I Became the Academy’s Pink Airhead

Trivial Q&A exchanged through the notepad in front of the door.

After about 20 petty questions back and forth.

We were finally able to enter the research faction’s stronghold that hadn’t even appeared in the game.

The first thing felt upon entering was numerous presences.

Dozens… no, hundreds of beastkin female students were watching us.

They all had turtle necks and hunched postures, and were all wearing glasses.

Gazes shining in the dark library interior suddenly focused.

Whoosh―!

“…?!”

Rota was startled by the gazes suddenly pouring in.

Perhaps overwhelmed by a different form of pressure from the noble faction students, she approached my side and grasped my sleeve. In sync with that movement, numerous beastkin female students hid in their respective covers.

Rustle―!

But observation continued even in that state.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Twitch

Twitch

Twitch

Twitch

Hundreds of pairs of animal ears twitching endlessly.

The more we went, the more presences watching us increased… but they all just watched quietly. In the end, I gave up counting the number of those numerous presences.

‘What is this, an ant colony? They’re all hiding behind partitions…’

They were still on guard, twitching their respective cat, fox, rabbit, and other ears through gaps in partitions and beyond bookshelves.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Twitch

Twitch

Twitch

Twitch

It looked like a refugee camp set up in a library.

Some students had jam or bread crumbs on their mouths as if in the middle of eating. And there were those covered in dusty blankets under tables or beneath bookshelves.

‘This isn’t a gosiwon… Why are they all crowded together living in such an old building…? It’s creepy that conversation sounds only come from here within a 100 meter radius.’ (tl/n: Gosiwon are a kind of single room occupancy class of building found in South Korea, originally designed for students preparing to take exams.)

The incomprehensible research faction stronghold.

Hundreds of gazes still felt now.

The more strangely I looked, the more suffocating it felt.

Countless questions arising.

Why do hundreds of people live together if they don’t even converse? And why block out even a single ray of sunlight in an already gloomy building?

‘I want to ask the alley cat about this sometime.’

Thinking that.

I looked at Freya walking ahead.

Freya was trying to give a forehead flick to the 2nd year rabbit beastkin female student who had been holding the Q&A notepad in front of the back door.

“Y-You crazy bitch…”

“Oww…!”

Then the glasses-wearing rabbit-eared student ran away sobbing.

Hop hop hop…

Trudge trudge…

She seemed like she would be caught right away due to her hopelessly slow legs. But Freya also failed to catch her due to her hopelessly slow legs.

Hop hop hop…

Trudge trudge…

Is this what it would look like if Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi fought?

It was so pathetic it would drain the energy of anyone watching.

I couldn’t even imagine these two firing countless armaments.

‘So this is the hand-to-hand combat of magic skill holders…! Even Mila, who’s said to be a [Wave Ether] holder… is surprisingly stronger than most snake tattoos.’

The hand-to-hand combat between a top 5 powerhouse in the entire academy city and an upper 1% powerhouse was truly magnificent. This was the fatal weakness of magic skill holders.

Hop hop hop…

Trudge trudge…

The forehead flick narrowly missing in the end.

Whoosh―!

Freya spoke in a timid but angry voice:

“S-Stop right there… Y-You crazy bitch Mila…!”

“Eek…?!”

In the moment she stopped in surprise at that voice, Freya finally succeeds in hitting her.

Thwack―!

Drooping brown rabbit ears to the side.

Tears welling up in large eyes, Mila spoke while chewing her mouth resentfully:

“Uuuu… I-It hurts, Library Director…”

“Y-You crazy bitch… Th-There’s no way the arrogant noble faction bitches would imitate my w-way of speaking…! You c-call yourself a librarian… Y-You can’t even make such a simple deduction…?”

Mila fixed her glasses disheveled from the forehead flick and timidly argued. It was impressive how she absolutely wouldn’t look this way and speak even though she clearly recognized Rota and I were here.

“B-But… Y-You’re the one who said to think outside the box when researching, Library Director… I-I just followed that… A-And I’m the one who safely guarded the library while you were wandering around for the past few months…”

“Sh-Shut up… Be quiet… Th-That’s for research, isn’t it… A-And the research faction’s library has been sealed for generations anyway… N-No one but related parties can freely enter… Wh-What are you saying you protected…?”

“Eek…”

When Mila’s excuses were instantly refuted, she glanced at Rota and me and said:

“Uuuu… An e-extrovert like the Library Director who quickly made friends m-might not understand… but… h-how burdensome it is to receive phone calls or exchange words by voice… instead of writing…”

“Th-They’re not friends… And y-you just need to state your business… I-It’s not that scary if… y-you just don’t make eye contact…”

“B-But that’s not easy either… A-And phone calls are burdensome even though you can’t see faces to begin with…”

“B-Be quiet…”

“Eek… B-But I hid and protected the ‘original magic book’ well…”

“Th-That’s only natural!”

“Eeeek…”

In the end, Mila was cowed by Freya’s timid outburst and stopped arguing. But her incoherent grumbling continued.

‘The alley cat was quite eloquent among research faction students.’

The more I learn… the more I realize anew that Freya has qualities befitting the leader of the research faction. Like that, we finally advanced towards our destination while receiving the gazes of timid research faction students.

“…”

“…”

A gloomy corridor full of bookshelves and junk.

The path leading to the room atop the tower, our purpose for coming here. Only the sounds of four people’s footsteps and hundreds of pairs of animal ears twitching echoed there.

Trudge trudge―

Twitch twitch―

The underground library was surprisingly spacious and majestic.

Even if this was the oldest and most dilapidated building in this school, it boasted a massive scale incomparable to beggar schools like . Unlike the exterior that looked like an eerie countryside church, all sorts of facilities were situated between underground passages tangled like an ant colony.

‘This isn’t the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong…’

I looked around observing the complex and bizarre appearance of the library. Then I was startled upon seeing a statue.

What is this…?

“…”

A statue larger than even the fairly tall Hilde.

A statue of a beastkin woman was erected there. But the appearance of that statue was… highly obscene and provocative to be placed in the research faction’s library.

‘If were an adult mobile fantasy game instead of an academy-style one… would beastkin girls look like this?’

I couldn’t help but slowly look over that statue from top to bottom.

“…”

Lush cat ears.

Eyes as big as lakes.

Seductively closed lips.

Breasts so full they seemed about to burst.

A slender waist.

Magnificently protruding hip lines.

The shapely lines of long slender legs.

Excluding obscene metaphors, there weren’t many ways to describe this woman’s statue. Several vulgar words that instantly flowed through my mind troubled me.

“…”

Honestly, it was just plain erotic no matter how you looked at it.

It seemed like it was made full of someone’s lonely nighttime dreams.

‘Though the average appearance in this world is amazing to begin with… that’s a bit excessive, isn’t it…?’

A statue of a woman who should be called a ‘madam’ rather than a girl. It had an appearance that made keywords like Dongtan or new town flash through my mind.

It was a shocking visual for Clara’s girlish sensibilities.

A beastkin with an insane body I had never seen once in this world. The explosive figure revealed under those thin, short, embarrassing clothes was so blatant it even momentarily stimulated the sensibilities from when I was male.

‘Ugh… I was an otaku in my past life too, but that’s a bit much.’

I couldn’t stop my face from starting to burn.

While I was frozen in shock like that, Rota approached my side and tugged on my coat sleeve, saying:

“Senior, is something wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

“Hm…? That statue is a bit, how should I say…♪ Ahaha…☆”

“…?”

Rota tilted her head at my words and said as if it were obvious:

“That’s the image of Lady [Golden Witch], isn’t it? This is a statue that’s been passed down since this school was built. They say it was brought to the library because noble faction students kept trying to gild it with gold.”

“…?”

“[Golden Witch] is a historical figure from 1500 years ago, the ancestor of ancient beastkin nobles and the greatest magician… one of the great [Three Heroes] who created the golden armament spells and magic ether operation methods. It’s thanks to [Golden Witch] that beastkin can be in such high positions now.”

“…?”

“I wanted to become a great magician like her after hearing the stories of [Golden Witch] that my sister told me… Hehe. Probably all beastkin respect her stories.”

“…?”

“Ah, Senior doesn’t know well because you’re pure human…? Well, other races prefer the stories left by [Rebel Rider] or [Flash Hero].”

“…?”

No, I know about [Golden Witch]…

I just didn’t know she had such a shocking appearance…

I thought she would be a more petite and cute girl according to the game’s description.

‘…Because.’

According to the original work, though it’s a bit further in the future.

The next one to use [Golden Witch]’s magic is―

Tap tap―!

Rota tugged on my sleeve and urged:

“More importantly, Senior Freya was calling us to come quickly from that room over there. She said she’ll lie to [Azure Lightning Lance] that you got hurt if we don’t hurry…”

“…?!”

Rota’s pointing finger was directed upwards.

While I had been blankly staring at the statue, Freya and Mila had already climbed the stairs leading to the tower. With presence detection, I could only judge by simple distance, so it was hard to gauge in such complex terrain.

‘Though I could catch up instantly anyway.’

But if Freya told such a lie even as a joke…

This time I felt a sense of crisis that I might be confined somewhere for some reason… for some reason.

‘Hilde wouldn’t do such a thing… right?’

But I was actually worried, so.

I moved my feet while composing my inner shock.

“…Okay☆ Let’s hurry and follow them~♪ It’s such a different atmosphere… I unconsciously got distracted looking around―☆”

I meant the statue, but.

Rota seemed to take it a bit differently.

She sighed deeply and spoke while looking at the research faction’s library:

“Haah… I know right… If I had known the research faction had such a quiet atmosphere, I wouldn’t have even looked at noble faction clubs from the start― Ah?! That doesn’t mean I regret coming to , okay?”

“Huhu, I know―☆”

“It’s still unfamiliar that Senior is close with [Azure Lightning Lance] and the other Five Colors, and I still don’t really understand what kind of situation Senior is in…”

Rota smiled broadly and held my hand.

“But I’m glad I got to meet Senior and other friends… I learned a lot thanks to that.”

“A good opportunity… you mean―☆”

“Yeah, that’s right!”

Rota nodded vigorously hearing my words.

“Oh no… We’ll be late at this rate. Let’s hurry up to the top of the tower!”

“Okay~♪”

Just before leaving.

I read the words written under the statue of [Golden Witch] one last time.

“…”

[One who realizes the ‘story’ left by the Golden Witch will know the truth.]

[One who finds the ‘flag’ left by the Rebel Rider will raise waves.]

[One who draws the ‘sword’ left by the Flash Hero will obtain shining wings.]

And below that, one more sentence was written in truly tiny letters.

[One who inherits the ‘heart’ left by the Saintess of Sacrifice will devote themselves to the world.]

“…”

[Saintess of Sacrifice]

It was a title I didn’t know.

Words written so small that only someone with extreme perception ability like me could read them. It seemed somehow… different from the story I knew.

“Senior~!”

Rota’s voice is heard.

‘For now… let’s just keep this sense of incongruity in my heart.’

If we’re late like this, I might really be confined by Hilde.

Like that, we walked towards the ‘Sage’s Room’ at the top of the tower.

* * *

Finally arriving at the ‘Sage’s Room’.

At the top of the tower was a room like an airport control facility… filled with dozens of devices and complex magic diagrams showing the external environment.

‘They’ve thoroughly blocked even the windows but use magic circles to see outside…’

According to Freya’s explanation, this ‘Sage’s Room’ at the top of the tower was a kind of magic skill amplifier. If you park yourself in the designated position and fire magic, you can interfere with magic skills not only in but… in the northern part of Golden Street.

Essentially a quasi-missile interception system…

‘Why is something like that here…? And why was it never used once in the main story?’

I casually asked the dozens of research faction students sitting and handling various materials. Surprisingly, they were also higher ether ability users than the snake-tattooed students.

“Um, but… why is there a means to attack the same school students and Golden Street… here―☆”

Stop―!

The turtle-necked, glasses-wearing beastkin female students froze.

But they soon twitched their ears again and focused on their work.

In the end, they didn’t answer my words.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Freya answered instead of them:

“It’s… fucking annoying.”

“…?”

“Th-Those noble faction bitches who treat us like idiots from outside… It’s fucking annoying… So in case… we thought about firing… Our seniors… passed it down for generations…”

The quiet blade of timid ones passed down through generations.

I chuckled hearing that sticky emotion.

“Ahaha…☆”

“O-Of course we hid it because it’s obvious the noble faction bitches would make a fuss if they knew about this… but th-this time they really crossed the line… Wh-What rebellion… …”

Nod nod

The research faction students nod vigorously.

‘So while staying cooped up like that, they prepared one means to go wild and die together…’

Probably in the main story, the noble faction’s movements were quickly suppressed, so it was forgotten or abandoned as is.

While understanding like that and waiting quietly, the tower room protected by various barriers shook from an impact.

Because of that, the magic circles and magic skills being prepared were disrupted.

Boom―!

“Kyaah?!”

“Eek?!”

“Wh-What’s going on?!”

The flustered research faction students. Among them, librarian Mila fixed her glasses and reactivated the magic circle showing the outside.

“…?”

“Wh-What is it? Did that idiot moron Frau come back?”

“N-No… I can’t see outside well… At this rate we can’t fire or do anything…”

Countless killing intents felt.

Zap―!

At that moment, I felt goosebumps all over my body.

And cold sweat ran down at the magnitude of the numerous presences felt from outside.

‘If it’s a priest with this kind of feeling… Is it that guy?’

I looked at Freya and said:

“It looks like they’ve come here―☆ …Priest.”

“I-Is that so. It looks like they’ve stuck something like cockroaches outside…”

Freya said with a deep sigh.

“S-Somehow I thought it was too quiet even though I came… To think they’d send a big shot this way…”

* * *

Below the library spire of the research faction.

The place was filled with numerous black silhouettes. To be precise… they all resembled the humanoid form of the [Priest of Strife] wearing robes. They were truly clinging like cockroaches, covering the activated magic circle used to look outside.

The power possessed by the [Priest of Strife]… it was to become a collective entity by itself.

A huge green dragon watching this scene from afar was clicking its mantis-like forelegs.

“Kuk kuk, [Purple Spinning Wheel]… and [Crimson Trajectory].”

Ofnir, the [Priest of Strife], was recalling the prophecy of someone he disliked. Among the five-colored ether users said to break through the believers he had scattered at the gate and come here from , there were only two.

“Both inferior species are weak in long battles, right? Among them, [Crimson Trajectory] is the one who killed the old man…”

Ofnir muttered the advice of the prophet he disliked, trying to gather his thoughts. No matter how much he disliked it, now was the time to use all available means.

This situation he truly disliked.

But it was also an unavoidable situation.

At times like this, that guy would make incomprehensible strange comparisons.

“Liu Bei joining hands with Cao Cao…!”