The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 93

It was stupid to bash your head in while thinking of doing the impossible.

If it was impossible to jump over the wall in front of you, you had many other options. You could take the long way around, or you could just give up.

A wise and experienced person would always find another way, no matter what.

Still, there was definitely a reason when everyone in the world called it an impossible task.

***

Drizzle.

The rain that fell on the roof of the cabin eventually reached the soil.

The girl, who had been sitting down and leaning against the outer wall of the cabin, stared blankly out at the sky. She then let out a large, tired yawn.

The reason she didn’t go inside the cabin, instead choosing to sit against the outer wall while staring up at the eaves of the roof, was obvious.

The girl was waiting for someone to come home.

She didn’t have any particular business to see to, and she wasn’t close enough to him for them to warmly greet each other when they met up.

For no particular reason, Lucy Mayreel continued to wait for Ed.

Seeing the way she sat outside watching the cabin, it was as if she were a gatekeeper. But in reality, she was more like a parasitic houseguest than a gatekeeper. Though, she didn’t realize that herself.

It was a strange feeling for her as she tied up her silver hair, which had become frizzy due to the moisture in the air, and passed the time idly while holding onto her witch hat.

To Lucy, who was lazy in everything she did, simply waiting around would quickly lead to her boredom.

However, sitting down and leaning against the cabin while quietly waiting for Ed… Rather than boredom, it felt as if a feeling of comfort was filling her heart. It was probably because the camp itself had a very special meaning to Lucy.

Ed’s daily life was always changing, full of ups and downs, but at the end of the day it was the camp and cabin that he came back to settle down in.

Ed’s day would always end with him in the camp.It wasn’t difficult to imagine.

Entering through the grass, checking that the campfire that wasn’t lit, and kicking the logs of his cabin a few times to make sure it was still sturdy.

Then going to the drying rack to take care of his wet laundry, and then gathering all of his tools that were outside and starting to get rusty so that he could bring them back into the tent.

Going back into his cabin, wiping off the water that fell on his shirt before turning towards Lucy and saying ‘Oh, you’re here’… She would then nod her head in response.

He would then light the fireplace inside the cabin as well as the magically engineered lamp, sitting down at his desk and starting to read through his magic engineering textbooks.

Then, Lucy would lay down near the fireplace as she wrapped herself in a blanket and fell asleep.

The sounds of the rain hitting against the window and the crackling of the fireplace, as well as the occasional flipping of pages from Ed’s books.

Drip. Drip.

Booooom!

Suddenly, from beyond the grass she could feel the presence of something. And the traces of magic power didn’t just come from one person.

Lucy, who was sitting blankly against the wall, wiggled the tip of her nose for a moment.

“……”

People rarely went that deep into the North Forest. Moreover, it was currently late at night and pouring down rain.

If it wasn’t Ed, just who was it and what were they doing…? Lucy wasn’t the type of person to be curious about such questions.

However, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling, having someone approach the camp unnecessarily.

If Ed, the owner of the camp, gave permission then Lucy wouldn’t do anything. However, when Ed was away there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be someone sneaking in to do something absurd.

In fact, when Lucy had been sleeping inside the wooden shelter, Assistant Professor Cleoh had snuck in and even touched her without her realizing it.

Basically, Lucy hated strangers. Especially if that person was trying to sneak into her nest.

“Hmm…”

It was unusual for Lucy, who was indifferent and found everything in the world to be a pain. She stood up, brushing off her oversized uniform a few times as she jumped out into the rain.

Either way, there wasn’t anything wrong with chasing away unwelcome intruders. Thinking of Ed coming back, stroking her hair, thanking her… It wasn’t a bad deal.

She sprinted towards the grass where the sound was coming from. It was over a hundred meters away, but for Lucy it was a distance she could narrow in an instant.

There were two people a little beyond the grass.

“Eughk!”

A middle-aged knight that was in an awful condition, covered in blood. Sitting down in the grass, he was holding onto the other knight, who was passed out.

“Ughk…”

“……?”

“Y-You…!”

Kadek and Nox were running away from the coastal cliffs, heading towards the commercial district after having defeated Ed.

Coincidentally, it was a path that came near Ed’s camp.

The smell of iron in the blood stung Lucy’s nose.

“H-Help…! W-We’re seriously hurt…! Um… In the woods… I stumbled and rolled down the hill…!”

“……”

“And… My colleague ran into a wild animal that bit his throat…! Please, go to the commercial district and bring medical help… Please bring help…!”

Lucy stood still, looking at Nox. There were injuries all over his body, but rather than scratches and bruises… Most of them looked like burns.

Obvious traces of fire or explosive magic were evident. The knight was lying to Lucy.

Normally people that were in such an extreme state wouldn’t dare lie when asking for help.

Then, Lucy spotted an eagle emblem on Nox’s torn robe.

“House Rothstaylor.”

As Lucy softly muttered, Nox swallowed his breath.

After quickly making up his mind, Nox spoke again with a firm expression.

“My name is Nox, a vassal of House Rothstaylor. We are not suspicious people. To help Tanya Rothstaylor with her endeavors, we entered school grounds with permission.”

“……”

“If you help us, it would be a great deed recognized by House Rothstaylor. Can you please help us make it back to the commercial district?”

It was becoming a task more annoying than she had originally thought. Lucy started to sense that fact.

Although she didn’t want to get caught up in anything that was a pain to deal with, the name Rothstaylor tickled Lucy’s ear.

It was the same house that Ed Rothstaylor used to belong to. Though, since he was excommunicated, he had been living a life completely separate from them. For Lucy, who thought she had a particularly strange relationship with Ed, she couldn’t easily ignore that name.

Contemplating what to do… Lucy’s eyes suddenly looked toward the unconscious Kadek’s neck.

It was different from an attack from a regular wild animal. The magic power of a water spirit lingered around Kadek as well. It was a really small amount, but for Lucy, who was very sensitive to magic power, she was able to catch it.

Even looking at them from a glance, it was obvious these two knights wouldn’t have any skill withspiritual resonance. So, the leftover energy of a spirit in his body… it was probably the recent traces of a battle against a spirit.

Lucy then looked at the blood stains all over Nox’s body.

It definitely looked as if he had been caught up in explosive magic. It didn’t look like he had been stabbed or scratched anywhere, so the bloodstains he had on him were strange.

Could it be traces of blood that had spattered from Nox’s body? Yet, it seemed like it had splattered on him from the front.

Thinking it over, she concluded that the bloodstains on Nox didn’t belong to him.

The vassals of House Rothstaylor, who had excommunicated Ed.

Traces of a battle against a spirit.

Bloodstains.

And the strange fact of where they came from and what time it was.

Shortly after, she lowered her gaze down towards the wound on the back of Kadek’s leg. It had traces of magic power, but more importantly, it was a wound that seemed to have come from something sharp.

For example, an arrow.

As soon as she was able to think this far, goosebumps ran down Lucy’s spine in an instant.

Whoosh!

Just clenching her fist, magic power started to move around as if it was a part of her body. It wasMana Resonancethat has reached a level beyond the normal limit. It reached the point that it became possible to handle magic power as if it were part of her own body.

“EuuuuAckkkk!”

As if he had been grabbed by the collar, Nox’s body was rising up into the air.

Lucy, who trudged through the rain, looked up at Nox while questioning him.

“You… What did you do…?”

An ominous feeling rested heavily on the girl’s chest.

“What were you doing?”

He couldn’t breathe properly. Nox’s mind was becoming fuzzy.

The amount of magic power erupting from the girl’s body was enough to even be felt by Nox, who was not well versed in magic.

There was no chant, no tools to help manage her magic power, and the magic power itself was at a level that could only be handled through one’s immense skill inmagic resonance. Magic power at a level that was immensely massive. One that went past all sense of reason, invoking great fear.

He really could die from it.

After overcoming death two times, he had barely managed to escape into the North Forest. But now, he was truly against an unbeatable opponent.

“Answer me properly.”

With a poor resonance level, it is difficult to feel another’s magic power. So, if Nox, with his poor skill level in resonance alone, was able to feel the thick and heavy presence of magic power in the air… Then that girl was a magician at a level where she could end his life in a single motion, before he could let out a sound.

“Speaking honestly, I will help you. Either way… with your strength, you won’t be able to do anything by yourself.”

Even though she invoked such a fear, she still showed a bit of generosity.

Nox had already managed to survive after going through so many obstacles, so his mind was already worn out.

After being at the brink of death, over and over again, he was left with one final option… One that could never be rejected.

In the end, Nox made a choice that he never should have.

“I… killed a person…”

***

On the cliffside, in the strong wind and rain, a senior professor in monster studies—Flubin—picked up a dagger left at the scene. Taking it out of its sheath and looking at the surface, the afterimage of a dark red engraving clearly remained.

“It feels like incidents like these only happen when I’m on duty.”

Scratching his clean shaved chin, he then analyzed the engraved pattern. It was the traces of a high-quality engraving that would be difficult to come across usually.

The engraving of a deadly poison.

A level where, once stabbed, death was certain. He couldn’t feel any magic power from it, and the traces of the leftover engraving showed that it had been used.

Then that meant…. Someone had died. Flubin let out a deep sigh. As he thought, it was a major incident.

Recently, there had been many accidents within Silvenia. It was to the point where it felt like an uncontrollable major accident would occur at least once a semester.

At the northern edge of Acken Island, including Professor Flubin, five faculty members wearing robes remained at the scene.

At the request of the third-year magic department student Yennekar Palerover, many faculty members that were working in Trix Hall came out.

Among the faculty that were on night duty, Professor Flubin was the highest rank in charge that came running out. He was the one that suggested it wouldn’t be an incident that they could take lightly.

“So, when you arrived on the scene it was already…?”

“Yes…”

It was a major shock.

The witness, Yennekar Palerover… she lowered her head under the robe the faculty members gave her to cover her from the rain. She hid her face, not showing her expression.

She was a famous student, so Professor Flubin was well informed about her. She was always energetic and lively, loved by not only students but professors as well.

Seeing such a girl with her head down, not saying a word… It was a difficult sight to witness. Though, they couldn’t see her expression.

“To summarize what happened… You had an appointment with Ed to help him with his Elementalism training… But when you arrived, Ed had already been stabbed with a knife… Was it this one?”

“Yes… It was that one.”

“And… since it was engraved with deadly poison…It seems this was a planned murder.”

Near the cliff, a bow and a ripped uniform that appeared to have belonged to Ed remained. It was evidence of a struggle.

“After I report it to the school, they will search for his body once the sun rises, but… the chances of finding him are low.”

The waves crashed against the cliffside. Professor Flubin organized his thoughts regarding the situation, then looked back towards Yennekar.

It was heartbreaking to see her with her head lowered like that.

“Still, the truth behind what happened will be revealed soon. Did you happen to see the culprit’s face?”

“Yes…”

Yennekar spoke as she kept her head down.

“House Rothstaylor’s vessels, Kadek and Nox…They definitely said those were their names.”

“They couldn’t have gotten far. Apparently, they were both injured, and it wouldn’t be easy for them to escape from Acken Island without being seen. Yennekar, you seem to have been very shocked. Please, head back and rest.”

Flubin decided to take the dagger as he put it away. He then finished checking the scene.

“When the sun comes up, I will report it to the head dean so we can make a public announcement. Even without this incident, with the student president election right around the corner things are already busy. It seems that the school is going to be even more hectic now. Until the sun rises, let’s continue a basic search over the scene by ourselves.”

“It seems your hands are going to be filled for quite some time, Professor Flubin.”

“That’s alright, Professor Max. I can still manage the amount of work that has built up thus far. It’s more important to take care of what we can right now, so let’s not worry about things like that.”

Eventually, it became time for them to return back to the school.

On the other side of the cliff, at the entrance of the forest in the distance, someone was standing up straight. Professor Flubin looked right at them.

***

The way she looked was strange.

The girl that was standing in the rain, far off in the forest… She was full of cold anger.

An anger that has passed the normal limits, turns from hot to cold.

“Th-That… That student…?”

The assistant professor that was alongside Professor Flubin had also noticed the girl in the distance. The two of them watched her.

A witch hat was shoved tightly onto her head. Just how long had that girl been standing over there?

She continued to walk forward, holding down to her hat against the raging wind and rain. With how small she appeared, her walking stride was ridiculously big, as if she were unaffected by gravity.

“L-Lucy…!”

Yennekar stuttered as she called out the name of the girl that was approaching the cliff. The eyes that peeked out under her large hat had a chill to them.

Her eyes, which always looked drowsy and out of energy, were now sharp and intense.

“Y-You’re… You’re here…!”

Yennekar stumbled over her words.

There were too many people around to tell her the truth about what happened. It wasn’t the time or place to tell Lucy about what had happened to Ed.

Lucy pushed down on her hat once more as she ignored the faculty, stopping right at the edge of the cliff.

She looked down at the crashing waves.

Near the edge of the cliff, she saw Ed’s bow laying around, as well as his bloodstained uniform.

Thinking about what would happen if one were to be stabbed by a dagger with an engraving of a deadly poison… the chances of survival were close to zero.

She couldn’t feel any of his magic power. If his body had ended up being washed away by the waves, that would make sense.

In reality, Ed’s magic power was completely exhausted because he had used a legendary-grade magically engineered item. At the time, there was no way Lucy would even consider such a possibility.

Yennekar looked at Lucy in a cold sweat. The energy swirling around Lucy definitely showed that she was completely unlike her normal self.

“……”

Lucy looked around the scene before picking up his bow from the ground. The recurve bow, which had a faint amount of his magic power left in it, was too large for someone of Lucy’s stature.

Picking up Ed’s bloody uniform along with the bow, she looked towards the faculty with a cold expression.

“L-Lucy… Calm down… Why don’t we go back to the camp first and I’ll tell you what happened…?”

“I caught the culprit. They’re still alive.”

Ignoring Yennekar’s words, Lucy quietly spoke to Professor Flubin.

“Wh-What…?”

“Kadek and Nox. They’re the ones who killed him. The vassals that came to Acken Island under the pretext of helping Tanya with the business deal regarding the Sage’s Seal.”

Surprisingly, it seemed the situation had resolved quickly. Professor Flubin looked startled as he tried to say something back to Lucy… But seeing her expression, he could only swallow hard.

Lucy… She didn’t change her expression at all. She put on her witch hat with one hand as she spoke coldly.

“L-Lucy…!”

The image of Tanya, who was full of hatred and a burning revenge aimed towards Ed every time she met her, was engraved into her mind.

It could be seen as a simple quarrel between siblings, but Lucy’s keen sense when it came to discovering the truth was enough to feel a certain degree of sincerity in Tanya’s hatred.

However, Tanya was extremely weak and Ed himself didn’t seem to care much, so she sat still.

If Ed didn’t care, then there was no reason for Lucy to care. That was the obvious reaction to have.

However, what happened had obviously crossed the line.

She had never thought that she would try to assassinate him, especially in such a messy and obvious way.

It was more than a sudden, impulsive decision. It was a completely insane thing to do.

All circumstantial evidence pointed toward Tanya Rothstaylor.

Using common sense, it seemed obvious that there would be no way Tanya’s vassals would do such a thing without her permission. At least for Lucy, that was how things seemed.

That was because there was no way for Lucy to be aware of Krepin’s influence behind the matter.

“Lucy!”

Yennekar’s call towards her was ignored. Magic power began to swirl all around Lucy.

Fwooooosh!

Yennekar quickly tried to grab onto Lucy, but by the time she realized it, Lucy had already disappeared.

“Wh-What…”

There was nothing remaining in the place the strong wind erupted from. Not Lucy, Ed’s uniform, nor his bow.

Yennekar, who finally got a hold of herself, in the middle of the pouring wind and rain… quickly put on the robe’s hood.

Professor Flubin was extremely taken aback to see that Yennekar, who he thought was still in shock and afraid, had a normal expression on her face.

“Yennekar. What is…”

“We have to chase after Lucy right now! Before things become any bigger!”

***

Boom!!

From above, Ophelis Hall was in the shape of an arch that surrounded the rose garden.

The large building contained six floors, including the roof, and was extremely spacious. The fact that it was one of the most famous landmarks at Silvenia Academy wasn’t without reason.

In the rose garden that was surrounded by Ophelis Hall, there were two people that had fallen to the ground, rolling around in the middle of the large central square.

Click, Clack.

“E-Eughk… Keuhk… Gulp.”

It was Kadek and Nox, who were being restrained by Lucy’s magic. Kadek was still unconscious, but Nox was still awake.

The rain fell on the rose garden.

Looking up, you could see the massive view of Ophelis Hall arching around.

In the corner of the third floor was Lucy’s room.And right next to it was Tanya’s.

Lucy cast the low-rank explosive magicExplosionat the window.

Boooom!

There was a massive explosion. Ophelis Hall’s automatic defense magic activated, though in the face of Lucy’s magic it was nothing more than a piece of paper.

One of the walls of the room collapsed, as the rain and wind came through into the rising dust… But inside, Tanya was nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t in the room.

That was expected.

Lucy looked around towards the rest of Ophelis Hall, maintaining her cold expression.

“Wh-What the! What was that noise?!”

“Head Maid! Bring the Head Maid! Something is happening!”

“Wh-What? Are we getting attacked?! Should I run away now?!”

As expected, screams over the chaos came from the windows of Ophelis Hall. It was only natural, given that an entire portion of the building had just exploded.

After receiving the report, Head Maid Bell Maya rushed towards the rose garden… Looking at Lucy’s appearance, she swallowed harshly.

The rain continued to fall on the garden.

In the central square that could be seen from every window in Ophelis Hall, the girl that was wearing a hat firmly pushed down on her head and a large torn male uniform stood. On one side of her, a handmade recurve bow was floating in the air.

The girl was drenched from the rain, not showing her expression… She occupied the square as she quietly looked towards Ophelis Hall.

“Young Lady Lucy…? What are you doing right now…?”

As she spoke, Bell had a feeling about what was happening. It came from being the maid that had been taking care of Lucy for a longer time than anyone else.

She was a girl that had lived a life of indolence and indifference, to the point where one would wonder if it was truly acceptable. However, she made sure to never cross the line.

Even though she was born with a talent in magic greater than everyone, she had never mistreated the maids, nor did she use that immense strength of hers to persecute or attack others.

As she had suddenly started attacking Ophelis Hall with explosive magic, even if nobody else recognized it, Bell Maya was sure of it.

She was poised, quiet, and virtuous…

But she had lost all sense of reason.

She didn’t know the reason behind it yet.

However, from the energy that came from underneath that hat, which was deeply shoved onto her head… she was sure that it would be impossible to predict what would happen if they were to make a single mistake towards her.

Bell raised her hand to stop the maids, who had jumped out all at once with their rapiers in hand.

“Lady Lucy. What is wrong?”

As Lucy stood in the rain… She pressed down on her hat as she quietly spoke.

“Bring me Tanya.”

Magic power started to rise again as the two vassals were dragged into the air by their collars.

“Keuaghk!”

Leaving Nox hanging in the air struggling, Lucy kindly repeated herself.

“Bring me Tanya.”