The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 161

Her body was covered in dust and dirt, but she didn’t shed a single drop of blood. Her oversized shirt and skirt were torn, becoming ragged. And the amount of magic power she had, which was enough to flip over the entire world, had decreased considerably.

And yet, Lucy Mayreel had no intention of collapsing.

Kwaaaaaaak!

Casting ultimate elemental magic. Who knows how many times she has cast it already.

Dozens of lightning bolts struck from the sky as a massive stream of fire spewed from a magic circle. Hundreds of ice spears continued to light up the sky, yet Mebula still wasn’t defeated.

If she hadn’t had to pay attention to her surroundings, and if Lucy hadn’t been fighting with her full firepower, it would have been enough to redraw the entire map.

Every time Lucy—who floated up in the night sky—waved her hand, Mebula’s eyes turned towards her. While exchanging blows countless times, it had become a battle of who would run out of magic power first.

How much strength could a single human have? It was amazing that there was such a tremendous power in a human who had lived less than a hundred years.

However, there was no reason for Mebula to end its life there.

Mebula had lost all reason to descend.

It was supposed to descend upon the world through countless sacrifices. However, the medium that was meant to offer them had died.

Despite Mebula giving him an endless amount of its magic power, he eventually met the end of his life at the hands of Ed Rothstaylor.

“……?”

Suddenly, a gigantic magic circle appeared in the sky. It wasn’t the sacrificial magic that Krepin had cast, nor was it Elemental magic from Lucy.

The magic circle Mebula cast broke away to a place outside the clutches of humans… Passing into the dimension that Mebula had originally come from.

Mebula had decided to retreat. All because of that one magician.

“Where…!”

Lucy gathered magic powers in her hand once more in front of Mebula, who was about to retreat. A magic circle of that level could be destroyed if Lucy concentrated on it.

However, feeling her stiff shoulders suddenly throb in pain… Lucy’s frowned.

She looked down at Rothstaylor Mansion with blank eyes. It looked as if Krepin Rothstaylor had already died and the chaos inside the mansion had been taken care of.

The servants and tentacles lost all their strength as they collapsed. The gremlins also retreated as the Knight Templar and Imperial Guards entered the mansion.

The situation was coming to an end. In the end, Mebula couldn’t defeat Lucy before Krepin had died.

A single human hand blocked the path of an Evil God… There was no need to explain what a feat that was.

“Fine. Go.”

All of Mebula’s eyes looked directly at Lucy as it disappeared into the magic circle. It was as if it was declaring this was simply a temporary retreat. However, the fact that it was defeated in the end didn’t change.

“Don’t even think about coming back.”

Under the bright stars, Lucy’s white hair fluttered in the wind. She couldn’t tie it like usual, so seeing her with her hair flying in the wind like that left an impression.

Looking at Mebula with a blank expression on her face, it didn’t look like she particularly felt joy over her victory. In the end, it seemed as if she felt incomplete from the fight that ended in a rush.

As Mebula disappeared into the night sky, Lucy slowly descended to the ground.

“She’s coming down…!”

“That monster… She dealt with it on her own…!”

“H-How many ultimate magic spells did she use…? It was a number that couldn’t be counted… Yet she’s completely fine…?”

As she slowly descended from the night sky landing in the central garden, the soldiers began to split up.

Seeing that girl come down to earth after fighting against that evil god on her own, she looked like a messenger of God.

She was a person who could easily destroy the entire mansion with just a single wave of her hand if she so desired.

That fact had been clearly proven in her battle. The perpetrators were in a situation where they couldn’t say a word.

Though, Lucy didn’t pay attention to those gazes as she ripped off the ends of her tattered clothes.

She looked around. With her eyes wide open, she could only see soldiers. However, closing her eyes and feeling the flow of magic power, she smelt that familiar grassy scent somewhere in the distance.

Fixing her clothes, she ran through all the soldiers, who were staring at her. Wherever she went, the crowd of people made way for her, clearing the path.

She found a blonde boy lying under a large zelkova tree in the central garden.

His body was covered in blood as he sat there unconscious, leaning against the tree… It looked as if he went through a lot.

There were two soldiers nearby giving first aid as an elementalist watched from behind. There was even the Saint as well. Seeing those two girls, she glared at them. She eventually decided that it was fine as she exhaled through her nose, walking proudly over to the boy.

“Ah…!”

One of the soldiers who was giving first aid looked back, startled. The same went for the elementalist and saint next to them.

He tried to say something to Lucy, but as if she weren’t interested, it went straight through to the other ear. She pushed the soldier aside as she put her finger on the boy’s chin.

Cuts, burns, bruises, lacerations, and even fractures, he had already endured many hardships before, but this was the first time he suffered that level of injury.

And the flow of magic power inside of him was completely twisted, as he had gathered too much. His temperature was rapidly rising because of the recoil. It was heartbreaking just to look at him, but all Lucy could do right now was to inject her own magic power into him to unravel his twisted magic power.

After adjusting the flow of magic power for a long time, Lucy leaned back on the zelkova tree as she sat down next to Ed.

Both of them were in bad shape. Lucy was able to move her body around enough, but she was completely exhausted.

Lucy rested her head on Ed’s shoulder as she sighed. And because of the exhaustion that came from using her magic power to its limit… her eyes started to close little by little.

“On the other side of the mansion… my hat… take care of it…”

After saying that, she quietly closed her eyes. And slowly, the sound of her soft breathing could be heard.

The soldiers and two girls were left speechless as they watched her. What they were sure of was that, right now, no one could touch Lucy.

She was the hero of the calamity, and on her own she managed to fight and help stop the descent of the Evil God, sending it back.

* * *

“What did you say?”

Princess Penia doubted what she had just heard.

“Weren’t you the one to say that Persica made older brother Lindon give up the seat for the throne? I don’t know how she managed to pressure him, but either way, she definitely has greed for the throne.”

It has been more than an hour since the chaos took place at the Rothstaylor Social Gathering.

She heard news that the military from the imperial household was on their way, so soon the incident would be transferred over to the imperial household to deal with.

Currently, there are only a few members of the Knight Templar and Imperial Guard that were controlling the site.

They put out the fire and protected those who survived. The injured were given first aid until proper medical assistance arrived.

The second princess Persica was stuck in the library reading books all the time, so even among her own servants, there are rumors that she was pursuing intelligence over power.

“If you stay still, Persica will eat you. Both you and me.”

“…As I said, I’m not interested in the throne.”

“It doesn’t matter, Penia. The problem is that she is in a real position to challenge for the throne if she so desires.”

They were in the barracks built by the Knight Templar right outside of the mansion. It was a place prepared for the royal family to rest.

Princess Selah called on Princess Penia to talk as the incident was coming to an end.

“That’s why I want to try and establish myself more… But things are now like this.”

“Were you in the mansion from the beginning?”

“Yes. But how did you manage to arrive at Rothstaylor Estate in just a single night?”

“That…”

Penia couldn’t say it. Selah grinned at her reaction as she quickly returned to her solemn expression.

“Were you worried about Ed Rothstaylor? Judging from the seal on that letter, you seemed to have quite the trust in him.”

“…I had something I needed to check.”

“Anyways, I don’t think Father will be happy. For you to ride a horse across such a distance without reporting to him.”

“It’s my responsibility.”

“It’s a relief that you are saying that.”

After looking at the tip of her mug a few times, Selah continued to speak while turning the cup by moving the handle.

“Penia. Anyway, you need to realize that right now, we are in the middle of a very serious situation.”

“Yes… There are quite a lot of casualties…”

“The Rothstaylors, who have been raising their voice towards imperial powers for years now, have finally fallen to the ground. This may be an incident that will be recorded and passed down from generations to generations. The genocide at Rothstaylor Mansion. We are at a crucial moment in history. You need to be aware of that.”

“What do you want to say, Selah?”

“I’m saying we have to both do the things we need to.”

Seeing Selah’s eyes looking serious, Princess Penia felt an ominous feeling. She continued to sit quietly hearing what she had to say.

“Aren’t we the only people here who can take care of such a catastrophe, holding the power of the imperial family?”

“…It’s true that right now in the mansion, those with imperial power would have control over the Knight Templar, Imperial Guards, and the various noble families.”

“Right. And when it comes to fixing such a situation, someone needs to take responsibility. Originally, I was going to take care of it, but that was when I didn’t realize you were also here.”

Princess Selah spoke to Penia with a wide smile.

“So, rather than just one of us doing it, how about the both of us join forces? The two of us can take responsibility and manage this situation to control Persica’s influence. Before that girl starts to have a change of heart.”

“No, I’m not interested in the…”

“Just because you aren’t interested doesn’t mean the people around you think the same. In particular, Persica will continue to actively keep you in check.”

Penia hesitated at Selah’s words. She knew that Persica was an ambitious person, but she couldn’t tell if she was someone who would backstab her.

“And that is something that needs to be taken care of before the competition for the throne. As a candidate to inherit the throne.”

“That’s… true.”

“Yeah, so… We have to control the situation in the mansion, reward those who deserve to be rewarded, and punish those who committed a misdeed.”

Selah continued to talk as if she had already thought it through ahead of time.

“It’s only right to give rewards at an imperial level to the small magician who managed to fight against that monster, as well as the elementalist who used her spirits to protect the nobles. Even if we can’t honor them with a title, I think we can still at least bestow upon them high honors and some money if we directly ask Father.”

“I agree. Their hard work is to be commended. They saved many lives.”

“Yeah. It’s quite sad that those who live life with the status of a commoner struggle to ever see the light despite having such power. It would be best if we could give them the status of a small baron, but…”

Selah shook her head for a moment as she was lost in thought for a moment.

“Well aside from that elementalist… it doesn’t seem like that magician is all that interested in gold or a title.”

“She’s someone that is normally hard to figure out what she’s thinking on the inside.”

“I see. Geniuses tend to be like that. In any case, we should consider those who should be rewarded and those who should be condemned separately.”

She continued to talk as such. Gradually, Penia felt it. The next thing Selah was going to bring up was the real main point.

“All the descendants of House Rothstaylor, who were involved in this disaster, should be hung in the gallows.”

“……”

“Your expression doesn’t look great, Penia.”

Penia had already finished preparing herself. So, she wasn’t too surprised.

“Ed Rothstaylor wasn’t involved in Krepin Rothstaylor’s plans. Rather, he is the one who stopped him and killed him in the very end.”

There was a strong desire in her quiet voice. Selah felt quite impressed seeing her like this.

“I saw it clearly with my own two eyes.”

“Wasn’t what you saw after it had already been finished?”

“Before that, I already had a feeling. Ed Rothstaylor knew the dark side of House Rothstaylor from the start. And the reason he entered Silvenia was to run away from Krepin.”

“It’s not good to talk as if your feelings are the truth, Penia.”

Penia frowned as Selah smiled more casually.

“If I were Ed Rothstaylor, I would think of betraying Krepin the moment I saw that magician stand on her own against that massive evil god. Or seeing the elementalist who could hold off all those monsters on her own. Since Krepin’s reckless plan wouldn’t come to fruition, it would have been better to betray him halfway through and act like someone who has always been righteous.”

“Are you saying that he knows Krepin’s plans would fail so he switched sides?”

“Yes. As long as he took Krepin’s life with his own hands, he would look like a hero who fought against injustice without hesitation, even over the prestige of his house.”

Penia’s expression began to get harder the more she spoke. Nevertheless, Selah’s relaxed expression didn’t change.

Penia spoke in a low and serious tone.

“That wasn’t it. You know it too, Selah.”

Those words were the key.

“Yennekar Palerover and Lucy Mayreel are both people close to Ed Rothstaylor. Can’t you see from the fact they fought against Krepin?”

Penia, who glared at Selah, clearly looked bothered.

“Those poor people have been played in the hands of the cruel Ed Rothstaylor. At first, he must have brought them to the mansion to sacrifice them to Mebula. But seeing them overpower Krepin and being much stronger than he thought… He acted as if he was pure hearted from the start…”

Slap!

Selah didn’t finish speaking. That was because her head had moved to the side.

It all happened in an instant. Selah had her eyes wide open as she started at Penia silently.

The soldier, who checked inside the tent hearing the sudden loud noise, widened his eyes in surprise. Penia had slapped Selah with her hand.

Selah made eye contact with the soldier as she shook her head. The soldier nodded in a cold sweat as he exited. However, the tension remained.

“Penia, are you crazy?”

“I can see through your intentions. Why are you interpreting Ed Rothstaylor’s actions as malicious?”

Another moment of silence.

Selah slowly closed her eyes, opening them again as she spoke.

“When you persuade the masses, you need a scapegoat that will be burnt at the stake, bearing all the sins.”

“And you want to use Ed Rothstaylor?”

“You said it as well. It’s better to end things cleanly, with no mess in the aftermath. And Ed Rothstaylor burning at the stake is certainly a sign that everything has been taken care of well.”

“……”

Penia Elias Kroel. The Princess of Benevolence.

She has been faithful, maintaining her position as the third princess, without ever standing in opposition to anyone for the throne.

She raised her eyes as she stared straight at Selah.

“You’re disgusting.”

“Politics are like that. I see that you are still just a child.”

“Do you think the others will stay still if you go through with it? Yennekar Palerover and Lucy Mayreel are both on his side.”

“For now, we will have to take him to the imperial court, which is far, far away. Although it may not be the case in this estate, within the imperial household there are far more people who support me. There, I can use the power of the imperial household even more and mobilize a mighty army and talented servants who have sworn allegiance to the imperial household. And if you agree with it, then things can’t get any cleaner than this. It won’t be hard to get testimony from the two. After all, they are both just victims of being decided.”

Penia looked at Selah with her eyes trembling.

“Think about it, Penia. If Persica decides to act, whether or not you want the throne you won’t be safe. If you want to survive in a high position, you need to learn how to do things.”

“……”

“The next few hours are like gold. As long as we can somehow bring him to the Imperial Household, everything else can be taken care of easily. He won’t even have the chance to do anything about it.”

Selah continued to speak as Penia didn’t say a single word.

“We have a good reason to do that. Because we are the ones in charge of taking care of things. Of course, I fully understand your position as you put a lot of trust into Ed Rothstaylor, but…”

Selah spoke clearly.

“If you keep holding onto a piece that should be thrown away, it will one day catch your ankles. Think about the bigger picture.”

Penia quietly placed her hands on the table as she stood up. There was a coldness in the way she quietly raised her eyes as she held her chin high, looking at Selah.

“Don’t you dare touch Ed Rothstaylor.”

“I thought you were going to say that… But to even act like that after all I said…”

Selah spoke, sounding frustrated. Though to Penia, she looked no different than a monster blinded by the power of the throne.

She’d never been so heinous before. What happened while Penia was away at Silvenia? She didn’t know why she was trying so hard to keep her in check.

“Listen. It’s a really important issue of who is going to collect him while he’s still unconscious. No matter what happens… He will be the person with the greatest significance in ending this tragedy. However, in terms of politics, there’s a possibility that he will become somebody that will become a nuisance to us later on.”

“……”

“Whether he becomes a hero or a traitor, depending on how we use him, he will hold a strong political influence. A descendant of the fallen House Rothstaylor and a person who ended it all.”

Selah’s words were correct. Still, Penia couldn’t look at Selah with kind eyes.

“Both Commander Magnus and Investor Roland are on their way to Rothstaylor Mansion. Do you think the Northern Corps and the Elte Company will just stand still with their arms crossed in front of such a mouth-watering situation? We have to act first.”

It was a valuable opportunity to influence the imperial household in one way or another. The strongest house in the continent had collapsed, and the imperial power structure would be reorganized. Thus, it was a really important issue to take care of during such chaos.

Ed Rothstaylor held a strong influence that could be significant in any direction, from any position.

“We princesses should be responsible for the imperial power structure. Isn’t that right, Penia? Or are you planning to hand over such influence and power to the Northern Corps or the Elte Company?”

“Unfortunately, I am not interested in things like the imperial power structure~”

At that time, a girl entered the tent stepping inside.

Penia and Selah looked towards her in an instant. Who dared to enter the barracks while the two princesses were having a conversation?

There weren’t many in the empire who would like to do such a thing with a commoner status.

However, when the two princesses saw the face of that person, their faces hardened.

Lortel Kehelland, the deputy director of the Elte Company and one of the empire’s most wealthy individuals.

Her reddish-brown hair was hanging loose, and she wore a beautiful dress. She smiled like a fox as she walked into the tent.

“You’re…”

She nodded towards Selah, who had recognized Lortel. She then took a seat at the negotiating table.

Lortel sat down as if she had heard some extent of the conversation they were having inside. And the words that came out of her mouth… from Penia’s point of view, it was quite chilling.

“So… I heard that someone is going to be burned at the stake…”

* * *

The central garden of the mansion was full of soldiers taking control of the area.

The atmosphere, which was chaotic at first, had calmed down to a certain extent as the situation got under control—somewhat, anyway.

Several people from the Imperial Guards were collecting basic testimonies from those present at the scene. The Knight Templar continued to guard the perimeter around the Saint.

Saint Clarice wouldn’t leave the zelkova tree, where Ed Rothstaylor was lying down resting. So, the majority of the Knight Templars were stationed nearby.

Clarice, who was resting while being protected by the knights, looked at the side of the tree Lucy and Ed were leaning and sleeping against. She was deep in thought.

“Hmm…”

Clarice had little to no sense when it came to politics by nature. Living at the top of the Holy Father Building, she had always been honored as a noble and divine being.

After being in such an environment for such a long time, she started to learn. After such a major incident, all sorts of forces would mobilize to analyze the situation in their best interests.

The person at the center of it all was most likely Ed Rothstaylor, who was now unconscious and undergoing treatment.

In the midst of a dark battle for power, he who should be alert more than anyone else, was unconscious.

If things continued in such a way, there was a high possibility that he would be used as a political scapegoat regardless of his will. Becoming a chess piece for another’s benefit.

If that were the case, wouldn’t it be better to take him to the Holy Father Building for treatment and provide him with the time to slowly organize his thoughts?

Luckily, it was still school break. So, there was more than enough time for him to rest.

However, whether or not they would be able to take him to the Holy Father Building… She had to watch the ongoing situation a bit more.

Where they would take the boy who was unconscious… It felt as if all the powers within the mansion were carefully examining the atmosphere with their eyes wide open.