WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 15: A Mighty Fine Morning
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It was dawn by the time I successfully pulled off Just Guard about four more times.
I dragged my exhausted body back to my private barracks and collapsed on the spot.
When I opened my eyes again, all my lingering fatigue had vanished. I felt light enough to fly.
So this was what a mighty fine morning felt like.
It was probably because all the tension I'd built up while conquering the Beast Dungeon had been released at once.
Thanks to that, it was easier to organize my thoughts and make plans for the future.
‘First, I have to take first place in the entrance exam.’
With that thought in mind, I grabbed my admission papers and stepped out of the barracks.
Then I saw it.
“?”
The red glow of the evening sky.
‘Damn. Don't tell me I slept all day? No wonder my head felt so clear.’
I looked down at the application form in my hand.
‘Even if I go now, the office will be closed.’
Still, the deadline was tomorrow at 6 p.m.
There wouldn't be a problem if I went first thing in the morning.
‘Just in case, I should stay up all night tonight.’
Just then, I made eye contact with a senior soldier entering the barracks.
“What? Why are you coming out of there?”
“I guess my body was exhausted. I ended up sleeping all day.”
“All day? I didn't see you yesterday.”
What?
This was definitely the person who had watched me train Just Guard from the corner of the training grounds.
But they hadn't seen me?
A bad feeling flashed through my mind.
“What day is it today?”
“The sixteenth.”
“…Why isn't it the fifteenth?”
“What are you talking about?”
‘Fuck.’
I checked the date again and finally understood what had happened.
When fatigue exceeds its limit, the human body tends to compensate by recovering from accumulated exhaustion.
And when tension stretched tight like a rubber band snaps in that state, the body goes slack as well.
I hadn't properly rested even once in the past six years.
Then yesterday, or rather, the day before yesterday, I'd received far too many rewards in a single day.
Renee had grown, gained a Unique Ability, and acquired a new Art.
I'd conquered the Beast Dungeon, obtained a Special Shard, received a title, been knighted, and even been given a mansion. Then I succeeded at Just Guard on top of all that.
With everything hitting me in one day, my body and mind had completely come undone like a snapped rubber band.
As a result, I'd slept for forty-two hours, well over a full day. Naturally, the deadline to submit my application had long passed.
‘Calm down.’
I took a deep breath and settled myself.
As if by magic, my head cleared and my reason gradually returned.
It wasn't like there was no way out.
I'd built up a reputation and connections by now.
‘…I'll ask Adeline.’
She'd probably call me a lunatic and ask where the hell I'd left my mind, but what else could I do?
She was an instructor at Ruidel and the Imperial Sword. With someone of her influence, couldn't she make up for a mistake like this?
Full of hope, I went to find Adeline.
“Me? I'm not an instructor.”
“……What?”
“Ah, I did get an offer, but I turned it down.”
“…Why?”
“Why else? I have subordinates to look after. Because you conquered the Beast Dungeon, our workload has increased too. How am I supposed to leave my post like this?”
In the original story, Adeline accepted the instructor position after the Gale Raid Party was wiped out.
The reason was exactly as it sounded. The subordinates she had to look after had disappeared.
But now, thanks to me joining the party and smashing through the dungeons, the number of casualties had dropped dramatically. The raid party was still intact.
In other words, Adeline no longer had any reason to transfer to Ruidel.
“Why? Are you worried you'll miss me even after you go to the academy?”
I never expected the snowball caused by completely ignoring the original story to roll all the way here. Of course, it was my own fault.
‘No. I missed the application deadline, so I need your help.’
‘Just die.’
Would I be able to endure it once I got used to Just Guard?
No, I wouldn't. No matter how I looked at it, this was the wrong answer.
‘Someone else… Mine?’
That was uncertain too. The Imperial Saint was a saint in title only and had almost no real authority.
‘What about Alicia…?’
The truth was, Alicia and I weren't close.
I didn't even know what she thought of me.
More importantly, she was the Imperial Princess and the student council president. Right now, she was fiercely competing with her older brother over the line of succession.
If she gave special treatment only to me in that situation, it could hurt her image due to concerns about fairness.
‘Should I ask the Ren sisters?’
That would probably be difficult too.
What power could the sisters possibly have?
The Ren House was ultimately Duke Ren's family, and Duke Ren was portrayed in the story as the embodiment of principle.
Even if Halibal's grandfather showed up, Duke Ren would never help with something like this.
It was strange. I was sure I had plenty of influential connections, so how was there nobody who could help when it mattered most?
As I sat there clutching my head in thought, someone called out.
“Oh? Could that be Sir Halibal over there?”
I turned around to see a bearded middle-aged man and a girl walking over from one side of the street.
They were faces I'd seen when we left the dungeon yesterday.
“Why are you sitting there?”
“…Halibal greets Duke Grace.”
“Ha ha ha. You've received a title now, haven't you? There's no need to be so formal between fellow nobles.”
He spoke casually, and his manner was gentle.
The man was Viktor Grace, one of the Cyrus Empire's two great dukes and its greatest mage.
“Luna, greet him. This is Sir Halibal, the Funeral Sword.”
“…Greetings, Lady Grace.”
“…….”
The girl was Luna Grace, the heroine of the original story and its strongest magic damage dealer.
This was the first time we'd formally greeted each other, but just like in the original story, she had a blunt personality.
In any case, Viktor was a member of the Academy's board and a key figure responsible for its overall curriculum.
He looked kind and easygoing, but knowing the original story, I couldn't have been less happy to see him.
‘Why is the Empire's hidden mastermind here?’
Academy of the End was a game with two main scenarios.
One was the story of conquering the Dungeons of the Evil God and eventually defeating the Evil God.
The other was a political drama about preventing a power struggle between the Empire's nobles and a coup.
Viktor appeared as someone who was publicly part of the imperial faction, but secretly incited the noble faction to stab the imperial family in the back. He was practically a double agent.
He even joined hands with the Evil God's followers.
Of course, he wasn't directly connected to the Evil God, so he didn't leave as strong an impression as the Evil God did.
Still, near the end, he even tried to perish together with the Evil God in praise of humanity.
If Alicia was a cat that looked like a tiger, this man was a dog-faced giant serpent.
He looked friendly on the outside, but hundreds of snakes were coiled within him. He was the kind of person I wanted to avoid getting involved with in real life whenever possible.
“What brings you here, Duke?”
“Ah, I'm here for the Academy entrance exam.”
That didn't mean I needed to make an enemy of him right away.
This was a scenario separate from the Evil God. Until he revealed his true colors, there was no one more capable than him, and he had no connection to the Tartarus Cult.
‘At least nothing major has changed here.’
Ruidel Academy was an institution intended to train dungeon assault teams.
As such, most of its classes, practical training, and exams were inevitably connected to dungeon conquest. The entrance exam was no exception.
The entrance exam involved a simulated dungeon conquest based on a Beast Dungeon created with Viktor's illusion magic.
It was called the Shadow Dungeon.
The candidates would be sent inside so their potential could be evaluated. In the original story, Cecilia had taken first place on this exam.
With that in mind, Viktor was likely here to inspect the Beast Dungeon's layout.
Of course, that was none of my business anymore, since I couldn't even enroll. Fuck.
“By the way, Sir Halibal, I noticed you haven't submitted an application. Do you have no intention of enrolling?”
“……I was so focused on training that I missed the deadline.”
“What?”
Even Viktor lost his smile and looked at me as though he were wondering what kind of idiot I was.
Soon enough, though, he started smiling again.
“Ha ha, I'd heard you were a training fanatic, but I didn't know it was that bad.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Well, there's no need to be so sorry. Does that mean you'll give up on enrolling this year?”
“I'm looking into my options, but I think I'll have to.”
At those words, Luna flinched and her shoulders jerked.
‘Is she wary of me?’
This was only the second time she'd seen me.
We hadn't even spoken before.
What was that reaction about?
“Hm. A talent like you has to give up enrolling because you failed to submit an application?”
“I can't inconvenience the others. There is also the issue of fairness.”
Viktor fell into thought for a moment, then clapped his hands.
“Hm, does this fairness you speak of ultimately mean justification?”
Justification was Viktor's favorite word.
If Duke Ren valued the process, Duke Grace valued the result.
As long as the justification sounded convincing, he didn't care what happened during the process. Put simply, he was extremely results-oriented.
“Then I think I may be able to help.”
“What?”
“If you're willing, would you take on the role of boss in this entrance exam? In exchange, I'll do everything I can to resolve your enrollment issue.”
“By boss, you mean…”
“Ha ha ha. I'll tell you the details once you accept. Luna is here, after all. The exam must be ‘fair,’ mustn't it?”
At that, Luna avoided my gaze and turned her head slightly.
Fair, my ass.
He had probably already told Luna everything.
‘Was that the role Adeline took in the original story?’
The boss at the deepest part of the Shadow Dungeon wasn't Varhatan.
When the protagonist reached the dungeon's end in the original story, Adeline had been waiting for them.
They faced Adeline there and, after realizing the overwhelming difference in their abilities, were ultimately defeated.
During the fight, they barely managed to leave a small cut on Adeline's cheek. Their potential was recognized, and they were assigned to the lowest seat in the top class.
“I was originally going to entrust it to a suitable instructor, but when I saw you, I thought perhaps the Funeral Sword would be capable of it.”
But Adeline wasn't an instructor now.
It seemed he intended to hand that role over to me.
“Of course, for the sake of fairness, I intend to put you through the wringer. If you lose without putting up a fight, naturally your enrollment will be out of the question.”
“……”
“You'll have to face many students, so it certainly won't be easy.”
“Is that so?”
“But if you can pull it off, no one will object if I grant you the small privilege of accepting your application a little late.”
In the original story, Adeline didn't allow the students to land a single attack.
Not Cecilia, not Luna, not even the other playable characters. The gap in ability had been that absurd.
To recreate the main scenario in a similar way, I'd have to show at least something close to that.
I might not be able to avoid getting hit even once, but wouldn't I at least need to avoid losing even once?
But could I do that?
I'd grown quite a bit, but I didn't know how my current strength compared to the original characters.
Still, as he said, the justification was solid.
After missing my chance to apply because of my own mistake, it would be hard to find a more appealing offer than this.
More than that, I was starting to want to properly fight the original characters at least once.
The only thing that bothered me was that I'd be forming some kind of connection with the Empire's hidden mastermind I needed to be wary of.
“I accept your offer. When should I come see you?”
“Ha ha ha! I knew you would. I do have an eye for people.”
That was something future me could deal with.
“Come to my estate in Nevil two days from now. I'll explain the details then.”
If possible, I'd prefer the protagonist to handle it.
⁎⁎⁎
1:37 p.m. on the fifteenth.
The student council president's office at Ruidel Academy.
Alicia had been in an exceptionally good mood lately.
Halibal Velder, whom she alone in the imperial family had supported for the past three years, had finally accomplished the great feat of conquering the First Abyss.
Thanks to that, Alicia's standing within the imperial family had continued to rise as well.
‘As expected, my plans are always perfect.’
With a satisfied expression, she flipped through the admission applications piled on her desk and smiled as she thought of Halibal, who would arrive shortly.
The moment he submitted his paperwork, she intended to carry out the twenty-fourth of the one hundred fifty-two plans she had prepared.
Once he was inside the Academy, she could support him as much as she wanted.
“Kuhuhu. I shall await you, Halibal.”
Alicia chuckled to herself in delight.
Exactly five hours later, her good mood was shattered to pieces.
“Um… Your Highness, it's time to turn out the lights…”
“W-Wait! The person I'm waiting for hasn't arrived yet!”
Halibal hadn't appeared, even though the deadline to submit admission applications had long passed.
And so, she prayed inwardly.
Please!!
‘Come tomorrow, at least! No, come whenever! The moment you show up, I'll make sure your application is accepted!’
Of course, Halibal didn't come the next day either, and large tears streamed down Alicia's cheeks.
Footnotes:
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