Chapter 125: Operating Behind the Scenes

In the basement of the royal castle of Adelheit, there are facilities known only to the upper echelons of the royal palace. What inside there are top secrets, and that place can be called the core of the country. They have a wide range of uses, such as a power source for barriers that protect the castle and the town, and also as a laboratory for creating magic items.

「Welcome, Mage Prime Minister Joseph. Who would you like me to connect you to?」

「To the principal of Adelheit Magic Academy. Do it quickly.」

Joseph visited one of the facilities. The crystal-shaped magic item installed in this room reflects the figure of a person in a distant place and enables conversation with that person. This magic item was also originally developed by Adelheit and its existence is kept secret. Since the magic item won’t work unless a similar large crystal is placed in the place where both parties are having a conversation, it is not as convenient as a mobile telephone or a video call in modern Japan. In addition, it requires the magic power of one top-notch magician to operate. However, there is no other way to talk to someone far away in this world, so even though it takes a lot of magic power and the location is limited, it seems to be quite important as a facility.

「―― The magic power is filled up. The Magic Academy’s side seems to be ready as well.」

「Alright, connect it.」

「Understood. Principal Hao will be projected on the crystal.」

「Umu.」

As Josef approached the large crystal on the pedestal, the previously transparent crystal began to glow faintly, creating what appeared to be a human figure within. The figure became clearer gradually, and after ten seconds, it’s possible to identify the person.

『…… Thank you for waiting. I, Hao Square, am here.』

After that, an old person’s voice could be heard from the crystal. It was Hao, the principal who manages the Magic Academy that Adelheit is proud of. The voice is dignified, probably because he is a little older than Joseph. However, he seems to be tired and his impression seems to be different than usual. It’s a trivial matter, but Joseph’s nerves are very sharpened right now, so it didn’t take long to guess that something had happened at Hao’s place.

「What happened? You look different than usual.」

『Fuu… I’m not a match for you, huh. I was thinking of reporting to you first, but in the morning today, Massacre Princess and Black Iron came here.』

「… What did they do?」

Touko went to Gibeon Ruins near the academy on the dungeon exploration this time. If she encountered Deris and Nell there, it’s not strange if they went to the nearest town, Genius.

『They told me to let their two disciples participate in this year’s graduation festival using the principal’s recommendation…』n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

「No way!」

Joseph angrily hits the pedestal. ‘Why at this time when the festival is about to be held? Why so sudden?’ He is filled with such thoughts. Joseph has a common goal with Hao and has been preparing for the graduation festival for a long time, so this sudden accident easily drew anger from his old body.

「What is their goal? Benefits of participating in the graduation festival―― the honor of leaving good grades, the privilege of getting a job, and a personal history of graduating as the top student? Why would they want to give these things to their disciples, ah…」

『What’s wrong?』

Joseph remembers Touko’s conversation from before. Haruna wants to fight against all her classmates, who became stronger than herself even though temporarily. Touko said she was a target. In short, Haruna wants to take revenge on those who despised her. The girl that Nell had taken away the other day, Chinatsu, was the only one who tried to protect Haruna when she was criticized. If they are that close, it is easy to imagine that Chinatsu would help her take revenge. In addition, there is a huge possibility that Deris would find it amusing. Even Nell would eventually agree with Deris in a roundabout way.

He takes them into consideration. Even though Haruna and Chinatsu don’t enter the royal castle, it has been confirmed that they often visit the headquarters of the Knight Order. That’s because the master of the headquarters, Nell, allowed them to enter, but they are not allowed to enter the royal castle without legitimate requirements. If the disciples, Haruna and Chinatsu, were given the right to participate and win, the two who are under the control of Deris will get a legitimate reason to enter the royal castle. In all likelihood, their goal is their classmates. As far as the previous battle is concerned, Joseph may even lose his fighting force if he’s careless.

And what is more worrisome is that if the two of them want to get into the organization that Joseph controls. It’s a move that Deris is likely to do, such as sabotaging from inside the organization to make Joseph lose his position. Basically, he has the right to decide whether or not to hire the applicants, but in the long history of the long-established graduation festival, there have never been any applicants being rejected. If Joseph rejects them, Deris will use it to complain about the unfairness. Or maybe he will do something even worse than that.

Haruna and Chinatsu must not be given the right to participate. That was the conclusion that Joseph came to. The quickest way would be to not let them participate from the beginning. However, he judged that this is no longer possible.

「You refused, right?」

『Y-Yes. However, Black Iron pointed out the injustice that spreads in the academy… The staff members that being pointed out will be punished soon, but he even knows the names of the students who enrolled from the back door――』

「――Yeah, I understand. The more money they spend, the more it shows how influential their families are. The staff members who did the wrongdoings were also mentioned in the letter from Deris that I just received, so it’s probably true. Deal with them privately.」

With the set-up so far, there is no doubt that it’s within Deris’s influence. If the disciples can’t participate in the graduation festival, Deris will try to bring down the entire academy. Joseph knows from experience that Deris will do that without hesitation. Then, there’s only one way to prevent them from winning. After letting them participate, let the other students beat them.

「Hao, when will the graduation festival be held?」

『It’s about one week later.』

「Speed up the date as much as possible. The longer it is, the stronger their disciples will be. Let’s get them out of there before they become unmanageable.」

『I understand, but the graduation festival is a grand festival that’s held once a year. I’d like to have some time――』

「I don’t mind. But, hurry it as much as possible. After that, rearrange the tournament so that by the time they get to the finals, they will be fighting my granddaughter. If possible, it would be nice if we can specify the staff that can be used…」

『It’s too late for that now. The staff handled by Therese Batten, the daughter of the lord of this area, is too unique, so the opposition will be too great if we do that.』

「Hmph, that staff shield, huh. That Batten family’s heirloom is the reason why the standard rules for staves are so loose. We will have to change it by next year’s graduation festival.」

『But even without taking the staff into consideration, I’m sure your granddaughter will be able to win. After all, she is the promising star of the Joshua family. Don’t you think so, Mage Prime Minister Joseph Joshua?』

「Move your hands rather than your mouth. I’ll send you the details of the instructions in writing. Do it quickly.」

『As you wish.』

The call ended and the crystal returned to its original transparency. Due to Joseph’s arrangement, the graduation will be held earlier than expected. It was the next day when the news reached the participating students.

―――― The 17th day of training, ends.