I Noticed That It Was an Academy After 10 Years

197. That’s Not How War Works (3)

“Are you here? “Come and sit down.”

I did as Principal Merlin said and sat across from him. Principal Merlin snapped his fingers, lifted the kettle into the air, and poured some tea. He spoke to me with his usual friendly smile.

“Listen. It’s a good tea for recovering from fatigue. “You don’t need it… But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to change your mind like this.”

Even without saying it, he seemed to have realized that I had received the Phoenix’s protection. Well, since I’m still not able to properly store energy, it would be difficult for the archmage to not notice.

“Thank you.”

I carefully held the glass and held it to her nose.

Is it herbal tea?

Just smelling it makes me feel comfortable. I took a sip of tea and put it down on the table.

“The protection of the Phoenix. I received something great. “The person before you received it, hmm, 300 years ago.”

Has it been that long? It’s one of the easiest blessings to obtain in the game, so I used it almost every time.

“I was lucky.”

“Getting lucky is also a skill.”

That’s right. If you don’t have skills in the first place, you can’t even get lucky. I took another sip of the steaming hot tea and looked at the archmage in front of me.

“I heard something happened while I was away.”

“You mean the student council president election?”

“Yes.”

Student council president election. A main story event that I was absolutely certain would happen. Actually, it wasn’t a big deal since she was a first year student, but it was a pretty annoying event limited to Karina.

Because the student council presidents approach Karina to get first-year votes. I had told you in advance, but it seemed like I blocked it out pretty well here.

Actually, Karina’s influence is not as good as the original, and her body is not good, but if you mess with it, your image will only get worse. Moreover, with Leni’s eyes open and alert, there would be no one to mess with her.

If you tried to come too close, you wouldn’t have anything to say even if you got stabbed.

How long has it been since the assassination attempt on the saint took place? Are you acting oblivious? Then it’s time to go. Even quite a few nobles can have their entire families ruined, so there’s no way a guy who just wanted to become student council president would have the courage to do that.

…If you think about it that way, the original feels very strange.

There’s Lennie, and she’s very good at approaching and trying to place her. Of course, it was important to prevent access to the original work due to reputation.

In the original work, he felt like a first-year representative, so it was difficult to completely ban access like he does now. There was a route for a second year student to become student council president through this incident…

Huh?

If things go wrong like this, who will be the next student council president?

Could it be that someone I don’t know at all can become the student council president?

“How can a young chick approach you when your senior is looking at you with scary eyes?”

“That’s true.”

“This story is not very important, so let’s move on. “Isn’t the West the important thing now?”

“I heard. “There was an invasion of monsters.”

It’s a war that happened faster than the original. I heard that the western outskirts have already been cleared. It was difficult to get accurate information just from rumors going around the city, so information from Principal Merlin was needed.

Because there is no one easier to get information from than the person sitting at the top of this huge academy.

“The western outskirts are already devastated. A procession of refugees is flocking to the central region, causing chaos even within the empire.”

“I heard that the Holy Knights were on the march.”

“They went out to war, but… Honestly, how many of them can there be at most? We are preparing defense by gathering remnants of defeated soldiers and a standing army from the west, but to be honest… It is not easy. The front line will probably be pushed further and further back.”

Principal Merlin said that and took a deep sigh. The situation seemed to be more serious than expected.

“What’s the problem?”

“There are more monsters than I thought. They even say that there are wizards on the enemy side. From the looks of it, there are rules in place. “It was not a sudden attack, but a planned war.”

“It looks like Harpas is in full swing.”

“Huh…How can you be so sure?”

“Isn’t that where their branch was located? Plus… There’s a story I heard from the Phoenix.”

I told Principal Merlin the story about Harpas, excluding some information.

After hearing my explanation, Principal Merlin looked out the window, stroking his beard as if he was feeling frustrated. It’s frustrating for me to explain, but the principal who’s talking must be even more frustrated.

“It must be stopped.”

“Huh… I don’t know when the imperial family will organize reinforcements. After all, it happened during a battle for the throne. No, so did it explode at this timing?”

“Are we still fighting?”

“They must be fighting over how much of their forces they can put into the reinforcements.”

Principal Merlin’s sigh filled the principal’s office.

…This is why the traitor route clearly exists. I swallowed down a curse at the behavior of the imperial family, which made me think that it would be better to let it perish. No matter what, it can be annoying to openly swear at your superiors.

“Fools…”

“Why don’t we put off the story that doesn’t have an answer for now? “The priority now is to find a way to end this war in the near future.”

“I don’t know if this is a problem that can be solved just by talking about it… “

…But. In fact, I was the only one trying to control Harpas right now.

Few people would think that they could defeat a being that was all they could defeat even back when the first saint was active.

“As I said before, I plan to subdue Harpas.”

“Harpas is a being of another dimension.”

“There is no point in thinking that if the heroes of the past couldn’t do it, we can’t do it either.”

In the original work, it was only after a third of the empire was devastated by the war that the protagonist managed to defeat him with the awakened power, but it would have been better to catch Harpas in the early stages of the war.

The probability of failure is high, but if you’re going to fall behind even if you stay still, you should try.

“You are so brave.”

“I just do what I have to do.”

“No one will easily say they will catch the devil.”

“Someone has to do it.”

Originally, this was what Lewis, the original protagonist, should have done, but he was still too weak to get involved in the war.

No matter how much stronger it was than the original, it didn’t receive any protection. The presence or absence of protection from a divine being was very important.

In order for a mortal to stand against an immortal, he had to rise to a certain level.

“…If you insist that much, I won’t stop you.”

“While we’re at it, why don’t you help us until the end?”

“This body is old.”

“Isn’t it good to have one more achievement when you’re older? What could be more valuable than adding a sagas to your later years? It also serves as a role model for students.”

“You’re trying to exploit this old man.”

Principal Merlin’s eyes and mine crossed.

The usual benevolent gaze is so harsh that you can’t even see it.

My body is heavy.

Is it momentum, or is it magic that is weighing me down?

But I have no intention of buying it.

It was clear that if I just gave in to threats like this, I would collapse before even getting past the second year.

How did I survive for 10 years, but I couldn’t run towards the bad ending.

I opened my eyes wide, determined to keep going until I could go without avoiding eye contact.

“…I’m serious.”

“It’s not something to joke about, is it?”

“…Why do you want to do that?”

“There is a danger right in front of me, but I can’t stand it without getting rid of it. And you know. If we don’t stop it, it will eventually come here. “When that time comes, there is no way to stop it.”

An image appears in my head.

A collapsing and burning academy.

Students struggling to survive.

Corpses piled up like a mountain.

A river made of blood.

A crow smiles with satisfaction at the sight.

A future that is confirmed if the protagonist fails to subdue Harpas. Now that more variables have been added, a future that may happen in a few months rather than a year.

How can we wait and see?

In the end, everything I have is here.

I was planning to subdue Harpas somehow for the sake of the children who believed in me and followed me.

If possible, use all possible means to recruit powerful NPCs.

“…I never imagined that I would be manipulated at this age.”

“Isn’t life a series of unexpected events?”

“I hope it’s not just lip service.”

Instead of Drake, I said Dragon, and I succeeded in recruiting the best wizard on the continent as a colleague.