Chapter 33: Knights are nothing compared to mages.
Chapter 33 – Knights are nothing compared to mages.
“Hmm?”
Sephia tilted her head to the side. She looked like she couldn’t understand the situation at all.
She put another business card on the table.
“Did you see my business card properly?”
[ Sephia Whisper – Head of the Magic Department of the M?rchen Newspaper ]
“I saw it.”
“Huh? You’re not surprised? I thought you’d be scared to death!”
Her eyes were full of question marks as she looked at me.
“Don’t you know me? Have you never heard my name? Or, at least, about the magic department’s reporter team!”
I nodded.
It was the first time I heard her name, and even if I had known her before, I wouldn’t have been surprised.
“I don’t know.”
As soon as I finished my short answer, she spoke urgently.
“Hey? The academy newspaper will be published next week! The head of the reporter team knows your fake identity!”
“Yes.”
“Are you really ignorant, or did you expect this… Which one is it? I don’t know.”
Sephia muttered and put something else on the table besides her business card. It was a newspaper.
“It’s one of the ones that was published last year. Take a look!”
[Thank you for the efforts of the members… Club profits support the juniors] *Frozen Club President Kenneth *Preparation for keeping the 10th place in the settlement-operation
[Unreasonable ‘Knight Victory Decision’ by Judgment] *Magic Department, claims to change the rules of the competition due to fairness issues . . .
I glanced at the first page and put it down.
It covered not only the magic department’s affairs, but also various incidents within the academy. It also didn’t have any nuance of supporting a specific department.
I finally understood why Sephia was tilting her head. The magic department’s reporter team had a solid position.
‘Do they also deal with magic?’
She acted like a brat, but the aura she gave off was quite impressive. She was at least higher than the professors.
Well, with the backing of strength, she could do whatever she wanted with her reporting. The only thing a weak reporter could do was write down what they were told.
I seemed to have been caught by a troublesome person, but I answered calmly.
“Why should I be surprised?”
“Of course you should! I decide how to send out the articles!”
Sephia smiled and raised her hand to call the waiter.
“Do you want a cup of coffee? The conversation seems to be a bit long, do you like coffee?”
I didn’t really need the stimulating effect of coffee. I shook my head, but Sephia ordered two cups anyway.
I opened my mouth first.
“What’s the point?”
“We reporters, you know~ We’re obsessed with three things!”
“Exclusive, special, breaking.”
Sephia’s lips curled up at my words.
“Correct! Wow, how did you know?”
I couldn’t not know. In the previous world, reporters also staked their lives on those three things, and it was very annoying to get rid of them.
“Right now, you see, my reporter’s intuition… It’s telling me it’s a special report!”
“A special report?”
“Yes. A special report! An abnormal phenomenon occurred in the magic labyrinth. That’s a very ordinary article. It’s like, oh well~ It’ll be forgotten after a while.”
Sephia continued with a meaningful look in her eyes.
“But what if there’s a student who survived for three minutes in the collapsed labyrinth? Would that also be forgotten after a while?”
“Yes.”
What’s the big deal? I could do that in my sleep.
But Sephia jumped up.
“No, no! How can you forget that? The mana flow in the collapsed labyrinth is insanely complex! It’s hard for even professors to survive for three minutes in that state!”
“Here are your two cups of coffee.”
Just then, two cups of coffee were placed on the table. Sephia immediately picked one up and took a sip.
“We call that a special report (特報)! A sensational report that everyone has to pay attention to!”
Sephia’s smile grew bigger.
“Imagine~ A student who survived for three minutes in the chaotic labyrinth appeared. And he’s young. A freshman!”
Sephia looked happy as she continued the story.
“The academy would do everything they could to support him and make him grow, right? The guilds would compete to take him, and his future success would be clear!”
──Clack.
Sephia suddenly put the coffee cup on the table as she was talking.
“But, that’s just a special report. It’s a very rare event!”
Our eyes met in the air.
“Flan student!”
I nodded instead of answering. It bothered me to use honorifics to others in this situation.
“What did I say at first? I said I knew you were from the Udit family, right?”
She said that and put three more newspapers on the table. I quietly looked at them.
[“Born with it” they said… Turns out it was a soul contract]
[They step into the place of death] *Recently, many humans make extreme choices with soul contracts ＊Decided to execute without exception
Contract, execution, contract, execution.
The common point of the three newspapers that Sephia gave me was clear. They dealt with the topic of ‘soul contracts’, and the ones who were exposed were executed without exception.
“Do you think there’s a precedent for someone who’s born with a reporter’s blood to enter the magic department and get good grades?”
“I’m the precedent.”
She whispered to me.
“That might be possible, but… I’m imagining another possibility. A reporter’s intuition? Something like that?”
“What is a contract that uses the soul as a medium?”
“That’s literally it, right? A contract with a villain using the soul! My goodness, my goodness, they give you power if you only sacrifice your soul!”
I finally understood.
Sephia was suspicious of how I, a mere freshman, survived for three minutes in the collapsed labyrinth, and she considered the possibility that I gained power through a contract with a villain.
“Ha.”
I snorted without realizing it. Two things were funny.
There were weaklings who made contracts using their souls in this world too.
Sephia doubted me as one of those kinds of people.
I glared at her silently. Then Sephia laughed and waved her hands on both sides.
“Ouch, scary. I’m just curious about the truth. A reporter who sends out lies has no qualifications.”
I stared at Sephia’s blue eyes.
There was only curiosity in those eyes. There was no malice towards others.
‘She’s sincere.’
She had a curiosity that surpassed anyone else’s, and she pursued the truth to satisfy it. There was not a trace of falsehood in her behavior.
She might have been a weirdo as a human, but she was a brilliant journalist.
She reminded me of one of my students who was also very curious. A lot. She even looked a bit like her now that I think about it.
I was intrigued by her, so I asked her softly.
“What do you think?”
I couldn’t bring myself to use formal language with her, as if I was talking to my student.
She tilted her head.
“You’re so terse… No, wait! I’m sorry if I offended you, I didn’t mean to, hehe. A person can be a contractor, right? Don’t you think? Or are they not a person but a villain? Anyway.”
I asked her again.
“I don’t like to repeat myself.”
“Well? If they made a contract, then they did. If not, then they must be very good at magic, don’t you think? Either way, I don’t care, as long as it makes a good story.”
She nodded and pulled her chair closer to me.
“So, Flan student~ What’s the truth? I’m so curious!”
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity. She really resembled my student.
As I hesitated to answer, lost in my past memories, she made a guess.
“…Contractor, contractor, right? Why did you make a contract? Oh, I have so many questions…! What kind of power did you get? Was the price your soul?”
She rambled on and then suddenly coughed.
“Sorry, I talk too much. Let’s start from the beginning, can I ask you about the circumstances? Was it because of your inferiority complex? You’re such an amazing person, you know! The famous Knight of the Remnants.”
The famous Knight of the Remnants.
Was she talking about Scarlet?
“That annoying woman.”
“I get it! Villains prey on negative emotions like inferiority or anger to induce contracts… Huh?”
She stopped mid-sentence. She widened her eyes and looked around.
“What did you just say… Were you talking about Scarlet, Scarlet Udit? Did I hear you wrong?”
“Who else would I be talking about. A woman who can’t even follow proper dining etiquette.”
“Hey, hey? Flan student! What are you talking about!”
“Why are you so flustered. It’s not like you heard a taboo word.”
She nodded without hesitation.
“It could be considered a taboo word, I guess… How many magicians can talk so casually about a knight, let alone a high-ranking one.”
This time, I tilted my head.
I wondered why she didn’t scold me for being rude as a younger brother. Why did she criticize me as a magician?
“Knights are nothing compared to magicians.”
“Flan student, what are you saying… Wait, is it the villain inside you talking?”
She started to examine my face. She even waved her hand in front of my eyes.
I opened my mouth again.
“Knights are nothing compared to magicians, aren’t they?”
“No? Aren’t knights born with much more advantages than magicians? Wouldn’t the knight families teach you some humility… Oh, sorry, hehe. Forget what I just said.”
There were always conflicts between different professions in the previous world. It was natural that people couldn’t fully understand each other.
But in this world, knights had more power than magicians, apparently.
“You know that there’s a competition between the faculties soon, right? The knights have an overwhelming advantage in the combat events, that’s a fact.”
That’s how it was.
I could accept the fact that knights had more power. There might not have been any magicians like me in this world, and it wasn’t the world I used to live in anyway.
But what I cared about was the attitude of the magicians. I asked her incredulously.
“What about the magicians of the academy tower?”
“What do you mean?”
“They take this fact for granted.”
“Wouldn’t most of them? Magicians may drive the wheel of civilization, but knights are the ones who kill the beasts and villains and protect the peace.”
…What.
I pressed my temples with my hand. My head was throbbing so much that I couldn’t bear it.
How wrong was this world. I couldn’t even grasp the situation.
Magicians live by their intuition.
Intuition that is not backed by effort and self-confidence is bound to lose its way.
How can they look at magic and walk the truth with intuition that accepts bending to others as natural.
“Sigh.”
I let out a deep sigh and got up from my seat.
I had to tear down the foundation of the academy. No, I would tear it down.
Students, professors, scholars of the tower… I wouldn’t care about their status or age. I would change them all, as magicians.
No, I would make them change. By persuading them.
I would make the magicians never lose their self-confidence in any situation, never bow to anyone, and have the leisure of the strong by providing them with the evidence.
“Did you say the competition was soon?”
“It’s very soon! In two weeks!”
“What if the magicians win in the combat events? That would be a scoop.”
“It depends on the specific events and opponents, but… If it’s an overwhelming victory, it would be a huge scoop!”
I nodded with a satisfied expression. I had one more thing to prove.
I didn’t hesitate to walk away. There was no time to waste when I had something to do.
“Hey, hey? Flan student! Wait a minute! Where, where are you going!”
But Sephia followed me with a desperate shout. I answered briefly.
“I have to change something.”
“What? Oh, did you not like the coffee? But you didn’t even touch it… Then how about alcohol? Alcohol is the best for a deep conversation! Okay, let’s go to a bar! I’ll pay!”
I shook my head.
“The way of thinking and the power structure of the magicians. All of it.”
“Huh… It’s scary when you say that as a contractor.”
“I’m not a contractor.”
“Really? It’s a bit scary when a young magic genius says that… Huh? That’s also scary. Wait, then what happened in the labyrinth?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
I shrugged at Sephia, who was tilting her head. It was time to move to the club meeting place.
Surprisingly, Sephia nodded easily this time.
“Okay. I’m busy too. I have to find out the identity of the monster that’s competing with Tricksey and Agoraboard… But, you promised to tell me later, right? You did, right? Then, see you!”
She disappeared before I could say anything.
‘The competition is in two weeks.’
I wondered what kind of events and requirements there were as I walked. Before I knew it, I was near the club meeting place.
I saw the students gathered in the distance.
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