Chapter 23: Academy Terror Incident

“The next item on the agenda is….”

The meeting, as I expected, was uneventful.

A presenter came out and reported on various recent events.

Things like the follow-up measures to the mana surge incident at the entrance ceremony.

Or the recent attempted kidnapping of an Academy student.

On the papers they distributed to us.

The events of the past week, which had been quite noisy, were summarized in numbers.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes? What is it…?”

“The data on the right side is missing.”

“Ah! I’ll correct it.”

“Please make sure to double-check it next time.”

“I apologize…!”

The presenter began to panic at the Student Council President’s sudden interruption.

The atmosphere froze in an instant.

The faces of the first-year student representatives, who had been watching the meeting with interest, quickly hardened.

Making a mistake at the first meeting.

Is it really a simple mistake?

Or….

‘Could it be intentional?’

The probability that the meticulous princess would not have reviewed important meeting materials is extremely low.

Then there’s only one answer.

‘How childish.’

She must have manipulated the data to create this atmosphere on purpose.

To intimidate the new students.

In other words, this entire situation was orchestrated by the princess.

The poor, unnamed presenter who got caught up in this.

“This concludes the meeting.”

The meeting ended in a tense atmosphere.

Only then did sighs of relief begin to be heard among the students who had been very nervous.

Whatever the intention.

It seems to have been effective.

“Haa…. The atmosphere was really tense….”

“Yeah, it was much more serious than I thought.”

The meeting proceeded in a subdued atmosphere.

Elena, perhaps nervous, melted into her chair as soon as the meeting ended.

Of course, I was fine because I already knew that this was all intentional.

But it seems that wasn’t the case for Elena.

“Will I be able to do well in the future….”

“Probably everyone was just nervous today because it was the first day. You’ll be fine once you get used to it.”

“…Hehe. I hope so.”

Elena quickly smiled brightly again, as if relieved by my comfort.

I stared at her blankly and then turned my head away.

The sunny sky visible through the window.

Come to think of it.

‘When was the next episode?’

The scenario has already been completely shattered.

But even so, there is still hope.

Just as Elena was kidnapped despite all the variables.

The main episodes may still unfold in some way.

Of course, I don’t have much expectation that it will go exactly as I think.

But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

‘Should I check?

I don’t know exactly when it is in terms of timing.

All I know is that it will happen shortly after Ed joins the disciplinary committee.

It probably won’t be that far off.

“Shall we go too?”

“Okay!”

Seeing people quickly leaving the meeting room, I headed out with Elena.

Monster attack incident.

That’s the name of the next episode that might happen soon.

Shortly after Edmund joined the disciplinary committee.

Monsters suddenly begin to appear at the Academy.

The cause is the Academy’s protective barrier, which was breached by a crack.

Eventually, monsters break through the weakened wall and enter in large numbers.

At the time, it was a comic.

I thought and roughly moved on.

But thinking about it now, there are many strange points.

Even if the protective barrier was weakened.

Where did all those monsters suddenly come from?

And why did they flock to the Academy?

I traced my memory and arrived at the place where the incident would occur.

“Hmm…. Nothing seems wrong?”

But no matter how much I looked around, the firewall seemed perfectly fine to my eyes.

It was clearly stated in the comic that a small crack appeared on the wall and it collapsed in an instant.

The thick wall, over 2 meters high, showed no visible signs of abnormality.

‘Not yet?’

I had no choice but to come to that conclusion.

I thought there would be some traces of it by now.

It seems there’s still some time left before the incident occurs.

I was about to go back, thinking I’d check again next time, when.

Rustle

“?”

I stopped walking at the sudden sound.

What was that? I thought I heard something just now.

I stood there, quietly listening, when.

Rustle rustle

“…!”

I heard it clearly this time.

A suspicious presence was felt in the bushes, not far from where I was standing.

I held my breath and carefully approached the source of the sound, one step at a time.

The distance slowly closing.

And finally.

The identity of what was hiding in the bushes came into view.

A female student wearing an Academy uniform, squatting with her back to the bushes.

But.

That woman….

The person’s appearance seemed familiar.

“Excuse me.”

“…!!”

Perhaps because I called out suddenly.

The person turned to look at me with a startled expression.

That’s right.

I was sure when I saw her face.

The woman who bumped into me in the morning.

The person hiding in the bushes and doing something suspicious was the same person who bumped into me this morning.

Seeing her surprised eyes looking at me, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness.

It wasn’t a real ghost.

I had concluded that it wasn’t a ghost, but there was still a slight lingering feeling of unease in my heart.

Seeing the woman’s face, I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

But.

“Mmph…!”

“…?”

What’s wrong with her?

I stared blankly at the woman who suddenly covered her mouth with her hand and flailed her arms and legs.

What is she saying?

I don’t know what she’s trying to say right now.

I continued to focus on the woman.

But then.

“Ughh…!!”

“Agh!”

Suddenly, the woman removed her hand that was covering her mouth.

A tremendous stream of blood poured out of her mouth and onto the ground.

Startled, I took a step closer to the woman.

“Are you okay?”

“Run away!”

“…What? What did you say?”

“Run away, I said!!”

What is she talking about….

Beep

“?”

Huh? I just heard a mechanical sound….

“
damn…!”

Something suddenly covered my body as I looked around with a puzzled expression.

My body, unprepared for the impact, fell backward.

And.

BOOM!!!

A huge mana storm swept over my body with a tremendous explosion.

Thud!

“Ugh…!!”

Fortunately, something blocked me, so I wasn’t directly caught in the explosion.

But my body, thrown by the impact of the explosion, hit the wall with a great shock.

I quickly racked my dizzy head, reeling from the impact.

What the…

My blurry vision cleared, and I could see properly again.

And the first sight that met my eyes.

The woman from before was lying on top of me.

“!!!”

Could it be that this person protected me?

Is that why I was able to avoid getting hurt in the explosion?

“Hey! Are you okay?!?”

I kept shaking the woman’s body to check her condition.

But she didn’t move, as if she had lost consciousness.

I need to take her to the infirmary quickly!

Even to me, who is ignorant of medicine, the woman’s condition does not look good.

Her clothes were scorched and tattered.

And her head was bleeding profusely.

I was about to hurry to the infirmary, carrying the injured woman on my back, when.

Thud!

A sudden sound came from behind.

Just a moment.

The moment I heard that sound, a bad feeling ran through my head.

The explosion just now.

It was powerful enough to blow away the Academy’s protective barrier.

And the next episode is definitely the incident where monsters attack the Academy.

Could it be…?

Thud!

The impact sound was heard once again.

I turned around with trembling eyes.

And the scene that met my eyes.

The Academy’s protective barrier, shattered to pieces.

And.

A huge hand that broke through the wall.

After a moment.

A huge face roared and appeared inside the wall.

ROAR!!

Green, rough skin.

A monster with an enormous size.

…An Ogre?

An Ogre, a high-ranking monster in this world, was revealing its form.

Why is that here…!!

But that wasn’t all.

Behind the fiercely roaring Ogre.

A terrifying number of monsters were showing off their sharp fangs.

“You son of a b*
!!!”

Seeing that, I immediately ran in the opposite direction.

ROAR!!!

The Ogre’s roar could be heard from behind, but I didn’t stop and kept running forward.

If I get caught, I’m dead.

That’s something I can’t handle.

I ran with all my might, carrying the woman on my back.

Siren!

The siren started to sound belatedly.

But the other students in the Academy all looked puzzled.

“What?”

“What’s that sound?”

“Is there a fire somewhere?”

They’re frustratingly slow to grasp the situation.

I suppressed my rising breath and barely managed to shout to them.

“Run away!!!”

“What?”

“Who’s that person?”

Confused murmurs.

But even so, many students are standing there with their feet glued to the ground.

Although a few quick-witted people saw my messed-up state and started running in the same direction I was running.

And before long, their choice was proven right.

ROAR!!!

The monster horde was already close.

And the students who saw the monsters instantly began to panic.

“Aaaahhh!!”

“Why is there an Ogre here!!”

“Help me!!!”

Monsters start to spread in all directions.

And the Academy students screaming and running away.

The scene instantly turned into chaos.