I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 6

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Crunch-

The sound of the man’s teeth grinding as he looked at the letter was distinctly audible.

A middle-aged man wearing a suit and wiping a cup next to him glanced at him.

“Did you get in?”

“……”

“So you didn’t make it.”

“…… Yes.”

The man crumpled the letter and threw it in the trash can.

Although it was last-minute cramming, he had devoted himself solely to studying magic for nearly a month.

He had some confidence.

Even if he didn’t know the theory well, he had used magic to the point of being sick of it, so he thought learning it would be quick.

But his name couldn’t be found anywhere on the entrance exam results notification.

Even after checking three times, it was the same.

Siegfried Hertlocker.

That name was nowhere to be found.

“I knew this would happen. Telling you to pass the Imperial Academy’s entrance exam with only a month’s time. Does that even make sense?”

“It was my lack of ability.”

“There are plenty of people who pass on their second or third tries, what are you talking about? Didn’t you say there were no problems you couldn’t solve due to lack of time? If you study for another year, you’ll definitely pass next year-”

“There is no next year.”

At Hertlocker’s declaration, the man fell silent.

It was true.

The ‘Imperial Academy Terror Operation’ ambitiously prepared by the Intelligence Agency was entirely planned on the premise that Hertlocker would be admitted this year.

The worst terrorist attack, massacring all the students and faculty, was already a lost cause.

“So you’re giving up on the Imperial Academy?”

“No. We still have Emilia.”

“What can she do alone?”

“She’ll do an excellent job of at least scouting. We’ll now shift the Imperial Academy from a terrorist target to a surveillance target.”

The man silently gazed at Hertlocker, who spoke calmly.

He was a guy who had been on the battlefield for over a decade.

The man had hoped that this pitiful guy, who had never experienced any social life, would be admitted to college.

Although it was a target for terrorism, he had hoped that Hertlocker would become a bit more human by experiencing college life, even if briefly.

Because currently, Hertlocker was too much like a rigid killing machine.

“Then will you also return to the headquarters now and help with the operations here?”

“Not yet. There’s something left to do.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a collaborator at the Imperial Academy. Now that they’re no longer needed, I have to eliminate them.”

“……”

Seeing Hertlocker calmly making such a brutal statement, the man gave a bitter smile.

The plan to have Hertlocker admitted to the Imperial Academy and let him live peacefully for a while had failed.

That meant a bloody wind would blow.

It meant the ‘killing machine’ would be reactivated.

***

“Is this the place……?”

Erica constantly looked around as she walked.

The Imperial Academy before the semester began was so quiet that it could be said there were hardly any people, except for the occasional passing staff or professor.

What she was looking for in such an Imperial Academy was none other than the single dormitory room.

-You mean the top student? He has already moved into the single dormitory room.

When she sought out the head professor, asking to meet the top student, this was the answer she received.

It was hard to understand that he had already moved into the dormitory before even being admitted.

But there was no way the head professor would lie, so Erica was heading straight to the dormitory.

‘I won’t be able to rest until I verify what kind of bastard he is!’

A prodigy among prodigies.

It was the nickname of Erica, who had achieved the highest grades among noble children since she was young.

Even now, long after, she could pride herself on being the best mage among her peers, but the gap with 2nd place wasn’t as overwhelming as before.

Therefore, she had anticipated to some extent that the top spot might be taken from her.

Erica thought that a lower noble’s child who had awakened late might overtake her, which would be somewhat humiliating.

But she never dreamed that it would be a commoner she had never heard of before.

The problem wasn’t that the top spot was taken from her, but that she had no idea who this commoner was.

The fact that she hadn’t noticed the existence of someone superior to her was what hurt and angered Erica’s pride more than anything else.

That’s why she needed to find out what kind of person this commoner with the rustic name Schlus Hainkel was.

At least to confirm that he was inferior to her, that he had only taken the top spot by chance.

She felt like she wouldn’t be able to rest easy until she confirmed the possibility of overtaking him again.

“Is this…… it?”

It was definitely said to be behind the dormitory.

Erica passed through a small forest following a narrow trail that appeared after going around the building.

Before long, the forest ended, and Erica’s mouth fell open at the wide open space she faced.

“Wow……”

There was a vast garden and a small mansion that she never imagined would be on university grounds.

Although it was called small, that was only in comparison to other mansions; considering it was called a ‘single dormitory room’, it was abnormally massive.

She had heard that the top student of the year received various benefits, but to think they would be provided with such a space.

When she pushed the front gate, it opened without much resistance.

Erica stepped into the garden, admiring the well-maintained flower beds.

Knock, knock, knock……

Three knocks on the front door.

But there was no response.

Since the mansion was quite large, it would probably take some time for the attendant to come.

Erica decided to wait patiently, but-

Bang, bang, bang!

After just 30 seconds, her patience ran out, and she roughly pounded on the door with her fist.

“Tsk……”

There was still no response.

She couldn’t hear the sound of an attendant hurrying over or any voices.

Could it be that no one was home?

“Hmm……?”

Erica tilted her head as she checked the space behind the mansion.

She noticed that the door of a building that looked like a warehouse was open.

She quickly suppressed her excited expression and took a step in that direction.

‘I knew it.’

She sensed someone’s presence inside.

Could it be Schlus Hainkel?

Erica opened her mouth to speak in a loud voice from the start, intending to overwhelm him.

“…… Hello.”

But as soon as her eyes turned to the inside of the door, her mouth immediately closed.

There was a puddle of blood pooled on the floor.

Moreover, bloodstains led all the way to the entrance, as if someone had crawled while covered in blood.

It looked like a murder scene.

In the center of it, she made eye contact with a middle-aged woman holding a mop.

“What brings you here?”

“Ah. That, well-”

“What are you doing here?”

A hoarse male voice was heard from behind.

Startled by this, Erica hurriedly turned around.

There stood a man with dark circles hanging low under his fierce eyes, wearing a school uniform.

“Ah! I apologize!”

“……”

Erica bowed her head, naturally thinking he must be an upperclassman based on his confident attitude and appearance……

But she soon noticed something strange.

This was the single dormitory room.

Then wasn’t the identity of the man who appeared here obvious?

“Don’t tell me you’re-”

“I’m Schlus Hainkel.”

The man quietly looked down at Erica with a blank expression.

As soon as she heard that name, Erica’s cheeks flushed red.

“So why are you here-”

Without even waiting for Schlus to finish speaking, Erica dashed across the garden at the speed of light.

Too embarrassed to even lift her head.

***

“What the hell is this situation?”

I sighed in disbelief.

Trespassing into someone else’s house and then suddenly running away.

Judging by that bowl cut silver hair…… Erica, was it?

Erica von der Lichtenburg.

The daughter of a count’s family who would show outstanding performance at the Imperial Academy and later become an elder in the magic community.

Ah. Since the protagonist failed the entrance exam, I guess she’s no longer the heroine either.

And her father was actually……

No. That’s irrelevant now.

“You’re already discharged?”

“Yes. I heard you took me to the hospital. Thank you so much.”

“Not at all. I only did what I had to……”

Since I became well enough to move, I just got discharged right away.

My whole body still ached and I was just as exhausted, but-

It seemed that cleaning the training room wasn’t finished because I returned too early.

“I’ll help you.”

“Pardon? With what?”

“The cleaning.”

“No. It’s my job, why would you-”

“I want to use the training room as soon as possible.”

“Ah……”

It’s not that I want to help with work.

If cleaning is delayed, I won’t be able to use the training room.

There’s not much time left until the semester begins. There are still many things I need to figure out and many things I need to do.

That’s why I need to get the training room, where no one else can disturb me, into a usable state as soon as possible.

Well, I could still use it even with a puddle of blood, but…… it’s a bit unpleasant, no matter what.

“Thank you.”

“No. Thanks to Schlus’ help, we finished early. Then……”

Ms. Mary left the training room, closing the door.

Immediately after, I snapped my fingers and the barrier tightly enveloping the training room reactivated.

It seemed I could freely turn it on and off now that I had control over it.

“Now what do I do……”

There’s a lot to do.

First, since the date changed, I can use ‘Memory of True Self’ and ‘Selection and Concentration’ again.

So I need to train swordsmanship, and I need to check if I can convert mana energy into mana by using ‘Selection and Concentration’ on mana attunement……

But I’m so damn tired.

After staying up all night and dipping my feet in the underworld once, my body feels too heavy.

Just walking here was no easy feat.

I desperately want to take a nap.

But if I fall asleep now, I feel like I’ll sleep for at least 20 hours, so I’m trying my best to keep my eyes open.

“Hmm…… What’s this?”

Looking in the mirror, I felt something was off.

Since yesterday, I had noticed that my eyes looked like the lifeless eyes of a dead fish.

But the uncanny feeling I got now was a bit different.

Right now, my whole body was at the peak of exhaustion, groaning in pain.

Then what should normal eyes look like in this state?

They should naturally be completely bloodshot, as if they were about to burst at any moment.

But my eyes right now were incomparably white.

They looked more lively than any other part of my body, so in contrast, they appeared dead.

‘No way, damn it.’

At that moment, my vision suddenly went pitch black.

The quiet white noise that filled the training room also disappeared.

I must have let out a curse, but I could only feel my lips moving without hearing any sound.

My sight and hearing were completely cut off.

I had experienced this sensation before.

Yes, it was the same as when I was trapped in the Barrier of Fear.

At that time, I had no idea why this happened, but now I think I can understand.

There was a setting I had scribbled in passing before.

The setting that if a blind or deaf person had extremely high mana sensitivity, they could use the vibrations of mana as sight or hearing by observing them.

Coincidentally, Schlus Hainkel’s mana sensitivity was also extremely high.

That stat was 75. In the original work, even the protagonist had to reach the late stages to achieve that stat.

I wondered why it was so high, but it turned out Schlus Hainkel was seeing and hearing through mana.

That’s why his sight and hearing were cut off in the Barrier of Fear, which was a mana vacuum state.

Well, thanks to that, I got a perfect score for not being able to see anything ‘Fear’ful……

Putting aside the Barrier of Fear.

Then why is this happening again now, you ask……

I can only answer that it’s because I ‘became conscious of it’.

It seems Schlus Hainkel lost his eyes and ears quite a long time ago and started seeing and hearing through mana.

He must have done it so naturally like breathing that it eventually became completely embodied and reached a point where he did it unconsciously.

To the extent that even when the owner of the body changed, the body still reflexively manifested the vibrations of mana as sight and hearing.

It was so flawless that even I had no idea.

But the moment I became aware of it, what had been in the realm of the unconscious moved into the realm of consciousness.

It’s similar to when you’re usually not conscious of your tongue’s position at all, but after hearing about it, you suddenly don’t know where to put your tongue and feel like you’re going crazy.

‘First, stay calm. Detect the vibrations of mana.’

If Schlus Hainkel could do it, I, who inherited his body, should be able to do it too.

I closed my eyes and focused on the mana enveloping my body.

Since I had no sight or hearing, the only thing I could feel was mana, so it wasn’t very difficult.

And then analyze the frequency and waveform of those vibrations……

Convert each of them into the form of light and sound.

“Wow, fuck. I thought I was going to die from suffocation.”

Before long, my sight and hearing returned.

It felt refreshing, like I had been underwater for a long time and finally surfaced.

“Ack.”

…… The moment I let my guard down, my vision almost went black again.

It seems that once I’ve brought it into the realm of consciousness, if my concentration breaks, I’ll lose my sight again like this.

How can I push it back into the realm of the unconscious?

“Tch……”

How do I do it? Damn it.

There’s no choice but to see and hear through mana every day until my body gets used to it.

I arrived at the obvious but unwanted conclusion that time and effort were the solution.

“Schlus Hainkel. Who the hell are you?”

This made me even more curious about this guy’s identity.

Stats that fall far short of the average.

An internal circuit that, in the doctor’s words, is “utterly insane”.

On top of that, he’s blind and deaf.

There are too many defects in his body……

To the point where a sunfish seems healthier.

I wonder if I can even survive until the ending with a body like this.

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