How to Survive at the Academy

Chapter 24: Glasskan Subjugation Expedition (4)

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

I suddenly remembered the high-ranking wind spirit Merilda’s message.

I couldn’t help but want to ask follow-up questions at such a request.

How did it know what was gonna happen to Yennekar? It probably didn't have information of how the story would progress like I did.

And what did it want me to do by asking me to save her?

Did it expect me to just run to the Student Center and defeat Velosper? To go sacrifice myself and throw away my insider information about the future? How did it even think I could defeat Velosper?

Or did it want me to read Yennekar's thoughts so I could prevent her from doing this? Like some mad god obsessed with controlling the variables to make it possible for Yennekar to live a happy life? There were certain degrees to how unreasonable demands could be.

But Merilda wasn't an idiot.

The one who delivered the message was Lucy Mayreel. Merilda kept track of every single move I made in the forest. This meant she took that into consideration before giving me the message. There must have been a reason for it.

Trying to figure out her intention wasn't easy, nor was it important, right now.

I already had so many things I needed to take care of. I didn't have the headspace to even think about some side problem.

* * *

The world was already filled with difficult challenges, so I found no reason why I should even challenge the impossible.

The reason people had a hard time challenging the impossible was that they didn't even know it was impossible in the first place.

From the point of view of someone who had already cleared ‘Silvenia's Failed Swordmaster’ countless of times, who had measured all the skills of both characters and enemies, who had played through the game in various playstyles—trying to beat Takan right now would be challenging the impossible.

‘Silvenia's Failed Swordmaster’ Act 1 Finale. The 3rd named boss. The high-ranking fire spirit Takan.

Takan was already a high-ranking spirit with overwhelming specs, but with Velosper’s Berserk buff, it now had an infinite advantage against magic. The hard scales that wrapped around its entire body nullified the power of any magic attack. The fact that a sword could even penetrate it already didn’t make any sense.

Anyone who had ever played a game would figure it out at this point. Takan wasn’t a boss made to be defeated through skills and strategies.

He was an event boss. A boss added by the story to have Taylee use his newly acquired Elemental Slash from the last chapter.

Whenever a new skill, function, element, or anything else was introduced in a game such as this, the natural progression would be to make players learn how to use it. It would be ridiculous if they just kept adding skills but never introduced the players to how to properly wield them.

As a result, this became a situation wherein I had to open a locked door without the key.

That was impossible, obviously.

“What’s inside?”

“It’s nothing special. It’s not necessary but it’s good to have, just in case.”

“Is… that so?”

Ziggs asked me about the leather bag I brought out from the reading room. But there was no time to explain so I had held the bag in my arms as I crossed the hallway.

Since I needed to make the impossible possible, my methods didn’t have to be normal. If I couldn’t open a locked door, then I just had to go through the back door.

The story that was progressing smoothly somehow got derailed. I needed to put my stance of safely watching from the sidelines on hold. I had to flip it back to its original state. I needed to quickly adapt to the unfolding situation.

I would have been able to solve this in a simpler way had I had enough time. Since I knew every single factor within the game, I would’ve been able to plan more accordingly to my benefit.

But I could only afford to deal with what i already had. And my method boiled down to my insider information, a privilege I alone enjoyed.

Luckily, I came up with a good idea.

Though the idea was ridiculous, it was the surest idea that would work out.

* * *

“I'm sorry for being late. I will pay for the crime I had committed.”

“Never mind that. Even if you were here, we would have lost anyway.”

The time to face the subjugation force came earlier than I had expected.

Ziggs dropped Elka off at the Student Square since he couldn’t enter the Student Center with her on his back. We ran all the way here with all our strength since it was an urgent situation. But surprisingly, the subjugation team had already returned to the Square.

And their condition was ridiculous.

“We were lucky enough to retreat but…”

Princess Penia looked up at the vast night sky. Glasskan’s summoning circle had almost completely turned dark red. It wouldn’t even be strange if it were to be completed right now.

The barrier covering the academic district was still intact, so it seemed moot to expect help from outside.

“Having come all the way here, this is a situation where I have to enter headfirst and either sink or swim.”

Time wasn’t on our side. Nobody would suggest waiting for outside help at this point, given how the summoning circle had filled the sky with red. But even if they were running out of time, the subjugation team already lost once and had wasted precious time from retreating.

I looked around. How far did they enter? Where did they get stuck? And how much damage did they take?

I was awe-struck by all the students gathered around me. All of these main characters who had individual roles were gathered together in one place like some sort of glorious event.

The Failed Swordmaster Taylee, Companion Ayla, The Benevolent Princess Penia, The Golden Daughter Lortel, The Spear from Nature Ziggs, Head Escort Claire, Gloomy Clevius, Nosy Elvira…

They all had injuries of varying severity, big and small. Head Escort Claire, particularly, had one of her legs completely burned. She was now useless in terms of fighting power.

Not only that, but Clevius was also wearing a split on one of his arms. It looked like a fracture. That meant he too had lost a great deal of value as part of the team’s fighting power.

But the most important thing was that Taylee looked okay. Considering that fact, I started to decide what steps we needed to take to keep the story progressing.

Claire voiced her opinion, barely managing to keep her balance.

“If you’re planning on re-entering, I think it would be a good idea to gather volunteers from the regular students and then re-enter. Once the pain goes away, I will also hurry up and…”

“That’s enough, Claire. You will rest here.”

Claire shook her head.

“Princess Penia, if you are really being considerate towards me, then please withdraw your command.”

“You can’t even walk properly, Claire. I too… have a heart.”

You could infer from the princess’s tone that the reason such a talented royal knight such as Claire was even seriously injured was that she had protected Princess Penia.

The princess talked in a firm voice, keeping her resolve, but she must be a wreck inside.

It was definitely like her to not show any weakness. However, just being strong-minded didn’t mean the current crisis at hand would be solved. It wasn’t a strong heart that would solve this crisis, but one’s abilities.

I looked around our surroundings.

Surrounding the Square were Neres Hall, Obell Hall, and the Student Center.

Of the buildings, Glockt Hall was completely destroyed, a result of entering the building to fight a mid-ranking spirit during Phase 2. The entrance to Nail Hall was also open, probably from when they defeated the spiritual beast Altair who was blocking it.

Just as I expected. They got through Phase 2 but lost to Takan during Phase 3.

Thankfully, they were able to retreat successfully. Although they ended up wasting too much precious time and even lost Claire, who was an important part of the team in terms of fighting power. The top first-year student of the Combat Department, Clevius, had also lost more than half of his fighting power.

We didn’t have much time and we were out of fighting power. It also seemed like the summoning circle would get completed anytime now before any sort of outside help could come. I couldn’t just stay still but I also was not sure if we would be able to win if we were to re-enter right away.

Princes Penia tightly clenched her teeth. She was in the position to lead the camp. She had to come up with some type of plan.

“Let’s divide the subjugation team into two.”

I spoke the minute I was able to properly assess the situation.

An outsider had intervened all of a sudden. The gloomy atmosphere due to the first-year aces getting hurt became even worse at my intrusion.

“Looking at the summoning circle, it seems like it’s going to be completed soon. There’s not enough time to defeat Takan.”

“What the– Ed Rothstaylor?”

Gloomy Clevius said as he winced in pain from his fracture.

“Listen here, does this situation seem like a joke to yo–”

“Let’s hear him out first, Clevius.”

Ziggs stopped Clevius before he could finish what he was saying.

Everyone’s eyes widened at the sight. They looked baffled. Something told me Zigg’s attitude before he left and his attitude towards me now were vastly different. They must be thinking something happened at the library.

But no matter what may have happened, I didn’t have time to pay attention to such things right now.

“Takan relies on its hearing more than its sight when grasping the surrounding terrain and enemy’s location. So making a loud noise should be enough to lure him away. It will be better if we have one team distract Takan while the other enters the Combat Practice Field.”

“Ed, you can only say that because you’ve never fought Takan.”

It was Lortel who responded. She had fought Takan one-on-one during the Joint Combat Practice class a while ago.

“It’s not the same as when I fought it in class.”

“I know. Velosper must have cast Berserk. Fighting low-ranking spirits was enough for me to realize that.”

“Attract his attention and earn time. That plan doesn’t sit well with me. It was already a relief not to fall down or lose your life with each of its attacks. The only reason we were able to retreat was because we got lucky.”

Lortel calmly explained.

“Did you escape when the pillar fell down?”

“......”

How did you know that?

They all looked at me with the same questions in their eyes. But there wasn’t enough time to explain.

I wasn’t comfortable intervening in the first place. I wouldn’t have needed to explain anything if only there wasn’t an unexpected variable that happened.

I had decided not to do anything that would ruin the flow of the original story so as not to risk the knowledge I had.

But I needed to put that aside for now.

※ There are three cutscenes mid-battle where the pillars around the corridor will collapse. You will instantly die if a pillar falls on you so be sure to watch out for it!

It wouldn’t have been this hard if we had Elemental Slash. But that was something you’d only know if you had enough experience playing the game.

If you led Takan under the large stone pillars found at three corners of the corridor, you would be able to time it and had them fall on him, giving the players a bit of time.

“You were lucky.”

They were lucky enough to have one of the pillars fall on Takan, giving them enough time to escape. It was like the heavens had truly helped them.

Although that would only happen the first time, because Takan would cut the pillar with its tail after, meaning you couldn’t bank on such luck twice.

“I won’t press you for the details, but what you’re suggesting is completely unrealistic, Ed. Takan was an opponent we couldn’t do anything against, even when we all rushed him. So why would we split our fighting power into two? We may be able to buy a little bit of time, yes. But I don’t think that small amount of time would mean anything in the long run.”

What Lortel said was realistic and reasonable. Her impressive level-headed reasoning was the biggest reason she got to where was today.

The half who would be in charge of Takan would most likely get wiped out before they could even buy us some time. And if Takan joins Velosper at the field, that would just be the worst possible situation for us, taking care of the both of them at the same time.”

To summarize the entire reason for her object, it was:

“The risk is too high.”

But that was not something I could say, knowing what I know.

“The risk posed by an action can only be determined if there is another alternative path, Lortel.”

Lortel momentarily shut her mount, unable to refute my words. She rolled her eyes, thinking of what else she could argue with, but she couldn’t come up with an alternative path to deal with this situation.

“Princess Penia, we shouldn’t forget the most important goal we have right now. And that’s to stop Yennekar who is currently possessed by Velopser.”

Everyone fell silent. Nobody wanted to agree with me even though everything I said was true.

“There’s no reason to defeat Takan. We can just run past him and find a way to stop Yennekar in the practice field. With this group of people here, we should be able to defeat Velopser. No… not should. We have to defeat Velosper.”

With all these main characters gathered here today, if we still couldn’t beat Velosper, then it could only be attributed to a lack of synergy.

This subjugation team could definitely beat Velosper and Yennekar during the final phase, even if they were lacking in fighting power. The key was Taylee’s Swordmaster skill. Things would work out if enough people supported him during the battle.

“Ed Rothstaylor.”

Princess Penia was staring right at me, looking worse for wear.

* * *

Translator - Plumper

Proofreader - kianianian

* * *

So many things and different variables must have pushed her into a corner.

The hem of her dress, which had always been shiny, was now dirty and torn here and there. The tips of her silky hair had also been burned by Takan’s flames. All traces of a gruesome battle.

With her mind and body pushed into a corner, she looked straight at me.

“You… It’s you again.”

“Since we don’t have much time, I won’t say much.”

The students around us began to whisper.

Who is he to talk to the princess so condescendingly?

Isn’t it crazy to follow Ed Rothstaylor’s plan?

Won’t we all die at this point?

Well, these were things not even worth reacting to.

“I am not lying.”

But these students were not the ones who would make the final decision. Only one person in this base had a monarch’s qualifications to take on such responsibilities.

Princess Penia stared at me for a while… she seemed to be lost in her thoughts, but soon nodded her head.

“Whatever your intent may be, you didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”

A judgment made calmly.

“Princess Penia! Are you taking his side?! That guy is Ed Rothstaylor!”

“Quiet, Claire. I am not taking Ed Rothsaylor’s side, I’m just following the ‘reasonable opinion’ that he had brought up.”

Princess Penia told the subjugation team after making her final decision.

“We can’t beat Takan right now. But what’s certain is that if we defeat the Elementalist Yennekar, then Takan would also be defeated. But there’s something we must first decide.”

“Who’s going to stop Takan?”

Ziggs said. Followed by a moment of silence from everyone.

“Ah… isn’t that just picking a person who wants to commit suicide.”

“Watch what you say, Elvira.”

“Oh my, I apologize, princess.”

In a state of disarray, Nosy Elvira quickly shut her mouth.

“One is not specifically safer than the other. The opponent will either be a high-ranking dark spirit or a high-ranking fire spirit.”

That’s right.

From their point of view, one was not safer than the other.

But from my point of view of knowing everything, dealing with Takan was much more dangerous.

Takan was an enemy designed to teach Taylee how to use Elemental Slash. That’s why it was an overwhelmingly overpowered enemy.

On the other hand, the high-ranking dark spirit Velosper was just a strong enemy.

Defeating him would not rely on a specific attack method like Takan. Velosper was just a standard final boss you could defeat through strategy and properly using your abilities.

Takan’s existence is completely unreasonable, given the circumstances. A lock that needed to be opened without a key.

But Velosper was just a complicated labyrinth. And with these many talented members, they could surely defeat him through pure effort.

“But… I… I don’t want to deal with that fire-lizard!”

The cowardly Clevius groaned.

“I will… I’ll go with the team fighting Velosper! I’d rather go that way! You even said it yourself, that it was more important to deal with Yennekar!”

Ah, that’s right. Right now, the biggest difference between the two high-ranking spirits was the fear that the subjugation team had felt.

Tension spread throughout the group. The princess wasn’t able to stop Clevius from saying such discouraging things.

The enemy they hadn’t met yet, versus the enemy they already lost against.

It was obvious that the fear they felt for Takan was much stronger.

Takan, the high-ranking spirit made even stronger by Velosper’s Berserk buff. The embodiment of fear, who swung its tail around, letting out a mighty roar, knocking down the pillars in the corridor while it spewed out flames.

It was only natural they didn’t want to deal with it again.

Nobody volunteered for the Takan subjugation team.

There was tension among the students. Somebody had to take responsibility.

“I will take the position.”

The first person to raise their hand was Taylee McLaure.

“Don’t say something stupid.”

I shut down Taylee immediately.

“What did you say…?”

There was still hostility in his eyes whenever he would look at me. That much was expected.

“You wouldn’t be able to handle that lizard even if you die and get reborn. You wouldn’t even last a minute.”

“There’s no guarantee someone else would be able to do it either. If we had to pick someone to sacrifice, it’s only logical for that sacrifice to be me.”

Taylee looked around. All of the faces he saw were of the ace students of the first-year students. It wasn’t everyday you would get to see these people gathered in one place, sharing their opinions.

There was only one student here who was at risk of failing. Who was like a goose stuck amongst swans.

I was sure he was well-trained now. But that alone wouldn’t nearly be enough to deal with the overwhelming gap between Takan and himself.

“I’m quick. I’m not sure how long I could run away for, but if we needed a sacrifice, it’s only right for me to do it.”

“You must have misunderstood. We aren’t here to pick a sacrifice right now.”

I grabbed Taylee’s shoulders and turned him around. I gave him a strong push toward the crowd at the base.

“Stop making a fuss and get over there. You must be in the team who will deal with Velosper.”

I looked at Princess Penia after.

“I have an idea. I can keep Takan busy until the main force is able to take down Yennekar.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s… Is there even time to explain right now? It’s a very long plan, so to speak.”

The color of Glasskan’s summoning circle up in the sky would no longer change. It was now completely dark red. It felt like the disaster that was Glasskan would come out any moment now.

“There’s no need to divide the subjugation force into two equal numbers. I just need two people. One to act as the vanguard, and another for firepower.”

That was all I would say. I then closed my mouth.

“W-What? You want us to come with you, Ed Rothstaylor, to go take on Takan?! Who in their right mind would do that?! We might as well just pray to god! Rather than trusting and following you… it would be better to run away towards the barrier’s outskirts!”

“The person in charge of the vanguard will be Clevius, who currently keeps on yapping about.”

“WHAT? WHY?! WHY ME?! WHY?! I’M SORRY!!! IT’S MY FAULT! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”

“Dear god… you’re so loud! Idiotic Clevius.”

Nosy Elvira yelled as she grabbed a piece of cloth used to seal alchemy chemicals and shoved it into the injured Clevius’s mouth, unable to deal with him anymore.

Clevius started groaning through the gag while screaming on and off.

“As for the person in charge of firepower… Lortel, you will come with me.”

“Me?”

The Golden Daughter Lortel looked at me in surprise.

“As you already know, I suffered a crushing defeat against Takan before, even without the Berserk magic.”

“Is that even important? Is there even anyone here who can beat Takan one-on-one?”

“That’s true but uhm…”

Lortel smiled.

“I also know how precious my life is. In this situation, regardless of who you ask, isn’t it only natural to politely refuse? Even though I’m not like that idiotic Clevius?”

‘Who are you calling an idiot?’

I could almost hear Clevius cry through the cloth, but none of the other subjugation force members cared.

“Alright. But your opinion doesn’t really matter.”

“That's true too.”

Lortel cooly admitted. There was only one person who could decide every action and policy regarding the subjugation force.

I turned my head towards her. The girl who had the power to decide everyone’s actions, The Benevolent Princess Penia Elias Kroel.

“Please make a decision.”

“Will you trust him?”

“Is there any alternative?”

Everyone nearby had their attention focused on the princess. The students guarding the base looked rather skeptical. You would be living under a rock to not know Ed Rothstaylor’s notoriety. I wasn’t hoping for a favorable response.

“Princess! You can’t! No! You must never! You can’t just trust that guy to take care of things!”

Gloomy Clevius spat out the fabric in his mouth and shouted in objection.

“I think it’s a worthwhile plan. If there are no other alternatives, let’s go with the plan Ed suggested. Because that is the only option we have.”

The Spear from Nature Ziggs was relatively in favor of me.

“Yeah, It might be better to follow his plan. I’m not sure about anything but I sure know it’s better than doing nothing and getting killed, ahahah!”

Nosy Elvira seemed to agree with me, but you could tell she was actually in favor of anything.

“I… I don’t have anything to say.”

The Golden Daughter Lortel quietly watched the situation unfold.

“......”

Taylee stayed silent, his thoughts must have been quite complicated.

At the center was Princess Penia with her eyes closed, silent herself.

Trying to figure out the correct decision among the many differing opinions.

The princess had to carefully choose whose opinions to trust, and whose opinions to discard.

After contemplating for a while, Princess Penia opened her and said.

“There is one condition. It may be a bit hard to fulfill.”

Without further complications, the plan seemed to be going into action.

“Please don’t die. You can’t.”

* * *

The subjugation force was divided into two groups.

The team in charge of Takan consisted of me, Clevius, and Lortel.

And the team in charge of defeating Yennekar consisted of the remaining members.

I didn’t have any big reason why I chose Clevius and Lortel. I just needed two people to be in charge of the vanguard and firepower position.

The people who could’ve served as the vanguard were Taylee, Clevius, Ziggs and Claire.

Taylee was out of the question and Claire was seriously injured. So it was either Ziggs or Clevius. But it was better to put the stronger Ziggs on the team in charge of defeating Yennekar, as his role was more crucial in the subjugation.

I just needed a vanguard who would attract attention, so I didn’t really need someone who was strong. That was why I ended up choosing Clevius who was already injured.

As for firepower, Princess Penia, Lortel and Elvira were my potential choices to be in charge of firepower. Ayla was still a bit too weak to be considered for the role.

Princess Penia was out of the question. She would be in charge of creating the defense to block Velosper’s magic attacks during the final battle. That’s why she needed to be part of that team.

The left Elvira and Lortel. There wasn’t much of a reason for choosing Lortel over Elvira. Lortel was known as the Bad Ending Maker during Act 1 so I didn’t want to put her next to Taylee. That’s why I decided to take her with me instead.

As a result, the group in charge of defeating Yennekar was Taylee, Princess Penia, Ziggs, Elvira, and Ayla.

The group was a lot smaller compared to the original story. But they could definitely win as long as Taylee would obtain the Swordsmaster skill.

“We’re cutting it quite close…”

There was nothing to be worried about. I already considered everyone’s stats and who would be the best member for each role, essentially creating the most optimal teams but… compared to how the story originally went, there were definitely more things to be

There was nothing to be worried about. At this point I have considered all the stats of each member, thought about who would be the best member for each role, and ultimately created the most optimal teams but… compared to the original timeline, there were definitely many more things to be nervous about.

If they couldn’t defeat Yennekar, then things would only get more complicated from there on out. But I had no choice but to trust them for now.

What’s more urgent right now was Takan.

“Things ended up turning out just like you wanted, Ed.”

It was late into the night. Sunrise was slowly approaching. The time limit was almost up.

The location we were headed to was the entrance to the Student Center. On either side of it were Neres Hall and Obel Hall.

“Shit! Just why did I have to be here?! Dear God! Please spare my life!”

Clevius was on the verge of tears. Even though he was acting like this, he’s someone who always managed to do the things he needed to do. Even though he was irritatingly screeching like some mosquito next to my ear, he should be quite amazing at being the bait.

The three of us stood side by side as we looked at the open entrance to Nail Hall. As soon as we enter the corridor, the battle would start right away.

When we had managed to drag Takan out, the group in charge of defeating Yennekar would be able to sneak in behind and enter the Combat Practice Field where the final battle would start.

I couldn’t believe the battle against both Takan and Velosper would be happening at the same time. I was experiencing all sorts of weird things, getting myself caught up in all of this.

“It’s about time you tell us, right? How are we going to buy time against that fire-lizard?”

“We can’t.”

“…what?”

Lortel looked at me with an absurd expression on her face. Even Clevius was completely caught off guard.

“What? What the hell are you saying?!”

“We will die if Takan’s fire so much as grazes us. Takan is also ridiculously fast, and we will be in a confined space, the pillars had already fallen down… how could we possibly buy some time? Even if we try to run away, we wouldn’t be able to drag it on for more than five minutes.”

“That’s… those are words we can’t just easily overlook, Ed. We’re risking our lives here.”

“What I’m saying is, I think we can have around five minutes, at the very least.”

I took my dirty school uniform coat off and pulled up my sleeves.

“You shouldn’t think of this as running away. You have to think of this as defeating it.”

Clevius and Lortel looked dumbfounded at my words. It was a natural reaction for Clevius, but I had never seen Lortel look so puzzled before. She always looked so level-headed. It wasn’t a common sight. Seeing it in person was kinda hilarious.

“Just do what I tell you. As long as we follow my plan, we will definitely win.”

I waved my arm around, signaling the team in charge of defeating Yennekar.

It was to signal that it was time to enter.