Chapter 198: Troublemaker (3)
Ice Bird.
A divine beast representing the royal family of the Fairy-Elven Alliance, raised by the Fairy King and her children.
Although it was the Seventh Princess’s young bird that was sent, not the Fairy King’s adult ice bird, it was still an ice bird.
This was tantamount to a public declaration that the royal family was getting involved.
It meant they were officially drawing their swords to bring Kyung-joon to their side.
First, Larev himself wrote the letter.
“I told them not to tempt or threaten him, so I don’t know if he’ll come or not…… but he’ll probably show up by today.”
The Fairy King was the type to get things done quickly once she set her mind to it.
Therefore, Larev had written the letter weeks ago.
Perhaps by today, or even now, the ice bird had already arrived where Kyung-joon was.
“If it comes, will it come back to the Magic Academy just like last time?”
Larev nodded silently at Frankel’s question and took a sip of his memory tea.
Putting down his teacup, he spoke.
“Yes. I made up some excuse about a master’s thesis. From the beginning, I knew talking about money and contracts would only make him resist.”
The Fairy King had no intention of scouting Kyung-joon with money, like Arc-en-Ciel, offering him 9 billion or 10 billion liyan.
That was something other guilds or magic towers could easily do.
As the Fairy King, as the head of the Fairy-Elven Alliance, she had to offer something only she could.
TL: The Fairy King is actually a woman.
Money was just a bonus here.
“If he does come, make sure you accommodate that otherworlder Kyung-joon as much as possible.”
Larev spoke to Frankel not as an old friend, but as the Supreme Elder of the Fairy-Elven Alliance.
This was an order.
However, it was an order in the opposite direction from before.
Previously, he was told not to take any action and to just cover things up, but now he was being ordered to do the opposite, to openly accommodate him.
“Are you sure it’s alright?”
Frankel asked again just to be sure.
“Yes.”
Larev nodded immediately, confirming it was alright.
And he added a little more explanation.
“By accommodation, I mean within the bounds of law and school regulations. Not breaking the law or anything like that.”
In other words, anything was fine as long as it was ‘legal’.
Therefore, it could also be interpreted this way:
―As long as we make it ‘legal’, it doesn’t matter what we do for him.
“As long as it’s academic and in line with the purpose of the Magic Academy, it shouldn’t be a big problem. The Fairy King seems to want to make a connection with Kyung-joon directly under the royal family rather than through magic towers or Wonlo’s side. I think she wants to be more directly involved, even if it’s within the Fairy-Elven Alliance.”
Larev took a moment to wet his mouth with tea.
And then.
“Anyway, the strategy of secretly approaching him from behind and bringing him in has already been broken. Isn’t your school in an uproar right now? What with all the scroll programming, Scrollpia, revolution, and whatnot.”
Larev gestured vaguely with his chin towards the window.
Although it was made of wood with a soundproofing spell, the noise outside was so loud that it occasionally leaked in.
The sounds were all the shouts of students, the explosions of magic, like some kind of war had broken out.
“Yes. I don’t think it will die down easily even after the festival is over. It’s like watching our childhood memories.”
“Haha. I suppose you’re right. It was crazy back then.”
Just as the atmosphere after a war was very harsh in reality, the Magic Academy after the Demon King’s sealing was similar.
The generation after the sealing, like Frankel and Larev, held festivals to prepare for war.
The generation before the sealing had held festivals to fight the war, literally in the midst of war.
Now, with hundreds of years of peace, its meaning has faded to nothing more than a survival game played during festivals, but at the time, what was called a festival and drill practice was really close to war.
But right now.
The festival that the two factions, Scrollpia and Those Who Tear Paper, were having was reminiscent of that time.
It might be an exaggeration to say it was like the generation before the sealing, but it was at least as intense as the generation after the sealing.
The things that Kyung-joon had left behind in just ten days had had such a profound impact on the Magic Academy.
“Haha. Those were the days.”
“Yes, they were.”
The two reminisced about the old days for a while, exchanging nostalgic words, and then Frankel, as Department Head, spoke first.
“Anyway, I understand what you’re saying. I’ll make sure that the story about Kyung-joon doesn’t spread any further within the Magic Academy, and even if it does leak out a little, I’ll make sure we get to him first and mark our territory.”
The original order was to completely hide Kyung-joon’s existence and bring him over to their side.
But now that was impossible.
They couldn’t just pretend that the commotion at the Magic Academy never happened.
So they would keep Kyung-joon as a big topic within the Magic Academy, but prevent it from spreading any further.
And in the meantime, they would bring Kyung-joon over to the Magic Academy.
That’s how Frankel interpreted Larev’s words.
“Well…… yes.”
The Elf Supreme Elder nodded, agreeing with Frankel’s interpretation.
But his expression was somewhat unclear.
Frankel, being his longtime friend, noticed this and asked what was wrong.
“Is there a problem?”
“Hmm…”
Larev hesitated to speak.
So Frankel asked again.
“Did I perhaps misunderstand something?”
“No, it’s not that……”
At Frankel’s urging, Larev finally seemed to make up his mind and let out a sigh through his nose.
He opened his hesitant mouth.
“It’s true that it’s your job to clean up this mess and prevent Kyung-joon from becoming known outside the Magic Academy. But…… she told me not to prevent anything.”
Larev’s ambiguous words.
“Not prevent anything? What in the world does that mean?”
Frankel couldn’t understand, so Larev clicked his tongue.
“The Fairy King said that no matter what that otherworlder Kyung-joon tries to do, even if it’s something very serious and even if you know about it beforehand, you are absolutely not to stop him. In other words, let him do whatever he wants and just clean up after him.”
In short, he was being told to be the janitor who cleans up Kyung-joon’s messes.
“What? You’re telling me to clean up after him, but to wait until after he’s made a mess to do it? What kind of nonsense is that?”
If you knew about a problem beforehand, the natural thing to do would be to prevent it from happening in the first place. What kind of logic was it to wait for it to blow up and then clean it up?
Frankel couldn’t understand it at all.
And what he couldn’t understand was that Larev, who was relaying the order, couldn’t understand it either.
“I understand exactly what you’re thinking. But for now, just do as you’re told. Don’t interfere too much, let him do what he wants.”
“But! You can’t just let him run wild! He’s the one who caused this whole mess at the school, so we need to at least approach him first and……”
“No, you can’t do that either.”
Larev cut off Frankel’s words and spoke firmly.
“I’ll repeat the order. You are absolutely not to ‘prevent’ anything. Let everything that Kyung-joon does, everything he will do in the future, happen, and just clean up after him. That is the order the Fairy King has given.”
“Ugh……”
Frankel couldn’t say anything back when Larev mentioned it was the Fairy King’s order.
But he had to ask this one thing.
“……Then let me ask you just one thing. If I follow your orders, will I be able to resolve the problems that are occurring now, and the problems that will occur in the future?”
Frankel’s sharp gaze.
As the Department Head of the Scroll Department, and as a professor at the Fairy-Elven Magic Academy, he had to ask this question.
Fortunately, Larev nodded, saying yes.
“Yes. I don’t know exactly what she has in mind…… but she said something like this. She said that you know someone similar to Kyung-joon, so if you bring him here, he’ll cause problems and solve them himself. But if you try to solve the problems yourself without him, or in a way that opposes him, you’ll never be able to solve them.”
In the end, it meant that if they brought in Kyung-joon, the root of the problem, the problem would be solved as if a flowing river naturally cleared itself up.
In short, it was a strange thing to say.
“……Forgive my rudeness, but to be honest, I don’t understand at all.”
“Ahem…… I’m sure she has her reasons.”
The Fairy King had apparently said this with a very matter-of-fact attitude, as if she had experienced this several times before.
At first, Larev had also protested, asking what in the world she was talking about…
━Larev, don’t argue and just get it done. Otherwise, we’re screwed.
She had said that with a look of utter exasperation, as if she was recalling some old trauma, so he had no choice but to obey.
“Anyway, Frankel.”
Larev was finally about to wrap up the conversation.
“Take this opportunity to pull yourself together as Department Head, clean up this mess, and build a proper relationship with Kyung-joon. He’s quite remarkable academically, isn’t he? So let me ask you one more time as a friend.”
“Sigh…”
At Larev’s request, Frankel knelt on one knee beside him.
It was the posture of someone having an audience with the king.
Then, with his head bowed respectfully, he said,
“This is the Fairy King’s order, relayed through you, Elder. Do I have a choice but to obey?”
“Haha. You’re still so stiff. Add to that the fact that it’s a friend’s request.”
Larev pulled up his hood and walked towards the window of the professor’s office.
Wooong.
As he opened the window, he focused his mana on his back.
Then the wings on his back emitted light and wind.
They were the exact same model of wings that Kyung-joon used, 『Improved Wings of the Sylph』.
He had his own wings that he used as the Elf Supreme Elder, but he had deliberately used these ordinary wings because he had come here in secret.
“Well then, I’ll be on my way. Her magic is quite convenient, but it’s one-way.”
Even the Fairy King couldn’t just teleport someone hundreds of kilometers away to a specific location.
“At this rate, I’ll have to fly back in a hurry to avoid getting caught.”
Larev adjusted his wings with mana and prepared to take off.
“Yes. Please be careful on your way back.”
Frankel politely saw the Supreme Elder off, showing him the respect he deserved.
But as his old friend, he added a playful remark.
“Watch out for dragons on your way back. Make sure you check left and right before you cross the sky.”
“Haha. Who do you think I am! I’m off then!”
Vwooong!
Larev flew out the window of Frankel’s office.
As expected of an Elder, he quickly soared into the sky and pierced through the clouds.
If Frankel knew about jets from Earth, he would have said it looked just like that.
But Frankel, who didn’t know about such things, looked up at the sky and felt a completely different sentiment.
“……A storm is coming.”
He had a feeling, for some reason.
And that feeling turned out to be true.
Just one second later!
[Unique skill 『Multi Mana Control: Nano (Lv.5)』 ]
[Rare skill 『Transform Magic (Lv.5)』 ]
[Unique skill 『Mana Plunder (Lv.2)』 ]
[Commencing research on the joint Mana Mechanics and Mana Genetics skill 『Magic Breaker』.]
[Forcibly canceling target Azuaz (Affiliation – Independent)’s Unique skill 『Fairy-style Magic Combat – Short Power (Festival Version)』.]
[Error!]
[Target’s mana density is too high.]
[Research proficiency is insufficient.]
▶Current proficiency: 9.8%
[Only partially canceling target’s attack.]
Crash!
Suddenly, the window of the Department Head’s office shattered, and a person came crashing in.
Thud!
The sound of someone crashing into a wall!
[Damage taken from festival magic.]
[Most of HP damage converted to point reduction.]
▶Kyung-joon (Affiliation – Independent): 100//100 → 82//100 points
※Caution! If your points reach 0, you will no longer be able to use magic and must leave the combat zone.
※Points can be recovered by receiving treatment in a safe zone.
[Azuaz (Affiliation – Independent) has inflicted 29 points of damage to Kyung-joon (Affiliation – Independent).]
[Both players are on the same team. Faction points will not increase.]
“Ouch……”
The man who had crashed into the wall of the Department Head’s office slid down.
“Oh?”
He spotted Frankel next to him.
“Gasp……!”
Frankel also saw the man.
And then.
“W-w-w-why are you coming in through that window……?”
His eyes widened!
His jaw dropped!
Frankel looked at the man with a shocked expression.
<Affiliation – Independent>
▼Kyung-joon (Player)
The man who had crashed through the window and into the wall was none other than Kyung-joon.
Brushing off the glass and wood fragments stuck to his body as if it were nothing, Kyung-joon greeted Frankel casually.
“Hey, Prof.”
By the way, “Prof” was short for 『Professor Frankel』.
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