All-Master Player Of The Academy [EN]: Chapter 126

◈ Chapter 126

63. Surprising Stories – 2

As Ian descended from the tower, he noticed several explorers glaring at him.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“No, the question is, why did you close the dimensional gate?!”

“What are we supposed to do now that you’ve closed it off!”

The artifacts obtainable from the Tower of the Forgotten City were highly valuable.

Their anger was understandable, as they could no longer acquire them.

Ian stared at them, briefly considering eliminating them all, before shrugging.

“Has anyone here been to the fifth floor, where there’s nothing but stairs?”

Several of the enraged explorers raised their hands.

Looking at them, he calmly stated,

“If I hadn’t closed the dimensional gate, this entire place would have ended up like that floor.”

That single sentence silenced everyone.

Having quieted the crowd, Ian slowly raised his hand.

Simultaneously, a magic circle materialized.

He was summoning nearby Guardians.

Kirke, whose search range had expanded due to her second Rebirth, located a Guardian.

Kirke dominated one of them and immediately moved the Guardian towards their location.

The ground rumbled.

The sound of something massive approaching echoed through the area.

The explorers who heard it were bewildered.

“Wh-what is that!?”

-Wooong! Clang! Clang!

The explorers, startled by the Guardian’s approach, raised their weapons, but the Guardian ignored them.

It simply approached Ian and lay down before him.

-Crack!!

Then, it tore off its own armor.

Exposing its weakest point, the mana stone, it absorbed the mana and declared,

“Isn’t this proof enough?”

The Guardians of the Magic Kingdom were unique weapons, so advanced that even the Magic Tower, their descendants, couldn’t control them.

In other words, to command a Guardian, one had to inherit the legacy of the Magic Kingdom.

“So, you’re saying you obtained the legacy of the Magic Kingdom?”

“You could say that.”

“Then why did you close the dimensional gate? If you possess the tower’s legacy, wouldn’t it be more advantageous to acquire artifacts from the tower?”

The other explorers voiced their agreement.

If he had the Magic Kingdom’s legacy, exploring the tower would be easier.

Yet, they couldn’t comprehend his decision to close the tower’s dimensional gate.

Ian simply shrugged.

“Didn’t I mention earlier? If the tower is left unchecked, this continent will become a barren wasteland. Are you saying you desire this continent to become such a place?”

Ian’s sharp retort silenced the explorer.

After that, the remaining explorers continued to ask questions, but Ian easily addressed them.

Having easily silenced everyone, he shrugged again.

“So, what’s the problem with me, who sacrificed the potential gains from the tower to save this world, closing the tower as I see fit?”

As Ian pressed the issue, the explorers who had initially shouted avoided his gaze, and the others distanced themselves from the instigators.

“What color is the blood of you people who only care about money? Is it perhaps gold? I’m tempted to cut you open and find out.”

His sarcasm effectively silenced them.

“Well then. Don’t you have something to say to me?”

“U-um.”

“Thank… you?”

The explorers’ genuine feelings were that they couldn’t help but be grateful.

Instead of attacking them for questioning him, he calmly explained the situation, leading some to realize that Ian was different from the three strongest figures.

“Then, let’s all return to what we were doing. The other world of the tower has reverted to its original state. However, the Dimensional Creatures and Guardians of the Magic Kingdom remain. The dangers of the Forgotten City must still be addressed.”

“Umm……”

“Why? Just going to stand there?”

“That’s… not it, is it?”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

The explorers dispersed without further complaint.

Seeing this, Ise lightly applauded.

“Amazing. Just a moment ago, they were saying they were going to try and catch you.”

“Then, were you planning to come up and catch me earlier?”

“Of course not. I came to protect you in case of an emergency.”

Who was protecting whom, exactly?

Anyway, the task was completed, so it was over.

As Ian packed his bag and prepared to leave, Danju followed him.

“Where are you going?”

By now, the academy’s advanced promotion exam would be over, and the semester would have begun.

“I’m planning to return to the academy for now.”

* * *

The academy’s promotion exam, which had been held throughout the winter vacation, had concluded.

As expected, all of the Intermediate Class B students successfully advanced to the Advanced Class without difficulty.

However, their expressions were not particularly cheerful.

“Ian has finally left the academy,” Wildy muttered, and Aranse nodded in agreement.

Of course, it was a leave of absence, but the duration was unspecified.

However, since his name still remained on the rolls of Fredon Academy, he could remain a member of Advanced Class B.

Still, the fact that he was gone remained unchanged.

“That guy… he should have said goodbye.”

“Don’t be like that. He said he’d be back.”

The students sitting in the lobby of the advanced dormitory couldn’t hide their disappointment.

They had wanted to show him that they had successfully passed the promotion exam, but he was gone.

Haroon sighed weakly.

“But I can understand why Ian went outside. The academy is too small for that guy.”

Even Fredon Academy, which receives support from countries all over the continent, was too confining for Ian.

“He’s already being compared to the Sword Saint, the Forest Keeper, and the Emperor.”

“Maybe he’s even stronger.”

As Grajin said this, everyone sighed heavily.

He, who had joined at the beginning of last year, had already become too great of an existence.

Looking around at the gloomy students, Aranse clapped his hands forcefully.

“Alright, alright. Don’t be like that. Now that you’ve become advanced students, you’ll be assigned missions.”

However, they couldn’t just give missions to those who had just reached the advanced level.

Therefore, existing advanced students or some instructors would accompany them on their first missions.

“I’ve decided to go this time. This mission is to the Scarlet Kingdom……”

“The Scarlet Kingdom?”

“Isn’t that place hostile to the academy?”

“There are many places that are subtly reaching out these days.”

And the Scarlet Kingdom had not officially severed ties with the academy.

Anyway, they wouldn’t be able to completely cut ties because they had already invested so much.

This time, they were going to one of the territories of the Scarlet Kingdom that still maintained some connection with the academy.

“Ah.”

The students who heard Aranse’s explanation understood.

He smiled at them and took out a document from his pocket.

“The Bades Territory of the Scarlet Kingdom. There have been reports of missing persons there. I don’t know if it’s a simple case of human trafficking or the work of monsters.”

That name sounded familiar.

Everyone was tilting their heads in thought when Haroon snapped his fingers.

“Isn’t that where they bought Brandon Territory?”

“Ah!”

The students remembered what Ian had mentioned in passing before.

And at the same time, memories of him flooded back.

As everyone became gloomy, Aranse finally shouted.

“How long are you going to act like children!”

“We haven’t had our coming-of-age ceremony yet, so we are children,” Bala retorted, but Aranse pretended not to hear and shouted again.

“You are now advanced students! You can even receive a baronetcy [a hereditary title of nobility] as soon as you graduate! How long are you going to cling to Ian!”

“Umm.”

“That’s true, but……”

“Don’t think that Ian will always be by your side! Are you going to be like that even after you graduate?!”

As Aranse shouted, a blunt voice was heard from behind.

“You are right.”

“See! Even Ian is saying… Huh?”

Aranse, who had nodded in agreement, turned his head abruptly.

At the door of the Advanced Class B students’ dormitory lobby stood Ian, with his characteristic blunt face, having arrived unnoticed.

“When did you get here!?”

Everyone got up from their seats in joy and approached him.

“Where have you been?!”

Ian accepted their greetings and said indifferently to Wildy, who was standing in front of him,

“I just went to save the world for a bit.”

“More strange boasting… Anyway, welcome back. Are you ending your leave of absence?” she asked with a cheerful smile, and Ian nodded.

“But I’ll be busy in many ways.”

“Why? Do you have something to do?”

“There are many things to do.”

“Ah. That’s too bad. I was hoping to go on a mission with you,” Blanche openly expressed her disappointment, and the other students showed similar reactions.

Ian shook his head at them and asked Haroon,

“By the way, where’s Leila? A Magic Tower is being built in that abandoned building now.”

“Around late yesterday, she said there was nothing more to investigate and went back.”

“To the Baradis County?”

“No. The Beridan County. She said she wanted you to come when you arrived. She said she seemed to have found something.”

It seemed she had gone with Helid.

As Ian nodded and turned to leave, Haroon suggested,

“That’s perfect, Ian. Let’s go together.”

The destination of this mission is the Bades Territory ruled by Count Pine.

And if you go a little further from that Bades Territory, you will reach the Beridan County where Helid lives.

Since you have to use the gate to get there anyway, it would be better to go together.

At his suggestion, Ian thought for a moment and nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

“Ahem. This is reassuring.”

“I have no intention of doing the mission with you. I told you I have things to do.”

“Aww.”

After briefly talking with them, Ian headed to his room.

As he entered the room, which was larger than when he was an intermediate student, Grajin entered behind him.

Looking at the belongings in the room, it seemed that he would be sharing the room with Grajin again this time.

“Why am I in the same room as you again?”

“The god of the lottery blessed me.”

When Ian nodded at Grajin’s simple reply, the door burst open.

“Ian! Are you awake!?”

“Can you tell us what you’ve been doing all this time?”

Wildy and Oerina came in.

And in addition to them, Haroon, Park Bare, and Widia also came in.

The ones who came into the enlarged room quickly prepared for a tea party, and Ian said with a smile,

“Okay. Everyone, sit down there. I’ll tell you an amazing story.”

“What is it?”

“Where did you go to say that?”

“I went to the Tower of the Forgotten City.”

“I heard that. Did you find anything there?”

As Grajin asked with shining eyes, Ian took out the sword he had placed next to him and threw it.

He had received a different sword from the one he had used before, and he took it out of its sheath and examined it.

“What is this?”

“The prototype of the Hero’s Sword.”

“……Huh? Why is that there?”

As everyone wondered, Ian said indifferently,

“And there was also a trace of the Hero’s Summoning.”

“……Huh?”

“The hero Fredon Ivian is not from this world. And neither are that Hero’s Sword and that sword.”

A moment of silence.

If someone else had said it, they might have told him not to talk nonsense.

But since the other person was Ian, it was difficult to dismiss it as a lie.

“Is that real?”

“Why would I lie?”

“Uuuuuuum……”

“He says shocking things like that without a care.”

As everyone grumbled, Ian said one more thing.

“And I also found out what Pandemonium is.”

“Oh! Really!? Where is it?!”

The mysterious organization that was related to Hastings in the past.

Also, the name that came out of the research journal in the abandoned building.

As they eagerly waited, Ian replied bluntly,

“A gathering of the Seven Deadly Sins who want to destroy the world and the demons who follow them. Ah, it’s probably Six Deadly Sins now, because I caught one.”

The students were silent for even longer than before.

And Blanche broke the silence with a weak voice.

“He always says things that surprise people like that.”