Episode 241 National University League (6)

Only after the opening ceremony and the welcome ceremony organized by Magic Tower, which was actually a showcase event for the professors, not the students, were the students of Colosseo Academy allowed to go to their dormitories.

Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair walked to their dorms together.

“Man, the Headmaster of Magic Tower is a talking machine. What kind of welcome speech lasts for over two hours?”

“The last time he said he had one more thing to say was over 300 times. Even my personal trainer doesn’t count like that.”

“I’m exhausted before the competition even starts. He said that they consider the students’ well-being of utmost importance, but I don’t think he really cared about our health.”

“Where’s our school’s principal? I haven’t seen him in all my years of schooling.”

“I heard he’s been away a lot lately, so Professor Banshee, who just got promoted to vice principal, is here as the acting principal.”

Everyone was tired as they walked.

But the sight of the dormitory rejuvenates them.

“Wow, is this where we’re staying?”

Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, Sinclair, and the rest of the Academy’s first years couldn’t believe their eyes.

Buildings that looked like giant mushrooms dotted the landscape, high and low.

The walls were also mushroom-like, with an elasticity and softness that would make you want to rub your cheeks against them.

Fireflies scattered throughout the narrow, winding alleys, and natural lanterns light up the streets, never going out through the night.

It felt like it was a village straight out of a fairy tale.

The interior of the building was also very spacious and cozy.

A magnificent feast, still warm and steaming, was arranged lavishly on top of long tables and chairs made out of logs, as if waiting for the guests.

The smell of grilled silver trout, steamed oysters, roasted pork and hard cheese wafted through the air, both sweet and fragrant.

Glasses filled with white wine and red wine, both nearly alcohol-free, greeted the students.

(Unfortunately, there was no alcohol buffet)

The 20 first graders, 30 second graders, and 50 third graders at Colosseo Academy sat down at their tables and began to eat.

They were divided into groups of five to share a table of food.

Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair tear their gaze from the delicious food and looked around them.

“Where’s Vikir?”

“Oh, over there. At the table diagonally across ours.”

“He’s in a group with the Baskerville triplets, do you think he’ll be okay?”

“Dude, is he a kid? What are you so worried about? Did you forget his grades in the midterms? He did way better than us. He’s not going to take a beating, so stop worrying.”

“He’s not the kind of kid that can be pushed around. He even saved me from the Themiscyra students just now. Let’s just focus on our competition.”

For now, a thorough analysis of the upcoming competition is in order.

They didn’t know where the venue will be, but the 400 students who have signed up will all be competing for survival there. 

20 freshmen, 30 sophomores, 50 seniors. 100 total.

This was how the grades were distributed not only in Colosseo Academy but also in Varangian, Magic Tower, and Themiscyra.

And out of these 400 students, seniors are usually the best performers, followed by sophomores, and then freshmen.

In fact, first-year students were participating for the sake of experience, so participation itself is meaningful, and second-year students were also encouraged to grow further by competing with third-year students from other schools.

And it’s the seniors who have the obligation to bring honor to their school by performing well.

In the history of the competition so far, the top 10 players, including the winner, have always been among third-year students. In last year’s competition, the four geniuses who were unusually ranked in the top 20 despite being sophomores were the strongest candidates for the championship this year.

Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair continued their discussion.

“Let’s see. Guess who made it to the top 20 last year even though they were only sophomores?”

“Juragio Bakiraga from Varangian, Hohenheim from Magic Tower, Merlini Lovegood from Themiscyra, and our school’s president, Dolores.”

“Our president was a sophomore then, too, so now that she’s a third year, I guess you could say she’s a promising candidate!”

“Well, sophomores must have made a good save even in the middle. The freshmen are just going to lay on the floor.”

“But we have to do better than the freshmen at other schools, so we can carry that ranking over to next year and the year after that!”

The unspoken math among seniors is that the ranking you get as a freshman usually carries over into your senior year.

So Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair were eager not to lose out to their peers from the other three schools.

“We’re one of the 20 most talented people in the first grade, hand-picked from the top of the class, so we can’t let this opportunity go to waste.”

“First of all, the first mission is a survival competition, where the ten people who survive to the end and get good scores will receive individual tasks, and if they clear them, they can receive legendary artifacts, right?”

“Let’s analyze the key players first.”

“That’s right. If we’re unfortunate enough to meet third years from other schools, we’ll be eliminated at lightning speed, so we need to be in the top 100.”

“First of all, Bakiraga, Hohenheim, and Lovegood. Those three must be avoided at all costs.”

Sinclair had already faced a conflict with Lovegood on the train, so she knew her terror.

“Honestly, I was really scared, because I thought I was going to choke to death just from the amount of aura she was exuding,”

Soon, Sinclair was passing on her analysis to other friends.

“Juragio Bakiraga. 25 years old. A fighter who had already beaten all the fourth year students in his freshman year. In last year’s tournament, he was defeated by a group of third-year students from another school due to his lack of experience, and the year before, he was stabbed in the back by seniors from the same school, which prevented him from placing in the top 10. Despite this, he was ranked 14th in the overall rankings of last year’s tournament. His main weapon is a greatsword. His power level last year was Advanced Sword Expert, and now it’s impossible to guess. There are even rumors that he has already reached the Graduator level.”

“Hmph. If he was defeated by a group of seniors from his own school, he was defeated by an ally, so his reputation within the school is not good?”

Sinclair shook his head at Tudor’s question.

“No. That was in his first and second year. Bakiraga is said to be strong for the strong and weak for the weak, so he’s very popular among his peers and juniors. He can’t stand injustice or bad behavior, so he fights for them when they’re being victimized. So even though he may not get along with the seniors, he is very close to his peers and juniors. He’s a senior now, which is actually the highest grade, and he’s the student council president, so he’s trusted by everyone.”

Juragio Bakiraga leads the men of Varangian with overwhelming force and trust.

Now that he has overcome his only two shortcomings, experience and teamwork, he is a stronger candidate for the championship than anyone else.

Piggy then spoke up.

“I’ve been analyzing the student council president of Magic Tower, Aureolus Hohenheim. He’s 22 years old. His nickname at the Magic Tower is ‘A smart-ass with a high nose’ and he is, without question, the strongest student in Magic Tower. No student in the last hundred years of Magic Tower’s history has ever outperformed him. Last year, when he was a sophomore, he ranked 13th in the University League, and everyone else was a junior. Even our president, Dolores, lost to him in the last two University League games…… I suppose it’s inevitable since he is special.”

Monstrous talent, arrogant temper.

Hohenheim was a genius who was considered the strongest among his peers in the Empire, let alone the Magic Tower.

Despite the university’s rankings, Bakiraga and Hohenheim were clearly the next generation of absolute powerhouses.

And there was one more dark horse that couldn’t be ignored.

Bianca, who had a thing for pretty girls, opened up about who she had been researching.

“Now, about my research on the student council president of Themiscyra, Merlini Lovegood.”

“Oh, right. What have you been researching?”

“She’s…… pretty.”

“?”

“Too pretty.”

“??”

“I don’t know how she can be so pretty, ha ha…… I envy her. I want to be like her.”

“????”

Hearing Bianca’s words, Tudor frowned in disbelief.

“Hey, never mind. I’ll just give more details on her from my research. Hmmm! Merlini Lovegood, age 23. A mage who specializes in plants, earth, poison, and bug-type magic. She is the eldest daughter of the Merlini family, a very large and powerful family, and is rumored to have already reached the 4th class, although this is not confirmed. She was 16th place in last year’s tournament, and now that she’s in her third year, she’s hoping to win.”

“She’s also known for her beauty. I heard that she is a dancer in a famous theater troupe as a hobby. She might make her debut next year…… I’m personally a fan.”

Sancho added some seemingly useless information to Tudor’s description.

By now, Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair had finished their contestant analysis and began to share their thoughts on the competition.

“What rank do you think President Dolores will place this time? She was 15th in last year’s competition.”

“Of course she’ll win! I believe in her.”

“But Bakiraga and Hohenheim are too strong, and Lovegood is as good as President Dolores.”

“Well, it’s the third years’ problems, not ours.”

“Yeah, we’ll just watch and learn and get ready for the league next year and the year after!”

Being freshmen, they didn’t seem to have high expectations.

…… but.

The competition had a condition where you had to finish in the top 10 to win a prize.

‘If everything goes well… … I should rank within the top 10.’

Vikir thought.

Thinking that his classmates would be horrified if they heard it, Vikir thought about his future plans.

The seventh corpse, ‘Dekarabia’.

The only one of the ten demons to take the form of an object.

Demons come in many forms and varieties, including worms, snakes, humans, bats, and trees, but the most unusual of them all is the one that takes the form of an inanimate object.

It must be sleeping somewhere in the human realm right now, waiting for someone to wake it up.

And Vikir had a vague idea of its location.

‘It is in the Treasure Vault, which is jointly managed by the four universities.’

This was why the demons had been so relentless in their invasions of the Four Academy before the Return.

But if Vikir could locate and eliminate Decarabia faster than the demons, their bleak future would be much different.

The students, who would otherwise have died unjustly, would be spared.

‘With this, the age of destruction will be delayed even further.’

With fewer demons, there was less power to feed the gates to the Demon World.

Vikir was lost in thought, contemplating the distant future.

“……I beg your pardon.”

A voice caught everyone’s attention, including Vikir’s.

It was the owner of the large inn, and he was looking very troubled and apologetic.

“There’s a problem with the water supply at the inn next door…… and I was wondering if I could put the people staying there in the empty rooms here? I’m a bit short on rooms.”

The owner kept bowing his head while making this difficult request.

The inn next door was run by his younger brother, but the water pipe suddenly broke and there was no water, making it impossible to receive guests for the day.

The owner wanted to send the guests to the other inns as soon as possible, but the Colosseo Academy had already pre-booked all the spare rooms, so it was a difficult situation for the owner.

It was the peak vacation season, and there were no rooms available at other inns.

So the innkeeper bent over backwards to ask for a favor.

“Since you have booked a total of 120 rooms for all the students and staff of Colosseo Academy, I was wondering if you would be willing to change your reservation from single occupancy rooms to double occupancy…… and use only 60 rooms in total. In return, I will only charge you 30% of the total accommodation fee and provide breakfast and lunch.”

It was a good offer.

The students weren’t too thrilled about the reduced rate, but the professors were.

“This will save us some money.”

“We could use the money to buy other textbooks.”

“That’s great, I was just looking for a new lab specimen to show my students.”

Professor Banshee nodded.

“Let’s do that. But only if at least 90% of the class approves.”

A vote was taken.

A straw poll was taken, and an astounding 93% of the students voted in favor of the double occupancy rooms.

Not only are the students at Colosseo Academy generally good-natured, but the friendships between students are also strong.

“Ahhh, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The owner of the inn bowed his head several times, and then called the large group of guests waiting outside the door.

And then.

“……!”

The Colosseo students were faced with a group of people they hadn’t expected, but to a certain extent, had been foreboding.