I Broke Off My Engagement and Got a Job at the Academy

61 – Roar

Even in a situation where my head felt like it would turn white, I struggled to keep my composure. And now, I began to think about who could be behind this situation.

The Imperial Faction? Are they doing this to eliminate me because I don’t follow their will? That thought crossed my mind briefly, but I quickly shook my head.

No, the Imperial Faction wouldn’t operate like this. Their primary goal is not to kill me but to capture me and make me listen to them.

Moreover, if it were the Imperial Faction, they would quietly deal with me when I showed a vulnerability rather than orchestrating a large-scale terror attack, killing everyone at once. Such a massive terror attack didn’t align with the Imperial way.

In contrast, the current situation was purely for ‘slaughter.’ Methods designed to kill those on board.

Not only that, but the organization (?) behind this incident was even resorting to silencing those related to it by destroying their brains. I gained confidence that these were the same individuals as those during the entrance exam in their malice and methods.

However, the problem was that I couldn’t figure out what would come next. Even knowing that the ship would explode and he would die, the flight attendant still carried out the mission.

It was like a fanatic situation. In such a scenario, it was better to abandon the expectation of easily obtaining information.

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I placed my hand on the unconscious flight attendant’s head. Fortunately, his brain was not destroyed. It seemed that once consciousness was lost, the process of brain destruction ceased.

Next, I thoroughly examined the flight attendant’s brain. And… within his brain, there was an unfamiliar, eerie energy.

A power different from divine power and magic power. A sinister and viscous… I couldn’t help but utter my thoughts unconsciously.

“Dark magic…?”

Dark magic. The power wielded by dark sorcerers. Unlike the divine power, which possesses the power of healing and protection, and magic power, which has the power of transformation and amplification, this energy had the power of corrosion and destruction.

Upon hearing my voice, Professor Cordelia furrowed her brow.

“…What?”

I felt my mouth go dry. Entangled with a dark sorcerer. I couldn’t grasp what was happening.

However, it was precisely because of this that such behavior made sense. Sacrificing lives lightly for a goal, displaying such intense hatred—all made sense when you considered them as dark sorcerers.

A long time ago, the last demon king from another realm was killed by the hands of a hero.

Since then, demons no longer waged war against humans; instead, they established nations and gradually integrated with humans. As a result, not a single pure-blooded demon remained in this world, replaced by a new race with demon blood—the half-demons.

However, humans, with their different customs, rejected the half-demons who inherited demon blood. Consequently, some of the half-demons ventured beyond their nations and scattered across the world.

In short, using dark magic to carry out such deeds indicated individuals filled with hatred towards humans, individuals descended from the blood of the half-demons.

I clenched my teeth. The magic-infused elixir was spreading through the crew member’s brain. The infiltrator not only couldn’t absorb the body’s magic but also risked the brain collapsing if the dark magic within was removed hastily.

In other words, the options for extracting information in this situation were limited.

I sighed and spoke, “Can this person be handed over to us? We need to conduct a thorough investigation at the academy.”

The crew members nodded in agreement to my words. It seemed like the revelation that someone they considered a comrade had almost died had a profound impact on them.

And so, to restrain the unconscious crew member, I took out a demon-catching cage from the pocket dimension.

Pressing a button, it instantly grew to a size sufficient to contain a person. I moved the unconscious crew member inside.

Next, I closed the cage’s door. With the life-support system in place, there was no immediate danger of death inside for several days.

I pressed the button on the cage again. The cage instantly shrank, and I put it back into the pocket dimension.

After that, Professor Cordelia and I returned to our original positions.

As time passed, Professor Cordelia’s expression remained complex. I spoke to her.

“…Is there something wrong?”

In response, Professor Cordelia lightly sighed.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just…”

“Just?”

“It’s related to the dark sorcerer, so it’s a bit… that’s why.”

Come to think of it, Professor Cordelia’s appearance had black and red eyes—a trait inherited from those with demon blood.

Was Professor Cordelia’s gaze related to that?

I sighed, leaned back, and said, “…I don’t know what’s what. It’s sudden.”

It was a journey back to the academy after a good event, but who could have predicted it would turn out like this? Dealing with the Imperial Faction alone was already a headache, and now, the headache had become even more painful after the unexpected turn of events.

I remained silent for a moment before speaking to Professor Cordelia.

“…What should we do about this?”

“Well…”

“It’s a curse filled with dark magic that’s attached to the brain… If we carelessly interfere, it might end badly because it’s filled with spell formulas.”

Professor Cordelia made a thoughtful sound and replied.

“There’s probably only one person who can do something about it… in the world.”

I looked at Professor Cordelia and opened my mouth.

“Who?”

There was someone who could resolve this situation? I was surprised.

“Who else? You must know the person too. The Saint.”

“Ah.”

As soon as I thought of him, I couldn’t help but exclaim. Well, if he’s a saint, he can definitely resolve this.

The Saint. He doesn’t interfere with politics, and his relationship with Ariel is over, so he doesn’t engage much in external activities… That is only limited to politics.

The other term for the saint… was ‘the strongest in the world’.

One might think that priests are defensive for no reason, but it was different for the Saint. Because… the state of being a saint was equivalent to being a master.

Innate talent. And the blessing given by the relic that was said to be bestowed directly by God. All of that combined… truly a living embodiment of god.

It was not without reason that the saints and saints of the past were said to surpass the emperors and condemned those who did not follow them.

The saints and saints inherently possessed a power that could not help but be believed in.

The saint was an old man, and his body had become frail.

However, although his body was weak, his soul and mind were incomparable to his youth, so he was practically as robust as ever.

It goes without saying that the saint was not called the strongest among the few masters on the continent for no reason.

Offense? It was said that the saint could create lightning with divine power. Defense? It goes without saying. It was a moving fortress that even magicians could not keep up with, no matter how many barriers they stacked.

Thinking about the saint’s records, I unintentionally recalled memories of him.

And as soon as I thought of the saint, I furrowed my brow and tightly closed my mouth.

Because I remembered that I owed him a debt. The saint only gave me grace, and I had countless debts to repay him.

So, I fell silent. I felt a complicated mix of thoughts.

Both Professor Cordelia and I had to feel complex emotions in our own thoughts as well. So, we both fell silent, and before we knew it, our ship had docked at the Academy.

Even though it’s called the Mediterranean, it took quite some time to travel by ship. Moreover, due to the terrorist attack, there were significant delays in between.

As a result, the ship arrived at the Academy’s port the next day after boarding.

Professor Cordelia and I disembarked from the ship. And as soon as we did, a tremendous cheer echoed.

“…?”

I looked around the harbor. People were bustling about. Strange. I had never seen such a crowd gathering for the ships returning after the end of the sightseeing season.

“Oh.”

Was it because of Professor Cordelia? I thought so and looked at the crowd alone.

And gradually, the meaning behind the cheers began to resonate.

“It’s Professor Edison Kainess!”

“The protagonist of this year’s Matap Conference!”

Hearing those voices, I looked around in astonishment. The crowd was all looking at me.

I couldn’t help but feel flustered. Well… that cheering right now meant it was directed towards me.

Feeling flustered, I descended on the harbor and found the director of the academy.

“What happened…?”

He rushed towards me in an instant, grabbed my hand, and said.

“It’s really you! You are the pride of our academy!”

…What?