I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 16

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Start explaining. What happened here?”

“……”

Ludwig asked, standing with his hands behind his back, turning his back to me. It seemed everything had been found out.

But should I still try to play dumb?

“I don’t know either. Didn’t you stop it, Professor?”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Is that so? Then who on earth……”

“Who did it is something you know best. Schlus Hainkel.”

“What do you-”

“I’ve seen countless magicians experiencing mana exhaustion. Don’t think you can deceive my eyes.”

Ludwig clicked his tongue, glaring at my trembling legs. Ludwig, who had served in the mage artillery unit during the peak of the war.

He must have seen and experienced mana exhaustion to the point of being sick of it. It was indeed an error from the start to try to deceive Ludwig regarding magic.

Now there was no way but to face it head-on.

“Is that so? As expected of the Head Professor. Then let’s make a deal.”

“A deal? Are you saying you want to make a deal with me right now?”

Ludwig’s face contorted. It was an expression as if saying, ‘You dare?’

“Yes. Let’s keep the fact that I suppressed the explosion a secret between the two of us. In return, I will give the credit for stopping the explosion to you, Professor.”

“……”

The students already believed that Ludwig had stopped the explosion. If neither Ludwig nor I said anything here, it would truly become that Ludwig had stopped the explosion.

…… Iris knew as well, but it didn’t seem like she would go around blabbing about it, considering her personality.

“Why do you refuse to become a hero?”

“It doesn’t seem like the right time to draw attention yet.”

Although I was already receiving a lot of attention, it was merely out of curiosity.

However, if it became known that I possessed Main-level mana capacity, that curiosity would instantly turn into hostility.

It wouldn’t be a far-fetched story for the Kingdom’s Intelligence Agency or noble families to view me as a threat and try to eliminate me.

I might even face daily terror attacks like the previous poison incident.

So until I became strong enough, it was better not to become famous. It was best to be perceived as a mere commoner who had luckily been admitted as the top student, but was actually nothing special.

“Then do you refuse?”

“……”

Of course, I didn’t think Ludwig would grant me a favor without any compensation. Normally, Ludwig wouldn’t have coveted the credit for preventing mass casualties.

However, he was currently taking an exam for promotion in the mage ranks. Since it was his third attempt after failing twice in a row, he must be quite desperate.

If it was revealed that Ludwig had stopped this incident, it would be a significant plus point for his exam. It would be difficult for him to refuse.

“Fine. I’ll accept that deal.”

I grasped the hand Ludwig extended. His brows were tightly furrowed, seeming extremely displeased.

So what are you going to do about it, dude? I barely managed to stand up on my trembling legs.

It seemed my mana had recovered enough to somehow walk now.

“Then I’ll be going now, Professor.”

“Schlus Hainkel.”

“Don’t worry, Professor. I will never go around blabbing that I stopped it later and tarnish your honor.”

“Schlus Hainkel.”

“If you’re that worried, should we make a magical vow?”

“Don’t make me call you three times.”

“…… Yes. What is it?”

I had forgotten the setting that if Ludwig repeated the same thing three times, all hell would break loose.

“There are no eternal secrets. You know that, right?”

“……?”

“When everything you’ve been hiding and hiding is revealed. At that time, you’ll have to bear the full brunt of the aftermath.”

“……”

“Enough. If you understand, go now.”

“Yes.”

I left the lecture hall, tottering up the stairs. Leaving behind Ludwig, who was still standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

‘No eternal secrets……’

Is this the time to worry about me? If the secret is revealed, it would be Ludwig who would be branded with the stigma of stealing a student’s achievement.

Or could it be that he accommodated me even while prepared for that to happen……?

‘No way.’

I don’t remember setting Ludwig up as such a dedicated educator. He probably has his own ulterior motives.

I shook my head and walked down the corridor, exiting the building. But it felt like I was forgetting something.

What was it again?

“Ah.”

Combat Magic. The first class for that was this afternoon.

I had been so focused on stopping the explosive artifact that I had forgotten about it. My current mana……

[Remaining Mana: 5]

I’m fucked.

***

Lichtenburg Mansion. After returning from a big commotion at the Imperial Academy, the first place Erica visited was Julia’s room.

“Haa…… Listen, Julia. Your sister almost died today?”

“On the first day of the semester?”

Erica sighed deeply and slumped onto the bed. Julia’s legs, which could be felt through the blanket, seemed thinner than before.

Holding back the tears that threatened to come out. The best way to hold back tears was to pretend to be bright.

“There was an explosive artifact hidden among the magic stones. The Imperial Academy is in an uproar because of that right now. They’re trying to find the culprit.”

“Oh my. Are you hurt anywhere, Sister?”

“Nope. I’m fine.”

When Julia grabbed her hand, Erica answered with a smile. In fact, the buttbone she had hit when falling from the podium was still a bit sore, but she decided not to mention that. Because it was embarrassing.

“Oh, but you won’t believe what I saw in the midst of that?”

“What is it? What is it?”

“You know Iris, right? Before……”

Erica stopped mid-sentence, realizing her mistake.

Before. It was from when Julia could still walk.

“Yes. I met her when I attended magic academy. She was a wonderful person…… I heard she was recently appointed as a Saintess?”

“Yeah……”

But in front of Julia, who spoke as if it was nothing, she couldn’t be gloomy. Swallowing the tears that seemed ready to burst out at any moment, Erica armed herself with a smile once again.

“That Iris and…… Ah, you’ve heard of Schlus too, right? Schlus Hainkel. The infamous commoner top student.”

“Schlus……”

Julia’s eyes widened upon hearing that name. But by the time Erica turned her head to look at Julia again, her expression had returned to normal.

“Ah, I thought they were meeting for the first time, but in the midst of that chaos, they suddenly embraced each other?”

“He probably caught her when she was about to fall or something like that.”

“No, no. I thought so too and kept watching, you know? But they were hugging for like dozens of seconds? With his face buried in her chest!”

“……”

For a very brief moment, Julia’s expression contorted. But Erica, who was excitedly telling the story, didn’t notice it at all.

“Ha…… Haha…… Well, I guess things like that happen. People often say they fall in love at first sight, right?”

“Iris? With a commoner? No way. That’s really impossible.”

Erica waved her hand in denial, but she was lost in thought. Thinking about it carefully, it sounded quite plausible.

Iris had always lived being praised as a Saintess by people. If Iris, tired of such a life, fell in love with a commoner who looked down on her and treated her rudely……?

“Aah! No, that can’t be!”

“What can’t be……”

It was horrifying to even imagine. Her one and only friend falling in love with a mere commoner.

Moreover, wasn’t Schlus a lowlife who had sold his lifespan to a demon and couldn’t even be associated with?

“No. It can’t be. I must be misunderstanding. It has to be.”

“If you’re that curious, why don’t you ask directly?”

“What? No way. How can I ask that? What if it’s not true? It would be so embarrassing.”

Watching Erica spewing out words like a machine gun, Julia gave a faint smile. For Julia, who never left the room, Erica being her window to the world was simply something to be grateful for.

“So what happened to that explosive artifact?”

“Ah, that. It exploded, but fortunately, Head Professor Ludwig stopped it.”

“Professor Ludwig? How?”

“An artifact that absorbed as much mana as a cartload of magic stones was exploding, but he contained it with telekinesis magic. I was really surprised. I didn’t know such a large explosion could be stopped with telekinesis magic.
I wonder how much mana would be needed to stop that? Around 30,000? As expected, the head professor of the Imperial Academy is on a different level.”

“……”

After a brief calculation in her head, Julia tilted her head.

‘You’re wrong, Erica. It’s not 30,000, but 100,000. And……’

Something was strange. 100,000 was a mana capacity that surpassed the level of extraordinary humans.

‘Professor Ludwig doesn’t have the ability to stop that.’

And somehow, Julia knew that the mana capacity of Professor Ludwig, whom she had never met before, fell far short of that.

***

“Oh, for fu-”

As soon as I looked at the bulletin board, a curse slipped out. -The search of the Combat Magic lecture hall is complete.

Based on the judgment that there is no concern for terrorism, today’s Combat Magic lecture will proceed as scheduled.

They were determined to hold the lecture. Even though just a few hours ago, there was a historic terror attack that almost blew up an entire building, ending in an attempted attack.

Was this courage or just thoughtlessness……

“Haah……”

1 hour until class starts. I sighed and headed to the lecture hall.

I resented my past self for unnecessarily enlarging the size of the campus. How could it take 30 minutes to walk to get around within the campus?

*

“Hey! Our top student is here!”

“……”

It was before I even entered the lecture hall. Aintz greeted me with a bright expression, waving his hand.

I was sure I had publicly embarrassed him in front of the other kids on the day of the entrance ceremony.

Was it because of the setting that he would wag his tail endlessly to someone he had taken a liking to?

Settings were indeed scary.

“Let’s go in. Want me to introduce you to my friends?”

Aintz naturally tried to put his arm around my shoulder but stopped. Did he remember that I had told him to put his arm down last time?

As I entered the lecture hall with Aintz, familiar gazes poured onto me. Contempt. Disregard. Suspicion, etc…… The reactions were roughly similar to when I had entered the Elemental Magic lecture hall in the morning.

“No.”

“Huh, what? You don’t want to?”

Aintz’s friends? I think I had scribbled a line or two about such guys.

They were probably trash without any skills, filled only with vanity, as I had described. There was no benefit in remembering the names of such guys.

Rather, the more I distanced myself from them, the more likely it was that the good-aligned named characters would view me favorably later on.

But Aintz’s flustered expression was quite amusing, so I decided to give him a bit of a carrot.

“Yeah. I’m fine with just knowing you.”

“Ha, haha. Really? Wow. You’re finally recognizing my true value? Of course, I’m different from those nobodies who have nothing to boast about except their family-”

This guy’s problem is this. His self-praise never ends. Positively speaking, he’s overflowing with confidence, and negatively speaking, he’s arrogant.

In the original work, he only gets this habit somewhat fixed after getting beaten up by the protagonist, so how should I fix it here……

Aintz will definitely cause trouble someday. I’ll have to catch him then, beat him up, and make him reform. And if he still doesn’t get strong enough, I’ll just discard him.

I turned my gaze away from Aintz, who was still rambling on. Then, for some reason, a green-haired girl who felt familiar entered my sight.

Even without using ‘View’, I could immediately recognize who she was. Edengard Trie von dem Schulzenburg.

The magician, no, the knight called Trie. Although she entered the Imperial Academy by the skin of her teeth to become a magician, she actually possessed overwhelming talent as a knight.

In the original work, she becomes the best swordsman in the empire and serves as the protagonist’s steadfast sword by his side.

In other words, she was an essential named character that I absolutely couldn’t lose in order to see the ending.

“Attention, everyone.”

At that moment, a burly man walked out from one corner of the lecture hall, holding an iron club…… It was Professor Sergey.

He tapped his shoulder with the iron club or pipe, yawning.

“Since it’s the first class, everyone should be here, right? So I’ll skip attendance and start right away.”

“……”

How sloppy. It was fitting for Sergey’s easygoing and tough personality.

In the original work, the first day only dealt with the terror in the Elemental Magic lecture hall, so there wasn’t a single line describing the Combat Magic lecture.

In other words, even I, the author, didn’t know what the content of today’s class would be.

But since it was the first day and he wasn’t even taking attendance, it didn’t seem like it would be anything important. He would probably just do an orientation or something.

“Today, we will test your basic combat abilities.”

Kukuku……

Sergey grinned and tapped the ground with the iron pipe. Then, with a vibration that shook the ground, something rose from the floor.

…… I was starting to understand why this lecture hall was flat.

“It’s a training golem. A kind assistant who will help with your test.”

A stone figure…… No, a doll made of stone, tall enough to easily reach the height of the 2nd floor of a building, stood there. In other words, he was telling us to fight that thing.

[Remaining Mana: 50]

I’m really fucked.

[Quest: Destroy the training golem.]

[Difficulty: ★★★★☆]

[Reward: 4 Store Coins]

As if trying to mock me, a quest appeared before my eyes.

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