The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 97

Ophelis Hall stood in silence.

Lortel Kehelland was quietly blocking the exit leading to the central hallway.

Seeing that… Ziggs grabbed onto Tanya’s shoulder, who was running by his side.

“Uh, Huh?!”

Ziggs pulled Tanya back to hide her behind himself.

“Ack!”

Tanya was taken aback by Ziggs’ strong grip as she stumbled, coming to a complete stop.

“A-All of a sudden….?”

“Stay still.”

Ziggs’ intuition was almost always correct. His sixth sense, which he had cultivated while living in the wild, had saved him from a crisis time and time again.

Ziggs’ sixth sense was anxiously screaming.

As if she had been sleeping, she was wearing a light wool coat over a slip-on one piece made of lace. Her luscious reddish-brown hair flowed like a wave, unbound.

“Lortel.”

Ziggs was already somewhat aware of Ed’s personal relations when he was still alive.

Those that recognized Ed’s true worth usually ended up forming a close and special relationship with him. That was why, even though there weren’t many people he was close with, all of them were extremely powerful individuals.

Knowing that Lortel was also one of those with a special relationship with Ed, Ziggs carefully fixed his posture.

Even though he was holding onto a sword, he still wanted to avoid having to fight Lortel if possible.

Lortel’s magic skills and agility were at a level that even the stingy Professor Glast had acknowledged, putting her in Class A.

However, in terms of practical experience and combat sense, she wasn’t at a level that could match Ziggs. If they did fight, Ziggs would probably leave as the winner.

If it was a simple battle of firepower, then Ziggs might have been inferior to her, but in a one-on-one battle that pushed one to use their abilities to the limit and effectively took advantage of the environment, there were very few capable of defeating Ziggs.

However, the truly scary thing about Lortel didn’t come from her combat abilities.

Lortel Kehelland was one that would go to extreme lengths once she set a goal. Even her adoptive father couldn’t escape her grasp.

You couldn’t be deceived by her beautiful and noble appearance or her elegant words and deeds, which made her highly praised as a benevolent and good-natured person.

Even though other people might not have known, Ziggs Eiffelstein was well aware of that fact. She was like a rose that was covered in thorns. Thorns coated in layers of lethal poison that would be able to kill even an elephant in an instant.

Of the individuals in Silvenia Academy that you should never turn into an enemy… She was easily within the top 3.

She was quietly waiting with her head down as she blocked the door. No matter how you looked at it, she didn’t look friendly.

It was obvious that she had heard of the news regarding Ed’s death.

It would have been stranger to not realize that fact, with Lucy wreaking chaos outside.

So Ziggs had no choice but to first hide Tanya behind himself.

“You need to hurry and evacuate, Lortel.”

As Ziggs spoke, Lortel slowly raised her head, standing in the darkness. There was no way of knowing how the news of Ed’s death would have affected her heart, or what the feelings she harbored towards Tanya would be.

He was in a spot where he had no choice but to wait for Lortel’s answer.

However, as Lortel raised her head… Surprisingly, she had a graceful appearance, with a smile on her face.

“Even though you say so, Ziggs… What have you been doing here instead of escaping?”

Her tone of voice was the same as usual.

Aside from her clothes, which were more casual and comfortable than usual, her calm demeanor was the same as always… Something didn’t feel right.

Ziggs didn’t relax as he stared back at Lortel, who continued to speak calmly.

“This is a dangerous situation. We need to escape quickly. Isn’t that right, Ziggs? And you too, Tanya.”

Did Tanya also feel that something wasn’t right?

But because Lortel didn’t appear to be hostile, he thought it would be fine to say something back to her.

“Lortel.”

Ziggs didn’t let go of the sword he held in his hand.

And then he asked outright.

“Have you heard the news about our upperclassmen, Ed.”

Lortel’s brows twitched as she trembled.

It was a very small reaction that would be hard to catch, but the quick-witted Ziggs recognized the change in her emotions.

“Well, what do you think?”

“Yeah, I guess you won’t just let us pass then.”

“What are you talking about, Ziggs? I don’t have a reason to stop you.”

Lortel smiled, as relaxed as she normally was. However, Tanya and Ziggs didn’t even think about taking a single step forward.

“First off, there’s no way I could possibly beat you in a one-on-one, Ziggs.”

It would hurt one’s mouth to list off every single one of Lortel’s abilities one by one.

However, if you had to pick one amongst them all that stood out the most, it was her ability to maintain reason and remain calm regardless of the situation.

Even when Takan destroyed the student building, or when Professor Glast created all those magic towers, regardless of the situation she never panicked or lost her sense of reason.

She was like a monster. A machine built with the objective to always search for the best course of action. Even in the situation where Lucy, who always looked uninterested, had suddenly erupted in anger… Lortel still stood, clenching her teeth and keeping a cool head.

However, reason and rationality didn’t always work together as one.

She lived the life of a merchant that converted everything in the world into money. But even then, she sometimes deviated from her own rationality. And that was when Ed was involved.

Lortel wasn’t blocking Ziggs. The reason for that was that Ziggs simply had a higher combat ability than her.

But if that was the case, then one couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if the situation were different.

“What if it wasn’t me… But instead, Tanya was alone. What would you do?”

Even though she might appear calm on the outside, there was no guarantee that it would be the same on the inside. She was a girl that never revealed her true feelings honestly.

So, no matter how messed up she might feel on the inside, you would never be able to tell just by looking at the outside.

However, there were times when fragments of it were shown.

“I would have torn her apart.”

Goosebumps ran down Tanya’s back.

Her expression was still as calm as always. The tone of her voice didn’t change in the slightest. However, that sharp threat of hers that could cut flesh remained suspended in the atmosphere.

“You’re quite lucky, Tanya. You should thank Ziggs for accompanying you.”

Lortel’s amber eyes, which didn’t move in the slightest, carefully watched Tanya’s expression.

Probably the reason Lortel was still standing there, guarding this hallway…

“You’re being hasty, Lortel.”

“That’s right, Ziggs. Looking at this situation, it seems you are on Tanya’s side.”

Ziggs couldn’t say anything.

Right now, all circumstantial evidence pointed towards Tanya as the culprit behind Ed’s assassination.

Tanya’s past actions had always clearly shown malice towards Ed. And the vassals of House Rothstaylor appeared to be the perpetrators of the assassination. It also overlapped with the fact that they were vassals that received their direct orders from Tanya. There’s also the fact that it was extremely rare for a vassal to act arbitrarily, without the orders of their master.

Ziggs’ decision to believe in Tanya’s innocence… Rather than rational, they were much more emotionally based. Ed Rothstaylor wouldn’t want Tanya to have a gruesome ending, it was just a guess based on the experiences he had with him.

That was why Lortel, who always acted rationally, was terribly incompatible with Ziggs, who was rather emotional.

“But rather than killing her myself, I would have first tortured her. Though, if she ended up confessing, that would be another story.”

Seeing Lortel with a wide smile across her face, Ziggs swallowed harshly. That girl was also not in a normal state at the moment. She might seem completely calm, but she was certainly messed up somewhere.

“It looks like it hasn’t been long since you had your nails done, Tanya. That’s quite fortunate.”

Tanya flinched and trembled as she hid her hands behind her back. Lortel’s words, which had been thrown in the dark, had a creepy meaning behind it.

Hearing that, at the very least, her nails wouldn’t be left untouched… it made her heart tremble in fear.

“N-No… I didn’t…! No…!!”

“Stop it, Tanya. She’s not someone you can convince with emotional arguments alone.”

Ziggs calmly interrupted Tanya, who was about to say something. Lortel expression didn’t change in the slightest.

However, she quietly allowed them to pass by.

“Here, go on through.”

Lortel never wager victory in a fight. She only fought fights that she would win.

That was the dignity she had by firmly surviving and growing up on the business front, where the wind blew by like knives.

That wasn’t the battlefield for Lortel Kehelland. Rather than bleeding by exchanging swords or magic, she was one that would work behind the scenes under the water, taking the entire battlefield into her own hands.

Turning her into your enemy, you were bound to come across and see horrific things.

It went without saying, but by turning Ed into your enemy, you were also turning her into your enemy as well. Even though Tanya wasn’t aware of that fact, now that things had become like that, her whole body was drenched in fear.

Ziggs stared at Lortel with a wary posture.

She really wasn’t moving a centimeter. Was she really not planning on stopping them? Or was it all just an act for her greater plan?

He couldn’t tell the difference.

If it were only an opponent that had strong combat abilities, he could have found a way to try and outrun them, or he could have found a compromise between them, or even ended up fighting them based on his gut feeling.

However, against an extremely cunning person like Lortel, it was impossible to be certain that whatever action he took would be the correct choice. It felt as if he were wandering blindly through a smoke screen. To him, she was a much more difficult opponent.

As they continued to confront each other without an answer—

“Then, Lortel…”

Clash! Clang! Thud!

“Aghk…! Ah!”

[Be careful! Are you hurt?!]

“Uh, no…! I didn’t get hurt, but… What should I do? The window… Ahh… It completely shattered… This is an extremely high-class item. I didn’t even realize it, and… What should I do…? Uhh… Ahh…”

[In this situation, do you think they are going to find the culprit behind each broken window, asking for compensation?]

At one end of the hallway, a girl had broken through the window, making her way inside. The sound of the pouring rain outside began to reverberate directly off the walls of the hallway.

Her braided pink hair had been completely soaked by the rain. The same went for her clothes. Her white blouse and dark blue skirt were completely drenched by the rain, sticking to her skin.

While squeezing out the water in a part of her skirt, she shook her head like a puppy, drying her hair. She then looked towards Tanya as her face lit up.

“Ah, I found you, Tanya!”

After shouting, only then did she realize the current atmosphere in the hallway.

“……”

Tanya was trembling as Ziggs held a sword in his hand with a cold sweat going down his face. There was also Lortel, who was staring at them calmly with a cold gaze.

“Uh… Uhm… Did I perhaps ruin the atmosphere…?”

Yennekar stopped squeezing out the water from her clothes.

Then Merilda, who was sticking her head in from the window, let out a sigh.

[No, it seems that we came just in time.]

***

Shwaaaa.

Because his body had been pushed to the extreme and the rain poured down hard, his vision was blurry.

The Blood Swordsmanship, which had run wild as if it were taking over his whole body, had already reached its limit… Now, all of his magic power was gone.

He gathered all his power as a swordsman and rushed forward, putting his life at risk, but in the end Clevius was only able to gain a situational advantage for a hundredth of a second.

Even then, it was only a result of Lucy’s carelessness rather than Clevius’ strength. Ironically, it was an opening that had been created because of their overwhelming difference in power.

If Lucy had completely focused on fighting Clevius from the start, there never would have been such an opening. In fact, the match would have been over in just a few seconds.

Lucy had been controlling her power to make sure there weren’t any casualties. She was also maintaining those cast with Time Prison out in the garden. And there was also the sphere made of magic power floating up in the sky that she was maintaining as well… Clevius was really nowhere close to having defeated her.

It was a tragedy and rather sad, but it still wasn’t unexpected.

Another defeat. He was already accustomed to defeat.

“Euh… Keuhk… Ughk…”

Even if he were to keep pushing up on the floor to try and raise his body, he would only lose strength, unable to lift himself even halfway up. Laying on the ground, he raised his head and looked up at a man in a robe that was looking back down at him.

As soon as that man entered the rose garden, the first thing he did was look around at the surroundings. Looking at him, it was as if he were troubled, looking for someone.

Sadly, there weren’t many people left in the rose garden to see him, since the majority of the students had already escaped.

The students and maids that were already trapped byTime Prisondidn’t matter. And at best, there was only Clevius and Elvira, who was lying next to him.

And because of the falling rain, the wet fog was rather thick. It wouldn’t have been easy to see his face even if there were many other people around.

The mid-ranking water spirit ‘Lacia the Lioness’, who had blocked Lucy, had disappeared in an instant. At a glimpse, it looked like a manifestation that wasn’t stable. A summon that was made by barely drawing out one’s remaining power after reaching their limit.

In the end, all that was left was Lucy, Elvira, Clevius, and the man wearing a robe.

Looking up close at him, he was barely able to see his face.

A boy with aristocratic features and short blonde hair. A familiar face to him.

“…What the fuck…?”

Barely supporting his upper body with his trembling arms, Clevius let out a smirk.

“You were alive. You motherfucker.”

“……”

“Ughk…”

Clevius, who was bleeding out, clenched his teeth as he looked up at Ed.

“Seriously… You piece of shit… If… If I had fucking known… Eughk…”

“You were holding her off, Clevius.”

“Yeah… Why…? Got a problem with that…?”

The boy had his head bowed in the pouring rain. He could finally let out all the accumulated feelings and resentment he held.

“You don’t like it…! Fucker…!!”

No one said anything. Clevius was entitled to be angry. Ed stood there as he listened to all of it.

However, in Ed’s eyes there was a certain kind of astonishment.

Clevius had endured nearly ten minutes up against ‘Lazy Lucy.’

How many people in the school right now could achieve such a feat? Even Ed, who had a thorough understanding of Clevius’ overall combat abilities, didn’t even fathom that such a feat was possible.

“Yeah… Seriously… I was beaten to shit… I know that, too… I’m a pathetic, idiotic, disgraceful piece of shit. I know all of that… I know that shit better than anyone else… Fuck…!!”

Clevius clenched his fist and teeth.

“I knew it, too. Fighting her was stupid as shit. I already knew that even if I risked my life, I wouldn’t have been able to do shit to her… Yeah… I wanted to run, but fuck. My legs wouldn’t move, so what else could I do…?”

In that idiot’s eyes, he could see all of the rose garden.

There was no way they could stop that monster. Everyone that ran in to try and do something were all idiots.

The head maid and the other maids that followed after were trapped in Time Prison. The top students of each grade that also had tried to stop her… And in the end, even that alchemist girl that was always bothering Clevius.

Those idiots were the type of people Clevius had seen so much of in his entire life that he became sick of it.

He lived a life leaving them behind, running away to a safe place, not challenging himself, setting boundaries on what was impossible and never raising his head.

Everyone wanted Clevius to live such a life. He was taught that doing so was the smart thing to do. And Clevius himself also believed so. He had no idea just how many more people he would end up killing if he challenged the blood of the Blade Demon that ran through his body.

When you become used to defeat, you also forget the pain that came from it. His self-esteem had completely worn away and his emotions wouldn’t change. There were moments when someone insulted him for running away, calling him a coward, but all he would do was nod his head and agree.

That was definitely how it was supposed to be.

“Fuck… How long… will I have to keep living a life running away from it all…?”

The image of a hero that drew his sword and charged forward into the oncoming army that resembled a mountain. A picture of the founder of House Nortondale, seen in a picture book. Valkers Nortondale.

Everyone was afraid of the curse of the Blade Demon in Clevius blood and gave up on him. His older brother, who died alone supporting Clevius as a member of House Nortondale until the very end, had been the only one who hadn’t.

The high-ranking fire spirit Takan, which even the top students of the class trembled in fear of. In front of it stood Ed Rothstaylor, who came up with a trick to defeat it in the end.

Among the countless magic power towers that were raised high in the sky, the swordsman Taylee rushed forward at Professor Glast without losing his will.

The maids, top students, and Elvira, who tried their best to stop Lucy.

All of those idiots ate away at the defeatism that was ingrained in the boy’s heart.

Like a light in the filthy gutter, they showed off his ugly and disgraceful face.

They made him drop both legs to the ground, taking out a sword until it lost its blade.

They made him bang his head on the floor like an idiot to try and overcome an ordeal that everyone had defined as impossible.

“Seriously… I’m… A fucking piece of shit… I know that as well…”

He bled out too much. It was about time that he took a break.

When Clevius couldn’t speak anymore, he collapsed, falling unconscious.

Ed had just stood there, listening to Clevius’ harsh words up until the very end. Leaving Clevius, who had finally fallen unconscious, he was about to talk in a quiet voice.

“Phew…”

Shwaaa.

Elvira, who was a complete wreck, intervened between Clevius and Ed. It looked as if she had already been defeated and was now struggling to even control her body properly. Still, she stood between them with her arms wide open.

Perhaps she had misunderstood that Ed would end up doing something harmful to Clevius. Elvira awkwardly sat there, blocking him with her lips tightly closed and her arms trembling in their struggle to stay up.

It looked as if she was going to fall over with the slightest touch.

Still, with her eyes full of determination she continued to tremble and somehow managed to take a defensive stance.

“……”

Ed, who was looking down at Elvira, quietly opened his mouth.

“Thank you, Elvira. Clevius. Your efforts weren’t in vain. They were really helpful.”

Elvira’s pupils suddenly widened, as she couldn’t have imagined that such lines would have come out of Ed’s mouth.

There wasn’t any reason for Ed to harm Clevius. Rather, Clevius’ efforts were a big help to Ed.

However, since Elvira still didn’t like Ed, she couldn’t help but get a little nervous.

However, contrary to Elvria’s imagination, Ed calmly patted Elvria’s shoulder a couple times.

And with that gesture, Elvira lost all the strength in her body, falling to the ground.

“…You…”

“Just get some rest for now. Since you now know that I am still alive… I have a lot to tell the two of you later.”

Then Ed quietly took off his hood as he turned around, walking forward.

It was now time to bring Lucy back.

***

Solitude was a disease that led to death.

It was a curse that came to everyone fairly and ate away at one’s heart, little by little.

That was why people depended on each other to survive.

Even for a girl that lived a life looking down on everything in the world with a disinterested expression, that disease was bound to plague her without exception.

However, the reason that girl couldn’t understand the fear of loneliness… was all because, from a young age, she had Glockt.

The presence of an old man that stroked her hair with his wrinkled hands as he sat by her side, always being there for her… protecting her from the fear of loneliness.

However, it was difficult to become aware of it on one’s own.

That was why it was only natural for one to realize and suffer the pain of loss only after losing someone.

Shwaaa.

When Lucy saw the boy with his robe hood on, her body almost lost all her strength in an instant.

She rubbed her eyes just in case she had been hallucinating, but the boy was still there.

She didn’t show a dramatic reaction. She wasn’t the type of girl to scream and run up to hug him.

“I’m sorry, Lucy. I wasn’t able to tell you beforehand. But I had to die for a reason.”

However, only after hearing that low-pitched voice of his that she thought she would never be able to hear again did she start to realize it.

“However, since I was in a situation where my life was on the line, I couldn’t make any preparations in advance. That’s why I didn’t have the chance to tell you about it.”

Ed trudged through the rain towards Lucy, who was standing there blankly. And only after he was standing right in front her did her blank expression finally express her feelings.

“I am alive. Now, here.”

Lucy looked up at Ed blankly.

His sturdy body, his blonde hair, and even though he was drenched in rain the faint smell of grass was still there. It was truly Ed Rothstaylor.

As expected of her, her expression didn’t change in the slightest. But the lumps of water forming around her eyes and falling down weren’t from the rainwater.

She sniffled before jumping into Ed’s chest. She then buried her face into Ed’s wet collar, rubbing her face against it.

“I thought you were dead.”

The emotion in her voice was rare for Lucy.

In the calming rain, Ed slowly wrapped his arms around Lucy’s shoulders.

As he looked up at the raining sky, he tightly held onto Lucy, who was crying.

***

The spring rain fell.

Only after the rain swept away the petals piled up on the roadside and masked the floral aromas from the flower bed would spring show a new face.

The same went for one’s emotions.

After exhaling and regaining one’s reason, even in a stable relationship that had already been established, a new state would come.

It all started with a small sense of disharmony.

Lucy, who cried in Ed’s arms, let go of all of her emotions for a long moment… She succeeded in taking care of the weak feelings that were hidden in her solitude.

Lucy had been looking for Glockt’s face over Ed’s… Yet no matter how much she thought about it, the feelings she had towards Ed were fundamentally different from those she had towards Glockt.

The feeling of sitting by the warm fire as Glockt’s wrinkled hands stroked her hair, and the feeling of crying in Ed’s arms as he held her tightly… Even though they felt similar, they were also strangely different.

The rain slowly came to a stop as the moonlight began to shine through the clouds.

Lucy, who was in Ed’s arms, rubbed her eyes as she suddenly swallowed her breath.

Worrying about just what the difference between the two was… eventually, the answer would show itself.

Once you became aware of it, it wasn’t something that you had to seek the identity of.

Suddenly—

All of a sudden, Ed was surprised to have regained his balance.

Lucy, who had been crying profusely in Ed’s arms, suddenly stopped crying as she pushed at Ed’s chest as she lifted her head.

And then… She looked up at Ed’s face once more in disbelief. Surprising not only Ed, but Lucy as well.

Her eyes were still wet, and she was clearly embarrassed.

Like a stray cat that seemed to have met an unexpected natural enemy… Lucy, whose eyes were trembling like crazy, felt her face start to heat up.

“Lucy?”

Ed called out Lucy’s name like normal, but Lucy felt like a fire was burning in her chest.

When she tried to respond, it felt as if her voice was trembling, and nothing would come out. Lucy quickly took a step back.

Even the high-ranking magicians of the school couldn’t help but tremble in front of her… Lucy was an existence like that of a massive mountain.

Yet that same Lucy now looked at Ed with a trembling face, as if she were facing an unknown entity. The only thing written across her face was bewilderment.