The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 97

Anar’el was wailing.

“Hanaslug! What on earth is going on!”

Despite her outcry, Hanaslug, who was climbing up the World Tree at the very back, remained motionless.

Anar’el had judged that Hanaslug, being the winner of the previous tournament, would show the least decline in skill.

What did that mean?

“My 50,000 Elf coins! Hanaslug! Please try harder!”

Despite her desperate cry, Hanaslug still didn’t make the slightest movement.

It wasn’t just her imagination that Hanaslug’s waistline looked thicker than during the last tournament.

She had found 50,000 Elf coins in her room that she had saved penny by penny before running away, and thinking it was ‘destiny,’ she bet it all on Hanaslug, but what kind of cruel twist of fate was this!

“Sob! Hanaslug! Don’t you remember me!”

As Anar’el shed tears amid her unreachable, mournful cries, when someone tapped her shoulder, she violently shook off their arm.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Headmaster.”

“Ah, don’t touch…Teacher Amon?”

Recognizing the familiar voice, Anar’el turned her head.

There stood Amon with a stern face.

“Ah, Teacher Amon! You came at the right time. Hanaslug isn’t trying hard enough! Let’s cheer together, Teacher Amon!”

“……”

Silent and listening to her words quietly, Amon wiggled his fingers.

It was a signal to bring her ear closer.

“Huh? Why suddenly…the Empire, what? Eh?”

Anar’el’s face turned pale.

“W-war in the Empire?”

“It appears so.”

“Th-that’s impossible. It can’t be.”

She quickly looked around.

The surrounding elves were only enthusiastic about the snail race, as if unaware of any war.

But that was natural.

Not only were elves themselves indifferent to the human world and the outside, but they were living a life completely unrelated to ‘enemy invasion’ because the World Tree, which possessed will as a divine tree, protected the Elf Kingdom with a barrier.

The World Tree wasn’t simply a racetrack for snail racing.

It wasn’t just an ‘ordinary tree’ either.

“See for yourself.”

Although he had already gotten confirmation from the newspaper stand owner earlier, it would be better for Anar’el to see it with her own eyes too.

Reading the huge text written at the top of the extended newspaper, her ears trembled.

“Th-the Gunter Archipelago Alliance declares war against the Empire…”

“Just as the newspaper vendor said.”

Anar’el tightly closed her eyes.

She was in a position of receiving a salary from the Empire.

Moreover, having long-standing ties with the Emperor and Empress, she couldn’t just stand by even though she was an elf who had little interest in human affairs.

Of course, although she wouldn’t participate directly in the war, this was no time to be distracted by the All-Star Snail Race.

“Teacher Amon.”

“Yes, Principal.”

“We need to return quickly. Please gather everyone else.”

“I’ve already gathered them all.”

“As expected of Teacher Amon.”

Taking a deep breath, Anar’el glanced to the side.

“Mister Slug! He’s a god!”

Turning away from her mother, Arnen, who was cheering with flying spittle for the snail in the lead, Anar’el nodded with a grave face.

“Well then, let’s hurry back.”

* * *

Since it was an urgent matter, the group returned immediately.

And waiting for them upon their return was Reinbelt, whose face was serious.

“Everyone has returned.”

“Elder.”

“Has news of the war reached even the Elf Kingdom?”

Amon nodded with a gloomy face.

“Yes.”

“Hmm… I see. Principal, welcome back. Everyone, please come in.”

After trying to reassure the agitated students and escorting them to the dormitory, the teaching staff headed to the conference room located next to the principal’s office.

Since there had been almost no occasions for many people to gather after the academy’s downfall, this was Amon’s first time entering this place.

There hadn’t been any need to use it either.

But in this situation, it was absolutely necessary.

Seated, Reinbelt spoke with a stern face.

“Well then, Principal, how much do you know about the situation?”

“I only know that the Gunter Archipelago Alliance has declared war against the Empire.”

“Hmm. This will be a long explanation.”

Reinbelt pulled over a blackboard and skillfully drew a map.

That familiarity proved that his claim of having a teaching certificate was no lie.

“I’m sure you all know about the Gunter Archipelago Alliance.”

Archipelago. A collection of large and small islands.

The Gunter Archipelago Alliance was a union of numerous small kingdoms located in the Gunter Archipelago.

The size of each individual kingdom was by no means large.

However, due to the characteristics of the archipelago, most of its members were ‘maritime people.’

Tough sailors who roamed the rough seas on ships and rough-tempered pirates.

The Gunter Archipelago Alliance was mostly composed of such people, and consequently, they couldn’t help but have an aggressive disposition.

“After the end of the Great War. They were undoubtedly the ones who held the greatest dissatisfaction with the hundred-year peace treaty that followed. Due to the nature of archipelago kingdoms, they must have yearned for the fertile lands of the continent more than anyone else, but occupation was difficult, and even the lands they did occupy were quickly recaptured. If the Empire had been just a little weaker, if the Great War had been just a little weaker…”

Amon continued those words.

“History might have been different.”

“Fitting for a history teacher. Though they say there are no ‘ifs’ in history, that’s correct. Just a few years, if they had just a little more time to develop the know-how and foundation to rule the continental lands, the Gunter Archipelago Alliance would have gained land connected to the continent.”

“The continental landscape would have changed.”

“That’s right.”

Nodding, Reinbelt scanned the teachers.

“This explains why the Gunter Archipelago Alliance declared war. Also, though they call it a war declaration, it’s no different from a surprise attack. Currently, the Empire’s ally, the Baltran Coastal Kingdom, is engaged in battle with them, but the war situation is not good.”

Amon let out a sigh.

“I heard they barely invested in military power because they were allies with the Empire. After becoming the Empire’s ally, they turned their fleet, once called the Thousand-Ship Fleet, into a merchant fleet…”

“Enough. That’s beside the point.”

“I apologize.”

At the resolute words befitting one of the Empire’s Four Knights, Amon quietly bowed his head.

Then Sloth spoke with incredulity.

“But is the Gunter Archipelago Alliance strong enough to challenge the Empire? I understand their reasons, but surely they must know it’s like hitting a rock with an egg…”

Kai answered Sloth’s question.

Like the Empire’s Crown Prince, he seemed to be taking this situation extremely seriously, having shed his usual mask and wearing a dignified expression.

“If it were the Empire in its normal state, they wouldn’t have dared. They’re taking advantage of the Empire’s weakness following the failure of the Velslime Wasteland Development Project.”

“Ah…”

The unprecedented incident where the Empire’s 2nd Corps, Imperial Heavy Cavalry, Prime Magic Tower, and several other battalions that had gone on the development project were annihilated by a suddenly falling ‘meteor.’

The Gunter Archipelago Alliance was targeting this power vacuum.

“Moreover, the Gunter Archipelago Alliance is strong. Though they lack cohesion as they’re not a single nation, their maritime people’s characteristic toughness and breakthrough power are top-notch. Each member of their elite unit, the Kraken Warrior Division, surpasses a Sword Expert knight.”

Marion, who had been sighing with her arms crossed, touched her shoulder.

There still remained a clear scar from when a single Kraken Warrior had broken through dozens of soldiers protecting him and wounded him.

“…Damn. It’s coming back to me.”

As Marion muttered weakly with a sigh, Amon broke the brief silence that had fallen.

“Elder Reinbelt.”

“What is it?”

“Surely they must know they have no chance in a prolonged war? After all, the current poor war situation is only because we were caught off guard by their surprise attack, isn’t it?”

No matter how shaken the Empire might be, it was still the Empire.

“If even a portion of the Empire’s military power is deployed, the Gunter Archipelago Alliance will be destroyed. Of course, this might lead to the rise of other wolves like the Gunter Alliance. But the Gunter Alliance wouldn’t have moved with that in mind, would they? There’s no reason for them to lay the groundwork for that at the cost of their own destruction.”

Amon’s point was accurate.

What good would it do if other forces rose up and seized hegemony over the continent?

The Gunter Archipelago Alliance would already be destroyed by then.

“No matter how I think about it, it seems reckless.”

“You’re a history teacher, so you must know about the history of the Gunter Archipelago Alliance.”

“Of course.”

The Gunter Archipelago Alliance takes the ‘Kraken’ as their symbol.

However, it’s not the sea monster Kraken, but rather the ‘Mother Kraken,’ a legendary being said to rule all krakens and govern the seas.

“According to legend, someone received the blessing and revelation of Mother Kraken, and the nations of the archipelago, moved by this, gathered to form the alliance. That’s what I know.”

“Correct. Though there is just one wrong part.”

“Pardon? Wrong part…?”

Reinbelt nodded.

“Mother Kraken is real. Not a legend.”

“What…!?”

That means…

“Then the reason they dared to attack…”

“Is because Mother Kraken has appeared and is leading them.”

“Th-that’s impossible! Mother Kraken!?”

It was more shocking than the reality where legendary unicorns, after kicking humans and losing the war against them, now stayed in the Elf Kingdom.

This was because there were simply too many truly mythical stories about Mother Kraken.

“I-I heard it even eats dragons?”

“Though it’s said to be dragons that have just reached maturity, that’s correct.”

“They say it has dozens or hundreds of tentacles, and each tentacle is as big as a castle wall…”

“According to the urgent report from the messenger dispatched to the Baltran Kingdom, each tentacle is even bigger than the castle walls.”

Amon tightly closed his eyes.

He had only imagined the dozens or hundreds of Kraken tentacles larger than the castle walls filling the coastline.

“This is serious.”

“Yes. It is serious.”

Clicking his tongue, Reinbelt spoke.

“Anyway, Principal. For these reasons, though I’ve stayed behind to relay the situation, I must hurry to the capital.”

As one of the Empire’s Four Knights, he couldn’t stand by while the Empire was in crisis.

And then Reinbelt looked at the teaching staff and said.

“And teachers.”

“……”

“Don’t stand idle in the face of the threat to the Empire. There’s an emergency deployment unit application office hastily set up in the streets of Amur. That’s all I have to say. Now then, I’ll take my leave.”

After Reinbelt hurriedly left the conference room, a long silence fell.

‘Deployment.’

It seemed not to be mandatory at this point.

It meant they would leave it to the discretion of the teachers who had the duty to teach students.

‘The problem is, the emergency deployment unit.’

The Empire’s regular units were relatively delayed in deployment due to logistics and supply issues.

That’s why they were recruiting those who could be deployed as quickly as possible.

This meant there was a high possibility of being sent directly to the front lines, so they would surely be selective and accept only those with considerable skill.

And all the teachers here were quite skilled.

“…What will everyone do?”

Anar’el and Brestle showed no reaction.

For them, being elves, human wars were irrelevant matters.

And besides that, it was impossible for the academy’s principal and vice principal to participate in the war.

Sloth was the first to speak.

“I don’t want to. Hey, what’s with that look like you knew I’d say that? It’s not because I’m lazy.”

Sighing, Sloth fingered the sword at her waist.

She was a knight who had reached the realm of Sword Master.

But actual combat? Beyond that, war?

“It’s just, well…”

Marion cut off her words that were becoming unclear with fear.

“Young ones don’t need to get involved in this sort of thing. This is a responsibility that should be borne by the old and foolish. Young people don’t need to step forward. No, they shouldn’t step forward.”

At Marion’s firm words, Sloth quietly lowered her head.

“I…”

Fiora trailed off.

As a member of the loyal Pendorean family of the Empire, she wanted to strongly express her intention to participate.

However, the meaning contained in Marion’s words was so intense that she couldn’t easily open her mouth.

That’s when Kai spoke.

“May I ask what Senior Amon is thinking of doing?”

As attention focused on him, Amon blankly stared at the ceiling.

In the harsh Arma Mountains, just surviving was close to warfare. But now war is a peaceful life where there is food to eat and culture to enjoy.

It was just pathetic.

‘Deployment, a chance to achieve merit, an opportunity for advancement.’

Though he wanted that, Amon was negative about war itself for the aforementioned reasons.

Nevertheless, he had lived in the Arma Mountains where survival itself was warfare.

Amon’s family, everyone in the village, was still living in war.

That was the reason he needed to advance.

“I will participate.”

The moment those words fell, Marion slammed the table with a bang. In his eyes, intense anger had risen.