Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 17

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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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Chapter 17
Boom!
The explosion rocked the Great Hall violently.
A Mana Stone Explosion concentrated into a single point created a towering pillar of fire.
Though the scene was grim, the crowd erupted in cheers. The timing of the blast had been too perfect.
The moment the Headmaster gathered his weight and raised his Aura, the explosion detonated with surgical precision. The timing was so perfectly orchestrated that everyone assumed the explosion itself was part of the show he’d prepared.
“Empty-air answer-preservation!!”
The crowd had even begun spouting that bizarre phrase.
“No, no way. This is a nightmare, right? It has to be. It absolutely has to be!”
Mailo struck his own cheek with his fist. The sharp sound cracked through the air, and his head snapped to the side.
“Huh? It hurts…”
“Because it’s not a dream.”
“So it’s not a nightmare?”
“Why are you acting like that when you’re the one who moved it?”
“Moved it? What do you mean by—”
“Did you forget already? You helped me carry it from the Underground Warehouse.”
Mailo’s eyes went blank. As the memory belatedly surfaced, he let out a panicked cry.
“That was a bomb?!”
“It seems like it was.”
“This is insane! You ordered me to do it!”
Mailo thrashed about, shouting in desperation.
“Do you have proof?”
“…Proof?”
Mailo’s mouth hung open.
“Well, don’t worry anyway. All the Republic agents who started this are dead now. We just need to keep our mouths shut, and we’re fine.”
“R-right? I didn’t know anything about it, I swear!”
“Right, I’ll keep it quiet for the most part. Don’t stress yourself.”
“For the most…part?”
“For the most part.”
Mailo stared at me with a crumpled expression. It was exactly the look of someone gazing upon a devil or a con artist. It wasn’t even the harshest glare I’d ever received.
Still, Mailo had no choice but to nod.
Then—
“Eeeeeek! Eeeeeeeek!!”
Someone let out a bizarre shriek and bolted frantically from the Great Hall.
It was Evangelyne. Her face drained of color, she ran for her life, with Andy chasing after her.
“Come on.”
I followed in Evangelyne’s wake.
Evangelyne ran without pausing to catch her breath, her panic absolute.
She stopped in front of a cube-shaped rectangular building—the Central Library.
“Wait, the Central Library isn’t open right now?!”
Mailo cried out urgently.
Elysium Academy harbored several taboos. The Central Library held one of them.
[The Central Library may only be used during Operating Hours.]
It sounded like a typical school urban legend, but the problem was that unlike school folklore, Elysium Academy’s taboos were real.
‘Breaking a taboo triggers a Crack at a certain probability.’
However, at this early stage, that probability was extremely low. It only became meaningful probability from the midpoint onward.
But I had possessed the body in Hard Mode. The Hard Mode might have accelerated the occurrence of Cracks.
“If she goes in there—”
I grabbed Mailo, who was about to rush forward. He turned to look at me with a grimace.
“The Central Library can only be entered by authorized students when it’s not Operating Hours. It’s dangerous. We have to stop her right now.”
Mailo’s expression turned serious. He looked ready to throw a punch. Whenever students were involved, the boy became earnest.
“What if she had permission?”
“What—. You don’t know how picky the Central Library is. Not even ten students in the entire academy have been granted entry authorization to the Central Library.”
“Is that so?”
I gestured toward Evangelyne.
Despite it being outside Operating Hours, the main entrance of the Central Library stood wide open. Anyone could see it was extending a very warm welcome.
“Huh?”
Mailo blinked dumbly.
Just then, Evangelyne and Andy slipped through the main entrance.
“Come on.”
I stepped toward the Central Library.
This time, Mailo didn’t object about authorization or anything else.
* * *
‘Whoa—’
Upon entering the Central Library, Andy let out an audible gasp of wonder.
A stunningly surreal landscape unfurled before him.
The Central Library was a world made entirely of books.
Books were stacked like buildings and towers, and other books walked between them. Some books had set up stalls like a marketplace, and some were haggling with one another. It was a world constructed entirely of books.
“Whoa—”
Andy gazed in pure wonder.
Then, a Book Carriage came into view. As the book-horse whinnied, paper scraps fluttered down.
“Get on!”
Following Evangelyne, who was already aboard, Andy climbed on as if entranced, and the carriage began to move slowly.
The surrounding landscape swept past at dizzying speed. They crossed a bridge made of books over a Book Lake, and arrived at an enormous castle constructed of books.
The carriage came to a stop in front of a Banquet Hall within the castle. A chandelier made of books gleamed, and the books swayed and brushed against each other as if dancing.
At the center of the Banquet Hall sat a book wearing a Crown. As the crowned book stood, the other books crumpled deferentially.
Andy knelt in response to the atmosphere.
“Wow, it’s a king.”
But Evangelyne remained standing stiffly and let out a gasp of admiration. Andy realized his mistake too late and turned to look at her.
The surrounding books each trained their pages like blades. The paper was as sharp as a spear. Evangelyne’s face went pale.
Then, the crowned book fanned its pages. The other books took a step back.
The crowned book opened and closed its pages toward Evangelyne.
“What? You’re asking me to be your queen? Are you insane?”
Evangelyne shrieked indignantly.
The atmosphere grew frigid in response.
The books that had withdrawn stepped forward menacingly. The paper they extended glowed with a vivid blue light.
‘Aura? Are these books warriors?’
It was unbelievable, but then again, this place itself was beyond reality.
Sensing the ominous shift, Andy grabbed Evangelyne in panic.
“Just go along with it.”
“No. It’s not my thing.”
“But they’re just books?”
Evangelyne was lecturing him about her preferences as if the opponent were a person, and Andy felt dizzy. He steadied himself.
“Just act the part, even if it’s not your preference.”
“I can’t do something so dishonest. And what kind of romance do you have with a book anyway? You’re weird.”
At Evangelyne’s sharp tone, Andy found himself thinking for the first time that he wanted to punch someone.
The crowned book rustled. It seemed to be trying to say something.
“Oh, is that so? I’m sorry, I misunderstood. You see, I’m just too popular.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s not asking me to marry him. It’s just offering me a Crown?”
“Then take it.”
“How can I just take something from a stranger? You don’t just accept things handed over without knowing what they are.”
In this bizarre place, Evangelyne was being oddly principled, and Andy squeezed his eyes shut then opened them again. He reminded himself that his companion was Evangelyne.
“That’s not a person—it’s a book.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“So let’s take it. It’ll suit you well, I think.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, totally! Completely!”
“Mm.”
As Andy casually gave a thumbs up, Evangelyne made a sound of acknowledgment.
“I’ll take it.”
Evangelyne received the Crown.
The Crown was far too ornate for a book to hold. It was the kind of crown that suited an emperor or a pope more than a king.
When Evangelyne, already presentable in appearance, put it on, it looked splendid.
The surrounding books fluttered their pages in applause.
“Wow, Evangelyne. That Crown really suits you.”
Andy offered his praise with forced cheerfulness.
Evangelyne looked—no, looked down upon—Andy.
“Ahem. Queen Evangelyne, if you please.”
For her to actually say such a thing aloud. Andy found himself impressed anew.
“Do you feel like something’s changed?”
“Hmm…”
Evangelyne adjusted the Crown and held her chin high with pretension.
“My confidence has surged! I am Queen Evangelyne!”
Andy deliberately averted his gaze from the spirited Evangelyne.
Then, beside Evangelyne, a strange phenomenon occurred.
It began as a small, monochrome shimmer. The shimmer wavered for a moment, then suddenly twisted and split like a scar ripped open by a wild beast.
A wound carved into space itself. At this impossible sight, Andy recalled the Headmaster’s warning.
“A-a Crack!”
“A Crack? What’s that?”
“The warning the Headmaster gave us! Wait, did you not listen to anything?!”
“How dare you address a Queen so disrespectfully.”
“We need to run, now!”
Andy spun around urgently. That’s when something grabbed him.
The monochrome shimmer that had expanded caught Andy around the neck. An invisible force pulled him toward the Crack.
The Headmaster’s warning echoed: when near a Crack, one person gets pulled in.
‘Why me of all people!’
Andy struggled desperately, but it was hopeless.
Then, suddenly, the pulling stopped. When he turned his head, Evangelyne was gripping the shimmer wrapped around his neck with her bare hand.
“Hehe. The Queen, Evangelyne, will handle this, so rest assured.”
Evangelyne laughed with a brilliant smile. It was magnificently cool.
But only for an instant.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Evangelyne was dragged in entirely.
“That didn’t solve anything!”
Andy thrust his hand out desperately. Evangelyne batted his hand away.
“I’m the one who decided to go in, so I take responsibility. I’m Queen Evangelyne, after all.”
At Evangelyne’s insistence on maintaining her dignity even as she was pulled in, Andy’s teeth clenched hard.
The Headmaster had said that if a Crack appeared, you must absolutely flee and report it to the Guard. That was the only way to have any chance of survival.
He knew that perfectly well, yet his body moved of its own accord.
‘Has her Sick Resolve infected me.’
It seemed to have infected him quite thoroughly indeed.
“I’m coming with you!!”
Andy grabbed Evangelyne as she was consumed by the Crack.
Both of them were dragged into the Crack.
A strange sensation overwhelmed them.
It felt similar to when they’d entered the Central Library, but the intensity was incomparably violent.
Soon, dampness pressed against their skin. As Andy cautiously opened his eyes, a dark, dingy Corridor came into view. The problem was the color of the Corridor.
It was blood-red. As if painted over with blood itself—
‘No, this actually is blood.’
Moreover, it wasn’t fresh blood, but a dark, rotten blood. A nauseating stench assaulted his nostrils.
So this was a Crack—. Andy’s face went ashen.
“Hmm, is this a maze?”
Just then, Evangelyne murmured beside him. When he turned, he saw her calmly examining the Corridor.
Evangelyne wasn’t frightened in the slightest; in fact, her eyes were sparkling. Andy spoke in a sharp voice.
“We fell into a Crack! We’re in serious trouble!”
“Why? Even if you tumble into a mole’s burrow, you can escape if you keep your wits about you.”
“A mole’s burrow?! This is more like a tiger’s den!”
“Moles are cuter than tigers though!”
“What does cuteness have to do with any of this—”
Andy wiped his face with his hand.
Damn it, I should have refused from the start! Now I remember why the boss paid so generously!
“Don’t worry! Trust me. We’ll get out just fine.”
Evangelyne spoke with overflowing confidence.
For the typically gloomy and dreary Evangelyne to be so self-assured, there had to be something to it.
Come to think of it, Evangelyne was different from her usual self. Normally she slouched with an uneasy gaze, but now her posture was straight and her eyes were crystal clear. She wasn’t even wearing those silly bug-eyed glasses.
She looked nothing like someone with Sick Resolve.
“How exactly do we escape?”
Andy asked, his eyes bright with anticipation.
Evangelyne answered confidently.
“Hehe! I just have a feeling about it!”
Her voice was so self-assured that Andy momentarily found himself swayed.
“…A feeling?”
“Yeah! Totally! It’s like—bam!—I’ve got it! A feeling! Just trust me!”
Evangelyne shouted excitedly.
Andy couldn’t hold back and threw a punch.

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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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