Swordsmanship Genius Sees the Future

Chapter 45 - Below the Pit (2)

A mountain of cookies was piled up.

This was the Dean's office on the 3rd floor of the Academy's Second Annex.

The Dean greeted me with a mountain of cookies.

"Quite a lot of cookies, aren't there? I bake them as a hobby, so they always pile up. Eat plenty."

"Thank you. I will."

The cookies were stacked into six peaks.

So that's why Professor Totten mentioned cookies yesterday.

Crunch.

The cookies were delicious.

They varied in flavor and texture by type.

If I alternated between them, I felt like I could eat them endlessly without getting tired.

"Just eating cookies will make your throat dry, won't it? Here, drink this too. It's tea I made myself."

"Yes, Dean. Thank you."

How thoughtful.

I swallowed the cookie I was eating and took the teacup.

Dorin Petrina.

That was the Dean's name.

Was she about 60 years old?

She was always smiling, with many wrinkles on her face, and a warm impression.

I didn't know much about the Dean.

From her appearance, she seemed ordinary.

She wasn't big, didn't usually emanate Aura, and there was no sharpness in her actions.

She looked like an ordinary grandmother who bakes cookies and sips tea as a hobby.

But she probably wasn't actually an ordinary human.

The Sword King Families were structured such that someone without ability could not occupy a high position.

Most of all, the Dean was from the Petrina family, a name I hadn't even heard of.

Not one of the 8 main families, nor even one of the 10 minor families.

That meant she had enough ability to overcome her family's disadvantage and rise.

"Oh, right. First, I should give you your awards."

The Dean took out two small plaques.

"Here, take them. These are plaques awarded to the winners of the inter-class competition finals."

They sparkled, being carved from crystal.

My name was also engraved on the front.

Winner of the Inter-Class Competition Finals, Swordsmanship Division. 1st Year Class B Ray Granvelle.

Winner of the Inter-Class Competition Finals, Overall Division. 1st Year Class B Ray Granvelle.

Did the Dean engrave them herself?

Now that I thought about it, my brother used to come home with three or four of these every vacation.

He could have just put them in his bag, but he would stubbornly knock on the mansion door with his hands full.

Knock, knock.

"It was an excellent match. You really gave me an eye-pleasing spectacle, didn't you? Congratulations, Ray."

The two plaques were placed before me. I bowed my head in thanks.

"Thank you, Dean."

"It wasn't just me; everyone must have been surprised. Who knew Illusionary Sword could be used like that? It seems like a secret family technique, did the Granvelle Family Head pass it on to you?"

"Yes. My father taught me."

Of course, that wasn't true.

But saying so seemed like it would reduce complications.

"As expected, the Granvelle family, renowned as a prestigious swordsmanship family. Speaking of which, your brother also came here often. Rajiks Granvelle... I'm truly sorry. It was the first time I've experienced something so sad while teaching students. He was truly an excellent student..."

"Thank you, Dean."

"You must be going through a lot alone. Just tell me if anything is difficult. Here, eat more cookies, and drink some tea too."

"Yes, Dean. The cookies are delicious."

I picked up a new cookie and brought it to my mouth.

The Dean seemed like a good person.

She felt considerate and harmless.

The Academy's professors seemed to be divided into factions like the Swordsmanship Faction and the Aura Faction, but perhaps her non-competitive and humble personality was the secret to her rise to the Dean's position.

But there was a smell from the teacup.

The scent of poison.

It wasn't severe.

I didn't know what kind of poison it was, but the amount was very small.

An ordinary person wouldn't even feel like they'd ingested poison if they drank this.

But I didn't drink it.

I just pretended to put the teacup to my lips and then set it back on the table.

"The aroma is lovely. What kind of tea is this?"

"It's herbal tea. Made from herbs I picked in the garden and dried."

Herbs, huh.

That could be.

They say poison and medicine are just a thin line apart.

Enemies use poison as a weapon, but originally, if a small amount of poison is used in the right place, it's medicine.

So this tea probably wasn't bad for the body.

The problem was that my body couldn't absorb toxicity.

If I drank this, only the poisonous components would float around in my stomach.

I'd eventually have to vomit it out where no one could see.

It would be bothersome and inconvenient.

Then an illusion unfolded before my eyes.

"..."

Why now?

Didn't these usually appear in moments of crisis?

Of course, it wasn't always the case, but...

I don't know why I was seeing the future now.

In the future, I ate a few more cookies and left the Dean's office

. The Dean, left alone, silently stared at the teacup for a long time.

The very teacup I hadn't taken a single sip from.

And after some time had passed, the Dean poured the contents of the teacup back into the pot. She was recycling that?

Was it such precious tea to go that far?

The Dean called her secretary and started giving instructions.

And a moment later.

Knock, knock.

A dejected-looking boy knocked on the door and entered.

Zedebek.

The very guy I fought in the inter-class competition finals.

His face was pale, perhaps from the shock of defeat.

The Dean encouraged him as he sat at the table and offered him cookies and tea.

"You must have had a hard time. Don't be too disheartened. Even experiences like this will become blood and flesh for you later."

"I lost. Do you know what that means?"

"Of course, I know. How could I not know how much the Black Luna family cares about such things?"

"Since you know, I won't say anything more. I'm finished."

"That's not true. You did your best in that situation. No one who saw the match would doubt your skill. It's just that your opponent was unlucky."

"But I... No. Thank you, Dean."

Zedebek looked resigned.

Did the Black Luna family really kick you out of the family just for losing an inter-class competition?

"This too shall pass. Don't overthink it. Would they abandon a talent like you just because you lost once in an inter-class competition? Come on, eat a lot and cheer up. Drink some tea too."

"Yes, Dean. I will eat well. Thank you."

Zedebek crunched on the cookies as if chewing rocks.

Then he gulped down the tea and stood up.

"Thank you for the meal. I'll take my leave now. Next time, I will definitely come here to receive a plaque..."

Suddenly, his eyes rolled back.

"Ugh, ugh."

Then they returned to normal.

They were still severely unfocused and wavering.

"Suddenly dizzy... Dean? My body suddenly won't move..."

"Is your body paralyzed? Can't move at all?"

"Y-yes..."

"Hmph. I see. Good."

The Dean sighed in relief and stood up.

She then approached Zedebek and began poking his body with her finger.

"Good. No reaction. Your Aura? Is the flow of Aura blocked too? To this extent. The potion's efficacy is truly remarkable."

"Ugh..."

"'Potion' is the name of the poison you just drank. It's a prototype, so it hasn't been officially named yet, you see?"

"It's closer to medicine than poison, as the name suggests. It actually has almost no toxicity. Strong toxicity would be problematic too."

"Do you know why?"

"If the toxicity is strong, it gets blocked by Aura and its effect disappears, doesn't it?"

"People like us keep our Aura slightly active all the time, don't we? To prepare for potential dangers, or to show off to those around us."

"Even so, it's nothing in front of the real experts..."

"Anyway, only a small amount of poison was injected, enough not to trigger an Aura reaction."

"Isn't it fascinating? They say it took decades just to get this far. I helped quite a bit from the middle, heh heh."

"Oh dear."

"Your eyes are scary, Zedebek."

"Your mind is still clear, isn't it? Don't worry. It won't take that long."

"The potion has two effects."

"The moment it's drunk, it reacts with stomach acid and turns into an immediate paralysis poison, and it turns the target into a delirious state, making them susceptible to brainwashing."

"Yes. The purpose of the potion is brainwashing."

"And you forget that you've been brainwashed. You live your daily life unknowingly, and then when you hear a signal, you obey commands."

"Ah, and no, I haven't been brainwashed by them."

"I was on their side from the beginning."

"The Poison King Family, that is."

"Isn't it amazing? I've never learned poison arts even once since I was born. I'm just a traitor who switched sides because our hearts aligned."

"Heh heh..."

"Surprised, aren't you? You probably never imagined that the Dean of the Academy would be a spy for the Poison King Family."

"Are you curious why someone from the Sword King Families with considerable ability would betray the Sword King Families themselves?"

"I didn't like them."

"I was displeased. With everything about the Sword King Families, that is."

"With my talent, the Dean of the Academy was the limit, at best. But I wanted to rise much higher than that. And even this position, I only managed to get it when I was old."

"Ah, dear."

"I've talked too much. It's almost time for the paralysis to wear off, so I'll begin the brainwashing."

The Dean snapped her fingers with a pleased expression. Click!

"That was the signal just now."

"Zedebek Black Luna. Forget everything you heard me say in this place just now."

Instantly, Zedebek's eyes were tinged with a cloudy light.

"Ugh..."

A murky poisonous aura swirled through his eyes before disappearing.

Then, regaining his senses, he looked around with a bewildered expression.

"Where am I...? Dean?"

"Hm? What's wrong, Zedebek?"

"I was called by the Dean... When did I come in here?"

"Oh dear, you must be tired."

The Dean patted Zedebek's shoulder with a troubled look.

"It must have been a big shock, indeed. Don't be too disheartened. I'll inform them so you can skip today's lecture and go rest. It won't affect your grades."

"Ah, yes... Yes, I understand, Dean."

Zedebek bowed his head and left.

The Dean, alone again, sighed and stretched as if having finished a major task.

"Phew... The first harvest is finally over. And it ended up being Zedebek after all..."

And the illusion disappeared.

The time that had stopped began to flow again.

The Dean smiled and offered me tea once more.

"You'll get indigestion if you just eat cookies like that. Drink some tea too."

"Yes, Dean."

I was impressed internally.

The Dean was a spy for the Poison King Family.

Thanks to her, my curiosity was satisfied.

Why, if I lost the inter-class competition, the academy would lead to destruction.

The Dean planned to brainwash the winner of the overall inter-class competition to be a minion of the Poison King Family.

Of course, Zedebek would have become that in most cases. I don't know exactly what Zedebek, turned into an enemy brainwashed warrior, would have done.

I didn't see that.

Anyway, assuming he did something, the Black Luna family, unable to tolerate that fact, would then attack the academy.

All to shift the blame to the academy (which was true, since the Dean was a traitor), to define all members of the academy as traitors who defected to the Poison King Family, to destroy evidence, and to prove their own purity, they would carry out a massacre.

So I had to prevent Zedebek from drinking the Dean's tea.

If he drank it, the worst future I barely avoided would repeat in the exact same form.

So what I needed to do now was...

Gulp, gulp!

I gulped down the teacup in one go.