chapter 5
5 – 5. Spoiler
The commoners have left and the noble students have taken their place in the main auditorium.
If you ask what he taught the nobles, it was nothing special. It was just an extremely Russell-esque class.
The future of the empire I envisioned was simple.
Commoners who will barely survive by raising the lows,
A nobleman who will rise to the top and become the main power of the empire.
The final task given to the nobles was to check the limits of their abilities at the annex training center.
Very intuitively. In other words, he told me to grind until I collapsed from exhaustion.
“I guess I should finish it soon.”
I glanced at the clock in the main auditorium and noticed that it was getting closer to the hour.
The bell will soon ring, signaling the end of class time.
“That’s it. If you have any questions, I will answer them privately during break.”
The lecture ended like that, but no students asked any additional questions.
Let alone any questions. As I was currently climbing the central stairs of the auditorium, sarcastic chatter flowed into my ears.
“They trust one family member and then install the government.”
“Shh, listen.”
Among our precious children, there were many who were still displeased with the order to congratulate the guests that I issued at the beginning of the lecture.
I heard many other things besides that, but I ignored them all.
Even if the dog barked, the train had to go.
I was able to reach my destination by moving my feet mechanically.
“The weather is nice.”
A rooftop bathed in warm sunlight. The top of the main auditorium.
The scenery at the peak enjoyed alone was enough to arouse admiration in the viewer.
“It’s really wide.”
To the point where I was talking to myself.
When I looked down, I could see the sparring hall, conference room, and student dormitory nearby.
When I raised my head and looked beyond, there were buildings smaller than my fingernail.
If you concentrate to the point of squinting, you can vaguely see the imperial palace in the distance.
I heard that it was large enough to fit three or four villages in the story, but it wasn’t until I saw it with my own eyes that I realized it.
Well, this should be enough.
In order to maintain a closedness that does not allow students to go out except on vacation, this level of sincerity must be shown to save the empire’s face.
“This is not the time. Let’s work, work.”
After enjoying the scenery, I turned back.
From now on, I will begin the work of disarming the gate that Ivan installed.
There were two reasons for deactivating it now.
First, because no one comes to the rooftop when classes are in progress in the auditorium.
And secondly, it was because the instructor currently standing on the stage in that auditorium was Chris.
The only way to safely release it was now.
When I looked back, I saw things piled up like trash in the corner of the rooftop…. I saw trash.
I squeezed my way through all that junk.
It is time for all of the batteries to work.
This is an unusable window.
Broken windows lined up on one wall.
Check them one by one and proceed.
‘This is a window, this is just a window…’ .’
Just like that, I was seriously wondering what kind of aspiring pitcher had broken the window to this point.
“I found it.”
It is a mirror, but it cannot reflect anything.
If it is written in a roughly philosophical way, you win.
I carefully picked up a mirror the size of my torso and stood it up.
Mana flowed out very slightly.
Wow-
The mirror immediately turns pitch black.
Finally, the moment when the darkness even ate away at the broken part of the mirror.
The mana flowing out was cut off.
“Phew,”
A sigh of relief flowed out.
It was my first time controlling mana in real combat, so it was a bit difficult.
For someone who has eaten meat before, he eats it well, so it wasn’t that difficult.
A mirror stood in front of me like that. No, gate.
Toward the gate that is operational but not working,
I stretched out my hand and dug into it.
‘It feels strange, this.’
It’s a mysterious feeling that I can’t think of an expression to compare with the shallow experience of an office worker who lived a little over twenty years at most.
I was able to catch it for a while without difficulty.
The mana circuit is tangled like a skein of thread.
“It’s tightly twisted.”
No matter how incompetent Ivan was before the possession, there is no business in the face of hard work and time.
The mana circuit that took a month to twist was impossible to unlock in a short period of time without the help of an expert….
That expert was me.
I began to unravel the tangled mana circuit one by one with my hands.
‘Left, right, right, down.’
Movements that continue as naturally as breathing.
‘Mana circuit manipulation’ was the part I was most confident in as a gamer.
How many thousands of mana circuits have I solved before I see the ending?
I don’t even remember anymore.
Thankfully, thanks to the controls implemented exactly the same as the game.
I was able to have fun like a fish in water.
Even though the magic power of Ivan I worked with was around B, it didn’t matter.
This was the realm of technology, not the realm of force.
They say he is a world-class boxer or a rare genius mathematician.
Threading a needle in preparation for sewing is something that may require you to rush to your mom.
In that respect, if I were to limit myself to this field, I was confident that I would win even if I competed with the greatest archmage in the empire.
–
Rat!
“It’s done.”
After a series of confident operations, I was able to unlock the gate in the completely reverse order and stop it.
The circuit that Ivan planned and twisted over the course of a month before being possessed died before it lasted more than 30 minutes.
Now this means that it is nothing more or less than just a broken mirror.
With this, the threat of the gate has disappeared. I would have been happy if I could say that….
There was still one problem to solve.
“We need to solve the second scenario.”
In the original work, the main character, Adam, as soon as he notices the existence of the gate, runs to destroy it.
It was possible because sufficient growth time was given, one month.
I, too, made it that far with my own talent.
But tomorrow midnight, that is, at 12 o’clock from the 28th to the 29th.
Chris learns that his plan has gone awry and tries to force the gate to open.
The sacrifice needed for that ‘force’ was Scarlett.
Among her first-year students, she boasts an overwhelming level of strength and stamina.
The second scenario was to absorb her power and force the stationary gate to operate.
Because of the reputation and credibility that Chris has steadily built up, Scarlett grumbles, but she responds to his call and heads to the rooftop….
The main character and Chris are in a confrontation here. Depending on which of the two she chooses, clearing the event and getting a bad ending are different.
The point was that I had to gain Scarlett’s trust by tomorrow.
Enough trust to choose me over Chris.
To put it more clearly, it is a condition that the favorability level must be raised above the friendly level.
Is that possible? If you ask, of course it is impossible.
If it were possible to build up a month’s worth of favorability in one morning, wouldn’t this be just a game? Even me and her started at her lowest point: contempt.
So I decided to use an expedient method.
An extraordinary expedient that would not have been possible in a game with a set scenario.
I squatted down and took out paper and pen.
“As I live, the day comes when I write a script for a game character.”
If the game forcibly possessed me the day before the event,
It would also be right for me to force myself to clear it.
—
Fortunately, there were no uninvited guests visiting until the errands on the rooftop were finished.
I put the pen in my handbag and the much more important note folded and placed in the inside pocket of my uniform, then walked downstairs.
–
Dang-
A bell rings every hour. It is a signal that announces the beginning and end of class, and in this case it was the latter. The end of Chris’s lecture, who came in after me.
The sun has risen exactly in the sky, so it is time to take a break for lunch about an hour and a half from now.
When the bell that had been ringing at regular intervals stopped, I was able to recognize it.
Another sound of footsteps that resonates with the sound of my own footsteps going down the stairs.
Me and I were walking down from the rooftop,
Someone coming up from the lower floor.
The sound of their footsteps stopped exactly in the middle, on the floor where the back door of the main auditorium was located.
“Miss Scarlett.”
The owner of the footsteps was Scarlett.
She was walking up, chewing a piece of bread the size of her face. She tried to pass by, but when I called her name, she looked back.
The paper bag he was holding in his arms contained another piece of bread identical to the one he was currently eating.
“Why?”
“What are you holding in your hand?”
“You wouldn’t know it if you saw it, right? “It’s bread.”
“Bread? “Not spoiled coal?”
“…”
“By the way, break time has just started. Where did you get it?”
“It was instructor Chris’ lecture. “That person keeps talking nonsense for 10 minutes before the end.”
Why did you decide that? But it is correct.
This is an opinion that I empathize with both as a person who knows that he is a shadowy figure, and as a gamer who risks his life to save time in vain.
But now, admonition rather than consent was needed.
“Do not carelessly assign importance to the instructor’s remarks. “There is no absolute hierarchical relationship between Instructor Chris and Miss Scarlett, but shouldn’t there be mutual courtesy?”
“I understand, I understand. “Your ears are probably bleeding.”
Scarlett waved her hand as if she was annoyed and told him to stop.
I took out her wallet from her inner pocket, took out a few of her coins, and held them out to her.
“What is it?”
“Anything is fine. “Eat meals that people can eat.”
“Don’t worry. Are you my mom? And this-“
“I couldn’t solve the cube because I was hungry. “I don’t want to hear excuses like this.”
After spitting out her words, I handed her her fairy tale.
When she refused, I tried to force it into her pocket, but fortunately she accepted it obediently.
“Okay then. You must solve the cube. Even if it means staying up all night.”
“…”
I didn’t get a definite answer, but I turned the corner and went out into the hallway.
Class just ended, so Chris should be nearby.
I had something to talk about with him.