The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 186

When Assistant Professor Cleoh arrived at the overnight duty watch office, the stench of alcohol was everywhere.

“……”

“Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…”

It was early in the morning, before the sun had even risen.

She had run through the sudden rain shower, arriving twenty minutes earlier than her originally scheduled time.

When she entered the office, she saw Professor Kaleid snoring, his head tilted back, sitting in a chair.

Tons of cigarettes and bottles of alcohol were lying across the desk. It was more accurate to describe the inside of the office as a cave than a place for people to live in.

“Professor Kaleid…”

At Trix Hall, senior professors took turns being on duty for the overnight watch.

That was because, if an emergency occurred overnight, they needed someone with some degree of decision-making power and authority to respond appropriately.

Most of the time, it was handled by a supervising professor and their disciples. However, since the only professor in the Elemental Studies department was Assistant Professor Cleoh… She was always forced to work alone with Professor Kaleid.

Of course, night patrols, checking on situations, checking the security at the major buildings, and the like… All of the tasks ended up becoming Assistant Professor Cleoh’s responsibility. Since the work wasn’t all that bad, Assistant Professor Cleoh didn’t feel too bothered over having to take care of it all by herself.

However, what frustrated her was Professor Kaleid’s attitude towards work.

She was rumored to be someone who was born with a talent for making good connections, but it seemed she was finally paying the price for that luck.

Professor Kaleid’s existence was that much of a disaster for Assistant Professor Cleoh.

“Professor Kaleid… Please wake up…. You have to sign the checklist…!”

Professor Kaleid was snoring, completely drunk. He even had a book over his face to block the light.

Professor Kaleid cleared his throat as he sat up, looking at Assistant Professor Cleoh with blank eyes.

His black hair was a mess, and his beard was in terrible condition.

Since he was a professor, he wore a white robe, but… the traces of tobacco and alcohol all over it made it look shabby.

A feared elemental magician who was once said to have destroyed nearly half of the non-human army that attacked the capital by himself.

There was a time when even the imperial court’s strict laws couldn’t deal with his cruel temperament, which was how he ended up with the nickname ‘The Outlaw Kaleid’…

However, now there was no one more pathetic than him.

“…You’re here?”

Assistant Professor Cleoh nearly had tears forming in her eyes.

Although Professor Glast had a rather uptight temperament, he was an advisor who always took care of all of the tasks given to him.

Of course, since he was such a thorough person, it was all that much more difficult to work under him.

However, after having a new advisor who was the exact opposite of him… She started to think that Professor Glast was like an angel.

At the very least, he did the work he was responsible for.

“Yes. How long have you been sleeping?”

“Don’t worry. I remember greeting you when you went on patrol.”

“So you slept right after I left…!”

Professor Kaleid staggered as he stood up, spitting his chewed tobacco into the ashtray.

In order to breathe life into his drunken body, he moved into a large stretch.

“Professor Kaleid…! What if Deputy Headmaster Rachel had passed by…! You were supposed to be on guard duty at Trix Hall tonight…!”

“No, that woman passed by earlier… I vaguely remember that.”

“Eeeek…!”

Deputy Headmaster Rachel was the second-most influential person within the school after Headmaster Obel Forsyth

Lately, it seemed that she’d been at odds with Headmaster Obel. Either way, from the perspective of a junior professor, it didn’t change the fact that she was her superior.

As Assistant Professor Cleoh’s complexion turned blue, Professor Kaleid waved his arms in the air as if it was all right.

“It’s fine. I know that woman… She used to tremble just seeing a non-human spy. To think she is now the deputy headmaster of an academy of this size. Time sure has passed.”

“B-But… Did she pass by and see you like that…?”

“What is she going to do? She was the one who suddenly put me on watch duty tonight, even though I wasn’t supposed to be. Saying something about how they were suddenly short on people…”

“I-Is that so? Still…”

Professor Kaleid picked up a tissue, blowing his nose. He then acted as if he was going to throw it, like shooting a basketball.

After getting into his stance, he threw the tissue through the air. It fell down near the entrance, landing on the floor.

“That woman is definitely scheming something. Why would she personally go and manage who was on night duty when someone beneath her should be doing that instead? It must have been intentional.”

“Intentional? What do you mean…?”

“I’m not sure. It’s obvious she’s scheming something, but there’s no reason for me to think deeply about it.”

Assistant Professor Cleoh tilted her head as she looked at Kaleid.

He clicked his tongue as if unhappy. He then stood up from his seat, staggering along.

“Well… I’ve known her for a long time, so she knows me, too.”

“If she knows you, then…”

When someone thought of Professor Kaleid, the first thing that came to mind was… how pathetic he was.

First off, he never did his work, to the extent that you would wonder if it really was okay to even give him his salary.

“……”

But thinking of that, she suddenly noticed that the desk seemed to be much messier than before.

There were wine bottles rolling around and the smell of tobacco was all over the place.

Cleoh had cleaned all of it before her shift.

However, aside from that… There were also documents there that she hadn’t seen before.

“Wh-What is this?”

“A report that came from the commercial district. Since it’s not under our jurisdiction, I just left it there.”

“B-But that’s still close to Mexes Bridge…! Shouldn’t we still have checked it…?”

“I checked it. Umm… What was it…?”

Professor Kaleid opened the bottle of spirits behind the office and spoke.

“Um… Actually, I think I checked it in my dream… I can’t remember what it was…”

“Professor Kaleid…!!! Please!!”

Assistant Professor Cleoh burst into tears.

If it was a report that came in the middle of the night, there was a possibility that it was rather urgent or important. At the very least, it was something that needed to be checked.

However, it had already been left unattended on the desk for a few hours. So, if they passed it on to a higher-up, it would be a waste of time.

She then grabbed the documents to check on the situation without even wiping the rainwater off of her clothes.

Creeeeeeeak.

It was late at night at the overnight duty watch office.

At that place and that hour, no one would come to visit unless they came to report for duty.

However, the red-haired girl who came in through the rain wearing a merchant’s outfit looked straight at the two of them.

“You’re…”

“Hello.”

At least among the Elemental Studies professors, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t know her name.

That was because she was a second-year student who also served as the deputy director of a major business… She was also a top student who was placed in Class A.

“Look who it is. It’s the snake from the second year Class A.”

Sitting with poor posture and his feet on the table was Professor Kaleid, the one famous for being a model of a bad teacher… He didn’t seem particularly flustered by her sudden appearance.

“What brings you here to the watch office of Trix Hall in the middle of the night?”

Lortel, who came in while wiping away the water on her, took a seat across the table as she gave a mature smile.

“I was wondering if Deputy Headmaster Rachel was here.”

“I think you should explain why you came all the way here to look for someone at this hour, first.”

Assistant Professor Cleoh wasn’t able to say a word at the table.

It was late at night and the moon couldn’t even be seen because of the rain.

Lortel had trudged towards them… as if she were a ghost.

However, Lortel was a living person.

She looked somewhat exhausted, and her clothes were a mess… But the dignity that flowed through her was the same.

Lortel glanced at the paperwork Cleoh was holding. Just from reading the large letters, it seemed she was able to figure out what it was about.

“Like the report you received said, something happened with the Elte Store.”

“I don’t believe in written reports. Unless it’s a face-to-face conversation, I can’t trust it.”

That was just an excuse because he was too annoyed to bother reading it.

Assistant Professor Cleoh seemed to be losing her mind, but Professor Kaleid continued to speak slyly, as if he didn’t care.

“No matter what is happening with the Elte Store in the commercial district, it has nothing to do with us. We are only on night duty at Trix Hall in the education district… So, why did you bother coming all the way here…?”

Being as sly as Lortel, Professor Kaleid lit the flames.

“Rachel, that woman, must have done something. She really is someone that’s full of energy and ambition, after all.”

“……”

“It would be great if I had the ability to match that. Obel must be having a hard time dealing with her.”

Professor Kaleid spoke to himself as he smoked.

Being a senior professor, it wasn’t appropriate for him to gossip about the deputy headmaster, who was his direct supervisor, so blatantly.

However, in terms of being appropriate… In the first place, Professor Kaleid wasn’t a person that bothered with anything like being appropriate.

“I think things are going to become a little more difficult, so I wanted to talk with Deputy Headmaster Rachel, who is the decision maker within the school.”

“I see you already know that I’m not curious about the details.”

Even though Lortel spoke, she didn’t explain the situation at all.

Cleoh was confused, but Kaleid snorted as a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

“I think a report will come from the school soon. Ed Rothstaylor and the Elte Store are both involved in a case of embezzlement over public money. It’ll only become a headache if people start to gossip about it… So, I’m trying to take care of it in advance.”

“Ed Rothstaylor? That’s quite a name that suddenly came up.”

Professor Kaleid lowered his legs from the table as he wiggled his toes.

He then stood up, his hands in his pockets.

As he looked down at Lortel, he suddenly felt a strange sense of incongruity.

“That’s the same kid from the final exam. I told him to come find me if he wanted to learn advanced magic, but he was busy with other things, even causing an incident.”

“I’m not sure. What happened at House Rothstaylor wasn’t necessarily his fault.”

“Yeah, well… He’s quite the ideal chess piece right now. His political power is rather strong, and his name is well known…”

Professor Kaleid was naturally under the impression that Lortel only had dark thoughts inside her. Thus, he judged that the reason Ed Rothstaylor was involved in things was because Lortel was trying to use him to her advantage.

Lortel was already used to that kind of gaze.

“Honestly, he’s not all that great, though. You know, with kids, when they learn magic, they should feel ecstatic and naive. But those eyes of his are already so dead inside… He’s completely cold-hearted, as if he’s gone through heaven and hell. Why would I bother teaching him?”

“You never bother teaching anyone in the first place, Professor Kaleid”

“No… That’s… Just shut up, Cleoh. Well, in all honesty, that kid… Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Even if I call him my disciple, if he doesn’t learn from me, then what does it matter? It’s a shame for someone like him, with such a bright future.”

It sounded as if he was still half-drunk. Professor Kaleid then picked up a nearby bottle of alcohol.

“Whatever the case, there are only three kinds of humans I greatly despise.”

Someone who didn’t act like a professor, despite being one.

Everyone could agree on that opinion, since Professor Kaleid was always drinking and smoking.

“A drunkard, a bastard who doesn’t pay back borrowed money. And…”

“……”

“…A bastard playing pranks on my pupil.”

However, in any case, he was still someone who had been teaching for quite some time.

Even though he might appear rather pathetic, he was still someone who would never back down from his values.

Someone who would never throw away his beliefs and values, even if he was at rock bottom.

“Do not worry.”

However, Lortel seemed rather relaxed, despite hearing his words.

She always looked rather calm, but as she spoke to him, her voice became much calmer.

“Because he is mine, I will take care of him.”

Was she saying that to escape the situation, or was she sincere?

Professor Kaleid glanced into Lortel’s eyes. He then quickly spit out tobacco, popping open a bottle of liquor.

He then let out a heavy exhale, as if feeling good, before saying,

“It must be nice being young. There was once a time when I, too, had a fiery love. Haah…”

“……”

“I don’t know how you ended up with a tough guy like him, but how far did you two go? From the looks of things, it seems like you two made out. You really have to teach kids early these days…”

Thud!

Professor Kaleid, who had been hit in the face by a stack of books, fell backwards in his chair.

The one who threw them was Assistant Professor Cleoh.

“Wh-What are you saying?! That’s a crime, Professor Kaleid!”

Professor Kaleid, who had fallen to the floor in a drunken state, wriggled around.

Assistant Professor Cleoh was also terribly worried. No matter what, how could she throw a bunch of books at her direct advisor?

Even if it was out of reflex, it was completely overkill to do that… Unexpectedly, Professor Kaleid stayed down on the floor and stared blankly, pathetically at the ceiling.

Surprisingly… Was he someone that she could deal with…?

Having that strange thought, Assistant Professor Cleoh sweated profusely.

In front of Lortel, who—strangely enough—seemed to be avoiding her gaze, Cleoh quickly spoke.

“Since Deputy Headmaster Rachel rather hates the Elte Company, it wouldn’t be good for the two of you to meet now. Rather than meeting with her, I think it would be better to leave a written note… Lortel…?”

Whatever the case, it didn’t seem like a good idea for Lortel and Deputy Headmaster Rachel to meet.

Cleoh, who had made up her mind, tried to sort things out… before stopping in her tracks.

A sly snake. A fox whose insides were impossible to know. Cleoh had always heard stories about the girl, and even in her Elemental Studies Class, she was always acting rather playful whenever she saw her.

But now, she was subtly trying to avoid her gaze, crawling back and blushing… Assistant Professor Cleoh doubted what she was seeing.

Wasn’t she a girl who had survived in the underworld of business? A place that was famous for being cruel and heartless?

She must have maintained a poker face in the face of much more insulting remarks and difficult attitudes than his…

However, because of Professor Kaleid’s rather lewd remarks… She really did look like a girl her age.

So, she was able to make a face like that…

Not prepared to see that, Assistant Professor Cleoh was left speechless for a moment.

* * *

[It’s over. He won’t be able to wake up from that.]

Rain fell through the broken outer walls of the VIP waiting room.

As a few raindrops seeped into Yennekar’s hair, a giant, bird-shaped spirit spread its wings over Yennekar’s head, covering her.

Drip, Drip.

The rain continued to fall on Taylee, who had collapsed after struggling for a bit.

“Keuaaaaaaak!”

Time and time again, Taylee pushed against the floor to try and stand up… But slowly, his body was starting to lose all strength.

[There is no point in doing this anymore. Let’s wrap things up, Lady Yennekar. ]

It was a horse-shaped spirit that looked as if it had been made of dirt. The mid-ranking Earth Spirit Tyke snorted and spoke to her.

Gathering Takan’s magic power after he had been dismissed, Yennekar quickly calmed her sense of surprise.

Among the high-ranking fire spirits, Takan was a spirit with an insane amount of strength.

The ultimate fire spirit, Theorpis, was so powerful that it was impossible to even dream of being able to raise one’s status enough to become the new ultimate fire spirit… But among the high-ranking spirits, Takan was one that was highly respected by everyone.

Even Yennekar couldn’t have imagined that Takan could be cut down.

Since coming to Silvenia, Takan’s skin—which could easily handle any external attack—had never been penetrated with pure firepower by anyone other than Lucy.

However, that alone wouldn’t be enough.

In the end, in order to overcome Yennekar’s elementalism, you would have to use advantageous elements against her. However, it was also meaningless to do so, since she was an elementalist that could use all types of different spirits of various elements.

She was strong.

Because of that, even all of the other famous students of Silvenia couldn’t match with her.

Yennekar, who was born with a strong sense of resonance, had grown to an even more absurd level after interacting with Ed Rothstaylor.

At that point, Taylee didn’t have enough power to break through her.

And like that… Taylee’s journey ended on the third floor of the Elte Store.

Little by little, Taylee was losing consciousness. He finally lost all strength in his body.

He also slowly stopped clenching his teeth, trying to remain conscious.

“Keuuuk…”

When Taylee stopped moving entirely, Ziggs came up from downstairs.

There weren’t any serious injuries on his body, since Taylee had no intention of hurting Ziggs in the first place. He just wanted to clear the path.

“It’s over, Yennekar.”

“Yeah.”

Slowly getting rid of her spirits, Yennekar quietly nodded her head.

Ed requested that she prevent Taylee McLaure from climbing up through the Elte Store as much as she could.

A series of plans to ultimately use the store as a battlefield, all to check on Taylee’s specs—and, if possible, stimulate his growth. He managed to accomplish it all.

Initially, they just needed to block Taylee’s path, but Clevius’ intrusion made things a little more complicated.

Not only that, but Taylee’s willpower was stronger than expected, making it take much longer and becoming more difficult than expected.

“I didn’t know he would last so long…”

“I will take care of Taylee, who is unconscious. Go back and get some rest, Yennekar.”

“Alright. I need to tell Ed about the situation. I’ll head back to camp.”

Yennekar put the magic engineering items back into her pockets and cleaned her wand.

And then… Yennekar looked up at the raining sky quietly.

The goal was to test Taylee’s skills, but was there a reason for Ed to be so interested in Taylee?

To put it bluntly, Yennekar didn’t have a very good impression of Taylee.

That was because he was constantly hostile towards Ed, making aggressive remarks. However, if you were to look at the reason behind it all, it was because of Ed’s behavior during the entrance exam. That was why you couldn’t really blame Taylee.

That was all she thought of him. So, why was Ed so curious about Taylee?

On the one hand, it seemed as if Ed was actually hoping for his growth… Yennekar couldn’t hide her confusion.

Taylee certainly had a strong will and tremendous growth potential, but Ed didn’t fall behind him.

If Taylee’s strong growth potential was his destiny as the protagonist, then Ed Rothstaylor’s growth was a result of what he achieved through his own will.

Of course, it was impossible for her to know that.

As Yennekar finished sorting her thoughts out—

“So, Ed Rothstaylor is at that camp.”

The voice of the boy, who they thought had lost consciousness… echoed in the VIP waiting room.

Before they could react, a storm of magic power swept through the entire room.

Kwaaaaaaang!

Yennekar and Ziggs reacted quickly, avoiding taking much damage. However, the exterior walls of the building weren’t the same.

In the rain, the outer wall of the Elte Store… about a fifth of it was broken open from the burst of magic power.

Kwaang! Kwaaaaaaang!

“Keuk…!”

Yennekar quickly summoned spirits to block the attack, and Ziggs also hid behind debris to minimize damage from the impact.

That surge of magic power… It had all come from the body of the swordsman, Taylee.

Swordmaster’s Skill – Death Throes.

A skill within that only showed up as a last-ditch effort when you were stuck in a corner, facing your end.

A skill that allowed you to continue fighting for a certain amount of time by resurrecting you to your original state before you exhausted all of your energy and lost consciousness.

A deadly weapon that the first swordsman Luden created after witnessing the Blood Swordsmanship. A technique that was forgotten, as it was only activated when one was pushed to their extremes.

However, Taylee had only just come face-to-face with Clevius’ Blood Swordsmanship… Yet, he had already succeeded in mastering it in such a short period of time.

A flame that burned briefly before losing consciousness, making it all the more splendid and magnificent.

Kwaaaaaaaaang!

Was it even a sword attack? Or was it just a beam of light, made of magic power that passed by?

The entire VIP waiting room was split in two.

Keeeeeeeeng!

Kugugugung!

A clean, vertical cut.

From the stained glass on the walls to the floor… The traces of a sword continued through the entire room.

And on either side of it… The building was split into two.

“What…?”

Taylee raised his sword again… this time swinging diagonally.

The target was neither Yennekar nor Ziggs. The goal was the entirety of the Elte Store, which was past the point of functioning.

Like butter being cut by a knife… The building began to fall apart.

Co-gong! Kugugugung!

The building began to crumble as debris fell.

Despite being the Elte Company’s Silvenia Branch, which was extremely grand and sturdily made, it would still completely disappear in the face of a swordsman’s blade.

Hweeeeeek!

The most urgent thing at the moment was to escape from the collapsing building.

As soon as Yennekar and Ziggs made eye contact, they escaped through the window.

Ziggs cast wind magic as he went to land safely. Yennekar came out riding a spirit.

In a vacant area of the shop under the wind and rain… they could see Elvira running away from the collapsing wreckage with Clevius.

Crash! Crumble!

The majestic view of the large building collapsing.

In the sky, they could even see Trayciana escape as she jumped out, using her flying magic.

She even went out of her way to rescue the employees who were running around inside the store with her telekinesis magic. Though, she seemed quite flustered by what was happening.

Crumble!

Crash!

The sword strike was like an explosion.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at that powerful attack.

They were certain that he had lost consciousness, yet he managed such an attack.

Still, if they dealt with the attack… In the end, the swordsman Taylee would have no other options.

That was why there was no reason to try and attack them, as it was also an attack that would lead to him falling unconscious after a certain amount of time. It was also an extremely easy attack to deal with.

Taylee knew that fact well, but there wasn’t much time left.

That was why… Under the crumbling debris, he looked out at the road leading towards the North Forest.

Before he could think of anything, he jumped off the floor and ran out.

There were footprints leading to the forest and traces of people passing by.

Not the traces of a single person. It was of a man, and a woman accompanying him.

His opponent… was at the camp in the North Forest.

There was very little time left for Taylee, now on the verge of losing consciousness.

Before that, he had to cut down Ed Rothstaylor.

With that thought… Taylee McLaure ran through the forest.