I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman - Chapter 93

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 93: Why Is That Person Here?

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“Honestly, I thought a treasure chest from somewhere like an Evil God Dungeon would be a little more special.”

“Like what...?”

“Maybe it would cry, ‘Treasure, treasure.’”

“Ah, I saw one like that before. It went quiet when I stabbed it with my sword.”

“How did it cry?”

“Like, ‘Kieeek...’”

“That’s disappointing.”

Aren Bright was describing a mimic.

A monster that occasionally appeared while clearing dungeons.

“B-but why does it have to cry, ‘Treasure, treasure’?”

“Then how should a treasure chest cry?”

“Do you cry, ‘Alicia, Alicia,’ Senior?”

“If you want, I can cry like that for you as much as you like.”

Alicia smiled seductively and flicked her lower lip with a finger.

“Do you want to see me cry?”

I ignored her.

That was how we stood before the treasure chest, exchanging pointless jokes.

It was one thing for me, but this dungeon raid had to mean a great deal to the other three.

An Evil God Dungeon the Empire had failed to clear for centuries.

They had cleared it with their own hands, so the tension must have finally melted away.

“Now then, let’s see what gift the Evil God prepared for us after all our hard work.”

When we opened the treasure chest, a pink flash burst forth.

“Ooh...!”

Aren Bright’s eyes sparkled at the countless Shard petals filling the sky.

“Could all of those really be Shards...?”

The three of us weren’t particularly impressed, though. We’d seen something similar with Eliver before.

“This is the problem with traveling alongside Halibal. Tier 1 Shards don’t impress us anymore.”

Just then, Mine caught one of the falling Shards and froze.

“T-these are all Tier 2 Shards...?”

“What?”

That changed things.

The chest had released enough Tier 2 Shards for each person to take at least ten. Nearly ten Tier 3 Shards had dropped as well.

It was a shame there weren’t any Tier 4 Shards, but the relevant dungeon had not opened yet, so there was nothing to be done about that.

With this many, it looked like we could lower the Alicia Machine’s exchange rate to five-to-one.

And with this much...

‘If necessary, I should consider quickly moving my Shards up to Tier 4.’

It wasn’t just a shower of Shards that had dropped.

[Holy Radiance] and [Steadfastness].

Perhaps Negaloun and Necreddin’s boss-drop rewards had been combined, because two Special Shards had dropped.

Holy Radiance increased Mana by 8, while Steadfastness increased Health by 5 and Defense by 1.

The disappointing part was that neither Shard suited me.

I’d hoped their special abilities might at least be useful, but like the White Tome, both Shards had sealed abilities.

‘Still, I’ve collected about half of the Special Shards now.’

Three of each color.

Eight out of the eighteen Special Shards that existed.

Nine, if I included Void.

‘Will a dragon pop out if I collect them all?’

Next came the Bone Series equipment that Negaloun should have dropped.

A grotesque fan made from something like Negaloun’s finger bones woven together with old leather.

[Bone Fan (III)]

[Mana 21 / Defense 14]

[When taking damage, has a fixed chance to activate ‘Bone Armor.’ (Cooldown: 6 hours)]

[Bone Armor - Reduces the damage of an opponent’s attacks twice.]

Naturally, it was Alicia’s equipment.

“It certainly has an... utterly grotesque appearance.”

Alicia let out a disgusted groan as she held the fan between only her thumb and index finger.

She complained even when I gave it to her.

If Cecilia had come with us, my gear would’ve dropped instead.

Of course, this was Negaloun’s reward.

Necreddin’s reward had to be separate.

“Oh.”

Aren Bright and I reacted at the same time.

[Lich’s Bracer (III)]

[Attack Power 9 / Critical Hits 9 / Defense 9]

‘Did my weapon drop?’

It wasn’t a weapon, but an accessory: a bracer.

Maybe because it was Tier 3, its Attack Power was even higher than that of the Shattering Sword.

It even came with a generous amount of Critical Hits, so in a pinch, I could probably beat monsters to death with it.

Aren Bright and I exchanged meaningful looks.

It was swordsman gear that either of us could use.

“Can I take this one?”

I made my claim boldly.

In situations like this, the first one to speak had the advantage.

But then...

“...”

Confirmed.

There was no immediate answer.

It seemed Aren Bright wanted the bracer too.

Unable to properly meet my gaze, she kept looking back and forth between the bracer and me.

Normally, I would’ve insisted on my share too, but I had barely done anything in this dungeon raid.

If anything, Aren Bright had done more than me when the torches were included.

I sighed inwardly.

There was no helping it.

“Should we meet later and decide how to split this?”

“Ah, ah? O-okay!”

Aren Bright eagerly accepted my suggestion.

Why was she so happy? She’d be losing the item to me soon.

The treasure chest’s glow began to fade.

‘Is that everything?’

As I searched the bottom of the chest, reluctant to give up, something caught on my fingertips.

‘What the fuck?’

“Is this... an Abyss Core?”

“Can Abyss Cores drop from dungeons too?”

They could.

Aren Bright’s Sun Shine was Dungeon-made equipment too.

Still, I hadn’t expected one to drop here.

[Abyss Core - Messiah]

Mine’s build in the original game generally went in one of two directions.

You could give her Lumen and use her as a damage dealer, or give her Messiah and use her as a healer.

Most people used her as a healer.

It was simply easier and more efficient.

What did that mean?

Messiah was Mine’s endgame Abyss Core.

Messiah’s effect was extremely simple.

It increased healing and converted any healing beyond maximum Health into a shield.

This effect, which appeared in plenty of other games too, was practically broken in the original action RPG.

Raphael, a dead-weight Core, had barely disappeared when Messiah dropped.

‘What’s with this blatant favoritism?’

Still, it wasn’t completely unreasonable.

If there had been an MVP in this dungeon raid, it was undoubtedly Mine.

More than that, bringing Alicia back from the dead was enough to make up for all her past mistakes.

That was when it happened.

“There’s something else. Everyone, look at this.”

Alicia pulled an old, tattered notebook from inside the chest.

It had been hidden beneath Messiah, and its cover was stained with dried blood.

A name written in elegant handwriting was visible between the covers.

‘Arisha Rose.’

“Ah...!”

Mine gasped and snatched the notebook away.

Then, with trembling hands, she began to read.

It was Sister Arisha’s diary.

The diary recorded everything, from the day she was assigned to Rose Orphanage, to her daily life and worries for the children, and even how she had entered this dungeon alongside the Imperial Knights.

The final page was especially stained with dried blood, making it hard to read properly.

Alicia quickly skimmed it and spoke.

“...So Sister Arisha wasn’t killed by the skeletal knight.”

[Sister Arisha’s Diary - Final Page]

...A sword-wielding... monster... attacked me. Still alive...

My eyes... I have to return...

Mine... Will you... someday find... this diary?

If you do... don’t blame yourself. This... isn’t your fault.

Because you’re... a child warmer-hearted... than anyone...

Please... smile. The thing you... like...

...I love you... Mine. My child...

Sister Arisha had been attacked by Negaloun, but she hadn’t died immediately.

This diary was likely her final testament, written amid the pain of dying.

The keepsake Mine had searched for so desperately.

And the fact that it had been with Messiah meant...

‘So it wasn’t just favoritism.’

Perhaps Messiah was Sister Arisha’s final gift to Mine, who would one day walk the path of a Saintess.

Mine held the diary close and cried for a long time. We waited for her to compose herself.

Before long, the dungeon began to collapse.

It wasn’t a physical collapse. The demonic energy weighing down the space was lifting away.

By the time the temple had completely vanished, Mine had calmed down, and we finished dividing the dropped items.

⁎⁎⁎

Once the dungeon disappeared, the ruins of the original fortress appeared before us.

And hundreds of soldiers filled the entrance to the ruins.

No, hundreds?

“Senior?”

Alicia had brought fewer than fifty soldiers here in the first place.

Even then, only around twenty of them had been part of the dungeon raid party.

She had said that many people in the Imperial Family disapproved of her clearing the dungeon, so that was all the force she could command.

Of course, she had called for reinforcements.

But this many?

Alicia’s expression had stiffened too.

It didn’t seem like she had summoned them.

Then what was this?

The soldiers’ armor was unmistakably Imperial.

Looking closer, though, the emblem on their banners differed from the Empire’s usual crest.

Heat haze rippled like waves beneath a blazing sun. Only one order used that emblem in the original game.

‘No way...?’

A man in silver armor emerged through the soldiers.

Long golden hair swayed through the gap in his helmet.

His forehead and eyes, intermittently visible in the moonlight, left a strong impression. He was a handsome man with piercingly sharp features.

“Kylien.”

“Your Highness.”

The Imperial First Knights.

Commander of the Sunlit Gale.

“You have done well to eliminate a centuries-old calamity.”

The commander, Kylien Rubel.

After removing his helmet and greeting Alicia, he glanced at Aren Bright.

“...Senior Brother.”

“I am here today as the commander of the Imperial Knights. Mind your manners, Final Successor.”

‘To think Kylien would appear this early.’

The sixth successor of the Ultimate Divine Sword and Aren Bright’s senior martial brother.

The man known as the Empire’s Dark Sword.

In the original game, he was a mid-boss-like figure who prioritized the Empire’s stability above all else and clashed with Aren Bright time and again over her insistence on clearing dungeons.

“In truth, I came out expecting applause, but even I find this unsettling. You’re not planning to arrest us, are you?”

“Not at all. Thanks to Your Highness dealing with the disaster, the Empire will be able to reclaim its territory.”

Kylien bowed politely.

“I only came to confirm the results of the raid and safely escort Your Highness to the Imperial Palace.”

“On my brother’s orders?”

He didn’t answer Alicia’s question.

He didn’t need to. The meaning was clear enough.

“You brought quite a force. It seems he was very worried about my safety.”

“Your Highness’s safety is the Empire’s safety.”

That wasn’t wrong, but bringing hundreds of soldiers looked far more like a threat.

It was proof that the prince hadn’t viewed Alicia’s independent actions favorably.

“Where are Kaizel and my soldiers?”

“I sent them back to the Imperial Capital first.”

“Who gave you permission?”

“If I overstepped, I apologize. I will gladly accept punishment, but I hope you understand that I was only following orders.”

“That wasn’t His Majesty’s order, was it?”

Kylien didn’t answer this time either.

“And...”

His gaze moved from Alicia to Aren Bright, covered in wounds, then to Mine, who looked utterly exhausted, and finally to me.

His eyes lingered on me for an especially long time.

“The three of you who led the raid must accompany us to the Imperial Palace as well. His Highness wishes to personally commend you for your achievements.”

“What?”

“We even brought Imperial Palace medics in consideration of your condition, so you should be able to recover sufficiently on the way there.”

‘Fuck. This is completely tangled up.’

I was going to meet the prince, whom I hadn’t met in the original game until after the second semester ended, before the first semester had even finished.

Had we cleared the dungeon too quickly?

The prince had always been wary of Alicia’s dungeon raids, driven by her idealistic goal of “saving the world.”

To someone who placed the Empire’s stability above all else, Alicia’s independent actions were an uncontrollable variable and a challenge to his authority.

Still, he had committed all kinds of vile shit in the name of the Empire’s stability, so the original game had painted him as nothing but trash.

Kylien Rubel was that prince’s trusted subordinate.

“My brother is impatient, isn’t he? Sending my soldiers away as he pleased wasn’t enough, and now he intends to take my guests as well?”

“His Highness wishes to meet not Your Highness’s guests, but the Empire’s heroes.”

There was a strange emphasis on the word heroes.

He intended to make the clearing of the third Evil God Dungeon not Alicia’s achievement, but the Empire’s achievement.

“Commend, was it?”

Realizing what he meant, Alicia smiled coldly.

“Let us hope that commendation isn’t a golden leash.”

Kylien didn’t respond further. He simply gestured politely toward us.

Even then, he showed no opening at all.

‘There’s no way out.’

This was when knowing the original game was the fucking worst, because I was the only one who knew this was obviously a forced event.

There was no choice for us here except to be taken away by Kylien.

Rebellion or not, we couldn’t beat him in the first place.

He was a swordsman ranked among the five strongest in the Empire. Even if the four of us had been at full strength and attacked together, beating him would’ve been difficult.

‘I wanted to delay entering this scenario for as long as possible.’

There was no helping it.

For now, we had no choice but to follow obediently.

I was about to step forward in resignation when someone called out.

“Wait.”

A booming voice rang out.

From the direction where the soldiers and Kylien turned their gazes, a middle-aged man strode up the mountain.

Aren Bright and Mine, even Alicia, couldn’t hide their surprise at his confident bearing.

But I was the most shocked of all.

‘...Why is that person here?’

A face covered in a thick blue beard.

A black eyepatch covering one eye.