âKaren, weâve got contact from Unit Five. Theyâve successfully secured their target, Mercaria.â
âVice-president, report from Unit Twelve! Theyâve successfully taken down one of Mercariaâs castles!â
âVery good, keep going like this!â
As I listened to the reports coming in, I issued the next batch of commands.
Normally this would be the student council president Nerkiaâs job, but that idiot flipped out on how heâd clear up the misunderstanding with his lover and went over to Arucia.
Because of that, tens of our students and a castle was taken down.
Was this the price for my own fit of anger yesterday⌠I thought with a bitter smile.
âSenior, report from Unit Zero. They say they couldnât dispose of the pres, but they would continue to move as an elite unit to tie up Arucia and Marcisâs key forces. And it has also been confirmed that Marcis and Arucia have formed an alliance as we had expected them to.â
âReally now? Tell them I got it.â
The pres is dangerous.
We, his schoolmates knew that better about the danger he posed than anyone else.
Especially in team events like these, were moments were Pres was stronger than anyone.
If Lady Aris, as a swordsmaster and god-class summoner, was someone who could change the tides of battle, then Pres was someone who could dominate the battlefield itself.
That was why I had left Risen alone to rampage to his heartâs content.
Risen had neither the power to cause a reversal in battle, nor did he have the power to dominate the battlefield.,
But he had a disgusting personality that let him backstab an ally without even a momentâs hesitation, and in terms of completely f***ing a person over, there was no one that could even come close to Risen.
Therefore, as Risenâs target, the pres was f***ed.
Risen would care not for whatever means or methods he used to dispose of the pres.
If it were any other academyâs student, then I wouldnât leave him alone to do what he wanted.
Because if something went wrong, that could actually lead to us getting disqualified for cheating!
But if itâs the pres, one of our students, then underhand tactics are allowed to an extent.
Because there were no provisions on fighting between allies in the rulebook for the imperial festival.
Of course, the mere prospect of having to fight your allies is something that no one except Professor Nicerwin could come up with.
âOnce Mercaria is wrapped up, send five units that went to Mercaria and have them take a crack at Marcis. According to Risenâs reports, a number of their heavy hitters have headed over to Arucia.â
âYes, I understand.â
Which meant that my role was to ensure we claimed victory in the imperial festival so we could finally say goodbye to that damned night study.
Beginning with the weakest, Mercaria, as long as we kept on making territory gains, victory was ours.
In a fight where both sides were missing their powerhouses, the students of Yugrasia would never lose to the other schools.
Because we didnât spend our year so leisurely, oh no.
âLetâs do our best. This disgusting night study, we should end it, right?â
Once this imperial festival was over, we were free!
Arucia, Marcis, Mercaria, all of them were sacrifices for our freedom!
The only thing that could stop us, who were strengthened by the silver devil!
âVice-pres, Presâs showed himself at Mercaria!â
âDamn it, retreat! Retreat!â
Was our student council president, who had been strengthened by the same silver devil we had.
#17 Their story: A certain student council presidentâs story
âWha, why?â
A Mercaria student blinked at me with shocked eyes, after Iâd just taken down a Yugrasia student.
âIâm on Aruciaâs side now.â
âHuh? Huhh? Huuhhhh?â
Judging by how his faceâs saying he didnât understand, it seemed that the stories of how Mercaria students would be the future talents that would support the empire were all lies.
They couldnât understand a simple betrayal even though it was explained this simply.
If it had been a Yugrasia student, the moment I attacked them from behind they would have judged me a traitor and retaliated accordingly as a matter of fact.
-Contractor, donât you think that believing that line of thought to be natural is the stranger one?
The Spirit King of Lightning hadnât said much even after I contracted him, but this time he cut in unexpectedly.
-There is no reason one would think something natural to be strange, O King.
-Forget itâŚ
It seemed that he had a lot he wanted to say.
That was rare, for a Spirit King.
Was it because he was a Spirit King?
âKughh⌠you trai⌠kugh!â
âWhat, had you not gone back yet?â
Iâd stopped attacking because the enemy had been glowing faintly, but it seemed that it was a feint.
It seemed that heâd been using light magic to pretend he was being sent to the healers.
âOi, yelling you feel like youâre dying from just this as a Yugrasia student. Do you need more training?â
With the power of the Spirit King, I unleashed multiple bolts of lightning magic.
I could faintly smell burnt flesh along with a crackling noise, but a Yugrasia student could take it.
âGwuuuuughâ
And around a minute later, this time with a proper flash of light that signified he had been forcibly removed from the battlefield, Nerkia watched to make sure he had actually retired, before he turned to the Mercaria students.
âHiik!â
âD, donât come closer!â
âUaahhh⌠HnnnnnnâŚ.â
Two boys and three girls.
As they all pulled each other in closely and shivered, I looked at them with a tilted head.
âAre they couples?â
Judging by how you couldnât even fit your finger between their bodies, so close together they were as they faced me, it seemed that they needed to be aware there was a time and place to be affectionate with each other.
Because if had been Risen and not me, he might actually try to kill them!
âThen⌠whereâs the Mercaria student council pres?â
âD, do you think Iâll tell you where the pres is hid⌠ing?â
Perhaps misunderstanding something, one of the boys said so while shivering, but his last words were so quiet I couldnât hear them.
âNo, Iâm not your enemy, Iâm telling you?â
âHiik!â
âOi, oi, just tell him! Just tell him!â
âOr else heâll torture us by electrocution!â
âS, surely he wouldnât do that at the imperial festival⌠right?â
As I took a step closer to them, one of the girls flinched and backpedalled from where she sat.
I couldnât make out what they were whispering between them but if I got a little closerâŚ
âUmâŚâ
âYes! Th, the pres is⌠where, whereâs the map?!â
âDesk! On the desk!â
âAh, here it is. Ah, the pres is over here. Heâs in the room used as food storage.â
Thanks to the truly detailed explanation, I found out where the Mercaria student council president was.
I approached them to thank them for the information, but why were they running away?
Iâm not a scary person?
-Iâm starting to get the feeling I chose the wrong contractorâŚ
And now for some reason the Spirit King is saying something weird as well, now whatâs with him.
Iâm just doing my best to survive as well!
âIs it here?â
It was the smallest of the castles that had been assigned to Mercaria, but it was also the furthest away from Yugrasia.
Normally it wouldnât be used as the main base, but as Arucia, Marcis and Mercaria had all joined in an alliance, it seemed that they had chosen the location furthest from Yugrasia.
âNow, then.â
If I went through the front door then of course they wouldnât believe me.
Learning from experience, I used a wind elemental to fly into the castle.
âIntruder!â
âEnemy spotted in the air!â
âThereâs only one, get him!â
Correction, I tried and was noticed.
âI knew it!â
But I had also expected this!
Since three days ago, when I had spoken out about Professor Nicerwin, nothing had gone right for me.
Iâd been kidnapped by Professor Nicerwin and beaten up by the silver devil, Iâd fallen into Risenâs devious trap and became an evil asshole who would even use his lover, and I was being chased my students who were trying to actually kill me because Iâd betrayed the academy.
âBut just this!â
I blocked 26 spells that were casted at me, deflected 82 more back to the ground and caused massive destruction, once I landed I used earth elementals to create 23 earth pillars to hoist up the 23 students that had come charging in at me to effectively imprison them 10m above the ground.
âP, please⌠spare meâŚâ
And I laid a light hand on the Mercaria pres who had raged at me, not believing me, to the end.
-Light?
-Yes, that is light by Yugrasia standards, O King.
-Yugrasia standardsâŚ
âKuhkâŚâ
âHey now, the student council president canât fall that easily. Whoâs gonna lead the students if their pres falls?â
As the teleportation spell to the healers began to kick in, I hurriedly used a water elemental to heal him.
Lately the equation [healing = increased time getting the living crap beaten out of you!] had formed in the night study so I wasnât as practiced at healing as I used to be, but it was good enough to stop him from being forcefully retired.
âKugh.. Cruel⌠bastardâŚâ
âNo Iâm telling you, Iâm on your side. Even if I heal you youâre still complaining.â
I even kind enough to wipe the blood off the corners of his mouth.
âIâm just here because I have a message from the Arucia student council president, Kiir. â
âNo⌠wait a second, why is the Yugrasia student council president the one carrying a message from the Arucia student council president?â
Mercariaâs vice-president said with a voice reeking of disbelief. Unlike Mercariaâs president, their vice-president hadnât taken as much damage and as such his words were more comprehensible.
âI said it before, but Iâm on Aruciaâs side now?â
âNo seriously, thatâs what Iâm trying to say! Why the hell is the Yugrasia student council president on Aruciaâs side!â
He asked me to tell him so I told him, but he simply got angrier.
Heâs weird.
âHmâŚâ
But even so, right now weâre on the same side.
I need to explain it simply for him, what should I sayâŚ
âThatâs it. Mm. Yep. Why Iâm at Arucia?â
âWhy?â
âThe power of love!â
A leaden silence filled the room.
As I thought, everyone was speechless at my flawless explanation.
âThatâs how it is, so listen up. These are Kiirâs orders. Thereâs no point in defending Mercaria, so get everyone to pack up and come to the Arucia main base.â
âEveryone? Youâre telling us to just hand over 1000 points over to Yugrasia?â
The other members of Mercariaâs student council, who hadnât let out a peep so far, began to raise their heads one by one.
Their eyes were filled with strong doubt and suspicion.
âI donât have a reason to lie to you. If I was lying, beating you all would be a simple job.â
I summoned four highest-rank elementals of the four cardinal elements and smiled brightly.
Perhaps it was due to contracting with the Spirit King of Lightning, but lately I could contract even more highest-rank spirits after I met Professor Nicerwin.
âThatâs⌠true.â
In the depths of a giant storeroom.
As the giant highest-rank elementals glowed with a mysterious light, the Mercaria student council stared, gaping up at the figures before nodding.
âSo, pack up and send everyone over?â
The events from here were dealt with quickly enough.
I looked at them quickly pack up their base, and communicate through the magic communication tools provided for this event to order all of their students not currently under attack to retreat from their castles.
âRight then, Iâll head off in advance.â
I waved and left the Mercaria students.
Behind me I saw the Mercaria students sprinkle something like a white dust, what could it be?
-It is better if you do not know.
-Really?
Well if a Spirit King is saying so then it should be alright to not care about it anymore.
I had plenty of other things to care about anyway.
Yes, likeâŚ
âHand over Nerkiaaaaaaaaa!â
âHow many times do I have to tell you heâs not here!â
A giant sword of flames collided with Risenâs god-killing stick, causing a giant explosion.
âHaap!â
As Lady Aris grunted, scores of Arucia students flew through the air.
Already, many Arucia students that looked no better than corpses were littering the area around them.
âKehehehehâŚâ
And further away, was Reedan laughing truly diabolically as he watched over the carnage.
At a single wave of his hand, the Arucia students turned their blades on each other.
As if he was bored, every now and then heâd wave his hand at the few Marcis students, who would dump a magic artillery barrage onto the Arucia students.
âGruaaaaagh!â
âAwoooooooo!â
On one side a bear was flipping people away, and behind it, a giant wolf was howling towards the sky.
âYep, Iâll hang around a bit before I go.â
I snapped myself out of my blank stare and discreetly lowered my altitude to land silently on the ground. From there, I quietly watched over them until Risen retreated to resupply his team.