SRS 89

“So that guy is a disciple of the Phantom Sword Master?”

“…Well, he is a disciple, but he’s probably not the only one. Aren’t the other students taking swordsmanship class also disciples?”

“You’re saying something that could get you in big trouble, junior? There’s a difference between enrolled students and disciples! He doesn’t call regular students separately for training!”

The seniors, raising their voices in exasperation, corrected Yohan’s naive thinking and rubbed their arms.

One of them met Yohan’s gaze, even spreading his fingers as he warned him.

“Listen carefully. It’s best not to get close to the professors. Becoming a disciple or attracting their attention isn’t good. Getting appointed as a teaching assistant is even worse! If by any chance a professor shows interest in you and invites you to their office, run away immediately. The moment you’re caught, consider your peaceful days at Fantasiademia over!”

…Isn’t it not exactly peaceful right now either?

Dimensional rifts were opening, and external beings were attacking at every opportunity. He’d come to apply for the guard squad to stop that, only to end up trapped in the closed chamber like this, even as a white lie, this seemed far from peaceful.

Yohan had many retorts in mind but held his tongue, fearing he’d seem arrogant, and just nodded for now.

He agreed that it was best not to get close to the professors. And to avoid becoming a teaching assistant, too.

The professors here didn’t seem to have particularly good personalities, so it was only natural.

However…

Yohan watched Kylus, who had begun wielding his sword, for a moment before voicing the curiosity he’d been harboring all along.

“…Why exactly do you warn against the professors to that extent? The professors are strange, but what I mean is…”

As he trailed off, wondering how to phrase it without sounding odd, the seniors chuckled. They wore expressions as if they fully understood Yohan’s feelings.

“You mean, aside from the professors’ personalities, is there a reason to avoid them?”

“Yes.”

It seemed their expressions weren’t for nothing, as they accurately interpreted Yohan’s rambling and asked back.

When Yohan nodded vigorously to say that was exactly it, the seniors stroked their chins and let out thoughtful hums.

“Hmm… Yes, it’s understandable for a first-year to be curious. You don’t know much yet.”

“What should we do? Since we met like this, maybe we should just tell him?”

“It’s not exactly a secret, so no problem, right?”

“Yes. It’s not like Serdik Agor is going to come scold us for telling.”

By the time you’re a senior, does it become normal to call professors without honorifics?

Yohan flinched as they casually mentioned the vice headmaster’s name.

Clang-clang-clang!

At that moment, a tremendous clatter came from the iron door.

The iron of the closed chamber door, which hadn’t budged despite all kinds of attacks, began to split along the patterned sword paths.

Yohan and the students stared, mesmerized by the crumbling door. With the iron door as a backdrop, Kylus sheathed his sword in an efficient motion.

“I’m done.”

As he turned to the seniors and spoke, the iron door fully collapsed, and light burst forth.

“We can finally get out of here…!”

The seniors’ voices rang out in joy. Yohan raised his hand to shield against the blazing light but felt something wrong.

“…This is weird?”

Why is the light so hot?

His skin prickled and warmed as if he were facing the sun directly. If this really connected to the swordsmanship training hall, there shouldn’t be this kind of heat, so a scared Yohan instinctively deployed a barrier to protect everyone.

It was right after that when intense flames poured out from beyond the iron door amid the light.

Whoosh!

Flames as fierce and hot as a fire dragon’s breath stormed in like a tempest. Yohan hurriedly layered barriers and bit his lip. The barriers cast with divine power melted away far too easily before the flames.

As he gritted his teeth and recreated the barriers, the panicked seniors’ voices pierced his ears.

“What is this?”

“Damn it! Was this not the exit?”

“A trap?”

“No way! When I came in before, we definitely exited through here…!”

“You idiot! You trust the Phantom Sword Master? If we exited through here before, it probably became a trap afterward!”

…A trap.

Grasping the situation from their conversation, Yohan gave a resentful side-eye at the spirit contracted to him.

The spirit, flustered, hurriedly waved its hands. Thanks to the contract, the spirit’s intent struck his mind directly. It was asserting its innocence.

If this is the exit, then why the fire?

As his eyes shook in confusion, a gentle hand supported Yohan’s back.

“I’ll help.”

Mikael whispered in his characteristically ticklish voice, layering his own magic over Yohan’s barrier. As the two held it together, the seniors, finally snapping out of their panic, began adding their strength.

“We can’t leave it all to the juniors when we’re third-years.”

“Sorry. The unexpected situation delayed our response. We’ll help now, so rest.”

They pushed Yohan and Mikael back and used their power. True to being seniors, a larger and more stable barrier than before solidly enveloped everyone.

After holding for a few minutes, the flames ceased.

“It’s done. The attack stopped!”

“Not yet. Don’t you know the Phantom Sword Master? Let’s hold a bit longer.”

Even so, they didn’t let their guard down and maintained the barrier. As if fulfilling a prophecy, the flames that had stopped surged once more to cover the barrier.

After that, the flames used the same trick three more times before vanishing.

…Do they really have to go this far?

Once or twice, he could understand, but four times total was too much. An intense emotion toward the professor welled up in his heart, but unsure of its meaning, Yohan just frowned. Only after confirming with the seniors that the flames had stopped did he step out from the barrier.

Due to the flames the area beyond where the door had been was filled with ashen smoke.

“Let the wind reveal the path.”

As a senior chanted the spell, a strong wind blew, dispersing the smoke and clearing the way.

“This is…”

“You’re right, Weedle. The path has changed from before. It used to connect directly to the training hall, but now…”

“It’s a fork in the road.”

The senior called Hale muttered softly. As he said, the passage connected to a forest-like landscape, revealing two caves.

“…We’ve been moving as a team from the start, so we plan to all go one way. What about you?”

At the senior’s question, Yohan reflexively looked at Suhyeok. Perhaps thinking the same, the student who had closed his eyes as soon as he spotted the caves furrowed his brow and shook his head.

“Nothing. Detection picks up nothing.”

“…Really? What do we do… My divine power isn’t reacting either.”

“Same with detection magic.”

“Then we have no choice but to go with our gut and pick one.”

Kylus drew his sword.

“Let’s decide empire-style.”

“Empire-style?”

“Ah, …You’ll see.”

Suhyeok said indifferently and gestured to urge his friend.

Kylus held the sword with the blade pointing down, standing it on the ground, then let go.

The sword fell, its hilt pointing in one direction.

“Hm. Right side, then.”

“…….”

“…….”

Yohan and Mikael fell silent at the absurd selection method. Oblivious, or perhaps aware, of their bewilderment; Kylus solemnly picked up the sword and confidently pointed to the right.

“The sword chose that way, so we’ll go right.”

“…I guess that’s how it is.”

Feeling embarrassed, Yohan covered his red face with his hand as he shared his opinion. Hale nodded.

“Then for efficiency, we should go left. If our path is the correct one, we’ll send a magic bird to your tunnel. If yours is the right one…”

“We’ll send a water spirit as a signal.”

Yohan, immediately grasping the intent, replied politely, and Hale nodded with a satisfied expression before looking at the two caves.

“Then this is goodbye. It was nice meeting you. I’d like to go with you and help, but since you’re Fantasiademia first-years, you should overcome trials like this on your own. Good luck.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, right.”

As everyone prepared to depart, one of the seniors suddenly called out to Yohan.

“You, you said your name is Yohan?”

“Yes? …Yes.”

“I think we didn’t answer your question earlier about why we warn against the professors.”

“Ah…!”

The timing had coincidentally prevented him from hearing the answer.

He’d thought he’d missed the chance regrettably, but judging by the atmosphere, it seemed they’d provide the information, so Yohan brightened up. Even though no one else was watching besides the students gathered here, the senior glanced around cautiously, lowered his voice, and whispered.

“We warn against them because if you’re not careful, you might end up as a professor or official teaching assistant and stuck at the school. Professors have the authority to select qualified students as their successors.”

Yohan blinked at the cautious whisper.

“…Is becoming a professor bad?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been one. But one thing’s for sure: once you become a professor, you can’t step down until you select three successors and one of them becomes a professor. No matter what you try. That’s why they all go mad. Professor Menoua is a prime example. I heard that professor has been here for twelve hundred years.”

“…….”

Yohan shuddered. It was the first time since entering Fantasiademia that he’d felt that scared.