.｡.:✧ Chapter 15 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I had always felt uncomfortable going into the Dean’s office, so I was curious about what would happen this time. I entered, pondering if there were other students who had ended up in the Dean’s office for similarly dubious reasons. To my surprise, May was waiting for me alongside the Dean.

“May as well?”

Even though we were all gathered openly, I wondered if this was an appropriate setup, but on the other side, they were both wearing rather satisfied smiles.

“Daniel, I assume you know why I called you here?”

I didn’t like that he was smiling for no apparent reason, so I smiled back as I replied, “To give me a reward? For taking down those 3rd-year bullies?”

“You lunatic!”

May, who was standing beside me, shot daggers at me, but I continued to smile and brushed it off.

“Is that sincere? Do you know who you’ve messed with? Fenil Laeros, the youngest son of the Laeros family. You, a mere commoner, dared to provoke a noble of the highest order.”

“If he’s a noble, he should act like one.”

“Are you still too young to understand the situation? It’s not just Fenil Laeros. Among the students you attacked…”

He went on to give a lengthy introduction to the noble families, their achievements, and how remarkable they were. Frankly, I zoned out for most of it, and nothing really stuck in my head.

“So, because of this, even the families on that side have already found out about you, a commoner, raising a hand against them. I can’t just let you go on like this.”

“So, expulsion?”

“Yes! You should have behaved yourself.”

May was chuckling and enjoying the spectacle, but the Dean raised his hand to silence her. Then, with a pitying expression, he said to me, “Daniel, it can’t be helped, but this is the way the world works. Our academy prioritizes students, but that alone can’t sustain the school.”

“…”

“Would any parents in the world just stand by when their children come home beaten up? Especially when they have noble blood running through their veins. It’s just not the way it works.”

“Do they have to play the victim, though?”

The Dean grinned and replied, “Why wouldn’t they?”

“…”

“Because you’re a commoner.”

I hadn’t expected him to be so brazen about it.

The Dean was acknowledging that Fenil’s gang was in the wrong, but he was still insisting that I should be expelled.

In other words, one thing was clear.

No matter how much I tried to prove my innocence, it was useless. The Dean was telling me that my grievances didn’t matter.
The situation clarified that they had already made the decision to expel me despite knowing my grievances.

“From the school’s perspective, it’s essential not to offend the noble families. Even from your perspective, this might be for the best.”

“Are you suggesting I should back down instead of crossing paths with the nobles for no reason?”

“Yes.”

The Dean grinned, trying to suppress his laughter.

“Paradoxically, our Aeos Academy might have taught you something more important than knowledge.”

I was trying to hold back my laughter, but my lips couldn’t help but curl into a wry smile. So, I nodded in agreement and reached into my pocket, pulling out a thick piece of paper infused with mana – a material capable of absorbing sounds and storing them.

I gently infused it with mana and played back the recorded voices echoing in the Dean’s office.

‘Call the students in again today and get him.’

‘Today? Even though it seems unlikely that they can win against them?’

‘That’s what we’re counting on.’

“…”

“…”

Both the Dean and May stared at each other, their expressions a mix of disbelief and confusion as they listened to the conversation that had been recorded.

“Isn’t it fascinating? The Dean himself instructed students to attack other students. Can you handle this?”

The Dean, grinning broadly, banged on his desk as he shouted.

“Where are you going with this!”

“Ha, that’s funny. You really can’t read the mood.”

I slowly approached the door and locked it.

Click.

The sound marked a shift in the atmosphere within the Dean’s office. At this moment, I was no longer the 18-year-old Daniel McLean. I was the only Sherpa who guided people through the “Forest of Abyss,” a place often called a living hell where people can not survive.

People who occasionally sought my guidance would make remarks like:

“Wow, you can actually live in the Forest of Abyss?”

“You can arrange your home like this without getting attacked by monsters?”

Each time, I never explicitly corrected their misunderstanding: that humans could live in the Forest of Abyss. Instead, I simply let them believe whatever they wanted to believe.

Now, I was shedding the guise of a human to become a monster that thrived in the Forest of Abyss, holding a place near the top of the food chain.

In the end…
The Dean and May stared at me in shock, their faces turning pale, realizing that something was wrong.

If a monster were standing right in front of them, people would never avert their gaze from it.

“Shall we give it a try? Would you like to try to expel me from the academy? Should I tell you where I’ll be taking this?”

I could efficiently use it to go straight to the rival of Aeos Academy, the Palace Academy.Not only that, but they’re not nobles who coddle their children like the parents of the Fenil clan.
It’s enough to send them to the nobles who know real honor.

“It’s enough to be expelled. I’ll go back to my village and do some farming anyway, but what about you?”

“…!”

“”If you lose everything and go back to your family for expelling a student in a dirty way, at least you should keep some status by holding onto the position of Dean.”

“Uhm… That’s…”

“Is that possible?”

After locking the door, I couldn’t help but let a faint smile escape my lips.

“When you fall from such a high place, can you handle it?”

Their problem wasn’t just about May and her family. It was an issue that extended to the next Dean of Aeos Academy, to the point where they might even file a lawsuit.

“Hmm.”

With cold sweat forming, both of them continued to gaze at me.

“May!”

As I spoke, the Dean shouted, and May rushed toward me with trembling hands. She seemed like she was trying to grab the paper I was holding, but I swiftly moved back, evading her grasp.

However, the Dean had different intentions.

Clang, clang, clang!

All the open windows in the office slammed shut, casting shadows within. It wasn’t too dark since it was still daytime, but that wasn’t the Dean’s intention.

“How dare you challenge me with tricks like this within my domain!”

By closing the windows and casting a mana-based barrier, he ensured that no one could observe him manipulating mana from the outside. It seemed like he believed he could win this way, but…

“You’ve made a big mistake.”

I quickly swiped his staff away as if brushing it aside, causing him to stagger, disoriented.

In my quest to survive in the Forest of Abyss, I had read numerous books about monsters’ vital points and weaknesses. Strangely, I found that humans had written the most books about human vulnerabilities, not the monsters’ vulnerabilities.

“Human vulnerabilities are truly easy to exploit,” I commented with a wry smile.
And naturally, I had read all those books.

However, amidst the chaos, the Dean instinctively summoned mana.

“You damn bastard!”

In the Forest of Abyss, there were naturally monsters who used magic, and I was practically an amateur when it came to magic. Thus, I had always pondered about battles against magic users.

The simplest way was to create situations where a mage couldn’t use magic. Regardless of how skilled a mage was, they needed time to cast even simple spells.

Even though some mages, through sheer familiarity, cast spells without conscious calculation, in any case, even for the simplest spell, they required a minimum amount of time.

“There’s no way I’m going to give you that kind of time at this range.”

I immediately grabbed his staff and smashed it to pieces. Leaning against the desk, he reached out to cast a spell, but I tripped him with a leg sweep.

Thud!

Did he obtain the Dean position through bribery? Despite falling, he managed to complete the spell and reached out his hand.

However, I had already kicked his hand and altered the trajectory of his spell.

“Ahhhhh!”

Poof!

A scream escaped the Dean’s mouth as he fell, and one side of the office started to ignite from his magic.

May was trembling, banging on the door, desperate to get out.

“Shh, calm down. It’s okay now; stop fussing. We haven’t finished yet.”

I left the Dean on the floor, crying, as I smiled and said, “Actually, this is just the beginning.”

You’ll have to be the Dean for a very long time, you know.

Until I graduate, that is.

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