S-grade Gate Explosion Site cleanup took a full week, and Emperor Lina returned to the non-combat airship with a tired face.
As soon as she returned, she received shocking news.
"......So, there were... rats hiding here?"
Lina said with a stiff voice.
"Yes."
Baek Seol-hee nodded calmly, as always.
Lina closed her eyes tightly.
’Damn it.’
It was a big mistake.
"I layered firewall magic for the security of the test, but there was an enemy within..."
Lina had made it so that no one she hadn’t approved could enter, and even if soone happened to stumble upon it by chance, they couldn’t set foot on the island. She had also cut off all connections to the outside to follow the intent of the test.
In other words, even she couldn’t know what was happening on the uninhabited island from a distance!
But the fact that there were people hiding on the uninhabited island, and that they were Demons, was sothing she had never even dread of.
’Did they have an artifact that could hide from my eyes...!’
She wanted to interrogate the Demon bastards right away, but that wasn’t the most important thing now.
"......So, the casualties?"
Lina’s voice shook as she asked.
In the report she received from Baek Seol-hee, there was one AA-grade Demon, one A-grade Demon, and fourteen B-grade Demons.
There was no way the first-year students could be safe against such opponents.
It was more than just a simple mistake.
The lives of the students and the lives of the civilians.
It may be fair to weigh the two, as they are all equally precious lives.
These people gathered here are the future pillars of society. They are the seeds that will cross the world beyond Korea, fighting Monsters and Demons.
And this year’s first-year students were full of those she had her eye on, those with promising futures!
If they had died to the Demons because of her mistake before they could even bloom, it wouldn’t be a laughing matter.
She hoped for minimal casualties.
Lina looked at Baek Seol-hee with that desperation.
"Fortunately, everyone is safe. There were a few exhausted students, but their lives are not in danger."
"......What!?"
Lina jumped up from her seat, her eyes wide.
And then she let out a sigh of relief.
’......Seol-hee, it was you who saved the students. If I hadn’t sent you back first, I would have made a big mistake! So, you arrived just in ti and took care of all the Demons, didn’t you!’
In the midst of the S-grade Gate explosion, Baek Seol-hee suddenly said she wanted to go back.
In principle, she should never have been allowed to go, but she had allowed it because of the strange uneasiness she felt at the ti.
’Was that strange uneasiness the identity of this?’
"Thank you, Seol-hee. You saved the students."
Lina sighed deeply in relief after saying that.
But.
Baek Seol-hee’s answer froze her again.
"I’m sorry, but it wasn’t ."
"?"
"By the ti I arrived, most of the dangerous situations had already been resolved. And the remaining Demons were also about to be taken care of."
"......Hmm?"
Was Seol-hee joking?
But the AA-grade Mine, Rebecca, is definitely not soone that first-year students can handle, right?"
"Tell in detail... No, I’ll find out for myself."
Tap-!
As she snapped her fingers.
The Homunculi guarding the stores all over the uninhabited island beca hazy.
The Homunculi, which had turned into blue particles, returned to their original owner, who was on the non-combat airship.
Swoooooosh-
And finally, as all the mories were transferred to Lina, she slowly half-opened her eyes.
"Haaaaa... Jin Yuha, yeah, it’s that bastard again this ti..."
Lina covered her face with her hand and laughed in disbelief.
.
.
.
All the students gathered in the center of the uninhabited island.
It was a vast field where large-scale battles usually took place.
Those who had been summoned to the non-combat airship and recovered were also there.
"......Haa, it’s finally over. It was really fucking exhausting."
"You left early and got the easy way out, bitch. Do you know how hard we worked down there?"
"Uh... Hmm! Well, we all took the mid-term evaluation together! But is it really true that a Demon appeared?"
"Haa, a lie? Open your ears properly. I’ll recite the epic monts that happened while you were gone!"
Those who had quickly retired early in the test didn’t know what had happened on the uninhabited island, so they could only widen their eyes.
As there were many incidents, the students were busy talking to each other, and the square beca that much more noisy.
Murmur murmur-
Just then.
Drdrdrdrdrdr-
Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to shake as if an earthquake had occurred.
"Huh, huh!?"
Kugugugugu!
And a rectangular rock began to rise from the ground where the students were gathered.
Then, a staircase appeared next to it.
An artistic podium with intricate carvings was created right there.
"......It’s really cheating, no matter how much of a Mage you are! A true wilderness is a dwelling made with blood and sweat!"
Yuri, standing next to her, vented her unknown resentnt and gritted her teeth.
’Hmm, yeah... I saw her lair, and it was all handmade...’
I should probably keep quiet about the fact that I brought camping gear from ho and enjoyed the easy life.
Swaaaaaaaaack!
Lina, falling from the sky.
Floooat
Her body fell rapidly, but slowed down as it approached the podium, and she gently stepped onto it.
Thud.
Vroom-!
Then, the instructors were summoned behind her, all of them looking exhausted.
The students’ gazes turned to the podium.
"First of all, I would like to comnd all the students for their hard work during this mid-term evaluation."
She opened with a calm comndation for the students.
"The mid-term evaluation will be fairly graded, and the evaluation results will be sent to each of you individually."
Then she spoke about the mid-term evaluation.
And Lina paused for a mont.
"......And I can’t just let what happened during this mid-term evaluation go without an explanation."
Lina reluctantly spoke about the incident.
"Regarding the unfortunate incident that occurred this ti, as the Chairman of Velvet Hunter Academy, I feel a heavy responsibility."
She recited the situation in a calm voice.
"There were Demons hiding on this island, and I and the instructors were absent while dealing with a Gate explosion accident in Korea. And in our absence, the Demons attacked the students."
She scanned the gathered students with her gaze.
Their eyes seed to contain a mix of complex emotions.
"......No matter how urgent the Gate explosion accident in Korea was, and no matter how there were no casualties, this was an accident that occurred during the mid-term evaluation that I hosted. This is clearly a mistake, and I acknowledge it."
Lina publicly acknowledged her mistake.
"The Academy does not intend to hush up this incident. The current situation will be made public, and we will accept all criticism that cos with it."
Murmur murmur-
The students beca restless.
Usually, at tis like this, her magic would have prevented them from speaking or made them stiffen.
But this ti, she just let them exchange their opinions.
"......
One by one, the students, sensing her gaze, closed their mouths.
And Lina spoke again.
"That’s why, separate from the mid-term evaluation scores, all students will receive compensation from the Velvet Academy. And, to the students who took care of this situation in place of the lacking ... I would like to express my deep gratitude as the Chairman of the Academy."
Lina bowed her head to the students.
In fact, if she had tried to cover it up, she might have been able to get away with it since no one had been sacrificed.
But Lina wasn’t that kind of person.
Despite her youthful appearance and the ditzy side she usually showed, she was a figure worthy of the title "Humanity’s Hero," the rank 1 Mage.
Lina.
She never shirked her responsibilities.
’As I thought, it’s going this way. Since no students died, I thought maybe they’d try to sweep it under the rug... It’s just like the ga’s cutscene.’
Because of this incident, Velvet Academy will suffer a significant loss.
The appearance of Demons at the students’ testing ground ant that the safety asures were inadequate.
In the original story, the principal who led this mid-term evaluation was heavily criticized as a "student killer."
’Of course, since no one died this ti, that won’t happen...’
I looked at Lina and whispered to Sophia behind .
"Sophia, are you recording well?"
"Yes, yes! I’m recording it!"
Sophia nodded and aid the cara lens at the podium.
"I would like to bring all the students here because they all achieved the sa feat, but due to ti and space limitations, I will call the representatives."
Lina’s silent gaze fell on .
"Jin Yuha, co forward."
I slowly climbed the stairs of the podium with a calm, subdued expression.
[Jin Yuha, thank you so much... This is not an expression of gratitude as the Chairman of the Academy, but as a personal one.]
Lina spoke to through her mind, her voice unusually subdued, indicating how heavily she was taking this situation.
’Hmm... I was originally going to make an explanatory video as a follow-up...’
I stared at Lina.
’Our Jammin. Want to liven up the mood a bit?’
"Wait a minute."
I raised my hand, interrupting her.
Lina’s eyebrows twitched, caught off guard.
"Is it really a mistake?"
I tilted my head, asking in a loud voice for everyone to hear.
And Lina replied with a puzzled look.
"......Isn’t that obvious! It’s a mistake that a Demons appeared during a test that I hosted..."
"Hmm, that’s strange. If you hadn’t been deployed to the S-grade Gate explosion accident, the civilians there would have died. So are you saying that you chose to save them instead of us, and now you’re saying that’s the right thing to do?"
And Lina’s eyes widened.
[You! Jin Yuha! What the hell are you talking about──!!]
I pulled up the corners of my lips.
"You knew, didn’t you, Principal? That there were Demons here."
"......Huh?"
Lina asked as if she didn’t understand what I was talking about.
"Hey, you didn’t sense the Demons that had sneaked in, did you? The Mage who couldn’t even detect one intruder?"
In fact, Lina hadn’t noticed the Demons’ presence. Because of the artifacts they had received from the Demon Association.
But I shook my head with a smile.
"But you did notice it at the sa ti as the S-grade Gate explosion. In other words, you were put in a dilemma. At that ti, you judged that saving the civilians was more urgent, didn’t you?"
That statent was putting Lina in a tight spot.
"......What, what are you talking about!"
Lina looked confused, unable to understand what Jin Yuha was trying to say.
There was a growing murmur among the students.
Because what Jin Yuha was saying now was the sa as saying that she had abandoned them to save the civilians.
So students even gritted their teeth in betrayal.
But.
"So, you trusted us."
Jin Yuha’s nonchalant words left everyone, including Lina, with blank expressions.
"......Huh?"
"You trusted us, the students of Velvet Hunter Academy, who have learned to fight Demons and Monsters.
"What, what are you..."
"Are you really not going to say that? You told to hold out until Instructor Baek Seol-hee arrived because there were Demons hiding here."
I shrugged my shoulders.
"If it weren’t for that, how could I have co up with a plan to save the students? You told everything, so it was possible."
A heavy silence fell over the large square for a mont.
"......"
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