Chapter 77
“Each attribute is divided into only six branches. We call them attributes, in larger units.”
A solemn voice echoed through the lecture hall.
“An attribute is innate talent, decided from birth. However, do not despair if you lack certain attributes.”
The professor with slicked-back blond hair, Wymond Dake Belzrover.
He wore a black suit, his neck hidden beneath a turtleneck.
“The quality of magic can be improved. Knowledge, intuition, imagination, willpower, concentration, technique. If you mobilize all of these, you can break through innate limits.”
It was one of the three core subjects: ‘Understanding of Basic Magic.’
All first-year students were focused on Belzrover’s lecture.
“When casting magic, you visualize it with your knowledge, will, and imagination. It should appear as a clear image. What makes that possible is deep concentration. The most basic and essential thing when using magic is…… ah, there he is.”
In the large lecture hall where all the first-years were gathered, Belzrover singled out one person.
“Stand up, Mister Dedenkman.”
He was the only one here who had not been paying attention at all.
Whether distracted by something or not, Dedenkman, who had been making gestures in the air since earlier, stood up while yawning.
Belzrover opened his mouth with a look of disdain.
“Why is concentration important in magic casting?”
“……”
He thought for a moment, then finally spoke.
“…I do not know.”
“I see. You don’t even know the most basic of things. How did you even get admitted to this school?”
Ha ha ha!
Laughter from countless cadets rang through the hall.
It was humiliation suffered before all first-year students.
“Make sure you do not become a delinquent student like him. A perfect example of someone who refuses to make an effort because he lacks talent.”
Belzrover said this, then stared closely at Villed, who was sitting back down.
Something similar had happened at the start of the semester.
Back then, he had also failed to answer a question.
He thought, as then, Villed’s face would redden like a beet, his expression scrunched in shame.
“……”
But just like before the question, his face showed no trace of disturbance.
Had he gotten used to repeated humiliation?
A noble who so often faced disgrace must have had his pride worn to shreds. Pitiful indeed.
……Time passed, and the lecture ended.
Belzrover returned to his research office.
“Ah, Professor, welcome back.”
At a small desk in the corner, his assistant was organizing documents.
Next to them lay a neatly folded newspaper with the words ‘Black Knight’ visible.
Belzrover picked it up.
“I’ll be taking this.”
“Ah, Professor, what’s this? You never read the student paper. Oh, are you interested in the Black Knight? Isn’t he cool? He’s so popular these days, even outside the Academy……”
Belzrover’s cold glare silenced the assistant immediately.
“You talk too much. Can you not be quiet?”
“S-sorry.”
I should have kept quiet.
Professor seems especially on edge today…
The assistant bowed repeatedly and quietly continued organizing the documents.
Belzrover sat down and first examined the headline.
It was the latest issue of *Morning of Yggdrasil*, released today.
In recent days, demand had soared not just within the school but even in distant regions. The printing presses were said to still be running.
In other words, it had become difficult to get one’s hands on a copy.
「The Black Knight who defeated the traitor Verdi. Four candidates!」
The ‘Black Knight,’ burning hot in popularity over the past few days, was especially favored.
Not only among students but even among professors, it had become a small topic of discussion.
‘Who could it be?’
「The Black Knight is presumed to be a student of Yggdrasil.」
According to the reporter, the Black Knight was a student.
The reasoning was that the design was identical to the Yggdrasil uniform, differing only in color.
「Shocking incident. Imperial Capital Army’s 14th Knight Captain, Balrak Verdi, arrested on charges of treason.」
The position of a Knight Captain of the Imperial Guard was not easily attained.
Only eighteen such posts were granted, carefully selected from among the Empire’s greatest knights.
‘Yet, a student defeated such a Knight Captain?’
Suspicious indeed.
As far as he knew, not a single cadet in this school was capable of defeating a Knight Captain.
Not just cadets—even among the professors, only a few could manage such a feat.
Still, it was not something entirely impossible.
‘……It’s not impossible.’
After all, even Knight Captain Verdi had disguised himself as a student to infiltrate the school as the Princess’s guard.
So, there was no reason a cadet could not also be secretly concealing his strength.
Either way, whatever the case……
‘……It’s fortunate.’
Belzrover had a different reason for being interested in this Victory Festival incident.
‘There’s no mention of me at all.’
After reading every page of the paper, he finally felt relief.
So much attention had been drawn to the Black Knight that the fact Belzrover had been an ‘accomplice’ had not spread.
There was a secret he had told no one, not even out of pride.
……Someone had controlled Belzrover.
They had used him to disrupt the mana of McGrim’s performance hall to lure the Princess.
They had even unleashed ghouls, indistinguishable from ordinary citizens, into the festival.
And they had also made him supplement the mana needed to construct Verdi’s barrier.
Though never by his own will, these crimes had still been committed through his hands.
‘Regardless, it no longer has anything to do with me.’
Since he had not been exposed, he intended to continue his professorship and remain at the school.
---
After the lecture ended.
I was on my way back to the livestock shed with Lapin and Karin.
“You… I think Professor Belzrover has his eyes on you……”
Karin shivered as if it were happening to her.
Earlier, I had been marked absent because I failed to answer Belzrover’s question.
‘Of course, I actually know the answer.’
At this point in the original storyline, Villed would be marked absent for daydreaming.
So, in order to preserve that storyline, I had deliberately withheld my answer.
‘……Belzrover.’
His personality showed even in his lectures.
He was quite capable, but also authoritarian and arrogant.
If Villed had been intelligent and competent, he would have been exactly like Belzrover.
“From now on, you really need to be careful. If you fail even Basic Magic, you’ll be in serious trouble!”
There was a reason Karin stressed this so strongly.
Belzrover’s exams were infamous for being the most difficult.
On top of losing points for absence, if I were to fail the exam as well, my situation would become dangerous.
‘Is she… worrying about me?’
She talked a lot, but I still appreciated it.
After all, who else in this world would worry about me?
Probably only Karin.
‘Still, with the thesis, the pressure on my grades should ease a bit.’
It was the thesis on Spirit Beasts and Totems.
We had worked on it for quite some time, and not long ago Karin had shown me the draft.
We had finished going through all sorts of feedback, and it was set to be submitted today.
“Did you submit the thesis?”
When I asked, Karin blinked, then nodded.
“Ah, yeah. I fixed it according to Professor Capella’s feedback and finished the submission.”
I had entrusted the submission to Karin, since I’d heard she was particularly close with Professor Capella of Totem Studies.
Thanks to that, he had approved it as supervising professor, given feedback, and even helped get it published in an academic journal.
“Thanks.”
When I replied, Karin flushed and answered.
“N-no, I should be the one thanking you… you listed me as co-author.”
Karin already had a record of publishing two papers.
I had provided the key ideas and experimental data.
In turn, Karin had written everything, finished the paper, and handled submission.
‘That was the reason I co-authored with Karin in the first place.’
It saved me much effort.
If I had written the paper alone, it would have consumed an enormous amount of time.
Far wiser to share credit as co-author.
……After some walking.
Time passed, and we arrived at the livestock shed.
As promised, Karin began studying for the exam inside the storage room.
“The exam’s only a few days away, so let’s work hard!”
She set a book on top of a box, using it as a table.
“Okay, Lapin. Today we’re studying history.”
“Mm.”
With Karin guiding her, Lapin read through the reference book.
Thanks to that, failing the exam was out of the question.
I was about to head outside the storage room to do farm work.
“Villed, where are you going? You need to get your history book too.”
“I don’t need to. I already know history well.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Karin narrowed her eyes and opened the reference book.
“Then let’s see just how well you know it. If you can’t answer, you’re opening the book and studying right away.”
“…Fine.”
I answered reluctantly, and Karin gave a faint smile.
“Ready? I’ll ask now?”
“Go ahead.”
I decided to get serious, if only to shut that chattering mouth.
“What year did Hetarion first suffer dimensional erosion?”
“1982. A disaster born from exploring dimensions. Named the Catastrophe of Baljook after the lord who forcibly pushed through the experiment.”
“Mm… huh?”
Karin blinked and fell silent.
She was a little flustered that the perfect answer had come out of my mouth.
“Th-then, how about this? When the Magic Tower first appeared in Yggdrasil, it was called…”
“The Tower of Illusion.”
“Gasp. Th-then… the background of the Astrid Empire’s founding was…”
Karin asked me questions again and again.
Each time, I gave answers beyond perfect.
“……”
Karin’s eyes trembled.
I thought she might finally quiet down.
“Why are you considered a failing student?! You’re a walking textbook!”
Instead, she became even noisier, and I regretted it a little.
“…I’ve been studying in my spare time lately.”
“I even asked Lapin yesterday, and both of you have insane memories…”
Karin drooped her head as she spoke.
I wondered if I had unintentionally discouraged her.
But then she suddenly lifted her head with determination.
“As expected of Yggdrasil. The only one who desperately needs to study is me… Fine, from now on, I’ll work even harder so I won’t fall behind you two…!”
With fiery eyes, Karin dove into her book.
“Karin’s working hard. I won’t lose either.”
Lapin followed Karin’s lead and read her reference book as well.
‘Anyway, I’ll just go do my own work.’
Without a word, I stepped outside the storage room and began tending to the livestock shed.
……Suddenly, thoughts of Belzrover crossed my mind.
If he remained as the Professor of Dark Attribute, the ‘new professor’ would not be able to arrive.
New characters would be pushed aside, and eventually the original storyline would collapse.
‘How can I remove Belzrover from his professorship?’
Reporting him to the Knights would be useless, since there was no evidence of his involvement in the Victory Festival incident.
‘Because I’m the only one who knows he was an accomplice.’
Yes, all the evidence had been erased.
‘……Except for one thing.’
The snake mark on Professor Belzrover’s neck.
It was proof he had been suppressed and controlled by the ‘Witch’s’ mana.
But how many people would recognize it?
‘Belzrover himself doesn’t even know who controlled him. Only three people in this world could identify the snake mark.’
Belzrover himself, the Witch who controlled him.
And me, who knew the future of this world.
‘Right. No one would recognize it, so he could just insist it was a tattoo.’
In the end.
The only method I could think of in this situation was one.
‘……I have no choice but to defeat Belzrover myself.’