How to Survive at the Academy Chapter 158

Creffin subjugation (9)

have killed a person

Now, this is a strange story.

As Ed Rosteiler, it’s been a while since I started struggling to survive in this gloomy world… The time in the world is ten times longer than the time I have lived in this world.

So, I’m still just a stranger in this world.

In fact, the act of killing people in modern warfare is so simple that you may wonder if this is okay. Set the sights against the sights, hold your breath, pull the trigger, and you’re done.

That’s how a person’s life ends. It’s simple and clean enough to make you laugh.

At first, there is no awareness that he took someone’s life like that. My hands tremble at what I did casually, but I don’t feel it, so I just fall into a bewildered mood.

The real scary thing is when you go to bed that night.

The expression seen through the sight, the lively gesture, and the trace of life that picks up and disappears as soon as it is struck. All that remains is a piece of meat.

The moment you realize that fact, the guilt that rises like a nightmare eats into your mind.

It’s something everyone goes through on the battlefield.

I don’t feel it because I’m keeping my life on the battlefield that crosses the line of fire, but if I retire and move on to a peaceful world… The memory resurrects like a ghost and tries to eat the mind.

It is a measles-like disease experienced by anyone who has lived on the battlefield for several years, and it is expected to be overcome with time.

I also suffered severe measles once, but I soon overcame it, got my body in order, met friends and joked around, watched a few movies and played a few games, and my thinking has brightened in my own way.

Now, I don’t do the old-fashioned things that make me suffer from such memories, but there are times when I still think of them from time to time.

After killing someone for the first time, the feeling of guilt is a disaster that strikes everyone equally.

This is especially true in exhibition situations. It is common to have mental escape from having to kill the other person. Because I had to kill others in order to live.

That’s it. It can be.

Mental escape is something everyone does, and so did I.

Since the officers all understand that fact, just by looking at the faces of the soldiers who are gradually rationalizing it, you can gauge their willingness to fight.

The problem is, they are the ones who have gone astray in different directions. They are probably the ones I was most wary of and kept away from.

──It was because I thought that if I was careless, I could end up like that too.

It is possible to escape because it was unavoidable.

However, those who rationalize that ‘I was originally like this’… They are really dangerous guys.

I really enjoy killing.

He is a human who delights in killing and stealing someone.

So there is no such thing as guilt. I have no desire to be understood.

If you say that and run away from the guilt, you will eventually mistakenly think that you have become a huge ‘pure evil’.

Freed from the guilt that eats away at his mind like that, after years of wandering around the battlefield, he turns into a monster and retires.

If it goes well, they get a job in the defense or security industry and lead a social life at the level of being treated as idiots. .

Looking at those words, the experience of going to the brink of madness like that also reminds me of myself… I get goose bumps all over again.

So, I fought my guilt to the end.

As I lived like that, I became a human being who neither recklessly took responsibility for anyone nor tried to save someone in crisis for no reason.

I just didn’t want to deal with the heartache of failure… For such an absurd reason. Still, I think it’s a reasonable direction.

Those who have gone astray are not just homicidal maniacs who went mad after enjoying killing. I ran away because I couldn’t handle a lot of guilt… They’re just cowards who’ve gone crazy like that.

That’s why, there was a question I always wanted to ask my children who went astray.

… Do you still remember the feeling you felt when you killed a person for the first time?

* * *

Push!

There was a sound like leaking blood. The seal of the evil god imprinted on Crepin’s left hand began to turn red.

The leaking blood fills the gap in the seal, and ominous magical energy begins to rise.

Soon, the magic enveloped all of Crepin’s hand, and the entire left forearm was transformed into an unpleasant lump of flesh by the vast energy.

Karuk, Pushyuk!

Then, several tentacles sprouted from his left hand and wrapped around him. Kreffin is still in human form, but if you look at his left hand, it’s no different than a monster.

In his right hand he was holding a longsword with the family seal on it. Unlike the left hand, which had changed into an eerie shape, it was still intact.

“You can feel the power.”

Creffin spoke in a gentle tone.

“I wanted this kind of power, always. The magic of immortality is also coming soon.”

Saying that, he clenched his grotesque left hand tightly.

——At that moment, the protection of the storm disappeared.

I couldn’t even feel the magic. In a quick moment that is hard to even perceive, I gathered and compressed the pressure around me.

The hardships of deliberately waiting for the re-activation of the Protection of the Storm were in vain. However, it became clear that one should never be vigilant.

You can’t avoid Creffin’s attack by moving in response to magic power.

It was the same in < Failed Swordsman of Sylvania >, but there was a pretty big gap between hearing the explanation in the game and actually dealing with it.

I had to evade it by only seeing how it really moved and anticipating what the opponent would do. It’s similar to the idea of ​​dodging bullets by looking at the direction of the muzzle, which sounds possible in words, but it’s almost impossible to do it yourself.

However, you can’t stop trying because it’s impossible. I’ve already climbed to the top of this hell.

Catch a crepe or I die. Since you have come to one of the two situations, do not act hastily or be overly cautious.

Kaaaaaagh!

The roar of Merilda, the high-ranking wind spirit, echoed through the grounds of Ross Taylor Mansion.

She tried to hit Krepin with her front paws, but when Krepin grotesquely twisted her left hand, Merilda’s front legs were blocked by unknown physical force.

As it is, it manifests the elemental magic ‘Wind Blade’ and blows it towards Creffin, but it is also neutralized by an unknown force right before it approaches Creffin.

Lucy said that she uses a kind of magic that is out of the normal system of magic. It was said that it was the power of the Mebuler.

If it’s an indecipherable type of magic, I know how to use one.

The dark red aura of magic rose up and began to wrap around the body. The power of the magical power of the Aspect gathered at the tip of her hand directed straight at Crepin.

Crepin’s brow narrowed momentarily. My pupils widened for a moment, as if I couldn’t believe that I knew how to use Aspect Magic, but I wasn’t in a situation where I should be surprised.

‘Forced Gathering’

The power of Aspect Magic, which transcends all compatibility relationships, is a power that cannot be dealt with, similar to Mebula’s magic.

It was difficult to think that only Krepin could use the power to overturn the opposite s*x.

In an instant, Krepin’s body is pulled in front of me. When I came to my senses, my dagger came crashing into my face, but the tentacles snatched my arm at an unbelievable speed.

– hard

I gritted my teeth and pulled my hand.

There are five or six tentacles extending from his left arm. Everyone wriggled in their own way, trying to destroy everything around them.

I tightened my grip and twisted my body, rolling toward the greatsword stuck in the floor. In the process, he brought his tentacle to the blade of his greatsword and slashed it, shaking off the remaining debris and ooze.

The reflexes of the tentacles are really ridiculous. Victory in close combat cannot be guaranteed.

It was an aspect magic that suddenly attacked without any warning, but it was amazing to have managed to deal with it to this extent.

I straightened up again and looked straight at Kreffin.

The battle pattern of the half-awakened Creffin Ross Taylor has always been like this. In close combat, it responds with the tentacle extending from its left hand, and in long-range combat, it responds with magic using the demon’s magic.

It was a common method of strategy to go back and forth in the middle of the distance, and respond by digging into close combat the moment you use magic.

If that sense of distance is alive, you can read Krepin’s response. When fighting with tentacles, close combat is infinitely powerful, but at the moment of manifesting magic, reflexes cannot come out to that extent. You have to take advantage of that gap.

“Whoa…”

Creffin let out a long sigh, then relaxed. Then, little by little, his body began to float in the air. This marks the beginning of a full-scale battle.

Above the mansion where the battle between Mebula and Lucy is in full swing. His body floats little by little against the background of all kinds of Dharma circles that appear and then disappear.

His collar, floating in the air like a ghost, is blown away by the wind blowing across the rooftop.

“My son, Ed Rosteyler, was always a coward.”

Creffin knew everything. The fact that Ed Rosteylor knew all of Creffin’s dark intentions, but never rebelled against him.

“I didn’t have any ambitions, I just thought about living with my family and vassals. I wonder what an aristocrat would be like as the eldest son, but he was a great temperament for my son anyway. Needless ambition doesn’t help.”

At that moment, the distance between Krepin suddenly narrowed and he held out his longsword. Even if it’s a simple stab, it becomes a threatening surprise attack by riding on the mebuler’s magical power and floating around.

Quack!

As I evaded it by leaping backwards, the longsword lost its way and hit the ground.

“It’s not that I can’t understand why he fled to Sylvania, but I never thought he would use the princess to get excommunicated. was.”

“Isn’t it you who sent Kadek and Nox to kill me in the first place?”

“No, I’m not talking about that time.”

Creffin has a vague idea that I am a separate person from Ed Rosteeler.

It’s not that I can’t understand it, but it was strange to conclude it like that. Because there is no clear evidence.

The reason for this, Crepin clearly explained.

“It’s already been more than a year and a half since I sent you a letter announcing that I excommunicated you.”

Kreffin Ross-Tyler’s letter of excommunication.

It was the first document I checked after coming to this world, and it was the only medium through which I could grasp the whole situation after I was kicked out of the Ophelia.

To me, it was a letter that became the starting point of all the stories, and a notice that announced the beginning of this disgusting period of survival.

“After that, the reply my son sent before he was expelled from Ophelis Hall… You don’t know.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Now, this is a completely unheard-of story.

If you replied to that letter, not me… It must have been Ed Roth Taylor before I was possessed.

The words of Crepin that followed were completely unexpected.

“——He sent me word by word of how he felt about ending his life, saying that he no longer felt a reason to live. I didn’t bother to tell Tanya.”

At those words, I took a deep breath.

Ed Rosteylor abandoned all the prestige of his family and ran away, only to realize that he had no place in the world anymore.

He fell into infinite emptiness and stared at the bachelor outside the window.

in a quiet room. A debt that must be kicked out soon. A life that has to endure alone in a cruel world penniless. The future left for him is only darkness.

The path he eventually chose after sitting alone in a quiet room… This is the end of the journey of a lifetime.

There are many ways in a quiet and secluded room. A long piece of string and a chair that can be kicked over are all you need.

As far as I can remember, Ed Rosteyler shows his face in the end credits, albeit briefly. It wasn’t a very nice word, but I have a memory that I was maintaining my life anyway.

The difference between my memory and this reality.

Ed Rosteylor was clearly about to end his life that day.

However, even that failed.

Even death did not go according to his plan. why?

What can be said to be the cause——’To be honest, I was very surprised.’

Bell Mya.

On the day I was kicked out of the Ophelis tube, I wanted to be strangely well taken care of me, who had a reputation as an idiot.

I thought she was just a person without prejudice who did her duty as a maid in Ophelis Hall… .

‘Still, I thought you were living in this form… When he left Ophelis Hall, he looked so lost in the world, so I thought he would just leave school.’

‘Anyway, I’m glad you’re living well.’

The meaning of each line of her lines feels completely new.

Even after that, seeing me who has changed a lot and becoming more enterprising, the way I talk about it as if I’m relieved.

Somehow, while maintaining a businesslike topic, he didn’t dare to go against my heart.

When I had free time, I came to the camp to check on me, and if there was anything I could help, I would help.

I realized from the way he treated me so bizarrely. Bell Maia, the maid who was in charge of Ed Roth Taylor, witnessed the moment he made an extreme choice and stopped him.

Only then did Belle Maia’s unnatural behavior flow all come together like pieces of a puzzle, and I feel like I can even see the reason why I stepped into this world.

Ed Rosteyler, who had lost all will to survive, did not want to endure a life of darkness any longer.

I am… He inherited the life he had abandoned.

Poo-wook.

Could it be that he was aiming for a gap where the flow of thoughts ran out of control?

Creffin’s blade pierced my shoulder blade. I couldn’t feel the mana, so it was a speed that was hard to recognize.

As the intense pain surged up, I saw the figure of Crepin smiling viciously in front of my eyes.

My body, which had already reached its limit, screamed, and I felt my consciousness slowly fade away.

* * *

A huge wind was blowing around the annex of the mansion.

All the people gathered at the mansion site could confirm the scene with their own eyes.

On the other side of the rooftop, a man fighting an ominous energy.

A giant wolf roars and rampages, and the mansion’s night sky is bright, where all kinds of high-ranking magic come and go.

If you close your eyes there, it feels like you are sitting face to face in a mirror in a pure white space.

In front of a large mirror that reflects the entire body at once, bring a wooden chair and sit down.

Then, in the mirror, a blond-haired man sitting with his hands together with a serious expression on his face would look straight at me.

A mirror reflects everything in the world fairly, but sometimes it feels like something inside is peeking out.

The blond man in the mirror must be looking straight at me with an unfamiliar gaze.

Ed Rosteyler glares at me.

It is the gaze looking back on a life in which the only thing you could do was run away without even fighting against the huge injustice that was attacking you.

He had too many things to do right now.

When I was kicked out of the Ophelis Hall, I had to find a place to live right away, and although I had my academic records, I had no place to get tuition support, and I only had a few clothes to wear, let alone food, and the reputation of the undergraduate school was shit, so where could I get help? nowhere to ask

Even at the place he arrived after running away, there was no place for him to rest comfortably… He might have preferred to lay down his life.

I gritted my teeth and struggled to get out of the darkness of the family, but what finally arrived was this futility. Life is meaningless.

What kind of life have I lived after inheriting the baton there?

He sleeps less than 4 hours a day and has been struggling to survive somehow.

I made my own nest by tearing off tree bark and boiling it, patching up old clothes, and somehow embodying magic theory into my body with my sluggish talent.

It was only when I gritted my teeth and endured again and again that I was able to create a simple but quite plausible base.

A large cabin, a couple of wooden sheds, a nice campfire, and an occasional wooden shelter for Lucy to rest. In addition to the cabin where Jenika lives, eventually even Lortel started building her own villa, and even Bell came in and out to help with the work.

Now, it has become a hideout that I really do not want to give away to anyone else, and I can say that it has truly become my home.

The position within the bachelor has also changed a lot.

His grades went up, he became a scholarship student, and recently became the top of his class, and he has a lot of juniors who follow him.

As I walked around the school, there were quite a few people who looked at me and said hello. I get to know the big players quite well, and I don’t hear that I have a narrow network anywhere.

I envy you.

The source of the suddenly raised voice is myself beyond the mirror.

After talking like that, the man bowed his head and said nothing more.

I sat in front of him and just stared at him with my head bowed.

A boy who swept his face and just bowed down for a while.

He has already lost the will to live. All I want is a comfortable rest.

So, I had only one thing to say.

It’s okay, so now you can rest in peace.

If you stop, you’ve done enough… You can finish the next day or so.

As if my thoughts had reached him, the boy kept his head down for a while.

Quack!

I grabbed Crepin’s right hand, which was stabbing his shoulder blade. It was the first thing he did before his sight returned.

Merilda’s rising wind enveloped the surroundings, removing some of the magic floating around… I grabbed Creffin’s right arm and tied it behind his back.

Quaang! Kwa Dang Tang!

“Cheer, heo-eok…”

Perhaps thinking it was a neatly stabbed blow, Creffin, not expecting a counterattack at all, groaned. It seemed that there was a big shock to his back as he hit the floor.

The impact also drove the sword deeper into my shoulder, but I pulled it out with my teeth clenched and threw it away. Blood flowed from her wounds and excruciating pain welled up… After gritting his teeth and enduring it, he trampled on the fallen Kreffin.

blood dripping down

The blood that had been covered had already been burned, but my blood was newly overlaid on top of it.

“Cheer, huh…”

breath went in breathing doesn’t work Even so, I gnawed my teeth and pulled out my dagger.

Even the ceremonial dagger was already soaked in blood.

The crisis of life has been through many times. Before coming to this world and after coming, it’s all the same.

I’ve actually experienced death, been seriously injured, and collapsed from overwork on many occasions.

There were not one or two trials that came upon me as if they hated me, and all of them tried to take my life, but I was able to defeat them all.

When I was playing on the battlefield, I remembered what my comrades were saying to me.

It wasn’t a nickname I liked very much because it didn’t sound right.

“I am a c*ckroach.”

Without even trying to stop the dripping blood, I spoke as I looked down at him while pressing down on Creffin.

Grinding my teeth, I lowered the dagger.

grasp!

It was difficult for him to block it with his left arm, but he somehow managed to penetrate the grotesque arm by putting weight on his trembling arm.

Creffin gritted his teeth again as he held on with his strength.

“I will never die. Never.”

Along with the cool voice, even the fishy eyes seem to freeze.

In that miasma, somehow, they gritting their teeth and continued to struggle.