The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 88

[The thing that had killed the largest number of warriors in the world was none other than arrogance.

Be careful of those that are confident in their abilities and follow their virtues, charging into battle with enthusiasm and valor.

Do not respect those that constantly risk their lives just to prove their existence to the world.

Be afraid, Clevius.

Fear is your weapon.

When it comes time to run away, run.

Don’t risk your life on mere pride. And don’t be obsessed over such things as honor.

There is no need for you to force yourself to face every crisis and ordeal that comes your way. There is no need to continuously get hurt on your own just to challenge the impossible.

But even if you live like that, there will still come a time when you won’t be able to run.

Even if you can still pick up both feet and run away, just like you always have, there will still come a day when you won’t be able to turn away.

In front of an ordeal that the entire world calls impossible, you will feel the need to plant both feet onto the ground, stand up straight, and take it head on.

Your whole body will tremble like crazy, but strangely, the hand that holds the sword will strengthen as your grip tightens. Although defeat is certain, it’s as if your body is covered in inertia to keep moving forward.

What will put you in that position is completely different from any sort of belief, pride, or honor.

But if you don’t feel it, run. Beg for your life in an ugly and humiliating way, if it means you can survive like a coward.

Even if you’re forced to live in the dirt and constantly mocked by others, wait for your time. Never do anything that sacrifices your life in pursuit of mere honor and glory.

Don’t live the life of a hero. Don’t walk on that thorny path that no one is forcing you to take.

The flowers that bloom on the cliff may look sublime, but in the end it’s the stubborn weeds that fill the garden that survive in the end. I hope you never forget that fact.

– Application for a duel.]

“……”

After the snowstorm, Ophelis Hall started to slowly become lively with the students preparing for the upcoming semester.

The first year’s top student, Wade Callamore, and his request for a duel against Clevius. It was a challenge that arrived in front of Clevius while the snowstorm was in full swing.

Clevius got up from his bed in his private room as he sat down at a table, where the maids had prepared various refreshments.

In a dark corner of the room, with the curtain always closed shut, Clevius took a handful of refreshments and shoved them in his mouth, chewing on them.

And as his body trembled, he leaned over towards the floor, looking down as he swore out.

“Why… Why the fuck…. Why is it fucking me…?”

A bead of sweat dripped down, past the dark circles around his eyes, as it fell across his gloomy face.

Clevius hadn’t even responded to House Callamore’s genius swordsman’s challenge.

However, in the end he couldn’t overcome the public opinion that demanded an answer from him. So, he ended up having to express his intention to abstain from the duel. He didn’t want to get hurt and he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of all those people.

Clevius wasn’t even upset after everyone responded, thinking that it was something Clevius would do. In fact, it might even be better.

It was better to be called a coward and be forgotten by others than to be beaten and defeated in an embarrassing way in front of everyone.

Clevius timidly peeked out the curtain.

A warm light creeped into the dark corner of his room.

The scenery outside of the window was the near arrival of spring. Winter was nearly over, and new life was starting to come into full bloom.

It was a picture that Gloomy Clevius hated more than anything.

“Given that kid’s personality, he will definitely keep coming back to challenge me again…”

Clevius had also heard rumors about Wade.

Rumors said that he was overflowing with talent and the desire to be recognized. And all the first years were getting cocky and riled up, saying that he could defeat all of the upperclassmen.

It was both unfortunate and fortunate that his first opponent was Clevius. That way, when the next challenger stepped up, Clevius would already be long forgotten.

“This shitty life…”

When spring came and the world bloomed with beautiful flowers, Silvenia Academy was once again full of romance.

But Clevius sat in the darkness of his room with his back turned to that radiant romance.

He was certainly a person that belonged in the dark.

It was as if the petals blowing in the nice breeze outside his windows were saying ‘what are you going to do?’

It was now the start of a new semester.

***

Spring came when you forgot about it. That was why it was all the more special.

Watching the world that was once covered in snow melt away as the warm sunlight shone down and the flowers bloomed, it made me think.

It’s already been a year since I started living like this.

It felt like just last month that I was kicked out of Ophelis Hall, but a year had already passed since I started living out in the forest on my own. I’d built up a camp with a nice cabin that was full of usable furniture.

Jogging to school, my body used to be drenched in sweat. But after training for quite a bit, I could easily manage it.

“Oh my, nice to see you here.”

I was on my way back home after taking advantage of my lunch break to purchase some lab supplies from the commercial district. I was planning to bring them back home after school.

There was a girl that I was well familiar with sitting on the terrace seat of Laplace Bakery, the most famous tea shop in Silvenia, near the bridge connecting the commercial district to the education district.

At that point, she was famous enough that anyone would know that her good-natured smile only hid the hundreds of serpents inside her.

“The opening ceremony for the semester just finished, but you’re already working hard in the lab, Ed?”

Seeing her casually greet me, I waved my hand as well.

To check how the girl is doing, all you had to do was look at her hair. If that reddish-brown hair of hers was neatly tied to one side and lowered, then she was rather relaxed.

Quite the opposite from when she let her hair flow down, wearing various accessories while taking care of important business or going to formal events.

Either way, she was a person that couldn’t be taken lightly, as she held the highest place at The Top.

Lortel smiled as she waved for me to come and have a cup of tea with her.

“It’s surprising to see you drinking tea alone at a place like this, Lortel.”

“Actually, I was just taking a short break after taking care of business. We finished discussing all the import details, so once my employee finishes checking the inventory here, everything will be done.”

“Checking the inventory?”

“Would you like to have a cup of tea with me?”

After sitting down with her legs crossed and smiling, she softly called on a nearby worker. And right away, that worked sprinted off.

The person that left was just a regular worker, but the person that came back was the owner of Laplace Bakery.

A famous aristocrat that used to work in the imperial kitchen, who also owned several famous restaurants in the empire’s capital. Sweating, he gently placed another cup of tea on the table.

He then bowed his head, asking if we needed anything else before going back into the kitchen.

Just as Lortel had said, it seemed that they were finishing some business back in the kitchen.

“I’ve never seen him make that kind of expression before.”

“Well… Let’s see if there’s anything interesting. There’s no person that’s entirely clean, after all.”

“But just what kind of authority do you have to be looking into a bakery’s storage? Is it okay to waste so much time on a mere client?”

“We are only business partners, but it is still worth paying extra attention to as they are a bakery that orders all of their important ingredients from the Elte Company. There isn’t any other place that can actually take orders from a bakery like this besides Elte.”

The quantity needed was large, but Laplace Bakery used many high-quality ingredients as well. And those were ingredients where freshness was crucial. Given the situation, it was difficult to trust just anyone. That was why someone like Lortel, who had accumulated lots of experience in distribution, was necessary.

In your average city, different businesses might compete to win orders from clients. But on Acken Island, where the size was limited, the story was different.

Without ordering and receiving supplies from the Elte Company, Laplace Bakery would struggle to operate the following day.

And with that, Lortel gave off the brightest smile in the whole world.

“Isn’t it great to have such a monopoly? It’s a new type of power and authority you wouldn’t normally have.”

“Looking at the face of those workers, it seems that you are the only one who thinks this is fun.”

“Oh my, how could you say something so mean? Though, you are right.”

Lortel choked as she looked down at her teacup.

“From our point of view, we do have a reason though. It seems that a fake order was discovered.”

“Fake order?”

“That’s right. It’s when someone orders a bunch of things they don’t need in advance. And when the delivery date approaches, they suddenly cancel them all. They always end up getting caught, but still people keep on doing it.”

I put down my belongings as I sat across from her, gently picking up the teacup that the owner had brought for me. Unlike it usually was, the scent from the cup was mellower and it looked darker.

“This goes without saying, but during the snowstorm there were difficulties supplying Acken Island with supplies. The roads froze over, so the wagons couldn’t cross.”

“Natural disasters can’t be helped.”

“That’s true. But as a result, most of our business partners here in the commercial district were still waiting on their orders. So, by our judgment we were supplying what we could as quickly as we were able, in order of demand and urgency…”

The rest of what she would say was obvious.

Laplace Bakery, who wanted to quickly receive their supplies, raised the amount of product needed by making a fake order. And once the delivery date approached, they canceled the order, only taking what they needed.

It was a shallow decision to think that the number of extra materials ordered wouldn’t be a major issue for the company, as they were so large.

Demand for produce was also high right now. So, all of those canceled orders could be sold elsewhere with no financial loss to the company.

However, right now nearly all of their clients were still waiting for their orders. So, it was a cheap trick to use just so they could get all the supplies they needed first.

“If it’s equivalent, a merchant would even sell their soul for a gold coin. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t certain businesses we have to protect. And from our point of view, every one of our clients are equal business partners.”

Lortel was someone that rose through the ranks of the Elte Company. Similar to a king of the underworld, at least that was the case here in the commercial district.

Of course, that didn’t mean Lortel directly ruled or governed anyone. She didn’t have the position or authority to do so.

However, wherever people gathered, so would confusion. That was why there came the need for someone to control it.

And Lortel’s means of control came from money. Looking at the underbelly of the peaceful commercial district, you could see that in the end all the money flowed into her wallet.

Slam!

Suddenly the kitchen door slammed open as a man came out. It was the chef that had just brought me a cup of tea. It looked like the inventory inspection was done.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to compare the actual amount used vs the amount ordered.

“M-Miss Lortel! Please, listen to me! Your employee has made a request that is too much! I don’t have anything to say about the amount we ordered… However, moving forward, if you are going to limit our orders to this amount…!”

That man would also find out. Without Lortel’s approval, there was no way that a staff member in charge would arbitrarily place a limit on order quantity. Everything was done with Lortel’s permission.

Despite that, he still came to Lortel as a last-ditch effort.

He continued to explain the situation to her, bowing down at a 90-degree angle.

After several minutes of explaining his personal circumstances, excuses for the excessive order, and the status of the store’s operations, Lortel continued to sit still as she closed her eyes and put the teacup to her lips.

“Please… Just take into account the situation of the store…! If you go through with this, then…”

“That’s right.”

Lortel, who had been listening while drinking her tea, opened her mouth as the man quickly caught his breath.

And the words that followed were directed towards me, not that man.

“I have class in the afternoon. Do you want to go to the education district together?”

From the beginning, Lortel had not listened to a word from that man.

Standing from her seat, she glanced over at the man with a cold gaze.

***

“The student council president election is coming up.”

“You don’t seem to want to run for president?”

“The power of the student president is quite appealing, but if I take the position and neglect my duties to my company, things might collapse.”

Walking through the student square in the education district, the crowd of students was so massive that it really felt like a new semester.

During the break, it was so empty that you wouldn’t see a single person. Now there were so many students, you couldn’t even see the entirety of the square.

“The best outcome would be if someone who treats me well becomes president. Don’t you want to try it, Ed? I’ll support you.”

“I don’t plan on it. Even if I did, there’s no guarantee I’d help you.”

“That’s a shame. Though, I thought you would say that.”

Lortel wore a hood over her school uniform blouse as she walked, holding a couple books.

Lortel seemed to be busy, always taking care of her work and her studies. Either way, she was still a student, so it seemed she was putting in as much effort as she could to train in magic.

I was sure she was busy dividing up her busy day, down to the minute.

“Your sister said she was running for office. Her name was Tanya, right? I want to support her.”

“Tanya?”

Lortel glanced around a few times before lowering her voice as she spoke to me.

“I’d rather die than support Princess Penia. Though, most of the school seems to already be in support of her… Once she announces her candidacy, she will most likely win.”

“I’m not going to explain everything to you, but…”

“I already know.”

Lortel lowered her voice.

“I don’t know if Tanya knows this herself, but once Princess Penia announces her candidacy, it’s safe to say that Tanya won’t stand a chance. Even if by some miracle most of the top students in each grade end up supporting her… it probably still won’t be enough. Even as the second daughter of House Rothstaylor, the difference in class is too great.”

Listening to her, I nodded my head.

In the storyline, Tanya also faced a loss by a ridiculous margin.

She did all she could to try and get even one more vote, no matter how pathetic it made her look, but the overwhelming difference in votes didn’t change at all.

Tanya Rothstaylor, the lesser of the two evils.

In front of the disheartening and overwhelming difference in votes, she ended up surprising everyone as she quit school in her anger… She was just another stepping stone villain that came from the Rothstaylor Family.

“By chance… Are you supporting Princess Penia?”

“Me…? I’m not sure. In the first place, right now I don’t really have anyone I want to support. Though, I guess I would support Tanya since she’s family.”

“That’s good to hear. I was a little nervous because I thought that you might have been uncomfortable hearing what I said if you did support her. After all, most of the school looks up to her, but… Well, as long as you don’t, then that’s fine.”

It had been a while since I’d been involved with Princess Penia. There were only a few incidents that I was caught up in with her, but I couldn’t say that I left the best impression on her.

“In the first place, I’m sure that she despises me.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m not entirely sure… But if I were the Princess, I would have a hard time seeing anything good out of someone like me… Yeah, she might even be full of resentment towards me. Or at least just a bad feeling…?”

“That’s a relief hearing you say that…”

“…Relief?”

“……”

Lortel grabbed her books as she quickly shook her head.

“You know I see you as a man, right?”

“……”

“Jealousy is a more universal emotion than you think. I’m still a girl, you know.”

She then wrapped one arm around me as she looked up at me with a smirk.

Seeing her eyes narrow like a fox, she looked up at me with a sly smile.

“Was that a critical hit?”

“……”

“Can I check your heartbeat?”

In the middle of the square, Lortel was about to push her ear up to my chest. But with one hand I pushed down on her head as I pushed her away. Lortel then shook her head as she smiled at me.

“You’re like a giant wall. What bad thing did I do to you?”

“You haven’t done anything bad to me, but… until I graduate, I’m in a difficult position.”

“…Until you graduate?”

She was a girl that had caught even the smallest of words at the negotiation table thousands of times over, just to seize her opponent’s weakness. Even the slightest tone and word choice was information to her.

“When you graduate?”

“Oh my, it feels like I found quite a juicy piece of information.”

With her chin tucked into her shoulder, Lortel looked up at me with a sly expression on her face.

“So, it’s a time constraint. Is it okay to have given me such a useful piece of information? I don’t know what you mean by graduating, but it seems that you’re planning to open your heart up once more after your studies.”

“……”

“Though, who knows. Maybe I’ll be able to tear down your wall even before then~”

Lortel released her arm as she jumped back. She then staggered forward a bit before turning around, putting her hand up to her lips and laughing like a fox.

“Hmm… Graduation seems far away, but it’s still only next year for you. Won’t that come rather quickly?”

“I don’t know how to respond to that…”

“I guess so, huh? Anyway, it seems that you are still healthy and are making steady progress with your studies, so that’s a relief. What happened to the magic engineering supplies I gave you last time?”

“I used them all. I also did some magic engineering training over the break.”

“Oh, did you have any good results?”

I pondered for a moment, wondering what to say… Then I nodded my head. In terms of results, it was a huge success.

Following a ridiculously cruel schedule, I focused solely on practicing magic engineering for the entire day. And the day right before school started, I had finally completed a prototype of a legendary-grade magically engineered product. Since I hadn’t used it yet, it was still just a prototype.

“That’s great. It’s good news for me to know that I could be of some help. Unfortunately for me, I was busy taking care of my own problems during the break.”

“Were there a lot of issues you had to deal with? Just like with Laplace Bakery?”

“Well, that’s just part of the problem. The major problem right now is the lack of cash. I need to get some money in my wallet.”

Lortel was in need of money. It seems like something that should be impossible, but if you thought about it carefully, it was clear what the real problem was.

Assets and cash were completely different concepts.

“Even if I don’t often use cash, a wagon carrying boxes of gold coins from the main branch was involved in an accident. It looks like it was swept away by an avalanche, and it seems that it’s going to take a bit of time to check the status of the situation, repair all the damage, and then receive the money. So, the funds we have to use right now aren’t going to last long.”

There was a problem with one of the trails that the Elte Company used, so they weren’t able to receive their regularly expected cash. Disasters like that seemed to happen on a regular basis when you ran a business like that.

“Thanks to that, even though we have so many assets, we still have to be wary when spending money. The main branch is also avoiding unnecessary spending. Personally, I would never unnecessarily spend money, as I always plan to reduce the expenses I have as much as possible.”

“Are you that short on cash?”

“It’s just a temporary bottleneck, and it’s not a dramatic amount of money we’re short on. We still have enough to spend on basic maintenance to maintain normal life at a leisurely pace. We just can’t afford to spend more than that.”

Though in reality even if it was just basic maintenance cost, by Lortel’s standards that was a lot of money.

Most of those incidents came from the aftermath of the snowstorm that hit Acken Island. Spring had arrived, but the aftermath of winter still lingered.

“It’s not a very pleasant situation. However, yesterday a nervous client of ours requested repayment of a transaction that had been going on for a long time. Unfortunately, we were forced to decline.”

“It sounds like they were struggling as well.”

“It’s a difficult time for everyone right now. In particular, it’s a rough time to manage money.”

Lortel brushed back her fluttering hair, which was blowing in the spring breeze.

“Well, money management is my specialty. Once I decided to stay strong, I have no intention of increasing unnecessary expenses anymore.”

“Still, spending money never goes exactly as you want it to… so it’s going to be rough.”

“What are you saying, Ed? Do you know who I am? Can a regular person that can’t manage their money be at the top? Don’t worry, I won’t have to increase my expenses for any useless reason.”

Lortel said that as she laughed like a fox again.

I remembered those cold eyes of hers as they looked down at the man in the bakery. For whatever reason, Lortel had the temperament to be a cold, ruthless person when it came to business.

“Don’t worry about me, Ed. But why don’t you have your textbook, even though you are going to class?”

As we entered further into the education district, the classroom wasn’t that far away.

“Me? I still have to go to the library to borrow it.”

“What? Can you even borrow the textbook and make it to class? If it’s at the student library, isn’t it all the way near the outskirts of the education district?”

“I just think of it as a quick little bit of exercise. If I don’t constantly take care of my physical strength, I’ll quickly become rather weak.”

“That’s not good. It’s not a small distance that you can quickly run to. It only cost a few coins, so you should just buy it from the school…”

Lortel stopped talking. The price of books wasn’t a small amount for a student once it started to pile up. That was because all the textbooks in Silvenia were of the highest quality.

However, constantly sprinting between the library and the classroom wasn’t something a sane person would do. Though, for me, it was just my normal business.

Suddenly, Lortel broke out into a cold sweat. She took out her wallet as she checked the contents with a trembling hand.

Just what was the issue…? After trembling in agony, she hesitated before asking me.

“H-How much is it… After adding it all up…?”

“……”

I politely declined.

***

“Did you check on how I arranged everything in the library, Ed?”

Once the new semester had begun, it became easier to meet with Ziggs.

After finishing Elemental Studies, walking through the crowd and making my way out of the education district, I met Ziggs as he stood with his back against a nearby tree.

“Ah, yeah. It was great. Thanks a lot.”

“Don’t worry about it. It didn’t take long to get the job done with magic. But Ed, have you heard of a student named Wade?”

“Wade? The first year’s top student?”

Ziggs nodded his head.

Hearing Ziggs words, I slowly started to remember.

Act 3, Chapter 3. The episode took place during the middle of the student president pre-election.

Breaking Wade Callamore’s Seal. From what I knew, that took place all the way up to Act 3, Chapter 5.

As the son of the commander of the corps guarding the northern border, Wade was born with a natural talent in swordsmanship, taking the position as the top student amongst the first-year students with overwhelming force.

Unsatisfied with only the title as the best amongst first years, Wade applied for a match against the top students in each department, defeating them all. Eventually, that led him to even request a duel among the top students in other grades.

Wade, who pushed himself to his absolute limit to win and prove himself, fought against top students and famous students within the school, defeating them one by one… Even against Ziggs, he barely managed to win though a fierce battle, though his body ended up in terrible shape.

Of course, at the time Ziggs was already quite exhausted, so he couldn’t use his full power. If he had been in better condition, who knew how the outcome would have changed. But in the end, the fact was that he still faced defeat.

Wade ran wild in the school, acting as if he was going to defeat every single strong student there was. However, in the end he was defeated by Taylee during the joint combat practice.

Given that he was a first-year student, it was an achievement that couldn’t be overlooked. Until he was defeated by Taylee, all of his opponents weren’t students you could look down upon. He was a student that was suited to be called the ace of the first years.

“Recently, some freshmen that are trying to become promising students have been participating in duels. Hearing about it, it seems that they may have taken an interest in you as well.”

“Thanks for letting me know in advance. Take care of yourself, too.”

“I heard there is going to be an event tonight, welcoming the new students. Would you like to come along and meet them yourselves as well?”

I was already familiar with what Wade looked like.

“No, it’s fine. I already have plans for tonight.”

“You already have plans?”

“I’m meeting with Yennekar to have her look over my Elementalism.”

The mana suppression that had been caused by the ring had also subsided to some extent. Soon enough, I’d be able to use the full extent of my magic power.

After finishing the mid-ranking Spirit contract, among the third years there would only be one student left that was better at elementalism than me—and that is Yennekar.

In addition to that, once I learned an intermediate magic, raised the remaining stats of my beginner magic, and made some more progress in my magic power resonance training… I thought I’d be among the top 10 students within the third year.

Thanks to having progressed a bit, I was addicted to the taste of training. Having visible results made the training itself more fun. I wondered if that was how people that went to the gym every day felt.

I waved my hand, saying goodbye to Ziggs as I left the square.

Turning my head and looking back at a full view of the square, it was a lively atmosphere, suited for a school.

I thought I was the kind of person that wouldn’t care about such things, but after seeing how lively the school had become, I was starting to feel a bit of energy.

The fresh air, which was a characteristic of a new semester, made each step I took pleasant.

I walked over the hills and across the education district as I left.

***

“Hmm… I should have mentioned that.”

It was still quite difficult to draw the line in human relationships.

Ziggs muttered to himself, leaning on the tree as he said goodbye to Ed.

In addition to talking about the library, he also gave him a warning about Wade… But he wondered if he should have also mentioned Princess Penia.

Since Ziggs and Penia were in the same grade, they often shared the same classes. Normally, it was difficult to get close to her since she was a princess and constantly surrounded by guards. But when she was in class, it was a different story.

Princess Penia seemed to have no energy after the break.

Though, when Ziggs or other students around them spoke of Ed, he often noticed that she would strangely tilt her head, as if she were listening in.

At first, he thought he was seeing things. However, the more he watched her, the more it felt like she really was reacting to the name Ed Rothstaylor.

“I’m really not quite sure yet…”

Ziggs leaned against a tree in the corner of the square as he stared blankly up at the sky. It was a clear and bright sky.