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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“What the…”
Sergei, arriving late at the scene, stared at the mountainside in disbelief. A massive, black carcass, split in two, lay sprawled across the mountain.
It was Untier, the ancient monster that even the Majins hadn’t been able to defeat.
“It’s shocking enough that it awakened…”
Unbelievable things were happening one after another. The barrier at the Imperial University had been breached. Untier’s seal, thought to be unbreakable, had been broken. And Untier itself had been killed.
Sergei closed his eyes, recalling the massive sword of light he had witnessed last night.
He had initially assumed it was a Majin, as he couldn’t imagine a human wielding such power. But it had been Schlus, destroying Untier…
‘This is complicated.’
Schlus had been portrayed as a hero since the civil war. But this incident could elevate him to godhood.
That pillar of light, to those who didn’t know the truth, looked like a divine miracle. Under normal circumstances, the Emperor would have eliminated Schlus without hesitation. But the presence of an unknown enemy within the Empire complicated matters.
If Untier’s release was also their doing, then Schlus had thwarted their plans twice.
The Emperor couldn’t afford to eliminate such a powerful weapon, especially when the risk of retaliation was so high.
“You’re here, Professor Sergei.”
“Professor Ludwig. You’ve been working hard.”
Ludwig approached him, his hand outstretched. Sergei shook his hand, his expression grim.
Ludwig looked terrible.
‘He needs to exercise.’
If he exercised regularly, he wouldn’t be so exhausted. Sergei made a mental note to offer him some training.
“My condolences.”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard one of your graduate students died.”
“Ah. It’s fine. He doesn’t deserve to be mourned. He was a fool, lacking in talent but full of ambition, seduced by evil.”
“…”
Sergei nodded, watching Ludwig’s indifferent expression. His own assistant was also missing.
He had heard that one of the attackers had escaped… Sergei couldn’t shake the feeling of foreboding.
“It’s… enormous. Look at that thick hide.”
“Yes… We were almost doomed.”
Ludwig crossed his arms, grinding his teeth. He couldn’t bring himself to praise Schlus. It was unthinkable. That bastard was causing him nothing but headaches.
“You’re not suggesting we cover this up, are you?”
“It’s impossible to cover up.”
“That’s true…”
The entire capital had witnessed it. Perhaps even the entire Empire, or even the entire continent.
There was no hiding it. No matter what they did, the praises for Schlus would only grow louder. And so would the number of those who sought to eliminate him.
“Ah, I had something interesting commissioned while I was away.”
“Something interesting…?”
Sergei snapped his fingers and pulled a small, cube-shaped box from his coat pocket. Ludwig immediately recognized it.
“An artifact.”
“Yes. I had it specially made by a trustworthy Majin.”
“May I ask about its function?”
Ludwig examined the intricate spells within the box, but he quickly felt dizzy and gave up. It wasn’t something he could decipher in a day or two.
The Majin’s spellcasting methods were different from those of humans, making it even more difficult to understand.
“It detects the power of a Majin.”
“…”
Ludwig’s jaw tightened.
The intention was clear. He suspected a Majin was behind the recent attacks. There was certainly reason to be suspicious.
The attackers who had breached the university’s barrier had easily dispelled Ludwig’s spells.
It was a feat that required considerable magical skill, even with multiple assistants. But the attackers, based on their corpses, were mostly orphans and commoners. It was unlikely they had received proper magical training.
The Untier incident was also suspicious. Ludwig had personally trained Yusek. He knew the boy’s limitations.
It was impossible for him to fight Schlus Hainkel, even with Schlus’s injured arms, on equal footing.
The rapid improvement in his abilities was suspicious. If it was the power of a Majin, it would explain everything.
“The corpses from the attack on the university… their blood hasn’t dried yet, has it?”
“Yes. We’ve extracted and preserved the blood for analysis.”
Ludwig led Sergei to the storage room. He couldn’t believe a Majin was behind this. If it was true, then they were fighting both humans and Majins.
A Majin using humans to destroy the Empire… If they fought such an enemy, the entire continent would be devastated.
“The power of a Majin… a trace amount, but… yes, it’s detectable.”
“…”
A blue light emanated from the artifact. Ludwig bit his lip.
“Next, let’s examine the graduate students’ corpses.”
The graduate students’ bodies hadn’t been processed yet. They went to the morgue and stood before Yusek’s corpse, his chest cavity gaping open.
They extracted his blood and applied it to the artifact. It glowed blue.
Both groups had traces of a Majin’s power. The attackers who had breached the university and the graduate students who had released Untier were connected.
“That artifact… is it reliable?”
“It has to be.”
“…”
Ludwig nodded at Sergei’s firm response.
The artifact was designed to detect the Majin who had violated the peace treaty by sharing their power with humans.
It would be accurate for innocent Majins. If it malfunctioned, it meant the Majin who had created it was the culprit.
Regardless, it was clear that a Majin was using humans to attack the Empire.
“The report to His Majesty—”
“I will handle it.”
Ludwig turned away.
He already had a headache just thinking about the wording. How was he supposed to tell the Emperor that the Empire was at war with an unknown force led by a Majin?
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“Here, Mr. Hainkel. Open wide. Ahhh.”
“Ahhh…”
Damn it.
I couldn’t tell if the food was going into my mouth or my nose. I had to endure the humiliation of being fed soup by Emilia in the middle of the student cafeteria.
If this had been at the residence, it wouldn’t have been so embarrassing.
“Emilia.”
“Yes, Mr. Hainkel?”
“Did we really have to eat in the cafeteria?”
“I had no choice. We ran out of ingredients at the residence… It’s my fault for not going grocery shopping.”
“…”
Was it really her fault? Or was she doing this on purpose?
If she was trying to embarrass me to death, she was succeeding. But there was something even more unexpected.
“…Therefore, the circuits in the right and left arms cancel each other out. The only thing left to calculate is the body’s circuit.”
“Mr. Hainkel, should I write this down too?”
“Yes…”
I hadn’t expected Emilia to follow me to class. It wasn’t against the rules to bring an attendant, but even the laziest nobles didn’t bring their attendants to take notes.
It was considered unseemly. I had the excuse of having injured arms, but…
“Ah, the eraser… the eraser…”
“…”
It was still embarrassing. I could feel the other students staring at me. It was mortifying.
“Teacher, you shouldn’t stay still just because you’re injured. You need to use your arms. So, how about we spar today?”
“What are you talking about, Trie…? My muscles are torn. Using them will only make it worse.”
“Huh? I recovered from a torn calf muscle by jogging lightly every day. You need to use your muscles.”
“…”
I was speechless. I didn’t even dare to ask how long her “light jogs” were. Trie’s body was simply built differently. I should ignore her.
‘Who is that?’
I tried to focus on the lecture, but someone was catching my eye. A figure wearing a thick coat and a hat pulled low over their face.
I had never seen them in combat magic class before. And there was one extra person in the classroom. If someone had infiltrated the classroom, it was likely that person.
“Trie, stay alert.”
“Hmm?”
“Ainz, don’t cast any spells, no matter what. This classroom is too small for your firepower.”
“Uh…? What are you talking about?”
I kept my gaze fixed on the back of the figure’s head as I whispered instructions to Trie and Ainz.
I was ready to jump at any moment.
‘Appraisal.’
I used my ability to reveal the figure’s identity.
Gender: Female
Eldest daughter of the Lichtenburg family. First-year student at the Freya Imperial University…
“Erica?”
What was she doing here? Auditing the class?
I felt like an idiot for being so tense.
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