All-Master Player Of The Academy [EN]: Chapter 103

52. Complex World – 1

What could I say? I’d caught a demon.

The Scarlet Kingdom had picked a fight during the process, but they were the ones who started it.

Still, I had to ask.

“But did you really have to go? If you had information about the demon, you could have just reported it to the Academy.”

One of the missions for upper-class students at Fredon Academy was to defeat demons.

It could have been resolved without Ian going at all.

“I had a personal grudge…”

“A personal grudge? About what?”

“The demon contractor was Dolce Carwin.”

“…Dolce Carwin? Who is…”

“The leader of Blue Moon. I don’t know if the Dean knows, but I interfered with Blue Moon’s operations and became their enemy.”

Ian held out the sword he had brought.

When Karzid looked puzzled, Ian infused the sword with mana.

-Whoo-oong…

A cyan light swirled around the blade.

Karzid recognized it instantly.

“That’s the Moonlight Sword?!”

“Yes. I got it by defeating Dolce.”

A cyan sword.

Anyone in the know recognized it as the Blue Moon leader’s signature weapon.

Karzid had nothing more to say.

Ian had caught a demon contractor and a demon.

Moreover, the demon contractor was the leader of Blue Moon, an enemy of many countries and institutions on the continent.

There was no way he could punish a student who had accomplished such a feat.

“Of course, the ending was a bit…intense.”

“I tried to take it easy.”

“I suppose so.”

“And some of my classmates and a few instructors said I did well.”

“That’s true.”

He had heard about the Red City Capital Guard’s cruelty, so he even thought Ian had done well.

As Ian said, some students and instructors in the Academy thought Ian had done well.

“Hoo… I understand.”

“I’m sorry that the Dean will have a hard time because of this.”

“You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Is the Scarlet Kingdom reducing its support for Fredon Academy?”

“That’s true, but don’t worry. I can handle that much on my own.”

Of course, there would be some impact.

There were also students from the Scarlet Kingdom currently enrolled in the Academy.

But there was no need to mention that.

Karzid cut him off and rose from his seat.

“Anyway, you’ve been through a lot. Good job. You can go now.”

“Yes.”

As Ian bowed and left, Karzid stroked his wrinkled face.

“Dean, a guest from the Magic Tower has arrived.”

As he was pondering, an instructor entered after knocking.

Next to him stood an old woman with a grin.

“Welcome, Matri. What brings you here?”

She sat down and spoke leisurely to Karzid.

“I came to make some suggestions from the Magic Tower. I am their representative.”

“A suggestion… What kind of suggestion?”

“I heard about the Scarlet Kingdom. They told you to make Ian your enemy and dispose of him, right?”

How did she know that?

Looking at Matri’s smiling face, he sighed.

“The Magic Tower’s intelligence is truly not to be underestimated. Yes, that’s correct. But why are you here?”

“The Academy will not abandon Ian.”

“…What are you trying to say?”

“Oh, don’t be so wary. The Magic Tower is trying to make a suggestion that will benefit the Academy.”

She smiled and got straight to the point.

“We will support the Academy instead of the Scarlet Kingdom.”

“Send instructors? We already…”

“No.”

She grinned.

“We will create a Magic Tower branch within the Academy. This will improve the quality of magic taught here.”

“…Is that all?”

“Of course not. We will also provide funding. And there will be no more instructor travel expenses.”

They were going to expand the existing partnership.

Karzid stared at her and asked.

“Why are you making such a generous offer all of a sudden?”

“Well, there are many reasons, but I don’t need to be completely honest, do I?”

Karzid frowned as he looked at her smiling face.

“Where are you thinking of establishing the new branch?”

“There happens to be a place with very good ley lines [naturally occurring lines of energy].”

She handed over a document.

The proposed location for the new Magic Tower branch.

It was an abandoned building with traces of black magic and a Balrog altar.

“…Are you going to take over that place completely?”

“Oh? Is that what it sounded like? I just liked the ley lines there.”

Karzid frowned.

The Academy, the Magic Tower, and the Archaeological Society were all vying for the right to investigate that place.

The Magic Tower was making an offer to resolve the conflict.

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Dean, please understand that this is not a bad offer.”

As she spoke kindly and rose to leave, Karzid sighed heavily.

After finishing her meeting with him, Matri headed to the dormitory where the intermediate B class lived.

She was going to meet Oerina while she was there.

When she arrived near the dormitory, she asked a student for Oerina’s location.

She was training in the garden behind the dormitory.

When she went there, Oerina, Haryun, and Wildy were sitting and meditating.

‘Hehe. They are training hard…’

At that moment.

“Hup!”

Oerina raised her hand.

Two magic circles appeared and began to merge.

And.

“Energy Bolt!”

With her shout, the enhanced magic struck the target.

“Ah. Two is easy now. Three is the problem.”

“Hoo-oo…”

Haryun, sighing softly, opened his eyes.

Three magic circles overlapped on his hand.

“Magic Missile.”

A much larger and more powerful magic missile than usual flew and obliterated the target.

Meanwhile, Wildy also combined two magic circles and summoned a stronger wind.

Matri’s mouth dropped open at the method, which was completely different from traditional magic.

“Yo, you… What, what are you doing…?”

“Huh?! Grandma!!”

Oerina, who spotted Matri, jumped up.

As she ran towards her, Matri asked urgently.

“What did you do just now?! That’s… That’s… The lost magic kingdom’s…!”

A voice came from behind her.

“It’s a magic enhancement method.”

Matri slowly turned her head.

Ian stood there, his expression neutral.

Matri sat down in the dormitory garden.

After gathering her thoughts while sipping the tea that Haryun had made, she asked.

“The magic enhancement method that the children are using… Do you know that it’s the method of the Magic Kingdom?”

Ian nodded at Kirke’s report.

“I didn’t expect anyone to recognize it.”

“O, of course I know. The Magic Tower preserves some of the abandoned technologies to some extent. High-circle wizards have the right to access it.”

And such enhancement methods were one of the most important technologies in the Magic Tower.

“I see.”

Matri hesitated at Ian’s lukewarm reaction.

‘Could it be that last time…’

She remembered their first meeting at the Curtid Ruins.

He supposedly had no talent.

He couldn’t even reach the 1st circle until before the vacation, but he became the 3rd circle during the vacation.

After visiting the Forgotten City.

He suddenly created a circle there, and now he is teaching abandoned technology?

Anyone would draw the same conclusion.

He obtained the technology of the Magic Kingdom from the Forgotten City.

“What did you find there?”

“I found a lot of things.”

Matri sighed.

She had come to secure the rights to the black magic and the Balrog altar, but she had stumbled upon something far more significant.

“Would you mind coming to the Magic Tower with me?”

Depending on what Ian had found, the Magic Tower’s long-cherished wish might be within reach.

The Magic Tower was a descendant of the Magic Kingdom.

They hoped to reclaim the legacy of their ancestors.

The most important of these was dimensional magic.

The core of all magic and technology related to dimensions had been lost.

Even in the Magic Kingdom, only a select few were taught about dimensions.

And before it could be passed on, the Magic Kingdom collapsed due to a dimensional gate malfunction.

In the process, most of the important technologies and knowledge related to dimensions were lost.

But what if Ian had explored the Forgotten City and found the legacy of the Magic Kingdom?

What if he had obtained technology related to dimensions?

Ian shook his head, meeting Matri’s intense gaze.

“I don’t have time to go, and there’s no reason to go.”

“You said you were an enemy of the Scarlet Kingdom, right, Ian? If you want, our Magic Tower will support you.”

With the Magic Tower’s backing, even the Scarlet Kingdom wouldn’t dare to touch him.

She offered, but Ian shook his head.

Would he have acted so boldly if he cared about the Scarlet Kingdom’s opinion?

“Then can I ask you just one more thing?”

“Please do.”

“What you know is not just magic enhancement, right?”

“Yes.”

That was enough.

Now it was time to employ the Magic Tower’s negotiation skills.

Matri put down her teacup and stood up.

“Thank you for your time. I’ll come again next time.”

“Please do. I’ll see you then.”

“And this is a gift for seeing you after so long.”

Matri removed the pendant from around her neck and offered it to him.

It seemed to be an artifact with considerable magical power.

“I made it. It contains Reverse Gravity.”

“I see. I’ll put it to good use.”

As Ian took the pendant, Matri turned to leave, then paused.

“Do you ever think about coming to the Magic Tower?”

“No.”

“Okay. I understand.”

As she left the garden, Ian sipped his tea.

“Leave it be. The desperate party will reach out. The Magic Tower will handle the fallout at the Academy caused by this incident, so let’s wait for now.”

* * *

The Scarlet Kingdom officially cut off support for the Academy.

This caused quite a stir.

Some students from the Scarlet Kingdom took a leave of absence at their families’ behest.

Some even withdrew from the intermediate class, but the Academy didn’t react much.

This was because the Magic Tower had stepped in to fill the void.

Moreover, they were providing not only financial support but also instructors.

And next year, even the Lords [high-ranking mages] would come and directly teach magic to the Academy students.

Thanks to this, even institutions that hadn’t supported the Academy before began to offer their assistance.

In the end, the Academy was able to continue its schedule without any major disruptions.

“Congratulations.”

Ian received the medal for the individual winner of the Hero Festival once again.

He glanced at the medal hanging on his chest.

He had now collected three Hero Badges.

In addition, he had trained the entire intermediate B class enough to promote them to the upper class.

He turned his gaze to Aranse.

Ian smiled at him, who looked both happy and regretful, and said to Kirke.

‘Winter vacation will be busy.’