How to Survive at the Academy - Chapter 27

How to Survive at the Academy

[Translator – Plumper]

[Proofreader – kianianian]

Chapter 27: Glasskan Subjugation Expedition (7)

“Thank you.”

The damp air of dawn blew against my face.

Although now wasn’t the appropriate time to be thinking about this, there was still something I wanted to say.

The crisis just barely got solved before things turned for the worst thanks to the first-year ace students. Taylee seemed to have also acquired the Swordmaster Skill, and as long as he had that skill, the story shouldn’t run into any issues for the time being, which was a relief.

The half-destroyed Nail Hall and Glockt Hall.

The broken trees, the benches and fences that were piled up here and there that were used as a barricade, and the marble floor of the Student Square that had completely shattered into pieces due to Takan stomping around.

The other parts of the academic district were not in a good shape as well.

Calculating just how much damage had been done was meaningless. There was no way to exactly calculate it anyway.

There were serious injuries and an uncountable number of minor injuries as well. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

“Frankly speaking, I still feel resentment towards you.”

Taylee had his head lowered and his whole body was covered in wounds. He was the one who ran all over the academic district and gathered the members of the subjugation force, and he was the one whose sword cut down Velosper and Glasskan during the battle.

It was a glorious achievement that deserved praise from everyone around him but Tayle didn’t have the corners of his mouth raised into a smile at all.

“I think you know the reason why better than anyone else.”

Taylee’s eyes were still filled with hostility.

I looked around. The subjugation force members who went through all sorts of hardships were gathered together in front of the Student Center. They have completed everything and are on their way to a glorious return.

The students waiting at the base in the center of the Student Square would applaud and cheer for them once they return, and the long night’s story would finally come to an end.

It had been a long and tiring night but somehow, it was finally over. Act 1 ended on such a note. We would go straight into Act 2 next. The episode dealing with a war of nerves between the Elte Company and the academy.

“Still, I owe you a lot.”

Although Taylee said that, his hostility didn’t disappear.

“I need to at least pay my respects. No matter how much I resent you, the subjugation wouldn’t have even happened had you not blocked Takan in the first place.”

He made sure to show his gratitude even though he was clenching his teeth with such hostility. This was the kind of person Taylee McLaure was.

“Ah, Taylee. You’re quite uptight, huh? Haha! If you hate me, just say you hate me. Why are you compartmentalizing your emotions and saying you’re grateful for what I did even if you hated me?”

Nosy Elvira burst out laughing despite being completely exhausted.

“That’s right, Taylee! You don’t have to be polite to this guy. The only reason he helped was to save his own ass. Isn’t he the type of person who’d backstab you if your goals don’t align? When we were taking care of Takan, he only used me as bait and treated my life like some measly fly’s…! Seriously! This dude…!”

“Clevius, you’re too loud.”

“You talk quite a bit, Clevius.”

“Be quiet, Clevius.”

Lortel, Princes Penia and Ziggs said one after the other, stopping Clevius from saying another word. He probably felt timid at being chastised so he quietly walked away with dropped shoulders.

“Taylee is right, Ed. I can’t just blindly trust you but it’s clear that you did quite a bit of work here. That’s definitely something deserving of praise. If you submit a post of recommendation to the academic council, whatever it may be, it will be accepted.”

“You don’t have to go that far, princess.”

And then I spoke of some objective facts.

“The biggest help during the Takan subjugation was Lucy, while Taylee was the one who cut Velosper and Glasskan down, so there’s no need to give me such praise. Please focus on them rather than me.”

“Oh my, you’re trying to give credit to others. Everyone already knows Lucy and Taylee played a big part during the battles. What we’re talking about here is something else… or wait. Is it… are you, perhaps, embarrassed?”

“He’s a whole year above you. Speak with some respect, Elvira.”

Ziggs flicked Elvira’s forehead, making her squeal as she stepped back, allowing Ziggs to come up and talk to me.

“Let’s talk about the details back at the base, Ed. We can’t possibly come to a conclusion while walking on the street like this.”

“……”

But I stood still, unmoving.

The others were already heading back to the Student Square when they realized I was still where I was. They turned around one by one and looked at me.

As dawn settled upon us, these exhausted and injured characters were to return home with a victory.

Taylee, Ayla, Princess Penia, Ziggs, Lortel, Clevius and Elvira.

I trusted that these main characters would be able to progress through the story from now on. Pure baseless confidence it may be, but I trusted that they would somehow figure out how to solve any ordeal that would arise in the future.

I had been watching over them all these times, and they kept getting entangled in unexpected events due to changing variables.

This Glasskan Subjugation chapter could have potentially been a story-breaking event. And yet they were able to handle it to this extent. Didn’t this mean they should be fine dealing with future events that wouldn’t have an outside variable to mess things up?

I thought of that as I looked at this group of main characters.

I had been maintaining my distance from them so I wouldn’t affect the flow of the story. However, seeing them up close like this, I couldn’t help but feel warm inside.

I had been watching them do their designated roles in this world, solving their own problems day in and day out.

There was Taylee who kept getting stronger with each ordeal he faced, and there was also Ayla who kept getting stronger so she could support Taylee. There was Princess Penia who was surely growing into an adult as she started to accept her destiny as the future queen, and Ziggs who was finding his own way in the midst of civilization. There was also Lortel who was starting to question her life of nothing but money, as well as Clevius who was starting to gain confidence in himself. And lastly, there was Elvira who was starting to realize that having fun wasn’t everything life had to offer.

I was well aware of each of their hardships and the challenges that they would face. At the same time, I also knew of the successes that would later come to them.

Each of them had their own role. And although their roads may sometimes get bumpy and rough, the end of it was a sparkling red carpet for everyone.

Success awaits them at the very end, and everyone would praise them as the kingdom’s brilliant heroes.

“There’s something I left behind at Nail Hall. You guys go first.”

I knew that fact very well, so I turned my head and walked away.

Now that the crisis was over, it was time to put the puzzle pieces together.

I went back to Nail Hall’s Combat Practice Field. I walked down the half-destroyed corridor and opened the large wooden door… to reveal what didn’t look like the field at all.

Ziggs’s wind magic must have blown all the seats away, and the floor was littered with craters and gaps here and there. The curtains were all completely burned down and the walls were also full of holes as well.

The air was cool inside as it blew in from the open ceiling where Glasskan’s right arm had pierced through. The roofless hall revealed a sky in which darkness was beginning to recede.

These were the traces of the final battle with Velosper.

The stage where Act 1 ended.

It was a place that would not show up again in the later chapters of ‘Silvenia’s Failed Swordmaster.’

I walked between the spectator seats that had been blown every which way and headed for the podium up front. And right below it was the spare podium where Lucy took a nap that time during the Joint Combat Practice class.

Rattle!

I opened the door below and found Yennekar hugging her knees to herself as she giggled a soft ‘hehe,’ looking every bit as awkward since I caught her hiding.

* * *

It was cozier than I thought. I think I now knew why Lucy took a nap down here.

The spare podium in the half-destroyed Combat Practice Field.

I sat next to Yennekar as I looked up at the sky. The barrier that covered the sky and isolated the academic district was starting to crack little by little.

“I didn’t know I would be found so easily. The other students seemed too busy with Glasskan that they had forgotten about me.”

“With something that enormous summoned through the sky, who would have the time to worry about you?”

“Even then, it still hurt my feelings. I was doing this and that on such a grand scale but the moment everything was solved… I couldn’t believe they just left me behind. ‘Where is Yennekar?’, I thought they would have at least asked that and looked for me, if even for just a bit.”

The members of the subjugation force were already completely exhausted so they would have wanted to return to the base as soon as possible rather than search every nook and cranny of Nail Hall to find Yennekar who had disappeared immediately after the battle. The professors and faculty staff would eventually come and take care of the rest of the work here after they break down the barrier anyways.

“But you were hiding because you didn’t want to get caught.”

“That’s hard to deny… hehe.”

Yennekar didn’t look normal either. Her whole body was covered in dust and the shawl that was wrapped around her shoulders was torn in several places. The results of a fierce final battle.

Hugging her knees, Yennekar looked up at the sky. Her body which was entirely covered by Velosper’s curse a while ago still had some traces left. But once her magic power returns, she would be able to start purifying herself, and her body would quickly return to its original pale skin.

“I didn’t know I would be found so soon. I wanted to hide for a bit longer.”

“You would’ve gotten caught right away once the barrier is broken and the faculty comes in.”

“I wanted to be alone until then. I didn’t want to show myself to anyone.”

“Why?”

She smiled at the question.

“Uhm… I was planning on ugly crying.”

Saying that as if it wasn’t weird…

“It’s too embarrassing to show that side of me to others.”

But hearing her words, I felt as if the question that had been plaguing me for years had finally been resolved.

Why was Yennekar Palerover the boss for Act 1?

Unlike the game’s other bosses, her actions were rather passive. She also didn’t have a distinctive aesthetic of her own, nor did she have a destiny she needed to achieve, nor did she have the qualities of a pure villain.

Amongst all the amazing bosses of the game, Yennekar Palerover was given the role of the first boss who would begin the story. As a player, you couldn’t help but think something wasn’t right.

I couldn’t figure out the reason even after all the research I did. In the end, I came to the conclusion that the developers probably went with her because it would have a lot of ‘impact’ on new players.

Yennekar was always bright, sincere, and loved by everyone. For someone like her to be taken over by a dark spirit and get in the player’s way, wouldn’t that be shocking and unconventional enough? Whatever hidden meaning there may be, the impact and reveal of her as the first act’s boss had a significant enough impact to make up for the lack of it.

After I came to this conclusion, I didn’t think much of the darkness that was supposed to have fed Velosper, lurking in Yennekar’s mind.

But as it turned out… it actually wasn’t that complicated.

Rather, it was such an extremely easy and common story that it never even crossed my mind.

“I just happened to take a look into her room then.”

Yennekar’s room that Lortel had taken a look into. And the sight that she had seen. It was only after Lortel told me that I was finally able to put all the pieces together.

Taylee was allowed to enter Ophelis Hall during Act 2’s mid-boss fight where the player was tasked to defeat ‘Ophelis Hall’s Maid Elris.’

While chasing after the enemies inside the dormitory, the player was allowed to enter the room of different characters and among them was Yennekar’s room.

It was only a brief scene during an urgent battle, but the glimpse you get of Yennekar’s room was definitely strange.

She had a spacious room filled with all sorts of photos and writings. On her desk was a photo of her family, along with letters of support from them. Next to the letters are the messages from her loving friend and the awards and certificates from her professors and the faculty members, each of them filled with nothing but praises and expectations. And on the wall above her desk was a postcard from her hometown.

And what was her view from her desk? There were cute accessories given to her by her friends and a vase of well-maintained lilies and roses gifted to her by the academy. On one side were her trophies won from competitions held by the academy, all regularly wiped sparkling-clean. On another side were four oak wands, all given as a gift by upperclassmen to congratulate her for signing a contract with Takan. She also had a beautiful cosmos-shaped wooden statue sent by her family that she had placed in a corner. Next to it lined up were accessories in the shape of elemental spirits, given to her as a gift by her Elementalist Studies professor. She also had a bouquet of flowers made by her friends from her after-school club. She also had all her used magic tools nicely packed and sent by her family. Although a bit bulky so she had them under her desk.

Opening her drawer, you would find letters of admiration full of love and respect towards Yennekar. These were letters written to her by her family, her friends back in her hometown, academy alumni, and faculty members. Each letter was sincerely thankful. And each letter Yennekar had ever received, she had kept.

But imagine this.

Imagine Yennekar sitting there with her eyes closed.

It was a spacious desk, and yet there was no room to properly open even one book.

The letters that covered her wall weighed on her shoulders like bricks.

Oh, but the solution was really simple. Everyone knew it.

There was no need to treat every bit of sincerity and respect so seriously. It was important to know how to shake their weight off when they become too heavy to bear.

If Yennekar took down all the supportive messages on her wall, and if put the sincere gifts that filled her desk somewhere in the corner of her room, and if she threw away all the letters that were too old to be needed… If she did…

But she hadn’t.

The fact that this was impossible for Yennekar to do was the start of her misfortune. It was her darkness.

And Velosper latched onto that darkness.

Yennekar Palerover was obsessed with giving the world all the sincerity and goodwill she could give at the same level of sincerity and goodwill she had received. She was truly like the main character in a fairytale.

But that was a reckless point of view in life. No explanation needed.

“Hmm…”

That knowledge alone was enough for me to know Yennekar’s behavior that led to the finale happening a month earlier than the original timeline.

The weight that was pulling her down had increased at a much faster rate than from the game.

And if I were to think about the reason… it went all the way back to the Joint Battle Practice.

The student who was supposed to receive the most attention from that class was Taylee, not Yennekar.

It was an episode where both of them raised their reputation and became the two top students. Taylee, for winning his duel against Lucy, and Yennekar, for being the only second-year to win.

However, since Lucy one-shotted Taylee into defeat, all the spotlight focused on Yennekar.

And because the second-years were beyond frustrated by all their losses from the first-years, their expectations towards Yennekar exceeded that of a simple idol and almost entered the realm of religion.

All in all, an unexpected variable at the beginning of the story ended up biting me in the ass and created another unexpected event in the end.

The reason why all the attention was on Yennekar was because Lucy blew away Taylee in one shot.

The reason why Lucy was able to one-shot Taylee was because she signed a contract with Merilda.

The reason why Lucy was able to sign a contract with Merilda was because she had been going to the northern forest more than usual.

The reason why Lucy had been visiting the northern forest more than usual was because she found a good place to take a nap there.

And the reason there was a good place to take a nap was….

It was because there was someone who got kicked out of their family at the start of Act 1 living there.

Though the flapping of the butterfly wings was timid, the result became a hurricane.

I couldn’t even complain that it was too much.

However, an involuntary sigh escaped my lips because the missing puzzle piece turned out to be different from what I had imagined.

Something that had been bothering me for a long time had finally become clear. Why was Yennekar chosen as the first boss.

The message of ‘Silvenia’s Failed Swordmaster’ wasn’t complicated at all.

Yennekar Palerover was the opposite of the main character, Taylee McLaure.

Taylee was someone who became stronger as time went on. There would be all sorts of agony and pain in his path but he would be able to overcome all these obstacles that stood in his way. He was that kind of main character.

On the other hand, Yennekar lived a life opposite of Taylee’s.

She was born with good talent, was loved by her family, and received everyone’s praises and warm sincerity. She was a girl who would never lose her smile.

But she became the reason things turned out like this.

I didn’t know if there were actual people in the world who lived their life like a dramatic main character. Someone who overcame all sorts of hardships and achieved such dramatic success.

People who live their life as supporting characters ultimately have to accept the consequences of failure despite receiving everyone’s love and support. These people are who we call extras.

Yennekar must have been chosen as the boss of Act 1 to show the dark side behind Taylee’s actions. She was the antithesis to Taylee, the game’s main character.

And since she received that much attention during Act 1, it was no wonder she was chosen as the boss for it.

However, the meaning hidden so deep like this… was just painful. What even was the point of all these obscurely hidden game elements?

“Oh…”

I involuntarily uttered words of admiration at the sight in front of me.

Spirits had no concept of death. Cutting off the head of a manifestation would only release it, allowing it to return to its fluid state, their power significantly reduced. It would take a tremendous amount of time for them to recover.

All this time, I hadn’t seen a spirit with my own eyes. But looking around the training field right now, my eyes trained with enough Spiritual Resonance… I could see the spirits hovering from all over the half-destroyed building. It was so beautiful with the sunlight shining down on them.

With the Berserk magic lifted, all the spirits had begun to gather around Yennekar one by one, as if to comfort her.

“What will happen to me now?”

“You’ll be sent to the Disciplinary Committee.”

“Will I be… expelled?”

“Who knows?”

She didn’t get expelled, as far as I knew, because her face showed up for a brief moment during the ending credits.

However, what happened next to her from here on out was completely unknown territory.

Yennekar was now a character who had come down from the stage. Someone who was now completely separated from the main scenario. A villain that no longer had a big impact on the main story. Pushed aside.

The reason why that felt so familiar was because it wasn’t exactly just someone else’s story to me.

“The fact that you were a victim taken over by Velosper would be taken into consideration to some extent.”

“Really?”

“But your crimes wouldn’t be completely erased. Dean McDowell is the academy’s head dean, and he tends to be pro-students so he wouldn’t just carelessly expel the academy’s second-year top student.”

The second-years would be hopeless without Yennekar. So all the professors in charge of second-years would do their best to make sure she wasn’t expelled.

On top of that, she had a good reputation and was well-behaved. She had also contributed many things to the academy so the students would side with her. Probably even write a petition for her, if needed… If she was lucky, she would maybe end up with a probation or suspension at most. Though she was already quite lucky, if I were being honest.

“Hey, Ed. Can I say something embarrassing?”

“What?”

“I thought of something when the subjugation force arrived.”

Above us, all of a sudden, the barrier began to break under the bright early morning sky. It sparkled as the sun rose from the east. It was quite a dazzling sight.

“I imagined that someone with overwhelming power would show up and take care of the entire situation, and he would run away holding my hand. Wouldn’t it have been great if he could do everything so I wouldn’t have to worry? And then he would kindly tell me that everything would be okay…?”

“Would such a thing even happen?”

“…you’re right. That’s something that only happens in fairytales.”

Yennekar let out a tiny laugh.

Then, with a big smile on her face, she nodded her head, as if to say, ‘Yeah.’

“Someday, by all means, please save Yennekar.”

The wind wolf’s message came to mind. It was a spirit that sincerely cared about and loved Yennekar.

Though I didn’t care about the message then, now that I thought about it, something felt strange.

The fact that Yennekar would be taken over by Velosper and destroy the academic district was future knowledge that only I knew.

Even then, it asked me to save Yennekar, as if Merilda also knew about the future. But that couldn’t be true though.

Asking someone who knew about the future to save Yennekar was like asking them to take care of the ordeal that Yennekar was about to face.

But Merilda’s message shouldn’t have had that intention.

In other words, my information advantage had ended up giving me a role…

But, perhaps, Merilda had already noticed Yennekar’s heavy heart then.

But since giving encouragement, giving advice and being worried about her were poisonous acts towards Yennekar…

The more sincere someone was towards her, the heavier their sincerity became to her.

What she needed was something light but not cold, like a warm drizzle of encouragement. Words that were more precious than gold.

Everyone who loved Yennekar gave her their entire heart. Merilda must have come to the conclusion that a boy who had tried to push Yennekar away was more suitable to give her words of encouragement.

It wanted Yennekar to have someone to rely on emotionally. Someone who didn’t put pressure on her with a heavy heart.

“Hey, Yennekar.”

And that’s why I called out to her and told her,

“You did great.”

Would my one message be enough to provide her the emotional support she needed?

Yennekar forced out a smile as she quietly buried her face into her knees.

In the end, Yennekar Palerover had failed.

She tried to sign a contract with a new high-ranking spirit. But because she rushed the summoning ceremony, she ended up being taken over by a dark spirit and destroying the academic district.

It was quite the massive failure. Something that would be too difficult to look past. In any case, her process and goal must have originally been sincere.

Studying late into the night, training her magic power, smiling at her family, her classmates, and her teachers who sincerely supported her… she must have put a lot of energy and effort into meeting the expectations of these people.

Since the process itself was beautiful, ironically, the failure was as well. I didn’t know how comforting this thought was though.

As if to comfort her, spirits flocked to Yennekar whose back was quietly shaking. They seemed to be trying to say that she had tried hard enough.

Yennekar who would normally smile widely and hug the spirits… only for today, her shoulders shook without giving any response.

The sun was setting. The stage had now moved onto the next act.

Students cheered for the subjugation force as they returned victorious to the Student Square.

The proud main characters walked up the stage as a round of applause and praises poured in.

On the other hand, it was quiet and dark backstage. The Act 1 villain’s exit was hidden by the main characters’ grand success.

Amidst the spirits, this girl who had experienced her first failure in life was left quietly sobbing.

I didn’t comfort or encourage her with all of my heart.

That was the answer.

Act 1.

The first act of the game, which I had repeated countless times.

It felt like I had finally confirmed that this story arc had ended.

* * *