The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 100

A dream of success.

It’s a hope I’ve held three times in my life so far.

The first dream I had was to become a dragon slayer when I was young.

But that was thwarted by Caselag, an old and sick lonely dragon who frequently visited the village.

I couldn’t tell the already lonely old man that ‘I’m going to kill your kind to become a hero.’

‘And my second dream of success was to become a teacher at Amonis Academy and reap the benefits of having many excellent students graduate.’

Although Amonis Academy itself is no different from a cesspool of evil, the students are growing up splendidly, so this dream is still ongoing.

And the third and last one.

I wanted to rise to prominence by demonstrating valor across various battlefields, but that ended in frustration due to the ‘Empress’ who ended the war in one breath.

‘Both the Emperor and things with the character for ‘Imperial’ (皇) seem desperate to kill me.’

Frustration builds a man.

But that’s only good once or twice; when it keeps coming without rest, Amon didn’t want to do anything.

“For that reason, kids.”

Amon was lying on the teaching podium.

“Let’s start class.”

“…Teacher?”

“What.”

“This is history class right now. Not sword training.”

“Boris, are you trying to say I’m like Senior Sloth?”

Boris nodded slightly, and Amon slowly got up, thinking this wasn’t quite right no matter what.

One should act according to how they look, even if they’re in despair.

‘Sigh, but even living according to how I look is hard.’

After returning, his fellow teachers’ attitudes toward him had become strangely warmer.

Probably because he confessed about his tumultuous childhood.

But Amon’s heart was too rotten to accept their kindness purely.

‘You pity me? I’ll get revenge on all of you.’

Amon made that pledge while chewing on the chocolate of kindness Sloth gave him.

“…and so, the rebellion led by Count Kegarten was ended. Now, there should be a question that comes to mind here, does anyone know?”

Chloe raised her hand high.

“The imperial authority should have been strengthened after the Marquis Mannoni’s rebellion, but this rebellion occurred too naturally.”

“Exactly! Applause for Chloe!”

“Hehehe.”

“That question can be understood by examining the internal situation of the imperial family at the time. His Majesty Emperor Amonis XI was severely injured in a friendly duel with a noble…”

While writing on the blackboard and lecturing, Amon flinched.

‘…Wait a minute.’

The content seemed familiar.

‘What is this? This feels familiar? Where have I seen this before?’

Suddenly, Amon’s face hardened.

[When His Majesty Amonis XI struck Duke Drake’s cheek, he suffered a fierce counterattack, leaving no part of his arms and legs unharmed, causing him to be bedridden for a long time.]

Amon’s mouth fell open.

‘Content written in our family chronicles…?’

Family secrets slowly raising their heads from history!

Amon glanced sideways.

Fiora, who was observing the class, tilted her head wondering why he stopped in the middle of teaching well.

“Senior Amon, why are you…”

“What are you looking at?”

“Ah geez, starting again.”

“Kekeke!”

Making his fellow teachers’ warm gazes uncomfortable was Amon’s joy these days.

‘Anyway, I need to examine our family chronicles more carefully.’

He had skimmed through it quickly before because the content was so shocking, but now that he realized why he couldn’t advance in society, he needed to know more details.

‘I need to know well about the ill fate between the Amonis family and our family. That way I can be careful and avoid them in advance.’

It’s not that he’s scared, he wants to avoid them because they’re disgusting.

Coincidentally, Anar’el gave him special leave to visit his home for just one day to comfort the despairing Amon, so he could go this weekend.

‘And while I’m going, let’s also find out why our territory’s potatoes are so amazing. But for now, I need to focus on class.’

Amon picked up the chalk again.

* * *

“Principal.”

“Teacher Amon, you’re here.”

In the principal’s office which he visited to get special leave, Anar’el was maintaining her characteristic serious face and dignity as always.

“It’s finally here.”

Looking at the shadowed face visible beyond the interlocked hands, Amon sat in the chair and said.

“Here again. What’s here this time?”

“Huhuhu. Don’t be surprised when you hear this.”

Anar’el wiped under her nose and smiled.

“I got a call that the promotional leaflets we ordered are complete!”

Anar’el expected Amon to jump around with joy but Amon’s face was indifferent.

“Yes, that’s good.”

“Oh.”

Anar’el said with a disappointed face.

“Aren’t you happy? I thought you would be.”

“Well, should I say I’m slowly starting to realize my situation? Just looking at it, if I roll around making a fuss whether needed or not, the result will always be like a perfectly drawn cesspool anyway.”

“…”

Anar’el nodded weakly at Amon’s self-deprecating lament dripping with cynicism.

“I don’t know about that, but I can see that you need to go on special leave quickly.”

“You should realize it soon too, Principal.”

Anar’el smiled bitterly at Amon’s sullen words.

“Then are you ready to go on leave?”

“Yes. I just finished the students’ regular test yesterday, so there’s no urgent work right now.”

The regular test following the Imperial Education Department’s guidelines was a test to clear the Mage Guild’s welcome dungeon, which originally required forming groups of 5 to cooperatively clear the dungeon.

‘Sir examiner, can’t we just go in individually?’

‘Huh? Well, you can.’

‘Then let’s do that.’

The students who entered the dungeon individually were able to proudly make it onto the list of successful candidates.

From the beginning, the dungeon was too simple a task for the students’ current level.

And there was one more remaining task besides the test.

‘Teacher Amon.’

‘Yes?’

‘What about the academy festival…?’

‘What festival in these times! How long has it been since the war ended!’

It could be finished by crushing Anar’el’s vain expectations in one breath.

What festival when there are only five students to begin with.

“Then Principal, please cast the warp magic.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Soon after, Amon was able to arrive at Drake territory.

Vast potato fields! Peaceful village! Clean air! Putting everything else aside, Drake territory in the Arma Mountains which prided itself on having the best scenery was.

“Huh?”

Bustling with unfamiliar people.

‘W-what? What’s this suddenly?’

Drake territory bustling with outsiders?

While wiggling his fingers, unable to move forward or back in confusion at this unprecedented sight, his father who spotted Amon approached with an excited face.

“Isn’t it Amon? What brings you here?”

“I-I got special leave to rest for a day…What’s going on here? Why are there so many outsiders in the village…?”

To that question, Amon’s father, Kaim, laughed heartily and answered.

“Hahaha! You know that small city down below?”

“You mean Eden?”

The small-scale city, Eden.

Just as the Arma Mountains were the frontier of frontiers, Eden city located right below it was also a frontier city.

To be honest, though called a city, Eden was comparable in size to a ‘village’ near Amur, the commercial city where the academy was located.

“Some wealthy person boldly invested a huge sum in that Eden!”

“What? L-large-scale investment in Eden?”

What madman in the world would throw money at such a frontier city!

“So the administrators of Eden came to greet us at Drake territory, the closest territory.”

“Why would administrators come to greet…Wait, don’t tell me?”

Eden was so remote that it wasn’t managed by nobles.

Therefore, it established a council with a ‘tribune’ system for commoners, where ‘administrators’ elected periodically by the council of commoners living there governed the city.

‘A huge sum was invested in a city that was operating on such a small scale? When big money is involved, professional management and observation become necessary. And for such tasks, the role of nobles is essential, and the noble residing closest to Eden is who…?’

As if proving Amon’s speculation, Kaim said with a bright smile.

“That’s right! Your father’s name is now Kaim Eden Drake!”

The city of Eden was subordinated under the name of Kaim, the head of the Drake family!

Upon realizing this fact, Amon.

“Aak!”

Fainted with a scream of joy.

* * *

Tak-!

A letter flew over the alley wall.

The young man, Crown Prince Kaias, smiled slightly as he opened it, bearing the seal used by the crown prince’s direct information group.

‘Things worked out well. To think the city of Eden wasn’t managed by nobles.’

Thanks to that, he was able to make a huge investment through a merchant group secretly operated by the crown prince.

He made up a plausible justification that the head merchant had attachment to it as his hometown from childhood.

Of course, the head merchant was a person installed by the crown prince, so all the previous justification was false.

‘Well, it won’t be revealed and it’s not illegal so it doesn’t matter. Anyway…’

Crown Prince Kaias, no, Kai who was a teacher at Amonis Academy, smiled slightly while gazing in the direction where Drake territory would be far away.

‘Senior Amon, I said I would help as much as I could, didn’t I? Since my father His Majesty the Emperor is still alive and well, I can’t do more than this. I hope this helps your family even if just a little.’

* * *

“Urgh! My head…”

When Amon woke up, he could see his father smiling from ear to ear.

“You’re awake?”

“Father? Why did I lose consciousness…?”

“Your father’s name is now Kaim Eden Drake!”

“Aak!”

Amon fainting again!

Kaim was laughing heartily watching that, finding it too amusing but that laughter didn’t last long.

Pak-!

Kaim fell forward after getting hit on the back of his head.

“Argh! W-who dares to hit the back of Kaim Eden Drake’s head…”

“Oh my, this guy.”

“Y-Yulia!”

“Is our son fainting that funny?”

“D-don’t you find it funny?”

At those words, Amon’s mother, Yulia, clicked her tongue.

Even for the mother who gave birth to him painfully, watching Amon collapse repeatedly while hearing the name ‘Kaim Eden Drake’ several times was honestly funny.

“Still, that’s enough. I’m worried about the child’s health.”

“A-alright. I’m sorry.”

“Anyway, what about the people who came up to the territory?”

“Well, I sent Aim down to the city as acting lord with them.”

Originally, Kaim as the current lord should inspect the city, but since it was such a sudden situation, it was difficult for Kaim to suddenly leave the territory.

There were already piles of work to handle in the territory right now.

“I hope Aim does well.”

“He’s such a reliable kid, he’ll do well.”

“True, whose son is he after all.”

“Hohoho, our son of course.”

Yulia looked at Amon who was trembling while still unconscious.

“Then when will this son wake up?”

“Hmm…calculating based on the time he’s been unconscious so far, two, three.”

“Uurgh! Father, why did I faint?”

Seeing Amon getting up, Kaim smiled slightly.

“Nothing happened, son.”

“I-I see.”

Looking at Amon who was rubbing his head which had developed a bump from constantly falling, Kaim opened his mouth.

“But Amon, why did you suddenly come?”

“Do I need a reason to come home? It’s a special leave.”

“Special leave? Is there such a thing?”

“Well, yes. Some bad things happened to me recently, so I got it for comfort.”

“Bad things?”

Amon smiled slightly.

“It’s nothing much. Besides, today I heard good news, goo-urgh…”

Still trembling from panic due to joy, Amon took a deep breath and regained his composure.

“Whew, hearing the good news makes the bad memories fly away.”

“Bad things… What happened?”

That’s when.

“L-lord! Big news!”

A man who burst through the door waved a letter and shouted.

“U-urgent news that young master Amon participated in the defense battle of the Baltran Kingdom… Eh?”

The man tilted his head looking back and forth between Amon and Kaim sitting there blankly.

How could Amon who supposedly participated in the war be here?

“Are you…a ghost young master?”

Amon held his forehead.

Being a rural territory, news arrived too late.

‘Well, but that should improve soon too? Since the city of Eden became under our territory’s jurisdiction, if we develop it diligently the communication network will also be properly established…’

Amon flinched while continuing that thought.

It was because of the cold gazes flying in from both sides.

“Don’t tell me you participated in this war?”

“W-well about that…”

“Did you or didn’t you.”

“…I did.”

“Why?”

“W-well, as a son I wanted to help the family a bit…”

“…”

“H-haha. Hahaha.”

Soon after, Amon realized.

Mother and father are still quite strong.

Seeing how fierce their hands striking his back were, the day he could win against his parents still seemed far away.

And with his parents’ embrace as he wailed from getting hit on the back, Amon pledged not to do unnecessary things anymore.