Chapter 44: Summoning of the Council of Elders -4

‘It was a complete and utter rout.’

The Saintess Antiopea’s impression as she silently watched the fight from the rear.

‘First the Magic Eater, and now even the Magic Tower’s special forces, so easily…’

Swallowing unconsciously, Antiopea intently watched the back of the warlock, who was brandishing her shadow tentacles.

‘She’s definitely a good person.’

She prioritized the well-being of her students over her own pride, and even volunteered to face a witch’s experiment to protect the academy.
Just by looking at these things, there was no doubt that her fundamental character was excellent.

However, the power that was so strong it made one’s tongue wag was causing a small seed of anxiety to sprout in the Saintess’s heart.

‘…How long will that goodness last?’

For a magician, practicing black magic is a double-edged sword.
One can achieve higher accomplishments faster than others, but at the same time, one also takes on the risk of being seduced by evil whispers.

That was why the treatment of warlocks was so ambiguous in regions other than the Grand Duchy of Hriulia.

Although they studied black magic with a neutral intention, weren’t they unexploded bombs that could turn into demons at any moment?

‘Even the demon hunter Agrippa had to take his own life in his later years, Professor.’

The ancestor of all warlocks and the great black mage who had participated in the Altra subjugation.
Even he, in the end, forced his disciples to commit a virtual suicide to avoid becoming a demon.

If she were a white mage who also studied black magic, like Professor Bishop, or if her basic accomplishments were lacking, it might be different.

But for someone like Anastasia, who only studied black magic professionally, and who had even reached such a level at a young age…

“Hmph.”

Antiopea lowered her gaze, taking a deep breath.
She had no time to calm her complicated heart.

She, the ‘Sword Saint’ of the current generation, who bore the duty to protect the world, and the 14th ‘Saintess’.

The two self-images were constantly clashing and causing conflict.

“W-wait! Stop right now! Listen to me, Professor Anastasia!”

Just then, the special forces commander, who was the only one left, was flustered and trying to stop her.
He had called her ‘girl’ and ‘country bumpkin’ earlier, but now that his life was on the line, his tone had become polite.

“If you are a sane person, you wouldn’t make an enemy of the entire Magic Tower…”

“I’m saying this is not a declaration of war, but self-defense. So shut up and be quiet.”

The conversation between the cornered Dietrich and Anastasia, who was coldly expressing her hostility.
Then, the moment Anastasia waved her right hand once.

“Kuh?!”

Dietrich, with veins bulging on his forehead, let out a scream and fell to his knees.
A shadow noose that had risen from his feet. It had instantly choked him and forced him to his knees.

“St-stop, heuk! My, my breath! I can’t breathe…!”

He desperately scratched at the noose and shouted, but Anastasia was just motionless.
Rather, she just raised her eyebrows as if asking why he was asking the obvious and asked back.

“Of course you can’t breathe because you’re being choked, Commander of the special forces. Are you a magician who doesn’t even know basic biology?”

“Ge-euk, th-that’s not what I meant…!”

“Above all, you all shot fire at me with the intention of almost killing me, didn’t you?”

“Kuh-heuk!”

Anastasia, who was looking down at him, tightening the noose even more.
A cold sneer flowed from between her plump lips.

“You brought this on yourself, so you should be prepared for this much, Commander, with the honor of the special forces on the line.”

“S-save…!”

Dietrich, who was even foaming at the mouth, looked at Antiopea.
He was very openly sending a distress signal, but the Saintess’s reaction was just nonchalant.

‘…She’s not the type to really hurt someone, anyway.’

It was a somewhat uncomfortable sight, but she, who had come to trust Anastasia’s character, decided to stay put.
Just as she had when she had punished Assistant Professor Beruz, it was clear that she would just teach him a lesson and let it go.

Therefore, since there was no reason to intervene, she was just watching with her hands down.

“S-sir… sil… v…!”

Silv? At the sudden, unknown word, Antiopea was bewildered.

“Silvia… de Garcia!!”

Dietrich, who was pale and livid, opened his mouth wide and shouted desperately.

“I-if you don’t stop right now…! The Magic Tower might punish that, that child…!”

‘What did you say!?’

The Saintess’s sea-blue eyes widened at the unexpected remark.

A rising star girl from the Obsidian dormitory, who had achieved the 2nd rank.
It was unclear why she was being mentioned, but at least one thing was certain.

‘That despicable…!’

Antiopea, who gritted her teeth and glanced at Anastasia.
Sure enough, a crack, albeit a small one, was appearing on the professor’s face.

And the next moment.

Swish-!

“Kuh-heuk, hoooo…!”

The shadow noose was finally released, freeing Dietrich.

At that sight, Antiopea felt a genuine disgust and spat out a curse.

‘So you knew the professor’s weakness was her students!’

Although she was still a rookie, Anastasia was a model educator who cared about her disciples more than anyone else.
If she took a young student, and even a student under her care, as a hostage, she would naturally hesitate!

To use a disciple as a pretext for extortion because she couldn’t win by force, what a despicable and cowardly trick.

“…What exactly do you mean by that, junior of Nathaniel?”

The special forces commander, who was lying on the floor, coughing dryly.
Glaring at him, Anastasia asked in a low, subdued tone.

“Kuh, cough, cough! F-first, just wait a moment!”

At this, Dietrich’s face flushed, and he took out a small syringe from his pocket.
Then, he rolled up the sleeve of a fallen member and injected the drug.

“Heuk?!”

The member, whose muscles had been paralyzed and was convulsing, regained his original energy.

“M-my body is back…! Thank you, Captain!”

“Don’t just lie there, you fool! Go and treat your comrades first!”

“Ah, yes!”

At the commander’s urging, the member took out the same syringe from his magic tool bag.
As he approached his fallen comrade and gave him the injection, that comrade also took a deep breath and successfully recovered his energy.

“Please don’t attack right now, Professor Anastasia.”

Dietrich said, glancing at his subordinates who were being injected and giving injections in a chain.

“We have to return to the Magic Tower anyway. If you show us a little mercy, I’ll explain properly.”

The warlock, who did not give a particular reply. But she seemed to have no intention of ignoring Dietrich’s request.

Watching his subordinates return to their original state one by one, Dietrich repeatedly stroked his chest.
Then, he began to elaborate with a certainly more polite attitude than before.

“The Council of Elders has issued a warning, Professor Anastasia. If you do not cooperate with the special forces’ instructions and continue to defy the Magic Tower’s measures…”

He paused for a moment, glancing at the warlock, and then subtly concluded his sentence.

“They may revoke the constellation of your student, Silvia de Garcia, and hold her strictly responsible for destroying the public facility, the Coral Hall.”

‘…We didn’t want to resort to such a low trick either.’

Dietrich muttered to himself, chewing on his self-loathing.
But since it had become impossible to escort the warlock by force, he had no choice but to not fall out of favor with the Council of Elders.

Although it was a dirty and shabby trick, it was a threat that would be quite effective against her.

‘No doubt. This woman is Chairman Forte’s person.’

Forte de Garcia.
A veteran who had participated in the subjugation of the Flame Witch, and a competent manager who had seized the position of academy chairman at a relatively young age with her indomitable will.

From the perspective of the Council of Elders, who disliked disobedient subordinates, she was also a very annoying political enemy.

The fact that they had readily given her daughter a constellation was not only a tribute to her talent but also a clever decision to prevent her from rashly challenging the Council of Elders.

And according to the special forces’ internal intelligence, she had tried to have a private meeting with Professor Anastasia today.
From the perspective of the Council of Elders, it was a blatant move that could not help but be extremely suspicious.

‘Her only daughter’s sudden choice of Obsidian must be for a similar reason.’

According to the special forces’ own investigation, Silvia de Garcia was originally scheduled to enter the Jade dormitory.
It was her mother, Forte, who had coordinated the schedule with the Jade housemaster and persuaded her daughter to decide on the dormitory.

But for a good daughter who had always listened to her mother to suddenly have a change of heart and choose a completely different dormitory?
Wasn’t it an impossible development unless there was a secret agreement between the two?

‘I don’t know for sure, but it must have been a scheme to protect her daughter from the Council of Elders as much as possible.’

Anastasia was a black mage from the far Northeast.
Since she had no connection to the Magic Tower, let alone the slightest string, she was by no means a person who would move according to the will of the elders.

That’s why the Council of Elders had told Dietrich to have a plan in case of an emergency.
If he couldn’t defeat the warlock by force, he was to use Forte’s precious daughter, whom she had entrusted to her, to pressure her.

And as it turned out, the Council of Elders’ insight seemed to have been quite accurate.

“…The collapse of the Coral Hall was an accident that occurred due to the fight with the magical beast, Commander of the special forces.”

The silver-haired black mage, who had been silent all along.
She shot at Dietrich and gave a cold rebuttal.

“If she hadn’t resisted with explosion magic, the talent who had been granted a constellation would have died in vain on the spot. So on what grounds are you going to hold that child responsible?”

“The grounds can be made up, Professor Anastasia. And that part is not my concern anyway. In any case, if you continue to be stubborn, the Council of Elders will not hesitate to give a disadvantage to Chairman Forte’s daughter.”

Finally, the subordinate members who had finished recovering began to gather around him in groups.
Glancing at them, Dietrich made a final declaration in a hardened voice.

“You know what that means better than anyone. So please make a wise decision.”

‘…Disgusting bastards.’

Antiopea’s impression as she listened to the whole conversation from behind.
Clenching her fists, she glared at Dietrich and his impudent subordinates in turn.

Although she was silent because it was the Klomes Academy, if this had happened at the Holy See, she would have punched them in the face right away.

‘Since I decided to respect the professor’s judgment, I can’t interfere here, but…’

Glance. She let out a frustrated breath, watching Anastasia’s stiffened back.

For her, a housemaster and a professor, this coercion was literally a checkmate.
An educator with an impeccable mindset would never let a student get involved in such a dirty affair.

Of course, as Dietrich and Antiopea had expected, this blackmail disguised as a proposal was a kind that was quite effective against Anastasia.

“Hmph.”

Just.

“…Silvia, you troublesome brat.”

It was just that the way was different from what they and the Council of Elders had imagined.

‘The Council of Elders, they’re more cunning than I thought.’

With no sweet candy, I felt myself getting into a bad mood.
Habitually making a smoking gesture, I quietly looked at the shrunken special forces commander.

As the Obsidian housemaster, I had resolved to guide Silvia well.
But for Silvia to have her constellation title revoked because of me, a disgrace tantamount to expulsion from the academy?

The mother and daughter would be hell-bent on kicking me out of my teaching position.

I don’t know how they found out about the friction between me and Chairman Forte, but…

‘If I don’t respond to the hearing, they’ll destroy the ‘insurance’ I prepared right away?’

This would make the threat of reusing Silvia’s accident null and void.
Since we haven’t resolved our grudge yet, I should avoid any chance of her instigating Forte to drive me out again.

But to meekly follow them into the tiger’s den is also absurd.

If it wasn’t a situation where I had to be a professor at the academy.
If it wasn’t the upper echelon of the Magic Tower that held political power, I would have just solved it with force.

“Hmm…”

‘What do I do now?’

Since I had won a landslide victory in the power struggle, time was on my side.

Whether to refuse their orders to the end, to follow their wishes for now, or to come up with a brilliant third alternative.
I was leisurely contemplating with my hands in my pockets.

Whoosh-!

Splat!

“Kuh?!”

A special forces member hit by a suddenly flying object.
He blinked his eyes repeatedly, wiping away the slimy liquid that had splattered on his face and robe.

“Wh-what is this? A raw egg?”

But there was no time to deal with the sudden misfortune.

Flick! Whoosh!

Splat! Splat!

Immediately after, other objects began to rain down from above like mushrooms after a rain.

“Kyaa, what’s going on!”

“Wh-where are they throwing it from! Who dares…!”

“Keck, damn it! It got in my mouth, spit, spit!”

Rotten eggs that reeked, and moldy cabbage.
Rotten tomatoes and lumps of flour like mud.
All sorts of projectiles that an excited crowd of protesters would throw were pouring down like rain.

“…What?”

At the sudden shower of filth, I was also at a loss for words.
While the completely bewildered special forces were crouching and flustered.

“It’s those people, students of Klomes!”

A girl’s firm and youthful shout was heard loudly from the other side.

“Those people are now trying to kick out our professor on their own, abusing their authority!”

The academy students who had gathered, holding pickets with colorful letters written all over them, which they must have made at some point.

The person standing at the head of them, leading her classmates and acting as a leader, was none other than…

‘Silvia?’

“Proud seniors and classmates of Klomes! Although it is an affiliated organization of the Magic Tower, the academy is a home for students with a strictly independent management policy!”

Silvia’s long speech, holding a rotten peach in her hand.
She aimed at the special forces again and shouted vigorously.

“But the Magic Tower is ignoring that independence and unilaterally interfering in our internal affairs! They are infringing on the rights of students to be educated by an excellent professor selected by the dean!”

Then, whoosh! She threw it like a catapult and declared forcefully.

“So let’s drive them out and reclaim the rightful rights of our students!”

“Yeah, that’s right! Go away, Magic Tower!”

“The academy is a home for students! Don’t fire a professor for political reasons!”

“We oppose the dismissal of Professor Anastasia! We demand the black magic defense class taught by the professor!”

“Get back to your own den! Give the academy back to the students!”

A demonstration with a fierce momentum that started out of nowhere.
And the central subject of it was none other than me.

For a moment, I couldn’t grasp the situation and just frowned, looking at Silvia and the surrounding students.

But in a few seconds, the moment I realized exactly how the situation was turning.

“Ha.”

From my firmly closed lips, a bitter but satisfied smile slowly emerged.

“You’re doing something pretty for once, aren’t you, Silvia?”