The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 60

‘And that is why you must be strong.’

‘I dedicate the last sentence of this book to you, who has been the period to the end of my life.’

‘Lucy.’

The last page in the record written by the archmage, Glockt.

It was a memory that had faded over time already, but it was still one that couldn’t be forgotten.

Sitting next to Glockt’s dead body, the moment she flipped over the final page the girl had no choice but to accept it.

The archmage that has succeeded in his posthumous work could fully predict just what his one and only family member and disciple would feel once he died.

The evidence was in Glock admitting to, accepting, and patiently waiting more than anyone else for his death. That was why the girl had no choice but to send him off.

The pain of losing someone eventually faded away as the scar came to disappear… Would such a day come?

Will the day come when she would be able to lightheartedly admit that what was lost was already lost, and all the pain she felt had faded?

With her frizzy white hair hanging down, walking out of Glockt’s hut, that was where the girl’s memory ended.

The day she set out on a journey. What was the weather like…? She couldn’t remember it well.

***

The tower of magic power stretched far and wide, rising up high as if it were piercing the sky.

In the underground waterways passageway leading to it, dark red magic power surged up like a hot spring, as if it would eat anyone that approached it.

Considering the amount of magic power flowing around inside, and the source of it all, it seemed as if Taylee and his party had entered the Celestial Researcher Koom’s subjugation.

I want them to break through that boss as fast as possible, but Koom was a time-consuming boss. He was a time-challenge boss that couldn’t be destroyed with standard fighting tactics. You needed to withstand all his attacks, until he was eventually overtaken by Celestial Magic.

Having said that, my situation was the same.

Until Taylee finished the final chapter, I wasn’t going to step aside from the entrance to the underground waterways.

I didn’t feel like pushing anyone else up onto the stage, as I stood iron-willed in my position, pushing anyone who approached away.

The mercenaries all took out their weapons in unison. I quickly turned my attention towards them.

The class of those mercenaries was different from the ones that appeared during the Occupation of Ophelis Hall.

At that time, only those that weren’t busy had gathered, all in the span of one night.

But as for this? This was Elte’s team, one that he had spent more than enough time preparing for.

The appearance of each and every mercenary was extraordinary.

It was completely different from the last mercenary group, which had no military discipline or uniformity. Their movements were systematic, the condition of their weapons were good, and the glittering armor they wore was no less than those of the royal guards.

Not only that, but they were all middle-aged veterans that were in their best condition. Most of them were retired guardsmen or those with at least over ten years of experience. The scars and cuts around their forearms and face showed their experience and maturity.

There seems to be a little over fifty of them. All of whom were experienced veterans.

Such people were taking their formation seriously, without any carelessness as they went up against four students.

For convenience’s sake, you could say they were divided into simply infantry, magicians, and archers, but… that didn’t mean that, just because they were in a certain field, they couldn’t use another’s weapon.

They were that experienced.

“Aside from Lortel, this isn’t a matter of life or death. Let’s finish this quietly.”

Before he could finish saying that, an old swordsman that was standing in the front of the infantry kicked off the ground.

Quickly and accurately judging the situation, he was probably the leader of the infantry.

In an instant, he finished determining his opponent’s power and already had the end of his sword pointed towards my neck.

Seeing as I was leading the group with my words and standing in the middle, he must have guessed that I was the most important member of the party. But even given that, my defense wasn’t properly set up at all. There was no better aim than now.

While everyone was carefully listening to Elte’s words, he decided to jump in and attack our party from the head down. He was quick-witted, given his long career.

Clang!

But the sword never reached me.

It was Yennekar’s wand that was blocking the way.

A sturdy defense magic that was a specialty to Earth spirits had enveloped Yennekar’s wand.

I noticed that Yennekar’s defense magic had already been set up, so from the beginning I wasn’t going to move.

Realizing that his attack was meaningless, the mercenary leader quickly kicked off the ground again, trying to widen the distance.

In order to stop his movements, Yennekar reached out her hand, calling out for a fire spirit, but… the archer’s magic arrows flew in, getting stuck in Yennekar’s defense.

The archers had joined the battle to assist their forces, which had entered the battle. While Yennekar’s movements were strained for a movement, the infantry leader widened the distance as he pushed himself back into formation.

“Ugh…!”

Yennekar shook off the arrows with a shake of her hand as she quickly checked, glancing off to the side, if I was hurt.

“Thanks, Yennekar.”

“Be careful, Ed. Their movement is definitely systematic.”

Archers scattered out, one by one, into the darkness of the forest—disappearing from view. Not knowing where or when the archers’ arrows would come, it added pressure to prevent her from lifting the defense magic.

Fighting while putting up defense magic was like fighting while carrying a heavy rock.

Defensive magic was one that you cast at the right time, when you needed it. It wasn’t the kind of magic that you always wore around your body like a shield. Similar types of magic were not entirely that effective in terms of magic power.

If she let her guard down, she wouldn’t know when an arrow would come flying out to hit the back of her head. The pressure it created was quite great.

“As expected, Elementalists are quite difficult.”

Elte had already confirmed Yennekar’s fighting power.

Naturally, there would be no way that he wouldn’t have come up with some type of countermeasure, given that he already knew about his opponents fighting power.

Elte took out a scroll as he opened it up. Inside there was a large, complicated-looking magic circle that was conspicuously drawn out.

That was the legendary-grade magically engineered item Belarus Prejudice.

It was a high-end magically engineered item that cost dozens of gold coins per sheet. Thinking of it as a consumable, among the legendary-grade magically engineered items it was a fairly expensive type.

The ability to suppress magic power.

It was highly compatible with Elvira’s chestnut flower reagent that she used last time.

Though the chestnut flower reagent might have been easy to manufacture, it had the downfall of a short duration that didn’t last long, and if the opponents magic power resonance was high enough then the effectiveness was nearly zero.

But Elte’s magically engineered item was in a completely different class. There was a reason why just one sheet of it would cost dozens of gold coins.

No matter how high your magic power resonance might be, you couldn’t be freed from that magic circle’s magic power suppression.

The fatal disadvantage of it was that the range is relatively small, it took time to operate, and the preparation for activating it was obvious. However, that didn’t matter much given the current situation, where we were inferior in terms of numbers.

“If that activates, it’s over.”

Lortel confirmed that fact as she added to the defense magic.

“In fact, since most of our power is in the form of magic, even if it’s just ten minutes of magic power suppression we will be quickly defeated.”

“Is there any chance that we can defeat the mercenaries before he activates that magically engineered item?”

If you were against well-trained and experienced mercenaries of that level, you should already be expected to fight a drawn-out battle.

My goal in the first place was to hold out until Taylee concluded the final chapter. That way time would be on our side.

I swept up my hair all at once, taking in a deep breath. Either way, that magically engineered item was their only chance of winning. Fortunately, a few ideas came to mind.

Elte himself had little combat ability anyway, so if we could somehow get close to him, we could defeat him.

My head was spinning as I thought about how we could get close to him…

Whoosh.

I felt a sudden shake. It was from Lucy moving around while still on my back.

Lucy put her hand on my shoulder as she stretched, lifting her body back part way. She then looked up at the tower of magic power.

“……”

Even a dangerous battle would only feel like a mosquito buzzing around for that girl.

Lucy gave no attention to the mercenaries surrounding her as she kept looking straight at the tower, not moving her head.

Her eyes, which always looked dazed and sleepy, were wide open for some reason.

Holding onto her witch’s hat with one hand, just in case it might fly off, Lucy kept on staring up at the sky for a while.

“Lucy.”

I could predict what was happening.

Lucy… She probably instinctively figured out what that tower of magic power was built for.

You shouldn’t misunderstand the fact that, because she gave the impression of being dazed and stupid, that the inside of her head was completely empty.

Lucy was far from being considered ordinary, even just purely in terms of her knowledge of magic.

No matter what she read, she could memorize it all at once, so you would never be able to see her studying regularly. The sheer amount of knowledge she had made it feel lackluster to just call her a genius.

Given her ridiculous level of reaction to the magic power, the scale of this Celestial magic, and Professor Glast’s track record… She had the ability to sufficiently infer just what he was planning to do.

Flick.

Lucy, who gently came down from my back, looked around. Little by little, magic power began to flow through her body.

***

Seeing the pressure coming from that vast scale of that magic power, the type that exceeded any limit, up close was like a looming mountain.

You couldn’t know the sheer scale of it all just by measuring it up close with your eyes. That feeling of unknown brought along an even bigger fear.

That was why a cold silence filled the air around us.

The mercenaries weren’t hastily rushing any closer into range.

If the students lifted up the defensive magic and switched to attack, then they would suffer great damage. But the mercenaries would suffer an insurmountable amount of damage as well.

Lortel, who could freely use intermediate magic at her own will, and Yennekar, who could even use high-ranking spirits.

Rather than rushing into an all-out war, it would be better for them to maintain the current situation of the battle and wait for Elte’s magically engineered item to activate. Either way, it was up to the students to make the first move.

It was a reasonable response given the effort.

That was only if their opponent’s power was really what Elte and his mercenaries had predicted.

“There’s somewhere I want to go.”

Lucy brushed off her clothes as she continued to talk like it was nothing.

“I’m going to clear the way.”

“……”

According to the original storyline, Lucy should have been taking a nap on the roof of Trix Hall.

During the Act 2 epilogue, after the incident she would wake up from her drowsy sleep and recall the event, saying, ‘Oh, that’s what happened’, and that was her entire role.

However, if you ended up provoking Lucy by waking her up during phase 1, then Lucy would suddenly end up meeting with Professor Glast, who was on the run.

Then, once Lucy found out the entirety of the situation, she would be persuaded by Professor Glast.

All by herself, Lucy would defeat Taylee and his party, then quietly walk down the underground waterways by herself as the curtain fell.

“Wh-What is going on?”

“I-Is that really just a student?”

The magic power that started to rise suddenly wrapped around Lucy’s body. The scale of it all overwhelmed everyone that was watching.

Panicked expressions spread amongst the mercenaries. No matter how long they may have lived for, they would have never seen magic power of that magnitude being unleashed without any preparation or casting.

A raging storm was not a natural wind. It was simply a physical force created as a byproduct of spewing magic power.

Since the wind was hard to bear, everyone had to change their stances.

The mercenaries began to all gulp in unison.

She was a student. Even though they didn’t let their guard down, the students still had the advantage in terms of power.

The most dangerous member against their opposing forces would, of course, be the top second year student, Yennekar Palerover.

If you were able to somehow deal with the spirits she summoned, then you would definitely win.

That may have been what they had thought, but sadly the stronger force on their side was not Yennekar. At that point, there wasn’t any meaning even if they were to yell in anger.

The wind was getting stronger, and the source of the ongoing storm all came from one small girl.

A lazy magician whose school uniform didn’t even properly fit, as she stood around with her collar hanging down.

When the girl’s magic power finally came to the point where it couldn’t become any larger, it reached a point where you would believe it could devour the entire world.

Whoosh!

……

Silence had once again returned.

Just like the start, it wasn’t windy at all. The forest scenery was completely quiet.

All the fluttering collars had calmed down, and all that was left was the occasional sound of the grass bugs that lingered and surrounded everyone.

It felt as if the calmness and clearness within one’s mind and soul had returned after the roaring storm.

That difference in feelings had left not only the enemies, but also Yennekar and Lortel unable to move.

However, all the experienced mercenaries knew the fact well.

The magic power hadn’t disappeared.

That magnificent magic power had compressed to its limit, fitting inside that small girl’s body. By that point, they had a sense of just what type of magic Lucy used. No. In the first place, it wasn’t magic.

Lucy walked forward.

With her bouncy footwork and fluttering sleeves, she looked like a rabbit running towards Elte, who was holding the magically engineered item. Just looking at her lively footsteps made it look like she was happily going out on a picnic.

But the mercenaries that were well aware of Lucy’s condition couldn’t get in her way.

Rather, the crowd of them began to divide along both sides, creating a path for Lucy.

“Wh-What are you doing?! Stop that student! Stop her!”

Completely surprised, Elte shouted urgently.

Clearly, the aftermath of that impressive magic power was enormous, but at that moment there was no sense of danger.

She was just a girl with a small figure, one that was walking forward with droopy eyes.

A scene where dozens of large mercenaries wouldn’t even think of blocking her way. It was impossible to understand this situation.

At that point, Elte had realized there’s no way it would be common for such a girl to freely play around with that amount of mana.

A girl whose face he didn’t know, but the rumors about her? He’d heard them. An unidentified monster living in Silvenia. That girl was the top first year student, Lucy Mayreel.

“Are you all crazy?! Get a move on!”

“Hyaaaaah!”

In the meantime, a mercenary that still looked rather young jumped out from the crowd.

He looked relatively full of vigor. With that in mind, was highly likely he was inexperienced compared to the others.

There is a fine line between courage and recklessness.

Clang!

The blade struck her, but the moment it touched Lucy’s fair skin, it stopped.

It felt like he had struck a rock. The mercenary that used the blade felt goosebumps cover his body.

Lucy didn’t even look at him.

Thud.

As if she was knocking on a door, she lightly knocked on the man’s armor.

That light knock completely smashed his armor to pieces. Of course, it didn’t end there.

Slam!

That mercenary, once full of vigor, flew far away with a boom that was like an explosion.

He flew away for a long time, passing through the crowd before being rammed into a zelkova tree nearby. It was such a shock that it wouldn’t be surprising if a few of his bones had broken.

As always, Lucy was a magician that didn’t use combat magic very well.

It was hard to describe it even as magic. It was more like overwhelming physical strength… Or just violence.

She had compressed that magnificent magic power to its limit, putting it inside her body. Activating it and having a completely overwhelming force… She was able to make it impossible for anyone trying to interfere with her.

There was no way to defeat her. Well, there was, but there really wasn’t.

You would have to get an even more overwhelming amount of magic power, one that exceeded the physical strength of Lucy’s magic power. Of course, that wasn’t possible.

The more ridiculous the standards were, the more ridiculous it had to become to deal with it. But the ridiculousness all stemmed from the amount of magic power she had, which was completely impossible to surpass.

None of the mercenaries were moving now.

Those that had lived many years had a unique pride to them. No matter how intimidating an enemy appeared, they would never run away or abandon their colleagues.

Which was why they couldn’t confront her.

They had no choice but to stand there, helpless.

“You must be the leader, mister. All I have to do is defeat you, and this will be over.”

Lucy, who was right in front of Elte, raised her head as she spoke in a clear voice.

Elte clenched his teeth as his hands trembled, activating the magically engineered item. The unique force that was supposed to suppress mana was emanating from Elte’s hands, but Lucy didn’t budge.

You may be able to hold back some of the ocean’s water, but you could never hold back all of it.

That fact was so obvious that not only Lucy, but even Elte understood it.

In the moment, Lucy reached out her hand towards Elte…

“Hey.”

A boy with blonde hair between Elte and Lucy. Because he ran up, his appearance was rather disheveled.

“You know, right? This might even mean death.”

With Lucy, who was full to her limit in condensed mana, just one swing of her hand would hit like a truck.

If you got hit in a vital spot even once, or if you got knocked out and another dangerous part got hit, you would instantly die.

Maybe that wouldn’t be the case for the mercenaries, with layers of armor and safety gear on, but for Elte, who hadn’t trained and was only wearing a single layer of cloth? He could die instantly after getting hit by Lucy.

It was a strange thing. That guy was not a man that would worry about Elte’s life. There was some certainty that, even if Elte was killed by Lucy, he wouldn’t have tried to stop it.

The ensuing question revealed that it wasn’t Elte that he was worried about.

“Are you okay killing him?”

Lucy Mayreel, who was born with the blessings of an archmage, had an inevitable fate.

A promise made with Glockt while he was alive that, when the day came where disaster struck Silvenia, she would be one of the pillars to protect it.

To never kill another.

To avoid getting blood on those small hands of hers, even if it was a mistake.

To, at least as long as she was at Silvenia, to live a life as a student.

Eventually, the day would come where she would need to have both eyes wide open, as she was destined to face the world. But for now, it was okay to sleep a while enjoying that lazy life of hers.

But the moment her hands became stained with blood, that life was over. That life of leisurely walking around the academy, looking for a place with good sunlight to sleep, would all come to an end.

The day that she first got blood on her hands, that was the day Lucy would wake up.

Lucy herself must have been well aware of that fact. The Blessing of the Stars that was imprinted into her life brought strength that didn’t come free of cost.

“That’s enough.”

Lucy looked straight at him with those dopey eyes of hers.

Tension remained amongst the mercenaries. She might look like a little girl, but in reality they were facing a massive weapon.

She had power at a level that made her capable of blowing up the entire area if she wanted to.

Seeing him speak in such a commanding tone in front of such a person might make him look like he was out of his mind… But that was only because they didn’t know Lucy.

“…I got it.”

As the compressed mana was released, a storm once again erupted in the area.

After the storm subsided, Lucy’s immense magic power dissipated into smoke.

A feeling of confusion spread throughout everyone that was there. They couldn’t believe that Lucy had released her strength after hearing those words.

Ed then hit Elte in the back of his head with the hilt of his dagger as he grabbed him and brought a blade to his neck.

Having taken him hostage, the situation was over.

Already, the mercenaries didn’t have an ounce of fighting spirit left.

“Then I guess it’s all over.”

Lucy spoke up in a low voice as she turned her back. Looking up at the sky, there were still those massive towers of magic power pointing straight up.

Now that the situation had been resolved, Lucy didn’t have a reason to stick next to Ed anymore.

“Where are you going?”

“I have somewhere to go.”

Ed Rothstaylor had a personality where he didn’t unnecessarily dig deeply into other people’s affairs.

Lucy was well aware of that fact, so she left it at that.

Of course, she didn’t expect him to give back a response.

“If you go… Are you confident you won’t regret it?”

She froze suddenly.

With those words, as if they went straight to the point, Lucy stood still while looking up at the sky without answering.

And then, lowering her attention again…

She responded in a quiet voice… before disappearing, using advanced Spatial-type Magic.