Chapter 2669 – 2669. God’S Atlantis

I opened the glass case and took out the bracelet.

It was a dazzling bracelet, densely studded with small jewels. It wasn’t just a beautiful bracelet.

「Starway
A bracelet imbued with the magic of Archmage Hallen.
If you possess a magic (B) related trait or skill, you can learn Archmage Hallen’s magic arrow.
Rank: B」

Compared to the effort I put in, Starway’s performance was lackluster.

I don’t have any magic-related traits or skills, so I can’t learn Hallen’s magic arrow.

‘If it’s a B-rank or higher magic-related trait… most wizards can’t learn it.’

Elena is also a wizard. But she wouldn’t be interested in Hallen’s magic arrow. Elena’s power far surpasses even Archmage Hallen’s prime.

‘I’ve obtained the second offering.’

I put the bracelet in my inventory and looked around. There were quite a few items on display. Trophies, medals, and so on. Things related to the academy.

‘There’s nothing else worth taking.’

My business was done.

I decided to leave the Imperial Academy. Of course, I would erase or manipulate my traces with deception. Even if they felt something was off, they wouldn’t be able to pinpoint me.

‘Honestly, even though I instigated it a bit, I didn’t expect things to progress this easily. I thought they’d at least verify the rumors… but they didn’t even do that.’

The student council president, Roun, had plenty of time to verify the rumors. The students gathered and pressured him, but that wasn’t the will of all the students at the Imperial Academy. If Roun had responded calmly, I might have had a bit of trouble. But Roun was swept away and sided with the students.

‘Even though I prepared the means, I never thought they’d occupy the academy right away. They must have wanted to do this all along.’

If you take action, you have to take responsibility. Of course, I won’t be among those responsible.

I quietly left the academy.

• • •

The chancellor of the Imperial Academy, Marquis Mercid Comen, a direct descendant of Archmage Hallen, and the senior officials belatedly heard the news about the academy and rushed back in the evening.

Originally, they had planned to have dinner with the Illusion Duke and build rapport. Even for nobles with titles, meeting the Imperial Dukes, including the Illusion Duke, was rare, so they had been looking forward to the day. However, with the academy on the verge of collapse, they had no choice but to return early.

When he saw the academy occupied by the students, he could only gape in shock.

Red, blue, and yellow letters and graffiti adorned the entire academy. The words written there were also absurd.

(Absolutely Oppose Commoner Admission!)

(We’d Rather Perish Than Open Up!)

(The Imperial Academy is a Place of Learning for Nobles, Not Commoners!)

“What… what is this! The school is a mess! There isn’t a single place that’s intact! How did they even graffiti the 3rd and 4th floors?!”

The chancellor vented his anger. The faculty members, who had been chased out of the main building, spoke cautiously.

“The magic department students used magic to float in the air and used something called ‘lacquer’ to graffiti.”

“Were you just watching?!”

“Hundreds of students swarmed in… there was nothing we could do.”

“Guards!! What were you doing?!”

The head of the guards stepped forward with a rotten expression.

“The opponents are students. Our job is not to subdue students. It’s also stated in the contract.”

“Even so, you should have stopped them!!”

“That’s beyond our authority.”

As the chancellor was about to get angry, he noticed the miserable state of the statue of Archmage Hallen. The statue’s head was broken, and its remains were scattered on the floor.

“No, how dare they… our ancestor’s statue!!”

“That was also the work of a student. They seemed to be from the knight department… they were quite strong.”

“Did you see their face?! Did you see their face?!”

“They were wearing a mask, so we couldn’t see them!”

“Wearing a mask? These crazy bastards! They acted very deliberately!!”

“It looks like an impulsive act to me. And these days, masks are essential because of the volcanic ash.”

“Head of the guards! Whose side are you on?!”

“Chancellor. We only do what we’re told. The academy’s problems should be solved by the academy. We have no justification or obligation to intervene in this matter.”

The chancellor glared at the head of the guards once and turned towards the main building. The statue could be restored later. What was urgent now was to stop the students’ protest.

He felt a sense of despair as he looked at the main building, which had become a mess in just a few hours.

‘To turn a deep-rooted and elegant academy into something worse than a beggar’s den… the students’ actions are very disappointing. Shouldn’t they have tried to talk first before protesting? To start a protest and illegal occupation out of the blue…’

Students were standing at the entrance of the main building. At the center of the spirited students was the student council president, Roun.

Roun, who usually treated the chancellor with humility, greeted him with a brazen face.

“…Ahem. Student council president. If you had a complaint, shouldn’t you have told me first before making a mess of the school? You are making a big mistake right now. I’ll give you one last chance. Disperse immediately. And the instigators of this incident will be held responsible.”

“Chancellor. Do you really not know why we’re doing this?! The academy started it first!”

“What did the academy do?”

“Commoner admission! The academy is an educational facility for nobles! We, the students, firmly refuse commoner admission! Chancellor, please withdraw the commoner admission and leave that fact in writing!”

“Commoner admission…? We have never even considered or discussed commoner admission. Where did you hear such a thing and cause this situation?!”

“You’ve never discussed it? Then that’s good. You can announce the withdrawal of commoner admission in an official setting!”

“I’m telling you, there was no such discussion! Why should I withdraw a statement I never made?!”

“Anyway, withdraw it! We will not stop protesting until you withdraw commoner admission! Also, please acknowledge that we will inevitably be unable to attend classes while the protest is ongoing…”

Student council president Roun poured out his demands.

The chancellor’s face turned bright red. Withdraw a statement he didn’t even make? Wasn’t this an attempt to drag his reputation through the mud?

“…Roun!! I’ll say it one last time! Don’t regret it later and disperse immediately!”

“We’ve already stated our position. And you’ll be the one who regrets it.”

“What?”

“We’ve secured documents of your corruption, Chancellor. How can the chancellor of the Imperial Academy embezzle academy funds? Aren’t you ashamed? Along with the withdrawal of commoner admission, please resign from your position.”

“What are you crazy things talking about?! You’ve crossed the line! Head of the guards!! What are you doing! Drag those rioters out of the academy right now!!”

The angry chancellor shouted, pointing his finger. The head of the guards shook his head and stopped the chancellor.

“Please calm down, Chancellor. The opponents are the academy’s current students.”

“Those guys aren’t students, they’re rioters!!”

Roun smirked at the chancellor. Then, he raised his fist high into the sky.

“We cannot tolerate the chancellor’s private school corruption! The chancellor must resign from his position! Also, introduce a direct election system for the chancellor!”

“Withdraw! Resign! Introduce!!”

The students’ voices echoed. The chancellor was going berserk, but the head of the guards held him tightly and wouldn’t let go. The reporters, who had secretly infiltrated the school, watched the scene closely.

The next day.

The depressing Yustia Empire, cursed by the volcanic island, was sprinkled with dopamine in the form of the Imperial Academy.

The commoners clicked their tongues and cursed the foolish actions of the Imperial Academy students, while the imperial family and nobles remained silent for the time being.

• • •

The chancellor, who had completely lost it, couldn’t hold back. Or rather, he couldn’t afford to hold back. If he let the situation go on like this, the Imperial Academy itself would collapse. If that happened, he would have to return the donations, and since the donations had already been used, he would go bankrupt.

‘If I don’t normalize the academy, I’ll go bankrupt!’

The imperial family and nobles did not intervene in this situation. There was nothing to gain by intervening, and there was no real justification either.

‘Using force is the lowest of the low.’

The students of the Imperial Academy are nobles. Using force would mean turning hundreds or thousands of nobles into enemies.

‘I’ll solve it with the Imperial Law.’

The students think they are the owners of the Imperial Academy. But the owner of the academy was the chancellor. The academy is the chancellor’s property.

‘I can’t sue all the students… so I’ll identify and sue only the instigators. I’ll have to bring some of them over to my side and induce internal strife. What’s certain is that I should never forgive the instigator, student council president Roun.’

He had to put an end to this to make sure it never happened again.

The chancellor called in cleaning experts to the academy. And he calculated the cost of restoring the academy.

“…This substance called lacquer cannot be removed with water. We need special chemicals… and since those aren’t produced in the empire… it’s going to cost a lot of money.”

“About how much are we talking?”

“You should expect at least 54 billion pennies.”

“…54 billion…?! If I ask a magician…!”

“It will cost even more. To completely remove the lacquer, you need the power of a high-ranking magician… and even then, you need at least 30 high-ranking magicians. You know how expensive their labor costs are.”

“……”

“Ah, if it were the Illusion Duke, they could restore the entire academy in an instant. They’ve even restored a half-destroyed city with a single spell…”

“……Would the Illusion Duke agree to help?”

“Would the Illusion Duke agree to help?”

The current Illusion Duke was said to be more lenient than before, but the Illusion Duke was still a terrifying being who even dealt with nobles. If you displeased her, you could fall into an illusion and die at any time. It was said that those who earned the Illusion Duke’s enmity were trapped in an infinitely repeating room.

“54 billion… Write me an estimate.”

“Are you really going to clean it? At this point, it would be better to just build a new academy building.”

“That might be a good idea too. Anyway, write me an estimate. The cost will be paid by the academy students.”

The chancellor sued 30 students, including student council president Roun.

A judge was dispatched to the Imperial Academy, and the protesters dispersed. The judge was not someone that lower-ranking nobles could handle. To defy a judge? Even a noble could be executed.

Roun urgently convened a meeting of the Hana Society. However, only a few Hana Society members attended. Only the members who had been sued attended.

“What about the other students?! What happened to the solidarity of the academy students?!”

“…They refused to attend, saying they had nothing to do with this.”

“What about the chancellor’s corruption?! We can sue the chancellor for corruption!”

“…The money used for corruption was not from other nobles’ donations, but from the money the chancellor earned through the academy. Moreover, it was recognized as expenses used for maintaining dignity, not corruption.”

“I, I will be removed from my position as heir if I don’t resolve this! No, I’ll even be disowned! A solution! Is there no solution?!”

Roun asked desperately. But the students gathered there only hung their heads. Some even shed tears.

The situation had become too big to resolve. Even if their families stepped in, there was no way to repay 54 billion pennies. The nobles disowned their children for the sake of their families. It was possible because there were siblings or cousins to replace them.

The noble society was cold.

And the Yustia Empire was not as lenient as modern Korea. The good thing was that they were nobles, so they were spared the death penalty. But now that they were being kicked out of their families, they wouldn’t even be nobles anymore.

“This can’t be… is my life going to end like this?”

“Isn’t it all because of you, president! You take responsibility!”

“What? Didn’t you guys start it first! I was just acting on your opinions!”

Internal strife broke out.

The students passed the blame to each other, and some ran to the chancellor and sold out their colleagues.

54 billion pennies. The chancellor, knowing that it was obviously an amount that 30 students could not handle, decided to sue additional students to extract as much money as possible.

‘I should sue about 100 more students to get the money. It wouldn’t be bad to remodel the academy while I’m at it.’

However, the imperial family and high-ranking nobles, disappointed by this situation, cut off their donations.

The chancellor sued more students and even raised tuition fees. This fact spread widely, and the image of the Imperial Academy plummeted.

The nobles of the empire did not choose nobles from the Imperial Academy, and the commoners cursed the nobles from the Imperial Academy behind their backs.

The students who had their heads screwed on straight withdrew from the academy, and the incoming students for the next year also canceled their admissions. Some nobles who had been watching for an opportunity established new academies and absorbed the students.

In short, the Imperial Academy was ruined. It was ruined very miserably.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Roun, the former student council president, screamed to the sky. But his debt did not decrease. As a price for happily graffitiing the academy, he would live as a slave, drowning in debt for the rest of his life. They couldn’t even get loans from the Imperial Bank.

Unfortunately for them, that wasn’t the end of it. It was later revealed that Starway, which could be called the academy’s treasure, had been stolen. The chancellor, of course, sued the students again, and the students were on the verge of losing their lives.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The academy chancellor also screamed. It was clear that one of the students had taken the family treasure, but he couldn’t find the culprit.

Still, he was in a better situation than the students. Even though his reputation had hit rock bottom, he still had a huge amount of money.

「The gods are enjoying watching the Imperial Academy incident!」

「The Lord of the Sky sponsors 3,000 AP.」
「The King of the Sky Tower sponsors 6,666 AP.」
「The Crescent Moon in the Darkness sponsors 2,000 AP.」
…….

Countless gods sponsored me with AP. The gods seemed to have found this Imperial Academy incident quite amusing.

‘If this had happened in Korea instead of the empire…’

I stopped thinking.