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The closest spectator seats in the training grounds.

Seated in these chairs, meant for just the two of them, were the deans of each academy.

“Looks like it’s finally starting.”

“Indeed.”

Bernice Somerset couldn’t hide her excitement.

Ever since she had received the status of dean of an academy, one of only two in the world, from the Emperor, she had been thinking.

She hoped her academy could break free from the label of always being second place and finally claim the top spot.

Though she was plagued with feelings of inferiority, she hadn’t done nothing. In fact, she could confidently say that she had worked hard precisely because of her inferiority complex.

However, she couldn’t catch up. There were differences in the students, but there was also a significant gap between the deans.

The students had worked diligently, but it was unavoidable. Due to the perception that there was a difference between first and second place, talented students preferentially flocked to Jeminal Academy.

Each year, with the competition serving as a way to reignite their spirits, Bernice’s mood soured with each defeat.

But then—

“I finally have a chance…”

By some twist of fate, a huge incident involving the emergence of demons occurred right before the competition at Jeminal Academy.

Not just one, but there were three rumors coming in just this year alone. It felt as though the world was on her side.

Despite the presence of a human disaster named Lucia Marygold in the academy, rumors of the academy’s poor safety were rampant recently.

Seizing the opportunity, she headed to Jeminal Academy under the pretense of checking the damage, all under the guise of the competition.

What she saw upon arriving at Jeminal Academy was the sight of students who had sustained considerable injuries.

In the brief moment she moved toward the dean’s office, it was rare to find even a single student without wounds. Though it was rare to say she didn’t know all the students, she essentially thought there were none without injuries.

Furthermore, not even the professors, who were supposed to protect these students, were unharmed.

And the most surprising moment came immediately after she entered the dean’s office.

Though they tried to hide it, it was clear—Lucia herself had sustained injuries.

What on earth had happened? Though curious, she tucked that curiosity away for later.

Seizing the moment, she brought up the competition, and naturally, Lucia rejected the proposal.

Thus, she skillfully threw out provocative remarks along with terms that might make the other side accept, doing everything she could to ensure the competition could proceed.

Someone might ask Bernice if her tactics were too underhanded.

But she didn’t care.

After all, there’s a saying that opportunities come to the prepared. The ones who seize those opportunities can indeed be called successful.

Having grabbed that opportunity, she received Lucia’s acceptance, and here they were.

In the training grounds, the host announced the start of the competition and explained the rules.

Then, a black-haired man stepped onto the training grounds when his name was called.

“Was it Luke…?”

He wasn’t the professor she recognized from her first meeting in the meeting room.

According to Lucia, he was a substitute professor, yet he stood there confidently as if nothing was wrong, despite being late.

Even though he was a substitute, could he really act so casually while holding the title of professor?

He even dared to poke at her sore spot.

What kind of professor would call a dean pathetic or a brat openly?

Regardless of the competition, if a fight broke out there, she wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, but it was her loss if they didn’t have the competition, so she grit her teeth and bore with it.

Luke’s opponent was Professor Uweber. Not quite as youthful as Luke, yet he had strong enough skills to hold the title of professor at a relatively young age.

In this competition, she had determined that Zuwei Academy’s entry order was crucial. Deciding which fighter to send out first was a matter of strategy.

She chose to send out the weaker professors at the beginning, saving her strongest for last.

Still, she predicted Uweber would emerge victorious. Lucia claimed Luke was the ace, but he was just too young.

There were no professors to send out, so they placed him in the empty spot, masking it by emphasizing him being the ace.

That’s how she interpreted that psychological manipulation.

However, what unfolded afterward far exceeded her expectations.

With a body where magic didn’t work and sheer strength that could force his opponent to kneel in a single blow.

It was no exaggeration.

He hadn’t shown any magic yet except for storage magic. Thinking back, she had felt no magical power from him from their first meeting, which made her believe he was unable to use magic, yet that wasn’t the case.

Perhaps he was hiding it so well it couldn’t be detected? She briefly entertained that suspicion, but it was soon pushed aside. Even if he was weaker compared to Lucia, he was still on par with a high A-Rank adventurer.

If it were someone capable of deceiving her to that extent, he would have to be a person on the level of S-Rank, and she didn’t think that was the case.

So how on earth was he exhibiting such monstrous strength at such a young age? She began to suspect it might be blood magic.

But then—

“What kind of fighting style is that?!”

He swung a wooden club, suddenly attached caltrops to his own body while setting them on fire, and wrapped his opponent in flames.

It was hard to even call it a martial arts match.

“Fuhut, that’s his unique style! You wouldn’t be seeking beauty in battle, would you, Dean Bernice?”

Lucia openly mocked her.

As she said, there was no need for beauty in the act of fighting. If one were to pursue beauty in real combat, they’d only find themselves dead, and there was nothing more embarrassing than that.

What mattered in battle was victory. It didn’t matter if it was a dirty or dishonorable method, as long as one achieved victory.

Yet, unable to just watch Uweber suffering in pain, she had no choice but to raise the white flag first.

“Stop! We’re unable to continue fighting!”

“Oh dear, I don’t agree!”

No, her hair was all burned off, her whole body suffering third-degree burns, and she was declaring they were still able to fight?

In that moment, Bernice realized she had fallen into a trap of her own making.

She had originally anticipated the opposite scenario, but it turned out she had trapped herself.

With approximately 25 minutes remaining.

Lucia didn’t appear to have any intentions of declaring a fighting incapacitation during that time.

*

After 30 minutes had passed since the match began, the professor was carried out on a stretcher from the training grounds.

They said a defeat would only be declared after incapacitation was acknowledged by both deans, yet for 30 minutes, all that could be heard were the screams of the female students, and the host didn’t announce any victory or defeat.

As expected, Lucia, who had come prepared for this, stubbornly refused to declare incapacitation.

The condition of the professor being carried out on the stretcher resembled that of dried jerky.

Perhaps having gripped too hard, his arms were bent like inequality signs, and his body had become a charred mummy.

Even his once-brightly shining hair was gone, leaving him with a bald appearance.

But well, since there were devices in the training grounds and no one was held responsible, she did as she wished.

“By now, you should be getting the picture.”

Though she likely wouldn’t see him again, if they crossed paths, she hoped that the rascal she had seen earlier would have undergone some character development and greet passing professors with a 90-degree bow.

The professor, who had just been carried out on the stretcher, regained his original state as soon as he exited the training grounds.

He was still unconscious, though.

Just by looking at him, one could mistakenly think that they’d be safe inside the training ground even if demons or otherworldly beings invaded.

In reality, it was enough just to break the training ground itself.

Anyway, the stunned host announced her victory.

“The winner of Round 1 is Luke!”

– Wooo!!

-What kind of match is this!!

-Apologize to our professor!!

Jeers filled the air.

Those who would have cheered if the opposing professor had won were jeering now that she had won, so she threw a shell from her inventory at them in irritation.

That silenced them instantly.

This was akin to a shot put athlete launching a shot put into the audience, but hadn’t Lucia stated that?

That incidents occurring in the competition would not hold anyone accountable after it was over.

This didn’t just include matters occurring within the training ground.

It meant everything that happened in this location while the competition was ongoing.

In blunt terms, even if someone died from the shell she had just thrown, she wouldn’t bear any responsibility.

It might seem like wordplay, but it’s a fact that couldn’t be denied.

As the host called out the next participant, this time a brawny male professor with a bodybuilder’s physique stepped onto the scene.

“Then, Round 2! Again, the time limit is 30 minutes! Let’s begin!”

Without a break, they proceeded to the next match. That’s the way battle royales go.

Yet, the opposing professor, looking like a bodybuilder, seemed to be the talkative type.

“Haha! If you think I’m the same as Uweber, you’re in for a rude awakening! The professor you just knocked out is the weakest among us!”

What’s this feeling of seeing a Team Rocket member?

Did that professor turn into muscle even to the brain?

She thought she’d never encounter someone like him in her life. Truly, otherworlds are something else.

But now, she was tired of it all.

As the bodybuilder prepared to do something, she interrupted.

“Stop!”

“…?”

He looked at her as if asking what was wrong.

“There are still three more left, so it’s a pain to watch you show off with your techniques every time.”

To be honest, isn’t that the case? It was fascinating to watch when he first used a railgun, but how impressive could a man who seemed to be made of muscle do something amazing?

In other words, it was a skip.

The professors coming after him wouldn’t be allowed to showcase techniques; she intended to trample them and end things.

Time was precious after all.

Having dashed right up to him, she gifted the bodybuilder a punch to his face.

“Ugh…!”

“Oh… You can take this?”

She had originally meant to floor him in one blow, but surprisingly, he had decent endurance compared to the other professors, so he held on.

“Your punches are fierce despite your appearance!”

Then he gleefully swung a rock-solid gauntlet at her face.

“Stand Power Unleashed!”

“…!?”

She summoned shadows to block it.

The punch thrown by the bodybuilder was stopped by her shadow, and the moment he saw her shadow resembling blood magic, his expression betrayed his surprise.

“Hehe… Where do you think you’re looking? That’s my shadow.”

While using the manly man technique would normally need no such defense, she opted not to use it because it wouldn’t make sense in the context of a competition and would only resemble genuine blood magic, as advised by Lucia.

After all, one complies when the one paying says so.

“May I suck a little for the sake of re-enactment?”

“What…?”

She pulled out a straw from her inventory.

The straw she pulled out was not the typical plastic ones seen in her past life, rather a large version of a steel syringe needle.

“Itadakimasu~”

 

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