Chapter 199
The parking lot of Yggdrasil.
Unlike usual, there was a particularly eye-catching large truck parked there.
It belonged to none other than the popular songstress, MacGrim.
And inside it……
There was MacGrim’s manager, an elderly gentleman with a black beard.
“Urgh!”
Raising himself from the sofa, he went into the small restroom attached to the truck and washed his face.
The elderly gentleman with the impressive mustache was nad Opel Wisdom.
After coming out of the restroom, he looked at the calendar.
Today was the final day of MacGrim’s examinations.
In ti for her return, he had been cleaning the inside of the truck so thoroughly that not even a speck of dust remained.
……That tiny child had beco a popular songstress, and now she was taking the cadet examination at the Academy, the symbol of world peace…….
He could not help but feel proud.
Then, suddenly, the past surfaced in his mind.
His forr self, commanding soldiers in a burning refugee village.
And…… the voices crying out for help.
Only after hearing those cries had belated realization and regret co to him.
……As he was sinking into that self-loathing, a faint song drifted from sowhere.
Drawn as if bewitched, Wisdom approached the sound—and there, miraculously alive, was a single young child.
He embraced the child and fled.
Helt, sword, cloak, horse—he cast them all aside and resolved to devote the rest of his life to that child.
Until the day he died.
Only for MacGrim.
“Hm.”
“……Is that not possible?”
MacGrim recomnded a resident.
None other than her manager.
It was an unexpected request, so I fell into thought for a mont.
‘I hadn’t even considered allowing soone who isn’t a cadet to live there.’
Her manager was an outsider to the Academy, after all.
But seeing the earnest look in MacGrim’s eyes, I could not refuse outright.
“My manager is like a father to . Making him live in the truck for four whole years until I graduate from Yggdrasil…… I just can’t do that. I’d feel too sorry.”
“Why not just have him stay sowhere else?”
“I said that too, but he refused……. I think he’s worried about .”
There were no separate lodgings near Yggdrasil. There wasn’t even a comrcial district around the Academy—it was far removed from the established system.
‘A manager…….’
Of course I knew who MacGrim’s manager was.
He was occasionally ntioned among users.
If a player attacked MacGrim in the ga, her manager would appear from sowhere and obliterate the player in a single blow.
No matter how high the player’s level or how good their equipnt was, defeating the manager was impossible.
It had rely been a half-joking Easter egg made by the developers, who were fond of the character “MacGrim.”
‘But because they gave him proper narrative background for that Easter egg, he was, by setting, one of the strongest figures in the world.’
His na was Opel Wisdom.
He had once been the Commander of the Empire’s First Knight Order.
Though he now worked as MacGrim’s manager, he carried a dark past.
Under orders from the Empire, he had attacked a village of the Hetarion Lineage that had supposedly gone berserk as a group.
However, during the assault, he realized that the lineage had not actually rampaged—and that the Empire’s command had been mistaken.
In the end, he understood it had been nothing more than a massacre.
Though he stopped the attack, most of the villagers were already dead.
While drowning in regret, he happened upon a young MacGrim singing alone. He picked her up, cast aside his title as Knight Commander, and raised her as though atoning for his sins.
‘So MacGrim sees him as her guardian…… without even knowing that he was the one who made her an orphan.’
In any case.
I could roughly guess why he insisted on staying by her side even at the Academy.
Those of Hetarion descent—while not all of them—were often ill-tempered. Not because they were evil at heart, but because the magical energy raging uncontrollably within their bodies caused it.
If that magical energy was stabilized, their volatile personalities tended to calm considerably.
So he must be staying nearby to stabilize MacGrim’s magical energy.
Considering he could steadily control the magical energy of soone from the Hetarion Lineage…… it seed his skills as the forr Commander of the Empire’s First Knight Order had not rusted at all.
‘He may be living quietly in repentance, but he’s still among the ranks of the strong.’
Forming a friendly relationship with soone like him would not harm .
According to the ga’s setting, he was a man who valued virtue and never forgot a debt. He was not the type to betray, nor was he malicious.
Yes. Having soone like him at my residence would be a great help.
‘I’ll be expanding the Livestock Shed further, and there’s plenty to manage on the island and other farms. I did need soone to look after things when I’m away.’
If he were to act as a guard, I could simply provide als and a room.
After organizing my thoughts, I answered MacGrim.
“I’ll consider it positively.”
“……!”
MacGrim’s face brightened instantly.
“Thank you so much, Villed! That’s a huge weight off my mind.”
“But.”
Thwack!
I lightly flicked her forehead.
“Ow.”
“Aren’t you counting your chickens before they hatch? Get accepted first, then we’ll talk.”
“Ugh…… I will. I definitely will.”
Even while rubbing her forehead, MacGrim smiled faintly.
Knock knock knock.
“I’m coming in?”
“……What.”
When I opened the door to the Treehouse, I saw Shia sitting curled up as usual.
However, her gaze was subtly different from before.
At first, whenever she looked at , she made no effort to hide her blatant disgust—as if she were staring at food waste.
But now…….
Her eyes trembled ever so slightly.
Rather than caution, it looked closer to anticipation.
And her gaze soon flicked toward the hand holding my dish.
Like Pavlov’s dog lifting its head at the sound of a bell.
It seed I was no longer an unpleasant existence, but soone who brought sothing.
“If you’re going to barge in, don’t just stand there. Say what you want.”
She used to hate even speaking to , yet now she sotis opened her mouth first.
“Nothing much. I made too much, so I brought so to share.”
I held out a plate with cake and a fork.
It was a whipped cream cake made solely from ingredients produced in the Livestock Shed.
“Not sure if it’ll suit your taste.”
“Hmph.”
Shia snorted and reluctantly picked up the fork.
Then she stared at . Her eyes seed to say, ‘Aren’t you leaving yet?’ But I curved my lips.
“I want your evaluation. Take a bite.”
“…….”
With a sigh, she cut a piece and brought it to her mouth.
“……!”
It was brief, but I heard a small gasp of admiration.
She clamped her mouth shut desperately, glancing at . An incomprehensible ‘ngh’ sound escaped her.
She clearly did not want to show any change in expression. Shooting a glare, she abruptly turned her face away.
“Well? It’s my ambitious piece. Give your evaluation.”
“……Hmph, it’s average.”
—Pyaaaak!
The parakeet perched on my shoulder shrieked.
As expected.
I smirked slightly and spoke.
“If it doesn’t suit your taste, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll just discard it next ti.”
“That’s……!”
Shia hurriedly spoke up.
“You jerk. Don’t you know food is precious? It’d be a waste to throw it away. If you’re going to do that, just give it to instead.”
That’s more like it.
“Fine. I’ll include cake for dessert every day from now on.”
Her pupils wavered.
“D-Do as you like.”
“In return, there’s sothing you’ll do for .”
She blinked, then glared at , clearly displeased at the thought of being assigned work again.
“Don’t want to hear it? Then forget it.”
“Say it.”
She answered flatly, and I raised the corner of my mouth.
“Help build a house near the Livestock Shed.”
However, she frowned in confusion.
“……The Livestock Shed? The Academy’s Livestock Shed?”
“Yeah. It’s a bit far, right?”
“Not just a bit.”
With her brows knitted, she stared at strangely, so I had no choice but to explain.
That the Livestock Shed and this island were connected like a teleportation link.
But she looked unconvinced.
“Seeing is believing. I’ll show you.”
We moved to the tree where the teleportation was installed.
“Follow .”
I stepped inside the tree.
……My vision went dark, and we returned to my Livestock Shed Storage.
I climbed out of the drum first, and shortly after, Shia stumbled out of it.
“Uh……?”
Her eyes widened as she looked around.
“Where is this?”
“As I said, my Livestock Shed. You knew, right? I’ve been living here since I was punished.”
She looked slightly surprised, perhaps not knowing the rumors about living in the Livestock Shed were true.
“Anyway, you can go to the island anyti using this drum. Though entry and exit are only possible with my permission. You have to believe now.”
“…….”
Shia slowly nodded.
“And I’ve been thinking. You haven’t caused any trouble on the island. You’ve even gotten along well with the animals.”
“Hmph. Mind your own business.”
“So.”
At my next words, her eyes widened.
“After the sester starts, I’ll grant you permission to access the island. Then you won’t have to be separated from that deer.”
“Lotti…… I can see her every day?”
She murmured to herself before lifting her head to look at .
There was no trace of wariness left in her eyes.
“Yeah. That’s my offer. So? Will you help?”
In the end, she nodded reluctantly.
“……I’ll do it. I just have to do what you tell , right?”
The professors’ conference room at Yggdrasil Academy.
Around fifty professors were seated.
However, attendance did not seem particularly high.
Professor Ruber, especially renowned among the faculty, was absent, and several other seats were empty.
Moreover, President Tote, who should have been sitting at the head seat, was not present either.
“Ah…… Thank you for taking the ti despite your busy schedules, Professors.”
With long green hair in disarray and dark circles beneath her eyes, Professor Feria was serving as temporary chair of the eting.
“Then…… we shall begin.”
The eting proceeded with formal procedures.
Review of last sester’s operations, summary of incident records, budget allocation and facility maintenance, faculty placent. And adjustnts to next sester’s examination schedule.
On the surface, they appeared to be ordinary agenda items…….
“And next…….”
Professor Feria turned a page.
“These are proposals submitted anonymously by professors and passed through voting.”
A senior-junior ntoring system, additional high-intensity curriculum for top students, early departnt experience, division of first-year top students into separate classes, further subdivision of the Schuler curriculum, and more.
A long list of transformative proposals beyond the existing frawork was presented.
“We will now discuss the placent examination plan for first-year students following the announcent of admission results.”
Feria looked up at one person.
“This proposal will be explained directly by its proposer, Professor Hilda.”
“Yes!”
Hilda stood up.
After taking a short breath, she spread out her prepared materials.
“Each year, the level of top incoming students rises noticeably. With the existing curriculum alone, it’s difficult to fully draw out their potential. So what I propose is…… Opposing Force Training.”
As Professor Hilda explained Opposing Force Training in detail, the other professors nodded in understanding.
After she finished, another professor asked a question.
“Shall we organize the opposing force facing the freshn using assistant instructors?”
“No. Assistant instructors are too high-level. It would only beco one-sided pressure, and the educational aning would diminish. The purpose of this training isn’t victory or defeat—it’s experience. Not only the first-years, but those playing the role of the opposing force must also learn.”
Smiling faintly, Hilda continued.
“So we’ll entrust it to the Schulers.”
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