Chapter 51: Are You Doing Well?

1

[S2 Clear]

[Calculating score…]

[All trials overcome / Unknown entity confirmed / Alano survived / Mission accomplished]

[Overall: S]

[Reward: Mana Crystal XL x 10]

[50% Skill Learning Time Reduction Coupon x 1]

[The direction of the world line is changing.]

[More trials will come in the future. Strive towards your own ending.]

This reward was better than what the Emperor had given. Manus could fully restore his mana and learn black magic from Black and White. He now had the happy dilemma of how to use the mana crystals.

“Was everything okay?”

Alano asked.

“Nothing special for me.”

“Did you… see that?”

Alano was still trembling slightly. Manus nodded quietly, also recalling that overwhelming presence.

She was deathly pale. To see the strong Harrison shaking like this…

Manus placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. He felt her trembling body start to calm.

“I saw it, but it wasn’t hostile. Let’s not talk about that for now.”

“…You’re right.”

She let out a shaky sigh. The remnants of fear were still gnawing at her mind.

Manus spoke softly:

“Rest today. I’ll go to the tower myself.”

She nodded silently.

Manus’s heart was still pounding when he thought of that moment. Perhaps he could relieve some stress at the tower. He was curious how the first-years were progressing up the floors. They should have reached the 35th floor by now.

When he said he was going to check on the first-years, Alano asked cautiously:

“Will you be alright? You must be tired too.”

“I think they’ll soon be hitting their limits.”

“I’m always just receiving help from you.”

Alano lowered her head. Despite being the eldest daughter of such a great family, she always felt small in front of Manus.

Manus smiled faintly and placed his other hand on her shoulder as well. Her widening eyes were quite striking.

Manus spoke sincerely:

“You’ve been a great help.”

“Oh, th-thank you.”

A flush spread across her pale face. She seemed to have calmed down somewhat, so Manus turned to leave.

Alano felt the lingering warmth on her shoulders.

“Thanks to you, I can focus on tasks I need to handle alone. I’m always grateful to you all.”

“Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help in the future.”

Her words were not mere lip service.

There was a gaze watching the two of them intently.

The blonde guardian still did not fully trust the magician. But the way he cared for his companion was undoubtedly admirable even to the guardian.

It was strange. The prejudices he had held were slowly crumbling. The change was too sudden to accept, and intense memories pushed away new experiences.

‘Manus.’

Guillermo quietly turned away.

The magically treated armor would be a stepping stone for his growth. And someday, it would help bring down the tyrant.

The eventful survival evaluation had ended. Naturally, Manus took first place in the entire year.

2

“Did you hear?”

“About what?”

It was lunchtime.

Pearson spoke as he was munching on his meal.

Kael raised her eyebrows questioningly as she continued eating eagerly.

Anais set down her fork gracefully and listened to Pearson.

Melanie did the same.

Pearson always brought interesting news.

“You know the seniors had their survival evaluation, right? It was absolute chaos. On the last day, what was it… there wasn’t a speck of light apparently!”

“And?”

“Only five people from the second year survived till the end! And two of those five were our seniors Manus and Alano. Phew— As expected, the Cultural Exchange Club is something else.”

Anais nodded. She thought it would be some extraordinary news, but it wasn’t particularly special. She already knew that many second-year seniors had failed en masse.

Anais looked unimpressed.

Melanie quietly nodded her head.

Kael continued eating, her eyes sparkling with interest.

“Hey, do you guys not realize how amazing this is? I even compiled info about the trials-“

What followed was chilling content that made even the unimpressed Anais nod along.

Rivers turning to blood, plants and animals dying, hailstorms, light disappearing-

Those who hadn’t known the details stopped eating and became engrossed in the story.

Not just the four of them, but other classmates had gathered around Pearson as well.

His eloquence certainly had the power to captivate those around him.

“Really? It was that difficult?”

“Isn’t it a miracle they survived? Did anyone die?”

“Isn’t this saying our great tyrant conquered the artificial island? He may be a bit prickly and always showing off which is annoying, but isn’t he the academy’s greatest magician?”

“…”

Pearson continued talking proudly, puffing out his chest.

When his friends didn’t react, he raised his excitement even more.

Hehe, they must be falling for my brilliant eloquence, he thought.

Thinking this, Pearson kept running his mouth.

As if he had cast [Altus] on his vocal cords, his lips fluttered non-stop.

“Phew, the tyrant and queen surviving proudly! They’re truly role models for magicians. Mm-hmm. But you know, Manus Senior actually-“

“How interesting.”

It was a chilling voice.

Pearson closed his mouth mid-sentence and turned his head with a creak, like a broken doll.

There stood Manus, his blue eyes glowing, looking no different than usual.

Ah-.

Only then did he realize.

The reason his friends hadn’t made a sound was because the apex predator of their ecosystem had appeared.

Melanie and Anais turned their heads away, while Kael’s eyes sparkled.

-There was no one to save him.

“Y-you guys are really unfair, huh?”

“Go on, Pearson.”

“I-I’m sorry!”

In the end, he chose to flee.

Manus smirked as he watched Pearson run away with his tray, then looked at Kael.

Blue hair.

Bright eyes resembling his own.

For the protagonist meant to save this world… she looked rather slow-witted.

Her cheeks were puffed out like a hamster, full of food.

He unconsciously wanted to poke them, but the mind of Caesar threw its whole body to stop him.

“…I’ll see you at the club room.”

“Okaysh-“

Munch munch-.

Kael answered while continuing to chew her food.

Manus turned away without lingering.

He headed in the direction Pearson had run off to.

In any case, that loudmouth seemed to need some disciplining.

After he disappeared, there was a “Phew-” sound.

A denser, more viscous mana.

Had Manus grown once again?

Anais felt the lingering mana he had left behind.

Just by standing there, he could do this much…

“Seems it was even more amazing than we thought. For Manus Senior to be leaking mana like that-“

“Yeah-. Looks that way. It’s hard to grasp just from hearing about it.”

Melanie replied.

She looked at the spirits floating nearby.

Their trembling, frightened appearance was unsettling.

“That monster really is a monster.”

“Pearson… should we pray for his soul?”

“Doesn’t he deserve a bit of a beating?”

Mixed reactions.

Amidst the cheerful atmosphere, Melanie noticed someone still sitting stiffly with a hardened expression.

Flois.

The eldest daughter of that brilliant solar family was frowning, staring in the direction Manus had disappeared.

Melanie’s timid personality kept her from asking anything.

If it had been Pearson, he would have immediately asked what was wrong upon seeing her expression, but he wasn’t here.

So she remained silent.

‘I wonder what’s wrong.’

She swallowed the words lingering in her mouth that wouldn’t come out, and quietly stood up.

Anais doesn’t tolerate curious or unjust things, anything she deems wrong by her standards.

With the mindset of the Flois family, she would surely-

Thinking this, she merely stood up.

Neither she, nor he, nor anyone else knew.

-That there are things that only arise when wounds are left untended.

That pus spreads when no attention is paid.

3

Club room.

Manus, who arrived first, examined the artifact he received from the Chairman.

He used the skill coupon without hesitation on “Buckley’s Mindset”.

He absorbed five of the mana crystals, planning to consult Black and White about the rest.

[Di te ament]

[May the blessings of the gods be upon you]

That was the entire description.

A golden bracelet.

The design, which looked like a bent nail, was similar to products from jewelry brands he had glimpsed in modern times.

The differences were that the embedded gem was slightly larger and faint mana flowed through it.

‘This is definitely an item obtainable from the Imperial Palace episode.’

The so-called Bracelet of Blessing.

An item that blocks one fatal attack in battle.

A very useful item in the latter half.

Players could obtain it during the story when summoned to the Imperial Palace, but that had changed.

He didn’t expect the Emperor to readily give this away.

The Emperor never revealed his true intentions until the very end of the main story.

‘At a glance, it seemed like he knew something.’

A position that constantly tests and trials the player.

Throwing appropriate bait and raising hunting dogs, that kind of feeling.

It was one of the places where the game company released extremely limited information.

The world line is changing.

Events are slowly becoming distorted, and someone’s wingbeat will bring about a great storm.

The Imperial Palace and Emperor will be involved in that as well.

‘This isn’t the world of the main story-‘

Click-.

A sound interrupted his musings.

The freshmen who came at his summons.

Four chosen students gathered in the club room.

“Senior, we’re here.”

“Sit down.”

The four sat down quickly.

Usually, they would have created a cheerful atmosphere with laughter and chatter.

But with Manus present, that wasn’t possible.

Feeling the atmosphere become oppressive just from his presence, he spoke first.

He was somewhat tired, but didn’t want to take out his subdued mood on his juniors.

“How far have you all climbed the tower?”

“We stopped at the 34th floor. We’ve been absorbing mana stones around there.”

“Good work.”

“We did try going to the 35th floor once…”

Kael spoke up.

Anais and Pearson looked at her with surprised eyes.

Something must have happened during the week he was away.

In fact, Manus had expected this to some extent.

They were in high spirits and their skills had improved significantly, so they probably wanted to do something without the second-years around.

But these kids didn’t have the resistance to withstand mental attacks yet.

“You met the boss and nearly died, right?”

“…”

Their heads lowered gradually.

Manus added more words that struck at their core:

“Melanie, or maybe Pearson, helped you barely escape?”

“…That’s right.”

Melanie nodded.

They probably escaped with help from the spirits.

It was fine.

Experiences learned through the body, especially bad ones, are deeply etched into one’s bones.

The will to never experience it again manifests in various defense mechanisms.

A faint sense of fear could be felt.

“Today, we’ll break through the 35th floor.”

“I-is that possible? The opponent is…”

“There’s only one thing you can’t handle right now. You know it, so you need to overcome it.”

I, Manus, will be with you.

He stood up.

Four pairs of round eyes looked up at him.

[Interference has begun.]

“If you want to move forward, come to the tower.”

The change in the four pairs of eyes happened in an instant.

It was very satisfactory.

–TL Notes–
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