The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 56

~Early Morning~

Sloth was sitting in a corner of the training grounds, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

“Yaaawn…”

After letting out a huge yawn, Sloth fidgeted with her hands.

The palms of her hands throbbed from swinging her sword throughout the night.

‘I trained too late today…I got so immersed because I felt like I might suddenly grasp something.’

Although all members of the Pid family sent outside were at least Sword Masters, Sloth was uniquely at the level of a Sword Expert.

‘Father and my brothers told me not to worry too much about my skills…’

Thanks to their words, her burden of worry and impatience had lightened somewhat but Sloth had her pride.

Though she carried it lightly as an emotional weight in one corner of her heart, the sensations she felt while swinging her sword today transformed that burden into hope.

‘Sword Master. Perhaps I’ll reach that level soon.’

Laughing to herself in satisfaction, Sloth lay down on the ground.

Her body had already reached its limits, so she intended to rest while mentally reliving the sensations she’d felt earlier.

‘Yeah, not sleeping—just lying down to think for a bit…’

Sloth fell asleep just like that. But her sleep didn’t last long.

Boom—!

Suddenly, a massive explosion echoed from the teachers’ dormitory building.

The sound, which seemed to shake not only the academy but the entire city of Amur, startled Sloth awake.

“W-What was that!?”

It was evidently not just a dream-induced hallucination.

Even in the civilian houses just outside the academy walls, people were clamoring with, “What’s that noise?” or “Is it thunder?”

The sound was so loud that even the elven principal of the school, Anar’el—whose keen hearing was typical of elves—fainted in shock.

Regardless, Sloth hastily got to her feet.

‘Th-That sound seemed to come from the dormitory building!’

With her sleepiness entirely dispelled, Sloth sprinted toward the dormitory.

What she encountered were other teachers who, like her, had rushed out of the dormitory in alarm.

“Sloth, did you hear that as well?”

“Ah, yes, Marion. What on earth was that sound?”

“Well…I’ve only just arrived myself, so I don’t know either.”

Kai, who was standing with Marion, spoke in a hesitant voice.

“It sounded like a human voice, though.”

Sloth shook her head at that remark.

“No, it was way too loud to be a human voice.”

“That’s true…”

“And it was too eerie.”

“That’s also true.”

While Kai and Sloth nodded in agreement, Marion furrowed his brow.

‘…I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.’

He vaguely remembered being startled by a similar sound once when he was drunk, so much so that he had fallen off his chair.

While Marion was lost in thought, Kai scanned their surroundings and spoke.

“But where’s Senior Amon? There’s no way he didn’t hear that sound. If he had, he’d have come out like the rest of us.”

Marion replied, “He seemed to have gone out late last night with the vice principal. Maybe he hasn’t returned yet?”

“Hmm…Right, he did go out late last night. Hasn’t he come back yet?”

Sloth frowned and spoke.

“Amon went out late at night with the vice principal?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Didn’t you know?”

Sloth hadn’t known because she had been training in the practice field at the time.

“…What business took them out late at night?”

“Well, he mentioned accompanying the vice principal for some business with a mercenary group.”

Crossing her arms, Sloth murmured with a discontented expression.

“So they’re not back yet…”

“No, the two of them returned a little while ago.”

“Oh.”

Turning at the sudden voice, the group saw Reinbelt approaching.

“They came back just before this. But what on earth was that sound?”

Marion shrugged.

“Who knows, Elder? We’re as clueless as you.”

“Hmm, I see. Kai, you have no guesses?” Reinbelt glanced briefly at Kai after nearly making a slip of the tongue.

Kai shook his head.

“I don’t know either. But…”

Kai’s eyes sparkled as he muttered.

“If Senior Amon hasn’t come out despite all this commotion, could it mean…?”

At that, everyone nodded grimly.

He was either the one responsible for the incident or a victim caught in the chaos.

And so, they hurried toward Amon’s room.

“Amon, are you in there?”

Marion knocked and called out, but there was no response from inside. Not even the faintest hint of movement.

Shrugging, Marion spoke.

“Doesn’t seem like he’s in his room.”

“Hmm…”

“Or maybe he never came back here and went somewhere else instead.”

As Reinbelt stroked his beard in thought, his eyes glinted sharply.

“No, he must’ve returned to his room.”

“Huh?”

“I left a letter for him by the door.”

“…Ah!”

The letter was no longer there.

This meant Amon had taken the letter into his room. That much was a natural conclusion.

It was unlikely he had taken just the letter and gone elsewhere immediately.

“Elder, you’re quite the detective.”

“Hahaha! People have always said I was sharp-minded as a child, though I lacked an academic inclination.”

“Indeed, indeed.”

As the others murmured, Sloth impatiently interrupted.

“Why not just open the door and check?”

“Hmm? But it’s rude to enter someone’s room without permission…”

“What’s the harm? If no one’s there, we can leave. If he’s inside, we can say we were worried and checked because he didn’t answer.”

“…Makes sense.”

They all had lingering doubts that something might have happened to Amon, so they decided to accept Sloth’s suggestion.

“Ahem. Amon? Then, we’re coming in!”

Marion opened the door and immediately gasped.

“Gasp!”

Amon was sprawled out on the floor so Marion rushed to him in alarm.

“A-Amon! Are you…!”

After checking his pulse, Marion let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew, he’s alive. But what in the world happened…?”

At that moment, Marion noticed a letter clutched in Amon’s hand.

‘Is that the letter I left for him earlier?’

Could this letter have shocked him so much that he fainted?

‘What kind of letter is this?’

The guilt of reading someone else’s letter without permission first came to mind, but the curiosity that followed quickly suppressed it.

“Hmm! Ahem! Since it seems like Amon fainted because of this letter, I think we should read it to resolve the matter. What do you all think?”

Marion made a cunning attempt to share responsibility with others!

Fortunately or unfortunately, everyone agreed with Marion’s suggestion. Marion quickly picked up the letter and skimmed it.

First, it was urgent to check if its contents were suitable for sharing with others.

‘Hmm? Notification of teacher certification exam results?’

Marion frowned and scanned the first line.

‘To Mr. Amon Drake, regarding your application for the Level 2 Teacher Certification Exam.’

Then the following words:

‘Unfortunately, Mr. Amon Drake has failed the exam this time. We appreciate your interest and encourage you to reapply in six months….’

Having read that far, Marion spoke up.

“It’s a letter saying he failed the teacher certification exam.”

“…What?”

Kai blinked in confusion.

“Ah, oh. Level 1 Teacher Certification? That test is quite difficult.”

“No, Level 2.”

“…What?”

Kai’s jaw dropped.

“He…failed the Level 2 Teacher Certification Exam?”

“…Yeah.”

Sloth’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as well.

“Is it even possible to fail Level 2…?”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“…Me neither.”

“Good grief…even blockheads pass Level 2!”

Even Reinbelt muttered in shock.

“I got my Level 2 certification, thinking I might need it if I ever took on an apprentice…”

As the group was whispering in disbelief, a groaning noise came from Amon.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Amon groaned, slowly sitting up and clutching his head.

“My head…huh? Why is everyone in my room?”

“…Amon, are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, I had a terrible nightmare, but I’m fine.”

“…”

“Huh? Marion, is that my letter you’re holding?”

Amon snatched the letter from Marion with a grumble.

“Why are you reading someone else’s letter without permission?”

“…”

“Seriously. Anyway, let’s see. Today’s the day I get my teacher certification results.”

Amon opened the letter and chuckled.

“I just dreamed about failing. That’s ridiculous…there’s no way…”

As he read the letter, Amon’s eyes started trembling violently.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

After a brief moment of silence:

“ARRRRRGH!”

Amon let out an earth-shattering scream, flopped backward, and fainted again.

The unidentified scream that had echoed across the city earlier was none other than Amon’s cry of despair!

Marion, who had been standing closest to the source of the scream, realized something as he was thrown backward by the force of the sound.

‘I thought I’d heard it somewhere before…it’s the same scream Amon let out during the tournament!’

Meanwhile, in the headmaster’s office, Anar’el, whose elven hearing far surpassed that of humans, had fainted in shock at the initial scream. Now awake, she sat trembling, her long ears folded tightly against her head.

‘What was that sound? It was so shocking I fainted…’

Looking around cautiously, she let out a sigh of relief and removed her hands from her ears.

“Whew… what a scare. I should go check…”

-ARRRRRGH!

Another deafening roar echoed through the academy. Anar’el’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted once more.

Several days later.

During history class, Chloe, Raymond, and Boris exchanged worried glances.

“It’s been three days…will it be the same today?”

“I’m not sure…probably?”

“…I don’t like this new teacher.”

Raymond, grumbling under his breath, suddenly fell silent.

Kai had appeared behind the podium.

“Ha ha ha, Ray! Sorry to hear you don’t like me!”

“…I’m sorry, sir. I was joking.”

“Ha ha, it’s fine! I just have to work harder, don’t I?”

“…”

That was exactly what Raymond didn’t like.

The overzealous attitude of the new teacher was making him uneasy.

Kai’s overly enthusiastic style made Raymond uncomfortable, a stark contrast to the laid-back atmosphere Amon used to provide.

Regardless, after the lesson, the students huddled together to chat.

“Let’s visit Mr. Amon. Maybe seeing us will help him recover faster.”

“Sure, but what should we bring as a gift?”

“Hmm…”

Raymond and Boris emptied their pockets, revealing only three coins.

Raymond, who had never received pocket money from Reinbelt, and Boris, whose circumstances didn’t allow for such things, both looked helpless.

Then Chloe spoke confidently.

“I have money.”

“Huh? What money… oh!”

Chloe produced a pouch containing her prize money from the tournament. Though some mischievous teachers had borrowed from it, she’d charged them interest, leaving her with a hefty 13 gold coins.

As Chloe proudly displayed her wealth, she turned to Raymond.

“But you won the tournament too. What happened to your prize?”

Raymond looked down with a sorrowful expression.

“Grandpa said gold is a luxury for swordsmen and threw it into the river.”

“…”

Chloe and Boris gazed at Raymond with pity.

“So, Chloe, are you going to use that money to buy Mr. Amon a gift?”

When Boris asked, Chloe shook her head.

“No.”

“Huh? Then what?”

“This isn’t enough.”

“What?”

After doing some mental calculations, Chloe nodded to herself.

“Boris, you remember, right?”

“Huh? Remember what?”

“That arena we went to before.”

“…!”

Boris’s eyes widened as Chloe grinned.

“Let’s grow this money. Then we can buy the best gift for Mr. Amon.”