Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 15
“I’ll need to confirm this with the Dean of Student Affairs. For now, could you secure the perimeter?”
The investigator spoke casually as he examined the corpse’s head.
Bedrick, ashen-faced, nodded and moved to comply. He no longer met my gaze.
‘As expected, the Dean’s name comes up.’
The Dean was a specialist in the Republic. He’d be more than capable of identifying one.
The problem was his temperament—the kind of man who flew into a rage at the mere mention of Republicans.
Soon the smell of cigar smoke wafted through. A middle-aged man with a weathered face and heavy features appeared, tapping ash from his cigar.
The Dean himself.
“A Republican showed up?”
“Yes, though we haven’t confirmed the details yet.”
At the investigator’s explanation, the Dean’s gaze turned toward me. His wrinkled eyes held the weight of long experience.
“I don’t recognize this face.”
“A new recruit assigned to Unit 42 of the Security Corps.”
“The elite Security Corps has apparently raised its standards considerably.”
The Dean’s mouth twisted into a barely concealed smirk. Fortunately, his attention soon shifted to the head on the floor.
“Mm.”
The Dean crouched down to examine the head more closely. For a moment, he resembled a detective investigating a crime scene, but what followed was rather shocking.
The Dean smudged the blood that had dripped from the neck with his thumb, tasted it, and took a long smell.
“Used a Curse, did you?”
The Dean turned back to me as he spoke.
While the Empire generally suppressed Black Magic, at Elysium Academy it was treated as a legitimate field of study. There were even professors who taught it.
The logic was simple: if a blade kills someone, the blade isn’t evil—the one wielding it is.
Though handling Black Magic was certainly treated with caution, there was no reason to hide the fact that I knew how to use it.
“Yes.”
“Surprising. You don’t look the gloomy type.”
“That’s discriminatory bias against Black Magic.”
“Sharp-tongued, aren’t you?”
The investigator interjected, and the Dean clicked his tongue lightly before straightening up.
“It’s a Republican, no question.”
“R-really a Republican?”
Bedrick spoke in urgent tones, and the Dean’s gaze fixed on him.
“Do you have objections to my judgment?”
“N-no, sir.”
“Good. I was starting to wonder if we had another Republican on our hands.”
The Dean put the cigar back in his mouth and smiled with a menacing edge. Bedrick flinched and took three steps back.
The Dean exhaled a long plume of smoke and looked back at me.
“A Security Corps recruit capturing a Republican. That’s quite the historical achievement.”
“Luck was on my side. He couldn’t react when I caught him off guard with the Curse.”
“Luck, you say—”
The Dean let out a low chuckle, as if he’d heard an amusing joke.
“We’ll keep this matter secret until the Entrance Ceremony. Everyone needs to keep their mouths shut. That’s an order.”
It was a predictable response.
In the Empire, Republicans were vermin—the kind that spread vicious plagues.
With the Entrance Ceremony coming up soon, word of vermin couldn’t be allowed to spread. Covering it up was the only option.
“There will be a commendation. Don’t worry.”
“The commendation isn’t necessary.”
I offered what the Dean most wanted to hear. His thick eyebrows rose slightly.
“Not necessary?”
“Yes, sir. I was simply doing my duty.”
“Simply doing your duty, he says—”
The Dean regarded me silently, as if trying to read my innermost thoughts. It wouldn’t work.
“Interesting fellow. What’s your name?”
“Grave, sir.”
“A fine name. I’m Logan.”
Logan extended his hand. It was rough, scarred with calluses—a hand like iron.
I took it firmly as I spoke.
“Pleased to meet you, Logan.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
Logan, the aging Sword Master, broke into an open smile.
* * *
Logan handled matters with admirable efficiency and clarity.
Thanks to him, everything was resolved without issue—
The day of the Entrance Ceremony arrived.
‘Mm.’
I opened my eyes slowly at the rustling sound.
Milo was preparing to strike, moving carefully.
I’d shown him a rather frightening side of myself yesterday. Most people wouldn’t dare even make eye contact, yet he kept coming back.
‘He certainly has nerve.’
Nerve couldn’t be trained. You had to be born with it. In that regard, Milo had talent.
Though admittedly, it was still rough around the edges.
“Aaah! I was definitely asleep just now!!”
Milo, another new bruise blooming across his face, let out an exasperated cry.
“What’s the duty assignment for today?”
“Since it’s the Entrance Ceremony, everyone will be deployed to support the Grand Hall.”
“The main entrance to the Grand Hall would suit me.”
“That’s not how duty assignments work—”
Milo grumbled but complied regardless. He was getting quicker to understand.
Soon the roll call began. The atmosphere felt heavier than yesterday, though there was still that same vague sense of something being slightly off.
The Security Corps Captain spouted some appropriately stirring words, the troops responded with rousing voices, and the roll call ended.
Hanswell then distributed the duty assignments.
Whether those I’d killed yesterday had been assigned to the Grand Hall entrance or not, all of us ended up assigned to the area around it.
“Don’t cause any problems today, understood?”
Hanswell’s warning was directed at Milo. Milo looked at me with a face full of complaints, but I simply ignored him.
Soon we departed for the Grand Hall.
The Grand Hall was decorated just like the Entrance Ceremony in the game. Candles floated through the air, tables were laden with food—a typical academy Entrance Ceremony straight out of a light novel.
Unit 42 was positioned some distance from the main entrance. From there, we could see the entire Grand Hall.
I scanned the busy hall slowly.
This was my first time seeing it from this vantage point.
The game had focused so much on the ceremony itself that I hadn’t noticed Security Corps members lurking in the shadows here and there.
“Have you tried the meat? I grabbed some when they were serving and it was insanely good.”
“I had bread. The meat section was packed. But the bread was tasty too.”
“There’ll be leftovers, right?”
“Usually. The freshmen are too excited to eat properly anyway.”
“We’ll finish it all off later.”
The Security Corps members chattered in low voices, gossiping among themselves.
That was when the freshmen began to arrive.
“Wow! It’s so beautiful!”
“There’s food too! This really is a banquet!”
The freshmen exclaimed in excitement, their faces alight. I glanced over them casually.
Just then, the Security Corps members began whispering quietly. Listening in, I realized they were making bets.
“The most handsome? Obviously Killian! The Magic Tower Coalition’s sole heir—he’s got money pouring out of his ears!”
“As if money settles everything.”
“Then what matters?”
“Obviously charm! Have you seen Karel’s skin? It glows!”
They were discussing something rather insubstantial with genuine seriousness.
“The most handsome? Obviously the Crown Prince.”
At one soldier’s words, the others fell silent. There were no counterarguments.
Just then, the main entrance grew loud.
I turned my head. Students were bowing and parting, creating a path through the crowd.
A strikingly handsome blonde man walked through that path as if it were only natural.
‘The Crown Prince.’
The Crown Prince lacked nothing.
He possessed natural talent with Aura, had an upright character, and came from the noble Imperial Family. He seemed like a perfectly flawless man.
Though his true nature was somewhat different.
‘Afflicted with Protagonist Syndrome.’
The Crown Prince was convinced he was the protagonist of the world.
In a way, it made sense. As the Empire’s Crown Prince with genius-level Swordsmanship talent, he had every reason to think of himself that way.
The problem was that the actual protagonist was someone else entirely.
“Squeak-squeak. Squeak-squeak.”
Evangeline, wearing dragonfly goggles, entered noisily. Andy was beside her, her head hung low.
Unfortunately, that was the protagonist.
‘If that’s the protagonist, I’d go insane.’
Familiar figures gathered around the Crown Prince.
Karel, the holy knight trained personally by The Church; Killian, the heir to the Magic Tower Coalition; Taros, son of the Lord of Death; and Raven of the Full Moon—
All of them were familiar to me.
They were Evangeline’s love interest candidates in the game, after all.
All eyes in the hall were drawn to that group.
But my gaze was directed elsewhere.
At the edge of the freshman crowd, like oil that wouldn’t mix with water, stood a group apart.
A girl so gloomy that even dark mages would avoid her; a woman bearing a Cape marking her as a candidate for sainthood, but covered entirely in tattoos; a chubby imperial princess sweating profusely; and just Evangeline.
Ranked from the bottom by entrance exam scores, it was quite the reliable lineup.
“Now, our professors will be entering.”
The female moderator’s voice broke me from my thoughts. The professors began to file in.
“The Twin Witches!”
“And the King of Adventurers is here too?!”
The freshmen spoke in excited tones.
It was certainly an impressive faculty roster. Though it fell somewhat short of my expectations.
‘Disappointing.’
I clicked my tongue softly. From when I saw Leon, I’d felt it—the professors’ standards were unsatisfactory.
“Our Swordsmanship instructor, the Knight of Radiance Professor Rocksvale.”
At the mention of the Knight of Radiance, cheers erupted.
A middle-aged man in a black uniform took the stage to applause.
‘The Knight of Radiance.’
True to academy light novels, Evangeline’s love interests weren’t limited to students.
The Knight of Radiance Rocksvale was a professor, but one of her romantic interest candidates.
That was why I didn’t regard him favorably.
“Where is he?”
“Oh, that’s right—”
Just then, the freshmen noticed someone was missing.
The Knight of Radiance, the Twin Witches, and all the other prominent professors had already taken the stage.
Now that I noticed, the female moderator still held the Magical Device.
The Entrance Ceremony was fundamentally a banquet-style event. Being announced last meant you were particularly significant.
Who exactly would come after the Knight of Radiance?
Just then, the moderator spoke into the Magical Device.
“Professor Leon.”
The moderator’s announcement was brief, but a roar of acclaim erupted immediately.
“Wow! So this is the legendary Unofficial Ten Swords of the Empire—”
“I heard he was the Magic Tower Coalition’s ultimate weapon!”
“Didn’t he catch a dark mage on the train to the academy? One who could even summon demons!”
Now I understood what had happened.
‘Andy did excellent work.’
I’d commissioned Andy to hype Leon up as much as possible, and it seemed he’d performed the task with admirable diligence.
Soon Leon, his complexion pale, ascended the stage. He looked as if he were mounting a gallows.
To my eyes, he looked simply like a corpse—
“Wow, the presence is incredible.”
The freshmen began interpreting on their own.
‘Excellent.’
I nodded with satisfaction.
“The Vice-Headmaster, Cardinal Sen Bandrow, takes the stage.”
At the woman’s words, the Grand Hall fell silent for a moment. There was a sense of reverence different from what had greeted the other faculty.
Soon an elderly man with a kind smile ascended the platform.
With his benevolent features and the distinctive white robes he wore, the old man looked to anyone like a saint. His epithet was indeed “Saint.”
Though his true nature was entirely different.
‘The Pope of Apocalypse.’
Watching him, I tapped the hilt of my sword with my fingers.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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