I Became the Academy’s War Hero Chapter 65

The now-familiar center of the underground arena.

After asking Meriel to airlift the Artifact, we stood before it together.

“I brought it just like you asked, but… what exactly are you going to use this for?”

“Well, for testing, of course.”

“…This antique thing?”

As expected, Rubia didn’t seem to have any idea.

Understandable.

After the Arcadian Revolution, most Artifacts in this world had become unusable relics of unknown purpose.

Sure, one could sometimes guess the basic usage from its shape, or learn by experimenting—but the proper way to use one was almost completely lost to history.

I also knew far more about Artifacts from data-mining than I ever did from actually using them in-game.

‘Even so, the ones I figured out didn’t even make up thirty percent of the total.’

I signaled Rubia to step aside and drew my sword.

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, I swung a slash toward the mirror.

“Eugene?!”

But instead of shattering the mirror, the slash was instantly sucked into it.

Not long after the mirror devoured the strike—

Shwaaaak!

With a flash, an identical slash was shot back out from the mirror.

I caught it cleanly and deflected it upward.

Kwaaang!

A brief silence followed.

Rubia glanced back and forth between the ceiling and the Artifact, murmuring,

“Wh-what just happened?”

“This isn’t an ordinary mirror.”

Its official name was the Absorbing Mirror—a mirror that absorbed any form of attack once and then re-emitted it in the same direction.

When Rubia’s expression showed that she had a hunch, I answered with a smile.

“Well, looks like you’ve got a general idea of what we’re doing… So let’s get serious from here on out. Stay sharp.”

“Huff… huff….”

“…Pass.”

As expected—or perhaps beyond expectations—the test was a success.

Rubia, clutching her trembling knees, struggled to catch her breath.

She looked completely exhausted—far worse than when she’d helped Eric earlier.

The content of the test was simple.

Cast an attack spell into the Absorbing Mirror, then neutralize the returning attack with the same spell.

Once you could no longer cancel it, use a defensive spell to block it.

And repeat the process until you’re spent.

It might sound like a simple test to deplete one’s mana reserves, but—

once a certain condition was added, the difficulty spiked dramatically.

Facing the Absorbing Mirror behind her, I nodded in satisfaction.

“In the future, you should be able to produce this level of performance without my help.”

I hadn’t done much myself.

All I did was step in between Rubia and the mirror, deliberately exposing myself to danger.

She let out a deep sigh of relief, then suddenly stood up and grabbed my shoulder.

“You do realize how close that was, right? If I’d been even a second slower…”

“You weren’t, so it’s fine.”

“That’s hindsight talking.”

“That’s how the world works.”

“…Honestly, I didn’t want to say this to you, but—”

With a face mixed with worry and frustration, Rubia said,

“When I look at you, Eugene… sometimes I can’t help but think you’re insane.”

My reply to that had long been decided.

“I believed in you, Rubia.”

After all this time I’ve spent watching you—did you really think I’d doubt you over something like this?

And besides—

“Well, you’re not entirely wrong.”

“…….”

“To survive on the battlefield, you need to be at least a little insane.”

“Eugene, that’s not what I—”

Just as Rubia tried to continue, another voice cut in.

“So you two were here.”

It was Agent Meriel, now a rather familiar face.

“What is it?”

“A message from Karbenna.”

She was holding a communication orb.

That night, in the private room I’d been assigned for my last night before departure, I channeled mana into the orb once more.

The orb glowed green, and a familiar voice came through.

—Ah, ah. This is Walter Clark. There’s too much to share for a letter, so I’m leaving this message instead. First, the Chairwoman’s reply….

—“Thank you for drawing out all of the enemy’s cards, Colonel Carter. I don’t know your reasons or your goals, but I do know one thing—you are someone I need. So, let’s struggle together for now. Make sure to visit before the summit.”

“……”

What Walter said afterward was quite a shock, even to me.

An assassination attempt on Michel Bernhardt, the suicide of his servant Oliver, and the visit of Dale Wedmeyer.

—Since this is a transmission orb, I can’t receive replies… but seriously, can you really read the future? If I hadn’t gone to the site with all those herbs, the Chairwoman would’ve been dead, one hundred percent.

“…Too perfect to call it coincidence.”

Every choice I made influenced later events, in ways large and small.

Because I’d survived repeated assassination attempts and hidden within the Magic Tower, the enemy had shifted their target from me to Michel.

Because I had let go of my grudge with Walter, he helped me without complaint—and that, in turn, saved Michel.

The choices and actions I’d made as Eugene Carter had led to this outcome.

‘Something no mere player could ever do.’

—Thanks to the Dean’s cleanup, the rumor hasn’t spread yet, but eventually, it will go public. When that happens, you might be called to testify about the assassination attempt, so be ready for it.

—You’ll be back tomorrow, right? And now there’s the Imperial Summit right after—talk about bad timing. Anyway, take care. You never know when another assassin might show up.

The transmission ended with those words.

As the orb lost its light and dimmed on the desk, I fell into thought.

“This might make things easier.”

I’d known for a long time that Chloe Bernhardt was a woman unworthy of the Bernhardt name.

But to think she’d make such a foolish move at a time like this.

‘This is what happens when there’s not a single loyal retainer left to give honest counsel.’

Some might wonder what the Bernhardt main house was doing while their fourth daughter was busy making such a mess of things—

but the Bernhardts weren’t exactly in a position of comfort themselves.

Because they lacked leeway, they resorted to illegal operations like Hockma Distribution to maintain their profits.

Because they lacked leeway, they were even trying to seize the seat of Michel, the Bernhardt family’s so-called failure.

‘And it’s precisely because of this situation that I can now plan to bring them down.’

The upcoming summit would be the stage where this was officially declared to the Empire’s key figures—a declaration of war, in essence.

I began folding my fingers one by one as I organized the cards I held.

First, the Hockma Incident’s public exposure.

Since I’d managed to rehabilitate Eric Halenber, I could advance the timeline far sooner than expected.

In particular, the pro-Bernhardt faction within Karbenna would suffer a decisive blow from this.

Including Eric, there were seven witnesses in total.

Not a large number, but all of them were in severe states of addiction. It was more than enough to demonstrate the gravity of the issue.

Second, the external reform of Karbenna.

This was the perfect counter to destroy Bernhardt’s main justification for pressuring Michel.

Internally, it meant implementing a more practical curriculum to prepare for the ongoing Beast crisis.

Externally, it meant promoting cooperation with two opposing forces—the Special Task Force and the Magic Tower.

They probably thought that by shifting blame for the Hockma Incident to Halenber and purging a few related personnel, they could sweep everything under the rug.

But for Bernhardt, the fact that both the Special Task Force and the Magic Tower were intervening in Karbenna was an extremely serious matter.

Once they realized we were genuinely pursuing this, even they wouldn’t be able to just sit idly by.

Third, changes within the Imperial Court.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a card I had prepared myself.

But through Lea Bronte, I had confirmed that Edel and I shared the same stance—which was a definite advantage for me.

Either way, to save all the main characters, I had to first eliminate the biggest sources of death flags.

And within the Ribenia Empire, the Bernhardts were the prime example of such a factor.

Of course, for an individual to face them alone would be impossible—they were far too powerful.

But they too had enemies.

By dragging them into the open, I could drag those enemies out as well.

Those hidden powerhouses who had kept silent for lack of reason or gain to unite.

‘…Finally, I’m standing at the starting line.’

With a smile filled with determination, I headed toward the bed.

It felt as though two months had passed, yet it had only been three weeks.

Should I be glad—or not?

“I suppose I can decide after the summit.”

Murmuring softly to myself, I drifted into sleep.

It was the first sound sleep I’d had since arriving at the Magic Tower.

March 14th, Monday—early morning.

Clatter, clatter.

Having finished preparations to return to Karbenna, we gathered in one place.

“…What are we supposed to do with that greedy man?”

“I’d rather not hear that coming from you.”

With my arms crossed, I shot back at Gustav’s nonsense.

Nearby, Meriel wore a conflicted expression as she looked toward Rubia in the distance.

Of the four carriages bound for Karbenna, three were filled to the brim with Artifacts.

The coachmen drafted from Mallet were already in their positions, ready for departure.

When Rubia, who had gone to check, signaled an ‘okay’ from afar, I bowed my head to the two before me.

“Thank you both for your active cooperation.”

“……”

“…You’re as shameless as ever, Carter.”

“Well, it’s not like this is something curable. You think shamelessness is a disease?”

With an affable smile, I extended my hand.

Gustav was the first to respond, giving a cold smile as he clasped mine.

“I’ll be sure to repay this humiliation someday.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Next, Meriel averted her gaze for a moment, then, as if gathering her resolve, met my eyes squarely.

“…Please, take good care of Rubia.”

Her eyes shone bright with resolve and sincerity.

“…I’ll do my best.”

Leaving the Magic Tower’s people behind, I followed the others toward the carriages.

Since the space inside was too cramped for three people, I decided to ride up front beside the coachman.

Eric had already gone inside ahead of us.

“No goodbyes?”

“We’ll probably see them again soon anyway.”

Though Rubia replied casually, her face was still clouded with worry.

“Are you alright?”

“…I suddenly feel a little scared.”

She clasped her hands together, eyes lowered uneasily.

“If I’d just controlled my temper back then, Mallet wouldn’t have been in danger…”

“Let’s stop dwelling on things that didn’t happen, Rubia.”

“Eugene…”

“Even if you’d agreed to the import ban back then, something would’ve gone wrong eventually.”

The Inquisition’s greatest strength lay in fabricating justification.

Once they decided on a target to judge, they would invade under any pretext imaginable.

And once an invasion began, they never stopped until the enemy declared total surrender.

In terms of elite combat strength, few factions in the Empire could rival Dellowell.

“That’s why we must build the strength to stand against them. Because we can’t stop what’s coming.”

“……”

No response came.

Instead, we silently nodded to reaffirm our resolve.

Once Rubia boarded the carriage, I climbed up to the coachman’s seat.

When I raised my hand high, the coachmen all cracked their whips at once.

The carriages turned smoothly, leaving the tower behind as they began their journey forward.

As I watched that scene, I turned my gaze ahead once more.

The sun, hidden behind the clouds, was slowly revealing its face.