454 – The Results of the Special Class -1-

“Entrance is forbidden.”

Outside the doors of the academy auditorium where the opening ceremony was in progress, the disciplinary committee members looked at the outsider before them with cold eyes.

“If you proceed any further, you will be considered an intruder.”

It was clear the person wasn’t from the academy.

“…”

Because no one at the academy would wear tattered, old grey rags.

In the academy filled with reason, if anything, they would wear more clothes, never something that looked so pathetic.

From the start, the outsider standing before them wasn’t wearing a uniform.

The man, clad in rags, spoke in a calm voice to the student council officer.

“I have business at the Academy.”

“If you have business, you may visit the Academy office after the opening ceremony. Another student council member will guide you…”

The man, cutting off the well-meaning refusal of the student council officer, continued to speak, his tone unwavering.

“I wish to stand upon the lectern.”

An absurd request, to wish to stand upon the lectern.

“What… are you saying?”

“I said I wish to stand upon the lectern.”

“Haa…”

The student council officer, encountering a troublemaker after a long absence, furrowed his brow and clenched his fist. Every so often, some vagrants, clinging to past glories, would request to hold a lecture.

‘I am an Academy alumnus!’, ‘Back in my day, I ran a large enterprise!’, they would declare, demanding their impudent requests be granted. Thus, the male student council officer, believing he’d been saddled with yet another bothersome task, hardened his expression and spoke with a more forceful tone.

“Do you understand that such a request is exceedingly rude?”

“I bring good tidings.”

“…”

“Tidings so fine that, if heard by many, all would benefit. If you could grant me but a moment, I am certain we could share a conversation of great significance.”

“I told you, it is not possible. Please return and follow the proper procedures.”

“Are you now obstructing the steps of a clergyman?”

“…Even a high priest of the Goddess Church cannot enter the Academy indiscriminately.”

“Hmph… I’ve never seen such a boorish person.”

“…”

Rohan, on patrol, noticed his junior standing with a troubled expression and slowly approached. He sensed that the atmosphere between the two was not ordinary.

Carefully placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, Rohan deliberately raised his voice as he approached the arguing pair.

“What’s going on here!”

“Senior…! This person is making strange requests…”

“Strange requests…?”

“He wants to stand upon the lectern…”

Rohan, remaining vigilant, stared at the man who had pulled his robe low, obscuring his face.

*He’s hiding his face.*

Before the vacation, he would have approached the man and intimidated him, but since the special class, he had been warned to always be wary of ambushes.

*-Never close the distance just because the opponent seems weak.*

*-As if there would be a fool like that…*

*-Rohan, you had a fight with your girlfriend three months ago, didn’t you?*

*-How did you…*

*-I saw you. Walking with a tanned, blonde, fourth-year male student…*

*-You little… Tell me more!!!*

*-See.*

Honestly, the man before him was not someone who seemed to warrant caution.

The form visible beneath the robe was exceedingly thin, and his listless voice sounded as if he would collapse at the slightest touch.

“…”

However, suspicious of one or two aspects, Rohan forced away his hardened expression, placed a hand on his junior’s shoulder, and spoke.

“Just follow me for now.”

“Senior…!”

“Would you mind waiting here for a moment?”

He needed to get his junior to safety first.

“Alright.”

Having received the reply, Rohan moved a distance away from the man, far enough that he couldn’t eavesdrop, and looked at his junior with a tense expression.

“I’ll handle this, Senior!”

“No.”

“Still, you’re busy… if you’d entrust it to me…”

Rohan whispered softly to his junior, who looked apologetic.

“What did he say?”

“…Pardon?”

“What did that man say?”

“He… he said he had good words prepared… and wanted to stand on the podium to give a speech.”

“…Haa…”

Rohan whispered in his junior’s ear, his voice low.

“I’ll take care of things here, you go and get reinforcements.”

“…Pardon?”

“Shhh. Don’t give it away, move quickly.”

‘Good words.’

‘Impertinent request.’

‘A place with many people gathered.’

Just those three keywords alone were enough for him to guess the purpose he had in standing here now.

He could readily surmise what intentions this man harbored as he walked onto this stage.

Heretic.

He didn’t know what business the Empire’s troublemaking faction had finding their way here.

Tense, Rohan forced a smile and approached the man before him, speaking casually.

“I heard the story. You wish to stand on the podium.”

“…”

“I’ll go and speak with the other departments, so if you could just wait a little while…”

“Is the other brother going somewhere?”

“He said he urgently needed the restroom, so I sent him on his way. Feel free to tell me anything.”

“You’re not going to call others, are you?”

The moment a negative response escaped the man’s lips, a chilling sensation washed over him.

“…!!”

In that instant, Rohan caught sight of the man’s eyes, visible beneath the shade of his robe.

The swirling black pupils stared at Rohan with a chilling gaze. Rohan’s heart hammered ‘thump’ against his ribs, and instinctively, his hand went to his sword.

“I am a virtuous clergyman.”

He takes a step closer.

“Do not approach.”

Rohan stepped back, a fraction.

“Why so frightened? I’ve merely come to deliver some… uplifting words to the fresh sprouts gathered here.”

“This is your final warning.”

“Yield the platform to me.”

“The platform is not to be yielded to outsiders lightly. Even the Dean himself would not dare to simply give it away. I cannot relinquish it to an outsider.”

“Oh dear… brother.”

As the man’s words ceased, Rohan realized where the man’s gaze, so fixed upon him, was truly directed.

*My neck.*

Like a predator eyeing the nape of its prey, the man’s unwavering gaze locked onto his throat. Rohan clenched his fist, squeezing his eyes shut, grasping the truth of the intent behind that look.

*Damn it!*

– *Whirr!*

The sound of air being sliced.

At the same instant, a blade, reflecting the sunlight, danced before Rohan’s eyes, narrowly missing its mark.

One second.

Had he hesitated even slightly.

Or, had he not even considered creating distance between them in the first place, the black flash would have severed his neck, choked the life from him without question.

“Heh heh heh…”

A mocking, unsettling laughter began to echo, giving Rohan’s startled mind no quarter.

“You’re quite observant.”

“…Prepare for battle!”

“That’s why I dislike people who are so perceptive.”

Despite the failed ambush, the man’s gaze remained fixed on Rohan’s throat.

“Just a touch further and I would’ve lopped it right off.”

“…”

He could feel it.

The man before him was unlike any foe he had ever faced.

More merciless than even Ricardo’s trials, which at least hadn’t been lethal, and a greater threat than the spiders he’d carved through hundreds of times within the dungeons. This reality hit him like a physical blow.

With tension pressing down like a physical weight, the man pulled down his hood, revealing the face hidden beneath.

“I really can’t stand these acts. Uplifting words, my foot… how corny.”

“You are…!”

“…Oh? You know me?”

Rohan dredged his memory, studying the man’s features intently. The mantis-like face. The sneering eyes, and the insectoid cast of the man’s whole being.

“…Mantis.”

The adventurer hunter ‘Pascal’.

Rohan’s eyes widened at the arrival of the figure who had once rocked the Empire, and he drew the sword from his belt, his gaze never leaving the man before him.

*Damn it…! Why is this monster here…!*

He’d heard tell of the escape of the Black Sanctum prisoners, but had dismissed it as something unrelated to him. Surely no criminal would be so bold as to target the Academy.

That the worst of those criminals was now standing before him filled him with a mounting dread.

“Calm yourself.”

The saving grace was that he wasn’t going into this with zero knowledge about his opponent.

“– They say he has the ability to control people.”

Rohan wrung out the story Ricardo had told him from his mind, widening the distance between them.

“…What the hell?”

The chilling bloodlust emanating from the man froze his mind, solidifying his thoughts.

*That b*stard wasn’t lying.*

A more intense bloodlust than Ricardo had ever projected made Rohan bite his lip.

*I could barely endure Ricardo’s bloodlust up to the mantis…! A stronger monster, you say…!*

Every joint in his body seemed to scream, feeling the malice. A warning, screaming at him to flee, to run away now, or he might die.

“You…”

“Everyone, widen the distance!”

“What did you hear from him…?”

“Don’t let his attack touch you!!!”

“I’m asking you.”

– *Swish!*

Watching Pascal’s dagger approach, Rohan spurred his stiff body, narrowly avoiding the incoming blade with a horizontal dodge.

“Hah…!”

He had to think.

He didn’t know why the adventurer-hunter was reacting so violently, but he needed to quickly formulate a plan in the gap of his irrationality.

If what Ricardo had told him was true, then the adventurer-hunter clearly boasted an overwhelming advantage in a one-versus-many situation.

“Disciplinary committee students, leave the battle immediately and bring the professors. Move!”

“Senior, we also…!”

“Don’t interfere!!!”

He had to separate the people.

If Ricardo’s words were true, then there shouldn’t be anyone here for him to unleash his hidden potential.

Even one more…

“Where do you think you’re going…?”

The moment the disciplinary committee members, following Rohan’s plan to call the professors, tried to escape, a faint *’pit’* sound could be heard as small scratches began to appear on their lips.

It was too fast to see with the naked eye.

“…What?”

The moment he regained his senses, his juniors had small cuts on their hands and necks, blood flowing from the wounds.

“An adult is talking…”

The members, who had been running towards the auditorium, stopped in their tracks and stood there grotesquely. As if their joints were tied to strings, they wore bewildered expressions.

“Why is everyone standing still! Hurry, get the teachers!!”

One of the members, trembling with fear, looked at Rohan and said in a wavering voice.

“Senior…”

“…”

“My body…won’t listen!”

Damn it…!

He thought he had prepared quickly, but Rohan bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden assault on the group.

“I asked you.”

“…”

“The word ‘Mantis’. Where did you hear it?”

“…”

Pascal, radiating a chilling aura as he approached Rohan, held a dagger brimming with dark magic in a reverse grip, awaiting his reply.

“Speak.”

“…”

“Tell me about him. His location. The things he cherishes. Tell me with your own mouth. If you comply willingly, I’ll craft you into a beautiful work of art.”

“…Isn’t that the same as saying you’ll kill me?”

“At least I’ll kill you without pain.”

“…”

“So that you don’t die by the hands of your precious juniors.”

-Crack.

His juniors were holding swords.

Rohan clenched his fist, seeing the trembling gazes of his juniors staring back at him with fear-filled eyes.

‘He had to.’

Before even greater enemies arrived.

He needed to steel his resolve.

At least, before the junior he’d just sent away returned with reinforcements…!

“Silence. Mantis. How dare a mere insect attempt to dine with humans.”

He had to protect this place.