.

It opened its substantial lips and slowly said:

“Veega, do you need something?”

Veega looked at this talking watermelon, feeling a wave of chills.

Even his fur stood on end.

This thing made him feel uncomfortable.

He glanced at Victor, only to find that Victor showed no sign of surprise.

He seemed to know everything in advance, even the existence of this talking watermelon.

‘How strange,’ Veega thought.

Victor, of course, was not surprised.

Because this was the headmaster’s talking watermelon pet.

The headmaster looked at the watermelon and said: “This young friend here wants to ask you some questions.”

The watermelon reluctantly looked at Victor.

Veega whispered in his ear, “What’s going on with this guy?”

Victor didn’t say a word, he knew the watermelon was scrutinizing his past.

As he thought, various scenes flashed in the watermelon’s eyes.

Massive flames, flying dust, lava covering the ground, and a surge of powerful magic.

A sight so shocking it was as though it would destroy the world.

Victor appeared, his body engulfed in a thick fire element, with patterns of flowing lava covering half of his upper body, like a fire demon.

After a while, the watermelon focused its gaze on Victor again:

“The young people these days are indeed extraordinary.”

“I know what you want to ask, the Natural Sparrow in Veega will tell us.”

Soon, ripples of mana spread around it.

The ‘Natural Sparrows’ in the parallel space began to stir.

An immersive scene appeared before Victor:

The scene from yesterday.

Professor Devon maliciously took out a personal letter from the headmaster, arrogantly dismissing Hennie.

He also burned Hennie’s most important ‘knowledge’.

Black words of misfortune appeared on the ground in front of Hennie, Victor could tell at a glance it was just a prank caused by a simple illusion spell.

Then, three students jumped out, ruthlessly mocking Hennie who was collapsed on the ground, delivering the final psychological blow.

The onlookers, the successful prank, the villainy, caused this poor child to break down emotionally.

“…She cried,” Veega muttered.

She was crying so hysterically, so helplessly.

He was actually quite fond of that child.

The scene disappeared in an instant, and the watermelon closed its eyes.

Showing that scene seemed to have made it very tired.

After it closed its eyes, it turned back into an ordinary watermelon.

Even after seeing everything, Victor’s expression remained unchanged.

The headmaster sighed, his thick white beard messy from his breath.

“I am sorry, Mr. Victor.”

“As for Hennie, I don’t know where your assistant went.”

“The Natural Sparrows act on my will, so they will not appear in places that may involve others’ privacy.”

The headmaster wasn’t lying, Victor knew.

He didn’t feel the presence of the Natural Sparrow in the office, nor did he feel its flow in the student dormitory this morning.

Victor’s voice rang out coldly:

“Headmaster Rashel, tell me, why did that pig become a professor at your esteemed institution?”

Victor’s direct reference to the professor made the headmaster feel helpless. He shook his head and said:

“Professor Victor, you, too, are a professor at our institution.”

What he meant was, you also got your position through connections, so why can’t others do the same?

The only difference was that Victor genuinely had strength, while Professor Devon was merely earning his keep.

So, Victor said,

“When I joined the school, I was the youngest Third Order Mage. And what about him?”

“Professor Victor, that’s precisely the issue I wanted to discuss with you.”

Dean Rashel said, somewhat uncomfortably.

“The head of the Raser Family married the Emperor’s sister.”

“Just as you’ve surmised, Saul the Eighth is indeed Devon Raser’s uncle.”

His connections were solid.

Victor understood clearly that Dean Rashel was urging him not to kill this man if he didn’t have to.

Otherwise, he would be inviting trouble.

“I understand your anger, Professor Victor.”

“But killing doesn’t solve anything. Perhaps you could talk to Professor Devon. His crimes aren’t deserving of death.”

“I could call Hennie back under the school’s authority and grant her an Associate Professor’s title, moreover…”

Moreover, would you really kill a royal relative for a common man with no talent?

Rashel didn’t voice this thought, but he believed Victor would understand his good intentions.

“Dean, I won’t kill him.”

Victor’s voice rang out lightly.

Rashel breathed a sigh of relief, thinking his persuasion had worked.

But then, Victor’s eyes narrowed, his tone calm.

“But whether or not he will die at the hands of a demon is beyond my control.”

He spoke as if narrating an ordinary event.

Rashel was taken aback. He didn’t understand what Victor was getting at.

Demons? What did this have to do with demons?

However, Veega lowered her head upon hearing this.

“Do you think that disgusting thing has targeted Hennie?”

Victor’s expression didn’t change.

Just as Veega had said.

He had seen three prankster students in the footage.

Exactly like the three students who had fainted today.

Their condition could only be the result of a demon draining their power.

So, why would a demon drain these three’s power, and who had received it?

Victor could only think of the missing Hennie.

He didn’t respond to Rashel, but Rashel was already showing signs of distress.

“Professor Victor, I presume you’ve noticed.”

“The person standing before you isn’t the real me. I’m attending the annual conference in the City of Mages.”

“The current me is meeting you as a ‘Natural Sparrow’.”

“So, I’m sorry I couldn’t prevent this from happening and allowed the situation to escalate.”

The Natural Sparrow could only act instinctively, following Rashel’s will.

The Natural Sparrow noticed Victor hadn’t been teaching for days and handed the lessons over to Professor Devon, which was in line with its rules.

And Professor Devon expelled Hennie, a mage apprentice. This too was consistent with the Natural Sparrow’s understanding.

But it didn’t meet human critique standards.

This was Rashel’s negligence, his lack of supervision, leading to irreversible consequences.

Although after the incident, Rashel didn’t feel it had any impact.

One was a noble; the other was a magic apprentice without talent. Any fool would know the choice to make.

But the mistake was not knowing how protective Victor could be.

And moreover, he was a Fourth Order Mage, just like Rashel.

So, the dean apologized in advance, lowered his stance, and showed Victor due respect.

“Professor Victor, please remember what you promised me. Whatever you do, don’t involve the students.”

“They are innocent.”

Victor did not respond. He simply nodded, expressionless, a teleportation spell beneath his feet. He vanished without a trace.

“Sigh……”

Rashel’s heavy sigh permeated the air, his form gradually dissipating into specks of starlight, merging into the atmosphere.

…….

On the hill behind the Academy, a figure clad in a long robe stood atop, overlooking the base of the mountain.

At the base of the mountain lay the Academy, the place that had bred her despair.

From here, she could take in the Academy in its entirety.

Her eyes no longer held the innocence and anticipation of yore.

Having experienced a bout of intense pain, the word ‘revenge’ was etched in Hennie’s previously placid eyes.

A dark aura swirled around her, as comfortable as a fish in water. The black ink transformed into a robe, climbing onto Hennie’s hair and forming a hood.

“Little girl, is this amount of power enough?”

“If you’re willing to wait, I can give you even more power, more and more.”

Its voice was terribly alluring, like an unfathomable abyss.

But Hennie was unmoved.

“I don’t need it.”

Her voice was calm to the point of being terrifying.

“The Professor often tells me that I’m sometimes too weak, unable to be decisive.”

“But now, I will no longer be weak.”

The mana within her was now very abundant. Even she didn’t know how much power she had gained from this entity.

Strictly speaking, Hennie was still not a Mage.

But her possession of such abundant mana had become a very terrifying thing.

Finally, Hennie was able to manifest all her knowledge.

And she had prepared everything long ago.

She began to prepare her chant.

“God of Ethereal… Dance…”

As Hennie chanted slowly, a high-level magic array appeared out of thin air. Dozens of smaller arrays combined with the large one.

“Delirious Magic City…”

Several magic wheels circled the Academy several times, with countless inscriptions engraved upon them.

Patterns began to emerge between the magic arrays, gradually becoming intricate.

The exquisite magic array operated as accurately as a marvelous machine.

This was beyond the level of analysis of a third-tier Mage.

Soon, Hennie swept the array across the entire Academy, burying it underground.

The Academy’s excellent location was, in Hennie’s eyes, also an excellent place for the array.

She was fully prepared.

“Hennie?”

“Who?”

Upon hearing her name, Hennie whipped her head around. Seeing the familiar blonde hair, her eyes slightly widened.

The name of the blonde girl slipped out.

“Erica… Duquois?”