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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuzio
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Charlotte’s eyes trembled.
Among their group, if one had to choose the most timid student, it would undoubtedly be Charlotte.
And the barrier that had been erected around the construction site, controlling all entry and exit, was enough to make her panic.
“Wh-what… What is this?”
“Someone’s inside! There’s someone inside!!”
Charlotte and Isabel started shouting with all their might.
It wasn’t the barrier itself that was frightening.
But even to students with their limited magical knowledge, it was clear that this barrier completely blocked passage in and out.
Being unable to leave was terrifying.
Being trapped within this barrier, unable to even make a sound escape, was terrifying.
“Move!”
Michelle lifted the bricks scattered haphazardly across the construction site all at once with her telekinesis, and then launched them towards the barrier wall.
BAAAM!
A vicious sound rang out, but that was all.
The bricks, upon colliding with the barrier, shattered and crumbled, but the barrier itself remained firm.
At the same time, despair filled the minds of the group.
‘We can’t get out.’
Why this barrier had suddenly appeared, she didn’t know.
But more importantly, they might become stuck there for the rest of their lives.
They had come all this way to have dinner with Michelle, and this was too cruel a price to pay.
An act of God.
No other words could describe it.
As the situation took a turn for the worse, regrets began to surface.
Regret for coming all this way because she was too embarrassed to face Adrian, regret for coming all this way just to have dinner with Michelle.
BAM! BAAAAM!
Michelle relentlessly lifted the debris from the ground and hurled it at the barrier.
But the result remained the same.
“Haaa…”
In the end, all they could do was sigh deeply.
Even in this desperate situation, Michelle struggled to find a solution, but even the mind of this girl, hailed as a genius, couldn’t come up with a viable method.
“We’re doomed… Doomed…”
“Are we going to die here?”
With each brick Michelle flung shattering against the barrier, Charlotte and Isabel chimed in with their own unhelpful commentary.
‘…These idiots are no help at all.’
She understood their panicked state, but having them freak out beside her only fueled Michelle’s irritation.
Well, perhaps ‘freak out’ wasn’t quite the right term.
They were in a dire situation, after all…
In any case, as if to vent her frustration through her telekinesis, Michelle hurled everything she could lift at the barrier.
And that’s when it happened.
“Michelle, wait.”
Lotten tried to stop her by grabbing her shoulder.
As if!
Michelle wouldn’t easily allow anyone but Adrian to touch her shoulder.
She easily twisted her body to avoid Lotten’s grasp.
“Don’t try to sneak a touch.”
“…That’s not it. Look.”
Following Lotten’s pointed finger, the gazes of Michelle and the other female students darted in that direction.
And a moment later, everyone’s eyes widened.
An all-too-familiar figure entered their field of vision.
Hope flickered on the faces of the students who had been completely devoid of it.
‘Adrian!’
The four of them thought simultaneously.
It seemed their professor hadn’t spotted them yet, but the students could see him clearly.
The figure of the very professor they followed.
Professor Adrian would surely deduct points and scold them for being here.
But surviving was better than dying, wasn’t it?
One thing was for sure.
In this crisis, their savior, the one who could get them out of this barrier, had arrived.
“Hey, guys…”
Suddenly, Isabel spoke up.
“But… what if Professor Adrian is trapped here too?”
Thump!
Thump!
Charlotte and Michelle simultaneously flicked her forehead from both sides.
“Do you think Professor Adrian is incompetent?”
“The professor isn’t that useless, you know?”
Isabel, who had received two forehead flicks in quick succession, clutched her head and let out an “Ow.”
“Come on, let’s go. Quickly, to the professor.”
“Okay…”
As expected, Michelle took the lead.
And the three students silently followed behind her.
Then, they all stopped in their tracks.
‘He’s touching the entrance to the underground…?’
Adrian wasn’t trying to get out of the barrier.
Instead, he was touching the magic circle located in the center of the construction site, the one that led underground, seemingly trying to activate it.
“What’s he doing? Is he going underground?”
“What do we do? Should we chase after him underground?”
“No… I think he’ll let us out if he knows we’re here…”
Opinions began to differ.
Even as they hesitated, Adrian continued to unravel the magic circle, bit by bit.
It looked like he really was going underground.
“We all agree to go to Professor Adrian, right?”
Everyone nodded.
There was no need to overthink this.
Just as they reached a consensus…
Rumble…
Suddenly, the ground within the construction site shook as if an earthquake had struck.
Cracks began to spiderweb across the empty air, then a giant rift tore open.
Charlotte’s eyes went wide.
“Wh-what… What is that?”
Charlotte, who had lost her parents to demons, or In other words, the one who was the most interested in demons could tell right away.
That a rift, the kind that appeared when someone ‘transferred’ from the Demon Realm, was appearing right before their very eyes.
“Demons… Demons are coming? That’s a Demon Realm rift!”
“What?”
Panic filled the eyes of the other students.
One crisis was followed by another.
There was only one thing the students could do.
“We really need to get to Professor Adrian now.”
“You’re right. It’s our only option.”
They exchanged glances.
Even Isabel, a boundless well of curiosity, seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.
However, just as she opened her mouth to speak…
“Run!”
Everyone started sprinting towards Adrian.
As soon as they started running, Michelle stumbled, and was about to fall because of her injured leg.
Seeing this, Charlotte swept Michelle up into her arms like a princess, and continued running.
“Wh-what are you doing? Put me down! You idiot!”
“At least tie your hair back! You’re blocking my vision with your one eye!”
They bickered, but they were the two leading the charge.
Lotten and Isabel frantically followed behind them.
Lotten, who had been running silently behind them, suddenly turned pale.
He felt a tingling sensation in his feet.
The aura of the Demon Realm.
The aura of Black Magic.
Such an aura was slowly rising from the ground.
‘It’s really a demon. A much stronger demon than the one we encountered before.’
As that thought crossed her mind, goosebumps erupted all over her body.
Biting her lip, she ran towards Adrian with all her might.
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After finishing the dismantling of the magic circle, I paused for a moment, lost in thought.
I couldn’t help but feel regretful that I only had one body.
What I meant was, the “potential death flags” hanging over my students’ heads were making me nervous.
Students like Michelle and Charlotte were still inside the academy.
In other words, while I was down in the basement, I wouldn’t be able to protect them.
‘It would be a real problem if they died while I wasn’t there.’
But if Lepista’s Wand fell into Regita’s hands, it would also be a bad ending.
To reach the happy ending, Charlotte needed her own dedicated weapon.
That’s why I briefly entertained the absurd notion of wishing I had two bodies.
Anyway, I had to hurry.
‘A rift?’
Regita had already begun her transfer to this location.
If I wanted to make the most of my head start, I had to move quickly.
“…rian!”
One body to investigate the underground, and another to remain at the academy…
“Adrian! Professor Adrian!”
“…?”
Hearing the voices, I couldn’t help but flinch and turn around.
Michelle, Charlotte, Isabel, Lotten…
The ones who absolutely should not be here were running towards me with all their might.
Charlotte was even carrying Michelle in her arms, princess-style.
“Professorrrr! S-Save us! Professor!”
“What is this?”
What was going on?
I looked around in bewilderment.
This wasn’t the classroom.
This was the construction site.
“Professor! Save us! Professor!”
“Professor! I’m scared!”
This was driving me crazy.
This must be what it felt like to be swarmed by baby penguins.
The problem was that I couldn’t just toss these kids out of the barrier right now.
Regita would be here in about ten seconds.
I needed to conceal myself immediately, but… In any case, I had to push aside these distracting thoughts in this situation.
“You’re all getting point deductions. You little shits.”
“Yes, sir!”
It was a good deal if they could trade point deductions for their lives.
Wearing such expressions, the students clung to my arms and legs.
I immediately threw myself into the depths below.
Damn.
To think I considered these fools my students.
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[sorry fellas i accidentally uploaded a future chapter instead of the correct one, i hope you didnt mind the spoilers]
