Book 15 Chapter 25
Burning Youth,
Instead of studying (2)
Vedinaim Municipal Triguan School (三官學校).
This was an academic cradle boasting the largest campus in the city, an integrated facility that, as its name suggests, encompassed three schools.
For the top elites, <Elity>!
For the arts and sports specialists, <Yerity>!
Lastly, for the delinquents whose parents, desperately needing a Triguan School degree for their children, fork over a fortune to send them away as 'escape' exchange students, <Harity>!
The three schools were bound together under the name Triguan School, and their uniforms were unified, but the students' relationships were akin to sworn enemies.
“Hey, hey… look over there.”
“Those are the ones…”
“The trio of exchange students who came to conquer our Triguan School this time…!”
The mages from the special operations division and the inquisitors of the Golden Children, who had already infiltrated, stirred up the students.
“27 suspensions from the Republic alone! The fiery transfer student who has conquered every school… Hiji!”
“The genius of Imperial academia whose clever brain means he's scheduled to solve a statistical conundrum today, his first day of transfer… Jess!”
“The prodigy of Imperial arts and sports, from her dazzling beauty to her skill, there's nothing to fault, and she is expected to lead Imperial art in the future… PM!”
The trio, heading to their respective assigned gates… ran into trouble, except for Fride.
The student supervisors guarding the school gate took Rista and Rin, switching their intended destinations.
“Jess, you! How can you be so late! Why did you mistake the school building? Don't you know you have to solve a difficult problem today? Come quickly and prepare!”
“Huh?”
“PM, I hear you're excellent in theater, aren't you? We're holding an audition right away during HR today, and we have high expectations for you.”
And just like that, Rista, standing bewildered on the grand hall stage of <Elity>, felt her mind go blank. Cold sweat poured down her entire body.
‘Huh?’
A massive blackboard was placed on the stage, its surface filled with an immense number of equations.
‘Uh-huh?’
The <Elity> students gathered in the grand hall stared at her with expressions mixed with curiosity and jealousy.
‘Uuuugh?’
Rin, Rin is an idiot!
Why did you put your name tag on incorrectly!
Are you trying to make fun of me for being uneducated?
‘No, no…’
Rin always comes up with the best ideas suitable for the moment. There must be a profound meaning behind this situation where we swapped name tags.
‘So I must overcome this challenge. As a warrior (勇士)!’
As Rista gripped the chalk, gasps and whispers echoed throughout the grand hall.
“Hey, it’s starting.”
“Let’s see the Imperial egghead’s skill.”
However, Rista, holding the chalk and facing the blackboard, froze.
‘But no matter how I look at it… it just looks like a feast of earthworms.’
Rista, who had absolutely no talent for mathematics in her childhood, was what is known as a 'supoja'.
It was an abbreviation for 'one who gave up on math,' a derogatory term wizards used for ordinary people who couldn't use magic.
‘But I must overcome this challenge. Because I am a warrior (勇士).’
Rista took a deep breath, put down the chalk, and turned to face the audience.
“Actually, I want to present to you a different method for solving statistics.”
“……?!”
“It is courage! If you only have the courage not to fear failure, solving such a difficult statistical problem will be no issue!”
The audience began to murmur.
A student vying for top honors at <Elity> raised his hand and asked.
“So, in what way do you propose to solve it?”
“You fill your heart with courage, the courage not to fear despair, and use that courage as the driving force to solve math problems!”
“No, so specifically, which formula do you use—”
“—I believe in your potential! If you truly hold courage in your heart and are ready to follow its guidance and never give up, then someday you will surely arrive at the answer to this riddle!”
What sophistry!
How could the nonsense of an arts and sports major possibly work in front of the cold, clear reason of science students?
“Oh, so that’s how it was!”
“Woooow! What we lacked was courage!”
“Courage! Courage! Courage! Courage! Courage! Courage! Courage! Courage!”
It worked!
Because science students barely had any immunity to ordinary female students, and Rista possessed peak beauty.
Does this mean that if you're pretty, whatever you do is innocent, and whatever ridiculous thing you do becomes art?!
“PM, your role is one of the <Forgotten Kings>, the 'Spider Lord'.”
At the same time, in <Yerity>, Rin was receiving everyone's attention in a classroom where all members of the drama club were participating.
“Here's the script; would you like to read it casually and show us your skills? It’s fine to read along with the script. Friends, let's show our transfer student friend the <Yerity> play with all our hearts.”
Rin was engrossed in a book titled 『History of the Dragon Race (Author: Gren Benivelt)』, borrowed from the municipal library.
It seemed that learning how to use the power of the Golden Dragons wouldn't be a bad idea to complete the secret technique of Brain-Organ Release.
However, unable to sit comfortably while reading, and with the endless conversations around him, Rin's brain automatically activated [Reading a Grimoire to a Cow's Ear] mode.
“…Didn't they say it was a girl?”
“…You're right. Why is it a boy's uniform?”
“…If you look at the cute aspect, isn't it really a girl? Maybe her preference is for pants instead of skirts.”
The two aces of the drama club, a handsome boy and a beautiful girl, with confident expressions and uniforms tailored uniquely to their personalities, stepped onto the stage.
“Spider Lord, your wickedness ends here!”
“My name is the Melancholy Moon, Tersia!”
“My name is the Azure Sun, Terbel!”
“For the dawn of all creation!”
“We will!”
“End you right here and now!”
This play was rumored to be one of the few accounts from [Mythical Era: Spider Lord Subjugation Battle] written in Emitsa Page's memoir, but it was merely a later creation.
Incidentally, the Spider Lord's line in the script at this point was, “Minions of light… how laughable.”
“Hmph, hehehe…”
The handsome boy and beautiful girl hesitated.
Other students also looked at the script, bewildered.
That laugh isn't in the script?
“Is that all it is…?”
The drama club's supervising professor felt a dizzying surge of realization sweep over her. The handsome boy and beautiful girl were staring blankly at her.
“Adjust to PM! PM isn't adapting herself to the script right now; she's using an advanced technique to adapt the script to herself!”
At the professor's instruction, students began to exclaim.
“A modern reinterpretation of the script…?”
“To conquer not only acting but also the screenplay, what incredible talent…!”
“This is truly the prodigy of Imperial arts and sports…!”
The handsome boy and beautiful girl burned with competitive zeal, their faces expressing that they couldn't be defeated. They began to immerse themselves in acting several times more deeply than usual.
“Your wicked laughter darkening this world ends today!”
“Let's go, Terbel! For the glory of light and eternal dawn!”
“I am, [The Strongest].”
As the play rushed to its climax, the audience began to heat up.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“It's better than the original script!”
“Actually, instead of something unnecessarily grand like the original script, this is more realistic and better!”
Thus, the attack of the Lords of Light began, but Rin, using only short lines like “Hmph,” “Heh,” and “Hmm” instead of the original script, portrayed a more intense image of darkness overwhelming light.
“Ugh, argh… truly, the foremost among the true kings of the abyss…!”
“Too strong, Terbel…!”
“Oh, no! Get away, Tersia…!”
Then, a female student, holding a magnificent greatsword prop and using wires, burst onto the stage from the air!
She was also one of the important characters in this script, specifically the role of Eldia Kata (05) Enuel, the strongest warrior of the Divine Elmine Knights.
The female student stood, blocking the space between Rin and the handsome boy and beautiful girl with her greatsword, and spoke in a restrained, almost emotionless tone.
“Eldia Kata, arrived at operation zone. Initiating Spider Lord subjugation order.”
It was the conclusion of Act 1.
It was supposed to end like this, but perhaps in the dictionary of the theater genius PM, there's absolutely no such thing as an ordinary or common ending.
“Hmm, indeed…?”
While all the drama club members were cheering wildly, the drama club's supervising professor was shedding tears and even giving a standing ovation.
“I might have lived my whole life just to see this screenplay today…”
Only Sval, from within Rin's embrace, watched these absurd delusions with narrowed eyes and shook his head.
“Kyuuuuuu…”
* * *
“I told you, if you mess with me, your youth might become a burning youth. Huh? This is burning youth. Hahahahaha!”
Characteristic of burning youth: it actually burns.
The delinquents of <Harity> were engulfed in flames, unable to move.
When Fride glared at them with a kiseru in her mouth, they bowed their heads.
“P-please save us!”
“Sister, we were wrong!”
“I-I just said that your face looks like it’s been held back for 10 years, but that's not a mistake that deserves this much pain, is it?!”
“You’re dead! That! Is a huge mistake, you bitch!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
Hmph, still, there was a harvest while beating up the delinquents.
‘They say if you do heavy labor underground for a month, you can receive something amazing from the student council as compensation… so it’s highly likely to be [King's Flesh].’
The positions of General Affairs, Secretary, Accountant, and Auditor, assisting the student council president, existed under the name of the Four Heavenly Kings, and below them were the club presidents.
Club activity scores were graded as 'Su-U-Mi-Yang-Ga (秀優美良可)' (Excellent-Superior-Good-Fair-Poor), and [King's Flesh] commensurate with the grade was distributed to the club presidents.
No need to delay… just hit the head and it's over.
“Pipi, you heard all that, right? Summarize this and deliver it to Rista and Rin.”
Pipi, who had been quietly hidden in Fride's front uniform pocket, cutely peeked her head out.
“Pipi, deliver, deliver, the student council is trash. The student council are bad people.”
“Right, right, oh~ our Pipi, so smart.”
Shortly after Pipi flew high into the sky, ominous footsteps were heard, and soon two hulking figures seized Fride from behind.
“I thought you were suspicious, and now you’re showing your true colors, transfer student.”
“Heh heh, you should have been careful on the first day. Our ‘U grade’ was watching like this. Bad luck.”
“What's so unlucky about it?”
Fride smirked, blowing the kiseru smoke directly into the faces of the big men.
“No need to bother looking for them; the trash just gathers on the dustpan on their own.”
Fride was the only one diligently working among the party members.
* * *
“The student council, huh…”
The Hero Party reunited during lunchtime to hold a strategy meeting.
As all three had suddenly become superstars in their respective classes, everyone's attention was drawn to them.
Rista and Fride, with seasoned skill, discussed serious matters while pretending to have a casual conversation.
“Right, if we just deal with the student council, we can say goodbye to this place. Let’s go in right now and finish it.”
Fride bit into her sandwich and smiled victoriously. However, Rin frowned.
“Hmph, indeed…?”
Fride was about to snap but then closed her mouth, a sudden realization flashing through her mind.
Right…
Let's think carefully. Would the special operations division or the inquisitors who infiltrated until now not have known this? And even if the student council is the head, there might be a separate mastermind.
“Indeed… if we catch the student council and they're not the ringleaders, another student council will just emerge. The important thing is to catch the mastermind, that is, the supplier.”
Rista also nodded seriously at Fride’s judgment.
“To approach the supplier, we'll need to infiltrate even deeper, it seems.”
“What should we do?”
“I'm concerned about what's happening underground. There might be a clue leading to the [King's Flesh] there.”
“Actually, there's something bothering me. Someone was arrested right here a long time ago. I don't know if he escaped or died when <Ikegrad Prison> collapsed.”
“Who was it?”
“Roblos. He was a genius archaeologist. He seemed to want to solve difficult archaeological problems using forbidden knowledge. As you know, archaeology is directly connected to the abyss (深淵), so most of it is considered taboo.”
“A thirst for knowledge, huh…”
As Rista muttered with a hand on her chin, Fride dusted her rear and stood up from the bench. Pipi wiped the sauce from her mouth with her beak.
“You guys focus on the student council. I'll go check out the underground right now.”
“Right now?”
“Is there a problem? Skipping class is a basic qualification for a delinquent student, after all.”
Their secret meeting was being carefully observed from the highest point on the school grounds.
The Shadow Student Council.
Student Council President, Roblos.
An archaeology expert, he was a figure who, since childhood, had followed archaeologists, exploring and discovering ancient ruins, causing a stir in academic circles.
“This time, quite a big fly has come buzzing around.”
There were other beings in that space.
“How foolish, they must have thought we wouldn’t know such things.”
“Just give us orders as usual, President.”
“Heh heh, we’ll drown them without anyone knowing, just like the old gnats.”
These were key figures of the student council, called the Four Heavenly Kings, all dangerous individuals who had benefited from the [King's Flesh].
“No, there’s no need to intervene. I will move up the grand plan. Flies cannot possibly resist a massive storm. They will be swept away and perish.”