Mocking or condemning someone just because they provoked you was low-grade banter.
“Which club do you belong to, Senior?”
“The Rose Order.”
The senior bastard proudly squared his shoulders.
He was just as obnoxious as the Glory Society.
“Excuse me, but what position do you hold in the Rose Order?”
“I don’t hold a position. But I usually handle work related to the Lumen Patronage Gathering.”
“That explains it.”
The senior bastard furrowed his brow.
“What do you mean, ‘that explains it’?”
“If you do not hold a formal position, it would be difficult for you to know all the inside details of the Ivory Tower.”
“What?”
It would be absurd for a freshman who had not even been enrolled for a month to talk about inside details.
That was the point.
If you wanted to get under someone’s skin, you had to say something absurd.
It was human instinct to want to refute something absurd.
“Before I explain what you have misunderstood, I should first tell our patrons why the Mystery Society had its Club Subsidy cut. Ladies and gentlemen, the Mystery Society had its Club Subsidy cut after attacking the Glory Society.”
“What?”
“It attacked the Glory Society?”
Everyone began to murmur.
I looked at the senior bastard—now the Rose Order bastard—and spoke.
“That’s true, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it did. But that was.......”
“We knew from the moment we attacked the Glory Society that our Club Subsidy might be cut. That is only natural. Who do you think is behind the Glory Society?”
“Behind the Glory Society?”
When I added that in a cryptic tone, the Rose Order bastard’s eyes wavered.
Meanwhile, some of the people around us smiled.
The fact that the principal controlled the Glory Society and the vice principal controlled the Rose Order was not widely known.
So only those who knew enough would have understood what I meant.
“And yet, we did it. Why do you think that was?”
“What nonsense.......”
“Because even before we came to this patronage gathering, we were already receiving Donations.”
“What?”
“It’s true. We are receiving Donations.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Mrs. Mary had promised us a modest Donation.
It wasn’t nearly enough to maintain the clubroom, but still.
Whether you thought that meant a powerful force was already backing us was your own misunderstanding.
“I did not come here because of Donations. I wanted to come here and tell the generous patrons who attended that the Mystery Society would change from now on. You think I came here because of Donations because you came here for Donations yourself, Senior. I understand.”
I turned the Rose Order bastard’s situation around on him.
You were the one desperate for money, not me.
In truth, I was far more desperate for it, but I acted as though that were not the case.
“Y-You.......”
The Rose Order bastard’s face turned red.
Now it was time for him to say those words.
“Hmph.......”
How dare a junior.
But he had not completely lost his judgment, so he pressed his lips shut.
Instead, someone else spoke.
“So does that mean the Mystery Society will not accept Donations?”
This was it.
If I looked like someone desperate for Donations, they would not give us any.
I had used the Rose Order bastard to make it seem as though the Mystery Society had already secured a major patron and had no worries about money.
That would make them more interested in us.
We had gone from unsold inventory to an expensive product that already had reservations.
After pausing for a moment, I spoke.
“The Mystery Society still loves freedom. But perhaps we will now use that freedom to take a more active role in society. Therefore.......”
I smiled at the person who had mentioned Donations.
“From now on, the Mystery Society wants to build a mutually positive relationship with all of you. If anyone wishes to sponsor the Mystery Society, we would be happy to discuss it.”
When I declared that we might accept Donations, everyone was pleased.
“Oh.......”
“That is wonderful.”
“It is welcome news.”
The people who had to give the money were happier about it.
It was not especially strange.
Sponsoring an Ivory Tower club was not only honorable for nobles and wealthy people, but also an opportunity to secure graduating talent for their own side.
In the end, the Rose Order bastard left with his face badly twisted.
Count Koel, who had seen through my little scheme, whispered in a low voice.
“Indeed, every Draco I have known has been clever. You are no different.”
“Blood does not vanish.”
“Yes, that is right.”
As Count Koel looked pleased, the atmosphere improved even further.
While I spoke with people interested in sponsoring us, Sorin spoke with the faith club’s patrons, and Lulusha roamed around looking for food.
That was when it happened.
Pop.
The lights suddenly went out.
Because curtains covered every window to block the sunlight, the banquet hall grew dim.
“Th-This is a sign of a locked-room murder......!”
The one talking nonsense was the senior who had been wandering around asking people to join the Mystery Novel Club.
Just what sort of people sponsored the Mystery Novel Club?
“It is probably nothing. Please do not worry.”
The staff of Lumen Hall calmed everyone down.
Then pain flared in my left eye.
A warning.
I closed my right eye and scanned the surroundings with Draco’s Eye.
Ominous energy had gathered on one wall of the banquet hall.
“Lulusha.”
I called her reflexively.
She approached me with food still in her mouth.
“Why?”
“No matter what happens, don’t step in. But be ready.”
“What are you talking about?”
The lights came back on.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it had been nothing, but only for a moment.
With a sudden boom, one wall was smashed apart.
Screams rang out.
I reflexively tried to invoke my Arcane Path, then noticed the Ivory Tower Student Ring constricting my index finger and bit my lip.
“What is happening?!”
“Call security!”
Masked people appeared beyond the collapsed wall.
They all carried swords.
“Wh-Who are they?!”
“Call the Police Corps!”
“Who in the world would do this in Ark.......”
“The Revolutionary Group?”
“Why would those people be in Ark?!”
I assessed the attackers’ level with Draco’s Eye.
Most of them were knights, but the strongest was the mage in the back.
Dangerous.
The Guard Corps protecting Lumen Hall rushed in and blocked the attackers.
The guards traded blows with them several times.......
Then they died.
The people present, especially the Ivory Tower students, began to tremble.
This was the Age of Glory.
Most imperial citizens had probably never seen anyone die, much less be murdered brutally.
“Oh my God!”
“Why would they do this.......?”
“S-Students, do something!”
“What are you saying to students?!”
“Still, they are Ivory Tower students.......”
“Are you telling students to fight?”
“What else can we do?”
Ignoring the voices around me, I spoke to Lulusha.
“Unless it becomes necessary, don’t step in.”
“But.......”
“They’re strong. And we’re still students.”
I said:
“You’ve never really fought before, have you?”
Even if Lulusha had been born with the Arcane Path of Heavenbreak, she would struggle to respond if she became the enemy’s target without any combat experience.
As I pulled Lulusha back behind the patrons, I said:
“This is Ark. We don’t need to step in.”
Though not as developed as the imperial capital, Ark was a highly advanced city.
And Ark’s influential figures were gathered here.
The Police Corps, which had already received the news, would be rushing here.
It was better to stay still until the situation was resolved.
Some of the patronage gathering’s attendees revealed their mana. Nobles and wealthy people who could sponsor Ivory Tower students could easily be mages or knights.
But even they could not move easily.
Count Koel stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
As he pushed his wheelchair forward, people moved aside and a path opened.
The mage who appeared to be the leader spoke.
“There is no need to increase the number of sacrifices. We will kill ten and leave. Ten people should volunteer to sacrifice themselves for the others. Otherwise, we will kill everyone.”
It was an unexpected proposal.
In the silence, a man standing in front of the attackers spoke.
“Give us time to think. If you say something like that so suddenly.......”
He was trying to buy time until the Police Corps arrived.
But the attackers were not so clumsy.
“I will give you ten seconds.”
Then the leader stabbed the man who had just spoken in the stomach.
Blood flowed from the man’s mouth, and he died.
“Decide quickly.”
Fear spread.
Panicked gazes darted in every direction.
Count Koel stepped forward again.
“How about me?”
There was even a smile at the corner of his mouth.
“My head—Count Koel’s head—must be worth more than ten lives.”
“Even if it is you, the weight of a life is the same. One head for one life.”
“I reaped countless lives in my youth. There were people like you among them. I killed countless rebels, and the Revolutionary Group was no different. If you kill me, will even the judges of hell not count that as more than ten?”
Count Koel provoked them, but they did not react.
“Nine. Volunteer.”
The second hand ticked away.
They had said ten seconds, but they waited twenty.
But they would not wait any longer.
“We said ten seconds and waited twenty. Yet the only person who stepped forward was Count Koel, who has little time left to live anyway. Calling this the Age of Glory is laughable. The Empire is rotten.”
Then they rushed into the crowd, swinging their swords.
Those capable of fighting hesitated, but the moment the attackers began their assault, they fought back.
But the gap in strength was vast.
“Fools.”
Count Koel, who had been seated in his wheelchair, stood up.
He had never been large, and age had made him look even smaller.
But the moment he rose, his mana expanded.
To Draco’s Eye, he looked like a giant.
But the vessel holding that power was far too weak.
If he used mana, his body would soon collapse.
Even so, Count Koel did not hesitate. He twisted the two handles attached behind his wheelchair and drew two slender, long swords from its frame.
Like a swordsman in an arena, he held the two swords upright side by side and glared at the attackers.
At some point, his mana surpassed its limit.
Count Koel stepped over the corpses and advanced.
“Count Koel!”
One of the attackers shouted and charged at him.
With his aged body, Count Koel overwhelmed the attackers.
He danced with his two swords, scattering the enemy’s blood.
Several attackers moved to stop him, and the leader unleashed magic at him.
Even so, Count Koel held on.
He was not trying to defeat the enemy, but to buy time until the Police Corps arrived.
“Lulusha.”
While the attackers were distracted by Count Koel, I signaled Lulusha.
As though she had been waiting, she created a massive blaze.
But they were trained killers.
“That kid!”
The moment Lulusha cast her magic, the leader who had been fighting Count Koel pointed at her.
Immediately, one attacker threw a dagger.
I grabbed Lulusha and fell down.
The dagger passed over our heads and embedded itself in a table behind us.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
She was not hurt, but Lulusha’s magic had vanished.
“Do not stall any longer!”
The leader raised a hand over his head.
Between the chandeliers in the banquet hall, a black sphere rose.
Mages were born with various Arcane Paths and used magic in their own ways, but when they shared the same environment and aimed for the same thing, their magic ultimately converged into similar forms.
A battlefield was a prime example.
That black mass was one of the most efficient forms of magic designed to kill people regardless of Attribute.
It was falling toward Count Koel.
What would happen next was obvious.
With an explosion, Count Koel would be torn to pieces, the surrounding area would be destroyed, and the number of casualties would rise.
My thoughts accelerated.
I didn’t know who the attackers were.
If they were willing to do something like this without hesitation, they were likely part of a sizable group, and there was nothing to gain from getting entangled with them.
There were too many eyes watching.
Once a rumor spread, it was bound to multiply.
Variables always made things more complicated.
If I didn’t become the Top Student at the Ivory Tower, I would die.
If I could just keep a low profile, keep a low profile, I was confident I could eventually become the Top Student.
But.......
I didn’t know.
Maybe the Draco bloodline itself had been wrong from the start.
That was why, while other mages enjoyed abundance in fertile lands, we had been stuck in the North for generations.
If we had been utterly ruined, we should have known how to give up. Yet Father had stubbornly shoved this thing into my left eye.
It truly was a stupid bloodline.
I thought I was a little different.
Maybe I wasn’t.
Damn Draco.
I took a marble from my pocket and threw it onto the floor.
The bead shattered.
Pitch-black smoke was sucked into my Ivory Tower Student Ring, filling the grooves of its engraved runic letters with black energy.
The leash came off, and the things that had been suppressed surged back.
I felt mana welling up within me—and Draco’s hunger greedily devouring it.
Draco’s Eye had already sensed wingbeats approaching from far away.
It’s been a while.
And then, just before the pitch-black sphere fell.
Suddenly, something far more unfathomable flew in.
―A flock of crows as black as pitch.
The flock of crows that had suddenly appeared gnawed at the sphere, gnawed at the attackers, and gnawed at the ground on which they stood. Like hungry ghosts whose hunger could not be sated no matter how much they ate, the crows continued to devour their targets. At last, they rushed at the leader, who had been standing back.
He threw up a barrier in terror, but it was meaningless.
The crows tore through the barrier in an instant and clung to the leader’s face.
“Aaargh!”
Covering his face, he took a scroll from his pocket and tore it apart.
Ash-gray smoke rose, and he suddenly vanished.
Having lost their prey, the flock of crows continued to gnaw at the ruins of the collapsed building, eating and eating and eating.
Then, at some point, they vanished as though they had never existed.
Nothing remained where the flock of crows had passed.