'I knew it, but it's literally a flying ship.'

Unlike modern airships, the airships here didn't require massive balloons.

They were literally "flying ships"—that was what an airship was.

'Thanks to magic, buoyancy isn't an issue, so there are many different shapes.'

Of course, depending on the shape, there might be speed differences, but at least the airships used in the parade seemed more focused on aesthetics than practicality.

Whether it was because of magic or simply glass exteriors, most airships had interiors on display for all to see.

Inside, there were dazzling lights and people dancing.

Smaller airships orbited around a large central one, as if revolving around it.

When I lived in the modern world, I'd been to amusement parks with parades before, but this was a marvel and spectacle on a whole different level.

"Wow! Luca! Do you see that? That's drive magic working differently from the usual method! It's less efficient in terms of magic power, but it allows for more precise and stable movement!"

"Even if you explain it like that, I have no idea."

Ottbo seemed to have forgotten why we came here, chattering away in excitement.

Luca understood his excitement, so rather than rebuking him, he focused silently on searching for clues.

'What's the hint? Where could it possibly be hidden?'

Crackle!

Even with Luca's eyes empowered by lightning energy, he didn't see anything odd.

The decorations on the exterior looked purely ornamental, and the people above didn't radiate any unusual power.

'Wait. What's going on over there?'

But then, he noticed a commotion at the helm of one airship.

'It's like... they can't control it...!'

As this thought crossed his mind, he noticed the airship steadily drawing closer.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one to notice.

"Wait. Isn't that airship getting closer...?"

"Is it broken?"

"No way. Why would an Academy airship be broken?"

While the students debated, the airship edged dangerously near.

"L-Luca, don't tell me..."

Ottbo, beside him, stepped back, looking apprehensive.

It wasn't only him; the students grew uneasy.

"Kyaaa!"

"R-Run!"

"W-What is this!"

When someone finally screamed, the hard-won order collapsed.

The students fled in panic—shoving, falling, trampling.

"Argh!"

"Tsk."

"Milady!"

Luca's group was nearly swept away by the crowd, but Luca and Isella, prepared, stood firm to form a wall to keep the weaker mages from being hurt.

"L-Luca! Your body—"

"This much is bearable. Don't worry."

When someone bumped into Luca, Ottbo grew worried, but Luca remained unruffled.

His uniform protected him, and although it was dark, the "cloud" inside him served as a buffer.

'That Whistle girl—she really didn't have to do this. I can withstand a lot just by using magic power.'

Was it because of what happened at Ataran Workshop? Somehow, she seemed to be constantly watching him now.

Feeling oddly reassured, Luca watched the falling airship.

"Everyone's overreacting. It's not like it's going to actually fall on us."

"Huh? Wh-Why?"

Ottbo's face was blank with confusion.

Luca spoke calmly.

"No matter what, there's no way there aren't at least one or two distinguished professors here."

"Quiet!"

Boom!

At a single word, all the students froze.

The simple utterance resonated, freezing everyone in place—including the falling airship.

"Students of Hernan Academy, to think you'd panic at something so trivial. How disgraceful."

A chilling voice rang out as someone descended from the sky.

A woman with navy-blue hair, wearing an unadorned black robe.

The moment Luca saw her, a description popped into his mind.

—Navy-blue hair and eyes.—Snow-white skin, hidden each day by a thick black robe.—Emotionless to the point of seeming inhuman, but beautiful for that very reason.—More a leader than a teacher.—Overbearing, cold, and dictatorial.—Yet perfectly suited for that position.—Her name: Herote Marcato.—Headmaster of Hernan Academy.

He finally met Herote Marcato, the headmaster of Hernan Academy.

'She's truly incredible. Such suppression with just words and no magic circle.'

Of course, magic could be activated without a magic circle.

But compared to using circles, the output and stability were generally much lower—though it seemed meaningless for Herote.

'She must have done some level of preparation for emergencies, but still, this is amazing. She couldn't have expected the airship to fall, after all.'

As Luca was inwardly marveling, Herote swept away the falling airship and spoke.

"You are the future of the Empire. For the Empire's unwavering strength, I expect students to train their composure and not flee in panic over something like this."

"......"

No one could say a word.

Whether out of shame or oppression, Luca wasn't sure.

Herote gave them one sweeping glance, then turned and disappeared.

"... As expected, the greatest mage of Hernan Academy is something else."

Milia, in a mocking tone.

She didn't seem to like Herote.

"Did she scold you or something?"

"What are you saying?"

"You really don't like her, do you?"

At Luca's words, Milia narrowed her eyes and clicked her tongue.

"That haughty woman is hated by every person in power. I'm no exception."

"Hated, huh."

When Luca replied with interest, she shrugged.

"A genius beyond even the Mage Tower's reach. One of only three 10th-tier mages on the continent. And what is she doing? She's a professor at an academy. Isn't it ridiculous? With such power, all she does is teach students. Isn't that a waste?"

"It's possible."

"No way. That's far too much of a waste. Setting up a new Mage Tower would be one thing, but just managing a few classes as dean of the arcane science department and quietly doing research with no results as the dean? Anyone but the headmaster would've been torn to shreds by now."

Luca chuckled at her words but then paused, stuck on something.

"Herote Marcato is dean of the arcane science department?"

"Do you think someone like that would be just a regular professor?"

"No, what I mean is..."

Luca twisted his lips.

"Isn't Herote Marcato the headmaster of Hernan Academy?"

"What are you talking about?"

Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

Herote Marcato.

A key figure in the latter half of 'I Became the Academy's Savior'.

She's not a villain.

If anything, she could be called an ally of the protagonist—

After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The Demons targeted her, and she tried to use them in return.

'She never directly collaborated with the protagonist, but each time, she would bring down a demon from Demons, perishing along with it.'

In the future, devils would break free from God's shackles, regaining their full power.

Then, only people like the protagonist or Willow could even hope to last any time against them.

To perish together with such beings meant Herote was only a step below the protagonist in strength.

'What matters is... why did she become headmaster within the space of a year?'

There was a mention in the original that Herote had only recently taken the headmaster's position.

At the entrance ceremony, she commented, 'It hasn't been long since I assumed the role,' and another professor said, 'Since the headmaster changed recently'.

'But what a coincidence. Somehow, I never encountered the headmaster until now, so I only find out about this now.'

During the entrance ceremony, it was because of the infamous trio, and after that, the headmaster was busy with the Martin incident.

'If I'd known the headmaster had changed in just a year, I would have planned differently.'

Knowing Herote wasn't currently the headmaster allowed him to deduce one critical fact.

Above all else, this one thing—

'Martin wasn't the start of the darkness that swallowed the Academy, but the end.'

The Academy had already fallen into the hands of Demons.

That's why someone like Martin could enter the Academy.

'I figured they were exerting some influence, dropping someone like Luca Traverse from S-class to A-class, but I didn't think it was to this extent.'

It had been common knowledge that the Academy's proud fairness had collapsed.

It was mentioned several times in the original novel, and Luca himself had ended up in A-class despite passing the tests.

But to think the reason was Demons' meddling.

'So the protagonist was dancing in the palm of Demons all along.'

No wonder the protagonist failed to exterminate Demons despite looping several times.

'I wondered how Demons always got ahead of the protagonist. So this was the reason.'

In the novel, he thought it was due to the devils' precognition, but that wasn't it.

Physically, they had tabs on all of the protagonist's actions.

'Then I'm the same. They're already watching me.'

In the original, when remnants of Demons were caught, they said, 'Demons' eyes are everywhere!'—and that turned out to be quite literal.

'But then, in these circumstances, why are they leaving me alone?'

Their plans should've been disrupted multiple times by him by now.

He should've become too dangerous to simply ignore, so he couldn't understand why they let him be.

'Wait—then who's the headmaster right now?'

Just as Luca wondered this, Milia spoke.

"They removed the airship before we could figure out its hint. That woman is so troublesome."

"... She is indeed."

"Isella and I will go look for the airship she removed. I can roughly track it by its residual magic power. In the meantime, check the other airships for any traces."

With that, Milia vanished into the crowd with Isella.

Luca clicked his tongue and looked at Ottbo.

"What a self-willed woman."

"Shouldn't we hurry up and find the hint, too? Judging by how they tried to kill students with a crashing airship, whoever sent that notice really means it."

Ottbo's face was a little pale.

Just a little while ago, he'd thought this was half a joke, but witnessing a falling airship convinced him it was all too real.

'It was a pretty violent scene.'

Having an airship fall from the sky was shocking enough.

Add to that Herote's scorn, and the average person would be shaken for quite a while.

"... S-Should we go back?"

"Yeah... suddenly I'm tired."

"To have the eve of the festival end like this..."

Even the once-boisterous crowd was quietly dispersing.

Luca smacked his lips in frustration and watched the direction the airship disappeared.

"Should we go that way?"

"Yeah. And Luca, are you curious about who the headmaster is right now?"

"You've gotten pretty sharp."

He was going to ask in a bit, but Ottbo beat him to it.

Admiring his growth, Luca nodded, signaling him to speak.

"The current headmaster of Hernan Academy is Eltema Cross. You probably know—the hero who stopped the rampage of the ancient weapon."

"... Huh."

Luca let out a breath that was somewhere between a sigh and a groan, frowning.

'Just how twisted has this become?'

Eltema Cross.

Luca knew him well.

That's because Eltema Cross was one of the executives of "Heaven's Door"—the organization that cooperated with the protagonist to fight Demons in the original.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=This is getting a littleb bit convoluted...Did Herote kick Eltema out?【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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