The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 57

There were a lot of buildings.

The view from the rooftop of Trix Hall, looking down at the entirety of the education district, was quite an impressive sight.

Obel Forsyth was often told that he looked young. However, it was in reference to his position rather than his actual age.

Obel wasn’t even sixty years old. Compared to the other Headmasters that had served at Silvenia, he was particularly young.

Twenty-eight years had already passed since he was first hired as a professor. There was no higher position to rise to from his current position.

The world had changed a lot.

The teacher district, which used to only have five or six buildings for classes, was now larger than an entire village. Climbing up the hill and looking across the distance, the entire view itself was just barely visible. Considering that the commercial district had nearly doubled in size, that meant that the size of Silvenia Academy had also doubled in size since he’d started working there.

Before he had known it, there was no one left in Silvenia that had been there longer than himself.

Of course, that included not only the students that graduated but also the extremely talented professors that still only had less than half of his work experience.

“I have no doubt that right now, this is the golden age of Silvenia Academy.”

When Obel spoke, holding his hands behind his back on the top of the rooftop, Dean McDowell nodded his head in support behind him.

“If that is what you say, Headmaster Obel, then it must be so.”

His experience and strength were highly respected throughout Silvenia.

Obel Forsyth looked out at the outskirts of the teacher district, where smoke was rising. As was often the case with underground waterways, it was a place where the floating population was nearly non-existent. Only the size of it was large… So it was a little bit difficult to consider it as important infrastructure.

The golden age.

Even looking through every generation in Silvenia’s history, it would be difficult to see a batch of students as impressive as the golden generation that made up the current first years.

Lucy, Ziggs, Lortel, Elvira, Clevius, Eldin.

Even if you looked at their grades alone, they had the potential to surpass even the grades of the top students in other years.

But were grades the only area in which they excelled?

Ayla was gifted with a scholarly talent, capable of absorbing vast amounts of knowledge regarding magic in an instant. Plus, she was able to come up with interesting opinions through her insight.

Princess Penia, one of the three princesses of the Kroel Royal Family and the one that received an overwhelming amount of support, would eventually walk the path of a monarch… No matter how much she might dislike that fact.

And… the one that was already the subject of many rumors among the students.

Taylee McLaure, who—after gaining control of the Swordmaster’s Skill—started to grow at a ridiculous rate.

What would happen next year? Already, many important freshmen had expressed their intentions of enrolling at Silvenia.

The only son of Magnus, a fearless commander in charge of guarding the northern border: Wade.

The second daughter of the Rothstaylor Family, which was considered the continent’s most powerful house: Tanya.

From the religious order of Kelos, which boasted the largest number of followers within the Empire: Saint Clarice.

A descendant of Karl, known as the disaster Alchemist, who had created half of all the poisons in the world by himself: Claude.

Even just having one of those students in an academy year would bring all sorts of expectations along with them, like a rising star in the night sky. However, he also started to experience an unsettled feeling.

It was a useless thought.

With the appearance of all these talents at such a level, does that mean there will be a massive ordeal ahead of us that we will struggle through…?

However, no matter how many of those ridiculously amazing freshmen there were, at the end there would still be only one person that was shining at the top.

One that used the magic power she received from the blessings of the stars. An emotional magician that only acted when she pleased.

In the twenty-eight years he had held his position, Obel never once thought that he would be pushed back by a student.

That was because amongst those that existed, he was considered the closest to being on the same stage as the archmage Glockt.

“Are you sure that it is okay to not get involved?”

Head Dean McDowell spoke with a concerned note to his voice.

With his hands behind his back, Obel shook his head as he stood still and looked down at the underground waterways.

McDowell’s comment was ultimately because he was worried.

A senior professor caused a disturbance because of his own emotionally driven decision. Because of that professor, the precious treasure of the academy had been stolen.

There were even students that had gotten kidnapped, so if there happened to be any sort of casualties, Obel’s responsibilities would grow exponentially.

However, if it ended up a simple accident, merely issuing a statement and apologizing would result in just a loss of his pride… But if a student were to lose their life, there was no telling how things would turn out.

Regardless of that, Obel didn’t move a bit.

If you looked down a bit at the railing, you could see the signs of someone that had sat down and took a nap there. And alongside that mark there were even bits of jerky left behind.

There were traces of magic power that came from either an archmage or one that had received the blessings of the stars. Looking in the direction the magic power disappeared to, it was the underground waterways.

The only one in Silvenia that could rival Headmaster Obel… an extraordinary genius that was born with an amazing level of power.

One that even Professor Glast had claimed to have the qualities of an archmage, one that would forever go down in history.

No matter how much of a veteran he might be in the studies of Celestial magic, he still couldn’t compete against the girl that wielded strength at an unfair level, one that the gods had blessed her with.

“Professor Glast…”

Obel gently closed his eyes.

All the time that passed was meaningless.

At one point, even Obel was a new professor. The same was true for Professor Glast.

The passage of time was one that wore out and aged people.

It was something that gradually took away from the passion of a new professor, only to make them reborn into a matured educator.

“Dean Obel, this is completely ridiculous! Please, say something!”

When Professor Glast had first been assigned as a professor, Obel was already the dean of the magic department.

Glast’s appearance, rather thin and pale, was the same since he had started as a professor. Obviously, he was a lot more talkative then than he was now.

“Among the failing students, isn’t it unfair to collectively fail those who are staying in Dex Hall? Even if they may not have talent, does that make them any less of a student?”

“Separating the students based on their grades is better for academic performance! It’s not separating them purely on who they are!”

“Of course, depending on your natural talent you may be able to reach a higher stage. But still, as an educator, treating those that are buried under that stage like an outcast isn’t right!”

That youthful Professor Glast of the past, who even used to raise his voice and slammed his hands on his desk, was now just a portrait of the past.

In the days where he didn’t care about researching Celestial Magic, staying up all night in some corner of his laboratory trying to make a one-week curriculum even just a bit more effective. But that was a long time ago.

Decades passed, letting him experience various things that also changed many of his values.

So what conclusion did he come up with after all of those years had passed? What was he trying to prove after his long life as an academic?

“It’s not always a good thing to grow old together.”

Obel let out a deep sigh without anyone noticing as he looked out at the unfolding landscape.

The autumn scenery of the falling leaves could be seen in light of the setting sun across the academy.

At some point, the changing of the seasons brought very little meaning to him.

He was getting old.

***

“You know.”

I was sitting on one side of the collapsed bookshelves as I tried to wrap my head.

“You know, You know, You know, You know, You know.”

Maybe it was because she thought I didn’t hear, and that was why I wasn’t answering, but it was annoying to see her keep calling out to me.

It was always the same every time Lucy said “You know.” It was completely obvious what she would say next.

“Do you have any jerky left?”

“You think I would?”

“Hmph…”

Lucy had no intention of hiding her disappointment. While acting so shamelessly, she kicked her feet around in the air.

Seeing Lucy swinging her feet around, sitting on top of a bookcase on the opposite side of me while fixing her witch hat, it was clear that she was the same as always.

Even after breaking through the surface with her own body, busting all the way down into the secret laboratory, she still acted like it was nothing. Doing that much was enough to give her the credit for being my savior. However, she thought of it as nothing more than getting a glass of water.

Of course, it wasn’t a situation where I could just thank her for saving me and be happy with how it all turned out.

“Well… alright. Thanks, Lucy.”

Though, since she had come all the way down, deep into this secret laboratory, I needed to thank her anyway.

“But… Why did you come all the way here to save me…?”

It wasn’t really polite to ask ‘why did you save me??’ right after getting saved. Of course, Lucy couldn’t care less about that.

“That… Elementalist had asked me for help. At first, I was going to ignore her because it seemed annoying, but then I thought I should maybe go and save you. Also I was bored.”

Lucy quickly flew up with that small body of hers, gently landing on the marble floor under the pile of bookshelves.

Seeing that appearance of hers, her overly long sleeves fluttering as she gently landed, she really didn’t seem human.

Though, if you were to look at her, Lucy’s actual weight had to be a few times more than a heavy stray cat. In the first place, it was obvious that her movements weren’t those of a regular person. It was easier to think of her movements as if she were a feather.

Well, there was also the fact that she applied variousWeight Lightening,Gravity, and similar magics, which might have played a part in the image.

“You thought that you should come and save me?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why, but while I was just laying around in camp, I got bored and thought I should go save you.”

I quietly stared at Lucy as she let out a yawn, as if she didn’t care one bit.

“You know.”

“What?”

“Do you really not have any leftover jerky? Really?”

“Yeah.”

“…Hmph…”

Lucy didn’t express her discontent directly, but she grumbled with a look of true disappointment.

“Either way, I saved you so I’m going. I need to go and find a decent place nearby to take a nap.”

“…You can’t.”

“……?”

At first glance, it seemed that things weren’t going well at all.

After going that far, I wasn’t just complaining. Of course, there was no way that everything in the world would go as planned.

It’s just that I thought things had gotten worse than I had believed. At least Taylee’s specs seemed to have grown well enough.

Like most games, Taylee’s growth exponentially increased more and more in the second half of the story anyway. It would be even stranger if his growth’s efficiency in the early-mid part of the game was similar to that in the later sections.

If his specs had been growing well so far, then skipping a few bosses wouldn’t result in any major problems.

Just like during Act 1’s final chapter, even if he didn’t learn the necessary core skills to break through the wall blocking his path to progress the story further along, he’d manage to sort it out later.

The bosses that would train hisSwordmaster’s Skillwere already set. In the case of Act 2’s final chapter, there was the boss Glast, the Devil of the Underground Waterways, Researcher Koom, and the Cyclops. As those were all great in terms of training efficiency, it was obvious that they would come out in the second part of the storyline.

So far, it’s okay… At least, for now…!

As he consistently trained hisSwordmaster’s Skill, he would eventually fully awaken to the ways of the sword. Then, whether it be theEvil God Mebulaor an ancient incarnation that broke the providence of the world… Ultimately, Taylee would go through a hellish time figuring everything out and defeat them. In the first place, if it wasn’t Taylee, those bosses couldn’t die.

As for the rest of his specs, all they needed to do was somehow keep up with the basic growth stats anyway. So far, there hadn’t been any issues with that.

“Don’t go anywhere. Just stay here with me.”

“……”

I put my hand on Lucy’s shoulders as I spoke with certainty.

Anyway, since his spec growth itself was still bearable, the top priority was to get rid of all the bad ending routes that couldn’t be solved from my position.

The variable Lucy, who would drive the largest number of players into a bad ending route in the Act 2 final chapter.

I needed to avoid the situation where she ended up being persuaded by Professor Glast and became antagonistic towards Taylee.

Compared to how dangerous that was, it was rather easy to prevent.

Just don’t let Lucy and Glast meet. All I had to do was thoroughly keep an eye on Lucy and nothing else.

It somewhat sounded like I was just in charge of taking care of Lucy… Well, that was just the way the situation was.

“Why?”

Asking me ‘why?’… It was difficult to come up with some type of reason.

Those empty eyes were staring at me… Suddenly, memories from my past swept through my mind.

What does Lucy Mayreel mean to those that have playedcountless times?

That was the first wall the player encountered. One that showed at a crucial moment and couldn’t be overcome.

Act 3’s final chapter.Lucy Subjugation.

Summoning all four of the highest-ranking spirits at the top of Mount Aurone, casting ultimate magic as if it were only beginner magic… A living natural disaster that couldn’t be defeated even if all the faculty, the royal family, the country’s strongest, and the academy’s internal forces joined forces.

The first memory I had of that was when she shot out end-spec level magic as if it were raining down, making it impossible to approach her. I even had to use all the consumables on me back then just to withstand her attack.

In the end, a player by themselves couldn’t defeat her on their own. She was designed so that you would need to gather NPCs within the world that had end-level specs all into one spot just to barely be able to defeat her.

Until the day you could see the final ending ofSilvenia’s Failed Swordmaster, there wasn’t a way to raise your specs high enough to defeat Lucy.

By analyzing ways to develop your growth and creating different strategies that utilize consumables, an end-spec Taylee might be able to match up or temporarily overpower her, but… it was something that required you to to use two or three tricks.

At the very least, there wasn’t anyone within that generation of the story that could catch up to Lucy in fundamental strength.

She was a girl that solely boasted a ridiculous amount of strength andmana resonance.

Even Lucy’s current condition showcased a ridiculous amount of power, but not even half of her true talent had taken bloom yet.

If you were to write down the strengths of each character on a bar graph, Lucy would break through the graph by herself, making everyone else appear the same.

Lucy’s graph was very different from the standard, so it had to be put in a completely different setting book.

That’s why… Lucy is a completely uncontrollable variable.

Like a stray cat that played around in the city as she pleased… No one could deal with that girl.

She went where she wanted, ate what she wanted, and slept when she wanted.

It was impossible to know what she was thinking, and her actions were unpredictable.

Sniff. Sniff.

I wasn’t saying anything, but she started sniffing the back of my hand for the smell of jerky.

I was at a complete loss of words, since that clearly shows just what kind of person the girl was.

“There’s no reason for me to stick around with you. You’re already safe.”

Even though she was in a daze, her voice was clear. Lucy stated the obvious situation.

It wouldn’t work if I tried to explain every single thing to a girl that wouldn’t listen.

“Lucy, you’re strong. I feel relieved when I’m with you.”

“……”

“Even if you don’t do anything special, don’t say much, I still feel reassured having you next to me. Don’t you know that feeling?”

“……”

Lucy looked back at me blankly as she slowly responded.

“I know it.”

“Yeah, it’s like that.”

Lucy grumbled as her overly large sleeves flapped around.

“But that’s completely for you.”

“That’s right. That’s why I’m asking for a favor. Just stay close to me until I get out of this underground waterway.”

“If you want to get out of this underground waterway then I’ll send you out.”

“There’s something I have to deal with before I leave.”

“Booooo-”

She looked like she was going to die from annoyance.

“Fine, I get it. Then, I’d like to ask you for a favor in return.”

“……”

I think I knew what she was trying to say when she stretched her arms out in the air looking at me with those dopey eyes. The girl was looking for a place to take a nap.

Well, it’s not all that difficult for me to give the small girl a piggyback ride.

Lifting her up, it happened so quickly that I wondered if she really had the weight of a human.

As I carried Lucy around, she naturally wrapped her arms around my neck, moving her legs around a bit to fix her posture and preparing to get a good sleep. As if she had found the most comfortable place in the world, she placed her chin on my shoulder as she let out a satisfied noise.

After that, it didn’t take long at all before I started to hear her light snoring.

Alright, I’ll hold onto Lucy just like this, tightly so that she can’t go anywhere.

Like this, I’ll hurry things up and finish what I have to do.

There’s still a lot of things left for me to take even though the library is now partially destroyed.

Reina was defeated, so I could just grab everything that I needed and get out of the underground waterways.

If I ran into Yennekar or another character that came down to rescue me while on my way, I’d quickly explain to them that I was okay and show them that I was completely fine before taking my leave.

If I happened to meet Taylee, I’d explain Ayla’s situation. That way he would be a bit more active in going to subjugate Glast.

The party formed to subjugate Glast had to be coming through the underground waterways now.

It was completely ridiculous that I was the only one getting to experience escaping through backwards means.

***

Taylee and his party were heading deeper into the underground waterways.

Everyone was filled with nervousness.

When they first arrived at the entrance of the underground waterways, they had seen Dorothy—who was completely unconscious—as well as the fragments of the golems. They already felt that it had to be a serious situation.

Inside the underground waterways… going near whatever they saw, it ended up all being broken and smashed things of sorts.

“Everyone, don’t let your guard down…!”

Taylee McLaure was not yet at a level to be called a Swordmaster, but at the very least he has grown to a level that the other students his age wouldn’t be able to mindlessly ignore him.

He was still a little lacking compared to the first year ace members, but his combat skills had built up enough proficiency that if a situation appeared, he’d be able to manage by himself well.

During the midterm exam, Ziggs had no choice but to applaud Taylee for his progress.

It was a glimpse of Taylee’s life, which consisted of overcoming many trials with persistence and effort.

That was why Ziggs always respected Taylee.

For those that bled and ground their bones to dust just to survive, there was a presence to them.

Ziggs was a man that always had respect for that presence.

“Do we really need to go any further? Looking at it, it seems like there are more people here in these underground waterways than just us… Didn’t you hear that shake just now…? And there was that big earthquake…! As expected… Let’s…. Let’s just not do something so dangerous…. How about we just leave…?”

Clevius trembled as he said those words. Elvira then stepped on Clevius’ foot.

“Look at you speaking nonsense again, Clevius! Aren’t you going to save Ayla?”

“I-In the first place…! That girl Ayla only gets mad at me! I don’t want to save a girl like that! And on top of that, that… Ed Rothstaylor… Do we have to go and save him, too?! Why do we have to go so far?!”

“Clevius.”

A soft and rather low-pitched voice traveled through the underground waterways.

It was Taylee McLaure.

“I’m really sorry. But I really want to save Ayla. That’s why I’m asking for your help.”

Taylee had already bowed his head before politely asking Clevius for his help.

Clevius was rather pathetic, constantly changing his words. Nevertheless, Taylee bowed his head again.

“Ugh. Keughk…! Ack…! Seriously, why are you doing this to me?!”

Clevius knew that Ayla was a good person.

She wasn’t someone that viewed Olevius as pathetic just because he ran away from everything. She was a girl that tried to scold him to try and correct him.

“Don’t back out after coming so far, Clevius.”

Ziggs put his hand on Clevius’ shoulder as he patted him on the back and once again looked at every person in the subjugation force.

The Failed Swordmaster Taylee, Spear from Nature Ziggs, Gloomy Clevius, Nosy Elvira… and Romantic Adele.

“Oh my.”

In the party, a girl with blond hair that was tuning the strings of a mandolin began to smile brightly.

From her warm appearance, relaxing voice, and the way she comfortably listened to everyone, she appeared to have no mental fatigue at all.

Behind her ears were a few daffodils that were stuck up against her fair skin.

Throughout her hair, which was flowing down like a waterfall, there weren’t just daffodils but also more than ten hairpins in the shape of a cosmos, rose, tulips, and such.

Adele, the prophet. No, she referred to herself as the Romantic Adele.

“I haven’t heard many details about Ayla, but it seems that she must be a really good and honest person, since you all are doing so much to save her.”

“Yeah. Ayla is like my lifetime partner.”

“Alright, Taylee. But you’re going to have to prepare yourself.”

Adele was an astrologist before she was a magician.

It wasn’t perfect, but using the energy of the stars to take a peek into future scenes hit the nail on the head for the most part.

“The enemies you’re going to face ahead… I have a feeling that it won’t be easy.”

Judging from Professor Glast’s whereabouts, the theft of the Sage’s Seal was a thoroughly planned out crime.

Though, he had already expected chasing after him would be like this to some extent.

In any case, it was highly likely that there were plenty of traps or other means available that would hinder an invader’s pursuit.

The fragments of the magic golem they saw at the beginning were probably one of those traces.

They didn’t know the reason, but even the top third year student in the Alchemy department, Dorothy, seemed to have fallen unconscious after failing to break her way into the underground waterways.

That being said… just what was up ahead blocking their way in the underground waterways?

If it was someone that even the top third year student in the Alchemy department couldn’t handle then… They could never drop their guard.

With that, the party took a bit before completely focusing and pushing further ahead.

Bang! Bang!

Before long, they heard a sound come from around the corner.

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaghk!

Hearing the sharp screaming from a girl, the party ran towards her quickly before making eye contact. There was someone in front of them.

As soon as they turned the corner, a spirit with a massive flame appeared.

The wide waterways stretched out like a circle, connecting all the way around somewhat like a plaza. Even though there were countless paths within the waterways, they all met there.

There were two people in the center of it.

“P-Please…! I-I really don’t know! I’m just here to see if things are going okay…! That’s all I’ve been told…! Please! Give me a break! Just once!”

There was a girl. As her back was facing towards them, they couldn’t see her face.

But seeing all of the spirits surrounding the girl… and hearing the terrifying scream from the other, it was someone they knew very well.

Among the professors in charge of the first years, Assistant Professor Cleoh was the one that the students liked the most because of her relatable image.

Thanks to her youth, her student-like way of thinking, and complete selflessness, the students adored her.

To not discredit the position of faculty member, she had trained sufficiently in beginner combat magic so that a student wouldn’t be able to fight on par with her, but… her opponent was too much.

The girl grabbed her wand as she whispered something into Assistant Professor Cleoh’s ear. It seemed to be only five or six words long.

“I-I don’t know! Really! In the first place, that wasn’t planned! I-It… It simply happened on a whim…! J-Just give me a break! Please!”

Soon after, Assistant Professor Cleoh eventually became exhausted, falling to the floor of the waterways making a splash as her tears fell as well.

While sitting on the floor, she pushed herself back against a wall. The spirits surrounding her began to scream as Assistant Professor Cleoh passed out.

Still, the girl never looked back.

But the party was already aware of the girl’s identity.

In particular, Taylee and Elvira have already faced off against her twice now.

They still remembered just how terrifying she was on the first floor of Ophelis Hall, manifesting all sorts of mid-ranking spirits to protect Ed.

At the time, Takan’s strength hadn’t fully returned. They weren’t sure if it was even possible to win if they faced off against her now.

Though, both Taylee and Elvira have raised their specs quite a bit. They might even be able to do a lot more against her now.

But back then, she still didn’t even try her hardest.

And in this current situation, Ed wasn’t even there to stop the girl. Thinking about it, the power they witnessed from the girl back at Ophelis Hall was just a taste of what she could do.

From experience, fear began to rise throughout Taylee’s body. He quickly drew his sword, taking a defensive stance.

“Uhm… Wasn’t it… Right, left, left, right, left, right, left? In the first place, did I take too many right turns…? Hmm…”

The girl saying those things turned around in the dark. She had noticed the presence of Taylee’s party.

Within all of those spirits, the girl that looked back was as lively as usual… No one could speak to her easily.

“Oh! Hey, everyone.”

Everyone’s facial expression hardened in an instant, other than Ziggs’. In fact, he seemed rather pleased to see her.

Thinking of it, the shawl that was near Dorothy, who was unconscious at the entrance of the underground waterways.

There was a beautiful cosmos decoration attached to it, so the owner was definitely… that girl.

She was definitely the one that had defeated Dorothy, who was coming into the underground waterways.

They didn’t know the details. But seeing as Dorothy was unconscious, and even witnessing the nice Assistant Professor Cleoh passing out in fear… They couldn’t let their guard down.

They were as solid as a stone, not moving an inch as they gulped. Ziggs, who was the only one not realizing what was going on, kept on staring at them wondering what was with them.

A round junction in the massive underground waterways.

In the middle of it was the intruder, who was waiting for them: Yennekar Palerover.

She was too strong of an opponent for Taylee’s party to stop on their own.

However, even an unbeatable opponent will sometimes break down in the face of courage. Everyone was serious, as they all wanted to save Ayla.

“G-Guys…? What’s wrong with all your expressions…?! D-Did I do something wrong…? W-Was I being too hard on the assistant professor Cleoh…? But I only asked her a question. It was assistant professor Cleoh who got so worked up…!”

The timid Yennekar didn’t know what she should say as the spirits kept making a fuss inside of her head.

Anyway, it was a situation where she couldn’t even waste a minute.

She was extremely worried about Ed, who had been kidnapped, and the fact that no one had gone to rescue him. Also, just what kind of trouble had he caught himself up in? After all, Ed has a lot of enemies… So, as she had thought, there was no choice but to go out and save him.

Regardless of what was happening to Ed, there was no one else that would go and save him.

Long story short, she was busy.

So busy she could die…!